So when it came time to potty train Ethan, we took the same tactic. For all of you that do not know our third child, he tends to look at the world in a different way. He is always coming up with little comments that make us either fall down laughing or scratch our heads. So it should not surprise me that potty training would be a little different than the other kids.

As the summer came to a close his fourth birthday was coming quickly and Ethan still was showing no interest at all. Finally, last Saturday night he was in the bath and all of a sudden jumped up and told me he needed to go potty. He got out of the tub and he went to the bathroom. The next morning he woke up and decided he wanted to wear underwear. That day we had an accident free day and I felt we were off to a good start.

Monday when he woke up he wanted to wear underwear again and for a large part of the day we did pretty well. In the afternoon he went to his room to take a rest. After a little while he came out of his room and told me he “went poopy.” I assumed he had an accident but when he rounded the corner I realized he was holding the poop in his hand. After cleaning him up, I asked him why the poop was in his hand. He explained to me that he did not want to make his underwear dirty but he did not want to go to poopy on the potty. For whatever reason he decided that going to the bathroom in his hand was the only other alternative. It could be my brother in law’s fault because he is always teasing him about pooping in his pants. Unfortunately, we went through this process two more times before he was finished.

The next several days were a little hit and miss. Tuesday was an accident free day but on Wednesday and Thursday he had one accident when he was playing with his friends. I was hoping that Friday would be a better day.

As it turned out Friday was an accident free day. We even had success with going poopy on the potty. While our older son Aidan was at school he cut his eye with a piece of paper so I had to take him to the eye doctor. On the way to the appointment we stopped off at the grocery store. While there Ethan told me he had to go to the bathroom. Aidan waited outside with Oliver. After Ethan went to the bathroom we came out and Aidan was sitting on a bench a little ways down form the bathroom. Very loudly Ethan yelled, “Aidan I went poopy and it looked like baby Moses.” After laughing I asked him to explain. He told us that it looked like the picture from Sunday school because it was brown and floated.

The days that have followed have been good and I am looking forward to only buying diapers for one child. I am sure there will be more memorable stories before Ethan is completely potty trained.

Every year since Aidan began four years ago, I worry about what the year will hold. Did they get a good teacher, will they learn enough, did we make the right decision about the school to send them to are just a few worries that run through my mind.

I am constantly reminding myself that God is faithful despite all the circumstances in our lives. I do not have to be the perfect parent, they do not have to have the perfect teacher, etc. God is faithful despite our unfaithfulness.

Even as I pray for God to change my heart and trust in him my worry creeps in. My prayer for this school year is to rest in God and his faithfulness to me and to my children.

The newborn Aussie pup that Pam and the kids picked out. Code name: Panda.

After having an odd exchange with a cashier at Home Depot, who not only commented that I was a frequent patron but also somehow brought up the fact that she was a single mom, I decided to take Pam’s advice and invest in a cheap “temporary” replacement. The funny thing is that a friend at church said her husband did the same thing 25 years ago and is still wearing it!

Left: Missing band by James Avery Craftsman. Right: Temporary Wal-Mart special.

What I ended up with was a $38 titanium wedding band from Wal-Mart. It is not the highest grade titanium — nor is it as elegant as gold or platinum — but it is light, strong and hypo-allergenic (though it will show scratches). Besides, the bicycle geek in me appreciates the metallurgy aspects of owning a titanium ring. And while you may have heard folks say that titanium rings are dangerous, according to Snopes.com you can cut a titanium ring off of an injured finger with the same saw that is used for gold rings; you just have to make two cuts instead of one because titanium does not bend as easily as softer metals.

So it came as no surprise to me at the jewelry store (where I went to get my ring finger resized) that I was told to stay away from anything other than gold or platinum…for safety reasons. This happened after I brought up another alternative metal — tungsten carbide — which is remarkably hard and scratch resistant (right below diamonds on the hardness scale), hypo-allergenic (when made w/o cobalt), has a similar weight/substance feeling as their softer counterparts, are available in traditional or exotic styles, come with inlays of precious metals (e.g., platinum, gold or silver) and can be laser engraved with some really neat patterns (see below). Sounds to me like the kind of ring I would not have to take off every time I did yard work! And while it cannot be cut with a jeweler’s saw, all it takes to remove a stuck ring is a few squeezes from vice grips and it cracks apart (though extremely strong and hard, tungsten carbide is weak torsionally). About the only major downside I can think of with tungsten carbide (and titanium), besides not coming in a solid yellow gold color, is that you cannot have them resized.

Examples of carved tungsten carbide rings (clockwise l-r) by ARTCARVED, Triton, DIANA and Triton.

I honestly do hope that my good ol’ wedding ring shows up. It holds a lot of sentimental value after nearly 14 years of marriage. Should it not, then perhaps one of the “new-metals” will find a place of permanence on my left ring finger (hopefully before 25 years pass)? And with gold prices at an all time high, alternatives are becoming attractive options based on price alone.

Aidan with his science project, 1st place ribbon and district marching orders. Missing: two front teeth.

We will certainly continue to bring you coverage of these momentous events. In the meantime, click on the above image to view more photos and details on the project.

Teacher Pettway and class (l). Miss Twinkle Toes (r) showing off her award. Click to view more.

Below is a low-quality video I took with our digicam.

While he is at it our brick mason is going to build a small planter box around our mailbox (see my mock layout below). We have the only house in the neighborhood where they surrounded the mailbox with concrete. The kids like to walk around it when getting the mail (calling it ‘the shortcut’), but Pam and I consider it to be aesthetically displeasing. By the way, if you ever need a good brick layer, I highly recommend Ibach Brick. Paul does great work and is a comedian, too. When showing him the newspaper-slot-turned-birdhouse below the mailbox, he said I should “start chargin’ that bird rent.”

We are also considering building stairs off of our back deck, which is as much of a safety/secondary egress issue as it is a convenience consideration. Currently we have to go down the stairs, which are positioned by the front door, in order to go out back through the garage. Then there is the floor I need to lay in the attic, organizing the garage, etc. Maybe, just maybe, when all is done there will be some funds left over to put in the HDTV piggy bank!

Update 1: Steps are done (they look great!). Mailbox work set for Monday. Getting an HD set after all (albeit a smaller 32″).

Update 2: Below are thumbnails (linked to full size on Flickr) of the completed steps and mailbox surround. Flowers (pansies and salvia) have been planted at the mailbox since these were taken, but I still have to build a new handrail for the steps (probably using one of those PVC railing kits).