Performing

Last night Drake had his first debut here at West Side. The preschool choir "Joyful Noise" sang several songs before the Children's Musical that the Elementary kids performed. Drake did a great job and even sang loud enough for us to hear him!

In other performance news, Hadley had quite a performance this morning. For a couple of months now, we've been sitting on the potty before bath time and a few times she has gone, but always provoked by me. Well, this morning, we were having a relaxed morning of reading books on the floor in her room while Drake was at preschool. I had the potty chair sitting in her room. I started to get her dressed but she was distracted after just the undressing part, so she and I were sitting in her room for probably 45 minutes diaperless. She would periodically go sit on the potty, but with no production. Well, I stepped out of the room for about 2 minutes and she came into the kitchen, carrying a new diaper and saying "poopy!". I said, "Hadley, did you go poopy?" She said "uh,huh", so I asked her to show me where, fully expecting a mess on the floor. When we got to her room, she took me over to her potty chair lifted up the lid and to my SHOCK!, there was potty inside the potty chair! I wasn't planning to start fully potty training yet but maybe I shouldn't pass up her interest! I'll spare you the picture of the insides of the potty chair! :)

Fort Rutledge

Since Gabe had to work today, we tried to find something fun to do on a COLD, rainy Saturday morning. So, we built a fort. Who knew 2 kids could have so much playing underneath a blanket? Drake and Hadley played for quite a while under the blanket pretending they were "camping", with a flashlight and all. After the fort was cleaned up, we had a picnic lunch, on one of the blankets, of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. Then they got to watch a veggie tales movie before it was nap time.

Dentist

Today, Drake had his first dentist appointment. I think I was dreading it as much as he was. I was fully prepared for a meltdown at the office when something didn't feel good or taste right or he just didn't want to cooperate. We had been prepping for it all week, talking about what they would do, where he would sit, etc... This morning started with, "Is today my dentist appointment?" "yes" "But, I really don't want to go the dentist!" So, I decided this was the perfect time for bribery, I mean a reward. I had bought some clearance movies a few months ago to have on hand for such a time as this! So, I showed him the movie he would get to keep if we could make it through the whole appointment without whining, crying and fit throwing. I advised him that I could return the movie to the store if he decided not to cooperate. Well, all this talk and hype proved to be more of an ordeal than the actual appointment. Drake did amazing! He just hopped up in the chair like an old pro. Opened his mouth, kept it open, and did not even gag! He sat perfectly still while she counted all 20 teeth, cleaned them with her special polisher and he even got to pick strawberry flavored "toothpaste" for her to use. He cooperated beautifully and even came home with an A+ grade on his teeth!

I just love it when they get along!

My kids are starting to get to that point where they annoy each other at times. A lot of times they do well together, but there are days where it seems they are just out to bug the other one. This morning was one of those great mornings. Drake had woken up before Hadley and was watching a cartoon when he heard Hadley in her room talking. So, he went in and crawled in her bed with her and they played together, laughing and having a good 'ol time for probably half an hour. I tried to video tape it but I think I waited too long and I had missed all the giggling. It was so cute! Here is a picture just before they both got out of her bed.

Leaves and Pizza

The leaves were getting a little out of control and I knew yesterday was going to be the last fabulous day to do anything about them for awhile. Of course, with the time change and it getting dark earlier, I knew afternoon was going to be my only shot at it. So, Drake was perfectly content to play in the backyard while I mowed/mulched the leaves. Hadley, however, really does not like the mower. So, I either have to hold her while I'm mowing or watch her cry on the deck the whole time I mow. I decided I would try holding her this time and mowed about half the backyard with her on my hip, mowing one-handed. Then, my arm couldn't take it anymore, so I put her in a chair on the deck with her baby and she soon fell asleep to the hum of the mower. I couldn't believe it, she rarely falls asleep anywhere but her bed. I had Drake run in and get the camera so I didn't have to shut off the mower, for fear of waking her up.


Then, later in the afternoon we got a call from some good friends who were coming over for a surprise visit AND they were bringing the fixings for homemade pizza! We had some yum-0 pizza and fun conversation while we waited for Gabe to get home from his late night at work. He got home around 7:30 and then we stayed up late talking and laughing while the kiddos snoozed away.

November?!?

I can't believe it is November- not only can I not believe we're in the 11th month of 2008, but the weather is also amazing for November! Today, after church, we did away with our normal routine of eating a quick lunch so we could get home for naps because the day was too good to pass up outside. So, we grabbed some lunch at a yummy sub shop and took it to Washington Park. This park is breathtaking right now with so many big, old trees with amazing colors. We had a picnic on a blanket at the park and let the kids run around and enjoy the awesome weather. I just had to take some pictures of this perfect fall day. After we finished at the park, Hadley was sound asleep within seconds of getting in her car seat and Drake was saying he was ready to lay down when we got home. I think the fresh air did everyone right.

Hadley's usual "cheese" face!