She's a Winner!

Well, way back last summer I boldly stated that we were potty training Leigh.  And then I think I didn't mention it for about 6 months.  Mainly because I stopped because it seemed to take too long and was frustrating.  But in January we began potty training, again.   And this time I was determined to see it through to the end.  It was panties or die.  Or maybe something a little less drastic.  Like cleaning poop off the floor for the rest of my life.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaanyways.  I wanted to boast to  update you all on our progress.  And I am pleased to report that Leigh seems to have 'gotten it'.  She only wears diapers at night, though that seems sporadic now since she likes to rip them off in the middle of the night.  But all day she is diaper free.  And while she still has the occasional accident, most of the time the pee and poop end up where they are supposed to go.  

And the beauty of it now?  I don't even have to give her candy for going, or even ask her if she has to go.  She just goes on her own.  She can take her potty cup and dump it in the big toilet all by herself too.  Though I usually come because I like to rinse it.  

I'm All Alone With Only Myself For Company, Somebody Help Me!

I have a few things I want to share with you but our only camera is my iPhone and I don't have the sync cord since Mark is gone for this week and took it away with him.  I know we have another one somewhere, but I don't know where it is.  So what is the point in sharing things with no pictures to go along?  It kind of makes a bland post, I think.

So instead I will whine to you all about how I have to spend 3 nights all alone (well, obviously not completely alone, since the kids will be here) while hubs is out of town working.  I admit, I cried on the phone to him.  I'm horribly whiny and mopey when I'm the one left home alone.

Yet I am totally gung-ho when it's me who gets to go somewhere.  Like last summer when I went to Chilliwack and Nanaimo for a week.  And in just two months I'll be headed back north for a quick trip before going down south to the Okanagan for my sister's wedding.  All while leaving Mark at home.  Though he will join me for the wedding.  I should probably feel sorry for him, since when I go, he is COMPLETELY alone because I take the kids with me.  At least I get a warm body to sleep with.

And what about all those families where the husband has to work on the rigs for weeks at a time?  I have it super easy compared to that.  Or military families.  Obviously God knew that I wouldn't be able to survive any kind of deployment.  I barely survive a weekend.

And you know what is the frustrating thing?  I was missing him a lot and feeling super lonely, and was glad he called before heading to bed.  And I still fight with him!  I mean, couldn't I put things aside and just let them go?  Why do we have to fight?

It's probably because I'm hungry.  I'm frantically dieting at the moment (so I can fit my dress for the wedding) and have only lost 7ish pounds since I started.  Ok, so when I write that down, it actually seems like a bit of an accomplishment.  But I think to me it doesn't count because it's 7 pounds that I regained after my last weight loss, on top of gaining back what I had lost.

But now I'm tempted to go on a rant about weight loss.  I won't subject you to that...tonight.  Tomorrow is fair game.

Good night, pray that I am able to sleep.

At Least I Got a Hot Chocolate Out of It

Yesterday's car-tastrophe (hehehe, I hate/love this kind of play on words), I know you all are waiting in impatient anxiety to hear my tale of woe.  Or you have completely forgotten my promise of telling you this tale and are busy doing more important things like clipping your toe nails.  Which reminds me, Leigh really needs a nail clip, toes and fingers.  She's quite dangerous.

So, yesterday I headed out of town to drop my daughter off at a friend's house.  It was my parent duty day at Abby's preschool.  Just after dropping Leigh off, I noticed that my heat vents were throwing out cold air.  I thought it was odd and annoying but shut it off and didn't think too much further.  But then I noticed that little light on my dash that said "Check Gages."  I thought Crap!

And then I looked at my gages and said Crap! again.  Because the temperature in my engine was close to the red line, AGAIN.  See, last summer we had problems with our water pump that caused all our coolant to leak out and the engine to overheat.  And it always seemed to overheat when I was driving.  Fixed that in the fall, and life was fine and dandy (well, in the vehicle department anyways).

And then just a couple weeks ago, I came out of the grocery store and saw a big puddle of neon coloured liquid under the truck again.  Flashbacks of last summer haunted me and I was praying that my hubs wouldn't blow a gasket when I got home and told him the news.  It turns out the plug was loose, and once he tightened it, it was fine.  Or so we thought.  Until yesterday happened.

So I noticed the over-heating situation, and pulled over.  I was only about 5 minutes from my friend's place.  Still out of town, so not like I could walk there or home or anything.  I called my hubby who said he was on his way, once he stopped to pick up a new plug, since that's what we figured the leak was from.  The downside of this is that he was also working out of town, but on the OTHER side, so he didn't come for about 40-45 minutes.

Abby and I just hung out, in a turned off truck.  At least it wasn't anything like -20, maybe only -10ish.  I had her sit with me because my legs were cold.  Haha, and to keep her warm too.  Thankfully we had cell service so we watched some You Tube videos to pass the time.  But despite the service, I couldn't get a hold of the nursery school because their number isn't listed.

Anyways, that's the gist of it.  I didn't make it home until 10:30 (I left the house that morning at 8).

But so I don't leave you all depressed about our vehicle situation (Ok, maybe it's just me) here is a conversation with Abby.

Me: It's supper time now.

Abby: Soup?

Me: No, we're having chicken and rice.

Abby: I don't want chicken.

Me: Yes you do, you love chicken.

Abby: No!  No Chicken!

*I take the chicken out of the oven and put it on top of the stove.*

Abby: What's that?

Me: Chicken.

Abby: I have some? (said very hopefully)

Me: Yes, you may have some chicken.

Who Doesn't Have Children Just to Get a Higher Score?

Some days I still feel like a petty, competitive high schooler.  Because of the fact that I still feel like life is a competition and I have to try to "be better" or ahead of others.  I've said before that I compare myself to others even though I know I shouldn't.  And I am definitely working on that with God too.  But obviously the journey is still closer to the beginning than the end of my responses to the news of others having babies, for instance.

Yay for babies!  I'm glad for my friends who are having more.  But it gives me some frustrating feelings.  One, Baby Fever!!!!!!  Oh my goodness, all these babies and talk of babies and what not, I just need one!  2 1/2 years old is no longer baby enough.  And two, the competition thing.

I have a Facebook friend who was married the same year as me, and also has two kids like me, just a little younger than my girls.  She just announced that she is having another baby this summer.  And then she will beat me.

Isn't it pathetic that that was me first thought when I read the news?  That she will beat me?  Just because she will have three kids before me, doesn't mean she's better.  It doesn't make me less.  Yet this is what I feel, with her news and others as well.

My good friend here in town has a daughter who is almost 8 now.  And I constantly feel like I'm behind in the game and will never catch up because her oldest daughter is older than mine.  (And I know what she is going to say when she reads this!  She will probably be like "Oh Erica!  That's ridiculous!"  And then she would give some good, godly encouragement.  she's so good at that.  Thanks girl!)

I need to get it through my brain!  It's not a game or competition or anything resembling that!  God knows all of us and our futures and what we need when we need it!  So stop stressing and just live my life in God's love.

Tomorrow I will share my car frustrations with you all so you can be frustrated with me!  Hahaha.

My Whole House is Now Covered in Glitter...Seriously

I am officially glittered out for today.  We just finished making some Valentine's cards.  Only 12, and I never want to see glitter again.  Or at least a day.  I was just going to make the cards for the girls' grandparents, but then Abby liked the glittering so much we just kept going so I figured these could be for her class too.  So now I need something like 20 cards.  We did 12 today.  So 8 more, plus family cards to do too.

Valentine's is a week away.  I didn't seriously realize this until a friend reminded me of this.  We're not very big holiday people around here anyways, so it's not like I have these huge Valentine's plans.  Hubs and I aren't planning on going out, mostly because it's the month with the cheque with Christmas break on it, so we don't really have the money for a babysitter plus a fancy dinner (or as fancy as you get in a small town!).

But it did remind me that I have some random thoughts floating through my head, not fully developed or anything.  I just kind of wanted to do a bit of a nice dinner at home maybe, and have a sort of "date night" or something.  But I'm not fully sure on any details or ideas of what exactly I want to do.  I'll have to check Pinterest, they have everything there! ;-)