Another Soccer Photo

I finally got a shot Davey and I in our soccer gear. Last week went better, Davey didn't tackle as many kids. He has no fear when it comes to getting the ball. I actually held him back so other kids would get a chance to score.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 33/52 for me.

Candylicious

We have checked "Eat Candy Corn" off our fall fun list twice. I love candy corn.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Carpet Angels and Another Breakfast Date

Carpet angels on the new carpet make me happy.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

This week's date was kinda a repeat of our last date. We went to breakfast after dropping Davey off at preschool. We enjoyed our wraps as we watched the downtown traffic go by. We also went to the library again to pick up books. Although it was a repeat date, it was wonderful and relaxing. Dave and I are going to try to use one of the days he works from home and the kids are in school each week, to have an hour date. Now we need to get creative and do something other than breakfast and the library.

This is date 28 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

Potty Training Secret Weapons

We are still not done with potty training. I hate talking about things when they are going well for fear I'll jinx them. Fortunately, we are making progress. Several things I think are helping.

One thing is starting preschool. I was scared he wouldn't be able to go. He has to be potty trained. He is doing well. I had a friend whose daughter would not poop on the potty till she started preschool. She never had an accident after that. We have not been that lucky but the boy does love school and knows he needs to use the potty to go there.

Another thing that helps is the Leapster. I think they should market the game for potty training. Have a wiggly child who won't sit still long enough to poop, give him a Leapster to pass the time. It may not work for everyone but Davey loves the Leapster. We only let him use it when he is trying to use the potty. We like to limit his time on it anyway. It is working for us.

Photo removed due to creepy people.

The third thing that is working is a reward system. My boy loves putting coins in his piggy bank. He doesn't care what the coins are either. I give him 4 coins when he poops and he feds his hungry piggy bank. His piggy bank thanks him for feeding him and tells him how proud he is too. (Yes I am the voice of the hungry piggy bank.) I also give him a piece of chocolate when he poops. I am so not above giving food as rewards for this. I know it won't be forever and it really is helping now. The boy is a lot like the yellow lab and very food motivated at this point.

Twix is Davey's chocolate of choice right now.

Lastly I think time is helping. I think he is finally old enough to care about using the potty, most days anyway.

Niether Leapster nor Twix have compensated me for writing this post.

What's black, white, and red and flies?

My little superhero!

I am participating in Paper Mama's Photo Challenge this week. The theme is a hint of color.

Fitness Friday

I'm loving my morning runs since the kids started kindergarten and preschool. Twice a week I get to jog by myself without pushing that damn jog stroller. It is blissful. I try to run 1 or 2 more days with Davey in the stroller. He usually isn't too much trouble. I feed him breakfast. We talk about the people and animals we see. If I get desperate I let him play his Leapster for a while. I ran 3 times this week for 11.25 miles total. I feel pretty good about that. I am still walking a bit. I am trying to jog more and walk less. This week I did jogging for 4 minutes and walking 1 minute intervals. I also used the elliptical machine one day and will try to fit a workout in tomorrow too.

I am still struggling with fatigue from my Hashimoto's disease. The fatigue seems to go in cycles. I feel pretty good/normal for weeks and then I'll have a couple of days were it is hard to do anything. I'm not sure what to do, should I force myself to workout and clean or should I just rest? I'm meeting with the endocrinologist next week. He is checking my levels. I will be sure to ask him what I should do.

What are you doing this week to stay fit?

Watching

Davey and I watching. What were we watching at the fair?

The clowns.

Tigers

High Wire Walkers

Acrobatics

We had a blast.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 32/52 for me.

Oozing Cuteness

Caitlin finally let me braid her hair and she wore the Beatles shirt Dave got for her. She refused to wear it because it was black and not girly enough.

Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Feet Off the Table.

A baby tiger that we saw at a fair last weekend was watching a chihuahua very closely when I snapped this shot.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Sweet Hugs

We went to a fair last weekend and got to watch a circus. I love this shot of my daughter hugging my husband as they watched the show.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

Reflections on Kindergarten

Last year, I remember talking to my mom group friends about how we would feel when the kids started kindergarten. Most said they would be sad and probably cry. I was excited for a little free time. I envisioned Caitlin loving school and having fun. I didn't envision worrying about her safety on the bus, bullying, and simply making friends.

The bus has worked out so far. The drivers seem nice. They had a monitor on the bus for the first week to ensure the kids got off at the right stops. But you hear a horror story about a friend's daughter getting on the wrong bus and getting dropped off at a daycare despite her objections to the bus driver and you still worry. No one knew where the little girl was till 6 pm. She usually gets home at 3:45. The girl told the bus driver and the daycare that she didn't belong there but everyone pretty much ignored her. Needless to say her mom was frantic.

Caitlin has not been bullied but I still worry about it. She is a shy kid. She doesn't always stick up for herself. I worry about her being happy at school. I worry about her making friends. She asked a little girl in her kindergarten class to sit with her on the bus. The first day she said the girl said she would think about it. The second day she said no. Doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Caitlin was in tears each day. It made me want to punch the little girl in the mouth. I won't but I want to. I hate seeing her hurt. I hate that I can't stop others for hurting her feelings.

I am enjoying a little free time when both kids are in school. I am worrying too. I feel the momma bear in me wanting to protect my daughter from mean kids. I know that Caitlin is a strong girl and she will be fine. I guess I still want to protect her and I can't. And that is why I cried the day she started kindergarten.

The Pumpkin Bugs

My garden is pretty much done. I'm getting a handful of tomatoes a week. I grew pumpkins for the first time this year. I got big vines but only one pumpkin. These bugs attacked the vines and ate the vines practically overnight.

Fortunately I was able to save this little pumpkin.

If you want to see some amazing gardens, go to Feet Off the Table for Monday Garden Club.

WTF Keyword Searches

So I was checking my stats today on blogger, (I may have a little addiction to it) and here is the top keysearch terms that got people to my blog today.

#1-Secret Thoughts of Moms-Totally get this one. It is practically the blog name.

#2-Drinking boiled broccoli water-Didn't realize that many people searched for this but I did write about Dave drinking boiled broccoli water when he had all his health issues last year. We thought he had prostatitis but it turned out he has interstitial cystitis. Anyway drinking boiled broccoli water was the only thing that gave him any relief from the pain till he was correctly diagnosed and treated. Here is the post about his broccoli regimen for anyone looking for it.

#3-Nude yogos-WTF? My kids love eating yogos but I can't remember writing about it. Definitely didn't write about anyone eating them nude.

Coaching 3 Year Olds is Like Teaching a Fish to Ride a Bike

I started coaching my son's 3 year old soccer team. It is fun trying to keep their attention for sure. In these shots, we are playing a game called "Ouch!" The kids are trying to kick the ball to hit me. I get dramatic when yelling "Ouch!", which they love.

That is my son, Davey, who picked up the ball to chuck it at me. Definitely easier that way!

This is me separating a pig pile that happened when the boys got a little overly enthusiastic.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 31/52 for me.

Butterflies and Sweet, Sweet Freedom!

Friday was down right chilly but Saturday was sunny and in the 70s. We took advantage and had one last day at the beach. It was wonderful. The random butterflies made it even better.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

Our date this week, started with dropping Davey off for his first solo day of pre-school. He practically run into the room. I had to beg for a hug and told him we would be back soon. He said, "Ok, see you!" I know I should be happy that he left so easily but I was hoping for a little more hugging.
After we dropped Davey off at pre-school, we went to a cafe for breakfast and chai tea. It was a nice day out so we relaxed outside. We mostly talked about the kids and how proud we are of them. Then we talked about how much we like some free time. Dave took a vacation day so we could have some alone time without the kids. We walked to the library after breakfast. It was really nice to browse the books and CDs without the kids causing a ruckus.
We ran some errands after that. Dave picked up this sweet lid. I love that goofy man. It was wonderful to just have some alone time and do things that we used to take for granted before the kids. I'm looking forward to some more dates while the kids are at school.

This is date 27 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

I'm also using this post as my entry for Wonder Woman Wannabe's giveaway: Celebrating Re-ignite Date Night.

Waiting for the Bus

This is a shot of Caitlin, me, and Davey waiting for the bus for Caitlin's first day of kindergarten. I was worried about the bus but Caitlin really wanted to ride it. I'm glad I let her. She is doing great.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 30/52 for me.

Summer Review and Fall Fun List

We have had a great summer. We have checked off most of the items on our summer fun list and added some things to it too.

Our super heroes ran at the track.

Dave and I visited Chicago for a wedding.

We saw the Irish dancers at the Irish Festival.

We visited dinosaurs.

We had plenty of beach trips.

We jumped for joy at the playground.

We played in the pool.

Dave and I visited NYC for our anniversary.

We danced at the splash pad.

We watched fireworks at the beach.

We wore cool hats.

We did spying at the kids museum.

We visited the animals at the Philadelphia Zoo.

We saw Ernie and friends at Sesame Place.

We sat on the ducks in the Boston Commons.

We had so much fun with our summer list that we decided to make a Fall Fun List. And I realize I put eat candy corn on the list twice. What can I say, I really like candy corn!

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

This week's theme at i heart faces is summer review. Go to i heart faces to check out what other people did this summer.