What happened to summer?

It's been so long since I've blogged, I nearly forgot my password to log in! I can't believe it's just days away from September! What happened to summer? We had terrible June gloom in LA which lasted through July. I know I'm not allowed to complain about the weather because I live in Southern California, but the 60 degree temperatures and clouds were making me grumpy. It seemed like summer never really started, and now it's almost over!

In July, we headed to Michigan, where the weather was perfect in my opinion. 80 degrees and sun almost everyday, hot summer nights, and an occasional thunderstorm. We had tons of fun on the beach, swimming in Lake Michigan, and catching up with friends. Here is a link to picture from our trip.

After three weeks in my hometown, we had a little time in LA, and then we were off to Seattle to visit Doyl's family. We spent most of our time at Spee-bi-dah (Doyl's family's beach house), on the Puget Sound. Everyone had a great time! Hunter spent his days helping GaGa and PaPa catch fresh Dungeness Crab, and digging clams. Doyl even caught a crab with his bare hands! We ate very well living off the land! Here is a link to picture from our trip.

Hunter starts preschool five days a week after labor day, I will continue my role at our church coordinating the Mother's or Preschoolers (MOPS) group, and Xavier starts a new Mommy and Me program. Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye!

Number Two

So I have a great picture, but I can't figure out how to upload just one picture and not my entire memory card to my mom's computer while I am staying here in Michigan.  Anyhow, I will post the picture later, but here is a description of what I saw that required the snapshot.  

It was around 4:30 this afternoon, I was busy in the kitchen feeding Xavier his afternoon snack, which turned into dinner, and was not paying attention to Hunter.  Hunter is getting over the Chicken Pox, and it was rainy today, so he was watching a new DVD in the living room.  After Xavier's meal, I plucked him out of the highchair and was walking to bathroom and from the corner of my eye caught Hunter sitting in a strange position, in the middle of living room, staring at the TV.  At second glance, I realized Hunter was sitting on his potty.  Genius.  Apparently he had to go number two, and rather than leave his movie and miss anything, he brought his potty out to living room to do his business and watch his show.  The best part was that he acted as if it was a completely normal thing to do, as if he did it everyday.  It was hilarious.  The picture will do more justice than my story.  Stay tuned...

And, yes, I did say Chicken Pox.  That's another story.... 

Father's Day Fun!

We had a low key Father's Day this year. Went on a family walk, visited the petting zoo near our home, and played in the wading pool. Doyl got to sleep in and watch the end of the US Open golf tournament. We stayed relaxed and enjoyed the day together. Here is a link for more pictures from our day.

Careful What You Wish For

A few months ago Hunter refused to even try a "standing pee", but that has all changed since Doyl introduced him to peeing in the backyard. At first I was definitely a little hesitant about allowing this behavior, but decided that if it encouraged him to master the standing pee, then I wouldn't worry about it. Hunter loves to pee in the backyard so much that he will drop his pants multiple times in an hour to pee on the flowers. He even runs to the back door in the morning and asks if he can go outside to pee. I had to draw the line somewhere. Unfortunately, Hunter's new skill is carrying over to areas where it is not OK. Today he peed in a toy bin and then dumped it on the train table in his room. The cute and funny behavior in the backyard is now just gross and a pain to clean up. Hunter lost his 30 minute TV privilege this afternoon after the train table incident, and I am hoping and praying the consequence was strong enough to curb the unwanted stand up pees.

And After

Here are a few shots of the almost finished patio. We replaced the wood with Pennsylvania Blue Stone, extended the shape to create 500 square feet of living space, including a larger area off the kitchen, and updated the support posts. We are still waiting for the final seal on the stone, and coat of paint on the posts as well as the last piece of furniture.

Before

We recently replaced our dilapidated deck with a stone patio. Here are a few before shots.

Potty Training

Hunter has been potty trained since September (a prerequisite for preschool). There is an occasional accident these days, but for the most part, Hunter has mastered the potty. He stills sleeps in a pull-up, which I have been told is developmentally appropriate until age 6, and he prefers to sit versus stand when it comes to peeing, but generally speaking he is potty trained. Hunter is even able to pull his pants up and down on his own. I had been feeling relatively pleased at how easily we went through the potty training process, but today reminded me we aren't quite finished. During Hunter's "quite time", which is the hour he plays in room in the afternoon if he is not going to nap, there was an "accident". Hunter actually played really well on his own today, without shouting for me and telling me he was finished. When the timer went off, and I went to retrieve Hunter from his room, he said, proudly, "I peed in a fire hat." Sure enough, in his fire hat, was little puddle of pee, but on the bright side, not only did his mishap make an entertaining story, but I also think he peed standing up.