PHFR~ Feb. 21

                                 ~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~


~pretty~

this was my Valentine's Day present from Stephen. A Swedish Bergenn Creamer and sugar bowl...

and the salt and pepper shakers to go with it:)
I'm smitten.
Stephen has always been an incredibly thoughtful gift-giver. He found them on Etsy.

a few of the lovely roses he gave me!

~happy~

We had a picnic on a playground, but I didn't get any photos, sadly. I love being a Mom, though. I could write a whole post about it... in fact, maybe I will.

But I did get some from our stop at the Hang gliding lookout:

Spotting hang gliders.

A beautiful view.

Waiting for one to come close again....

If you see a white speck over the trees, that's the hang glider he's pointing out. 

From another angle

Do you see it, Frances?

~funny~

An Entire Computer, the size of a Credit Card!

Here is a hilarious story. My husband, Stephen, works with computers. He was doing research for his work, and found a credit-card sized computer that plugs into a TV and keyboard to run. It's called a "raspberry pi."

He was all excited telling his friends and co-workers about it, except, since it was a gadget, he assumed it was spelled in a unique way - as he was thinking raspberry is normally spelled without a p.

So all week long at work, he was going around emphasizing the "P" in raspberry to all of his friends, co-workers, and relations, unwittingly thinking it strange that the word raspberry should have a p in it.

"Did you hear about the new rasP-berry pi?"

"Have you see how fast the rasP-berry pi runs?"

"Did you hear that the rasP-berry pi came in today?"

When he told me, I gently informed him that that is how you spell raspberry. Now he says he is having a really hard time transitioning to saying raspberry without pronouncing the "p." Hahahahaha. I got a very good laugh out of that one.

I needed the comic relief. We had a busy week. I had some writing deadlines- speaking of writing deadlines, click over to read my latest article at CatholicMom, on parenting toddlers.

~real~

I rearranged our house. I gave an ugly couch the boot and now it's on our back porch. We need a rug for our living room, but we're not going to be getting one for a while... unless we borrow it from the dining room.

When you are potty training, no rug is actually a good thing.

I took some advice and had her wear a long shirt, did potty-training intensive for three days in a row, and gave her peanut butter M&M's for going in the potty (she dances around in circles when I give these to her).

We had some accidents and some major triumphs. She would start to go, then remember and run to the potty and finish in there. It was a lot of cleaning for Mommy, but I think she's starting to get it.

I'm not sure if she understands holding it yet, though. I got discouraged and put a diaper back on her for naps and also for her Mother's Day Out, because I know she's definitely not ready for panties in public or while sleeping.

I need to make sure she comprehends holding it and right now I'm just not sure she gets that part. Kind of an important aspect, but even if you explain it is hard for them until it just SINKS IN and they know., "Oh, I'm supposed to use my muscles and hold it."  :)  I guess it's like a learning curve for just about anything. It will come.  Any advice, still welcome. We practice crossing ourselves- legs that is. :)

Hoping for more triumphs and less defeats.

visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more!