I'm sorry, I know most people don't want to hear about your childs potty training, but it's such a nice day when it starts clicking that it's hard not to share the happy news. I am so proud of Ethan, because potty training finally seems to be clicking with him. Last thursday or friday he starting going poop in the toilet on his own, without telling me before hand and without me asking. I was so impressed. One of the days he was playing with his toys and all of a sudden he exclaimed, "poo poo!" and ran into the bathroom and went in the toilet. He's so proud of himself. He's had minimal accidents since then, like not quite making it to the toilet in time, but I think it's finally clicking, which is really nice. YAY to seeing an end in sight to the use of diapers!

I've made a new friend, and i'm so excited about it. We are the same age, and we both studied art at BYU-I at the same time, and yet we never had a class together. We have a lot in common, and I think it's funny that here, in small Rupert, I find someone who I have so much in common with- you just wouldn't expect to find someone like that in such a small, out of the way town. Plus, our husbands seem to like to hang out also, so it's perfect. Having friends makes life so much happier.

In 6th grade Christy Brookes came to school one day sporting braces and talking about her overbite. All the kids were oohing and ahhing about hers and their dental woes, and I said, "I don't have an overbite". She started laughing. Since than, with other teasing and comments that followed over the years, I have been accutely aware of my overbite, and wished I could have braces, however it just was not something my parents could afford. My sister Rachelle had the worst teeth, and so a couple of years ago my parents were able to get her braces and it helped (didn't cure the overbite completely, but helped). Ryan and I have finally decided we could get me braces, and so I've started the process, and this is what I've learned. It sucks to have an overbite, because apparently if I want it to be 100% fixed I would need surgery, which would cost 10,000+. Not an option obviously. Braces will still help, but we won't know how much until after it's done. Fun stuff. I figure it will still be worth it, but it has made me believe that it would have been a lot easier to be born with crooked teeth than an overbite.

This picture was taken by a photographer of Banks Lake back home. I found it on a google search, so I don't own the rights to the photo, but I thought I would take a chance and post it anyways.

Today I am lonely and homesick. But not a realistic homesick, because the place I'm homesick for doesn't really exist. Sometimes, when we think back on childhood memories we tend to embellish them a little, the sun is always shining, the clouds are perfect, and the sun is putting a nice golden glow on everything.

It was a long night.

So I had this bright idea a couple of weeks ago to take the child proof knob off of Ethans bedroom door, thinking that since he was three he should learn to stay in his room without being trapped in there. I was thinking in terms of nap time, and putting him to bed, I didn't think very much about if he were to wake up during the night, since he normally sleeps pretty well all night long. The other day I accidentally tripped on the cord to the cd player in his room and it fell and is sort of broken, so he hasn't had music the last couple nights. I think that might have been the problem last night when he decided to wake up at 3:45am and come tromping out of his room. He got mad that I didn't want to get up and make breakfast and so he went back to his room for a little while, which surprised me. A couple of minutes later he was back, and when I told him to go back to his room as it was still night and he needed to sleep he said "Good Night" and shut the door. It cracked me up, because I didn't expect it. So, I waited to hear his door close and didn't hear anything and so I went to find him, and he was on the couch in the living room. I took him back to bed, and tried to get him to sleep but for some reason he just couldn't sleep. He finally went to sleep after 6 some time. Fun stuff. Lesson learned, one- I have to lock him back in his room so I don't have to worry about him getting out and turning the stove on (I caught him doing that the other day mid-afternoon), and two- I need to buy a new cd player so he can have his music when he sleeps. He didn't always have the music, but I found it really helped, and now it appears he has some trouble sleeping without it. There is also the possibility that he's getting to the point where he doesn't need naps during the day....but I REALLY have been dreading the day that happens. It won't be horrible, but I really enjoy nap time...

Whats for dinner?

I found this food blog recently, and I love a lot of the recipes. The author, Elsie Bauer, has a lot of good recipe ideas that I can tweak to my specifications. Plus, she gives additional tips and thoughts along with the recipes that I have found helpful. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/

Room of Lost Things

I hate losing things. This time it is my car keys (it happens repeatedly). I found my phone this morning, so that's no longer lost. Some day I will lose my mind and it will end up with all of the other stuff that I have lost over the years. One day I will find a room somewhere and it will be filled with all of the things i've lost, from earings to clothes to homework. I'll walk in and say, Hey! My red jacket that I was only able to wear once before I lost it back in High School! I've missed you! Sounds like a childrens book idea...I might have to do that....