Courtney is feeling old

Courtney, have a treat.

--I don't want to eat right now. 

Why?

--Three more days till my birthday.  I've got to act SERIOUS.  Well, I'll eat one thing, then I'm done.

Big news at our house!! (warning: potty talk)

I am pleased to announce that yesterday we took Johnny to McDonalds for a happy meal!! Backstory: about 6 months ago when Johnny was in his first stages of potty training (he started going pee in the potty when we were staying at a hotel on a business trip) we promised him a happy meal for his first time pooping in the potty.  His potty training waxed and waned with illness and vacation and moving...then last week he decided to just do it.  He has only wet his pants 3 times since then.  

Out of desperation after Christmas we told him that we'd get him what he coveted, Indiana Jones Lego for Wii, for him to play when he pooped.  Once we bought it and had it sitting out he wanted to hold it and look at it every day.  Then yesterday was the day he got over his fears and just did it.  Today I found him sitting on the potty for about 10 minutes and he was successful again!  Knock on wood, I think we are actually at the end of this thing!  Hallelujah!

Spelling Bee Champ!

Benjamin competed today in his school spelling bee.  It was for the 3rd-5th graders.  There were 10-12 students from each grade.  Benjamin ended up in the top 7 of the school and was the top of his grade.  The word that won him the best 3rd grade speller was "encyclopedia".  He got lots of ooohs and ahhhs for that one (he stayed up there a couple extra seconds to soak in the praise).  The word that stumped him was "language".  He left out the "u".  I think if he had stopped to write it down on the whiteboard they provided for just such an occasion, he may have gotten it right.   I'll have to ask him when he gets home.  I am so proud of him for doing so well.  He prepared well and enjoyed it.  Random thought--his voice is lower than I realized.  :)  Way to go, kiddo!

Curling with my flat iron...more info

Since I've had questions about this, I thought I'd give you info in case you wanted to do this.  I thought it sounded crazy too, when someone told me I could use a flat iron on my super straight hair.  But I love it!  The curls hold so much better than when I try a curling iron.  It's a lot easier with Courtney's hair since she has fine hair, but my thick hair works great too.  Here's a video that shows how to curl with a flat iron.  I just googled flat iron curling videos and found a bunch. For what it's worth, I have a GHD flat iron.  

New haircuts for Christmas

I got my haircut the week before Christmas and Courtney had me cut her hair after that.  With a little love from my flat iron to give us some curl, this is what we look like.  We are both loving our new do's!