The Simple Life!

Well, it took three whole days, but this week we finally packed out! It is strange to think that we will not see our "stuff" again until sometime in September, probably after Labor Day. Actually, it will arrive much sooner than that, but we are having it stored in VA for some time while we stay in a hotel and do some work in our home.

Now we are going to be able to go away on a few weekend trips and not be stressed out. The extremely hectic pace is over for a few weeks as long as something unexpected doesn't happen now. I am loving living in this house with only the necessities (OK, well, right now we have more than that, but week by week I will mail stuff out or get rid of things). I love the simplicity!

Until later,

Emily

Shrek Forever After

This afternoon, James & I took the boys to see Shrek Forever After or as they like to refer to it, "Shrek 4". I really didn't know much about the movie or the story line for this Shrek installment. Basically, Shrek goes through a mid-life crisis. I thought it was entertaining. And it's only about an hour and a half long, I hate it when kids movies are much longer than that. Thomas sat through the entire movie and Toby drank two cups of Sprite on his own which resulted in three trips to the potty, but other than that he also sat through the movie.

I found this quote on the internet tonight, which basically sums up how I feel about the movie:

"Not as bad as number three but not as good as one and two."

Until later,

Emily

Tailer has gone to Grandma's!

(Tailer at Grandma's house)

Last week, we flew Tailer to Utah. We used PetAir and were very happy with their service. As we got into the moving process, we didn't want anything to happen to her as we had movers and workers coming in and out of the house (she is strictly a house cat) nor did we want to stay in "pet rooms" in hotels if we could avoid it.

It seems strange not having her here in the house with us. I have left her a lot for trips to Utah but she has never left me the entire nine years that I have had her (except for the two nights she had to stay at the vets when I had her declawed). She wears a collar with a bell and a name tag so she "jingles" everywhere she goes and she's also vocal.

So Tailer is having an Utah adventure and my mom is having an adventure with a house cat for the first time ever. I was worried about Tailer adjusting to living somewhere new but as the days go by I can tell the adjustment will be when we take Tailer back to MD with us at the end of the summer! Let's just say my mom, dad and brother are spoiling the already spoiled rotten girl!

Until later,

Emily

Passing the Agricultural Inspection

May 18-19: Time to scrub down everything that has been outside/that we intend to ship back with us. Our "Agricultural Inspection" is on Thursday morning. We have always planned on waiting until just before this inspection, since we don't have a garage to store everything...why scrub it all down two weeks before just to have everything get dirty again? We were also waiting for the weather to get nicer. It never did. So, on Tuesday, I took a look at the heap of items that we had organized into our back yard and started taking them upstairs to be scrubbed in the bathtub and shower. Eventually, our kids' floors of their rooms were covered in towels which were then covered with random items, toys, flower pots, garden tools, totes, bikes, more toys.

James went out later on that night and did scrub down our winter tires, our patio table and chairs, and the inside and outside of our outdoor storage box. But there were still quite a few items that needed to be cleaned. I was hoping and praying for better weather.

No such luck. The weather got worse and it rained pretty much all day. Five o'clock hit and I knew I just had to go out in it...the drizzling rain had now turned heavier and it didn't matter. The work had to be done. So I went out in the rain, with my bucket and my cleaner and brushes and hose and sprayed off everything else that needed to be cleaned. I am sure I was a sight to see!

May 20: "Inspection Day", James & I had taken everything from the boys' rooms and set it back outside in neat little, shiny piles. Our inspector arrived, took one look at our items and with a big smile on his face said, "It's OK, you have passed, I wish all my customers were like you!" Our appointment literally did not last for more than five minutes! For a passing moment, I have to admit, I was a little perturbed! I worked hard to get all those items nice and shiny. But then I thought about it, and the goal at the end of this was to pass the inspection the first time around and not have to schedule a second inspection. And that was exactly how it worked out.

Until later,

Emily

Potty-training Progress

Yesterday, Toby, made big progress with potty-training. He has been doing great with #1 and even has woken up dry over half the nights over the past two weeks since he started this. But, #2, well, that has been a whole other story. Accident after accident and I had lost my cool more times than I'd like to admit. Finally, yesterday morning, after numerous trips to the toilet (this was about a 90-minute process), he made it in the potty! Then an hour later, he made it to the potty again! He was so proud of himself! And he had that look of relief that I believe means he discovered that it's not as scary as it seemed to him. And, that is a relief to me.

Until later,

Emily

RIP "Really, Really Old Guy"

For at least two and a half years of this crazy German adventure, day after day, I have watched a really old guy that resembled a gnome walk by my kitchen window. He had white hair that was sort of long and I don't really know how to explain it but he looked like a gnome! I would ALWAYS see him at around 9-9:30 AM every morning and then most days again at around 3:30-4:00 PM. He would walk circles around the park that is next to my house. He wasn't very fast, and he walked with a cane, but religiously he went on his daily walk (sometimes twice a day). But I admired him for going out and getting his exercise no matter what the weather was like. I often thought I should get a picture of him because he really did become part of my day. I couldn't figure out how to do it without seeming like a stalker though. And he may have been old but he was certainly aware of his surroundings. We never had a conversation, we barely said more then "Guten Morgen" to one another, but I could tell that he was a gentle old soul that made me smile whenever I saw him. I never knew his name.

It occurred to me a while back, that I haven't seen really, really old guy in quite a while. Sometimes in the afternoon, his daughter (or who I assume is his daughter) would walk with him. One day, I saw the daughter walking with a female friend and the dog that would accompany her with really, really old guy. That's when I realized that it has been a long time since I have seen really, really old guy around, I think he must have passed away over the winter. RIP, "Really, Really Old Guy".

Until later,

Emily

Potty-trained!

I have been trying for months to get Toby interested in potty training. Not that I've been spending countless hours, but I spent 3 days in December, where all I managed to do was clean up pee on the floor and do a lot of laundry (he never once made it in the toilet).

Every night (for months, not just those 3 days in December), we invited Toby to pee in the toilet before he got in the bath tub. And every single night he would scream "NOOOOOO!" and run away. I put him in underwear for a couple of afternoons/evenings in March and NOTHING.

I had finally accepted that he was not ready and I was just going to stop worrying about it for a while. Thomas was 3 1/2 years old, almost to the day, so I accepted that Toby would probably be that old...or older (oh the shame of it!).

Then, on Monday, he decided to take all of his clothes off and streak around the house. I took one look at him and told him that if he was going to run around with no clothes on and only a diaper, he may as well wear some underwear. He stayed dry all evening and went pee in the toilet once. I thought surely, it must be a fluke.

Tuesday afternoon, after we were done with our errands, I put him in a Pull-up, I was curious as to what he would do. To my surprise, he stayed dry the rest of the day and peed 3 times.

Yesterday, was a rare day at home, except for driving Thomas to and from school. I threw underwear on him...and he stayed dry ALL DAY LONG! He even went to the school with underwear on....DRY...DRY...DRY!

This morning, he woke up with a dry diaper and AGAIN stayed dry the whole day! Not to say that he's not ever going to have an accident, of course he will, but it does appear that he's ready to do this. Like so many other things (like finally walking at 18 months, and RUNNING with coordination a week later!) it had to be when HE was ready not when anyone else was ready! By the way, he's 3 years, almost 4 months old.

Until later,

Emily