Lazy Day (Warning: possible potty talk ahead)

It's a gorgeous day outside- mostly sunny, breezy, and cool. So why am I sitting here at home rather than being out and about with my boys? Two words: Potty Training.

Ike's doing so well with it, and much earlier than Simon did (I'm definitely a "why bother before they're ready" kind of mom). It's just pooping that's the problem right now, really- namely that he refuses to do it in the toilet. He sees nothing gross about doing it in his underpants, or if he happens to be going commando, letting it fall where it may in the back yard. Or the neighbor's front yard, as the case may be. I know. Gross.

Anyway, he hasn't gone for a few days, so we're not going out anywhere until he does- I don't want to see him making that face when we're half-way to the playground. I'm trying to catch him when he tries to go, but odds are he'll wait until I'm making lunch, and then come over and say, "Mommy, I pooped, need WIPE!" *sigh*

That leaves us here, enjoying the back yard. There are definitely worse places to be. Simon's flaked out on the back deck with his toy guitar and KISS on the CD player, rocking out as much as one can in a mostly-horizontal position. Ike's putzing around with his bike thing on the driveway, and I'm working on crocheting the dog's Christmas present- a blanket to keep the couch a bit cleaner when he's lying on it. It's easy- entirely half-double crochet in two colours- but so freaking time-consuming. It takes me 20 minutes to do a row, so I'm estimating 12 hours total by the time it's done. That should teach me to be ambitious. The upside of it is that I can't snack while I'm working on it, so maybe I'll lose a pound or two while I'm working. :)

In other crafty news, I'm having fun making things out of old wool sweaters that have been felted in the dryer. Lots of Christmas presents coming that way, and Simon has already claimed the mittens I made for myself.

As for awesome summer stuff, I wish I could show you pictures of the planets Simon is painting. He got a few books about space from the library (as well as a random book about giant squids), and we found the styrofoam balls at Value Village. It's hard to find time to do major projects when Ike's not around to get creative all over the table, the walls, and especially Simon's stuff, o the painting part is being done at nap time.So far the sun is looking patchy, Earth is quite abstract, and I'm trying not to make jokes about Uranus being full of gas. It's good fun.

Oh, and FYI for the week: making homemade bread is fun and it tastes delicious... unless you're forced to use margarine instead of butter in the recipe. I see a lot of grilled cheese and french toast in our immediate future.

Crochet

Um... yeah, that up there is my first recent attempt at crochet. I can't say it's my first attempt ever, but it's been a while since I tried to learn, and preveius attempts were... well, they didn't go very well. As much as I love artsy stuff like drawing and painting, I have a lot of trouble with things that require the use of a pattern . Or hooks. Or needles- I'm trying to knit, too, but I'm going to need outside help on that one. The crochet is starting to look better, though:


That double crochet square is now a blanket for Ike's toy duck- he's been pushing the duck around in a baby buggy with its "bwoo bwankit" for a few days now. Good to know nothing's being wasted.


...and here's the latest attempt, the half double crochet. See? I'm getting better! I'm going to have more crocheted squares in the house than I know what to do with (anyone need something to set hot dishes on?), and the thought of actually trying to make something using a pattern still terrifies me, but I'm getting there.

Next lesson: Treble crochet. That, I can do. Kind of concerned about what comes after, but we'll get there when we get there, right?

So, here's the start of the list of stuff I want to learn to do in the near future (the start of it, anyway):

-crochet
-knit
-canning
-sew clothes for the kids
-make braided rag rug
-gardening

I think that's pretty ambitious, actually. Some day I'll be able to add "chicken-keeping" to that list, as well as basic carpentry, but not for a while- at least until after we move. Major gardening will have to wait, too, but we can at least start on that this summer, even if it's a complete failure- er, learning experience.

And what do all of these things have in common that makes them hard for me to learn? There's next to no "I meant to do that" factor in them. If I'm painting something and I make a mistake, I can either paint over it or change other things so it will look like I meant to do it that way. Not so much with crochet or knitting, where dropping a stitch and not noticing right away can set you back several hours. If I forget to water the garden or don't give the soil enough drainage, all of that work can be ruined, too. What can you do, though? They're all good things to learn how to do, and the only way to learn (other than procrastinating about the housework by reading extensively on these topics) is to get in there and do them, mistakes be damned.

Rainy Day, Sick Day

It's been a long, wet "Spring." I'm not even sure it deserves to be called Spring, which sounds so cheerful. It took forever for the leaves to come out (and who could blame them?) and sunny days have generally been few and far between. We've taken advantage of the ones we've had- the Easter weekend hike, trips to the beach- but the clouds and rain in between have been rather depressing. I'm hoping for more sun in the coming months, even if it means going through a ridiculous amount of sunscreen and probably a few lost hats.

Today wasn't one of those days. Today was cloudy and cold, and you can feel the air gearing up for rain. Ike picked out a couple of wooden cars yesterday for the boys to paint on a rainy day. Simon was VERY excited. In fact, he had his car painted and set to dry by 10:00 this morning. It was a brief but glorious project.


Such concentration! ^

Ike didn't get to participate in the painting bonanza. He was a sick little guy today- not only did he get Simon's cold (which seems to be on the way out, thank God!), he also started throwing up this morning. Repeatedly. His friend (the blue hippo in the picture) is in serious need of a bath, but what can you do when a sick kid needs his friend for comfort? Surface wash and live with the smell is what I've come up with.

All tuckered out. Poor kid. ^

I painted Ike's car yellow for him, and he'll draw or pain on it when he's ready. AJ took Simon to the fair this afternoon to a) get him out of the house, and b) let me and Ike rest a bit. And that was our rainy day. Not exciting, but there were crafts and lots of cuddles for everyone, so it wasn't a complete waste.

Tonight: watching "Enchanted" with the boys while AJ is at work. I love Amy Adams. Also, my rat clearly needs to get of her ass and help me clean the toilet.