Yes ... I have an addiction ...

Have you seen this yet?? It makes me smile. I can hardly wait!!!

Have you seen this, too? It's almost too much, really. July will be an awesome month. We will definitely need a babysitter the weekend Deathly Hallows comes out. I do not want to find out what happens from anyone. I want to read it and be suprised. This means, that I must pick up my pre-reserved copy (my husband had me order 2) at midnight, and start reading.

And then ... I will have to find something else to obsess over. I think I will be sad in August... At least there are still movies to be made. :-)

I wonder, too, if Scholastic books will suffer a decline after the 7th book is released. Maybe I should ask my brother to do a "sociology of the Harry Potter Phenomenon" and ask him to include a bit about the publishers...

Simon goes to school

Yesterday was our first Puppy Obedience Class. The good news: Simon seems to be a quick learner. The bad news: Good Luck curbing the barking, when you have a sheltie. -Our trainer breeds shelties, and has 4 of her own; I figure she knows what she's talking about. Simon does seem to be listening to me better today, though. I've learned a few things about how to relate to him, and I'm sure this has helped. With five more classes to go, we shall see what progress is made.

While Simon was learning the finer aspects of "heel" and "halt", my son was learning "sit." It would appear that Puppy Obedience class is good for training toddler's, too. (the kids have to stay in chairs along the wall, while class is going on ...

related events or cingular incidents?

Tuesday evening my son was complaining of a backache, and then a tummy ache. Just as I was becoming more seriously worried, and fell asleep, snuggling with his sister, while she rubbed his back and sang to him. (Utterly adorable, by the way!) When he woke, over two hours later(!), he was completely fine. End of story.

At bedtime, I heard gagging. Thinking of the early tummy troubles, I dropped everything and ran. My son was sitting in front of the closet door (mirrored doors), with his fingers down his throat. When questioned, he said there was something in his mouth, and pointed to the back of his throat. I saw nothing, and had him drink some water. All better. Story over.

Yesterday, during nap-time, my son went into the bathroom. --I think he saves up during the morning, so he has real reasons to not lie down in his bed. He started crying. I rush back. He has "owwie poo-poo." Now, I would not normally talk about my son's poo-poo, owwie or not ... BUT what happened next is the kicker... He wanted me to hug him, and comfort him, while he sat there. Suddenly he stops crying and say the "owwie poo-poo" is out. He's all done. I look in the potty. There is a nickle (possibly a quarter) in there. At first I think that he's tossed it in there. Then, I look closer. I'll spare you the description of the condition of the coin, but it had clearly been the cause of the owwie. !???! My son is not prone to putting things in his mouth, or swallowing non-food items. This was definitely a chapter from WEIRD.

Related incidents, or isolated occurrences?

bathtubs and other funny-isms

I was in the middle of my shower, yesterday, when I realized I needed the new bottle of conditioner that was under the sink. Of course, I dripped water all over the floor, in my quest for the conditioner. Cest la vie. Worse things have happened. Since my son has become potty trained, I've had to clean/disinfect my bathroom floor so many times, that I wasn't going to bother to do it again for a little bit of water. It'll dry.

Later, after I was dressed, and sitting at the computer, my son comes out to living room (after having gone potty) . Here's the following conversation:

son -- "dah foor id all wedt. I din' do it mama. I don know why id wedt."
me -- "I know, honey. It's from Mamma's shower. Don't worry about it. It's okay."
son -- "keep dah wader in da dtub, mamma! Da wadter sday in da dtub."
me (after I'm done giggling) -- "yes. You're right. Thank you."
son (stern, but forgiving) -- "otay!"

Even now, I'm cracking up as I write this. Can anybody guess what conversations we have when he's taking a bath?!

My Grandfather

My Grandfather died, last week. I wanted to blog, but between preparing the family for the trip to Ohio and my own sadness, I could not. My brother did. He did two blogs about my Grandfather. You can find them here and here.

I always liked my Grandfather's hands. There were big. In the last few years, they always seemed bigger than him, proportionally. I loved that. The were strong hands. Caring hands. Weathered and hard worked hands. When my daughter was a baby, I took this picture.

Grandpa always had a good joke to share. Nevermind that you've probably heard that very same joke the last time you visited, or hec, maybe even an hour ago. Most people didn't mind that, though. It added to Grandpa's charm, I think.

I will never forget the first time he held my son. I think the picture speaks for itself.


Such awe.



He was always afraid that we would forget him. That his great-grandkids wouldn't remember him, from visit to visit. I was always reassuring him that this couldn't be further from the truth. Even now, my son and daughter still have him in their prayers. They still look at his picture, and talk about "pa-pa." I don't think that will change.

I love my Grandpa. I am so fortunate for the realtionship the I (and my family) shared with him.

If you want to get to know who he was ... go to my brother's links post...