Catching Up

Hey there!

Well, we returned home safely from our vacation in NC. Why is it that I have returned home more tired than when I left???? Oh, I remember now.....they're called children! :o) My answer to everyone who has asked about our vacation has been "The weather was great!" It really was beautiful and we are blessed to have been able to get away for a week. I am feeling especially blessed to have been spared from hurricane Ophelia too. The destruction from hurricanes we have seen recently is just something I cannot even begin to fathom. I see the pictures on TV, but I don't think you truly understand if you haven't personally experienced it yourself. I felt the same way after Sept.11.

Anyways.....we have managed to get back into our normal routine. The boys headed back to school and are getting settled in again. Grace also had two days of preschool this week. Today she was off because of a teacher workshop (Are they allowed to do that??) and I wondered what we would do all day. Well, first Grace helped me clean the kitchen. Actually she played with water in the sink while I cleaned the stovetop, toaster oven, and mopped the floor. But she did actually scrub out the sink with a SOS pad and so she did help. She also wiped off the front of the stove and dishwasher after I sprayed them with Windex. This all kept her busy for quite a while....I was impressed.

We also had a major "potty" breakthrough. I won't post all the gory details to protect the privacy of my dear daughter, but let me just say that it was MAJOR!! We did the happy dance, called Daddy, and went to Toys R Us to pick out a prize! M&Ms for today's accomplishment and a toy incentive of her choice for accomplishing the "task" five more times....to be given out when she has reached this goal, but out for her to see. These incentives have worked in the past, so hopefully they'll do the trick this time as well.

Grace practiced some "writing" also. And while I wasn't looking she "polished" her fingernails with a black Sharpie marker! Yea, that's right....the permanent kind!!! FYI....nail polish remover actually works pretty well on Sharpie marker as well as polish. It handled the nails pretty well...now they're just sort of gray. Around her nails and cuticles are still pretty black though. Oh the joys........ LOL!!!!

So our day has actually turned out pretty fun. Time to sign off. Quiet time is almost over and I promised Grace I would push her on the swing!