Henry is taking a day off today so we can go to his bud Noah's 3rd birthday party. It is at the park down the street and, unfortunately, it is raining out. Ah well, it will be a good chance for him to break in the froggy boots and go out and get dirty.

It is pretty much the worst day for him to be home, though. I have some finishing touches to put on the index and Bam just got home last night, so we are supposed to have a chat about it today, then I'll have to make whatever changes we talk about. PLUS, I just got a new batch of sizes and things from some custoemrs so I am once again buried under custom orders. I had big plans to make a bunch of super cool Halloween longies, but I just don't think that I will have time. Plus, I'm not really convinced that people will spend that much money on seasonal longies. I want to make some leg and arm warmers to put up, it will be a little break from pants.

Henry's school pictures went well yesterday. He kept telling me that he was going to make a monster face, but when it came down to it, he smiled nicely. I am anxious to see how they came out. Now I can be a bona fide, minivan driving mama with a school picture in my wallet. Yay?

Okay. Since this party is in an hour and it is a potluck I should probably get around to figuring out what I am going to bring. I usually just grab hommus and chips, but the park we are going to isn't anywhere near a store. In fact, it is about a block down the street. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Finally! I ahve been trying to get in to update for a while and it kept saying "No Data" or something like that. In addition to my lack of email access while the stupid server is down and having no little kids and moms running around, I was starting to feel a little "Mama in Exhile".

They are having the insulation redone upstairs, so there is a big truck with a giant tube out front and lots of noise. It's a good thing I went to the bakery to work. I can tune out little kid noise like nobody's business, but this noise would have bothered me. I finished the rough indexing of the book! Now all I haver to do it format the index and then go back through and double check everythign and I will be done. And Bam said that I am going to get a credit in the book. How fancy am I?

Henry had a little bit of a rough morning today. He started melting down over a tiny thing (having to put pants on) and I knew he had some stress that was starting to come out sideways from all of the big changed around here. I held him and just let him cry for a little while and he pulled himself together, but it made me sad to know he has some built up feelings in there. We are going to have a big family weekend starting tonight, so hopefully a little together time and extra attention will do him good. Tonight we are all going to the AHS football game. There are plans to grill out and tailgate beforehand. I know "tailgate" in this instance means "All the men stand around and poke meat with a stick while Amy chases Henry around and makes sure he doesn't get run over by a car", but it should be fun anyway. Tomorrow we are going to Henry's friend Ava's 3rd birthday party and camping out in Old Fort. It should be a really good time. I am looking forward to spending some time with Amy and Brian (Ava's folks).

Okay. I need to be productive. I need to clean a bit and get a bunch of knitting done. Later gators.

The worst thing about not updating every day is that the intended post gets longer and longer and then I just don't feel like doing it because it is such a long post, so I put it off and the vicious cycle continues. SO this will be a nutshell post as Henry watches his before bedtime Dora.

Henry is still loving school. He pooped in his undies yesterday which set me on a path of worry that he was going to be "that kid", but he did fine today. As I was walking him up the driveway to the school he started saying "Mommy don't go away" over and over, but I stayed with him until it was his turn on the computer and then he forgot I existed once more. I went to the bakery and worked on the book for a couple of hours over a big ole cup of coffee and a raspberry chocolate chip muffin (being out of work should do wonders for my fat butt). I am through Whoopi and halfway through Dave Chappelle. Woot. Then I came home and sent an email to a principal with an opening and poked around looking for other job openings to no avail. Luckily, Liz called and gave me a reason to get to the yarn store and go to her place and get some knitting done. I am so buried underneath custom orders it isn't even funny. I picked the boys up at school (and dragged Henry off the playground much to his dismay) and we went and got dinner and went to find me some "big girl shoes" just in case I do ever manage to score and interview for a job in the near future.

Okay, it is now the next morning, since I saved that last night. I just finished creating a blog for Crankypants. We'll see how that goes. I need someone to go and post about it on diapering boards, but I'm too much of a chicken to do it myself.

I need some breakfast. And I need to work on the book. Bakery-here I come!

*sigh* For now I'm just going to post some pictures because I am on my way out for some Henry-less knitting.



Henry was not feeling photogenic this morning. He just wanted to eat his banana in peace.



Tiny man goes off on his own. Just a boy and his backpack...



Already trying to run away from his embarrassing mother.



No more pictures please, I'm going to SCHOOL!

Oh. My. God. The day has finally come. Henry is all ready and in about 2 minutes I will be taking him to his first day of preschool. *sob*

*deep breath*

Henry is going to school tomorrow.



I made little iron on nametags for his extra clothes and I have to write his name in his extra undies, cup, and other stuff. I went to the fabric store and found this:



Dora and Boots going to school fabric to make him a little pillow for naptime. I have to do that sometime today, too. I also have to copy his insurance card.

I took this awful picture of Henry on his motorcycle for my Papa's office, but by the time I could get it moved outside for a better picture Henry was done cooperating. And now it is raining outside. Pth.



I'll get a better one if the weather breaks.

We got up this morning and got all ready to go to Graveyard Fields to go on a blueberry picking adventure, but by the time we got halfway there it started pouring. Henry is kind of happy because now he gets to stay home and play with his new toys. Kyle's friend Herman moved yesterday and in addition to the 50+ Hotwheels cars he gave Henry:



He also gave him this:



Can you tell if Henry likes it or not? Hmmm...Though I think that Kyle is getting a little tired of playing cars.

The 1/2 off sale at the Wee Trade starts at noon today so I am going to try to get there right when the doors open and see if I can score some deals. Henry could still use a few more clothes. Then we have a potluck party at our friend Fyffe's house at 4. Busy day.

The Wee Trade went well last night. I walked in and saw this



Ummm...yeah. That is the Ag Center, and as you can see, it is full to the brim with kid stuff. I had a plan of attack, and since there is usually very little boy stuff, mercy was not an option. I got there about 5 minutes before Kim, whose some Elijah is also in 3T. We managed to parcel off our territory and didn't get into a catfight or anything. Actually, picturing Kim and I fighting is kind of funny. Anyway. I held to my plan and hit the clothes first, then the shoes. The I kind of fell apart. That place is so big that it is just overwhelming. I half heartedly picked through the toys looking for a Hot Wheels track, but didn't find one. Here is my haul:



3 Old Navy shirts
1 J. Seymore rugby shirt
1 pair of J. Seymore jeans
1 pair of GAP fleece pants
1 pair of generic-ish cargo pants
1 pair of Old Navy track pants
1 Old Navy hoodie
1 set of Gymboree dragon jammies
1 set of Thomas the Train jammies
1 super fly Old Navy denim jacket
1 pair like new cute shoes from Germany (hoity toity)
1 View Finder with a bunch of disks
1 Dora collapsable potty seat
1 super cool book

All for $57. Not too shabby. I think I have most of his school clothes now. *sniff sniff*

In other news, I think I am going to try to get into the school system. There is a Language Arts position open at Enka Middle School that I have a shot at lateral entry for. I also just spent all morning filling out and sending off the online application for teacher assistants in all of the surrounding school systems. That way I could work full time and possibly get benefits while still beign on Henry's school schedule. We shall see!

I need coffee.

EDITED: Wow, I really managed to screw up the formatting in this post so that the pictures are plopped right into the middle of everything. I don't know how to fix it without ahving to re-upload everything so just pretend it looks right :)


*yawn*

Good morning. Last night was the first night since sending Henry to school has become real to me that I actually slept. I got suddenly tired at about 10:30 and ran off to bed before the feeling passed. I even went to bed in the middle of an episode of The Wire since Season 3 came out yesterday. You know I'm tired when I can't stay awake for that! I woke up at about 7:15 and got out of bed before Henry. That, my friends, is a rare thing. I thought I'd come post a few of the pictures Liz took yesterday.





and of course...


As you can see, Henry and Ms. Adella had a very busy day yesterday. Playing with blocks, playing in the kitchen, coloring, scary monster dancing...it all gets very tiring. Which is why in the car on the way home, Henry insisted "I don't want a little rest! I had enough rest! I don't need a nap". *thunk* Dead silence as he fell fast asleep in the middle of rallying against napping. I think I love that kid.

He has gotten way into The Cat in the Hat. Last night as I was putting him to bed I rejoiced when I found that we also had The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. "Yay!", I said to myself. "I can read something different tonight!". Sure enough, as soon as the words "The End" came out of my mouth, Henry insisted that I follow it up with its prequel. Do you remember how long The Cat in the Hat is? Long. He is also quite enamoured with A Wocket in My Pocket which we read every time he sits on the potty. Sometimes I think he fakes having to go just so he can hear it. I think I am going to try to break into the other Suess in the stack tonight. He seems to enjoy books with very rythmic language, like Suess and The Little Fish Lost book, which doesn't rhyme, but has a very nice interesting rythm to it. I hope he is a book lover.

Today is full, once again.

We have a potluck playgroup at 11, which I still need to find some food for. I guess I will make a trip down to Earth Fair and get my customary ships and hommos. I got measurements for my last pair of longies, so I need to work on those while the bean (hopefully) naps this afternoon. I have also decided that I am going to do a clearance sale on my Hyena Cart. I have a bag full of things just sitting here, either from the beginning of summer-like the batik shirts and a couple of pairs of shorts, and some things I've had leftover from last winter. I'm going to do a sort of end of summer, get ready for winter type dealie-o. I need to take and upload pictures of everything, which needs to be done at nap as well. Unfortunately, it looks like it is going to be a grey day, so natural light might be hard to come by. I need to call Dr. Rob's office and see when they close. I am hoping that I can leave for the Wee Trade a little early and swing by to pick up that medical form. Then Wee Trade, where I will find all of the cute and practical 3T blys' clothing before anyone else. Ha! There will be 700 racks of girls' stuff and the mothers of boys will all be trying to elbow each other in the face over the 12 boys' items, as per usual. I kind of don't even care if I find a lot of good stuff (although it would be better if I did, of course). I just want the sale to be over so I can look at Henry's wardrobe and see what he still needs so I can get it before school starts.

I called a temp agency yesterday and they said I just have to come down for about a half hour to fill out paperwork and whatnot. I think I am going to take Monday and Tuesday completely off next week to tie up loose ends and get the house in order (and do co-op and see my friends for one last daytime *sniff sniff*) before plunging into the job hunt on Wednesday. Goodness knows I could use a couple of Henry-free days to myself in the house to do a major clean up in here.

I tried to call my mama yesterday, to tell her about my productive day, and the phone at my folks' house wasn't working. It was out of service or something. It suprized me how much it bothered me that I coudln't get ahold of her when I wanted to. I crossed a lot of things off of my list yesterday, including a big one (sending off my grad school application) but it was like the stress surrounding those things was still hanging around because I couldn't talk to her about it. I didn't like not being able to talk to her, but it made me feel kind of good to know that even 30 year olds still need their mama. See? Henry won't forget about me after all!

Phew! Liz took Henry for a while this morning and let me run some errands. Yay Liz! In one tiny little hour and change I got to cross several things off of my list. I dropped off all of our Wee Trade stuff and picked up my passes for tomorrow night. I dropped off Henry's medical form at Dr. Rob's office. They wouldn't just fill it out while I was there, they want me to go back and pick it up. That wouldn't be a big deal, but it is about a 25 minute drive out there. When I just got home there was a message on my machine from a few hours ago saying that it was ready for me to pick up. *sigh* I don't know whether to be impressed by their speediness or irritated that they just wouldn't let me wait for it so I didn't have to haul my butt all the way back over there to pick it up. I also got to run to the post office which means: 1. I shipped my second to last order on my customs list. 2. Auntie K should check her mail in a few days. 3. I sent in my preliminary application for grad. school. Yikes!

Poop and pee update: Henry asked Liz for help and peed and pooped TWO times at her house! Go Henry! He had some cool stickers when I went to pick him up. Little man is doing such a good job. Now we just have to work on the wiping thing.

Okay. I swore I wouldn't waste my nap break online, so I am going to go get work done. You will be happy to know that Liz took some cute pictures of the kids today so as soon as she sends them to me I'll post them. My family thanks you, Liz.

From the other side. 

I know, I know, everyone is saying "Shut up and post some pictures of Henry!". I will someday. As soon as I remember to charge the camera battery and take some pictures. I'll put it on the list.

Our daily poop/pee update:
Henry got a sticker at co-op today for peeing outside and he came home without any accidents! Woo! He also pooped on the potty TWICE since he came home. Very exciting stuff. I bought some kid friendly flushable wipes to teach him how to do it (they want him to wipe himself at preschool-hahahaha!) but we didn't have much success on that front. Ah well. Baby steps, right?

In other exciting news, I finally called the doc to see about my test results. The biopsy came back negative! Yay! No nose disfigurement for me. Phew. Now I just ahve to start wearing that spf face lotion that my mama got me. I should anyway, I am starting to see wrinkles. Pth.

I did get some things accomplished during co-op. I went to The Evil Empire (aka Walmart) and did some shopping. Henry needs 2 changes of clothes to keep at school, so I got some cheap shorts and sweatpants. I am waiting for Wee Trade before I get any other clothes for him, but he does need more elastic waistband stuff to make it easy for him to go pee without getting it all over himself. They also need a pillow and blankie to nap with, so I got him a super cool Dora blanket. We'll have to make sure to sleep with it to get a "home" feeling into it before he goes. I still need to find a pillow. I also needed to find a present for henry's friend Ava for her 3rd birthday. Her parents got Henry this Harley motorcycle that says "eat my dust" and makes all sorts of obnoxious noise for his birthday, so I needed a suitable reply. I found the Dora Big Sister TALKING Nursery set. That should do nicely. They'll get the joke, I'm not being malicious with people who won't see it coming a mile away, don't you worry.

I also went on a quest for vacuum bags. After visiting every Target-esque store in town and walking around screaming "Vaccuum Bags, vaccuum bags, my kingdom for Bissel size 7 vaccuum bags" I gave up. Then I went to get a new sponge from under the kitchen sink and found a package of Bissel size 7 vaccuum bags under there. I guess I didn't have to walk on a 1/2" thick layer of Tings and dried up Play Doh for the past week after all. I am so much happier now that I have a clean(er) carpet.

Henry is boycotting his nap today. This means that we actually got a decent lunch. Tuna fish with cherry tomatoes and artichoke hearts and a side of pasta. Yumma. Usually he is napping, so he gets by on a snack in the car and I eat whatever is lying around. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you don't have a handfull of Good 'n' Plenties and a Diet Coke for lunch! I'm even eating an apple that Henry took a bite out of and then discarded. Go me!

I think the chicken pox problem might be solved but my paranoia is going to keep me from posting about it here.

Liz has agreed to watch Henry tomorrow while I take my stuff to Wee Trade. This is a good thing, since I keep finding more stuff I want to drop off. I didn't have the stuff I needed to tag everything today (I need some clear plastic bags and had to get batteries for evil Elmo)so I horded all of the toys in our bedroom so I can tag them and get them into the car while Henry sleeps tonight. Otherwise he'll decide that all of the toys he hasn't played with in a year are his new favorites. I am starting to get ridiculously excited about the sale on Thursday. I am getting ready to make a run for the 3T racks and show no mercy. Look out.

I don't want Henry to go to school. Up until this point I have been hanging on by a thread because I thought he was only going to go for 3 days a week. Now it looks like they want him to go full time. The teacher said that if he went 3 days a week it would be really difficult for his to readjust every time he went back. *SOB* I don't want him to go full time! And I don't want to work full time! I was talking to Liz about how much it was going to suck that we weren't going to see them much anymore (she works weekends...for now...mwahahaha) but that it would be okay because he would have lots of holidays and vacations and we'd see them then. Then it hit me. HE and KYLE will have lots of holidays and vacations. I'll have to go to WORK! Wha??? Now I am torn between getting a good full time job that will give me benefits or just temping for a while so I can take time off whenever I want it. Ugh.

They also want him to get the chicken pox vaccine. I don't want him to have that. The whole thing is so incredibly assinine. Let's take a disease that is relatively harmless in childhood but seriously dangerous in later years. Let's give children temporary immunity so we don't have to take time off work to take care of them when they are mildly sick as kids and leave them completely open to getting it later in life, when it is actually life threatening. That sounds like a GREAT idea! I need to find a way around it. I may be able to use a religious expemtion letter saying we just converted, but I don't know. These are people Kyle works with, so that may not work. DAMN! I reall don't want him to have that vax. Maybe I can find some chicken pox before our 30 days are up. Now I really wish I had rubbed Henry on Auntie K's shingles...

I am actually supposed to be getting work done right now. And I am supposed to be shopping for clothes, since I have been wearing my new yoga pants every day for the past week. But I am so overwhelmed by my list that I am stuck.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Okay. It's official. I am freaking. the fuck. out. There is really no other way to put it. All of the stress of the big changes coming up has finally alit on my shoulders. And I just want to curl up in a blankie and knit some socks and watch bad tv and ignore all of the things I have to do. So, as I am nothing if not my mother's daughter, list making must commence.

1. Henry is getting ready to go to school. This means I have to:

Make an appointment with the teacher to meet her and check out the facilities.
Set up his part time schedule until he gets settled.
Fill out all of the paperwork that Kyle keeps forgetting to bring home, which might mean I need to get copies of immunizations, etc.
Buy him a new backpack.
Cry my eyes out because he is getting so damn big.
It also means that I need to...

2. Get a job. This means I have to:

Get some decent interview/work clothes.
Do a little pavement pounding.
Which brings us to...

3. Start taking classes. This means I have to:

Start studying for and eventually take the GRE.
Find out if I can lateral entry my way into the program, and if not, apply for the MAT program instead to get my basic Masters of Education and English before doing the Aster of Arts in Education for Reading.
Find 3 people to write me letters of rec.
Research and apply for financial aid.

4. Try to get into a house. This entails:

Trying to get the MHO woman to call me back.
Submitting any other needed paperwork.
Begging Progress to put Kyle's name on the bills. And if that can't happen:
Start the loan application process over with Self Help. Fun!

5. Wee Trade is coming up next week. This means I have to:

Sort and tag every item I want to sell.
Drop everything off at the Ag Center on Tuesday.
Go shopping for Henry's Fall/Winter wardrobe on Friday.
Go back for 1/2 off day Sunday.

6. I decided I am going to close the biz for a month or so while I get all of this other stuff squared away. This means I need to:

Finish all current orders.
Ship said orders.
Post a notice on the site (Hey Kirstin-help???).
Post a notice on my Hyena Cart store.
Do some in stock for Fall.
Do my Halloween longies.
Oh, and I need to re-order business cards as I am almost out.

7. I also still haven't finished indexing the book. So...

Get remaining index from Bam (should be in tonight).
Finish last part of first index.
Go through and recheck everything.
Reformat and alphabetize everything.
Enter everything into a Word Doc.
Email it off.

I also have some stuff I should sell online and some other random things to mail out to people. And I want to knit some little things for my own family. GASP! What a concept. I am already thinking about Christmas, since I know I am going to be super busy with work knitting by then.

I guess if you think you might want to talk to me sometime in the next coupld of months you should go ahead and make your appointment now. K?

Houston...we have POOP! In the POTTY! Oh happy day.

That is all.

Oh, I'm so glad you could join me for our daily installment of "Stories About Poop and Pee". I know you look forward to it as much as I do.

This morning we dropped Kyle off at school so he could get his room in order. I guess it is a disaster in there. He is even going in for a few hours tomorrow. You know it has to be bad if Kyle is going into work on a Saturday. Anyway, after a brief stop at teh drive through coffee house for a huge red eye, we went to hang out with Adella and Liz and test our friendship some more by letting Henry loose in the house in undies. The poor kid. Every 5 minutes or so he would run in and tell me he had to pee, then we'd go to the potty and he wouldn't be abel to go. He said he wanted to go back at Henry's house, then he said he couldn't pee anymore, and by the 7th or 8th time, he started yelling at his poor little penis "GO! GO! GO!". No dice. Finally, the one time I didn't jump up and run into the bathroom (of course) he leaned right over with his undies still on and peed through them into the toilet until I got in there to help him out. Luckily, I had a change of clothes, and we decided to spend the rest of the morning outside where Henry managed to pee in the grass a few times without getting himself all wet. He really didn't want to put a diaper on for the car ride home, and his carseat still smelled like yogurt ick, so I didn't fight it and let him keep him undies on even though I was afraid he was going to fall asleep and pee everywhere. He did fall asleep, and we were afraid of waking him up, so we let him nap in his undies. Lo and behold, the tiny man woke up dry as a bone! WooHoo!

Tomorrow Ms. Adella is coming over to hang out with us for a while and I am hoping the kids distract each other enough that I can finish up some shorts I'm working on. Then 2 pairs of longies (Oakland Raiders and a Swedish flag) and I am caught up. I think after that I am going to close up ship for a few weeks while we all get settled into our new routines and I can finishe up indexing the book. I also want to work on some stuff for the Fall, and a local woman who is opening a boutique asked me if she could stock a few things. Busy busy.

There hasn't been any news on the house front, which is a little disheartening. You'd think that if they had good news they'd return my calls, yes? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Okay, it's past my bedtime. Night night.

We tackled another first today...drumroll...the dentist! I was freaking out because I hate going to the dentist, and I naturally assumed that Henry would not be cooperative since he won't let me brush his teeth. In the stack of forms I had to sign there was s sheet with a list of some of the techniques they sometimes have to employ for uncooperative children. Demonstrating what they are going to do on a doll. Holding their hands. Pinning their upper body down. Rubber device to keep mouth open. Baby stright jacket (they call it a "Papoose" but that didn't fool me). As soon as we walked back from the waiting room into the back of the office we heard the unmistakable sound of a small child going absolutely apeshit. Screaming. *shudder* When they were getting their things ready I asked Henry if he remembered how I laid on the table at Dr. Rob's yesterday, and he did, so I told him he was going to do that so they could look at his teeth. He laid right down and picked out some cherry toothpaste and let the hygenist count and clean his teeth with nary a peep. He even let her floss! WTF? I've gotten kicked in the face for less! When the dentist came in, Henry laid back down and opened his mouth without even being asked!!! I think they were smart to put the balloons in the hallway on the way down to the exam rooms so they know they'll get one one the way out. I can't believe how awesome he did. I was so proud of him.

After we were done at the dentist we stopped at the grocery store to pick up our customary potluck offering of hommos and pita chips for playgroup. Henry kept complaining that he was hungry, so I got him a drinkable yogurt (which I'm sure the dentist would have love to see-it's like when I put a baseball cap on after a haircut when I was a kid) to drink on the way to the park so he wouldn't be a big grouch. He was indeed hungry. So hungry that he drank that sucker down in about 1 minute flat. All was well until the last sip, which must have gone down wrong. Henry gave a couple of tiny coughs and then...we saw all the yogurt again. All down his front. All over the carseat. In the buckles and straps. As we were getting dressed this morning I decided to take a break in the potty training and just put him in a dipe since we'd be running around all morning and I didn't want him to pee in the carseat. This? SO much worse than pee. I made a pitstop at home and cleaned it up as best I could without taking it out and changed the little man's clothes. Then back into teh car and off to the park. Did I mention that it's like 90 degrees here? Not the best situation for regurgitated dairy products on car seats. I can't take the seat out and wash it until after we pick up Kyle from work so it has time to dry out. So gross.

I need to go find some chocolate.

I bet you wish you were as cool as me. 

I finally bit the bullet and went to see the doctor about my weird nose bump this afternoon. I have been putting it off because, well, to be honest, our doctor is a hottie and last time I went it was for a bald patch, now a nose bump...it's just embarassing. I was also afraid he would say "It's a pimple you freakish hypocondriac, get over it!". He didn't say that. I kinda wish he would have said that. He said he didn't like the way that it looked. He then stuck a needle into the side of my nose (which he said wouldn't hurt any more than a bee sting-big fat liar) and cut the bump off with a razor blade type thing while Henry kept saying "Mama, he cut your nose off? He cut it off?". He put the bump into a little cup full of clear liquid and is sending it off to the pathology lab to find out if it is skin cancer. We should know Monday. If it is skin cancer, I'll have to go get the skin around the bump cut out to make sure they get it all and then, in theory, I should be fine. Scarred for life, but fine. No big deal, right? RIGHT? There is also a good chance it could be just a non-cancerous skin abnormality in which case we'd just have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't come back. I can't touch the area where the bump used to be, and am supposed to try to keep it super clean, so I am sporting a super awesome Dora the Explorer Band Aid across my nose. I am so freaking cool that it actually hurts a little...

Getcher motor runnin'... 

Little did Uncle J know that he would be playing his newly invented game of "chips" for 8 hours a day the whole time we were visiting. 

Memere and Henry make "soup" at Valley Falls in my hometown. 

Ben and Jerry??? This was taken at the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory in Burlington, VT. Mmmmm....cookie dough. 

Henry and Pepere plan their getaway. Pepere says "Rock n Roll" and Henry says "I'm 3". 

Here's an awesome picture of the co-op gang that Liz modified to protect my little darling's dignity and innocence. From left to right: Adella, Ada, Sean, Henry (post-poop fest), Elijah and Rachel. Hee. 

Okay, I just got around to looking up the requirements for being a substitute teacher here. I kind of assumed they'd be similar to the Ann Arbor/Ypsi requirements. Nope. You have to take a 30 hour class that costs $75! Then, after that hullabaloo you only get paid $7/hr pre-taxes. Um....I don't think so. I called my old manager Missy from Gymboree to see if she needs anyone there or at the other kids' store she works at. I made $7/hr there and that would be WAY easier than subbing! I guess it's back to the classifieds for this girl. I should have no problem finding a job 3 days a week that pays decently for someone who's been out of the job force for 4 years. Riiiiiiiight.

Well, I was feeling brave (and after consulting Liz and finding that she was feeling brave, too) we decided that Henry would go to co-op in undies today. Yikes! I had to wake the bean up at 7:30 to drive Kyle to his first day back at school and he was NOT having anything to do with undies, so we went commando under a pair of shorts. All was well on the car ride there, except for a brief panic when he started saying "It's coming out! It's coming out!". When I asked in my calmest voice what was coming out while frantically sniffing the air for signs of poo, he replied "the tiny baby in my belly". Whaaa???? I guess we've been hanging around too many pregnant ladies. All was well while we killed an hour at Target waiting for playgroup to start. When I told Liz he was in just shorts she looked a little scared, but I assured her that it would make it easier for him to pee in the potty since he's been having trouble getting his pants AND undies down resulting in much pee on his shirts and pants, even when he makes it to the toilet. What I didn't think of was the poop factor. I didn't think of it, in fact, until henry decided to take a nice big poo on Liz's kitchen floor. Thank (insert preferred diety's name here) that he wasn't standing on her new rug. It was really fun to clean up, and I was just glad that I was still there because really, I like Liz, and I want her to keep being our friend. I changed his pants (and washed his shoes) and crossed my fingers and went on my way.

While Henry was peeing all over everything Liz and Stig own, I got a big fat cup of coffee and tagged most of the stuff I am going to sell at the Wee Trade next week. I had to rummage through things I have been shoving into Henry's closet for the past year. Lincoln Logs that had too many pieces for me to handle? Check. Bristle Blocks that I impaled my foot on one too many times? Check. Hokey pokey Elmo? Double check. The blocks are staying, but the other stuff has to go. And I am finally going to pitch the torn up block books and Fisher Price Farm. They are too nasty to even donate.

When I got back to Liz's I noticed that Henry was sliding down the slide naked from the waist down. Not a good sign. Apparently he had pooped again (on the porch) and peed on both of his other pairs of shorts. In his defense, he tried to make it to the potty, but just didn't get there in time. While I was chatting with the mamas, Liz noticed a strange look on his face and I heard a meek "I need poooootty" before he pooped on the grass. He got really upset and cried that he wanted to poop in the potty, poor kid. But at least he's on his way. Hopefully as the days go on he'll learn to ask to go before it's too late. Either that or he is going to get booted right out of preschool next week. It would suck if I had to put off getting a job for another 6 months. Ha!

I have more to say, I know you are all waiting with baited breath (such a gross saying) to hear more, but I have to go get some work done while the beast sleeps.

*sigh*

Kyle just took Henry to the video store. In undies. How exciting. Now that I think about it, I seriously doubt he packed extra undies and pants with him. I meant to remind him to do it, but then I got caught up in email and forgot. Oops.

*crosses fingers*

It's been a while.

Henry is half watching the Pooh Heffelump movie, half running back and forth across the living room, so I am going totry to break this down quickly before he starts hollering to play on the computer-his current obsession.

Potty training. It is going pretty well. He wore pants all day yesterday with no accidents and has been wearing shorts tonight with great success as well. He is still in a dipe at naptime and overnight, but other than that, while we're at home, he is dipeless. It is going to be a hard leap to take him out with undies on. I am terrified that he'll pee in the carseat. That would be a nightmare. But I guess we'll eventually have to take him out into public, huh? Maybe I'll just send him over to Liz's for co-op next week with undies on and let her deal with it (wink wink).

Business. Is busy. I have 2 packages all packed up and ready to hit the mail. They were supposed to go out this afternoon, but the printer is acting all wonky so I couldn't print out labels until it was too late. Pictures are below. Two pair are a replacement for some shorts that met an unfortunate end (going to Australia), and the others are going to Georgia. I guess they won't be using them for a while, since it about 8 million degrees out right now. I have 3 orders in line right now: A Jolly Roger going to England, another Jolly Roger and a monster going to Germany and a US pair with a Swedish flag on the bum. Am I international or what??? I have to do a hand dye for the Swedish flag blue, so I am going to tackle that after Henry goes down tonight. Hopefully. I think after I catch up I am going to close for a couple fo weeks to get some early bird Fall/Winter stuff instock. I have some ideas for Halloween and I'd like to get them done now. And I have another project on hold that I am dying to get back to. And Xmas knitting is coming up. Yikes!

House. Ehhhhhh. I ahve to call Julie tomorrow about MORE financial stuff. And I drove by the lot the other day after I ehard they broke ground and it is pretty damn depressing. Oh well. We'll see what happens. At this point, I would kill puppies for some closet space, so I'll take what I can get. We opened up our credit building account so at the very least we are repairing our credit, which is good even if the house doesn't work out for whatever reason.

Tomorrow night we are going to see The Rebelles. It is opening night and Henry is staying with Noah while we go out on the town. I have to stop and get Erica flowers or something on the way over, though I'm not even sure if we'll get a chance to see her after the show. I am going to want to zip out of there and get the bean. I am excited, though, it is going to be so much fun.

I am really ready for things to settle down around here, but I think we have a crazy couple of months ahead of us. If Henry really does start school...man, what an adjustment that is going to be. I am already missing my mama friends and I haven't even started working yet! There are going to be new little babies squiggling all around and I am going to have to go back to stupid work. Pth.

TV. Ooooh, scandal on Project Runway. We are loving Stan Lee's Who Wants to be a Superhero and the new Alton Brown show about roadside eating. Who knew that Alton Brown was a motorcycle guy? I am managing to actually find Tommy Lee endearing on Supernova Rock Star so we KNOW I'm not getting enough sleep.

Okay. I should get back to work. I'm tiiiiiiiiired. Kyle is going to come home from his meeting at 9:30 and want to watch V for Vendetta. I really want to see it but I have the feeling I'm not going to last too long.

Monster longies-not my favorite color combo. 

Replacement shorts, knit with Cascade Eco, I hand dyed the red. 

He's a dance dance dance dance dancing machine... 

Watch him get down... 

Scary face 

Now take one like this! 

The best looking couple East of the Misssissippi...for now.