Take Me To Your Potty

Claudia reached a major milestone on Friday.

She stayed DRY ALL DAY LONG.

Yes, the "Queen Diaper" has turned herself into the "Princess Potty".

She did this all on her own. No nagging from mom. Though I do have to say it was difficult to hide my nervousness as I occasionally searched for the mystery puddle on the floors.

Every time she had to use the bathroom she said, "Mom, take me to your potty." Which I promptly did and she pottied! Amazing........

Celebrations were heard all throughout the castle. High fives, hoots, chants, potty dances and parades from everyone. Even her brother joined in on the potty party.

It was a royal day!

Oh Buckets!

Do you have those days where you can't get out of the house and you feel it may be indication as to what the rest of the day will bring?

Today was one of my days.

First, William refused to put on his socks and shoes without motherly intervention.

Claudia would only wear one shoe but couldn't decide which foot to put it on. She then put it on the wrong foot and had to start the whole process over again.....

The dog refused to come in the house from the yard without me tempting her with a handful of treats. Once I gave her the treats, she tried making her way back to the yard with assistance from the younger child.

The cat repeatedly tried running out of the backdoor to explore the outdoor world. I caught her and put her back in the house. Reminded her she is an inside cat. The cat didn't give a crap and ran to the backdoor searching for the "escape hatch"(aka the younger child).

Claudia then insisted on finding her princess magnets to bring with in the car. The magnets must of hidden themselves because they were nowhere to be found. Claudia threw a tantrum until she realized she was holding the magnets. DUH....

I reminded William to grab his bucket from the foyer to bring to school (the school uses buckets instead of back packs). William couldn't seem to locate the foyer or his bucket. He complained that he was too tired to go to preschool and continued to orbit around the kitchen table.

At this point, I'm mentally changing the first consonant in bucket to a "F".......

We eventually made it out the door and to the car, when I realize that I didn't have my sunglasses. I went back to the house to find my sunglasses. They were missing. Probably in Claudia's hands.... Grabbed an old pair and went back to the car. Couldn't find keys. I left them in the door when I went back to the house. I ran back to the house, grabbed the keys and ran for the car.

The kids wouldn't climb into car seats. Claudia dropped her magnets on car floor. I tossed Claud into car seat as she screamed. Then I strapped William in his seat. I tried to back out of driveway, but the neighbor's dog wass in way- damn Yorkie (Cujo)! I finally left the house and made it to preschool.

We got William into his class and Claud and I walked back to car. She started screaming because she lost her magnets. "OH BUCKET!", I felt the need to yell. We retraced our steps back through the parking lot, up the steps, down the hallway, back into the classroom. No magnets! I dragged Cluadia back to car and found the magnets on the ground right next to the car! "Oh yeah, there they are", she says as if she knew they were there all along.

We left preschool, went to Walgreen's where they couldn't find my photo order. Then went to the post office where we quickly (seriously) mailed a box. Lastly, we arrived back home in time to resubmit my photo order before picking up William.


What an afternoon!!!!!

RAIN

All this rain has caused the flashing around our chimney to leak (big time).

Yesterday, our second floor smoke/carbon monoxide detector went off. Brian investigated and found it to be full of water. He went up into the attic to find water leaking from the chimney and onto the floor. It had saturated the plywood decking, the insulation under the decking and ran down to our newly plastered ceiling!

Brian spent the whole day tearing up the plywood, removing the insulation, shop vacuuming up all the wet crap and strategically placing fans to dry everything up. What a mess! He was a big mess too. I've never seen him so dirty!!!!

Today, he made numerous phone calls to roofing and masonry companies to get the chimney fixed or possibly removed. The only thing that is vented out of our chimney is the hot water heater which is 8 years old.It could easily be replaced with a tankless water heater which could be vented out the side of the house.

Hopefully we can have the chimney taken care of and the the plaster ceiling repainted (if not repaired) soon.......

I am just glad we didn't experience the flooding like many of our neighboring towns did and family members. Gayle and Randy just finished cleaning out their waterlogged crawlspace and will be ripping out the carpet from their family room. Our neighbor, Lori, has a basement full of water. She was not able to find a pump at any of the local stores and has been relying on a shop vac. Good luck!!!

Princess Party

I've been busy prepping for the Princess Party......

I'm really hoping the rain will hold off for a few hours tomorrow afternoon.

Everyone needs to do the NON-rain dance!!!!!!!

See you all tomorrow!!!

Comedy Central At The Stage House

Lunchtime today was filled with laughter!

The kiddos have been telling a lot of "jokes" lately.

Incontinence Warning- these jokes are funny!

W: This house is a rotten egg!

William falls off his chair laughing.
Claudia joins him on the floor.

C: Strawberries turned into raspberries!

Claudia giggles hysterically and holds her belly.
William is too busy to react to Claud's joke. He was having "deep thoughts".

W: Cherries turned into strawberries!

William's response after returning from "his deep thoughts".

C: Blackberries turned into raspberries!

I'm seeing a pattern......

Children are still hooting at each other's jokes.

W: The deck is a rotten apple!

Ah........ a new twist to the "rotten jokes".

C: The house turned into paste!

Considering the age of our house and it's constant need for repair, this might actually happen.


I believe there may be a future for these two jokesters..............

Popcorn Week

This past week was Popcorn Week in Valparaiso. While it's a shame that Orville passed on several years ago and is no longer around to celebrate with the community, the old corn kernel's spirit lives on and everyone had a good time as always.........

Tuesday night started off with the Hot Wheels race. The kids had fun racing their Hot Wheels cars. We only entered 2 cars in the race, unlike the many other competitive kids (read: adults) who looked like they were entering 133 each! A few kids went home with an award. Not mine.

To top it off, we racked up a $2.50 ATM fee to get cash for the tacos and burritos being served in the tent that night, only to wait in line for 30 minutes and then be told that they had run out of food (and popcorn doesn't quite cut it for dinner).

Holy Hot Wheels!




Let's go car #123 and car #124!!!


On Friday, the Stage and Benton families headed down to the giant tent and watched my favorite group, The Good Time Cloggers! Apparently, the Cloggers have evolved into the "Happy Tappers" because clogs were nowhere to be seen. Damn them for not preserving the art of clog dancing! After 2 minutes of happy tapping ( a record for the Stage and Benton families), we left the giant tent in pursuit of supper.



Happy Clogging!






Mesmerized by the Cloggers!

On foot, we made our way through the Gothic skateboarding hoodlums (Valpo's finest) and ended up at Tony's Pizza, along with the rest of Valparaiso. After some tasty pizza (and beer for the grown-ups....along with a sneaky sip by William!), we walked back through the crowd of hoodlums, stopped to watch an EMT treat a vomiting man (I think he had a little too much clogging) and walked home.


Saturday was race day for most of the Stage Family. Brian was up early for the Popcorn Panic, a five-miler that he ran with our neighbor, Jeff. They both finished. Brian didn't even break a sweat (although his legs are paying for it now). I would have run too, but someone had to watch the kids...LOL!

The kids were also up early for the Lit'l Kernel Races. After Brian came home, we walked back downtown. William ran first with the rest of the 4 year olds. Actually, Brian and Claudia ran with him. He needed a little extra support. Then Claudia ran with her age group. Claudia's running buddy was a Valpo University basketball player. What a height difference between the two! Both came home with ribbons. They were excited (and still sleepy). The races were a hoot to watch. I couldn't believe the crowds! People were everywhere, lining the street and even hanging out of windows above the street!! The best part was listening to the crowd cheer for every single kid as they ran down Lincolnway. Way to go Valpo!





Go William, Go!!!!




Check out my ribbon!



I got a ribbon too!

The parade followed after the Lit'l Kernel races. We always pick a spot on Cambell to watch the parade. The narrators are also on Cambell. They were in rare form this year. The woman narrating called the marching Democratic Party (carrying Obama signs galore) the Republican Party. She then realized her error, after several minutes, and apologized. The man narrator kept using the same phrase for all the marching bands (it seemed like there were 103). "Listen to their dulcet tone!" (whatever?!?!) The kids always love the parade!




Grand Prize Float made of, what else, but POPCORN!




Just watching.


We eventually made it back downtown for a quick walk around the square and an ice cream. It was really crowded and the kids were getting cranky. Headed home and went to bed early!


What a poppin' fun week!

One LOOOONG Week!!!

Gosh, this has been the longest week ever! So many changes have happened this week.

First, we started the whole preschool thing. As exciting as preschool is, it has been an emotional roller coaster for the whole family. I have done my best to hide my tears and let the kids know what an exciting time this is for them. They aren't big on change, just like their mother. William, for example, has been aggressive all week. In addition to his aggression, he has been crying about everything.

Secondly, there is Claudia and her nanas (pacifiers). Over the past two weeks, we told her since she would be in preschool, it was time to say goodbye to the nanas. Last Saturday, she had to part with them. It has been rough on her. Mom too! No more naps - due to no nanas and afternoon preschool twice a week. Going to sleep in the evening has gone from stress free to "You must stay in your bed" 94 times each evening.................

Third, is the whole potty issue with Claudia..... She is reluctant to use the potty. After digging up some literature from the pediatrician and reading it, we decided to take a new approach. Totally back off, stop nagging and make her responsible for using the bathroom. No diapers, no pull-ups, just underwear. She actually peed in the potty on her own yesterday. Although, she cried hysterically the whole time because the Princess potty does not have the biggest insert and she peed everywhere. But she did try to use the potty!

Preschool is tied into the potty, too. Potty equals preschool. No potty, no preschool. These are supposed to be the rules. Except.... the preschool director said it was okay for Claudia to attend in pull-ups. "She'll learn as she sees the others using the potty". What she is really saying is "I want your tuition money every month".

Claudia's teachers feel differently. They were not aware of Claudia and the potty issue. (Hello? What's with the lack of communication between the teachers and director? Now I'm thinking that we picked a winner of a preschool.) The teachers said that Claudia needs to come to school in underwear. If she has more than two accidents, she will be sent home and should be "sent to her room for the afternoon because she was asked to leave preschool". As if I might actually punish my child for having an accident. What the heck is wrong with these teachers?!!!? Instead of questioning them, I simply nodded and left.

There have been some other changes this week, but now I'm all caught up in the potty issue and I can't remember what else I was going to write.

It's funny. I always thought I would have more free time once the kids started in school. Boy, was I wrong! The kids don't know what to do with themselves when the other sibling is gone. Mostly Claudia. They are so used to have a buddy to play with. Yesterday, after dropping off Claudia, William and I went to the library. Today is Claudia's turn for the library and a quick trip to Target.

Completing the big house projects are now a dream of the past.........

Changes....................

William's 4th Birthday Party

It occurred to me that I never posted pictures of William 4th party!

So here they are......

Cheesin' for Mommy....

Blowing the candle on your firetruck cake.

"Just one more picture William...."

Opening my gifts!!!!

William,

You chose to have a fireman theme for your 4th birthday. You were so excited about your party. It rained a little but you still got to play outside. You loved all your gifts, cake and playing with your cousins and friends!

Happy 4th Birthday, Little Guy!!!!

William's First Day of Preschool

Look at my smile!!!!!

Getting ready for the big day!

Dear William,

Today is your first day of preschool......

I have thought about this day a lot. I don't think I am quite ready to send you off. You have always been so close to Mommy that it's hard for me to let you go. Ever since your seizure, I have kept you by my side, afraid that it might happen again. I probably have kept you too close which has made you hesitant to try new things. Today is a tough day for Mommy.

I know you are going to love your school, make new friends and learn all sorts of things. Being with new friends and teachers will be good for you. You'll become more independent and pretty soon you won't miss Mommy and Daddy so much. Your new teachers will take good care of you. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. Congratulations William!!

Love you,
XOXO
Mommy and Daddy

Daddy and William outside of school.

Dear William,

It's Mommy again. we just got back from your preschool. Guess what? There were no tears! You had the best time playing with all the new toys. You just jumped right in with the other kids! When I told you it was time for Daddy and me to leave and go to another room, you said, "Okay, Mom, Bye". You were great!

After class, you came down the hall with a smile from ear to ear, you had so much to tell us......

Guess what, Mom? I had circle time!

We danced.

We read the Kissing Hand.

In a few days, we are going to paint our feet.

We ate vanilla wafers for a snack.

I barely had to ask you any questions! Once again, we are so proud of you. You made your first day so much easier on Mommy. Daddy is so happy for you too. Way to go Little Guy!!!!!!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Playing at my new school.

Claudia's First Day of School

Dear Claudia,

Today is your very first day of preschool......

Mommy and Daddy went with you today to get you settled, meet your teachers and learn more about your school. We're very excited for you and a little sad at the same time because you have grown up so fast! We know you are going to love your new class and have lots of fun playing and learning. Congratulations Claudia. We are so proud of you!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Striking a pose

Meeting your new teacher

After class - too cool for pictures!