Football and Dancing

For homecoming Mrs. Cottingham asked Christine

to teach the other color guard girls to hula. She did a

fabulous job with just a short amount of time to teach

them. They performed in the homecoming assembly,

with Christine (I'll remind you - she's only a Freshman)

in the front and also performing a solo. They & she did

great! I have to say, however, that it was a little

uncomfortable as her mother to hear the reactions of the

guys around as Christine began to perform. If Erik was

hoping for a little less attention for our daughter -

this didn't help! Thank goodness she didn't ami!

(Did I mention that she got asked to the Homecoming

dance by 5 different guys? Not funny. She's not even

close to being 16.)

Speaking of dancing, Jalen Andrew sure likes to

"cut the rug" with his older siblings.

I hope you enjoy his fancy footwork as much as we do.

This was the picture of the night at the end of

Friday night's football game;

James was still wide awake,

but Joseph and Jalen Andrew both sacked out

on their Dad.

So, we all know how sports minded Jalen Andrew is -

well, he's carrying that into the bathroom as well.

With all of my kids (James being the exception)

they learned to use the potty chair by

taking into the bathroom something that appealed to them.

Christine and I had to sit and sing songs together-

Rebekah insisted on "reading" the Reader's Digest

(no other book or magazine would do)-

Joseph and I would sit in the bathroom and play catch.

I was figuring that Jalen Andrew's potty training would be a Slam Dunk with the Nerf basketball hoop

hanging on the bathroom door.

Well, he's showing me who's in control here . . .

football is the sport of the moment.

******************

He actually went!

I was cleaning up lunch while he was still eating,

when he told me, "Ow, Mom. Poop."

That was new since he's been avoiding the potty chair for awhile now.

I took him into the bathroom,

and we sat there for about 30 minutes,

playing catch football.

He gave some great pushes, but nothing was happening.

He insisted on sitting on the toilet rather than his potty chair -

still nothing, but he refused to get off.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and I just needed to stretch my legs,

I told him that I'd be right back, ducked into the laundry room to grab something,

and came back in to discover

Jalen Andrew sitting there with a shocked look on his face,

and potty running down his legs.

Oh.

I clapped, and smiled, praising him profusely.

Then, after dinner tonight he was displaying his grunting face,

so I took him into the bathroom again.

I sat this time for about 20 minutes

tossing the football back and forth with him.

Still nothing.

It was evening, and I had a zillion things to do,

so I finally told him that I would be right back,

I ducked out for a few minutes to take care of a task,

when I heard a little voice calling to me,

"Mom. I did it."

I went back to the bathroom expecting to find all the

toilet paper unrolled or something,

but instead found that Jalen Andrew had made a great big log.

So, I'm thinking,

that for Jalen Andrew,

it won't be music, or reading, or even playing sports

that will do the magic trick in the bathroom,

but simply. . .

a little privacy!

P.S. While Erik was home sick for a week, he taught Jalen Andrew to watch football instead of Baby Einstein when he's feeling sleepy, so now I have a little guy who stands by the t.v. and cries, "Football. Football." Thanks Erik.