Impromptu Family Gathering

Chris and Tracy came over Sunday. They called as they were leaving Lenoir City to let us know they were heading over. Jason and Joanna were napping. Thomas and I were not. His 20 minute post church ride home nap was enough to keep him in the game until 7 p.m. Once they got here, Jason and Chris talked with the neighbor. Then, Rachel called Chris and while they were talking I mentioned she might want to come over, too. Then Tracy texted Canellen and here we all were, enjoying a meal together. Spaghetti with our homemade maranara and grilled chicken. Nice times. I wish I had thought to take a picture!
Joanna wore Chris out bouncing and Thomas dumped over Chris' drink.

Wows on Potty Training.

http://aplaceofourown.org/watch_video.php?type=field&id=435&pos=0&rate=hi&player=rp
Joanna saw this Place of Our Own episode on potty training and she was
interested after that at Thanskgiving at my Dad's house she asked to
go to the potty and Aunt Terri took her.
Today, I found this on the web site. I like Dr. Harvey Karp and that
Place of Our Own show, so I read this
article:  http://aplaceofourown.org/question_detail.php?id=237

A few things jumped out at me. I probably shouldn't quote the whole
article,but here is the big thing: "If your child expresses a
willingness to use the potty, the biggest mistake you can make is to
jump up and down, applaud, and make a huge deal about it. If you blow
it out of proportion, it will backfire on you. Your reaction may scare
the kid. They may start to think that it's too important and won't
want to do it. Some kids will use it against you when they're mad."

Another article:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/potty-training/CC00060/METHOD=print

A Day at the Aquarium

Saturday we got up early and made breakfast. Jason took Joanna out for a jug of milk since we were too low on milk to make gravy with what we had left! Jason's biscuits were the best so far. I cut them out, so that must be why. No, really. He made sure the Crisco was solid instead of melted and used a ratio of butter and Crisco instead of just plain Crisco. They are definitely fluffier.
We talked about what to do for the day. We had such a great weekend last weekend that I wanted another good one together, just having fun. So we did! We thought about going to go to the zoo or the aquarium. The weather was cool enough to do the zoo, but still be hot, maybe too hot. We thought about the aquarium. We thought about going a few weeks ago, so it was an easy decision. Also, after we asked Joanna which she'd rather do, go to see animals or fish, she picked fish. 
The aquarium was busy, but mostly with small kids and babies (with parents of course). I was suprised at how many TINY babies. One was 3 weeks and one was 3 months (but looked 3 weeks and we decided it had to have been born preemie to be that size at 3 months). Jason and I recalled how we kept Joanna in the house for like 6 weeks, then about 4 weeks with Thomas. It's fun to think back on things!
It's also interesting the instant camaraderie parents can have with each other since kids are similar in so many ways.
Joanna behaved fantastically. She liked the activity center but loved the penguins play area.
We went to stride-rite in Tanger outlets to get Thomas his first pair of shoes. They are blue tennis shoes and they are not baby shoes at all. He skipped that. He's wearing size 6W. We got Joanna's foot measured again and she's at 7.5W and got a size 8 shoe.  Thomas is so big it is amazing. I bet the admission person almost didn't believe he was only 11 months. He does look like a baby still, though!
It was wonderful being together as a family, relaxing together doing something fun. A big A+ in my book.

Joanna's scraped chin

Joanna took a spill down Nana's porch stairs today and has a big ol bruise on her chin. Ouch. She cried a little about it when she told me. Later, when we told Daddy what happened, she wasn't upset about it any more. I asked her if Nana gave her a big hug to make her feel better and she said "Yes." I asked her if she kissed her boo boo. she said "No".

How to Make a Freezer Tomato Pot

I read this article that caught my eye while I was looking at tomato sauce recipes.

It's a good idea!

Thomas Eats a Tomato

So, here is Thomas eating his first tomato from our garden. He liked it despite the funny face. He was interested in holding it and feeling the texture and tasting it. He bit small bites off at a time and ate a good few bites before he started demolishing the tomato into a mess. I rescued the tomato, chopped off part of it, and threw it in with the rest of the tomatoes that were becoming marinara for our dinner!

This picture was taken last Sunday after a short nap.

Kadie's 3rd Birthday Party

Kadie's 3rd Birthday Party: Scooby Dooby Doo!
Joanna and Thomas and I attended Kadie's 3rd birthday party last Saturday.

Joanna carried in Kadie's gift bag and (prompted) said "Happy Birthday" and gave her the bag. Kadie said (prompted) "Thank You" and (unprompted) gave Joanna a big hug.

The kids had a lot of fun playing with the balloons and chasing each other. Everyone enjoyed the cake. Joanna utilized the Scooby-doo cupcake pick as a utensil to scrape off and eat the icing from her cupcake. I guess it's obvious it can serve a purpose other than decoration...How cute!

Thomas will have to wait one more month before he gets to have cake. Carrot cake, that is! He ate a teething biscuit and had some cherrios and took in all the sights and sounds.

I enjoyed spending time and talking with friends from my church and watching Kadie open some presents. I liked seeing how the kids interacted with each other and they understood the concept the party. The kids all were basically happy to watch Kadie open the presents. Kadie didn't mind to let the other kids hold a toy. (Joanna got interested in a white dog with pink bows and was slightly reluctant to give it back. But she did once she lost interest.)