Naps or no naps?

My almost 4 year old son really stopped taking naps months ago- he could use a nap, but I am not in to him staying awake until 11:00 pm. If he does not take a nap, he is usually in bed at 8:00 pm, if not earlier. While I was in Las Vegas for a week, he got used to getting up when his daddy got up, at 6:00 am! Not my usual wake up time... so it has been killing me for the last few weeks, and him, since he is exhausted by 5:30 pm, too early for bed. So two nights ago, he went to sleep at 7:00 pm and woke up at 8:45 pm ready to go. He actually took a nap at 7:00 in the evening! And of course, who stayed up with him... ME! The next day, he got up early again, but this time I made him nap at 1:00 pm. He and his sister played for 1 hour before they both fell asleep. I let him sleep an hour (waking him up is a whole other story) and got him up. So he went to bed at 9:30 pm last night. It is such a hard choice to nap or not nap... peace in the evening because he is rested or an early bed time. I guess we will see how this continues to play out, and if I am the one that has to change and get up early!

The Oven Exploded!

My oven is only 7 years old and is not gunky on the bottom or anything... the other day I saw a red spot (not a flame) on the bottom element when I was cooking. I figured something got on it and was burning off. The next night, I preheated the oven. I had to go outside to get my daughter off the swing and I came back in, walked around the kitchen, and back towards the oven to put some garlic butter on my bread sticks. Then I heard a sound like the dishwasher starting, but it was from my OVEN! It was like "zizzizizizi!" and the whole oven lit up! I stepped back to look at it, saw the light, and turned off the oven and the stove top. There was a bit of smoke, not enough to set off the smoke detector, but the flame would not go out- it was inching around the element. So I ran out and turned off the breaker, which did make the flame go out. So I turned the breaker back on (I was brave) and turned the over back on. It did not burn down the house, but it never heated all the way either. My bread sticks were sort of cooked and then I broiled them to finish them. That element still works.
So this week at the grocery store, I bought things that can be grilled or cooked on the stove top. I thought this may save some energy and money on my power bill, but I guess I have to get it fixed! At least the house did not burn down! :)

Cleaning Tip

My sister told me about a tip for cleaning your jacuzzi tub- you dissolve two dishwasher tablets in really hot water and add them to your tub and turn it on. One thing I did not think of was that I rinse my cleaning rag (that had some type of orange cleaner on it) in the tub while it was filling up. So when I ran the jets, the bubbles blew up! It ended up making a bigger mess since then I had to clean up bubble residue! I am sure the tip works, but make sure your tub is CLEAN water without cleaners!

My little girl is 2!

My little girl's birthday is today. She had a somewhat uneventful day with church, nap, then her birthday cupcakes and presents with McDonald's for dinner. The best part was when she cried when we sang Happy Birthday!