potty trained does not equal potty independent

I hate to sound so negative, but having all my children "potty trained" does not exactly make life easier.  We have 0 kids in diapers, and 0 kids who are completely potty independent.  Here's why there are some days I long for the convenience of diapers:
1.  A wet diaper can wait, a two-year-old can't.

2. The nature of using the bathroom provides ample opportunity for unspinning a whole roll of toilet paper, flushing not-always-appropriate or too-much-appropriate things down the toilet, using entirely too much soap, playing in the sink, and the list continues...

3. Outings and emergencies.  They happen at the most inconvenient times.

4. (Insert long dialog of the complexities of taking a 2, 3, and 4 yr old into a public bathroom).

5. Worthy of it's own number, one of our children is fearful of public restrooms, and on more than one occasion we have had to rush home, because "it" was not going to happen in a public toilet.

6.  Accidents and lots of them.  All toddlers have accidents.  It means cleaning up the floor, the child, and extra laundry.  We're averaging about 2 or 3 a day.

7. The potty chair.  While Brett and Lydia have become very comfortable using the "big potty", Reggie uses a potty chair.  It is a whole extra step that requires immediate attention.

8.  Boys and their (lack of) aim.

So, while it might be exciting to not have a diaper bag as a permanent companion, please hold your applause until all our kids always "go" on their own and don't leaving a mess behind.

sand-in-toes

The drastic contrast between the winter fun in the last post and the summer-y bliss of this post makes it appear as though I've become a lazy blogger, and tho true, it really has only been a couple of weeks.

Yes, it's been sand-loving, playground-hopping, windows-open glorious upper 70s and sunny all week.

The pond is completely thawed - so we had to take a closer look, throw rocks, and watch the geese.  But I've lived in Minnesota for a March - or ten - and while I dug out a few t-shirts and shorts, the sweatshirts and jeans and coats are being kept nice and handy.

For St. Patrick's Day, we did a couple craft projects and, conveniently, all wore Packers shirts. Bryan made the traditional corn beef  and cabbage.  I made green jello, the kids helped make cookies.  In this picture, it looks like Reggie is decorating cookies, but really he is just eating green frosting with a knife.  : )

snowman snow

On March 1, we finally have a good snow for making a respectable snowman.

And when Brett got home from school, he thought the snowman needed a friend.

Okay, I'm ready for spring now!

soulful celebrations

It's a good thing it's a leap year, or I wouldn't have gotten this post written during Black History Month!  Despite my lack of blogging, we have been celebrating black history month with our tradition of soul food weekend meals. 

Our menus have included some now familiar foods like greens, fried catfish and black-eyed peas and some new recipes like 7-up cake, red beans and rice, candied yams, and baked honey pears.  This year, we bought our first recipe book, An African American Cookbook: Living the Experience by Phoebe Bailey.

I'm happy with our choice.  The recipes are easy-to-use and have ingredients that are mostly commonly found at the grocery store.  Each section (meats, vegetables, desserts, etc) is divided into two sub-sections of "traditional" recipes and "other favorites".  And the recipe book is peppered with black history, poems, and quotations.
With the cookbook, I expect I will be more likely to try new recipes throughout the year.  There are a lot of salad recipes to try something new for picnics this summer!

I really enjoy our soul food celebrations because the whole family prepares the meals.  Bryan loves to cook and try new recipes, and of course the kids are always eager to get sticky and sample!

In addition to our food celebrations, we have also purchased a few more children's books that celebrate black history and culture. 

Lydia's favorite is Dancing in the Wings, by Debbie Allen and Kadir Nelson.  This book is a little long for a 3 year old, but it is a cute story about a girl who got teased because she was so tall, but became a talented ballerina.