Busch Gardens & Bok Tower

Lauren and I took the girls to Busch Gardens last week when it was still hot and they could go in the water area. They are now tall enough to ride the little log flume and probably some others around the park.







The next day, my parents and I took Rachel to Bok Gardens for their Octoberfest. They were offering free admission and we had never seen this past so crowded. They had many plant and local vendors set up and we got a few things. Mom and Dad got Rachel's face painted like a butterfly. She sat pretty still and thought it was so cool, especially when she got to look in the mirror. We brought some bread to feed the big fish and ate some yummy, greasy food!














I had been struggling a little with potty training because she just wouldn't tell me when she needed to go, so I was making all the effort. My parents said that we could let her pick out some big girl panties after Bok Garden and I kept reminding her that if she didn't go in her diaper we would pick some out. I took her often, but she kept the diaper dry. She picked out a package of Minnie & Daisy and a package of Dora. She immediately stripped off her diaper and pants and wanted to wear them. She did okay in them, but still had many accidents, even the next day at church. I really worked with her on Monday and Tuesday about keeping her panties clean and dry and I think she is finally getting it. I am nervous to let her wear them at church again or when I am dropping her off, but she has been telling us when she needs to go or if you ask her, she will actually say yes. We had accidents yesterday or today (so far) and she even told the ladies at the gym she needed to go potty! I was one happy mama when they told me that. She has no accidents at naptime, but we are a long ways from getting out of diapers at night. Overall, she has made great progress this week and I am so proud of her. Can't you tell?

I got this scooter for her at a garage sale for $3. We have been keeping it on the front porch, but when the wall texture people came to do some work, we brought it inside. They texturing the front porch ceiling, some spots in the house and both bathrooms! I was able to paint both bathrooms, hang the towel bars, toilet paper holders, and decorations and Matt put in our toilet! He is supposed to tile the shower this Monday, so I will put some pictures of the progress next week. It is looking really great!

Picnics and Brownies!

Matt was home on Friday and we had a picnic at a nearby park. We got some Chick-Fil-A and Rachel got some time to play on the playground. She likes the swings more and doesn't usually pick the baby swings anymore. We have had a pretty easy going week. Our mornings have been free and we have been hanging around the house a lot. Today, I thought we would make some brownies and Rachel really enjoys "helping" in the kitchen. She helped pour in the oil, water, and eggs and also stir the brownie mix around. As you can see, she really enjoyed licking the batter off the spoon after I had poured it into the dish. She then proceeded to use her fingers to wipe up every little bit of batter that had splattered onto the counter. Too cute!
























She loves our male beta fish, who is about 3 years old now. His name is Mr. Henry Roberts (named by some 9th graders) and has done outstanding with very little attention from us. She wants to "eat fish" and what she really means is feed the fish. Since he had already eaten, she decided to try to kiss him.

New Things For All!

I mentioned that when we were in Downtown Disney that we all helped pick out Mr. Potato Head accessories. We showed Rachel what to do and she enjoys creating her own character (even if the nose is in the ear spot, etc). She also does a good job of cleaning up all the little pieces. We got her some Mickey and friends tub toys, but she doesn't know they are supposed to go in the tub and the plastic case those came in work perfect for the potato head parts. Matt even got in some Darth Vader pieces.




I hung these sconces last week and Rachel wanted to pose in the picture.

Here are her new toys and she loves them very much. She recently putting them in her stacking cups and carrying them around like that.

I put on the knobs and drawer pulls in both bathrooms, which was very nice to have them in place instead of taking up drawer space. I really like the way they turned out and got a great price for them on Amazon. Matt has to change out the bottom drawer front, which is why there is no handle yet. Matt and DJ worked very hard for one very long day to put in the floor. It is travertine and the pattern they did looks great. I love the marble squares and we got it grouted and then resealed a few days ago. I think it turned out wonderful and am really pleased with it. Matt is going to retexture the walls on Friday and if that doesn't look good, I am hiring someone.




I am so close to getting Rachel's room done. I got some valances off Amazon and weren't really sure if they would match, but I got them up and really like them. The only thing left is the stupid door and trim that we have to stain. We tried one and it looked AWFUL, so we got some advice and have not tried it again. I am really not looking forward to it. I did however buy a two step stool for Rachel from IKEA and stained that this weekend. It turned out great. Why can't the doors be that easy?


We are almost to our midterms at school and it is going great so far. As usual, my students are wonderful and I enjoy teaching them. I have been very good about getting to the gym at least 3 times a week and even got Lauren to join. I like having workout buddies. Matt is taking some computer class after work for only this week and is learning something about binary codes. I am not sure how this plays into his job at Verizon, but maybe for future things? We are doing well and Rachel keeps asking to see Mickey again. I keep telling her that we will go back, but not soon. We do plan on going back with Lauren and George and the girls in December. That is it for now.

This video is from the timeshare we stayed at. It had two great water areas to play in and I wanted Rachel to get dumped on by the water bucket. The water was very cold (according to Matt) and Rachel didn't want to do it again. She still asks about the water bucket though.