Things to share

Summer is finally here and we are being as lazy as we can for the first few days. I will be scheming what we are going to do with our summer this year next week. I do need some structure to truly enjoy the summer, but for the next couple of days we are just taking a break. In the meantime, I have a few things I wanted to share.

My parents are leaving Monday for their mission in Kenya. They just returned from training for the mission in Utah and have just a couple days here before they fly out. So I have left the weekend pretty open so we can do whatever they have time to do with us. To learn more about what they will be doing in Kenya go HERE.

My girls have been reading some great books. Annie is working on A Wrinkle in Time and Lauren is nearly finished with one of the Magic Tree House books. I can't keep up with what Sabrina is currently reading. She got The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan the last day of school and was reading that last time I checked but she might have finished it by now. I mean it has been a day already.

I have been slowly working through a biography of Andrew Jackson. But that takes no kid interruptions to read properly. In the meantime I read THIS blog post that I felt was amazing. I have had a few friends who have struggled with same gender attraction. That post by Josh Weed and his wife Lolly really gave me a fresh perspective and a more positive view of the challenges one faces and the sacrifices one must choose between when they are attracted to members of the same sex. It is a long post but it is well worth the read.

One other thing I wanted to share was the new "game" Noble and I have been playing. Potty training is one of my least favorite things. Nevertheless it must be done. Noble has been working on it for about 2 months and is doing really well. It actually has been easier with him than it has been with any of my other kids (probably because he is older than the girls were.)

But I have found a new "game" that he likes to play to encourage him to push and try to go #2 even when he doesn't feel the immediate need. It has worked so very well and we have had great success with getting him to push and get it all out once or occasionally twice a day.

Here is the "game." I sit him on the toilet. Sometimes he is mad at having to be there. I get my phone and take a photo of his face only. He loves it. Then I ask him to push and I take a photo of his face for every toot or poop he gets out. Then I immediately let him see the photo. He loves making funny faces and seeing them on the phone. I love not having to change poopy diapers. If you are in the potty training phase it may be worth a try. :O)