The Joys of Potty Training

For the past 6 days, my days have been timed out in 20 minute intervals.  My goal is to try to get at least one thing done before the timer goes off, and I need to take Kaitlyn to the potty.  If I don't hear the timer go off, I hear Zachary yelling at me "Mommy!!!! Pee Pee Time!!!"   I am amazed at how long it takes me to do anything.  My major questions these past days are......Why, oh why, is dinner ready 5 minutes before potty time?  Why does she pee on the floor 3 minutes before the timer goes off?  And why does her Grandma have to step in the poop as Kaitlyn is standing there saying "POO POO!!! POO POO!!"?  (and of course this is 2 minutes after I took her to the potty). 

Okay, so why am I doing this now?  I have been seeing the signs that Kaitlyn has been ready to start potty training.  So why not start when we are home for several days because I am trying to complete long list of  cleaning projects and get ready for Thanksgiving?  Hahahah, the silly mommy logic!   

How cute is this? 

She likes to sit sideways for some reason. 

Zachary keeping Kaitlyn company.

 I honestly wasn't too eager to start potty training since she just turned 18 months, but she had other ideas. I finally went to the store to buy panties 2 days into training.  She is doing great!  I'm surprised  at how fast she is getting into the routine.  We have experienced some unfortunate and memorable accidents, but all I can do is laugh, though I'm not sure if it's a laugh out of humor or insanity. 

Even though I am on the a bit frazzled through all this, I am soooo very proud of my little lady. 

Being Thankful

I have seen different ideas on helping preschoolers with the concept of being thankful.  We have been doing many crafts, but this was a keeper of a craft that we will be doing year after year.  I made different color leaves and we each picked a color.  Each leaf has something that we each are thankful for.  I love that

Zachary helped with Kaitlyn's leaves and he did really good on coming up with what they each are thankful for.  We did this in one night, but next year it will be a month long project.  I like the idea of each of us doing one leaf per night.  It not only helps the kids to learn about being thankful, but it also helps me to be more thankful for all my blessing too.

Here are the other crafts we did to prepare for Thanksgiving.  All were so much fun, I'm not sure what would be my favorite.



This was a fun center piece to make and Zachary is so proud that he made a decoration for the Thanksgiving table



I love any craft using hand prints.  I did this last year, and had to do it again.

this was a good craft that includes some good cutting practice.  It turned out so cute.

Halloween Celebrations

This past week is blur, oh but what fun we all had celebrating Halloween, though we got a bit burnt out by the end.

It started with a fun pumpkin painting play date. What fun we had with all our friends.

Then our Tuesday class had a Halloween parade and fun snack time. What I learned in school today was that tons of sugar before nap time doesn’t bode well for sleep.

Wednesday was a big day at our house as we hosted our preschool co-op. Amazing how we tried to keep it small, but with 6 preschoolers and 6 toddlers, all of a sudden, it is quite a group. The kids did great and it was so much fun to see their inquisitive little faces. And what could be more fun, than to go to school with all your best friends? Zachary was soooo excited, he could hardly stand himself.

Thursday was another fun play date with some craft time.  (Sorry, no photos for this day)

And Friday turned out to be a wonderful family day at Irvine Regional Park’s pumpkin patch. The day started out by Zachary having a fit that he wasn’t seeing his friends today and that he didn’t want to spend it with his family. (Boy didn’t know that started so soon!) But once we got there, we all had such a fun day. Days like this are what makes me so very grateful for my life. These kids are what makes the struggles of life worth it. One thing that made the day so special and fun was that both kids experienced their first pony ride.

Saturday was finally a stay at home day that was oh so needed!! The day didn’t turn out as it was planned. But in the end, it was a much needed day of rest. (Again no photos.)

And now we finally made it to Halloween!!!!!  We started the day off with carving pumpkins.

Zachary could hardly wait until we could go out trick or treating. He didn’t think it was ever going to get dark outside so we could go. Kaitlyn really didn’t care for the whole thing. All she wanted to do was eat the candy as she went. When she discovered that wasn’t going to happen, she complained the rest of the way.

It was really such a fun week.  Now Zachary asks to go Trick or Treating every day.