Shawn saw her look of concern and said, “Oh, baby.  I’m not hurting him, I’m just tickling him.  Besides, he’s Daddy’s boy.” and he ruffled Ethan’s hair.

Karis looked at him, shook her head and said, “Un-uh” (her version of ‘no’.), then pointed at me and said, “Mama.”

Shawn and I looked at each other and started to laugh.  ”You think Ethan is Mama’s boy, not Daddy’s?”

Karis nodded her head firmly and said, “Ya.”

(Yes, I meant to put all those exclamation points after that sentence.  That’s how EXCITED I am that he’s finally wearing ‘big boy underwear’.  If you’ve ever potty trained a boy, you understand my elation. )

After months of fighting, pleading, bribing, arguing, and disappointment, I finally found the right combination of things for Ethan to want to potty train.

We had tried bribing him with candy corn (the treat HE picked out at the store for just this purpose) and that wasn’t really working.  We tried putting him in pull-ups and telling him to let us know when he needed to go – yeah, right.  Then, one day, I got so tired of it, I just put ‘big boy underwear’ on him and set the timer.  Every 15-30 minutes the timer would go off and I would say, “Time to go sit on the potty!”  The first few times he fought me on it and didn’t want to do it.  It took a few times, too, before anything happened when we were ON the potty.  When it did, there was HUGE celebration, much clapping and cheering, and candy-giving.  

The few times that he had an ‘accident’, we went immediately in the bathroom and sat on the potty just to see if there was any pee left.  A friend of mine said that sometimes when they have an accident, they stop themselves before they’re completely empty.  This way you have a chance to praise them for going potty in the toilet, even in the midst of an ‘accident’.  (Thanks for that idea, Shannon!)

We also checked out a book from the library called “Time to Pee”.  It’s a great little book about potty training that starts off “If you ever get that funny feeling… don’t PANIC!”  Cracks me up!  I’m not sure if it was the book, the underwear, some cosmic alignment of the planets, or the combination of things, but suddenly it clicked with him!  And now, I don’t even know most of the time when he’s going pee, because he just gets up from where he’s playing, goes into the bathroom, and goes potty!  Yippee!!!  :)

Now, to work on wiping his own bottom.  That’s the part that no one talks about!  :P

How about you?  What were your tricks that helped get your little on to finally potty train?   

NinaLoca is a great site full of ideas for summer fun for kiddos.  She’s got everything from jumping places, to local parks, to museums, to kids-eat-free restaurants.  I’ve already found 2-3 places that we just HAVE to go check out this summer because of her great information.  Most of the places she’s listed she has a brief description and her own experiences (if she’s been there), too, which is MOST helpful!

Here’s her description of her own site…

Welcome to Nina Loca! Summer Fun Listings for Houston, Cypress, & surrounding areas. We list everything from kids eat free, play places, VBS, camps, volunteering for kids and teens, stuff for Moms and Dads, pet resources and more! We are Houston locals and we know the best places to visit with family and kids. Texas is cool!

So go check it out and then tell me where YOU just HAVE to go this summer because of this list!!

So, I’ve been doing a little googling and have come up with a few ideas that I think we can handle here with a 5yo, 3yo, and 18mo.  Here’s a couple of links for your reading enjoyment…

Tin Can Herb Pots - This looks like lots of fun and I figure we can use the end products as gifts if we want.

Coffee Ground Fossils – I have to admit that this one REALLY appealed to the Earth Science teacher in me…

Rice Krispie Earth -  Okay.  This just looked yummy.  How long HAS it been since I’ve had a Rice Krispie treat anyways??

“Stained Glass” Butterflies – Not sure how this really fits in to the whole Earth Day theme, but it brings back such fun memories of my own childhood, that I HAD to include it. 

There were SO many other ideas out there that it was almost overwhelming!!  I figure we’ve got to save some ideas for next year, though, right?  :)

So, what are YOU doing to celebrate Earth Day this year?  Leave me a comment so I can change my mind again about what I want to do!

Buckwheat honey — a dark variety sold in most grocery stores — relieved children’s coughs and helped them sleep better than dextromethorphan, the drug in most over-the-counter cough suppressants, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Honey also beat out no treatment at all.

“(Honey) is a cheap and effective treatment,” said Dr. Ian Paul, lead investigator for the study. “Consider using this as a treatment before going to the pharmacy to pick up an over-the-counter cough and cold medicine.”

Click here to read the rest of this article, courtesy of the Houston Chronicle.

I was sitting in my living room on the couch with my oldest, Kate, just enjoying catching up on emails and skimming through my favorite blogs when it suddenly hit me… I had been smelling something quite strong for the last few minutes. I stopped emailing mid-sentence, looked at Kate and said, “What’s that smell?” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew what I was smelling and it caused me to immediately throw my laptop on the side table next to the couch and jump up to run into MY bathroom to investigate further.

When I opened the door my first thought was, “OMG!”
Second thought, “I’m going to skin her alive!”
Third thought, “I’ve got to get a picture of this!”

So here’s your first clue…

And here’s your second clue…

And here’s what I first saw when I walked in the door… Somehow my one year old had gotten into the tin that I keep all my bottles of nail polish in and had started opening bottles and ‘finger painting’ on my bathroom floor. There was at least 10 different bottles of nail polish opened and spilled in puddles all across the linoleum. It was on the floor, on the bath mats, on Karis’ pants and face and hands. About the time I had gotten all the pics you just saw and I was starting to clean the nail polish off her face and hands, I finally started wondering to myself, “How in the world did a one year old open that tightly sealed tin? And how did she manage to open 10 different nail polish bottles? I mean, I know she’s really bright and all, but does she really have the manual dexterity skills to be able to turn the top and unscrew it?”

And in walks Ethan. Hands covered in nail polish, blue nail polish on his face. Guess that answers that question.

Needless to say, I had a fun couple of hours afterwards trying to bathe the kiddos and get all the nail polish off of them (it usually scrapes off pretty easily once the skin is wet). And then I got to tackle the bathroom floor, and outside of the shower stall, and cabinet door with about half a bottle of nail polish remover and a ton of cotton balls. I’m happy to report that most of it came up – just a couple of stains left on the floor after a couple of the polishes came up. I’m hoping they’ll come up with some bleach. But the bath mats and the pants? They’re still sporting the reminders of the day that Karis and Ethan tried to finger paint with Mommy’s nail polish.

Here’s the product description from Step 2…

This adorable Sand and Water Activity Center features wood crafted styling and nature’s colors that blend with traditional landscapes in residential outdoor living areas. It’s divided into two separate sides – one for water, the other for sand.

It holds up to 20 lbs. of sand and two gallons of water (not included). The eight-piece accessory set includes an umbrella, two bridges, two boats, two pots and one shovel. A durable, one-piece plastic cover keeps the sand clean and dry – and your little ones, too. Elastic tie-downs on the ends of the lid keep it securely attached. Molded-in roadways on the lid provide an additional play surface. Legs detach so product can be used at ground level. An umbrella is included for shaded play (design and colors may vary). Minimal adult assembly required. Measures 20.75″H x 46.25″W x 26″D.

I have to say that when I got this table for Kate 2 years ago, I never expected how well it would hold up. This table has lasted through many a thunderstorm and HOT summer days (we DO live in Houston), plus it’s held up to LOTS of kids abusing it, too! It is just heavy enough to be durable, but not so heavy that it’s impossible to move around the yard by myself (even when it’s loaded down with sand).

The ability to fill up one side with water adds to the fun of the table for the kiddos, too! They love being able to build sand castles on one side, while floating boats and motoring monster trucks across the bridges on the other. The water side has a drain so that you can get rid of the nasty water that collects after a rain, too (or when Ethan a certain child fills it with sand). The lid fits VERY snugly and bungees to ensure that rain and bugs stay OUT (when you remember to close it, of course). And Ethan even loves driving his cars around the ‘track’ on the lid, too. The umbrella is a nice addition that allows you to place the table anywhere you’d like and still have shade for those sweet little faces.

My only complaint (and it’s a very small one) is that I wish the sand side also had a drain for when Ethan certain children decide to fill the sand side with water, too. Of course, I’ve found that a decent work-around for this problem is to leave the water side empty so the temptation to go back and forth is alleviated.

Overall, I give this sand and water table two thumbs up. It’s a great outdoor play table for the kids and it holds up summer after summer. So, if you’re in the market, give this one a look. It’s a great product and priced pretty competitively, too.

What are your favorite outdoor toys that have stood the test of time at your house?

Check out scrumdilly-do and have hours of fun!!!