Potty Training Update

Well, it has been over two weeks now since I buckled down and got serious about getting Spencer potty trained. He has done a fabulous job. With a few minor accidents, he won the race to the potty and gained his reward. He loves his racetrack and shows it to everyone who knocks on the door. We are all so proud of his accomplishments. Now if he could just figure out how to wipe!

Music in the dark.

Here is another surprise I found on the camera.

Pint-sized Photographer

While I was downloading pictures from the camera, I was amazed that there were over a hundred pictures on the camera. I found that Spencer had been taking all those pictures. I picked out some of his best. I deleted pictures of my bum, pictures that were out of focus, and pictures of of me on the toilet. This is beauty from his point of view.

Rebuilding Together

Today Paul, Siena and I did some community service in Phoenix. We scraped and primed a house for an elderly lady. Tomorrow Paul's other co-workers will finish it off with some paint. It was hard work, but the weather was pretty nice since it was early morning.

Every year Paul's work helps with the project. The project sponsor, Rebuilding Together, Phoenix chapter will be painting 150 homes this for year’s event. The mission is to spread the spirit of volunteerism by helping low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners through home renovation and repair. To date, the Phoenix chapter has worked on more than 1,000 homes and 35 plus community projects.

We are happy that we could participate in serving the community. Siena is also applying this project to her Personal Progress goals for Young Women. She was a hard worker and was excited to be a part of it. I'm proud of her for her willingness to serve. Paul was also happy to have his family working along side him.

Preschool at home

I decided that Spencer needs to learn some things from me instead of from the PlayStation or PBS. He has learned a lot from his favorite shows on PBS and he is better at the PlayStation games than Paul is, but since he enjoys learning at this stage in in life, I figure I should take advantage of it. I have always read to him everyday and we play learning games and I try to incorporate learning throughout the day, but this week I decided to branch out and teach him in a more formal setting. Of course, I did all this with Siena, but I started much earlier. You can tell that he is the fourth child.

Anyway, he is loving learning and the added attention. He is also proud to show his sisters and his dad what he learns everyday. Here is this week's work.

This is Spencer talking to his new friend, the chicken. He loves to play pretend.

The Race to the Potty

So I'm bribing Spencer to use the big boy potty. Yesterday we went out and bought him a race track as a reward to learn to use the potty. He has wanted this toy ever since he played with one on our trip to Utah in March. The deal is if he tries everyday for 2 weeks he wins the grand prize. We have been lackadaisical with potty training for the last 4-6 months. I haven't wanted to push it too much like I did with Siena. However, we've talked about it, read books about it, given candy rewards for it, let him go around naked, but nothing ever sticks. He always wants a diaper. If Lily didn't need diapers, I would have told him we ran out of them, but since the diapers are always available and since they wear the same size, it has been hard to get him very interested. A friend told me that the reward method worked for her son, so I decided to get serious and try harder. Today (day 2) he asked for a diaper all day so he could go poop, but I just kept taking him to the potty all the while hoping that my forcing the issue wouldn't make him rebellious. I even let him take his little potty under the table since he likes to poop in his diaper under there. Finally after hours of this, he ran to the big potty and was amazed he actually pooped. "It worked, I did it!" he shouted. We were both hooting with pride. "Now I get my race track." Uh-oh. So I re-explained how the rules work and gave him a marshmallow instead. That seemed to appease him. Here he is with his future prize and a marshmallow in his mouth. Tonight we will mark off another mile marker on the race to success.

Going Green

We recently installed a new solar water heater and sealed our air ducts to help reduce our electric and gas bills. We are really excited to see if Sun America was right when they guaranteed us a reduction in our bills of 40%.

Apparently, our air ducts were leaking 55 cubic meters per minute of cooled air into our attic and walls. We had the ducts "Aeroseal"ed by blowing a glue type compound into the shafts thereby sealing any holes or leaks. We could immediately feel the difference in how fast the house cools and in the forcefulness of the air.

The solar water heater seems to be working well. Really, it is a no-brainer to utilize solar power since we live in AZ. With the tax incentives and the reduction of our monthly bills we should be saving money despite having to pay to have it all installed. We are happy to be helping ourselves and the environment. Let's hope that going green saves a lot of green.This is our old water heater. (above) This is our new water heater. (below)We wanted to put the solar panel on the back of our house, but since that is the North side it wouldn't be as efficient to place it there. It's not too bad, but the other side would have been better.

Camping at Christopher Creek

The kids had Fall break last week and Paul had a few days off so we decided to pack up and go camping in the pines of AZ. At 5, 700 feet above sea level the weather was so much cooler and the fresh air was invigorating. We all had such a good time.
The two hour drive there made Spencer a bit car sick and he wanted to turn around and go home, but as soon as we got out of the car with the promises of roasted marshmellows he quickly started enjoying himself.
Lily loves to be outdoors, but gets over stimulated in such a different sleeping environment. However, with a sedative she stayed calm during the night.
Siena was so excited to do something fun with the remaining days of Fall break. She's a good camper and was so helpful with all the hard work that goes into packing.
During the night the wind picked up and the sounds of it swishing through the trees was so beautiful. It sounded like a rushing river. And then pine needles would rain down from the sky. It was pretty cold when we woke up and it stayed that way til noon, but then it warmed a little. We wanted to stay another night, but decided not to push our luck and quit while we were ahead. It was probably a good idea, but I already miss the woods and the cool weather.

The Big 4-0

Paul turned 40 today! Too bad he didn't want me to throw a party for him because the day wasn't too exciting. I guess that happens as you get older. Each birthday seems less exciting than the last.
What a handsome little tot! He still loooks just as handsome today at 40!