Summer is ending....

From the minute I told Eden she didn’t have to go to preschool this year, she has not wet her pants, even once. The potty training nightmare is (I hope) over. She no longer stands in the kitchen, looks at me saying, “I not go to preschool either!” then pees on the floor. She no longer wets every clean pair of underpants I put on her. Instead, she announces loudly to all, “I have to go potty!” and runs to the bathroom for her potty routine (see slideshow, below).

Instead, she gets to go see her friends from last year’s daycare. This year, it’s Stacey’s house. Stacey just moved back from Texas and was going to get a job teaching at the school, but couldn’t find quality daycare here in Bridgeport, so she opened up her own. It just so happened that two of Eden’s best buddies from Tammy’s house are going to Stacey’s, so it’s a perfect match! Her daycare is 2 miles from our house, out in the country on this cute little dirt road, away from traffic and train tracks. It’s a small house-turned daycare/learning center that sits behind her parent’s house. It’s been completely gutted and refinished and smells of freshly laid carpet and new paint. Her first day was Wednesday and she LOVED it. I was thrilled. Because of scheduling conflicts, it’s unclear whether or not she’ll be able to go the same day every week, or if it will rotate. I’m willing to adapt. She and Lars will still go to the in-town daycare on an ‘as needed’ basis, based on rescue calls and fire department paperwork.

With that out of the way, we got our big girl 3 year old photos taken yesterday at Olan Mills in Scottsbluff, then went for frozen custard. Lars, too, got his ‘almost one’ year photos taken, and, since we were all in such a good mood, got a family pic taken. That one will replace the horrible post-pardum family pic taken last Christmas. Not only am I fat in that photo, but my hair is a nightmare and I can’t look at it another month. Eden tried out the potty at both K-mart and the radio station where daddy was recording. What a great day!

Lars is teething again. This means very early mornings, extremely long days followed by somewhat unbearable evenings and finally, end-less nights. I also think he should be the poster child for ‘colic’, whatever that is.

On the business side of this week, I took Eden to the Chiro, as she was complaining of her neck hurting. Sure enough, he said, she was completely out of joint with huge lymphnodes, indicating that she was fighting allergens in the air. He put her back together and she said, “that’s better, let’s go Mom”.

I saw the PA on Wednesday, due to the allergens in the air. Unfortunately, I had an allergy shot only 6 weeks ago, so could only change to a stronger eye drop and nasal spray. If I keep the windows shut and make Al mow lawn, I’m not too miserable. But, if you see a photo of me with my eyes clawed out, you’ll know why…even my ears itch.

Al had a confirmation parent’s meeting Wednesday night. The church is adding an optional 4^th-6^th grade class this year, so that’s going to be a change from the past, but one that some are really looking forward to.

I have also completed the 2008 church directory. It was sent to the printers yesterday, and will hopefully have it back before Thanksgiving. It took much longer than I had planned due to software problems and many phone calls to Olan Mills. In the end, I was very pleased and hope it turns out as I planned.

Saturday was ARID, HOT, and WINDY, in that order. The wind was blowing so hard, the gravel/dirt road was blowing around and hitting the side of the house. Eden had a birthday party to go to, and so we decided we could handle walking the 3 blocks to the park. What a trip. Lars cried all the way, the dog was constantly wiping his face with his paw, trying to keep the dirt out of his eyes and Eden was crying for a blanket to cover her face. I’m just glad it wasn’t the plague of the locusts. Needless to say, the walk back wasn’t much more pleasant, considering we were walking directly into the sun that time. On a happier note, the park was shady and Eden had a good time.

I am in the process of becoming a little more organized now that fall is right around the corner. With church going into its ‘school-year’ routine, confirmation class, voice choir, Sunday school and the like, I thought now was a good time. Therefore, I’m printing off weekly calendars to hang on the fridge. Hopefully, Al and I will stop planning meetings on the same night. And if I’m really good, I’ll plan meals for the whole week and go to the grocery store only once or twice a week, instead of every other day. Our freezer is down to 2# of hamburger, a pork roast, 2 steaks, a whole chicken, a freezer-burnt portion of our wedding cake and lots of ice cream treats.

Our roof was noisily replaced on Wednesday and Thursday. Lars had to take naps in our room downstairs. The roofers did a great job and since they were all Spanish speaking men, I had Latin music blaring from my roof top. Eden was on the deck, dancing to it. It was funny. I think it looks nice, but now I have nails in all my flower gardens.

Sunday, Payton came to watch the kids for a couple hours while Al and I moved out of our storage unit uptown and moved into a bigger unit, about 100 yards away. We then took a drive and avoided coming home for as long as possible. Now, we’re watching the Sunday night race.

Looking forward to a cool 75 degree week coming up, with little wind!! Hope to get in the garden and finish picking up nails from the roof, as well as weed one more time before I pull all the annuals out.