I started potty training Dan on Monday. WOO HOO! The first three days went okay… a few accidents but a lot of making it to the potty. The girls have been really fabulous with helping me. They take him into the bathroom and read a potty book to him while he goes (thanks Jeanine!).
On Monday I took everyone into Borders so we could buy the potty book. I got lucky – Dan really likes it and we had to read it a zillion times when we got home. So now the girls read to him in the bathroom. I’m still using a timer though that goes off ever 30-40 minutes… the times that Dan has to go and the timer doesn’t ring is when we have an accident. So he’s not good yet at making it to the potty without being prompted….Did I mention that I HATE potty training?
On a different note, the past week we have been having “picnics” out in the backyard for lunch. The kids really like it – probably more because I’m out there too.
We also have one of those round ring pools. This is the 4th year of the same pool – we’ll be getting a bigger one next season. But this year was the first time I tried one of those salt-water filtration systems instead of doing the chemicals. I also bought a bigger and stronger filter (2500 galloons per hour instead)… OMG… what a difference! I love it… no more trying to figure out how much chlorine to put in the pool… no more dingy water… it has been a great buy for us. I definitely waited too many seasons to buy a stronger pump (the one that comes with these ring pools is just not strong enough)… so the pump has been great but the chlorine generator has been wonderful for me. I want the pool to be as low maintenance as it can be…
Dan LOVES the pool. He puts his face right in the water – tries to swim to the other side – and doesn’t mind going under the water. Even though the girls really liked water at an early age too, they never liked going under the water and didn’t really start doing that until they where 4 1/2. Dan is doing it now at 3 1/2. Absolutely LOVES LOVES LOVES the water…
This week I have been mostly working on CHA follow-up items. I have gotten a lot off the long list and that has been very nice! Yesterday I was able to get the handmade thank-you cards mailed out. I forgot to take a photo of them though so I have nothing to post. They came out nice though… I used our new collection, Sawyer to make them on clear sheets (should have gotten a photo damn it.. lol!).
I think Kristy Valshan is starting to find a stride… we’ve had a bit of a rough patch for about the last 8 months or so because we were tied up with a manufacturer that ended up not being able to fulfil a lot of their promises. That basically put KV on hold for that period of time because we weren’t doing anything but working with this company… but since we have moved on, I have been more focused on promoting and marketing of KV – like finally changing the website design and adding a little portfolio section, doing some newsletters, sending out a lot of follow-up e-mails, writing and revising contracts and even pushing a bit to setup phone meetings – which is somewhat out of my comfort zone but I’m getting much better with that. Our CHA designer mentor and friend, Vicki Schreiner (she is also the chair of the CHA designer section) keeps telling me that it will get easier, we just have to take that leap of faith the first few times… Incidentally, Vicki has been a really AWESOME mentor and she is a fabulous designer… her Bazooples line is getting big in both the mass market and the independent market which usually is not the case. She has new product out at Cracker Barrel and her fabric lines run through Walmart and the independents… very cool!
We have signed a few interesting contracts in the past week since CHA and I have two more calls next week scheduled. I’m really happy with where we are even if it’s been a bit slow (it really hasn’t in the overall timeframe of this industry but it still feels like it’s been slow). We’re thinking about going to Quilt Market in October (been told we should do that for a long time now)… And we’re also thinking of exhibiting in January at the Atlanta Gift Show.. they have a new licensing section this year that appears to be cheaper than Surtex. Not sure we can afford it though and exhibit at Winter CHA and Surtex. Very expensive to travel and exhibit. It seems like every 3 months or so we are at a show. It’s fun to travel and get away though… just hate the costs.