Room for Two

Rusty has decided the crate is a "safe" place and heads there on his own. Tonight he might change his mind.

If the one you are trying to escape climbs in there too, how safe is it? His look sums it up. He is her "toy" after all.

"Nuts"

Joseph was one of the acorn (choir) in his school's play "NUTS." He wanted a bigger part, unfortunately when the roles were being assigned he was out of town. At first he was offered a smaller roll of a speaking nut but he turned it down saying that he wasn't going to be around when the play was performed (discussions in our home of Daddy's separation from the Air Force had left questions of a pending move). He was refusing to even just practice as one of the choir members sticking to his story of not being around. Somehow his teacher persuaded him to get involved (she is a great teacher, for Joe, I tell you!). He then couldn't wait for today to come.

The story line is of the circle of life. Acorns fall from the tree, some get picked up by animals for food, some actually make it (with the help of rain and sun) to grow. The play was performed three times and the principal said it was great every time. It was actually the First Graders performance, Joe's 2nd grade class was the only other class involved. They threw in some cute humor with some big "bad" squirrels who would fill their mouths with acorns, they were rapper squirrels with bling. One of Joseph's class-mate (church friend too) was one of these, well received by the audience, squirrels.
The catchy theme song had Katilynn and Brianna dancing along with the kids on the stage, doing the hand motions as well. The costumes were great and the stage decorations were very well done. Good job to all involved, it was a pleasure to watch! And to show our support, we will purchase the CD (at Joe's insistence).

Good job, Joe, for changing your attitude and getting involved after all.

The Potty Dance

Fair warning: this is a post about bathroom business...as the title indicates.

I have been very fortunate to have assistance in potty training all children thus far.
With every child, as it became "time" to train, my Fairy Potty Mom would magically be around to help. Not this time.

Elizabeth has been showing some interest in training in the ways of toiletry. So, I have decided to try it out by myself. **see the fear in my face**
I've read up on "how to potty train in three days or less,"
and think I may have what it takes. I have whisked her off to the bathroom first thing in the morning, sat and sang songs while she tries to do her business, and get excited after any amount of success. So far a pretty good start. I've even bought some bribery candy!

Tonight I realized, with great joy, that I am not alone in my quest. Her sisters came to announce that Elizabeth was "on the potty" and they were singing her songs to help her go. Although nothing came of that sitting, even with the temptation of candy(...for everyone!) later we had quite the 'doo'zy. When she came strolling out of the bathroom after going #2 on her own. Of course I had to clean her up, and then we "all" did the potty dance (this included Daddy and brother). She was so pleased with herself. As was I.

I know it is just the start, but I may be helping decreasing the amount of diapers in the landfills...in three days?!?

I don't think we want pictures with this post. :-) And, no, I haven't tried to let her go naked yet as the instructions suggest. It might just speed things up though...

Our attempt at Crating our dog

We wish our dog, Rusty,
would take to the crate as Elizabeth did.

We ended up having to gently force him in for a few hours while we were gone today. Tonight he went in to lay down for a few minutes on his own. I was worried that he might not ever want to go in by himself after the forced incident this morning, but I was pleasantly surprised. He might warm up to the idea after all.

Hey, it can't be all that bad...the kids like to climb in too.

Honor Assembly

Congratulations to my successful second grader!

If you couldn't tell, the second grade class award ceremony happened on March seventeen (St. Patrick's day), an apparel/accessories sea of green.

Joe's teacher had the largest amount of both honor roll students and honor society students (1/2 of the honor society students were hers)! Way to go Mrs. Evans!!



We are looking forward to Joe moving up to the Honor Society Students, currently about 18 students, by the end of the school year.

GOOD JOB JOE!

Out of the mouth of babes

Joe, on the way to the sitter's house: "I'm so happy Mom and Dad are going on a 'date' tonight!"

Me, to myself, smiling: "Me too!"

Fast forward three hours later when I get a phone call on our way home from the sitter's house.

Sitter: "So, I thought I would tell you of what Joe said while you were gone."

Joe, to all the girls (her three and my three): "Yeah, Moms and Dads need to go on dates sometimes so they don't kill their kids."

Me, smiling: "Sooooo true!"

Thanks Stacey for watching my kids, so I don't kill them. You are a GREAT friend, if I haven't told you that lately. Let me know if I can return the favor sometime!! :-)

Honor Roll!

Little Joe could be a straight "A" student someday!

When he puts his mind to something he can succeed. I am excited for him, he's been on the Honor Roll since first grade. They will be recognizing him at the "All-Star Honor Assembly." I know many mom's who have smart kids probably think I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, but I've also worked HARD the past couple of years to try and get/keep him on track.

It will be fun to watch him get his certificate of achievement on Tuesday. His dad will get to be there this time, which is always a treat for Joe.

I'm proud of my little scholar in the making.

Orchids or Kids, I'll take both!

I just love the serene settings at the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens (and it's free!!) It was decorated for the Chinese New Year 2009: Year of the Ox. We caught the tail end of this exhibit, it ends on the 28th. It is just amazing what they can do with plants and flowers!

They had tons of
my favorite flowers,
the Orchid.

There was also a lovely Coy pond, all three of my girls were climbing the fence
to get a good "look see."

The girls are a handful each time we go
(Elizabeth has taken a liking to running a muck),
it might be easier if I didn't try to take picutres.

I'm glad I weathered the storm.

I got to have my Orchids...
and kids too.

**Tea Party**

We finally had the "long awaited" tea party Brianna has been anxiously anticipating and repetitively inquiring about...

The party attendants were her friends Katie and Emma, her cousin Fiona, sisters Kaitlynn and Elizabeth.

We mustn't forget the "nosey" guest, Rusty, the human dog.

Everybody dressed for the occasion. We had fancy plates, refreshing H2O (no worries with spills), and some chocolate chip cookies.

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE tea parties!

2009 Valentine

For Valentines day, 2009, we were visiting family in Salt Lake City.Aunt Drea thought it would be sweet for all the girls cousins to get a long stem red rose from all the boy cousins. At this visit there were just the perfect ratio of girl to boy cousins. Elizabeth was quick to break her longstem rose and before the night was over almost all the Porter girl's roses were either short stem or decapitated.

A Valentines to Remember!

3 out of 4, Dentist agrees he likes Porter children

Ok, so I'm not sure if this is really such a great thing to post about since it will reflect poorly on my parenting skilz.

We went to the dentist last week to find out that three out of our four children needed some work ranging from very mild to semi-extreme.
Today we did the work on all three*...
and are now anxiously awaiting our Income tax returns!
Although we still have coverage through the military there are some overpriced expenses (sedatives) which are not covered that had to be paid for TODAY.

We learned a few years ago that it is easier on everyone involved if our child(ren) is/are medicated for dental work. This is also my opinion, Greg would differ on the "everyone" part. He had a very tough time watching sedation effects on his then three year old son. This time he was dreading having Elizabeth (his precious baby, almost 18 months) go under. He didn't sleep well, not that he does anyway. He has now announced that it was better to go in prepared for the worst because then it wasn't so bad.

We were told that the children would probably sleep the rest of the day away.
I got gypped, I want my money back!! OK, how about half?

*Kaitlynn is our "NO cavities" winner this round. Yea!! Kaitlynn!!! I think she was glad too.

A Reading Rainbow

Today as I picked my son up from school, this magnificent rainbow left a trail of color to his school. I only had my iPhone on me so this is the best picture I could get. If I was a true photographer I would have a camera around my neck at all times (I'd probably have a really great camera too).

One day this picture may impress my son, today I'll share it with you.

Knowledge is golden!

Almost completely healed!

The good news: The girls mouths are looking ever so much better!! I think the sores are all gone inside their mouths and just have their lips to clear up and Dr. MOM will call them completely healed.

The Magic-Mouthwash was hogwash!!

All it really did was coat the sores and maybe numb the area for 1.5 hours, but we couldn't dose again for 30 more minutes (every two hours, how do you actually do that through out a day??). So for 30 minutes they were crying and whining again. That is what made this virus they caught so exhaustive for me: Crying and whining X 2 girls, Magic-Mouthwash treatments (1 tsp. swished every two hours) X 2 girls, and then Elizabeth thinking she needed mommy all the time too. No one got a good nights sleep in the house.

The doctor had asked us to stop doing the salt treatment my husband had started on Brianna before we even went to the ER. She said it was harsh on her little mouth.

I did the magic-mouthwash for 4-5 days pretty faithfully until Brianna's medicine ran out. When it didn't look any better in either of their mouths I decided to go back to a salt treatment of my own, using sea salt on a q-tip (pretty easy, and inexpensive). I also q-tipped some hydrogen peroxide on the sores. After only a couple of my magic treatments you could see instant reduction in the size of the sores and they were less inflamed. The next day they were willing to brush their teeth & eat (finally!). To think I could have gotten rid of it earlier ... ARGGGGH!

Oh, and I did go the (semi local) herbal store * and got something called Kid Viral. Although both of them complained of the taste and only did one dose each, I'm hoping it will help me keep the kids Virus free...

I'm not sure my lesson learned here, but I will keep my magic treatment(s) handy for the future, and toss the Magic-Mouthwash!!

* I am going to do a plug for the hormone balancing "Restore" from Herbally Grounded, the a fore mentioned herbal store.

I was starting to feel very imbalanced mentally, for lack of a better term. I felt cranky all the time, not very patient with my kids, lack of motivation, and scatterbrained all the time. I had considered going to the doctor for some legal "Happy Pills." A very good friend said she had been feeling the same way and actually got some medication from a doctor then a friend of hers said she had done the meds and found these herbal pills that did the same thing only less addictive.

Long story short, I tried them...and they seem to be doing the trick. I am less cranky, a little more patient with my kids, feel more motivated and focused. I actually want to get out of bed (after a few more minutes under the warm covers...) and feel a little more hope,that there is light at the end of the never ending tunnel of laundry/dishes/crying babies etc.

If you have been questioning your hormone balance, give the herbal remedy a try.

Big Shoes to fill

The other night Elizabeth was trying on her Daddy's new shoes.
They are almost half her height alone.
The amazing thing is she could actually walk around in these massively huge shoes (10 1/2 6E)!
"Moon Boots"
She was cracking us up.

We hope you enjoy the video too.

Sweet Sweet Sleep

Her daddy told me to get the camera...
she had fallen asleep watching tv on the couch
with her older siblings.
She tries so hard to be a big person, it wore her out!