Thursday was a good day. The kids and I returned mom's half of the cookies and then we all went out to lunch. My brother wanted to go to Olive Garden but I was in no mood to try to wrangle two little ones in a nice restaurant. I tried to think of a good compromise and remembered a nice little restaurant called The Spaghetti House. It's in a shopping center but has good food. When we got there, we somehow missed the lunch rush and the whole place was just about empty. Boy, that was a blessing! The little ones have been bouncing off the walls lately and I was thankful that their antics weren't going to be disturbing to other customers. They had a really nice buffet with two kinds of pizza, baked ziti, ravioli, stuffed shells, lasagne, and salad. It was really good! After lunch, we went to Bealls. I just love Bealls! It's the only place where you can buy summer clothes during the winter.lol In Florida that's sometimes a necessity. They have great clothes there and they are usually on sale which is a big bonus for me.lol Mom picked up some last minute items and Allison got something for my mom for Christmas and I bought her a hat that she fell in love with. I told her she'd get it on Christmas day.lol

I took mom home afterwards and she wanted to keep Evie so the rest of us went home. I was pretty much done for the day. I've been having some trouble with my leg and really needed to rest it for a while. Isaac and I played on my bed for a while and then I sat on the floor and wrapped some gifts. Isaac helped.lol Every gift received a personal message from him on it. After about 10 gifts I gave up and just played with the little guy some more. He's not used to having the whole house to himself and he was a little stir crazy. Before I was ready, it was time to cook dinner. We had BBQ grilled chicken w/asparagus, rice, and salad. Nothing like our yo-yo weather.lol Evie showed up after dinner, well fed and tired. We took them for a walk and Isaac fell asleep on the way around the block. Both were in bed quickly last night.

The older kids have been working on the new goals for their school work. I've laid a pretty big incentive in front of them and they've been showing me that they would really like to meet the earliest goal. I set up three levels. If they finish their work by the end of March, they earn the most. May is the middle ground and July is the final chance tiny goal. I'm guessing they'll earn at least one or two of the top goals and then the other subjects will come in second or last depending on how much interest they have in the subject.lol Jon's storming the math goal and Allison is racing through the literature goal. They both love the Apologia Biology text so I could see them getting that done early also. But, they both have their vices and I'm hoping to see them get those done also.

Well, I've made it to the 30 week mark! Only 10 more to go.(give or take) The baby seems to be doing quite well and this has been the best pregnancy I've had since Allison. The only issue has been my leg. I'm so thankful that I haven't been plagued by contractions like with the other babies. Maybe my body has finally figured out this whole pregnancy thing.lol

OHHH! I forget the funniest news...Isaac's potty training has entered a new level. Yesterday and today, I've been able to get him to wee-wee on command. All I have to do is put a big cup in front of him and off he goes.lolol I realized yesterday that I've been trying to train him like a girl by making him sit down on a potty and he just wouldn't "go." Yesterday, I sat a cup in front of him (one of those take-out plastic cups that we'll throw away and never drink out of again..lol) and he knew just what to do. I did it again this morning and other than missing the mark a little he worked hard to fill that cup.lolol He also loves taking the cup to the potty and flushing his work when he's done. I'm thinking that we're back on track for training. I am sooo glad that I figured this out. It's been a little frustrating to not make any progress for such a long time.

Well, that was our day. Today is starting slowly so nothing to write about yet.lol

Blessings,

Lisa