The Three P's: Priesthood, Primary, and Potty Training

So, now that the girls are back in school I decided that this week was the week I would potty train Kate. For anyone who has ever done this before, you know what an emotional event this can be. Luckily, I was prepared. Natalie had let me borrow this book called "Potty Training in less than a Day" or something like that and it had worked for Lise like a charm, so I was ready to try again. I had out the doll that Kate would need to potty train, snacks, drinks, panties, and towels. Kate loved the whole thing and was all over it - hooray! It worked. The highlight of the training was Kate's first time pooping in the toilet. I'll give it to you in Kate's own words. "Mama, it's a huge one! I got a sea horse in my bum." Apparently we spent a little too much time looking at the sea horses at the aquarium last week.

So, hooray for Kate, the potty trained little girl! The only accidents Kate has had have been when we had friends over to play. There's just one thing: Kate is just a little too independent. She doesn't want help with anything! She'll take herself to the bathroom without being told or without telling anyone else, which is great, but after a couple of days she decided that she could dump the bucket from her little kid potty into the toilet by herself - without telling anyone. So yeah, Kate is about 75% potty trained (not overnight or during naps yet), but I've ended up cleaning up all these potty messes from Kate not quite pulling her panties down far enough before she sits down, not pouring the potty into the toilet quite right, or spilling along the way (the baby toilet is currently in the kitchen). And if you ask me, cleaning up the mess is the worst part of potty training. You know how most kids come ask for help when they can't do something? Well here's Kate's approach. She'll come up to me with her shoes or a barbie that needs to be dressed or whatever and say, "I couldn't do it myself. Sorry, mom."

Earlier this week was Chris' birthday. What an awesome guy! I am so grateful I married him and for the life we've had together (and apart). He is someone who is always striving to improve himself and excel. He cares very much about his family and works very hard to make sure we are taken care of. He also makes spending time with us a priority, no matter how many other things he's got going on. He honors his Priesthood and he is my best friend. Hang it all, I just love him! The fam took him out to dinner to Outback, his choice, and for family home evening I gave the girls a quiz to see how much they knew about their dad when he was a kid. I asked the girls if Chris had a pet when he was younger and what its name was. Analise said, "It was a cat named Lucifer." Chris' dislike for cats has made somewhat of an impression on our children. :)

And for a couple more quotes of the week. I picked Lise up from school one day and she had a paper bag frog puppet. I said, "Lise did you learn about frogs today?" She said, "We don't learn about anything in school."

The girls were painting with watercolors one day and all the water was gone in Kate's bowl. I asked, "Kate, did you spill your water?" to which she replied, "I drink it." Gross! Luckily Crayola is non-toxic and I've given up on worrying about all the things that kid puts in her mouth. Who knows what color her poop's going to be this week . . .

And finally, Chris and I should be sustained in our callings today when we go to church. Chris has been called to be the Scout Master, and I have been called to be the Primary President (over all the children in our ward 18 months - 12 years old). WHAT?!? Totally didn't see that one coming. I think I had the deer in the headlights look. I have been a little overwhelmed this week trying to figure out counselors since I don't know the ward or the children very well. I'm going to meet with the current president today after church and I'm sure I'll be even more overwhelmed then. :) But Heavenly Father will help me. I hope that I can serve and love those children in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Keepin' It Real, Back to School, and Service

Okay, so I realized that in our excitement to be in Monterey, I have only been blogging about all the fun, exciting stuff we have been doing over here. But be not deceived, we are still the same O'Gwin crew we always were, and Kate, of course, has not let me forget it. In the past few weeks she has spilled 3/4 bottle of Windex all over the floor and sat in it, pooped in the tub, and tried to stick Chris' finger up her nose to pick it for her. When Chris told her she was a punk she said, "I not a punk. I a punkin!" She's also gone around telling everyone, "I in charge!" with a stern look on her face. Now, would my angel ever do something like that?!?

Of course, we did spend the last couple of weeks before school started doing some fun stuff too. We bought the year pass to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and went to see about 1/4 of it. On this excursion we saw the Sea Horses (the baby ones were so cute!) and the Sea Otters. Lots of fun.

We also went with Playgroup to the oldest working Light house on the Pacific coast. It was neat to tour inside the light house and the view of the ocean was breath taking.

We also went to some tide pools where the kids could wade around and found tons of hermit crabs and a few real crabs. Totally cool.

Going back to the "keepin' it real" thing. I have realized that even though we may be in paradise, we cannot live in vacation mode. We still have our day to day responsibilities. Therefore, the rest of our time has been consumed with dentist appointments, keeping our garden alive, laundry, chores, exercising, and cooking. We have been busy, busy, but with a lot of good things, so all is well.

Here are Aly and Analise on their first day of school. They have been in school for one week and it has been awesome! I love that we can walk to school in five minutes (after the 20 minutes it takes for us to get ready to get out the door), I love that I got the teachers I wanted (Analise's teacher's name is Mrs. Shugars, isn't that just perfect for a Kindergarten teacher?!?), and I love that they each have 3 kids from their primary classes in their school classes so they have some friends already and feel comfortable in their classes. I know that everyone has been freaking out about all the budget cuts because California is bankrupt, and yes there are some issues: bus drivers and janitors have been let go, the music, art, computer, and PE teachers are only around because the PTA pays for them, all field trips have been cancelled, and classroom sizes are now 27 for kindergarten and 33 for all other grades with no aides, to name a few. But the atmosphere at the school is so relaxed and fun, where the teachers actually seem to like the kids, as opposed to the "children should be seen not heard" and total sterness that seemed to plague the Louisiana schools. Also, parents seem totally welcome and in partnership with the parents and making it a good experience for everyone. Anyhoo, I just love back to school. I absolutely loved school when I was younger and I get so excited for my girls to have similar experiences. Yeah, I know I'm weird, but the smell of new school supplies just makes me giddy. :)
And finally, about a week ago, Chris and I were able to attend the Oakland temple. It was an awesome experience and it made me stop and ponder about the nature of service. Chris and I had been asked to give a lady in a wheel chair a ride up to the temple. She was really nice and it was great to get to know her. It should also be mentioned that I have been suffering from a nasty cough for the past couple of weeks (I am so sick of being sick!). So anyway, we were sitting in the middle of the session and I started having a major coughing fit. The matrons in the temple had to get me a glass of water just to help me out even though I had taken cough medicine and was eating cough drops like candy. I was sitting there thinking, "great! Here I am supposed to be helping this lady, and the temple workers are having to take care of me!" But then it made me realize how we all really do need each other. Sure, I was doing a service to help out a sister in my ward, but she was also doing a service for someone by working in the temple. And as much as I thought I could do to serve, I still needed the help of others. I realized that no matter who we are or what our abilities or needs are, we all have something to give and we all can benefit from the service of others. I love the temple and how the Spirit teaches while we are there!