Mysterious Mailing

I received a mysterious package the other day.....I wondered was I being invited to join some group or something?  Did I win something?



Maybe you could say I "won" something (okay, not really), or that I was being asked to join a "group"...a very small one! Lee surprised me months in advance with an invitation (great job Lee on the invite!) to go to New York City with him for our anniversary! It will be our 10th anniversary this year.  Two years ago Lee forgot our anniversary, but I had something planned.  Kristi babysat for us and we went on a date. Maybe we went out to eat?  I just cannot remember. Plus, I just looked in my blog archives and I didn't say, click here to see post. ARGH! Oh well.  Last year Lee and I BOTH forgot our anniversary.  It was busy/stressfull time getting the kids adjusted to school, Lee opening his new practice, no money coming in, etc. I splurged and did buy some ice cream!  With our 10th coming up, I have reminded him a few times that he can't forget this one.  I am really excited about the upcoming trip!  It won't be for a few months so it will be fun to plan the specifics of our trip together.  And it's great that NYC is just a few hours away! Lois is going to watch our kids for trip!

Cal's Field Trip

I was able to go with Cal on his recent field trip to the Children's Museum.  I didn't even know that the near-by town had one!



The lesson segment of the field trip was on money--saving it and spending it (more or less). The kids each got to make a save box and a spend box.


Though the Children's Museum is quite small, they made great use of the space.  There are very fun, themed areas throughout.  AND I found out it's free the first Friday of every month!






Me with Cal's awesome teacher!


Yep you really can "milk" the cow.  Water comes out, ha ha.


We had a fun trip together. 


The boys love creating lego stuff.  They get the free Lego Club magazine and often there are advertized lego creation contests.  Here are their entries.  Now we just need to send in the photos!




I don't do too much creating of any sort myself, but every year the PTA has a pillow/basket auction at the school's spring carnival.  I volunteered to sew two pillow coverings.  A basket of goodies goes along with the corresponding pillow theme.


For some reason I didn't get quite as tight of fit on this pillow as the above sports one.  Oh well.  The tiger print is also on the back--you can see a smidgeon of it on the left.  The white fabric for the front of the pillow (and back if so desired) is a thin cotton.  Lee had the idea to line it with the tiger print fabric to give it some interest.  I thought it was a great idea so I went with it.


More posts to come; hopefully in the next few days!

Toilet Adventures

Yes, it's true....Elden is officially toilet trained!  WOO HOO!  After going through 15 pair of underwear the first day, Elden wetting himself on me at the playground, along with the regular accidents, I wondered if he would ever get the hang of it!  Like my other boys Elden shocked me and after five days of craziness, it clicked!  He came to me, yes came to me, Saturday morning and said these wonderful words: Mom, I have to go to the bathroom. We've had a couple accidents since Saturday, but nothing to alarm me.  A little work will be needed on using "public" toilets, but at home he is doing great. Anyway, he's been interested in the toilet lately. Tuesday morning some Lego's went down the toilet...not sure if it was an accident or not.  Well, a little later Haley reported that Elden flushed his toothbrush down the toilet too.


Yep. We had some problems with the plumbing.  Lee had quite the time taking the toilet off the rusted bolts (one he sawed off, the other he half-sawed, then yanked off).  I couldn't fit my hand down the toilet at all to try and fish out the toothbrush.  We should have asked Cal to stick his hand down in the toilet before we took it off. Maybe he would have found the toothbrush right away?  Oh well.


Lee brought the toilet outside, sprayed it out and ran a snake through it.  We asked Cal to come out and he was able to grab the toothbrush. After a little more cleaning we felt confident putting the toilet back in place.  After some new bolts, wax ring, toilet snake and lots of work from Lee, we now have a functioning toilet on the main floor--we hope anyway.  We are getting a taste of home ownership with this rental! Unlike prior years, maintenance is not a call away.