Even though I told Adam it’s a made-up holiday and we shouldn’t celebrate it,  he still got me the biggest box of Godiva chocolates ever….

Godiva! My Favorite!

Hope everyone reading this had a great day!

I love Facebook. My friends and family are spread across the globe. I no longer have the time to write lengthy emails to all of them about my life and ask what’s going on in theirs. So thank goodness for Facebook. I can look at it when I want, make a few comments so people know I’m still in touch and interested. I can also connect with old friends I haven’t seen for ages.

A few months ago I saw an old friend from high school and college write that he was in Chicago. I asked him to ring me next time he was in town. And guess who we had dinner with Saturday night?

Danny Milinkovic!

Calisoffs and Camerons

Saturday Adam took the boys and their friends to a Monster Truck Rally.

It was one of those things in life you never imagine paying money for. Or ever imagine anyone you know paying money for. Or can even fathom why they would be doing it.

But I think it’s cool that Adam was willing to make the extra effort for Jack. He is really into monster trucks lately. We have a bin full of them. His birthday theme this year is monster trucks. He likes to watch monster trucks on TV.

So Saturday I found myself with a whole day to myself while the boys went and did boy things. Hmmm, another pro to having all boys?!

Mohawk Warrior Jumping

Surprisingly, even Ben sat without much squirming, riveted by the show. Immediately afterwards Jack asked if he could go again the next year.

The event was held at the Allstate Arena. The price for the tickets were $20 for adults and $10 for kids. Parking was another $20. And four bags of cotton candy for the boys? $60! Feed them before they go!

Don’t forget your ear plugs!

The purchase of our new car prompted me to remember all the other things on my “to do before the twins are born” list.

I would absolutely love to have Ben potty trained before they arrive. Three kids in diapers sounds unbearable, doesn’t it?

I didn’t manage to potty train Jack until he was 3 and 1/2 years old. Reflecting back, I’m not sure if it took him that long to be ready or if it took me that long to figure it out.

Ben is a whole year younger. He won’t turn 3 until July.

I remember reading a lot of books about it, then ignoring the advice. I’m pretty sure I was angry and impatient. In the end, it was three days of mess before Jack seemed to have made the transition. Because it was so close to him going to school, I went cold turkey for three full days. I also had the weather on my side. We spent hours on the back porch with no diaper on, fertilizing the vines.

I checked my calender for the week and noticed that it’s pretty clear, so Monday morning I decided to take the plunge once again with Ben.

At first there was a lot of crying, but finally he understood that peeing and pooping in the potty means getting peanut M & Ms. Two for a pee, four for a poop.

Once he got it, he really got it. About 20 minutes into the process we were gleefully running to the potty every fifteen minutes and peeing. Who knew such a little body could hold so much pee? He even managed his mid-day poop on there. I think we went through about 30 M & Ms in 2 hours. Okay, I ate some too.

By lunch time it was impossible to contain him upstairs on the wood floors. Almost all the toys are downstairs. We went into the basement and after one accident, diapered up again.

I did this for three days, morning potty training only. We had many accidents. So did Jack when he first started. But we had many successes. The mid day poop ended up in the potty every day.

I’m starting to believe the only way to potty train is to just do it for three or four days full on until the transition in complete. Doing it half days is just confusing. And I truly believe that, even though Ben is younger he is ready. But unfortunately I’m not. By midday I’ve reach my limit and give up.

Now I feel like I’m stuck. Kind of like when you start painting a wall and get half way through and just want to quit. I realize now that if I only paint half of the left over blank wall every day – like I’m doing now, it will never be fully painted.

I feel bad how much our family life has emasculated Adam in the car department.

When I met him, he was driving a sporty, two door Acura Legend. With the arrival of Jack, he was forced to trade in that perfectly good car for a family sedan. We chose a Lexus ES 300. It was a safe, four door vehicle.

I still remember driving it off the Lexus lot. You could see from his crumbled expression that he regretted giving up his car from his bachelor years. Just another piece of that life gone forever. But the sadness didn’t last for long. Soon after he drove off the lot he turned to me and said, “Let’s drive by my Mom’s house and show her our new car!”

I was pleased to see that, even though I killed the bachelor, the boy in him still lived on.

Good bye Luxury Sedan

So, with the arrival of two more kids, I found myself once again waddling around with a swollen belly, shopping for a bigger car to fit the contents inside.

This time the options were more limited. This car had to fit at least six people. And it also had to fit into our city sized garage.

After much research, the choice was narrowed down to a minivan. As usual I suggested we buy a used one. I’m the thrifty one. My friends Jennifer and Joseph traded their car for a used minivan and only had to shell out an extra $1000. As usual Adam wanted the new one. The top of the line one. He wanted the newest technology, the newest safety features.

Hello Minivan

Adam is always one to make quick decisions so this afternoon we drove away from the dealership in a brand new Honda Odyssey, the touring edition.

I must say, technology has changed a lot since our last car purchase! We have voice activated navigation. The woman who guides us has a very soothing voice and is very forgiving about wrong turns. I think Adam has a crush on her. There is Blue Tooth (hands free) technology, DVD player, XM Radio, USB port hook up for my iPhone, parking sensors and a rear view camera. There is a built in cooler box to keep drinks and food cold. It even anti-fogs the side mirrors!

This time around I didn’t notice any look of melancholy on Adam’s face. Instead he talked animatedly about all the new features, how nice it was to be sitting a little higher, how surprisingly fast the car picked up speed, and how comfortable the seats were.

And best of all, after we drove it off the lot, he turned to me with boyish enthusiasm and said, “Let’s drive by my Mom’s house and show her!”