Of milking cows and other things

So the potty training thing is slow going. He almost makes it to the bathroom, or he makes it and then goes after I pull his pants up. Fun. The highlight of our first day was after 5 hours of Nathan not peeing, Cody comes up with a brilliant, very joking idea.
"If he's holding it in, why don't we just milk him like a cow to get the pee to come out?"

Needless to say, I was ready to pee myself because I was laughing so hard...and Cody, while thinking it was funny, really didn't realize why it was so much more funny to me. All I could do was to simply look at him through teary eyes and say, "One day you will understand why that is even funnier to me than you." Didn't realize that bodily functions would ever be so funny.


Experiments:
In my quest to find dinners that are cheaper, easier to heat up in the micro (as I do all my cooking for the week in one day and then heat stuff up during the week), and, well, cheaper. Hello, three growing boys and another one that eats like he's still growing... ???!!!???

So, tuna fish is cheap right? Okay, so I took some tuna fish, frozen peas, a can of cream of mushroom soup that I had in my cubbard that hadn't expired(I usually abhor using that b/c its sooooo processed), goat milk, some salt and peppter, bisquick, and an egg - mix it all together and put it in the oven. It looked gross, but taste wise not so bad. I'm thinking, this could be a doable option for a casserole for our family once every few weeks. Easy to make, cheap, and made some rice pilaf to go with it. Cody says, "It smells good, but the aesthetic value is lacking." What is that about? I mean his vocabulary...
However "aesthetically" unpleasing as it looked (see pic), the kids ate it up with very few comments - "yum, snort, scarf, scarf, and a few mumbled mmm this is good." So I guess after 13 years of cooking, I can finally put a meal together by doing some research on what flavors go together and just making it up as I go. Praise God in Heaven for that, as well as for the internet to do the research.

Another lazy day...

So tomorrow I will officially be starting "Potty Training Bootcamp" with Nathanael. He's three years old and refuses to potty train, but tomorrow I will be taking his beloved diapers and his pants. If he pees on my floor, he's going to be in a lot of trouble. I did have to do the same thing with Andrew when he was this age as well, but Andrew was a little more willing. So, please say a prayer for me...I'm going to need it.

I absolutely had to include this picture of him lapping his water from the fountain...I've never seen anyone drink water from a water fountain quite this way before...I don't think he actually got an water to drink out of this, but his tongue definitely wasn't dry after this drink.








Andrew has been his usual self, well, maybe a little more difficult than usual. He tattles wreaks havoc with his younger brother, and totally pesters his older brother. Hmmm, I guess that makes him fit the perfect description of the "middle child." He's so loving though when he wants to be, just not to his brothers. His school skills are improving, but he's still not quite up to par yet.




Cody is in full swing in his basketball season this year. He enjoys it, but still doesn't have the skills as some of his team mates. This is his 5th year playing through the church - Upwards - program. He's made some good shots, but is still having a lot of problems with dribbling the ball and paying attention to what his team is doing around him. However, he's having fun and enjoying doing something out of the house that doesn't involve his tagalong brothers.

As for plans for the future I'll give you a looksie at my newest project - it's called "The Great Sequin Race." Yes, sequins...those things that you thought had died with the disco age have made their way back into our home in this day and age. I guess that requires some more explaining. First let me elaborate that we have discovered that sequins are a lot like glitter. They get everywhere and even though you vacuum and think you got them all, you don't. You find one of the little boogers hiding from you between couch cushions or in your child's cereal bowl.

Needless to say, our plans for our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary will be revealed in this picture:
Now, you can't tell, but there are sequins in every nook and cranny on this dress, which is discouraging, because I'm not really a sequiney kind of gal. This dress, the way its cut and such was the dress I wanted to originally marry Dan in 10 years ago (minus the sequins), but with us just starting out in life, couldn't afford. My dear husband, knowing his wife so well, while looking for some clothes for our kids not long ago found this dress and suggested I go have a look because I could use parts of it for the dress I was going to make for the ceremony. Nope, I picked it up for $50 bucks, brought it home, tried it on and realized that not only was it a perfect fit, but there would be no way I was going to tear it up just to use parts. There is that sequin thing tho...so Dan and I sit and watch tv at night with the dress draped between us - seeing who can get the most sequins off the thing. Thus, you know that show, "The Amazing Race" - we have our own little amazing race going on...

So yes, plans are in the works for our 10 Year Anniversary Gala - a ceremony which we will renew our vows to each other, and have a bit of fun with it as well...tee-hee....just you wait. Details will be forth coming...