Life In the Bowl

Our front porch tree after a night of freezing fog.

We have certainly been enjoying a busy December here. I can't believe Christmas is only a little over a week away!! People always ask whether I enjoy being a stay at home mom. They often wonder if I get bored. And truth be told, sometimes I feel busier now than when I worked outside of the home. I never seem to have a problem filling Peachy and my time together. This month alone I was able to participate in a Holiday Boutique, run a sale on my Etsy site, go to Mr. Cherry's work Holiday Party, and attend several other Christmas parties. This weekend we will be blessed to hear the Christmas story through the Sunday School students at our church and enjoy what is sure to be wonderful food and fellowship after. No boredom here!
And to add to the fun, our washing machine decided to up and quit on me right around Thanksgiving. Thankfully, Mr. Cherry bravely took on the role of Maytag man and completely took apart the washer, diagnosed the problem, found a used motor to replace our non-functioning one, reassembled the washer, and had it up and running for $50. A new washing machine will not need to be added to the Christmas list this year.

Ah, the joys of a broken washing machine.

That Mr. Cherry is a handy man to have around, I tell you. In addition to repairing various items around the house, he also single handedly solved the mystery of the stinking refrigerator. I really can't believe I am admitting this to you all, but our fridge has had an odd stench for the last several months. After numerous sniff tests, we tried cleaning the produce out. Still stinky. We took everything out of the main fridge area and wiped all of the shelves down. Still stinky. We took everything out of the freezer. Still stinky. I was ready to pull the fridge out and see what had died under it when Mr. Cherry deduced that the stink was coming from shelves on the door. There mixed in with the condiments was a partially used jar of Alfredo sauce. Let this be a lesson to you all, do not let half used jars of sauces sit in your fridge for unknown amounts of time. They will eventually alert you to their presence by emitting a strong odor.

Because we live n the Northern section of our great country, we have been experiencing the cold, ice, and snow of winter lately. Thankfully we have an attached garage and a neighbor with a snowblower who frequently helps us out. (Usually in the morning while we are still in bed. Got to love neighbors like that!!) Peachy has been showing us that she is a true, thick-blooded Northerner this winter. She loves to go 'side in the 'no. (That is outside in the snow.) I scored a full Columbia snowsuit at a garage sale this summer for $5. That investment has already paid for itself in the few times we have been able to bundle her up and head outside. Add to that her little plastic shovel and she is ready for action. She does have a little bit of trouble staying upright, but as long as mom or dad are around to rite the situation, she doesn't seem to mind too much.

Cheesy smile!

Well, I won't go on boring you much longer, just one more Peachy story and I will stop my blathering. I was not even go to think about potty training until she was at least 2 and a half. I know that there are kids out there that can be trained much earlier, but it just wasn't something that I was going to push. I was seriously thinking that at 2 and a half I would start to watch for cues form her that she is ready and go from there. All of a sudden she has developed this fascination with potty. (I will try not to gross you out here.) She will crouch or sit and say "potty." The other morning she even took off her pajamas to go "potty." (Thankfully she hasn't taken off her diaper, yet.) Still I was thinking that she is just imitating what goes on in that forbidden room known as the bathroom. Until this today. This morning she was doing her little potty routine and filled her diaper. I think a potty chair may be in our near future.

Stop taking pictures, mom, and get me up.