Here’s what’s been swimming around in my head as of late.

Potty Training:

 

 

 

 

Can I just say, “Shoot me.”?

Madeleine turned 3 in March and we have tried potty training her about four times in the last year. She doesn’t have any motivation to do it. Bribery, praise, consistency, punishment, it doesn’t matter. Nothing works. This time we’re committed. I’m sure it just makes things worse that we’ve quit before, but I kept thinking that maybe she just isn’t ready. Well, she’s ready and so am I. It’s embarrassing. It’s gross. It’s expensive. We’re done.

We started Monday night and she has had exactly THREE successes. Three. This girl can hold her bladder…for HOURS. I have to have her in my line of sight at all times or she’ll pee. This makes my day extremely boring and extremely frustrating. We can’t go anywhere. I can’t let her play on her own. I can’t do anything. How long can this possibly last???

Grass:

Getting our grass in is also very slow-going. Rob’s been working overtime at work and our evenings and weekends are always packed with other commitments. Of course, working by himself with nothing but a shovel and a wheelbarrow doesn’t exactly speed things along. This weekend he’s hoping to have all of the old layer of soil with the weeds/dead grass in it hauled to the dump. Then he needs to spread topsoil and fertilizer, till, and level. Who knows when all that will actually get done.

Then we are still undecided whether to do Hydroseed or sod. Both have advantages and disadvantages. But first we need to decide what type of grass we want and then get complete estimates.

We haven’t even started thinking about the front yard’s grass…

Family Vacation:

This is always a dilemma for me, mostly because I want to go everywhere and do everything. It’s a little harder with three very young kids, though. Actually, make that a lot harder.

We’re planning on going to Southern California next year, so this year do we want to go to southern Utah again (where it’s amazingly beautiful and peaceful), or Great Basin National Park and Lehman Caves (where the nearest decent hotel is 1 1/2 hours away. We’d have to drive back and forth each day), Jackson Hole (hotel is pricey), or just stay local and do fun stuff (Lagoon, Bear Lake, Real Soccer, Drive-In Movie). I wish we could camp because that would cut the cost down immensely, but I’m not brave enough to do that with Caroline yet. All the above options sound fun, but which one will be the MOST fun??

Brazilian Ju Jitsu:

Nate’s been asking for months to do karate. After doing some research I think Ju Jitsu would be the best choice for him. I don’t mind the monthly fee…if it were one or two installments. The problem comes if he really, really enjoys it and doesn’t want it to be a trial run. Then we have the monthly fee for years and years to come. I’m not sure our budget is ready for that kind of commitment. You know?

Well, thanks for letting me get all that stuff off my chest.