July 19-26

I went to a conference last weekend.  It was a Catholic homeschooling and parenting conference that's much smaller than the humongous fundamentalist homeschooling convention that I have also been known to attend.  I like conferences because I go with friends and listen to adults discuss things.  Bryan likes that I go to conferences because then he can have the following conversation: "Where's Johannah?" "At a homeschooling conference." "Oh, are you guys going to homeschool?" "No, she just goes because she likes them."  Apparently the reactions are amusing.

Kaitlyn rolls over!  She spent last Friday attempting to roll, finally made it on Saturday, and has been happily flipping herself onto her stomach this whole week.  Unfortunately, she doesn't like being on her stomach as much as she likes the process of getting there, so after about five minutes on her tummy she grinds her nose into the floor and hollers for help.

Olivia has made a small amount of progress in her speech: she now has the letter "v."  We spent some time working on it, and now she calls herself "Oleevia" (as opposed to "Oleebia").

I've heard that if you leave them alone, kids pretty much potty train themselves.  I haven't had a chance to experience this since we worked with Olivia after she developed a persistent rash.  Now, given Gretchen's proclivity for diaper removal (as well as the beginnings of a rash), I've decided that it's time for Gretchen to be potty trained as well.  On Friday I sent Olivia to visit the Weys, borrowed a stand alone toddler potty, and let Gretchen roam around the house and yard half naked.  We achieved a good set-up on a towel for indoors so that I didn't have to worry about her anointing every surface in my house.  The jury is still out on whether or not we achieved anything worth mentioning.  :/

I lost the two jars of cantaloupe jam that I made.  :(  We came back from five days in Sidney to a funny smell in the pantry and I discovered that my cantaloupe jam was climbing out of its jars.  I am open to suggestions about what might cause this.  A warm pantry?  I don't think it was a headspace issue since the one jar climbed about an inch above the rim.  Mom thinks maybe it fermented.

Pictures:

My cantaloupe jam, escaping from the jars:

Kaitlyn rolls over:

And wears a computer headset:

All the girls playing:

Olivia and Gretchen help Kaitlyn play with toys: