Bikes, Potty Training and More

We spent much time on Monday gathering information for Stacia so she can make some decisions about college. She is thriving at Global University...but we are not sure they accept Chapter 35 VA funds.  We've been paying her classes out of pocket. There are many things she LOVES at Global. She can see a social benefit to moving school to an in-residence location, especially as our church only has 3 or 4 college age adults.  She is used to a rather isolated life, but youth group has provided social interaction. She will be leaving youth group on her 18th birthday. While we wait to have the VA issue cleared up (and there have been numerous calls and emails) we began to explore other options. We've looked at Liberty Online and Alaska Bible College...both confirmed they accept Chapter 35 benefits. 

After an early a.m. call to Global (back East), I left home for CoRielle's. 

It became apparent rather quickly the boys need to be outside running off some energy.  Someone gave them a second balance bike; Arielle said bike rides are now fast and fun for all. I tested the theory - she's 100% correct. 

Danny, Little Buddy, Benny 

Their new neighborhood has LOTS of little dead ends where eventually there will be homes...but for now there are paved roads with no traffic. It's a young bike riders dream. 

Very fast with the balance bike

Little Buddy did great

The fields around the street were covered in wildflowers. 

The other new obsession at their home is POTTY TRAINING. I tried to explain to the boys this is NOT the way things are supposed to go. They were very interested in watching spit be flushed away.... eventually they both had a bit of "success." 

Benny patiently explained but they had their OWN plan

Michael remembers crawling through the bottom portion of this table when he was 2. Arielle is refinishing it for their continued use. I'm watching as we have the rest of the set here and I may attempt refinishing...but we have a table, hutch, end tables, dressers...that's a lot of redoing. 

We read books, played with trains and discussed how fun adoption month is. I tried to convince Benny I should call Little Buddy a name that ends in "e" after he is adopted. We had fun coming up with silly nicknames.  He thinks Little Buddy's dignified name is the best choice. 

I went from playing with the boys to the Wholesome Food Co-op. Below is a photo of my take for the day. Really yummy produce. 

Stacia had salmon pot pies in the oven when I got home. We sorted and put produce away and wala...dinner was on the table. After clean-up she and I went to surprise Allie at work. We didn't realize the lobby would be closing at 8 and we ended up in the drivethru. This gave Stacia lots of practice stopping and starting with the manual transmission in the Vibe. She is doing great with the car. 

It was a LONG day....every other Tuesday is simply LONG.