Crazy life

I don't think we have ever been so busy.  Brett is working insane hours, which thereby means I am working insane hours.

Just wanted to give you guys a rundown of how we spend our time: 
Mabel is in preschool three days a week for 4 hours each day.  During one of those days I manage to give Sam a nap and do the grocery shopping for the week.  How in the world does it take 4 hours to get to a store, shop, return home, and unpack groceries?  It's amazing how little babies can suck away time.  The other two days are for other errands - this week I get to take Ama to the vet (allergies) and get the oil changed in the car.  Don't be jealous.
Mabel started going to a real gymnastics class at the Seattle Gymnastics Academy on one non-preschool day.  This is a magical place where I get to sit with Sam for 45 minutes while she runs and jumps and practices handstands with a teacher. Today she also added peeing all over herself in the bleachers after class to that list, but she is working on that. 
Our last free day is usually spent meeting up with one of M's friends for a play date.  This also looks a lot like two or more moms hanging out having what amounts to 5 minutes of actual conversation spread out over two hours because of "please put that down" "we don't do that" and "don't eat that it's not food" interjections. 
Luckily for all of us Mabel is still napping most days which means we spend from 1:30 to the end of the day at home.  During this time Sam may/may not nap which means I may/may not make dinner. 

The house is a wreck, my clothes are covered in boogers, and there is likely a pair of peed on toddler undies in my purse...but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Potty time!

Mabel asked to use the potty this week. Yay!!!

She is doing great - using it herself, asking to go, and sometimes even making it. Her original sticker chart was full very quickly and she got a prize. Kate made a poster-board sized one which will last a bit longer.
She was diaper free at preschool on Friday - 1 accident, 1 success - and in and out of diapers over the weekend.

We are really, really, really excited that she decided to initiate things.

Water, water, everywhere

Mabel was helping me make spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner last night. The house smelled good and she was excited to try twirling her pasta like in one of her books.
I poured off the pasta and had her getting all set to go in and eat. Turned back to the sink and thought I had sloshed a bunch of water of the floor while pouring off. That was not what happened. The p-trap under the sink did this:

The floor in the kitchen has a fun habbit of passing 90% of the water on it through to the laundry room below. It was a mess.
Toweled up what I could and fans spinning, I got to the hardware store and back, sink fixed before bathtime. Went with a much heavier duty drain piece than the el cheapo that had been installed. Looks like my next project which was going to be updating the plumbing for the kitchen sink has been upped in priority. Figures.

A lovely July

We've been bad about posting and only a little bit better about actually taking pictures. But we do have some to share...
First, Sam has found his hands:


Second, Mabel earns her keep: And we've taken some pictures along the way: