For Me

I have not been motivated to post lately because I thrive on the comments of others, and nobody seems to be reading blogs anymore, so I need to get into the mindset that this is my journal for me. The trouble is, there is not too much I want to talk about these days. Nothing is bad. It some ways it is too good. I don't want to rub it in everyone else's faces or have them comment about how jealous they are. But after 8 months of being unemployed we finally got a job and it is a great job. Mike is making big money and we are spending it.

I have not taken pictures, but we got a new living room and dining room set. The couch is a squarish contemporary sectional and the dining set (which shares the same open space is an ultra traditional dark wood with huge leather chairs with nailhead trim. We still have to replace the "builders special" "chandelier" and have the 3-pendant light set picked out. I have also bought paint to cover up the contractors flat white walls and have no idea when I will be able to actually put it on the walls. I assure you, I will not be doing it while the babies are awake. There are a ton of other home improvement things I want to do, like get the toddler bed up and put away the crib and pack 'n' play and fix up the girls bedroom. All the kids need to have their rooms painted. We also want to put in hardwood floors and tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. I will not be doing the bathrooms. I have done a bathroom before, but taking out the toilet and getting it back in makes it more of a chore than I am willing to do.

Isaac is at Seminary right now and the other kids should be getting ready for school, but I don't think Claire has made it out of her room.

We went to the Texas State Fair this weekend and tried the deep-fried butter. It looked like a donut hole with a juicy center of melted butter. Sprinkled with powdered sugar and dipped in jam, it was almost like food. However, it left a film of fat on the palette. We can say we have tried it. That is enough. We will stick to the funnel cake.

Potty Training Twins

Talking about bodily functions isn't couth, but old people and mothers of young children seem obsessed with it. Maybe because it is such a dominant feature of our lives.

The babies are now 20 months old so I have been introducing potty training concepts. I have put training pants (real ones not diapers that pull up) on them a few times. The comfort of the big girl panties compared to diapers and the unmistakable sensation of wetness have made them very aware of their need to go pee. Anastasia has successfully used the potty seat. They both love to sit on it, but because they are fighting over who gets to sit on it, they don't concentrate on business. Then, even when I hold one on the big potty while the other sits on the little one, they just want to get up after a few seconds. This is one situation where it really changes the dynamic from that of having just one kid to work with.

They are both getting the concepts, though. Anastasia even grabbed herself the other day and said "Potty!" so we rushed to the bathroom, but she did not do anything. Potty training is such a chore. It takes so much focus and dedication (which is why so many of today's lazy parents don't train their kids--or have their kids train themselves--until they are almost in Pre-K these days). However, the effort is well worth the result. That is why children are infinitely better than pets. After just a few short years, you don't have to have anything to do with their poo poo anymore.

Time to let the beasts out of their cage. They are awake now.