As you know we are trying to potty train Katelynn, and as any parent that has gone through/is going through the process it is very difficult to make that transition out of diapers! Tonight, as I am getting Katelynn into her pajamas I start to give her one of my mini lectures about getting out of diapers. Anyway I had to share this conversation:

Mommy: You know Katelynn you should get out of diapers so you can be a big girl!

Katelynn: No.

Mommy: But Kateylnn babies wear diapers, and you're such a big girl. You're not a baby right?

Katelynn: No I'm a puppy! Woof!!

I about died laughing :)

letting go...

My happiness cannot be bought. What satisfies me is not the possession of the wanted object, but putting an end to the painfulness of desire. I remind myself of this when considering a purchase.
-201 Little Buddhist Reminders

A lot of information has been going around in these tough economical times about living with less. At first this repulsed me. What in the world do they mean? Living without the newest gadget, the most expensive piece of clothing, the biggest house? Why wouldn't you want those things, if you could afford it. Even if you couldn't afford it, that's why they invented credit cards, loans, etc. You'll eventually pay it off. But what does that matter when you can have it in your hands NOW.

If you think about it-that's what this culture is all about: now, now, N-O-W!

Do you remember back in the day when you wanted something, you had to save for it? Perhaps for weeks, months, even years. But you didn't buy it until you had saved every penny you could get your hands on. You worked hard to spend money. Then when you spent it, you made sure it was what you really wanted. That was way before impulse buying. At that time you didn't even know there was such a thing as impulse buying.

What about the urge to buy? Where did that come from? When did I care about having all this stuff? Do I really need that many clothes? That much furniture? The biggest movie collection of all time? The answer is really simple. No.

I think as a society we need to scale back. On many things, but spending and collecting in particular. And what better time than when all of us are forced to consider our wants and needs. Our savings and our debts.

Yes, I think it is time to go back to the simple life. Consider that money cannot buy us happiness, and that happiness is all about the simple things in life. Like spending time with family instead of spending money. Whether it's picking up the phone and calling a long lost friend, or taking the family out on a picnic lunch. Enjoying what life really has to offer.

We just finished cleaning out our closets and extra storage rooms this past week for a garage sale. It astonished me how much stuff had accumulated in boxes and bags in those tight places. Just filling up space, not doing us any favors. What a freeing feeling getting those things out, and getting rid of our excess.

The simple life is really just that....simple.

So we are officially "potty-training" now! Katelynn has been interested off and on with the potty business and today was the first day that she actually went potty on the potty chair (twice!). However as my excitement grew, she ended up with more accidents for the rest of the day. But at least we have started and we're now committed! Wish us luck ;~)

This afternoon we picked up Caleb's new glasses for reading at school. He impressed Mark and I both when he first got home with them, picking up one of his books and breezing right through it. This will definitely help with 1st grade which starts next week!

And I'll finish with a recap of a little conversation with Caleb at the dinner table tonight:

Caleb: Who is God? No, wait a minute, who is Jesus?

Mommy: Jesus is God's son.

Caleb: Are you kidding? Are you crazy? I thought Jesus was Noah's son! =)

As an FYI, I have decided to combine both this family blog and the new blog that I started last month called "a better you". I decided it was less of a hassle to just post everything on one blog site. So along with our family news I'll also be putting up posts and discussions on everything from bettering health, finding "greener" alternatives, and becoming more economical. Enjoy!

Tanganyika Wildlife Park trip

On Sunday, we ventured out with Papa and Grandma Hain to Wichita's newest zoo-Tanganyika Wildlife Park-where you can get a little more up close and personal with the animals. We had so much fun not only walking amongst the animals, but feeding them too!!




We fed the giraffes-





Mark fed the birds-




We walked by the napping kangaroos-

Mamma kangaroo with baby kangaroo in pouch-

Then we fed the bunnies-

And the tortoises-

This was our favorite of the day: the Lemurs!! We found out they loved craisins :)

Saturday, Papa Rowe and Great-Grandma Rowe came over for movie night! We watched UP and had a lot of laughs =)

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Coming up next-back to school and Caleb's new glasses!!!

Happy Birthday Emmalie!

Yesterday, Tony and Shelia's daughter, Emmalie, celebrated her 5th birthday! We all attended a fun afternoon at the Y, and along with cake and ice cream we enjoyed jumping and running around in the gymnasium. The kids absolutely loved it!! Here are some pictures:

Having cake and ice cream-


Caleb jumping on the giant trampoline-


Katelynn balancing on the floor balance beam-


Caleb in the giant pit-


Mark helping Katelynn on the big balance beam!




playing with the parachute-

Caleb and Emmalie with the parachute-


wrapping up Caleb and Emmalie inside-






Thank you Emmaile-for such a fun party ;~)