Mom's Musings: September 2007 Archives

The weather has been so nice lately that my friend Myretta and I decided to take the kids somewhere they would fit right in. So, Friday morning, off to The Fort Worth ZOO we went. As we expected ... "I want to go see the elephants!" and "Where are the lions?" and "Oooo! What's that?" and my favorite ...

ME: "Look Noah. There's some monkeys."
NOAH: "But ... but ... but I don't see Boots. Where is he?"
ME: "I guess he's on an adventure with Dora."
NOAH: "Yep. He's with Dora."

Looking at the "not Boots", I couldn't help but think I wonder if anyone would notice if I put the kids in there for just a few minutes. They could be the rare North American Hairless Monkeys. We stayed running from here to there for about 4 hours before all the babies started "melting". Then it was out to the car and home for some quiet time. Or at least I thought.

Noah fought the sandman all the way home. When we finally arrived home, he decided not to lay down and I figured if he was quiet, it would be fine for him to stay up. Maybe he'd go to bed early that night. Hannah was actually sleeping when I pulled in (she hasn't napped for me in about a week), slept all the way back to her room but woke up as soon as her back touched the bed. She wasn't cranky and her eyes were still a little droopy so I left her there hoping that she would fall back to sleep. No such luck ... at least her and Noah were got along for the remainder of the day. Drew ... well, it was time to eat so he was ... well ... wailing most of the way home. (I can't believe Hannah slept through that.) After his six ounces though, he was out.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. We'll probably be doing it again in a couple weeks if the weather cooperates.

(Pictures coming ... as soon as I get them off the camera and figure out this Ubuntu/"virtual machine" thing Josh installed on my computer. I'm still playing with it.)

Noah has been doing AWESOME with his potty training. I'm just so excited! I've just gotta share!

We needed to go pick up a battery we had ordered for Daddy's piglet ... I mean scooter. I decided that since it was just going to be a short trip, he would probably be okay in the "big boy pants" he was wearing. I admit, I was nervous but we've got to move on at some point. Why not now? I made sure to pack several pairs of clean underwear along with some extra shorts and a few plastic bags.

Noah fell asleep on the way there. I kept praying that he wouldn't wake up wet. On the way home from the motorcycle shop, we ended up stopping for dinner ... at a "sit-down restaurant". I woke up the sleepy boy to discover he was DRY! All through dinner I would ask "Do you need to go potty? ... Are you sure?" I must have asked about a thousand times. I always got the same response, "No." We made it through dinner dry. All we had left was the ride home.

I made sure to take the little guy potty before leaving. Even though he said he didn't have to go, we've made it part of our "we're leaving" routine. (We never leave anywhere WITHOUT going potty.) I made sure to make a HUGE deal out of him still being dry AND for putting "pee pees" in the potty. Seeing the look on his face after he finished and washed his hands ... it was priceless!

Long story short ... I am just so thrilled to report that all that packing I did before leaving was UNnecessary. I'm about to check this milestone off our list.

WAY TO GO LITTLE MAN!

Josh and I have found a new show. Living with Ed. It follows the incredibly green life of Mr Ed Begley Jr and his wife Rachelle. Ed's goal is to someday live "complete off the grid" using his many solar panels, energy generating bike, electric car, and new wind turbine. While Rachelle supports his efforts, her goal is to make his "projects aesthetically pleasing". Watching him has inspired us to do our part in saving Mother Earth.

We're just a pale green right now but it's still green. Yesterday, we ventured to Lowe's to purchase 34 new energy efficient light bulbs. We replaced all of the lights in our house. We decided to wait on the outside lights for now. We just don't use them enough. Anyway, these new lights give out this really white light. They call it "daylight". Our house looks so different. It's almost like a hospital. It will take some getting used to but I know it will be worth it. The estimated yearly savings? $200! More if you count the money and time that we'll save NOT having to replace light bulbs but once every five years (the estimated minimum life of the bulb - seven years for a few that we installed). That more than makes up for the price paid.

Our next purchase will be a programmable thermostat. We had one in our old house and I truly miss it. For almost a year, we've been changing the thermostat first thing in morning and every night just before we crawl into bed. It's frustrating when we forget to do it.

Check out Living With Ed. Get inspired! You'd be surprised at how little it takes to not just help save our planet but a little cash as well. I mean, who doesn't like saving money?