Technology stinks

I really hate computers sometimes. I feel like the older I get, the more out of touch with the rest of the world I get. Our desktop recently died, and we got a new one. I'm discovering just how much a creature of habit I am. The new computer has a new operating system (Vista) and many of the programs I am used to no longer work, or have been changed enough that everything looks different and I have to relearn how to use them. I resisted even getting a login for several weeks. My four-year-old uses the computer more than I do.

Bowling, anyone?

Last night we took the girls bowling. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, so I didn't have my camera handy. It's too bad, because the girls were really cute, running around carrying a bowling ball as big as their heads.

At first, on their turn, we had them put the ball on the ground, and Nate helped them roll the ball towards the pins. But then Meagan's independence came out, and she refused any more help. When she just dropped the ball one time and it stopped in the middle of the lane, we made a change. The employee who went out to retrieve her ball said they had a ramp the girls could use. It was a lightweight metal bar ramp that came to Meagan's shoulders. All the had to do was put the ball in the ramp and roll it down towards the pins. It worked great, and the girls were able to do it all on their own. The ball they used was only six pounds, so they were able to carry it all by themselves. In fact, if Meagan saw you at all anywhere near her, she'd tell you to go back before she'd put the ball in the ramp. It was pretty funny. Meagan's final score was 58 and Bethany's was 55--a pretty close game for them. This morning on the way to church they both asked to go bowling again. We'll have to do it again soon, only next time I'll have my camera with me.

Today was the final practice for our primary program next week. It went a lot better than last week's practice--the kids were much quieter, and were better at their parts and coming up at the right time. Bethany, however, was not good. The sunbeams' parts are in the very beginning, so she spent the rest of the time getting bored and making a nuisance of herself. I'm in charge of the program, so I was up there directing everything and prompting kids on their parts, while trying to keep Bethany under control. At one point I took her out to Nate in Sunday School, because it was just too much. I'm hoping that next week she'll be a little better during the actual program, with everyone out in the audience watching her. At any rate, I'll be glad when the whole thing is just done.

Bath time

I foolishly left the girls alone in the bathtub tonight while I was typing and reading other blogs. Big mistake. You'd think I'd learn by now, but no. Everytime I do that, I get a flood on the bathroom floor. The girls like to put cups on the side of the tub, and pour water in them until they overflow...all over the floor. When I came in the bathroom to wash their hair and found what they'd done, I started to get after them for it. Bethany said, "Sorry Mommy, we're just teasing."

Cooking with Dad

Nate has started a new tradition of baking something with the girls every Sunday. He usually does a pretty good job, and the girls have a great time. He's even teaching them to do things like crack open eggs.

Today I was really tired after church and I decided to take a nap. I slept like the dead for almost three hours. At one point I vaguely remember hearing the girls running around and shrieking, but I couldn't make my body move, so I went back to sleep. The upshot of this was, I wasn't available when Nate had questions.

I'd suggested that he make banana bread today, since we had several very ripe bananas, and I wanted something to take to a friend as a thank you. Nate found a recipe in a little notebook I used in Germany. I'd add recipes as I found ones that I liked or needed, so they were all hand-written. The oven temperature was also in Celcius, since that's what they all run on in Germany. Unfortunately, Nate didn't know that. I woke up after the bread had been in the oven for about 30 minutes. I cracked the oven open to check on it, and was surprised that it wasn't very hot. At first I worried that the oven was broken or something, but then I checked the oven setting and found that it was only at 175 degrees. It didn't take me long to realize what had happened, and I changed the temperature, but the damage was done. By the time the inside was all cooked, the outside was a little brown. I thought it would still be okay for us to eat, I just decided that I wouldn't take it to anyone. After it had cooled, I cut a piece and took a bite, and promptly spit it out. Nate wasn't home at the time, he'd gone out to a meeting, but when he came home, he asked me what I thought of the bread. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I said, "Oh, it's alright." He said, "I think it's nasty, and I'm not eating any more of it." I was relieved, because I could then throw it away without bothering him. It turns out that when he was reading the recipe, he didn't know what the little "t" behind some of the measurements was. He flipped through my little book, and in other places, I'd written "tsp", so he decided the "t" meant tablespoon, or else I'd have written "tsp", right? I just wasn't consistent in the way I'd written out recipes, and he didn't know that a little "t" is always teaspoon and a big "T" is always tablespoon. So instead of two teaspoons of baking powder, he put two tablespoons, and the same went for the teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. I think it was the baking powder that really killed it, though. Oh well, lesson learned for next time.

A little of this, a little of that

It feels like summer is really finishing up here. The weather has gotten a little cooler, and some leaves have even started to turn and fall off. Bethany was most fascinated by that today after we got home from church--the neighbor's tree had leaves all over the ground around it.

The Saturday before Labor Day, we went to a water park near us. I found out that active and retired military get in free, and their family members get in for $3.00. When we got there, we also found that the girls are young enough that they were free, too, so the whole trip cost us $3.00 (plus gas, of course). It was nice. They had a wave pool, a lazy river, a regular pool (which we didn't go in), a couple of slides and a kiddie area. Meagan actually had the most fun in the wave pool. We went in the deeper part and just rode up and down with the waves. She thought it was great.

I've been feeling a little tired and naseated lately, so last night Nate decided to give me a break, and he took the girls out for the evening. They went to a little pond and fed hard hamburger buns to the ducks and geese, then went to a pet store, picked up some dinner, and finished off at a park with a huge wooden playground. The kids had a great time--they really like the playground, because there's so much to do there. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to ban them from going there anymore. Everytime Bethany comes home from there, she has slivers, and last night was no exception. She had one in each hand. You have to understand something about Bethany--she hates to let me look at any of her "owies" unless I'm putting a bandaid on, and that's all I'm allowed to do. She hates the doctor, too, and screams and cries every time we go. So, last night, I get out the tweezers to get the slivers out, and she totally freaks out. I couldn't hold her myself, so I had to get Nate to help. The slivers were deep enough that I had to get a pin to dig a bit. Then she REALLY freaked out, and started puking. Yep, partially digested hot dog in a brown root beer sauce all over me, Nate, Bethany and the floor. Yummm. I almost lost it myself. So I stripped her down to her diaper, wrapped her in a towel, and tried again. It took 30 minutes and everything I had in me to hold her still long enough to get out two silly little splinters. At one point, Nate even went out and gave himself a splinter on purpose, so Bethany could see me get it out, and see that it wasn't a big deal. It didn't help, but it was a nice thought. She still screamed and cried the whole time. Yikes. I hope she never breaks a bone, and heaven help me when I have to take her to the dentist. I'll have to knock her out just for an exam.

Nighttime ritual

It seems to take us longer and longer to get the kids to bed every night. In theory, they get pajamas on, we read a story, we read a page out of the kid's Book of Mormon (the one with all the cartoon pictures), sing a song, say a prayer, and then leave. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there they brush their teeth. That's a lot of stuff, but we've been doing it for so long, that they freak out if we try to skip anything. In reality, there's a lot more to it than that. I often have to chase Meagan down to get her pajamas on. She thinks it's the funniest thing in the world right now to run the other way when I call her, laughing all the while. The laughing is really irritating. Then we have to read each of them a story, because they never want the same one. Then I have to hunt through the house to find their stuffed kitties, because how could I possibly expect them to sleep without them? Oh, and then there's a potty breaks, and then they each have to have a song. And it's the same song every night from each of them. Bethany always wants "Drops on roses" and Meagan wants "Row row my boat". It gets very tedious singing the same thing over and over every night. Sometimes I do put my foot down and say it's my turn to choose a song, but not often. Then getting them to calm down and be reverant for the prayer is usually a chore. It's probably not good to be angry during every prayer, but it happens all too often. Then just when we've turned out the lights, and I think I've escaped, the whining starts. Bethany needs water, Meagan wants another kiss, Bethany didn't get a hug...and on and on. Sheesh. When I've finally gotten out of the room, and have just sat down on the couch to relax is usually when the crying starts. Last night was kind of funny. Meagan had rolled sideways and her head got stuck in the ladder. She wasn't hurt at all, but in the dark she couldn't find her way out.

Another nighttime goodie they've started to pull is taking their diapers off in the middle of the night. If I catch it, then we're okay, but if not, then they usually wet the bed. That will wake Meagan up, and she cries. Here is where I run into a big difficulty with them both sleeping on the same bed. The last time Meagan did this, Bethany was still sound asleep. I took off the sheet and mattress pad from Meagan's end of the bed and rolled it up into the middle. Then I covered just her end with a new pad and sheet and put her back to bed. I had to wait until morning to finish changing out the sheets. If Bethany wets the bed, she'll tend to sleep through it, which is why she is still wearing diapers to bed. A few nights ago, they both pulled the same stunt in the same night. At least I only had to change the sheets once that time.

In one ear, and out the other...?

I’ve discovered that while my words may not necessarily go in one ear and out the other while yelling at my children, the meaning certainly does. For example, Meagan has taken to running around, yelling various chastisements at Bethany and me. We were sitting on the couch humming together, when she stormed up and yelled, “Guys! Wake up!” Okay, I admit that I don’t ever yell that one (I’m quite thankful, normally, when they are asleep), but it was pretty funny. She also likes to run around yelling, “Be nice” at random intervals. Too bad she hasn’t figured out what that one means yet.
Another example of this was at the toy store the other day. The girls found some ridiculous ATM thing with lots of buttons and a silly robotic voice asking if they wanted to make a withdrawal. Of course they loved it. They sat in the aisle and played with them for several minutes. I warned them up front that we were NOT taking those things home. When they protested that they liked them, I said, “Too bad!” Nate was trying to interest Bethany in a new train, which was the ostensible reason we were there, but she merely glanced at it and said, “Too bad!”

Today we were out running errands and it got to lunchtime. I was hungry, and toyed with the idea of stopping at Cici’s for lunch, because it was there, and it‘s cheap. The girls aren’t very good with pizza, though, so I asked Bethany if she wanted pizza before actually hauling them in there. To my surprise, she actually said she wanted some, but I was still doubtful, and eventually decided to scrap the idea. On the way home, though, the idea grew on me, and Bethany kept insisting that she wanted pizza, so I decided to order one for lunch. Of course, as soon as the hot box of pizza was on the table and I opened it, she declared, “I don’t want pizza.” Argh! Oh well, that’s more for me, right?

In the midst of all the errands today, Bethany started crying. I looked back at her and asked her what was wrong. One of her toes was a little cracked, a souvenir of wearing sandals all summer. She said to me, “Bethany’s getting broken. I need a bandaid.” Very interesting syntax there.

She loves them, she loves them not

Bethany has this very weird love/hate relationship going on with airplanes. She loves them and at the same time is terrified of them. We see large planes low in the sky quite often at our house, on their way to landing at the Air Force base. The girls always get excited to see them, and point them out whenever they do. The problem is that they’re not too fond of the noise. Most of the time it’s quiet enough that it doesn’t scare them too badly, but the other day we were outside when a couple of fighter jets flew by. Those things are loud! Especially when they’re so low. Needless to say, both of them were terrified, and we had to come inside.

Last April, we flew out to Utah for Pamela’s wedding. The girls were pretty good on the airplane. Meagan liked looking out the window, but Bethany kept closing hers. All went well until we were landing in Vegas. We hit a pretty bad pocket of turbulence about fifteen minutes out, and Bethany was absolutely terrified. During most of the drive to Cedar City, she kept saying, “No more airplane today, no more airplane today.” Getting back on to fly home two weeks later was a bit of a trick.

But since she likes to look at planes so much, we decided we should take a trip to the Air Force Museum here at the base. Nate had a day off, so we went. I couldn't get Bethany past the little gift shop in the front. She started crying and crying. Granted, the hangars inside the museum are a little dark, but I'm still not sure what she was afraid of. I took her out, and tried to go back again a bit later, and she still wouldn't have anything to do with it. Maybe it was too much like the airport for her, and she thought we were getting on a plane? I don't know. It didn't matter what we told her, she was not going in. So we settled for looking at the planes outside. For some reason she was okay with those, especially after we told her they were broken and weren't going anywhere. She kept repeating that to herself like some kind of mantra, "The planes are broken, the planes are broken, they're stuck." I bought her a guidebook to the museum, which has pictures of all the planes in the museum with information about each of them, and she absolutely loves that book. I even caught her kissing pictures of one of the planes yesterday. It's very well-worn already. I just don't get why she wouldn't go inside the museum.

Bethany said this plane has eyes.

So, why did we buy the bunkbeds?

About a week ago, we got some new bunkbeds for the girls. My reasoning was that Bethany was getting too big for her toddler bed, and I figured they'd have more room in the bedroom if we got bunkbeds, instead of a single bed and Meagan's toddler bed. In theory, there'd still be room for crib, too, for future use (there isn't really--the bunkbeds take up more room that I'd thought).

Anyway, we've been looking on and off for a couple of months, and the girls had great fun climbing all over the beds at all the stores we went to. All in all, it seemed like it would all work out. So we bought some beds, and they were delivered last Wednesday. I could tell something wasn't going to work out completely as planned when Bethany refused to even climb up there the first day.

She's gotten over that, though, and both the girls climb up and down with ease. The problem is that Bethany absolutely will not sleep on the top. Right now, they both sleep on the bottom bunk, one at each end. I don't really get how they work it out between them. I've seen them rolling into each other and tangling legs, but I've never heard them fight about it. It's odd, but they don't seem to mind. It can't last forever, though. Sooner or later I'm going to have to get Bethany up there. Sigh.

So what do you do for fun on Saturday nights, go down and throw rocks in the lake?

Hmmm...it seems like that is exactly what we do for fun.

We've been cursed with a lot of bad weather this summer, keeping us inside a lot, so when it got sunny this afternoon, we decided to go for a nature walk at Glen Helen nature preserve, about 20 minutes away from us. It's a gorge with several rivers running through it, various springs and waterfalls, and lots of trees and wildlife. It's not a strenuous hike/walk by any means, except for in a few steep places, but it's the closest thing to real hiking that I've come across in Ohio. So anyway, Nate and I decided to get out and go enjoy some nature. Of course, we didn't think much about how muddy it would be, but we should have, considering all the rain we've had lately. Then Meagan didn't want to walk, but just be carried everywhere. For a two-year-old, she doesn't really weigh that much, but you try carrying 25 pounds--squirming pounds--uphill and down for roughly two miles. And always on the same arm. She likes to be held on my left hip, and when I try to switch her over, she gets mad. Ok, I didn't acutally carry her the whole way--Nate carried her for part of the way, but I got to carry Bethany's 40-pound weight up the killer (and wet) stone steps at the end of the trail, because she tripped and scraped up her knee and was crying.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The walk did start out fairly nice. Not too far in is a beautiful

little waterfall in front of a small cave. We've been there several times before, but it was particularly pretty today, with the sun shining on it just right. Since it was our first stop, the girls, of course, had to throw rocks in and poke sticks in the water. It was hard getting them to move on.

I think the running water was affecting our newly potty-trained Bethany, because she started hopping up and down and making general I've-got-to-go-to-the-bathroom movements. She denied needing to go, though, until we'd made it to the second spring/waterfall. I knew she'd never make it to the end of the trail, so I took her off in the bushes to go. I thought she'd throw a fit at that, but she actually thought it was funny. I don't think I'll ever really figure her out.

Our third stop was on the banks of the river. This is where we had the most fun throwing rocks in the water. Even Nate overcame his boredom long enough to throw some in himself. He tried to show Bethany that he was skipping rocks, but she wasn't that interested. She just wanted to throw the biggest rock she could lift. It was actually kind of fun. I think the kids could've spent a lot longer there if we'd let them.

Both the girls were in high spirits at this point. Bethany was holding my hand, jumping and saying "Ribbit, ribbit!" I've never heard her do that before, so it was pretty funny. But it was not long after that that Bethany tripped and landed on a rock. Her knee got kind of scraped up, but she wouldn't really let me look at it. She's very protective of her wounds. It's a major battle just to clean and bandage small cuts. Heaven help me if she ever has something serious. We'll probably have to knock her out to treat it.

Her knee turned out not to be very bad, though I didn't know it until later, and she calmed down once we got home and she got some food in her, thank goodness. All in all, it was a fun trip, and we're glad we got out for a bit.

So who wants to watch TV when you can play with poo?

The title of this blog is from a comment Nate made when dealing with our little problem today.


Meagan has been letting me know that she is getting ready to be potty trained. How? Well, let’s look at today, for example. She was supposedly sitting on the couch, watching TV, when she came running up to me saying, “Yuck!” and I heard yelling from the other room. Apparently, she took off her perfectly clean diaper and pooped all over the floor. As if that weren’t bad enough, she decided to play in it, too. Yumm. It was smeared into the carpet, and a toy cup that happened to be in the room was covered in it. I have no idea what she was trying to do with the cup. Scoop up the mess maybe? I don't know, your guess is as good as mine. But I'm guessing it’s now time to direct her somewhere else when she gets the urge to keep her diaper clean.

She has done similar things before (i.e. take off a perfectly good, perfectly clean diaper, just to mess on the floor), but fortunately, not with poop. Just several wet accidents all over the house. She likes to sit on the toilet, especially at bedtime when Bethany makes a play for getting up out of bed by saying she needs to go to the bathroom. Well, if it works for Bethany, why not? Anyway, I did actually put her in panties for a few days about a month ago, but that was also when I decided to make another go at training Bethany, and I just couldn’t handle the dual mess-making machines, so I gave up on her pretty soon. Bethany is doing really well now, though, so maybe I should give it another shot. The truth is, the thought of potty training Meagan fills me with dread. I just really don’t want to botch it up with Meagan, like I did with Bethany. Bethany was just over two years old when she started showing signs of being ready. Several people said I should take advantage and go with it before she lost interest, so in January of last year, I tried it out. It didn’t go over very well, so I stopped. Then I tried again a few months later, and she was doing okay, but then we left home for almost five weeks visiting family while Nate was off at SOS. All the traveling and bouncing from place to place was hard on a potty training child, so I put her back in diapers. This was in April/May. When we got home, I gave it another go, and then she got a serious case of diarrhea, related to some antibiotics she was on, and I just couldn’t deal with the mess anymore, so we went back to diapers. Again. Sigh. I waited a few months more and tried once more. This time it seemed like it was working and she went a whole month with few accidents. Then practically overnight she decided she was done with the toilet, and refused to go any more. She would throw absolute screaming fits if I even tried to get her to go to the toilet. She didn’t care if her pants were wet or messy, and she didn’t care if she made messes all over the house. There was so much tension in the house because I was tired of cleaning pee out of the carpet five times a day that I gave up again and went back to diapers. This was somewhere around November/December. After that I would ask her every so often if she wanted panties or diapers, and she would often pick panties until I told her that if she wore panties, she’d have to use the toilet, then she’d change her mind again. I just let it go for a long time. Finally, about a month ago, I just put her back in panties. She had a lot of accidents in the beginning, but then she got the hang of it again. Now, I rarely have to prompt to her go—she actually does it on her own. Whoever knew that the sound of the bathroom door opening and the toilet lid being liften could be so beautiful? I was out running errands with just her today, and she even told me that she needed to go. It was wonderful.
So, anyway, it was a long and dreadful saga getting Bethany to this point. Part of it was her and her stubbornness, part of it was circumstance, and part of it was my unwillingness to just stick it out. But the whole thing was such an ordeal, that I’m afraid to mess it up with Meagan. But really, I guess all the messes Bethany made were not any worse than what I found smeared into the carpet this afternoon. Oh dear. I think I’m in for it either way.