girls weekend with a mission

Last Friday, Bryan packed up the boys and headed out of town while Lydia and I stayed home for a "girls' weekend". We did all kinds of girls things - baking cookies and taking a bubble bath in Mom's big tub and painting our nails and craft projects and watching chic flix...well, only if "The Wonder Pets"counts. It was truly a fun time...much quieter and slower-paced without the boys. But it wasn't all fun and games - I had an agenda. It was time for Lydia to say good-bye to diapers for good. The 3 Day Potty Training strategies worked wonderfully for us again, and I am so proud of our little Lydia.I'm not just proud because she learned to use the potty. She has been "ready" for a while now, but there were two things stopping us: our crazy transitional summer, and her absolute stone-cold fear of the process. So, I'm proud of Lydia for facing her fear to accomplish her goal.Even if her goal was getting a My Little Pony's toy. She not only gained an important skill, she gained confidence in her ability to do something she perceived as difficult. What a treasure it is to be her Mom!

terrible twos times two

According to their birthdates, for four glorious months, we have two little *angels* who are two. Developmentally, we've already had two little *angels* who are Terrible Two for about four months, and I'm guessing we're just getting started.

In the midst of a particularly Terrible morning a couple months back, I called my mom for some sympathy. She was oh-so-encouraging when she snickered, "Yep, the Terrible Twos! They start at 18 months and go right up to the 4th birthday!" Obviously, that includes all of my children, and was not exactly the comforting words I was seeking.

Tantrums, limit-testing, and mischief. All magnified by the fact that there's another doing the same thing-not to mention their brother in all his antics. Noise and messes and crisis everywhere for 15 hours a day. We are told these days will be gone before we know it. Our kids will grow up too fast - we are told. Enjoy them while they are little, people say.

Okay, I'll try.

good news week

It's been a good news week!

1. We got everything squared away with Brett's preschool and fall schedule. At first, the district wanted to put him in a 3-day-a-week afternoon class. Brett still needs his afternoon naps, so I asked if there were any morning options. There was an opening in a church-based Tues/Thurs morning class, so we took it. It is an integrated class with five students receiving special education services. Brett will continue his private speech therapy Mon and Wed mornings, leaving Fridays commitment-free!

2. I reconnected with an inner-city children's ministry that, what seems like a lifetime ago, was what I called my "first baby". I'm excited that our family is going to provide a meal for the after school program once a month!

3. My work contract doubled from 8 hours a month to 16! I'm planning to work every Thursday afternoon this school year. (My long-term goal is to gradually increase my hours to half-time by the time all the kids are in school.)

4. We had a tenant sign a lease for our house! They move in this Saturday. Guess when our first mortgage payment on our new house is? Next Thursday. Getting the house ready for the renters has kept us busy for the last week. I transplanted some strawberries. They look really sad right now, but hopefully I'll have a nice strawberry patch again in a couple years. I also transplanted some irises my grandma had given us for our first home.

the airplane and the park

It is always interesting how young minds process information. For example, the concept of their daddy going to an office building to "work" everyday is too abstract because they haven't experienced it with him.

What stands out in their minds, though, is that when Daddy travels for work and is gone for a couple days, Daddy tells them he is going on an airplane. The kids know airplanes as things that fly over our house, and they all shout "Airplane!" and point. Which leads them to conclude that, if he is not currently present, Daddy must be "working" on that airplane.

A few days ago, Daddy's "work" had a social gathering at a park and families were invited to attend. I told the kids we were going to a park with Daddy's "work". Boy, Daddy's "work" was a lot of fun! So much fun that they have been asking to go back to Daddy's "work" all week!

progress note

One month ago, we closed on our new house, so here's an update on our progress. We've had about 4 "crews" of family members come and help us over the past month which has made it possible to get a lot of projects done - or at least underway!

The first weekend we scrubbed the house top to bottom including shampooing all the carpets. The house is in overall good condition for a foreclosure, but it had really been neglected the last couple years and was very dirty. It had been vacant for several months, so there were lots of spiderwebs. We had originally anticipated needing to replace the carpet, but it came out looking fresh and clean.

Next, we moved on to painting, painting, painting! Wow- we really noticed the difference in the size of this house when we started painting! So far the main floor plus the kids' bedrooms have been painted. The ceilings have also been painted.

My dad and uncle completed some handyman projects including replacing the front door, reventing the drier, and repairing the sump pump system. Bryan and his dad swapped out some appliances with our other house. We replaced the dishwasher. Bryan changed out a few light fixtures, and this weekend he installed more functional closet systems in the bedrooms.

The exterior has also required much attention. The landscaping was at one time very beautiful but is overgrown and unhealthy. I chopped away at one bush for two days and found two dead bushes under it! Our backyard is also now fenced.

There has been a lot of progress, but we still have plenty of work ahead. We still have the master bed and bath, kids bath, and 4th bedroom to paint. I still have sheets hanging from all the windows and only one thing has been hung on the wall. I think there are boxes in almost every room to unpack. And Bryan has his own list of projects to complete.

Brett and Reggie playing "Row Row Row your Boat"
Bye bye "mustard", hello "ginger root" The kids help me haul brush with their wagon
Hours of fun in the dishwasher box!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Reggie!

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Green Bay

Last weekend was the Wedan Family's 28th Annual Green Bay Training Camp Vacation. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Shopping for Packerwear at "Uncle Adam's store".2. Something new this year: we rented out a house across the street from Lambeau Field instead of staying in a hotel. The kids had fun playing football in the backyard and we appreciated having a kitchen to prepare meals.

3. Bay Beach is the cheapest amusement park I've ever been to - $.25 for little kid rides. The kids went on plenty of rides plus we had lunch for $15!4. Watching the fireworks over the stadium from the backyard of the "Packer House".5. Reggie's birthday party (deserves it's own post). Reggie's birthday will probably always land during our GB trip, and the story will always be retold of the year Mom and Dad got the surprise call and how we were so crabby the rest of the vacation! But we don't want to even think about life without him now.6. There was an airplane set out by the training camp for kids to sit in and get their pictures taken. The man jokingly asked the kids if he should start it up. Wow - Brett was outta there in a hurry!7. Hanging out with the family.

(hmm...no mention of watching ANY football. Well, maybe next year!)

'Dia June

Reggie calls Lydia, "Dia". When asked, Lydia calls herself "Lydia June". Here are some smiles and laughs from our little two-and-a-half year old!