"No friends in Settlers"

Friday night we had nothing to do after dinner at Joe's BBQ. But really, after that kind of dinner do you really want to do anything at all? As we were driving home and laying out the kids' bedtime routine, we realized that we didn't want to sit at home and watch a movie. Our friends Brian and Lanae called and saved our night! They went and got food, for themselves, not us, It was Chipotle, I love Chipotle, and ate in in front of us........

After "dinner" we broke out Settlers of Catan. Fantastic game. Emily's younger brothers introduced us about a year ago. One of the first phrases out of Lanae's competitive mouth was "there are no friends in Settlers". I sort of thought she was kidding. She was most certainly not kidding. This picture above is a phone call being made to a friend at 10:30 at night over a dispute in the rules. We had a great time and Brian, after internet source confirmation the next morning, came out on top. We had a great time, and we were pretty happy that the Jones were able to plan for a babysitter but not much else after that.

Potty Training?

So. The title says it all. It has been quite the battle with our little Nathan when it comes to potty training. Several months ago I tried the whole "stay in the bathroom for hours on end and load him full of sugary drinks until he pees" thing. It didnt work. I stayed in that bathroom for four and a half hours with him and the minute I gave up he went to the family room and peed on the carpet. Tears you ask? Yes, many. A lot of frustration has ensued since I have dabbled in potty training Nathan. Anyone who gave advice would say, it will click. He's just not ready. So, I put it on a hiatus. Then this morning rolled around...

I woke up and decided - today was the day. No more diapers! Just imagine the disgust on my face as I changed a four and a half year olds poopy diaper and you will understand why I am completely fed - up with the situation. So, I brought out underwear and Nathan was adament about not wearing them, no matter how cool he thinks Lightning McQueen is. He told me "Put away - diaper please." At that moment I realized that he has been playing me for a fool. He was just being lazy and he knew exactly how to pull on my strings. Well, I have finally seen the game hes been playing.
Solution - go naked, just no diapers. We were both satisfied with the arrangement. This occurred around 6:30 a.m. Chad is out the door at 7:15 and I went outside to say goodbye. When I came back in I saw a naked flash running down the hallway in the direction of the bathroom. I shouted out "Do you need to go potty?" As if I was going to make any difference with asking. He went straight to the toilet, purched up and peed. Holy Cow, you have got to be kidding me. After the months and months of having him sit or stand at the toilet, the running water trick, squirt guns, you name it I've tried it, to get him to pee he just all of a sudden did it. It was as if he was saying "Alright already if this is what you want me to do then I'll do it, sheesh whats the big deal."

Two small accidents, several pee visits and two poop visits on the potty later... he's doing great. I guess there is no going back now. He still wont wear underwear; one step at a time. Naked works at home, but we're going to have to figure out this public thing.

I can safely say that this is one of the best days I've had in a while. Is that a little sad or just a mom that is sick of changing diapers? Definitely, both.

The O'Loughlin Family

I got this cute idea of my friend Kylie's blog. Try it out... its a good time waster!
Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Post Surgery Festivities

It turns out that all of our planning for a kid to be groggy and in pain was in vain. For a boy that had anesthesia through an IV, this kid bounced back fast! 20 minutes after surgery we headed home and as soon as we walked in the door Nathan started Tickling Elmo

He then moved to eating everything that he could get his hands on. Fruit snacks, 3 pieces of bread, 2 cups of milk, yogurt, etc..After eating he started bouncing off the walls, almost literally.He had so much energy that he was up for the rest of the day even though we woke him up at 5AM. He never cried, complained, or even whimpered. Apparently being under really helps Nathan come out of his shell. I guess this way is better than having a kid that feels terrible. We are just happy that Nathan seems to appreciate his new found ability to breathe, smell, and taste food. Hooray!

Poor Little Fella

This little guy is going under the knife tomorrow. he is going to have his adenoids removed at 6AM on Friday. We are a little nervous how he will react at the hospital, but a friend told us the procedure and we hope that it will work for him. The recovery is pretty concerning since Nathan won't be able to understand what is going on. His autism makes it so that we can't explain what is about to happen. We hope that everything will go well.

Caitlyn started crying in the car and said that she doesn't want Nathan to die when they cut him. She was so sincere. She absolutely loves Nathan.

Business and pleasure

This past week Emily and I were able to check out the fantastic metropolis of Kansas City Missouri. I was there Tuesday and Wednesday for business and Emily joined me on Wednesday night until Saturday. Thank you again for those that watched our children. A big thanks to my dad who went to the Father's day water fight at Caitlyn's school in my place. I really didn't know there was going to be shaving cream in the balloons.

We went to some of the surrounding church sites. Independence, Liberty, and Far West. Here are some of those pictures.

Community of Christ Temple right across the street from LDS Visitors Center.

Community of Christ Auditorium. Across the other street from LDS Visitors Center. Independence Temple Lot. Totally un-used. Diagonal from LDS Visitors Center. All that is on this lot is what looks like a raised gravestone that says temple lot. This land is owned by the Community of Christ Church

LDS Visitors Center. Between the 4 previous pictures, you see each corner of one 4-way intersection. It is very intersting that they are all so close. As the sign says, this is the Libery Jail Visitors Center. It is totally surrounded by homes and is in the original location of the jail.This is the replicated jail. Some of the stones are original. The floor of the jail is 100% original. It was numbered, torn up, and placed exactly as it was on a stronger foundation. Joseph Smith is on the left in the light. The man sitting on the right is the depiction of Emily's Great Great Grandfather Alexander McRae. One of the senior couples was thrilled to find out about the relation. It turned out that one of the elders was very educated in the life of Alexander McRae. The color is a little weird. It was very dark and a flash made the picture look weird. I left the camera shutter open and this is how it turned out.

One of the Senior Sisters took a picture for us. See, the flash didn't work well in here.This is at the temple site at Far West. The engravings held sections of the Doctrine and Covenants as well as other prophecies of church growth and temples. This is about all there is in Far West. The corner stones are here on the lot and a nice senior coouple was tending to the flower gardens. It is a very small site. Much smaller than I had anticipated. It probably wasnt much bigger that the footprint of my house. It was a very beautiful area. The history of why they settled here and why they thought they were going to be safe is really very interesting. We are going to become more familiar.This is the view from the entrance of the temple site at Far West. It is sad that this picture does not show how spectacular this area is.

We did hear quite a funny story while we were out there. My Dad served a mission in the Central States 4 1/2 decades ago. (haha) He serves in Liberty, MO for a period. While he was there, he stayed in an apartment that was in the basement of the Libert Jail Visitors Center. One night he and his companion went and slept on the hard stone floor of the Liberty Jail to better understand the conditions that the 5 men endured for 4 months through the winter. When we told the younger sisters serving there about this they looked like they had heard the worst news of their lives. It was quite funny. That apartment is now a theater, seen below.We had quite a fun trip and logeed about 500 miles on the rental car. If you ever have the chance to go to these sites, they are worth the time.

What a historical experience

We are currently on a trip in Kansas/Missouri. It is so much fun to go around and learn about the history of the church. It puts things into so much more perspective to see where they were/are. More pictures to come....

A night to remember!

The much anticipated photos of graduation:

We went to Costa Vida before the festivites. Everyone was very excited as you can see

Uncle Cody and Caitlyn

Janna, Mike and Chad

Family shot. I figure that we should take as many as we can through out the year and maybe one will be good enough to send out with our Christmas cards.

Outside of Gammage before the program

Caitlyn came up with this pose all on her own.

Me shaking hands with the dean of the Applied Arts and Sciences School.

Okay - this picture is for Lanae. This is proof that I looked rediculous in my cap and gown. Seriously twigs out of a tent. This is really the only one that I would post on the blog. The rest of me on stage are just too embarassing.

Post-ceremony. My mom was so proud - she started crying. You can tell that Randy can barely hold in his excitement. Seriously. It is one of my life's missions catch him smiling in a picture.

Nathan couldnt wait to try on my hat. I told the kids they could after I was done with it.

One more family shot - with the diploma. I figure we all earned it!

Completion... almost

So - I just took my last final today. I weird feeling. Honestly, it really hasnt sunk in yet. I really do feel like I have another assignment to do; like that couldn't have possibly been it. Not that it was easy - believe me - it wasnt but it became such a part of my routine. I am so use to working on homework that I dont know what to do at this point. I am sure my day will be full in no time with all sorts of projects. It is just a strange adjustment period - and it is only the first afternoon without school! Weird.

I will officially graduate on Friday night. I have opted to do the whole "walking thing". I really dont want to do it - I would be fine without it, but I really want the memory of graduating, and I want the pictures of my friends and family with me there. Even more importantly I want Caitlyn and Nathan to have the memory of it. I want them to remember that their mom worked hard. That I never gave up until I reached my goal.

So to all of you who have listened to me wine and moan about an assignment, watched my kids while I attended class, or simply cheered me on I want to say thank you. It has been a long three years of uninterrupted class and it was with your help that I have acheived this goal.

I want to give an extra big - huge - enourmous - thank you to Chad. I couldnt have done it without your support. Ever girl should be so lucky as to have a husband that is supportive of their goals and dreams as you have been for me.

So - this is my farewell to school. At least for a few years.....

Too cute

Today was Caitlyn's first soccer game. She missed last week's game because she was invited to go to Disneyland with her grandma - just the two of them... driving to California and enjoying two days of Disney-bliss together. What great memories for her. We felt that it was too great of an opportunity for her to turn down, and in effect she missed her first official soccer game. Anyway, I digress. Back to the soccer game....

She did such a great job. She ran up and down that field giving it her all. She was so good that she scored a goal!.... for the other team unfortunately, but that doesnt really matter right? She was goallie for bit and she loved it! Being goallie is sort of being the hero of the team - and she enjoyed getting the ball when it came her way.