Just so you know that I haven't passed away (yet)...

This is just a quick "hey there!" to let you know that I am still around.

I haven't been willing or able to blog lately because:

* I started potty training Asher a little over two weeks ago and so my conversation is limited to "Do you have to go potty?" I'm sure that that is all any post would have been about at the beginning. As a matter of fact, we all had potty-on-the-brain so much that if Asher wasn't on the potty, Nat. and I were.

* I got the flu. From where I don't know but it kicked my butt!!!!! I had two days of 102/103 fevers. Two nights without sleep. Killer head aches, body aches and stomach aches. So bad I had to beg my husband to stay home and watch the kids. All this started two days after starting to potty train poor Asher. Oy! the timing!!! Anyway, it has been two weeks and one day since the first fever and I am finally on the mend. I still feel really wiped out but I am also ready to get on with my life! During all of this I just didn't have any desire to get on the computer. Thus the silence.

* Because of the above nightmare, I feel and know that my home and family have been sorely neglected. So, each day I've been trying to do a little catch up and get back to feeling 'normal'. The computer, again, was not much of a priority.

* Other things preoccupying my time: a luscious, voluptuous, vegetable garden, starved-for-attention, young chickens, random 'accidents' to mop up, an ever-looming, fast-approaching craft show the beginning of August. And strawberries. We picked 21 lbs. (WHAT!!!) on Sunday and I have been (will be) processing strawberries ever since.

* I didn't do too much sewing while I was sick, the headaches kept any desire to concentrate, or even think, at bay. However, the needle is threaded and these nimble (ha!) fingers are stitching away. I'll post some of my progress soon.

That is the long and the short of it! I'm going to do some reading with Nat. now. Enjoy your Tuesday and I promise I will post again soon!

Combat Potty Training

Me: Asher, do you have to go potty?

Asher: Yeah.

Me: Run to the potty, Asher. Run to the potty.

Nathanael: Hold your fire! Hold your fire!

I'm just sayin'...

Me: Take your finger out of your nose and look where you're going.

Asher: 'kay!

Me: Sigh.....

School's Out (Almost) For Summer...

I was telling Nathanael the different songs we'd sing on the bus during the last week, and especially last day, of school. Alice Cooper's very appropriate song, 'School's Out', was one of them. Nathanael likes Alice Cooper. (What???) We have a dvd collection of the Muppet Show and he loves the Halloween ep. with Alice Cooper as the guest star. He makes me play it for him over and over again. Now he wants to meet Alice Cooper. Nathanael was asking me last night if I thought he (Alice) was nice. Like I've met him! Actually, I bet he is a very nice man. Right?

So, back to the last week of school. Yea! Um? Uh? Yea?

I have mixed feelings. I'm excited to have my baby back home- I miss him when he is at school. I'll also be very glad to not have to pick him up from school every afternoon. There will be a change to Asher's and my routines- that's what I don't look forward to. It takes a looooong time to get a successful routine working with a two year old (surprising, huh?). So things/people are going to have to adjust a bit. We can do it! Right?

I'm going to begin the summer by potty training Asher. Yes, you read that right. And, no, I'm not suicidal. After reading a great post here, I got inspired. There is no time like the present, or the first day of summer break, to be exact! I'm waiting until school is out so that we, hopefully, will not have to go anywhere worrying about accidents, etc. Asher is coming off the diaper cold turkey, folks. (Except for sleeping.) Wish us luck, say a prayer!!!

Now for Nathanael. I am a firm believer that when school is out, it's out! Kids need the break, they need to play and, hopefully, learn some things on their own. However, I want there to be some structure to our day and I want Nathanael to carry on doing things that he does at school that he enjoys. ( Does that make sense?) Nathanael loves to write and told me he'd miss writing in his journal the most. So, Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings he'll write in a journal for about 15-20 mins. He also loves to draw, so I will have him illustrate his journal, too. I've also found some fun websites for kids that happen to be a tad educational that he can check out on rainy days.

Reading and T.V. I love, love, love T.V. I'm not ashamed of my passion for that big, beautiful, flat-screened wonder in my living room because I also love, love, love, love, love, love to read. So, in an effort to not be a hypocrite to my son and not turn his sweet brain to mush, we have struck up a deal. Every day, Nathanael has to read for one hour. Probably after lunch, while Asher naps. In return, he will get one hour of T.V. Should Nathanael find the need for more than an hour of T.V.- he'll have to read for it. He doesn't seem too horrified by our deal. We'll see.

Other rules for summer survival (on my part) are:

* Wake up, make bed, get dressed and come down to eat breakfast. (Any lolly-gagging
forfeits Mom making your breakfast for you)
* Unless your health is in jeopardy, get outside and play!!!
* No T.V. before 7 pm. (Unless it is Fox News or Regis and Kelly) ***His bedtime is normally at 8:00 but during the summer we are going to move it to 8:30 and see how that works.
* Help Mom every day (dishes, trash, laundry, watching/entertaining Asher, set table,
etc.) because you are a member of this family
* While Asher is sleeping, for the love of all that is good in this world, if you value your
freedom and my sanity, BE QUIET!!!

Okay. I think that is about it. I am truly looking forward to this summer with my boys. They can, and will, drive me batty but I love 'em!

What's your summer looking like? For ideas and inspiration go here and here and here.

Enjoy!