Our doorbell

I keep a sign on our doorbell that says:

Please KNOCK.

Baby is sleeping.

I have had one up for about a year now. I honestly, put it up because I order A LOT of stuff from Amazon.

I just can't resist their deals.

Remind me to tell you sometime about the time I got 24 cans of green beans for 7 dollars.

It. was. AWESOME.

Anyway, I get a lot of deliveries. There's also random people stopping by who don't know how to get in touch with Steven and will come by the house to try to find him.

Patrick naps from 1-3:30 everyday, so I keep the sign on the doorbell. I tape it next to the key basket (that Karen Freeman gave us when we got married) when he wakes up.

I had gotten away from the habit until last week when someone came by looking for Steven and rang the doorbell 3 or 4 times in a row until my mom got to the door. Patrick woke up early from his nap because of it and the rest of the day wasn't very pleasant. So, my mom made a new sign and even put a picture of a baby on it, in case the person at the door couldn't read.

Since then, two funny things have happened with the doorbell.

1. On Sunday night, the pastor who uses our church brings money by to Steven. He came by around 8:30 that night and rang the doorbell. Patrick was already asleep. When Steven got to the door, the pastor said, "Hey, there's a sign on your doorbell. I moved it so I could ring the doorbell."

2. On Monday, I was getting the kids inside the house after we ran some errands. I was about to put Patrick down for his nap when I heard a knock at the door. There was a couple at the door who were looking for Steven. The lady looked at Patrick and said, "he's not asleep. There's a sign on your door that says he's asleep."

Nice. I think I'll just leave the sign up permanently to avoid answering the door. UGH.

Maggie overheard me talking about these incidences to my mom.

She came up with some great alternatives since no one reads the sign. Or thinks it's an odd sign.

Her ideas:

1. Disconnect the doorbell.
2. Write a note that says "doorbell broken, please knock".

I like the way that girl thinks.

I need some advice...

I want to decorate Patrick's big boy room with a Cars themed room. I really don't want to go too "cars" with it. Like the movie theme? I've been inspired since we went to the Grand Canyon and saw all of the retro route 66 stuff.

So far, I have:

This

and

This
(thanks, Jennifer Monroe)
and

This

I have a toddler bed that I can repaint. We are thinking of leaving him in the crib a little longer, but I was thinking of maybe a Lightning McQueen pillow or something. Maybe solid crib sheets.

I like Kim's idea about old maps.

Does anyone have ideas for bedding? Or seen any cute boys' room like this?

One time I tried to go to the bathroom by msyelf

If you have younger children, you know my dillemna.

I just want to go to the "potty" all by myself.

I don't want someone cheering for me for going to the potty or trying to stick his hands in the toilet while I am trying to wash my hands.

I just need to be alone.

As soon as I get in the bathroom, Maggie suddenly has to go "really, really, really bad" and starts saying things like, "can you hurry up, mama?" and doing the potty dance in front of me.

Since Patrick is so little, I can't really lock myself in the potty. I kinda need to know what he is doing and make sure that he is not standing on top of the coffee table in the living room by pushing up the new firetruck to the edge of the coffee table and climbing up to reach the buttons on the forbidden tv.

So, one night, after dinner, I made an announcement. I told everyone in the house that I was going to the potty. I said something like, "I am going to the potty cause I am a big girl and can go all by myself."

Nah, I think I threatened everyone in the house and made them promise not to come in the potty with me.

I repeated it to Maggie. I made her promise that she understood.

I repeated it to Steven and made him promise not to let Patrick wander into the bathroom.

I closed the door from the laundry room and from my closet. (Can you believe I am posting about going to the potty on the internet for anyone to read?)

I sat there and enjoyed the silence.

Then, I heard a scratch on the door. I thought about killing someone. Who didn't listen to me rant on and on?!

I heard another scratch.

I saw a paw.

Sparky stuck his tabby paw under the bathroom door and was trying to open it up and come in the bathroom with me.

Please tell me at some point I will miss having someone in the bathroom with me at all times.

5 years ago...

I will start this post by saying that I love New Orleans. I grew up in south Louisiana and lived there until I was 16 years old. My dad and stepmom live in a suburb of New Orleans and I love going to visit. I love the culture and the accents and the food there.

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit. Here is my blog from the time. I can't get it to link tonight. http://coleminer.xanga.com/330837206/item/ This has been a popular news topic in the last week. I'm so glad that it's still on people's minds. I'm glad that it's not something that has been forgotten.

However, I can't watch the news coverage of it.

A week before Hurricane Katrina hit, my house was struck by lightning and burned down. It was such a shocking experience and while we were still living in at my mom's house before the insurance adjuster put us in a hotel, Katrina hit.

Even right after it happened, I couldn't watch the news coverage of it. It was so awful to watch people dealing with the loss of everything that they owned. We were dealing with it, but we had insurance to replace it all. I felt guilty. I was going to get all of my "stuff" back.

It was just such a mix of emotions. I was dealing with my own journey of grief/loss/thankfulness and I couldn't deal with the emotions of what others were dealing with at the same time.

Our home was completely rebuilt and it ended up being a blessing for our family. I'm so sorry for the people who lost everything and are still fighting to get it replaced.

Have any of you ever dealt with a disaster hitting you at the same time that something tragic happened in the world? How did you deal with it?

smells

What are some of your favorite smells?

Steven is baking whole wheat bread right now. The smell of it is amazing.

There's a powerful connection between smells and emotions. This smells like home and warmth to me.

What are some of your favorite smells and what emotions does it bring up in you?