OFGS Update

The key word in the title there is UP. My weight is....officially....up.....I can ignore it NO LONGER.

It pains me to type it. I must tell, however. Because if I tell the interlooping public, then I will become accountable to my millions (Ha.) of readers and will get back on track.

Right?

So, I'm up.

6 lbs. GULP.

It's a slippery slope, people. A slope that I have slid down before. I have to dig my heels in and climb up again. My next update WILL be (it MUST be) an update of how I am down. A downdate. See you in a week.

The Rock Island Line IS a Mighty Good Road

Our mini vacation took us to Rock Island, Davenport, Moline and all points surrounding as we arrived at Train Festival 2011. We wanted to see steam engines because they don't run them around here anymore. I wondered why that was...now I know.

Steam trains stink, they are LOUD, they spit coal gunk at you and they are scary. But they are very cool anyway, and AJ had fun.

Look What AJ Did

He went all by himself.

Alone.

Blame Betty

It is no secret that I am odd. I'm okay with this. I make the family laugh by doing odd things and making odd faces and doing this in odd voices.

I get it from my mother.

AJ was feeling blue the other day. So we filmed "Mrs. Pinchy Face" and laughed for hours. Mike watched golf and shot me odd looks about my oddness.

still trying

we are still trying the potty over here. i have read once upon a potty so many times that i can recite it. aj has as many accidents as he has successes. it is all we do. i set the timer. he sits. he might pee. he might not. i set the timer for 3 min. in those 3 minutes, he will probably pee on the rug. sigh.

he'll get it eventually. right?

Yes, I Am That Kind of Mom

I am now the kind of mom that posts the successes her child has- no matter how personal or revealing. The good thing is that he is only 3 and he can't read and he doesn't hang out on the interloop and when- in 20 years- he tries to get a job, he will be using his full name, so no boss will be able to track this post down. He can deny he was ever filmed doing his

POTTY SUCCESS DANCE!

We will be back at it tomorrow. 6:30 am. Before camp starts. After that I blog about his

CAMP SUCCESS DANCE!

Carni Blues

We took AJ to the Hoffman Estates Carnival. He seemed enthusiastic at first.

We saw the Ferris Wheel and discussed how it is circle shape and that he could ride on Mama's lap. AJ is wearing one sock. He sustained a swimming injury and had to have a Mickey Band-Aid on his toe. Now, at this time, we boarded the Ferris Wheel and I became increasingly nervous. The little flappy doors could be opened mid flight and any of us could have tumbled to our deaths. There were no seat belts. I am beginning to understand why my mother only allowed us to see Niagra Falls from the parking lot... I am kidding, Betty. Slightly.

He, I mean we, did okay after the first few revolutions. Then he started crying and shaking violently. I asked him to tell me what was wrong and he couldn't. We discovered that it was "Just too scary" for AJ.

To settle his nerves, Mike bought a Sno Cone. He liked the Sno Cone.

Then he saw it. Across the vast expanse of cables, cords, rigged games where you throw stuff at stuff, bad food carts- there it was. The Big Slide. He was transfixed. He wanted to go up there.

He wanted me to take him.

The toothless lady, who I am sure is very nice- took all of our tickets and AJ led me by the hand all the way up the steps. I carried the burlap bag we were supposed to get in. We got to the landing and I was forced to figure out how to get on the slide while sitting on the bag and then hoist my very re-enthusiastic boy onto my lap without going down The Big Slide accidentally. I did it.

We went so fast I was not having any fun. AJ giggled and yelled happily, while I remained not having any fun. The photo is a lie. I am smiling, but I was lying about it. It is a fake smile.

The Big Slide was not fun and it was just too scary for Mom.

I Know Famous People

Lauren Aggen is my many things. My mother's GodDaughter, a family friend, a heart transplant recipient, a writer, a speaker and a volunteer. She gave a message this morning at an outdoor church service.

She was great.

Like We Didn't Do Enough Today...

After The Mayor of Crabbytown became the King of Krabby Kingdom, he napped. It allowed me a slight reprieve. After a snack, he crabbed out again. I felt the need to get outta Dodge, so we went to the pool. We swam for TWO HOURS. He was a machine.

Daddy came home and wanted to kick off his Friday night/Holiday Weekend with some Classic Car viewing over in Roselle. AJ was happy as he likes cars and this thing was right next to the train tracks, so it was double the transportation goodness right there.

There is an ice cream shop right at the edge of the car parking place, so we hopped right into the 80 foot line and waited. Mike and I ate ice cream while AJ thoroughly and most completely enjoyed every last lick. Very slowly. It was about 85 degrees outside, so you can imagine a chocolate ice cream cone in the hands of my little man being eaten slowly.

Farm Fun

Volkening Heritage Farm

Be warned: The Mayor of Crabbytown would not allow me to take any photos of him. So most of these have The Mayor's backside or The Mayor running away. Like this one:

Me: "Please stand by that sign!"

The Mayor: "NO!"

Me: "Please stand in this old house!"

The Mayor: "NO!"

Yesterday, he informed me that he wants to be called "Giant Rock". ? What can I say, he's 3. Anyway, this morning he found a giant rock.

Me: "I thought YOU were Giant Rock."

Giant Rock/AJ/The Mayor of Crabbytown: "I am. See?" and he puffed his cheeks.

Me: "Wow look at that..."

The Mayor: "NO! I not looking at that."

The Mayor: "I going to Mommy's car. I want lunch."

Two Miles is a Long Way For Little Feet

AJ and I went to Crabtree Nature Center. He built habitats for bugs. Big plastic not-to-scale bugs.

He went in a tent. He yelled at me when I tried to get in there too.

He looked at fish through a "fying glass".

He looked at tadpoles through it, too. But he didn't believe me that they would be frogs some day.

After we left the learning center, I let him pick the trail and which way we went at all the forks in the road. This would have been a fine idea if I had READ THE SIGNS. We chose the "Phantom Prairie" trail which turned out to be hot, sunny, buggy and 2 miles long. He was a trooper. I was freaking out a little bit, but after we started singing songs, he was happy. He took a three hour nap after we got home.

A Trip Back To When Times Were Simpler

If you were to sit at in my parent's office, you would be transported back in the time machine called "The Desk". Let's all travel together, shall we?

You can calculate how long it will take your DeLorean to reach 88 MPH using the adding machine.

There is no way this flux capacitor can reach 1.21 gigawatts of anything. It gets too hot if you close the door in the desk, and the card reader is broken. (It may have a thingy you put floppy disks in, too.)

Marty might have a hard time reaching Doc on the Princess-like-plug-in-the-wall-CORDED phone.

Hmmm........

Just sayin' that this monitor looks familiar. Same size and shape, same questionable screen quality...

I hope you enjoyed your trip to back in time with me today. As much as that office makes me cringe when I'm trying to use the INTERNET EXPLORER, Mom and Dad's is a great place to go and I am lucky that they let me hang out there as often as they do. I just have to remember to watch out for Libyan Nationalists who want me to build them a bomb...