The Greatest Show On Earth!

Much to the delight of our surprised Goosey Lou, Daddy Mac and I decided at the very last minute to take her and Little Man to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for the very first time last night. After great deliberation on what day to go, it was quickly decided for us that we could NOT pass up the opening night prices: 1/2 price tickets. That my friends, is a 50% savings. And being the bargain shopper that I am, I figured that one VERY late night out on the town on a school night was in order.

It was a lot of fun. I had to pick the tickets up at the will call desk and told Daddy Mac to find the end of the LONG, LONG line that wrapped around the arena's perimeter and get in it with the kids. Imagine my surprise when I came back outside only to find my family about 10th in line from the front door! Daddy Mac had decided to stand near the doors to wait on me rather than to risk getting separated and while doing so, ran into an old friend of ours. Evidently, while talking to our friend and her gang, Daddy Mac looked around and VOILA! a line had formed behind him! Lucky us!

Of course we knew that upon our arrival, we would be accosted by all the wares that the circus people are peddling. We had prepared Goosey that although it will be tempting, we were only going to take enough money to buy some cotton candy and perhaps a drink. But they were SO RIGHT THERE and so perfect for kids to WANT, WANT, WANT.

After the initial shock of finding out a light up wand was being sold for the mere price of $20, we decided that we needed to find our seats and chill. However, Little Man decided that he needed to plop himself down in the middle of the concourse and stare at all the stuff we were refusing him because we were bad parents.

Goosey, having brought her own money, stated that she wanted to cash in on that cotton candy ASAP. Do you know how much three small balls of cotton candy in a bag costs now a days? $12!!! Yes, you heard me right: $12. I could not believe it. Then Goosey changed her mind and said she wanted a snow cone in a pony cup. I was a bit relieved...since it only cost $9. And of course, Little Man had to have one too. (It dawned on me if the circus was charging this much, Disney is going to cause me to have a heart attack!)

The kids loved it. Although we were sitting in the nosebleeds, we had a good view of what was going on. Goosey's favorite part were the elephants and the rotating rings of death. Daddy Mac's favorite was the acrobats. My favorite was the sliding polls where two people would climb up to where they were eye level to us in the nosebleeds and then the poles would sway and they would do all kinds of death defying crazy crap.

Little Man's very favorite part of the circus was simple: His $9 cup of flavored shaved ice. That kid worked on that snow cone for at least an hour, digging with his spoon, nibbling with his teeth, sucking with his straw and watching all the activities before us. At one point, he came up for a breath and asked where his sister was (she was on the other side of his dad out of view).

The entire show was 2.5 hours. Little Man passed out after his sugar high with about 45 minutes left. Goosey started to drift with about 10 minutes left in the show. I made Daddy poke her so that she could see the man and woman get shot out of a canon! Very impressive.

We rolled into our driveway at 11 PM! Bone tired. Kids passed out. That alarm went off waaaaaaayyyyyy too early this AM. I might even have to go to bed early tonight.

Making memories...

Toilet Training Is For The Birds

I have to say that Little Man and I have not done too much these last several days. I have been sitting in the kitchen and he playing in the living room or at the table with me. Every 20-25 minutes, poor guy gets to answer the same exact question:
Do you need to potty?

Then every other time we are running to the potty to try to pee. Good grief! And pee he does. He will pee every single time I take him in there. For success, he is rewarded with gummy worms or marshmallows. He has totally figured out the reward thing. However, he has not figured out to actually do all this on his own. If he is playing or watching a movie or whatever, he just won't take himself to the potty.

And for the pooping...LORD, PLEASE HELP ME! I have promised prizes, stickers, candy, etc. He just won't do it. Right at this very moment, Daddy Mac is trying to cheer him on to victory and it is not happening, despite all the signs.

So, we continue on with vigilance. Like my mom says, he won't walk down the aisle in a pull-up!

I Must Be Getting Old

What is it with snow days? Seriously. Every single day of the week, I am struggling, repeat, STRUGGLING, to get Goosey up and out the door for school. She is groggy and slow and whining-the whole 9 yards.

However, let an inch of snow fall and she is UP at 5:45 AM, waking her baby brother, and down stairs. I woke up to a TV on (with static since she doesn't know how to use the satellite remote), found cups of water all over the kitchen table and honey all over the counter. I realized later that she made a platter full of peanut butter and honey sandwiches for everyone to eat for breakfast.

I checked the school's website and NO SCHOOL. I checked the preschool's website and NO SCHOOL. I was shocked. With one inch on the ground and wet roads, could we have not at least delayed the school day? I am not really shocked. It is such a rare thing to see snow here that it becomes an unofficial holiday for everyone.

So Goosey and Little Man decided that they wanted to play in the snow. I made the executive decision that it was way too early to tromps out in the steady rain and run around in the snow at 7:00 AM. I made a bargain: If all toys are put up and her room is straightened out and I could fold and put up two loads of clothes, then they could play outside for a short while.

After a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, the tasks were completed and with both kids bundled up, we headed outside. I stayed under an umbrella (so my camera would not get wet....right) and took off after the kids.

It did not last very long. Little Man was back in the house in less than 10 minutes whining that he was too wet. Goosey came in shortly behind him, drenched to the bone. They had had their fill of our "snow storm". We don't own any snow suits. Now that just would not be a logical purchase for us. We get maybe 1" of snow a year and a major snowstorm once every 4-5 years, so if we bought snow gear then they would grow out of them before they truly got to use them.

I must be getting old. I hated that they missed school for many reasons. The first being that Goosey has to make up the day...probably in the spring when it will be so pretty out. The second is that Little Man's absence from school is wasted tuition. The third is that the laundry, the purging of Little Man's room and other boring but necessary tasks will not get done without two kids "helping" me out by messing it up right behind me. Thus, these things will not get done until maybe LATE tonight.

But I guess the best thing is that we get to play some board games, read some books and talk about the potty for most of the day. Maybe we will put in a movie and eat some popcorn...you know...make some memories. Oh! and maybe a nap! That would be nice....I would never survive in the north. N.E.V.E.R.

So as the rain is still coming down, I watch the white stuff slowly disappear. The muddy ground and grass is poking through most of the yard and the trees are shaking off the extra burden of weight. I guess it is good while it lasts.

Big Beds and Potties

Saturday was d-day. Delivery-day of the big bed. Little Man's twin mattress was delivered to our front door a few days ago. It was a big day for us. Daddy Mac put the bed frame together and moved the mattresses upstairs for our first night in a big bed. We have decided on an eclectic motif: Spider Man sheets (or Superman) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar comforter.

After getting on the bed, he laid down and started moving his arms and legs and said "I making a snow angel!" I guess that means he has a lot more room to move around now.

He has been in it for three nights now and has yet to fall out! Of course, I have to move him around a bit before I go to bed to ensure that he doesn't slide off. Goosey has been so gracious as to move her bean big chair and crabby stuffed animal to his bedside to help with any potential falls.

So Saturday was a big day in and of itself. Then the following morning, Little Man announced that he wanted to wear pull-ups. He used the potty when we put on it, but that was nothing new.

Yesterday, he asked to wear big boy underwear. So we broke the dinosaur undies out (along with some vinyl pants to insure that a bad accident would be contained. I have to say that we went through 4 outfits in less than 2 hours. I was pretty frustrated. Then I decided to take him to pick out a candy of his choice.

That has seemed to help alot. We got up today and within a few minutes, he asked to potty. Success! Lots of marshmallows and M&Ms because he also stayed dry. Thirty minutes later, another success! More treats!

So this morning he has asked to potty and has actually stayed dry in between! I think we are making some serious progress. (Keeping fingers crossed...)

Update on the first tooth

The eagle has been pulled from the mouth! I repeat: The first tooth has been lost!

Upon picking Goosey up today, she jumped in the car and grinned real big sans a lower front tooth! She informed me that she was wiggling it after lunch today when she twisted it out and voila! So excited!

I need to send a great big thanks to her teacher for putting it in a bag and taping it inside her folder....because as I said before "Bleck!"

I guess the tooth fairy will be forking over a $5 bill for this first one ($1 for each subsequent tooth)....or so that is what I am told the going rates are....

Just A Regular Day

After almost two months of the Christmas hype, we are now back to just a regular day (s). Little Man started back to school this week running! He was so excited to get back to his classroom. His first words were "Mama? Where is my Jake?" Jake is Little Man's bestest friend. They play together and chit-chat about who is wearing what. (Little Man had a Thomas shirt on and Jake had a Buzz Light Year.)

He is doing so well with his language! Today on the way home from school, we had the following conversation (that someone else could have understood):
LM: Daddy's at work.
ME: Yes. He will be home for dinner though.
LM: There is daddy, mama, "Goosey" and "Little Man" at the yellow house.
ME: That is right.
LM: That is my favorite thing.

So sweet. Tomorrow is delivery day for Little Man's twin mattress set. He will officially be in a true big boy bed and we will be getting rid of the crib set and toddler bed. Hallelujah! I just pray he doesn't fall out too frequently.

Goosey also went back to school this week. And although she said it in a drab tone, she said that she is ready to be back and see her friends and go to computer lab. It has been so frigid that they have not let the kids go outside to play, so she is bummed about that. Hopefully, this weekend will prove to be warmer and we can get some of the energy out.

That wiggly tooth is still in her mouth. It is pretty gross, actually. She can bite down on her molars and that loose tooth sticks out almost perpendicular to her jaw line. Bleck. Daddy Mac tried to tug it out last night, but it had a bit too much resistance for Goosey. I have decided that this is another bodily function that I am not going to be able to deal with. It is just so visibly yucky, I get queasy.

So it is just another ordinary day for the Macs. I kind of like it like that.