The Great Wall and Hongluo Temple

When we first began planning our trip, we asked the kids what the places were that they most wanted to visit. Weston didn't hesitate to express his interest in seeing the Great Wall of China. (The other kids were also excited about visiting, but this was Weston's first choice of all the potential places to go.) Finally, the day arrived! We hired a driver for the day and made the hour-long drive from Beijing up to the Mutianyu section of the wall. It was a pretty smoggy day, but the weather was relatively warm and the sun did shine through the haze, so were were able to see the wall and the surrounding mountains pretty well. We also arrived early (and in the winter), so there was almost no one else visiting at the time we were there. We rode a chairlift up to the wall, wandered around on it for a while, and then rode the toboggan down. It was an amazing experience!

When we saw all we wanted to see of the wall and the surrounding area, we still had some prepaid time with the driver, so he recommended a Buddhist temple (Hongluo Temple) not far from the wall. We were game, since we have never visited anything like that before. Though the incense perfumed air was a bit strong and the deities were quite strange to us, the temple grounds were really lovely and interesting, especially since they were still decorated for the Chinese New Year.

PRO TRAVELER TIP: Public toilets in Beijing are generally squatty potties (basically, glorified holes in the ground) and toilet paper is not provided. Soap and hand drying equipment are also not provided. This seems to be an under-discussed bit of travel information that might be useful to others who plan to visit this city in the future. You may consider it your public service announcement for the day, and hopefully, it will save someone the shock and discomfort we experienced when we first arrived. Today, everyone carried his or her own stash of paper, and I slathered everyone liberally with hand sanitizer just about every time they turned around.

Watts at The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China

The kids didn't know about the toboggan ahead of time and were so excited to
to learn that this was how were would be coming down the mountain.

Some other interesting sights at the wall:
Genghis Khan playing Xiangqi (Chinese Chess)
and a lovely park across the street

Hongluo Temple

Hongluo Temple entrance, decorated for the Year of the Monkey

A crappy way to start the day

I went to bed early last night, but around midnight I woke up and thought it certainly did seem hot in the bedroom and I needed to make an adjustment to the temperature. Because of where our thermostat is located, our room gets extra warm when we run the heater and extra cold when we run the air conditioner. But then, that feeling of heat I was experiencing changed to a wave of nausea, and instead of worrying any longer about adjusting the temperature,  I did a quick about-face and headed for the restroom, where I became the second household victim of a mild, but no less unpleasant, tummy bug.

Around 3:00, Clay appeared, announcing that he needed to go potty. I took him to our bathroom, and after he took care of his business, the potty made an odd "glub, glub" sound, but it seemed to flush okay, so I took Clay back to his room and sleepily stumbled back to my bedroom, where I experienced the need to use the facilities myself. The toilet seemed to flush just fine, but, after a moment, I realized that the water level was rising. And then, it was overflowing. I trotted off to the utility room to fetch a plunger.

As I stood there plunging, Jeff, who had taken himself to the hall bathroom, since ours was occupied, appeared in the bathroom doorway and proclaimed that the hall toilet was also stopped up and the water level was rising there as well. He took over the plunging duties and was going back and forth between the two bathrooms. I was wide awake by this point, so I was following him around, offering moral support. I was standing in the hall while he worked on the powder bath potty, when I noticed that a small river was flowing out of the utility room. I hollered at Jeff to stop plunging, while I went to inspect. We have a floor drain in the utility room, which is suppose to carry water out of the house should the need arise, but, in this case, it was bubbling like a spring and a steady stream of nasty water was flowing into the house.

Meanwhile, Jeff had stepped into the kitchen, to find that the two floor drains in there were delivering similar rivulets, so that a large portion of the floor in the middle of the house was being soaked in sewer water. I quickly gathered up a handful of towels and old blankets to soak up some of the mess and quietly thanked the Lord that we do not have carpet, but the water continued to flow and the towels and blankets were not making any difference. Jeff shut off all the water to the house and called a plumber around 3:30. The plumber said he could be here around 6:30. We both felt disgusting and disgusted, but we tried to get a few winks before the plumber showed up. He arrived at about a quarter to 7:00 and went right to work.

The problem seems to have been taken care of, and my plans for the day now include mopping the floor, disinfecting various surfaces and washing loads and loads of soiled towels and blankets. It really wasn't a great way to start the day. Still, there is much to be thankful for: my emesis went down and didn't come back up, the tummy bug was very short lived,  we don't have carpet in any part of the house, the water flowing into the house was not stinky or discolored, the plumber was able to get here so quickly.

Happy Monday!

The week the Watts ate out

Most of the time, we prepare our own meals at home, not only because it's a healthier alternative to eating out, but also because we are all total foodies and just love cooking up stuff in the kitchen. But, we aren't purists, and we do like to eat out on occasion, as well. This week the eating out may have been just a teeny bit out of control, though--as in, we ate out every day this week! Some of it was out of "necessity" and some was just plain fun. Our galavanting took us through a wide variety of cuisines and cut quite a swath through the Hill Country, as well.

Monday--Date Night. We were a little crunched for time but still wanted something that felt like a date (you know, nothing with a drive-thru), so we settled on Milano Cafe in Austin, which fit the bill perfectly. We were served quickly and every bite was delicious!

Tuesday--Running kids around night. Ruth was hanging out with some buddies in Burnet, so I popped into Whataburger, after I dropped her off. Ironically, Jeff and Weston also stopped by Whataburger (in Marble Falls) after Weston's football practice. (The little boys were out at the ranch with Grandpa, cooking hot dogs over an open flame and eating lots of other really fun stuff, I'm sure!)

Wednesday--Looking for an excuse night. Jeff received a birthday gift certificate to Russo's in the mail, and it just sort of seemed like a sign. We love Russo's and don't need much of an excuse to pop in. Our growing boy was still hungry after his "modest" portions of ravioli, garlic bread and two (shared) appetizers, so we decided to make a McDonald's run to get the poor boy a hamburger (and the rest of us coffee and/or dessert) after our really nice Texas-Italian meal. That's how we roll. And, we're o.k. with that. 

Thursday--Mom's Night. Once a month, the CC moms get together for a night out without the kids, to enjoy authentic grown-up conversation and not having to clean up after anyone. This time, we met at Ginger & Spice, in Marble Falls, which is always wonderful. Meanwhile, Dad had a little celebration with the kids by picking up Chicken Express, since Clay kept his pants dry the whole time he was at the ranch.

Friday--Birthday dinner night. Jeff's parents took us out to Hudson's on the Bend, for an early celebration of Jeff's birthday. Every single thing was absolutely fantastic! I got tickled when our kids begged for an order of escargot. It's not every group of 3-12 year old kids who know what escargot is, much less love it (especially if they know what it is). After the amazing dinner, we headed over to Amy's Ice Cream for some sweet treats. 

Saturday--You can't just not eat after a morning of football, especially when they were the last games of the season. And, we were close enough to one of our new favorite places that it only seemed right slip over to Milago's, just outside of Wimberley, to tank up on Tex-Mex. 

Potty Party

Clay managed to keep his undies dry and clean for a whole week*! Clearly, this was cause for a party. The deal was if he didn't have any accidents all week, we would take him out for frozen yogurt. Today was party day!! We are so proud of this big boy!

*Clay did have a little accident a few hours after the party, but it seemed as if he was on his way to tell us and just didn't make it in time. We decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. We are still very proud of his potty progress and are thankful that our diaper days appear to be almost at an end!

Extreme Tuesday

It was one of those extreme kind of days. We arrived at CC, only to find that I had forgotten the drop cloth for our painting project. I texted Jeff, who I thought was working in town, to see if he could come to the rescue. He was actually back at the house, and our communication was out of sync, so he was on his way back into town to save me before I had a chance to tell him just to forget it. So, then he ended up just working in town all day. Meanwhile, Clay was going through clothes and snacks like there was no tomorrow. Max and Weston were both kids of the week, so we celebrated after CC with dinner at KFC/Long John Silver. At 4:30. Because that's how we roll. The three oldest kids had sports practices in three different locations, starting at 5:30, and I was scheduled to conduct a CC info. meeting at 6:00 and then swing by a social gathering with one of the local homeschool groups at 7:30. So, Jeff took the kids and dropped them off at their various locations, and I took myself to my meeting. And, that was the last thing that went according to plan.

Just as I started my meeting, Jeff called, and since I knew he knew I was in a meeting, I answered, because I thought it might be important. Sure enough, Clay had fallen on the bleachers, and Jeff was gathering him up to go the the urgent care clinic for stitches. So, Jeff had the two youngest, but this was going to leave the other kids stranded at their practices. I wrapped up my meeting as quickly as possible and raced over to get Weston from his baseball try-out, and then headed back across town to get Ruth from basketball practice. Weston's basketball team was still practicing when we got there, so he stayed for the remainder of that practice, before we headed to the clinic to pick up Max and check on Claycito. Clay's chin was bandaged up, and he had soaked through his last set of clothes. So, I left him with Jeff, wearing nothing but a diaper, to get three stitches in his chin, while I took the big kids home for much needed baths at the end of a long day. Poor little guy. But, he's seems not to mind too much. In fact, before bed, he prayed, "Thank you I can go doctor and get crayons." A good reminder to look on the bright side.

A day at the dentist

Five of us went to the dentist today. This is always a super-fun time. Oh, and this was the family's first visit to this particular dentist office.

We started at 8:30, with Clay's first-ever visit. He was thrilled to sit in that funky chair with all the interesting maneuvers, and the hygienist showed him every possible tool, and even let him handle all of them. His favorite was "Mr. Thirsty," the water sucking straw. He did fantastic with the cleaning and really had a good time.

Max was up next. He got to wear cool shades and got a wonderful report. He has twenty-one teeth, but we could see from the x-rays that it won't be long before some of them start to come out.

By the end of Max's appointment, Clay was restless and ready to go, so it worked out well that we had a break before the next round of appointments. The three of us came home for a brief period before returning to the office, this time with the two oldest kids in tow.

The two littles stayed in the van, watching a DVD, while I took the two older kids inside for their simultaneous appointments. The next hour found me running from exam room to van to other exam room. And, on one of my visits to the van, I found that Clay had released himself from his seat and was giddily rolling the windows up and down. Upon opening the door to lock the windows, I noticed the overpowering stench wafting up from the backseat. Sure enough, Clay had pooped in his pants (on an underwear day). And, AND, I had neglected to relocate the diaper bag back to the van after taking it out over the weekend. I was utterly unequipped to take care of the situation. My own dental appointment was coming up, so I called in reinforcements. Jeff came and saved the day, and took the two little boys home for safekeeping.

Meanwhile back in the office, Weston also donned the shades and got an excellent report. He had to have his spacer removed and replaced, which was a little painful, but he was a trooper and did great.

Ruth had a couple of problem areas and will have to go back in for sealants and a filling. (Ruth was more on her own than the others, so I didn't get a picture of her. I suspect she wouldn't have allowed that anyway, though.)

By the end of my appointment, I was a bit cranky from having been there all day, from having had my mouth messed with, and from having received a little bit of bad news about some crumbly old fillings, which will have to be replaced (at a significant cost). So, I was super-thrilled when I handed our Health Savings debit card to the business manager and she told me it wasn't working. This required me to call the bank, and to be placed on hold, and to talk to the always-helpful bank people--from the comfort of the dentist office. The first person I spoke to at the bank confirmed that the card wasn't working, as well it shouldn't, because there was a zero balance in the account. It's a brand new account that we just opened a couple of weeks ago, so I was a bit shocked. After explaining this to the unhelpful lady on the phone, I was transferred to someone slightly more helpful, who was able to determine that we do have money in the account, we just can't use it (for another few days). Awesome.

The good news is we all survived and (most of us) don't have to do it again for another six months. Another positive was that we are all very happy with our new dentists and their staff. This was a good change for us.

Thankfully, the big kids and I were able to end the day by seeing the Tarzan musical Marble Falls High School was putting on. What an amazing show! It provided plenty of opportunities to show off our very clean smiles.

Potty nose

This morning, in the grocery store, I had to take Clay to the restroom. I don't need to tell you, I'm sure, that the facilities were not in pristine condition. When we got into the stall, Clay became very agitated, saying, "I don't like it, Mom; it's yucky." I agreed and encouraged him to take care of his business quickly. After a few beats, he started fervently rubbing his nose and telling me in a most concerned voice, "It's on my nose!" Of course, I wanted to know what was on his nose, to which he replied, "The stinky!" And then, a question: "The stinky on your nose, Mom?" That kid. So stinkin' {wink, wink} cute!

In addition to the normal chaos this week:

MONDAY

• Our bedroom furniture finally arrived! The truck pulled up in front of our house at 8:30 pm and, after unloading and putting the bed together, the guys finally left just a few minutes after 11:00. We love it and are so proud to have grown-up furniture in our bedroom for the first time in our lives! (The furniture we had before was a combination of dressers and a nightstand my parents bought for me when I was a freshman in high school and a nightstand Jeff has had since he was about eight !)

TUESDAY

• It was Claycito's half-birthday! 2 ½--so unbelievable! He has recently discovered some Bob the Builder videos left over from Ruth's toddler years and has been completely enamored, so I searched online for Bob the Builder paraphernalia, which is apparently no longer very popular, and finally found a few videos packaged in what Clay calls a "lunch pack" and a construction zone play set. The truly awesome thing about the play set, and the thing I didn't notice before purchasing it, is that it speaks in a foreign language that we don't recognize. I guess Bob is still popular in some parts of the world! This doesn't bother Clay in the least. He loves his new Bob the Builder stuff so much. The big kids all also insisted on buying a little something for him with their own money. They are all so, so sweet!

• Max showed off his pitching arm by throwing a rock through a window at the church where we meet for CC. 
• Jeff left for an overnight business trip to Houston.

WEDNESDAY

• Clay wore underwear all day (except for nap time), including several hours away from the house, and only had one small accident. Dare I hope there is light at the end of this potty training tunnel?

THURSDAY

• The land clearing project we have had going on here for months finally wrapped up. Our land looks so amazing! Now, to get the actual landscaping done. 
• We dropped our truck off at the mechanic to get it up to snuff so we can go about selling in in the near future. 

FRIDAY

• I had an early meeting at a local coffee shop with the other CC directors from the Marble Falls campus.
• Jeff booked a flight to Bozeman, MT for next week to meet with a new client.
• The kids and I participated in a CC field trip to the Johnson City Zoo, which is a place the kids absolutely love.

• We called off school in the afternoon to head over to Aggieland. A game wasn't going to happen for us this season, but we've been dying to take the kids to Yell and show them around campus. We had dinner at Chicken Oil Company, which seems to be one of the few old school places still in business. Then we grabbed some FROYO, before heading over to our rented house for a pre-Yell nap. After our little rest, we joined the throngs at the soon-to-be renovated Kyle Field for the last Fightin' Texas Aggie Yell Practice of the season.

SATURDAY

• Weston had a playoff football game in Marble Falls, and I had an area CC director luncheon, both of which came up after we had planned our Aggieland weekend. Since it was too late to cancel the house reservation and get a refund when these activities came up, we decided to just let the crazy take over. So, we drove home after Yell, arriving home around 3:30 am, and then drove back to College Station after our obligations were met. Unfortunately, Weston's team did not advance to the next round of the playoffs, but he had so much fun this season and got a medal for being a semi-finalist, which helped to ease his disappointment somewhat. 

• We got back to A&M at half-time and were able to watch the rest of the game in the student center and then see the yell leaders get tossed in Fish Pond and participate in the Victory Yell after the Aggie win. 

• We had dinner in Bryan at Caffe Capri, another place Jeff and I enjoyed when we were students at A&M.

SUNDAY

• After a leisurely breakfast, we took the kids over to play at Research Park and then went to Freebird's for lunch. 
• After lunch, we decided to spend a little more time on campus before heading home. 

Peas like a river

It was exceptionally peaceful around here today, with Ruth at her Challenge class and the big boys playing at a friend's house. My plan was to take advantage of the non-teaching, non-refereeing day to check some of the things off my never-ending to-do list. The first order of business was a project I actually started yesterday. While getting food out of the freezer for dinner yesterday afternoon, a humungous bag of peas, left over from Campmeeting, caught my eye and practically begged to be dealt with. It desperately needed to be divided into smaller, more reasonable portions. So, I pried it out of the freezer and set it out on the kitchen counter to thaw a bit so I could actually work with it. Peas apparently take a really long time to thaw out, and by bedtime, they were still so stuck together that I couldn't even begin to divvy them up. So, that was project number one for today. They still were not totally thaw this morning, but they had produced a rather large river all over the countertop. Once the peas were dealt with, my little partner and I headed upstairs to tackle the storage closet. Two minutes after we arrived, Clay found the red craft paint and spilled it all over himself. Two minutes after getting him cleaned up, he peed in his pants. And, approximately two minutes after changing him into new shorts and undies, he pooped in his pants. So, it was a super-productive day. But, I must admit, there was an abundance of peace and quiet, so I can't complain too much!

"Where undies doe?" And other mysteries

Did you all hear my head explode this morning when I momentarily turned into Rumpelstiltskin, when he found out the queen had tricked him? No? Good; but it's only because you weren't listening. So, here's the story:

Various kids were set in motion on various school subjects. I was helping those who needed help, as they needed it, and things were running fairly smoothly. Then, around 10:00, Clay pooped in his pants. How it's possible for him to go nearly all day dry and clean, when he's wearing a pull-up, but to poop in his undies at the first opportunity, is a mystery to me. But it happens. Every. Single. Time. So, I shooed him off to the bathroom and followed on his heels to provide the necessary assistance. The minute I stood him in the bathtub and pulled his soiled shorts and undies down, all h*ll broke loose in the school room. I left Clay standing in the tub and poked my head out the bathroom door to see what all the ruckus was about. A brief, but serious, conversation with Weston ensued, and when I turned around, Clay had climbed out of the tub, peed on the floor and further spread the filth around. I plopped him back in the tub, gave him the quickest, but most thorough, bath of his life and plunked the foul undies in the toilet for rinsing. But, the issue in the school room was not resolved, so, I left the now clean monster standing on the bathmat wrapped in a towel and called Ruth over for a conversation that turned out to be rather tense and lasted for several minutes. My brilliant parental lecture was stopped short by the whooshing sound behind me, followed immediately by the most sincere and confused question I ever heard:  "Where undies doe?" To quote Ray Stevens, "I turned around, and, a son-of-a-gun, they's gone!" That child FLUSHED his underwear. I am expecting a major septic backup sometime soon. And, I'll just say, for the record, that I have been rinsing poopy undies in the toilet for a whole lot of years, and this was a completely new experience for me. It was then, with my emotions already high, from preceding events, that I turned into Rumpelstiltskin. Which caused Ruth to chuckle and took the zip right out of my lecture. Everyone got back to work, without further incident, and it was business as usual, until lunchtime, at which point another mystery unfolded: the toddler who wouldn't touch his burger at Wendy's last night, ravenously ate his weight in stir-fried carrots and cabbage. And, then, pooped in his pants...

This Week:

• Ruth was off at "Nana Camp," getting manicures and pedicures, watching movies, going ice skating, playing at the water park, and shop-shop-shopping.
• Our ice machine developed a leak, which will hopefully be repaired next week.
• We attended an event for youth football players, where Weston and Max got their equipment for the upcoming season and also got to run around on the high school football field.
• We acquired a very cute and not-so-friendly kitten, who I have cajoled and chased and tried to keep alive at least long enough for Ruth to get to see it. (I was successful on that last item, by the way).

• Our resident barber (Jeff) gave all the boys great summer haircuts.
• It rained buckets! Glorious, beautiful, much-needed rain. In July. In Texas. It felt like a miracle.
• With the rain, we have also been enjoying temps in the upper 80s. Another Texas July miracle.
• The boys and I attended a three-day CC practicum (basically a homeschool pep rally), where the boys attended camps, and I did everything from getting participants registered to giving the welcome speech to facilitating training courses for some of this year's tutors. It was super-fun and utterly exhausting.
• We attended a dinner party with Jeff's parents and their good friends from Hawaii.
• I hosted a dinner party for all the directors attending the parent practicum.
• Our beautiful new niece/cousin, Victoria Pearl Watts, arrived safely in the world. 

• Clay spent a day seriously contemplating giving up potty training completely.
• I spent a lot of time preparing for the close of CC registration (tomorrow) for this school year by answering a ton of questions, collecting paperwork and tuition and entering everyone's pertinent information in the right places on the computer. 
• Clay got a cool pair of cowboy boots (hand-me-downs from his younger cousin), which he absolutely loves!

• Ruth and I attended her CC Challenge Orientation. We just can't believe it's only a month until classes start!
• I dropped off two huge bags of giveaway items produced by the collaborative closet culling efforts of Jeff and myself.
• I accidentally spilled the contents of my wallet and found the dry cleaning ticket for some things I dropped off a month ago. Fortunately, the cleaners still had the items, and I was able to pick them up. 
• The big boys had pre-football physicals done. 
• We got our house in Austin listed for sale.
• I displayed one of my greater acts of insanity by taking all four kids with me for six hours of errand running and school clothes shopping. 

When the Watts go to town

We had to go in to Marble Falls today for a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician regarding Max's ear infection that just won't end. Clay (in his new big boy undies) came with us, because he is a major deterrent for getting anything productive done, which was an activity Jeff needed to engage in this morning. While waiting for the doc to call us back, I noticed a funky smell coming from the direction of the toddler. Obviously, since I had just bragged on him in the post yesterday, he had to prove me wrong. So, I gathered him up and headed to the van for wipes, pull-ups and new clothes. (This incident comes on the heels of yesterday's outing to the pool, when Max was blindsided with a bout of unstoppable diarrhea that coated his swimsuit, but thankfully in the confines of the bathroom instead of out in the pool). Back in the doctor's office, we found out Max still has a pretty yucky infection, so another round (but a different version) of antibiotics was ordered.

While waiting on the prescription, we visited a few shoe stores, in the hopes of finding me a pair of decent summery black dress shoes to wear to two funerals tomorrow. I didn't find anything I liked in the first couple of stores. And, then it was time to pick up the prescription at HEB. We paid for it and were headed out the door on our way to one final shoe store, when the now-diapered two-year-old declared his need to go potty. Because, of course. As I bent to help him take care of his business, the strap on my flip-flop snapped, and I fell off the small heel and twisted my ankle. So, we made our harried way over to the cheap plastic, oddly bejeweled selection of summer sandals in the "Seasonal Department" of the store, where we ran in to someone we knew. Because, of course. And, then, with a brief stop at the trash can to ditch the old shoes and tags from the new ones, we were on our way. (And, in case you're wondering, I did find a decent pair of black shoes at the last store we visited).

To get to our house from Marble Falls, we must pass over the bridge that spans the lake. There is really no other way to get here. I don't know if there was an accident or what, but traffic seemed to shut down just as we pulled on to the bridge. We sat there for a full fifteen minutes, which seemed much longer due to the repeated requests for food from the back seat from children who had been pushed well past their normal lunch time. And, sitting there, it suddenly dawned on me that one of the things I was supposed to do in town was to go to the bank. But, I had plenty of time to reconcile myself to the fact that it just wasn't going to happen today.

What can I say? We are a fun time waiting to happen. Come to think of it, there may be a reason we have arranged our lives so that we are home most of the time.

So, this is happening

A little over eleven years ago, we diapered the first tiny Watts' bottom. Except for a few brief stints of having someone potty trained before someone else came along, we've been a continuous diapering machine for all those years. (Oh, what I wouldn't have given for a diapering machine!) But, as you can see, those days are almost over! (Can I get an "Amen?!") Clay has been sporting the smallest-size-availabe-but-still-fairly-huge-for-his-tiny-bum big boy undies this week during waking hours, and even out in public, and has not had any accidents. I feel as if I am about to be released from so many years of indentured servitude. I'm thinking there will be a party. 

Wee Success

For the past couple of months, Max has been getting used to the idea of the potty. He has sat on it from time to time, but has never done anything more. (And, he is very particular about which potty he sits on, too. He will have nothing to do with the free-standing model, and will only use the "big boy" seat that fits onto the regular potty). Well, today he finally did more than just sit (very little more, but progress is progress), and he did it four times!! I can see a light at the end of the diapering tunnel! The first time he was successful, he had no idea what I was getting so worked up about. But after he received a treat, he was wise to the game...almost. He would then tell me he needed to go potty and expected to get a treat every time, even if he didn't produce results. And his brother was looking for a way to get in on the treat business as well. Every time Max was successful, Weston starting trying to come up with impressive things to do himself, in the hopes of also gaining a treat. We don't expect Max to master his new skill right away, but we are very proud of him for this grand accomplishment!

Upside down and backwards

That's the price of independence. I'm talking about underwear and pants here. (And I won't fill you in on the other details). Why Weston feels that he needs to completely disrobe in the bathroom is another issue altogether.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Pants

Every other month or so we do what we call "The Big Shopping Trip" at Costco. Today was that day. The boys were with me, of course, and they were doing great. We got down to just about five more items on the list, when Weston announced that he needed to go potty. I waffled momentarily between finishing the shopping and getting home for his nap or actually trying to go forward with this potty training business. The latter choice won out. So, I found a parking place for the over-flowing shopping cart, unloaded both kids and headed off to the bathroom. As we entered the stall, I realized that what Weston meant by "I need to go potty" was actually "I just went potty," for his jeans were wet in all the right places. Of course, I had no extra clothes, and he staunchly refused to put back on the wet pants. So, finally I gave in and took him back out in the store with no pants--just his wild fish-patterned shirt, a Cars pull-up, white athletic socks and his new brown tennis shoes. It was a sight to behold, and I wish I had thought to take a picture. He was perfectly happy with his new situation, and I was thoroughly amused with his chubby little white legs swinging freely from the shopping cart. Who needs pants, anyway?!

Back In Mommyland

Well, it was back to my real job today--complete with one sick child, one cranky child, a sink overflowing with dirty dishes, a house that looks like a bomb went off, bills to pay, a few *episodes* (I honestly didn't know there was poop in the pull-up when I pulled it off with a flourish in an attempt to get the little man on the potty quickly), and all the other things that make this truly a one-of-a-kind job. Wouldn't trade it for anything!

I Haven't Slipped Off The Face Of The Earth, I Promise.

So sorry I've been out of touch lately. Nothing's wrong, but thanks to those who have expressed concern. Body Dulce has been in full production mode in the last week, getting ready for this little trade show tomorrow and the next day and filling some big orders as well. I have been up to my elbows in sugar scrub (literally), not to mention all the other stuff that goes along with selling that I never even thought about before. I've pretty much been at it from early morning until late night every day, and by the time it's time to sit down and blog, I usually vote for bed instead. Here are some highlights from this past week:

• Jeff had a birthday.
• We all got to go to an assembly at Ruth's school on Friday where Ruth was recognized, along with other kids from every grade, for her Jaguar Pride Award.
• Weston is doing a great job with the potty. His whole calendar is covered with stars!
• We went to Houston on Saturday for a little overnight trip. We decided to experiment with Weston in a big boy bed. I ended up being his bed partner, and I can say without a doubt that I don't want to do that again any time soon.
• Today is Weston's first day of swim lessons.

I will try to be a little more connected after the trade show is over. I'll be back Wednesday night. Wish me luck!

Fun Day

Here are some of the highlights of the day:

• Around noon, my parents and grandparents came over for a visit.
• On the way to and from her Portuguese class, Ruth finished her ninth (and final) book for this new poster--without anyone even looking over her shoulder. Many of the books she read for this poster were second and third grade level books.
• As a reward for completing the poster, and after giving her book report to a room full of eager relatives, Ruth chose a trip to Amy's for ice cream (Mexican vanilla with candy corns crushed in, anyone?) and some play time with the cows.
• Granny and I looked through Weston's scrapbook and remembered him as a little baby. (Is he really almost two-years-old)?!
• Weston got to add four stars to his calendar! (That's four successful trips to the potty, for those of you not familiar with our star system)!
• We had chili and cornbread for dinner. (Yay, Fall)!
• We had a little early birthday celebration for Jeff, complete with chocolate cake.
• The kids left with my parents and grandparents, and Jeff and I got to have an impromptu date night. We made our first trip over to The Domain (a new fancy-smancy shopping area here in Austin), perused the bookstore and enjoyed each other's company along with some Chai Lattes.

All-in-all a really wonderful day!

Clothes To Make A Man

We added a very important element to Weston's wardrobe today. It's big-boy underwear! He's getting pretty good at going to the potty and telling us when he needs to go, so we thought we'd step it up another notch. He's definitely not ready for the underwear full-time, but we're going to use them occasionally just to get used to the idea. Weston was absolutely thrilled when I presented him with 2 packages of big-boy underwear this afternoon. He was further thrilled to get to put on a pair and play on the deck for a while in his all-togethers. (And Ruth thought the whole process was hilarious). I wanted to put a picture here of Weston modeling the new undies--because his little tushie is just so cute--but Daddy isn't a big fan of pics like that, so we went with a more generic picture. But, trust me, that little bum is too, too cute in those cutie little undies. We're proud of our little man and hope to see him fully embrace the big-boyness that comes along with the addition to his wardrobe.