300th Post - and A Little Give-Away

Who would have thought it? When I began this adventure in June of 2006, I never dreamed this blogging world would become such an important part of my life - that so many of you would become such dear friends. You have cared about me and about my family. You have prayed for so many requests. You have rejoiced in our miracles. You have cried with us in our pain.

We have shared the minutae of our lives, the big things, the funny, the frustrating, the sad. We've taken more pictures than we ever dreamed - everything is a possible future post.

The snow is long gone again. Things are beginning to sprout and turn green. There are a few more flowers.

The van is in the shop, and will come back home looking as good as new. I will be glad to have it back. I asked for a minivan from the rental company. For some reason they gave me a Ford Explorer instead - at the lower cost of a minivan. Now that may sound like a great deal. Don't get me wrong - it is a wonderful vehicle - drives like a charm, has leather seats, has a sun roof (which thrilled Feisty today when we discovered it). But I don't think my gas budget would cover very many days of driving to work with the mileage it gets. And it is definitely not as convenient for 4 car seats! I am getting so much aerobic exercise just getting everyone in and out of the car!

Speaking of Feisty -- the poor little thing has been struggling with the potty issue for such a long time. She was doing so well when she suddenly began getting one UTI after another (urinary tract infection for those of you who have not have the privilege of dealing with one!) She has had such a terrible ordeal - and fear has taken over. I decided to try to really work on getting her out of pull-ups once Kristen went back to work and I have her for the afternoon. Kristen has had a bit more on her plate than dealing with potty training. So - I happened to find this little item at the grocery store the other day and decided to give it a try.

It's sort of like those little advent calendars where you open a little window and get a treat each day. When Feisty succeeds on the potty, she gets to press the little button at the bottom, which gives her a congratulatory message, then opens a window with a little chocolate. Under the chocolate is a colorful picture and she is to find a match somewhere on the package.

She had so much fun with it this afternoon - it brought 4 successes! Unfortunately, it didn't last the rest of the evening, but it is a really good start. I've never seen anybody so excited as she was - she wanted to get on the phone and tell everybody. She's so cute when she's excited. We just have to get rid of those big diapers when we're going through so many little ones!

Kristen is back at work. She was able to do a little post today - if you have time, go on over and visit her. I'm hoping she'll be able to find the time to re-do my look soon - hopefully winter is over! She is my techno expert - I really need to have her teach me how to do these things, but as long as she's willing, I'm perfectly happy to let her make me look good! Go over to Mama's So-Called Life and welcome her back from maternity leave.

Now - to the give-away!! When Kevin was in Africa, I asked him to bring me home a necklace - I had in mind one of those kind of clunky necklaces that has wood-carved zebras, elephants, lions, giraffes. He brought me something that he considered much classier - I will be sharing it on Friday's Show and Tell. But for today I want to show you the earrings that he chose. Unfortunately, I am unable to wear earrings any more. I've tried piercing twice, and don't want to struggle with the allergic reactions any more (I know - solid gold earrings - can't afford them!) . So I'm offering these wonderful carved elephants:

Let me know in a comment that you would like to have them. Pass the word around! I will draw a winner one week from today. If you don't have a blog addess, please leave me a way to reach you by e-mail, in case I draw your name.

Have a great day!