Shaving Cream Fun

In the midst of all the tumult of the last few weeks, it turns out that the kids still need, well, everything.  There's no stopping just because you are booking flights, or trying to find foreign lawyers, or wiring money to the funeral home.  They don't take any time off for meetings with contractors or filling out mortgage documents.  Kids are really not amused by the packing of boxes.  Thus we have been working hard to find activities to keep little brains absorbed, and that is how we found ourselves spraying shaving cream on a dump truck.

The shaving cream is a trick I remember from student teaching in a 5th grade classroom.  It turns out that even sophisticated nine year-olds think that squirting Barbasol on a desk top is a super fun time.  Squishing it around (thereby cleaning the surface) can entertain an entire class for a good 15 or 20 minutes.  When you're finished, everything smells fresh and clean.  Preschoolers are even more enchanted by the idea.  First we tried it out on a table, and it was amusing, but then Daddy had the idea to take it outside.  Mountains of foam on the truck AND a bristle brush made her positively giddy with joy.  Now we have the shiniest truck in the neighborhood, and we managed to get a few things done.

Lunch Menu for Kids

Now that my preschooler is out of school, it will be up to me to provide lunch seven days per week.  Sometimes we stand in the kitchen with me making healthy suggestions and her saying "nope, nope nope" for what seems like hours.  I get frustrated, and sometimes give in to less healthy requests just to get the whole thing to stop!  This year we're doing the lunch menu.  I'm posting five choices on the refrigerator door, and that is all that will be on offer.  Maybe I will rotate the choices to keep things fresh.  Maybe.  Here's a sample menu:

                                         Mom's Cafe
                    all menu items come with fruit and veggie sides


1.  Egg salad on crackers
2.  Cottage cheese with tomatoes
3.  PB & J
4.  Cheese sandwich
5.  Hummus and pita

Pre-Schooler Fun #1

In the midst of all the tumult of the last few weeks, it turns out that the kids still need, well, everything.  There's no stopping just because you are booking flights, or trying to find foreign lawyers, or wiring money to the funeral home.  They don't take any time off for meetings with contractors or filling out mortgage documents.  Kids are really not amused by the packing of boxes.  Thus we have been working hard to find activities to keep little brains absorbed, and that is how we found ourselves spraying shaving cream on a dump truck.

The shaving cream is a trick I remember from student teaching in a 5th grade classroom.  It turns out that even sophisticated nine year-olds think that squirting Barbasol on a desk top is a super fun time.  Squishing it around (thereby cleaning the surface) can entertain an entire class for a good 15 or 20 minutes.  When you're finished, everything smells fresh and clean.  Preschoolers are even more enchanted by the idea.  First we tried it out on a table, and it was amusing, but then Daddy had the idea to take it outside.  Mountains of foam on the truck AND a bristle brush made her positively giddy with joy.  Now we have the shiniest truck in the neighborhood, and we managed to get a few things done.

RIP

My poor mother-in-law passed away over the weekend.  It was a very sudden and unexpected event, and it has everyone, most especially my husband, completely blind-sided.  She was neither old nor frail, and I really did expect her to live a good long time.  I suppose these things just happen sometimes.  The good news is that she died at home in her bed with her animals nearby.  Just the way she would have chosen.  Of course this is only small consolation.

She was a formidable lady with a strong sense justice, a quick mind, and a keen sense of humor.  She spent much of her time caring for those who had no one else; her circle of rescued pets was an ever-changing menagerie.  Her circle of friends was larger still, and I know there will be many people missing her in the years to come.  She loved her family fiercest of all, and there will forever be a gap left by her departure from this world.

New House Activity

Earnest money is away, so I guess we're very, very likely to get this house.  Now come all the logistical challenges associated with moving out of one house, fixing it up, fixing up the new house, and moving into that.  Scheduling is going to be tricky, and it's made all the more interesting because we're talking about the middle of summer and everybody is going on vacation.  At the absolute minimum, we need to find a floorer, painter, foundation experts, and movers who have time to work within our window.  I foresee many hours on the phone in my future.  These are good problems to have.

New House!

We did it oh we did it! Oh we did it oh we did it!  We finally managed to win the offer battle (against seven other players, and one of them was all cash) and now we are under contract.  If all goes well, we will be moving into our new place by the middle of July.  I can't believe the house hunt is finally over.  Once the slog of moving is over, we will actually have our weekends back!  More details to come.

Potty Times

Holy crap (har!) I think we've done it!  Delphinium showed some interest out of the blue and we seized upon it as enthusiastically as we could.  A few times since then she's asked for diapers, but we just keep saying that she's a big girl and only the baby should be wearing diapers.  She seemed quite fine with that idea.

The first few weeks were a bit rough.  Sometimes, by the end of the day, I was washing an entire load of wet things which was quite demoralizing at times.  We did persevere however, and things did get better and better.  It helps that we have a travel potty which allowed us to stop anytime and anywhere to have a quick pee.  It also helps that we were in the the thick of training over Easter, and I broke my less sugar rule by giving her a jellybean every time she sat successfully.  At roughly two jellybeans per hour, I felt it was a worthwhile trade.

About three weeks on, and we're mostly there.  I would say that we now average one accident every three or four days, and even that seems to be tapering off.  I bought some iron-on transfer patches to help her tell front from back on her underwear, so we talk about trying to keep the robot or the butterfly dry.  We have not even attempted to go all night, but sometimes she wakes up dry too, so I have hopes.  Now if we can just avoid regressions, we'll be in great shape.  Fewer diapers!  Squeeee!