June 2008

Faith has almost got her four top front teeth. Her lower middle one is still trying to poke through, but it looks like we can soon drop the nickname of "Ellie Mae" . One morning at the park last week Faith took a header onto the concrete blacktop. She cried a little, but not too much, so I didn't think anything of it. But you can see in the picture that she really took a good one. My little boxer.

Tanner is doing great on potty training. He calls his big boy underwear his "Boy Boys". He has also figured out how to get out of going to bed: as soon as songs are done and books are read, he tells us he has to go potty. New rule starting tonight: Potty needs to be done BEFORE heading upstairs to bed. We'll deal with the ACTUAL potty needs at bedtime when he is no longer wearing a pull-up to bed.

Jake is riding his two wheeler really well. I am so proud of him!!! He is scared to go on sidewalks, though. We have practiced in the street (with Brian jogging along side) and in the school parking lot/playground, but he is terrified of riding on the narrow sidewalk. So, until that fear is overcome we are unable to ride to the pool, the park, etc... In the meantime we will keep practicing.

Sheila, Wayne, and Shelby came to visit last weekend. It was so great to spend time with old friends! They had the luxury of staying at Grandma's place so they only had to deal with the chaos of our household for bits at a time. It was pretty cool having the "second home" to use! The boys both loved them. Tanner called Wayne "Hunky Wayne" instead of "Uncle Wayne"- to the amusement of all. We showed them around Boise (where they picked up many house flyers, amazed by the low prices), hung out at the pool, and BBQ'd, but the highlight ( in my opinion) was the multi-course dinner with cocktails and good conversation that DIDN'T include, "Sit down!". "Stop playing with your fork!" , or " Faith, you can't play with knives!". It was like old times, actually. A great reminder that even though friends may be far away, picking up where we left off still comes easily.

A few posts ago I wrote that in the event I don't get a teaching job for next year I will be a stay-at-home mom for the year. Yeah..... never mind. Nix that idea. Last week was my first full-time week on my own (the nanny had to go out of town for her grandmother's funeral so I canceled the job I was supposed to do). While it was fun waking up each morning and taking the kids to the park, playing in the backyard with water balloons, doing the usual stuff leisurely instead of cramming it into the weekend.... I just am NOT designed to do this full time. I have wrestled all week with whether this makes me a worse mother than my counterparts who are able to do it so naturally and gracefully. But maybe it is similar to any other career: some people make great lawyers, some make star basketball players.... some make great stay-at-home moms. I don't fit into any of the above categories, but I do know that I am pretty good at being a working mom. Maybe that's my niche. So, I think I will just cross my fingers, try not to beat myself up too much, and keep on scouring Craigslist and Boiseidahojobs.com- because I am not sure my sanity would survive staying home!