Airing Out Our Dirty Laundry

A retraction:

Sydney is not potty trained.

Last night was a low moment. And today it got lower.

Last night, around 10 p.m., we heard her calling out. Investigating the plea, Briton found Sydney standing undressed IN her top dresser drawer. His smeller told him there was more to the scene than met the eye. Sure enough, buried under the underwear were a couple logs. We went through each piece of clothing, pulling out the casualties. A third solo log leaned, camouflaged, against the base of the dresser.

Tonight, when recalling the event, Briton cajoled, "Come on, Robin. It's kind of funny."

Maybe I'll laugh about it later, but after today's numerous accidents (including several on the newly cleaned carpet) and after she put her poo in the potty (per our instructions last night) - except doing it by hand-delivering it to the commode - well - I gave up. Uncle, I cry.

She is in diapers again. Oh. And she's sleeping in the crib, with a binkie.

Advice anyone?

In the wee hours before 4

The inspiration.

Our attempt at replication:
That "4" is made out of rice krispy treats and marshmallow fondant (and a fistful of skewers for structural support). Pretty good for a couple of amateurs.

Happy Birthday, Talmage. You are the inspiration. [insert photo of Talmage. iPhoto is currently wigging out).

Would You Care for Some "T"?

Or Maybe a "P"?

The peas are lucking out this long, cool June. Can't say the same for the tomatoes. Meanwhile, we've been sowing some memories:

Memorial Day weekend camp out with the Wilde's and Everton's along the Rogue River (I mean, along I-5). We chose the Rogue for the white water rafting but ended up doing a jet boat excursion which was much more family friendly for our demographic. The rapids will have to wait 'til Clara is a little older. We enjoyed a walk along the river, though, a long-run along the fields, excellent company, and a place for the kids to run amok and hang from the strings of the hammock.

We started a new tradition for summer fun. Talmage and I brainstormed a million ideas of things to do and then put them on strips of paper inside a duck (not a real duck). At the beginning of the week he and Syd draw out 2 or 3 slips of paper and then we schedule that activity into the week. So far they have painted rocks....Caught red, uh, blue-handed...

(what can happen when a painting rock activity goes too long without parental supervision. Truth is, I actually like the handy look Talmage created here. I can see him thinking his artistic endeavor would improve the welcoming feel of our front porch. I felt sort of bad telling him we'd have to wash it off. ..."And don't do it again, kid, or I'll break your fingers.")

... Had a water balloon fight:

They really liked hucking the balloons onto the deck, rather than at each other. I don't get why two kids who enjoy tormenting each other on a regular basis weren't more into the "fight" part of water balloon fight. We'll have to work on that.


We went to the Zoo with Honey Jo and kids. Last week we had a backyard campout, which aborted after bedtime stories in the tent. But it was still fun to do. We also learned a magic trick - making a quarter disappear. I'd give you the link to how to do the trick, except maybe I'll do it for you one day and a real magician never tells how they do their tricks. The week ended with a most excellent day at the beach with the Farrer's and friends. Briton made a clam gun and was able to demolish some clams. Afterwards we heeded the signboards advertising the Scandinavian Festival in Astoria. We watched some traditional dancing, ate a smorgasbord, listened to a brass band that accompanied a cutely-rhymed epic poem, was reminded that Iceland is one of the Scandinavian countries (?), took Sydney to the bathroom 20 times (but hey, she didn't have one single accident the whole day!), and took the VERY scenic route home (202 and 47).

Oh, yeah. Sydney is potty trained. That was fun.

We bought a fifth of a cow. Betsy is in our deep-freeze, packaged in butcher paper into lumps of of ground beef, London Broil (we ate some of that tonight), tenderloin, roast, etc. Betsy was grass-fed and treated humanely.

Briton and I saw the new Karate Kid movie. We kept winking at each other whenever we saw something we'd been to when we were in China. It was very romantic.

This week Talmage turns four. He's been anticipating this birthday for a loooong time and has specific expectations. This is the first birthday party where I feel like I want to "make it count". So we're going all out. Friends, birthday games, a real cake. We're also hosting a high school student from the Madrid region for three weeks. She comes on Friday.

That's some of the stuff that is going on. Not many pictures. But look, you made it to the end!