fun day

Sometimes it can be hard to plan things on Saturday. Chad often has meetings, and we try to get certain chores done before Sunday. Yesterday, Chad was all ours, so we opted out of chores. We went to Target that morning where they were doing Dr. Seuss readings. We stayed for three or four books. They kids played the ring toss, had soda and cup cakes, and all three left with a Dr. Seuss bag of goodies. In case you can't tell they are all wearing the Lorax mustaches from their bags. Thank you Target for an hour of free fun things to do together! Aimee went to a birthday party that afternoon, so me and my boys went to the Married 2 Medicine family bowling day. Aimee is at an age where she often has parties, primary or school things happening. Being able to take Porter for a fun afternoon thing while Aimee partied was great. There were no bumpers or ball slides, so I think he ended up with a score of about 18. We made Chinese for dinner, and had a late bedtime. Maybe not a big news day, but it was one that at the end, Chad and I were feeling pretty blessed.

winter arrives

This winter has been absolutely blissful! It was warm enough to play outside with only a jacket until after Thanksgiving, and then even though it was cold, the typical bone chilling Omaha winter was basically non-existent. Until two weeks ago. Although we had hear that a storm was coming, it was hard to believe. Just five days before it came it hit 70 degrees, and was in the 60's until the day before the rain, turned snow, began to fall. We woke up Saturday morning to about eight inches of heavy, wet snow. When I went to get Aimee and Porter that morning, you would have thought it was Christmas. They were so excited to finally get to put their boots to work playing. It took a good twenty-five minutes to get everybody ready to go outside. Partly because they were so excited, and partly because some of our winter clothes were a little difficult to track down since putting them away last winter. I knew Pratt wouldn't last two minutes outside, so I stayed inside. I was pretty bummed though. Although I am well known for my dislike of being cold, I have some great memories of playing in the snow, and am willing to bundle up for the sake of fun. Plus, Chad didn't have any commitments this Saturday, and I didn't want him to miss this golden opportunity. Instead, I got got the hot chocolate ready. It was a good thing too, because Porter only lasted about ten minutes, and that was at least five minutes longer than he wanted to be outside. Aimee lasted a lot longer, and helped her dad get a good start on our big snowman and completed a small snow family on our porch swing. With the snow still falling though, everyone took a break. By the time I got back from a thing I had that morning, it was time for lunch and naps. With both of the boys sleeping, and the snow finally stopping (totalling 10-12 inches) Aimee, Chad and I all headed out for round two. Aimee and I rolled a ball for our snow man that we had to get a neighbors help to get it stacked on the existing ball. Our neighbors four doors down had built a pretty good snowman, and Chad refused to be out done. By that time Aimee was ready for something else though. While Chad "selflessly" continued working on our snowman, the girls headed over to the hill at the top of the playground to do some sledding. I got my workout in by sledding down, and pulling Aimee on the sled up the back up the hill a good twenty times. I admit I tired out of that one before she did. We made snow angels, went for a jog, and by jog I mean me jogging in snow clothes while pulling Aimee on a sled (and yes I did sing the Rocky theme song while I jogged), and checked the snowman progress. We went back for round two of sledding and continued until I knew I better get in the house before the boys woke up. Chad spent another hour or so packing snow, and eventually carving a snowman. He ended up being about eight feet tall and four feet wide. This picture was taken a couple of days later, but still almost shows how big he was. I think he will definitely be the last snowman standing. It was a fun day, but I think it was more fun for me and Chad than the kiddos. We decided that all of our best snow memories came when we were much older. Maybe in a few years these kinds of days will be a little more exciting to them.

potty training porter

I had been dreading it for a long time. I was even a tiny bit glad that the possibility of knee surgery would delay the inevitable. As it turned out however, I wasn't that lucky. So I prepared for the worst. I stocked up on Christmas clearance candy and hoped for the best. Day one we basically spent in the bathroom with Porter wearing just a shirt and under roo's. We watched movies on my laptop, and ate chips and juice (salt to initiate thirst, and juice to cause the need to, well, pee). We had some successes and some failures, but overall it was a pretty good day. It had to be because Porter looked so darn cute in his little man underwear! Day two we branched out to the main floor. It was one of those days that I was so grateful to have wood floors. Actually it wasn't that bad. Again there were some wins and loses, but ultimately there was big progress. In fact, Porter did a little too well. He would tell me he needed to go to the bathroom, go about 5 drops and want his treat. The little trickster. Well, I thought he was a trickster, but I can admit when I am wrong (sometimes). He just was learning bladder control. Once we established that to have a "big pee" and get a big treat (a Hershey's kiss instead of just an M&M) you had to have a stream with pressure, there was joy in the Williams house hold! It took a few more days to get number two under control with much more limited opportunities. But in the end, it was a victory. I had heard that little boys were much harder. With the exception of getting him to sit and aim I disagree. It was a lot easier than I had expected, and I am glad to be done!