Potty Training:Take 2

We're on Day 3 of Potty Training.  It would do me good to have a margarita at breakfast--actually I could use one when my alarm goes off.  A margarita fairy!  Just like the tooth fairy only this fair maiden gives you the power to potty train your 3 year old BOY.  She'd deliver another about 10:00 AM, noon, 2:00, 5:00 Happy Hour (and by now it's really, really happy), and then 8:00 to sooth the pee out of your mind while you wipe it off your shoes.  You could go to bed and have a dream without urine in it. 

Is it wrong that I'm thinking about a tequila IV belted to my hip???

My boy is sooooo different to train than my girls.  They got "it" on Day 1, and they had only one accident between the both of them.  It was fun.

 Sort of--in a potty training sort of way...

 But they both really got into drinking a ton of special juice (which provided lots of practice); flushing the toilet was a big, big deal.  And they couldn't wait to wash their hands.  Two Skittles was simply a just reward for a job well done--icing on the cake--if you will. 

As you can tell from my first sentence, we've made it considerably farther than we did 6 months ago.  If you are just joining this most ambitious and entertaining blog, you can read that post HERE.

In all reality, he's doing quite well by his own standards.  If you go by our experience 6 months ago, I could go on tour as a potty training phenomenon. 

But by a potty training girl's experience, we're way behind the 8 ball.  Way behind. 

Day One:  We started off by watching Potty Power again.  This time Andrei was thrusting his little fist in the air and shouting "Potty Power!" with the kids on the DVD.
 
"That's progress," I'm thinking.  "This time it's going to be a breeze." 

I gave him straight grape juice (which is something he never gets) to drink and a new cup to drink it out of.  He loved the cup--not the juice.  "Water," he requests after drinking about 2 oz. of Welch's deliciousness. 

"OK, fine," I think, "but you're going to drink the fire out of the water so we can practice, practice, practice." 

We practice sitting on the potty seat.  By the way, this new potty chair I bought is CRAP!  Clearly the designer did not have a penis nor did he/she have a son.  If he/she had either of the before mentioned, he would know that this wimpy urine deflector in no way shape or form deflects anything shooting out of a toddler's penis.

Yes, I said the "P" word.  I've said it a lot lately.  Forgive me. 

Anyway, he sits on the Pourty potty seat, stays for no more than 5 seconds, and says, "Finished!!"  He's done nothing.  I try to coax him to sit back down.  "Don't make it a power struggle," I keep repeating to myself.  He pulls up his underwear (I have to keep correcting myself as I call them panties--much to my husband's dismay), and I plead with him that TowMater will be sad if he gets wet. 

Yes, I'm bribing my child with the possible guilt he will wear should any of the Cars cast members become rained with 3 year old urine. 

One hour later Andrei tells me that TowMater is sad. 

Yeah, accident #1.  10 minutes later, Lighting McQueen is sad too.  Off to the car wash they go! 

Finally, we meet success with attempt #3. But you've got to be fast.  When the boy looks at you and says, "I gotta go," he's got about 2 seconds of holding power in him. 

We started carrying the potty chair with us wherever we go in the house. 

When his daddy got home from school, I announce that Andrei has not done any pooping business all day long.  Ah, the Lone Ranger is at last home.  "Come with me, Andrei.  We'll go do business together."  And he and Andrei and the purple Pourty potty chair head to our bathroom. 

Five minutes later they emerge with Andrei carrying his potty seat and Doug is on his cell phone.  Really? You can't be double minded when you are potty training, my Dear!  Andrei tells me that TowMater is sad.

I take off his underwear; Doug sees me and says, "What are you doing?  He peed in the potty chair." 
Well, Deary, he either didn't shake the dew off his lily or he's not finished, because Tow Mater's left fender is wet. 

Doug shrugs and continues talking.  Big huge help.  Two minutes later, Niagara Falls hits our new floors. 

Before he goes to bed, I have him sit on the potty chair again.  All of a sudden I hear my two daughters in a knock down drag out fight in Kennedi's room.  I go to referee. 

Bad mistake.

Andrei shows up carrying his potty chair.  "Mommy, I tee-teed!!" he says. "Are you proud of me???"

Yes, but there is no urine in the potty chair.  Where'd it go? He's decided to dump it in the toilet himself.  Do you know the dexterity a three year must have to dump urine from a funny looking potty chair and hit the hole of the big toilet? 

Yeah, a lot. 

Andrei doesn't have that much.

When my alarm goes off the next morning, Doug asks me, "So, are you ready for Day 2?????" and he laughs.

Day 2 starts off with a temper tantrum on the potty chair.  Andrei is mad because I won't give him his Tag while he is sitting on the potty chair. No way on a day like today am I going to have him screaming for 2 hours while I wash and dry Tag as a result of urine that doesn't get caught on this almighty urine deflector.  I'm sitting on the floor in front of him while this temper tantrum of epic proportions ensues, and before I know it, I'm being sprayed with urine from this rogue penis poking out of this potty chair that is not built for boys. 

Day 3 starts off with a screaming child when I take him to the potty chair as soon as he wakes up.  "I'm hungry! I want oatmeal!" Big tears are running down his face and he is getting mad all over again.  This time I take action. 

"Andrei, what does Daniel Tiger say to do the first thing when you wake up?" (The boy LOVES Daniel Tiger; it's take off Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.)

"Go to the bathroom," he sobs. 

"Andrei, what do you think Kennedi does the first thing when she wakes up?" 

"Go potty."
"What do you think Annsley does as soon as she wakes up?"
"Go potty."
"What does Grandpa do as soon as he wakes up?"
"If he's upstairs, he goes to the potty." (Apparently, Grandpa holds it if he wakes up on the first floor...)

By now he's quit crying, and what do you know, a TON of pee is in the potty chair. 

He's getting the jist of this whole potty thing, I think.  He's actually had a bowel movement in the chair.  That got him 5 Skittles.  I'll pay 10 if I don't have to clean THAT mess out of underwear any day.  He's probably 50-50 on making it to the potty chair right now.  We'll see what Day 4 brings...in the mean time, enjoy Jimmy Buffet and Alan Jackson.  Drop any judgements you may have about my margarita obsession and simply smile in the fact that poop and pee and TowMater getting showered with urine are not the center of YOUR 44 year old universe today!

Tiling Saga--Part 1

As I previously posted, my dad came over to help us with tiling the girls' bathroom.  He suggested we lay the tile on the diagonal.  I said OK--as long as he was going to help because that was way above my pay grade and perhaps more importantly, my tiling book did not cover that particular lay out.  He and Doug tiled the floor in one day as I wrangled to keep the 3 kids out of their way.  My dad was on his hands and knees placing the tile and Doug was the one making the cuts with the tile saw.  About mid day, Annsley puts her hands on her hips and thoroughly disgusted with her daddy says, "Why won't you help Grandpa? He's doing all the work!!!!)  I guess in her mind if you weren't actually in the bathroom, you weren't working!

The day of Andrei's birthday party was actually quite warm.  After everyone left, Doug looks at me and says, "Hey, you want to get started with the tile?  It's warm and the tile saw won't freeze."  (If you don't already know, a tile saw uses water to cool the blade.)

I should have said no.  I was sick.  I had enough snot running out of my nose all morning I could have swum in it by the end of the day.  Doug loved the diagonal tiles and wanted to continue the theme in our bathroom and kitchen--you know, to make it look cohesive...  (I obviously have a husband who has watched too many episodes of HGTV with his wife...)

We needed my dad here--if for no other reason to act as foreman.  My dad is like this McGyver turned farmer person.  He can make a CB radio out of 2 Q-tips, a dime, and a pencil.  (I don't know if that is even a remote possibility, but really, he can do just about anything....)  He is also a perfectionist.  If it's not done correctly, he'll redo it.  Seriously.  No matter what it is and how long it took him to do it in the first place.

But no, he's not here and I have an over exuberant husband about to embark on a diagonal tiling job with a sick wife. Now, my husband can do a lot of stuff.  He's a rather handy guy to have around, and he's not afraid to attempt to do something new (which is good when you have a wife who likes to watch HGTV and DIY channels.) Doug is quite accomplished with a welder; he can wire light fixtures, new light switches (although he will not turn off the breaker.  "Real electricians don't do that.  Besides, how could I tell which wire is hot?" he says to me. OK, well don't call me to come get you when the electricity pulsing through that hot little wire tosses your big body off the ladder.  His step dad was a carpenter by trade, so he knows a lot about sanding, staining, hinges and glue.  Doug loves glue by the way.  Everything is better--and stronger--with glue.  No. Matter. What. It. Is...Oh the stories I could tell about that product and 22 years of marriage! He can change spark plugs in your car; he can dig big holes; he can drive big, earth moving machinery; he can do the plumbing; he doesn't mind climbing on the roof and hanging Christmas lights.  But let's remember, Doug is KING at demolition.  He loves tearing stuff up. Loves it. 

Loves it.

 Anyway, finesse is not his strong suit. He knows that and I know that, and he knows that I know that.  His number one desire in life is to be fast and finish first--looks are secondary in the moment.  It's speed.  Speed is king.  He shoots first and then decides to aim.  I'm the opposite, so we usually can make a pretty good team. He's like all those men you hear about.  It's not about getting to Dallas safely and having a good time.  It's about beating your last time you drove it.  Yes, he's the guy tapping his finger on the steering wheel as you and your two girls are waiting 10 deep to use the bathroom at the highway Stop and Rob. (And tell me again why you can't just use the empty Gatorade bottle in the back? he always asks!!!)

Case in point: when my parents were remodeling their kitchen, Doug gleefully takes his new pawn shop find--a sawzall--  over to their house to see if he can help with the demolition. This is a reciprocating saw that does what it names says--saws all. He is assigned to ripping out one of the walls--a specialty of his.   According to the ones who lived there, my step mom and sister were in the middle of emptying the cabinets when this saw blade from the other side of the wall appears above their heads.  It's all they can do to throw pots and pans, cereal, and Spaghetti-Os into plastic containers to keep ahead of the saw that is trying to eat them. Doug sawed the 2x4s, insulation, cabinets, sheet rock, electric wires, boxes of Uncle Ben's Rice--anything that was in his way.  But the job was done.  And hours ahead of schedule he would later add....

So, with this mentality, a box of Kleenex stuffed up my nose, and hours of DVDs to entertain 3 children under the age of 8, we embark on the great tile quest of 2013. 

 Part 2 to be continued...

Two rooms down!

Kennedi's room is finished! (Except for the purple carpet which I don't count because I won't be having anything to do with it except picking it out!) I don't have any before pictures, but it was you basic beige walls with plastic broken, sun stained mini blinds. I decided to do Kennedi's room first as she is always behind her sister (hand me downs, having to go to bed first, etc.) She was excited when her room was finished, but now she is moments of pouting as she sees Annsley's room coming together.  It  not that Annsley's room is better--it's just "newer" and therefore better.  I might have shot myself in the foot with this brilliant idea...

From brass to white! Much better!

Stencil that sums up our Kennedi!!

72 butterlflies, 13 dragon flies...note to self: USE A STAMP NEXT TIME!!

The bunk beds that will eventually go to Andrei when we move him to a big boy bed.  Kennedi is not so patiently waiting to inherit Annsley's castle head board.

New drapes made by moi with black out lining (so Kennedi will sleep).  Kennedi picked out the fabric.  I think she did rather well, don't you?



Peel and play fabric decals.

The peel and play decals are awesome.  I found them at Mona Melisa Designs. Awesome stuff!! They have such cute murals, growth charts, and these play decals--especially for boys--Andrei will be getting some when he gets older! They are around $80, but if you go to their Facebook page, they have a store there which sells the "slightly irregular" things.  I got this set for $20.  And I can't tell what's wrong with it.  I bought a Christmas tree peel and play set on clearance for $15 which the kids can decorate next Christmas

One room finally down!

I can say we have one room completely finished to date: the kids' bathroom.  I can't tell you how awesome it is to spend time in there! LOL I will often just take my cup of coffee in there and sit on the vanity and just relax.  There isn't sheetrock dust, cement foundation floor, or paint cans to look at in there.  What a way to relax!  Let me just say, I have no idea how people stay sane with remodeling projects that go on for years!

My dad came over and helped us lay the tile in the bathroom.  Andrei saw him with his measuring tape out, so he runs to find his.  He about knocked me down getting back to the bathroom.  "I gotta help Gan-pa!" he says as he shoves me out of his way.  He's VERY aggressive when he thinks he needs to be "helping". 

Here are some before and after pictures of our bathroom.

Before with striped wall paper and border and purple carpet.

Nice Hollywood light fixture with brass detailing and rusted squeaky towel bars.

New light fixture.  Found an awesome website for lighting fixtures.  To find one that was as long as I needed, I was looking at spending over $100 easily.  Scored this one for $30! Got our dining area chandelier for only $42!

A little vinyl lettering.  (Not too much fun to put up since our walls are textured...but it looks great!)

Awesome looking tile floors, new drawer and cabinet pulls, and plenty of monkey stuff!

Yes, I got out my sewing maching and made the valance.  Just call me Susy Homemaker! Just don't look too closely at my less than straight stitching...hmmmmm I did not make the shower curtain!



Moved the light switch.  Our wires are covered at the time of this writing.  I'm just excited that everyone has a place to put their towels now.  Bathroom hardware is SEROUISLY underrated!!!



When we moved the door, palm tree #2 was chopped down (literally), so this was painted in its place.




Annsley made me turn her into a girl snake--with eyelashes!



Bye Bye Ceiling Fan Brass

As promised, here is a post about some of the updates going on around here.  I know you've been biting your nails waiting for this!

All of the ceiling fans in this house were stuck in 1990.  Brass was popular.  Brass was shiny.  It was in. I've since decided that I don't like shiny and bright staring down at me from the ceiling.  I was not going to spend hundreds of dollars to replace the ceiling fans, so I splurged on some paint.

Nothing short of incredible transformations I must admit.  I used spray paint and a new product I had never used before called Sophisticated Finishes.  This stuff is awesome, by the way.  The product comes in many colors, you can get the antique or rust look by appyling their patina colors.  It has real metal in the paint, can be used indoors or outdoors, and a little 4 oz bottle ran me less than $10 at Michaels with a coupon. 

I spray painted Kennedi's ceiling fan and our bedroom fan; I used the Sophisticated Finishes and brushed on the paint on Andrei's and our living room fan.  I still have Annsley's fan to update.  Spray vs brush on?  Brush on was SO MUCH EASIER!  It was less messy by far and I didn't nearly pass out because of the fumes.  The con would be you don't get that super smooth look that you do from spray paint, but in my opinion, you only notice that if you get super close (and I don't know anyone who is going to get a step ladder to check out my paint jobs anyway.)

Here are some pictures and the tale of my spray painting woes to go along with.  (Remember, I'd share the ugly with you too...) I sanded everything that was going to be painted but I didn't use primer.  If I'd been painting over something that was going to get touched alot, I'd do it differently.  But really, how often do you get up on a ladder and finger the metal of your ceiling fan?

Ceiling fan that came with the house.



I took down the blades, arms, and gave everthing a good cleaning with soap and water.



Sophisticated Finishes in Blackened Bronze, coat #1.  Doesn't look very promising at this point...

Painting the arms.  Use a smooth foam brush for less paint lines!



Coat #2...still having problems but getting better.



I flipped the ceiling fan blades over to the darker espresso finish.  With a third coat of paint, ceiling fan looks AWESOME!

Kennedi's fan with gobs of paper hung around it to catch the overspray. It took longer to protect the stuff I didn't want to have semi-gloss white on it than it took me to actually spray the fan.



I taped off one side of the fan blades because I was going to paint one side satin white and the other a rainbow of colors. 

  Now, at this point, Kennedi's ceiling fan update is going well.  I've managed to spray paint her fan blades a different color (green, pink, yellow, purple, and orange) and I have waited 24 hours and have flipped them over to paint the other side white.  I have my fan blades out on the driveway on top of newspaper.  It is a calm day.  I spray them.  I wait 10 minutes.  I spray coat #2.  I go inside to wait.  I all of a sudden hear a gust of wind roar outside.  Not good.  I go out to the driveway and two of my fan blades are flipped over and the the newspaper is sticking to them.  They will now have to be stripped.

I find some old paint stripper in a box and wipe them down with it.  Unfortunately, some of it bleeds over to the "good" side, so the orange and yellow side will have to be repainted as well.  I scrape off the paint, and clean them up. 

Now it is day #3.  I start with the colored side.  I obviously did not get all the stripper off because within 30 minutes, the newly painted orange and yellow are showing cracking and splitting of the paint.  Great.  I scrape that off and clean them again. 

Now it is day #4.  I spray them again.  They are not looking as great as they did the very first time, but at this point I'm getting a bit ticked and don't care.  I'm beginning to feel like I'm being held hostage by her fan.

Day #5.  I turn the blades over and spray the other side white.  15 minutes after spraying coat #3 I noticed this:

Somebody has stepped on my newly painted fan.  To this day I can't identify the foot print, but I'm still looking....

Instead of stripping them AGAIN, I just layer on the paint to make them somewhat smooth.  At this point I'm more than willing to fork out the $15 bucks for new fan blades...



Kennedi's fan finally finished after 6 long grueling days...



My favorite ceiling fan: our bedroom fan spray painted with hammered silver spray paint.  I just flipped the blades over to the darker side. 

Snowstorm Rocky, a Birthday, and Wine

Come on, I know you're trying to decide whether to click on Boy George or not...Go ahead and do it...Get it over with...

It's been a crazy, busy last 10 days.  Our little man turned three!  I flew to San Antonio to visit my sister.  We've entertained the 2nd worst blizzard snowstorm (Rocky) in our Panhandle history--or US history (I make that statement of 2nd hand knowledge told to me by my husband...)--the most dumped in a 12 hour period or something like that--So I've been told anyway. I'm not sure how much we got--17-18" inches?? maybe more??  (You know you're in the big time when the Weather Channel talks about you! LOL  I had no idea that they named winter storms now...)

We're currently on our 2nd snow day of cancelled school.  We have good 4 foot drifts in our yard thanks to the 50 mph winds during the snow dumping of 2013.  Thankfully we only lost our electricity for about an hour.  It was the first time our girls have been through the despair of not having Thomas Edison's invention at their beckon call. 
"Oh Momma! It's a great day to watch movies all day."  Sorry, can't do that.  "How about some hot chocolate?"  How about some cold chocolate?  "Can we play our DS's?" Not if they are not already charged... It was a sobering reality for them. 

This morning the three little ones and the one big one are venturing out to make a snowman family.  We have enough to build the Duggars.

My weekend in San Antonio was met with wonderful 70-75 degree weather.  We hit the vineyards for some wine tasting on Friday.  Contrary to what you may be thinking, it was very, very educational. Really.  I found out that port is nasty--no matter who makes it.  I verified what I had already known--that I don't like red wine.  I stayed in the white sweet wines.  Reisling is very very tasty.  I can also see why one might require the service of a limo after visiting south Texas's wine country. Had we ventured to a third winery, we might have needed a limo ourselves. My sister tells me it's the #2 wine country in the USA.  We ate at the Pink Pig and then ventured into Fredricksburg for some over priced shopping. 

All was well until my sister forced me to listen to her Culture Club CD on the way home.   Kristin has always been a European music band junkie.  She was a card carrying member of Duran Duran (who knows..she might secretly still be one...).  Listening to Boy George took me back to my freshman year in high school.  Unfortunately, I still remembered the words and probably sang out of tune to Karma Chameleon on the way home.  She says she draws the line at Elton John, but I figure if she likes Wham! she's got to be a closet Elton fan as well.  (Please click on the above video for stirring 80s music flashblack for all you 40 year olds!)

Here are some pictures of Andrei's birthday party and our snow storm. 

Yes, parts of our yard are bare of snow.





Wanting to have nothing to do wit blowing out his candles.

Enjoying his cake!

Renovation, Remodel, or Update?

Ah, yes, I have a blog.  I haven't been blogging.  But you know that.  Again I give my apologies and hope to do better in the future.  I seem to go in spurts. 

But this time a I have very, very good reason for my absence.  We have been super busy working on our house.  Yes, the purple carpet is up in all the rooms except the girls' bedrooms and ours.  It'll go a bit later but it's going.  That's the important thing.  I'm not sure if what we're doing qualifies as a renovation, remodel, or simply an update.  It might be all three.  I'm thinking a renovation involves moving stationary things such as walls and doors.  We have that.  A remodel must be replacing existing stationary things such as wall texture, flooring, etc.  We have that.  An update is bringing your home from the 1990s into the current decade such as lighting fixtures and cabinet hardware.  We have that as well.  Of course, these are definitions a la Shelly, but seeing that I am a 44 1/2 year old, it makes me very, very wise. 

I'll be blogging about our changes going on.  I will warn you, however, that I will be keeping it very real around here.  You'll know when I mess up.  I get a lot of ideas from fellow bloggers.  I use their instructions.  It often does not turn out as expected.  It's probably me, I'll admit that.  HOWEVER, as many times as I've done things, I know that all these people couldn't have possibly done it correctly the first time.  That's the problem.  You watch HGTV all day and watch these professionals do it and you think it is so easy.  Then you try it. 

Fiasco. 

So, you'll be getting updates on our updates (I'm so witty!!).  But I'll be sharing our faux paus and my renegade ways.  My partner in crime will be Doug. My husband is great a doing a lot of things: electrical, moving 2x4s, sawing a log in half, but he is not allowed to caulk or do anything that requires fine motor skills. I'll admit right up front now that I am very independent, so waiting on my husband to come home a fix something isn't my cup of tea, so I will often improvise a solution so I can get on with the task at hand.  Case in point today:  There are quarters glued into the door jamb of the hall bath.  Yes, if you demo our home, take care with the bathroom door--you could be $1 richer.  We moved the door and used the existing door jamb.  The door opened a different way, so we had to install the door knob face plate thingy (really technical I know).  To make a long story short, I used 4 quarters to fill the circular hole from the drill bit and then applied wood filler on top so I could stain it.  I could have waited on Doug to come home and tell me what to do (he'd said something like 'just caulk it'--his standard answer for anything with a hole), or I could have run to JoAnns and purchased these wooden disks that would have been perfect for the hole.  But all that would have cost me time and I have too many projects going on to waste time, so I improvised. 

I'll warn you ahead of time, I'm not the best with pictures.  I have been taking pictures along the way, but I often forget until I get in the middle of a project.  But with my superior linguistic skills, I'll give you a picture with words.  You're captivated already aren't you!!

For you do-it-yourselfer's out there: one word of caution.  Read labels.  I about killed myself this afternoon.  Doug picked me up another can of orange peel texture spray.  It was different than the one I had previously used the day before.  It said oil-based on the can.  Andrei was taking a nap, so I closed the bathroom door and began my skillful spray on technique.  Within a minute my nose hairs were burning.  I opened up the bathroom window and inhaled.  Then I about peed in my pants when Tiger Lily jumped up at me and barked.  I literally had to go outside and just breathe some good ole fresh clean Texas air for a few minutes.  Then I read the can.  It's like all over it: USE IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA. 

No kidding.