Still no pictures

Well, we got five more empty boxes last night.  We pulled out some and put it away and some of it we just condensed together.  We've been putting the boxes with books in their own pile so we can easily pull them out once we put up the book cases.

I mention this (1) because it's our excitement and (2) because as we were going through the boxes we did not run across the cords to hook the camera up to the computer.  I think we already pulled it out, put it away, and then I think the kids reput it away.

Jr2 is mostly toilet trained.  When I make him wear underpants he says, "But I don't have preschool today".  He starts in September and knows he has to be potty trained for that.  He can do it when he wants, it's just inconvenient.

Jr3 is getting closer to toilet trained all the time.  We rarely have to change a dirty diaper (just wet ones), although she thinks she should change her own diapers and wipe herself off, and that if she doesn't feel like going in to the toilet that taking off her diaper to go is close enough.  Luckily, she is starting to think the toilet is a more important part of the equation.  A few details are still escaping her.  In the interest of avoiding even more TMI I'll let those that really want to know ask about the details.

Jr2 and Jr3 are both good helpers.  Jr3 likes to help hang up her laundry (which we do to keep it separate from the dirty clothes when she decides to help clean out her drawers and her dirty clothes).  Jr2 is still good at sweeping, vacuuming and mopping.  He is also now good at pressure washing and getting better at watering the plants.  Jr3 is pretty good at pulling the big weeds.  Jr2 and Jr3 are both good at making mud.  Jr2 was very excited when he realized that you can make mud whenever you want if you mix dirt and water together.

Dinners are going pretty well, since we have a four-week meal rotation set up that I use.  (Thanks Mom for having me do it while I was out visiting and then mailing it to me when I couldn't find it to bring with me.)  I generally end up tweaking which items we have which night based on how I feel and what's going on, but it makes meal planning a lot easier.  It also helps with stocking up on the food storage, since I know what foods we'll be using and about how many.  I really don't like buying food I think we use a lot and then finding out we don't really use it that much.  Plus I can then watch for sales and take advantage of them.  I have also taken summer / winter into consideration a bit.  If I plan a soup for a meal, I try to also plan a salad option as well so we can eat whichever is appropriate.


Lunches are not going so well.  We eat penne, ramen, pb&j, cheesy toast, bologna wrapped around string cheese, cheese tortilla roll-ups and chicken nuggets.  We usually have mac and cheese for one of the Sunday meals.  I think I need to come up with a rotation for it.  Since I am usually home alone with the kids when we prepare it, easier is better.