Potty Training

Ah potty training - on to the second round! It's actually not so bad, daycare does most of the work. We started last weekend (rough start) and then kept going through the week. Collin is doing GREAT! All weekend he has either let us know when he has to go or gone upstairs on his own to use his little potty. A few accidents, which is to be expected, but all-in-all, he's doing really well. It's a good sign when the first few days, he went through all the extra undies we brought for him and had to use daycare undies and by Friday, he had several of his own pairs left. :-)

Spring Cleaning

Sorry - this one has nothing to do with the kids. I took the week off for some Spring Cleaning (although I have to say I'm wishing we were in AZ right now!!!). Today I cleaned out every cupboard in the kitchen - pulled everything out, washed the cupboard, determined what I hadn't used in years and should go to the Good Will and put the remaining items back. I also worked on the dining room a bit - throwing out a good # of things.

So far: 4 very full bags for the Good Will; 1 bag for Kyle and 3 bags of trash.

I am POOPED! Who knew this would be so tiring. Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the upstairs closets......

Conner's Play

Conner had his 3rd(?) class at Steppingstone Theater this winter and their performance was this morning. They did a scene from The Magic Tree House - Hawaii style. Conner was the father and a surfer dude (this was the second time he wore my clothes as costume - he gets more use from my blue, pin-stripe suit coat than I do!).

As usual, it was completely mobbed and about 100 degrees. But the kids did well - they always seem to have a lot of fun. My old pal, Sidney, from Regions Hospital days, sat next to me. Small world - her son was in Conner's group. She noted that our kids' teacher has a much more "loosey-goosey" style than the other group's teacher. She's more of an anything-goes type of gal, while the other group was much more organized & choreographed. Doesn't bother me - Conner is 7, I'm not expecting high drama, just want him to have fun.

Conner's instructor in the blue t-shirt & skirt below. She's very "Theatre" isn't she?

A great view of Conner's back - but it gives you an idea of the space

Giving their name & saying what their favorite part of the play was.

Getting ready to take a bow....yes, that's my kid in the middle front - can't imagine where he gets that from!

Doing a "silly" pose at the end.

MN Zoo

Collin's daycare was closed on Friday (teacher conference), so I took the day off & we went to the MN Zoo. Got there right when they opened and it was SWEET! We were the only ones in the Tropics Trail for a long time, so could take our time and actually see things. The gibbons were (according to the zookeeper we spoke to) doing their morning territorial call to get all the other animals/birds riled up. The black one did a sort of keening call and then the white one would join in with a very nasty-sounding snarl & bark, showing all her teeth. Yes, I said SHE. Apparently, it's the male who sounds all sweet and high-pitched and the female who dares the other animals to intrude.

The early AM is also an excellent time to hit the MN trail - all the animals (except the raccoons and who really cares if they move about?) are up and moving and easily viewable. We saw the coyotes up close, one of the wolves and I didn't even know there were two wolverines there. They are usually snoozing by the time we get there. About 10am, the buses arrived and schoolchildren began to swarm - so we went to take a ride on the monorail and left about 11:30am.

Collin does love the train.

Turtle - Tortoise?

I think of this as his "You lookin' at me?" face.