Thursday, September 24, 2009

Life

It just seems to be zooming right along these days. I am happy to report that Kindergarten is going very well! Drake is loving it and even talked me into letting him ride the bus home from school. I'm sure there will be occasional days of picking him up but he loves riding it, it's only a 15 minute ride and it saves me from waking up Hadley from her nap everyday to get him. Drake is absolutely loving learning at school and tries to sound out words all the time. I think our days of spelling things without him figuring it out are soon coming to an end. Drake is also still really enjoying being outside. He loves riding his bike and scooter and jumping on the trampoline. He still has a very vivid imagination and can entertain himself for hours with a few simple props.



Hadley is doing well, has a bit of a cold this week or teeth coming in or something because she's had a runny nose and has been on the crabby side but she's talking ALL the time, usually in sentences and always refers to herself in third person. She also DOES NOT like to be called any nicknames such as sweetie, honey, babe, etc... She is quick to correct you if you call her one of these names, "NO Hadley honey, name's Hadley!" We had to have a talk the other evening about not talking so rudely when correcting people of her name. So, at bedtime that night, I accidently said, "Good night honey" and she responded with, "Oops, Mommy, not honey, Hadley." A much more polite correction than I have heard before so I guess she does listen to me. She is also very good at asserting her independence and stubbornness. Last weekend, she and I had about a 30 minute battle of the wills over turning off the TV, so after lots of time in her room and a couple of swats, she finally gave in and obeyed. I'm afraid she might have gotten this from me. But, watch out girl because your mom will not give in- she's met her match. Hadley is doing GREAT with her big girl bed too. She usually goes to bed around 8 or 8:30, and gets up around the same time the next morning. The first night she got up once, received her punishment, and has not done it again since. ( I think we learned with Drake to nip it in the bud early or it can become a chronic problem.) Now, she goes down without ever getting up and calls us to come get her in the morning and at naps. Potty training is going so-so. We'll have a great week of very few accidents and then have a day where every time I turn around she's peeing her pants. I'm getting quite tired of this stage. So far, the theory of "girls are easier" has not played out in our house. Drake potty trained much faster and earlier than she has. Here is a picture of Hadley doing one of her favorite things: watercolors!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Lazy Family Day



We headed up to Josh, Jacki and Joel's house on Sunday after church to spend the evening and Labor Day with them. Hadley did not sleep a wink on the way up and Drake had a great nap. Go figure. This resulted in Hadley having an early bed time and Drake got to stay up to play a few games on the Wii before bed. Then, the adults stayed up late sipping decaf coffee and solving the world's problems. Okay, Jacki and I did that and the guys watched a bunch music videos and talked computer stuff. Monday we stuck around the house all morning while the kiddos played. Around noon, we headed out to the park at the church and let the kids burn off some energy before we packed them back in the car for the trek home. They both promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours. Then, we made a detour at Bloomington Miller Park to stretch our legs, make a potty stop and get a little wet at the park.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Family Bowling Night


We decided to celebrate how well Drake is doing in Kindergarten and have a family night out to go bowling. So, after dinner at home, we made the quick trip to a bowling alley in town. Drake hadn't been bowling in over a year and had been asking to go again. Hadley hadn't been bowling before. She was interested for about two frames and then preferred to just watch but did a great job staying close and entertained. Drake beat me and Gabe clobbered us all. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the bumpers were up! :) It was a fun, family night out and it's so much fun to be able to do these things with our kids as they get older. I love my family.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

A new venture



We started a new venture today. I'm hosting/teaching a little preschool at my house. It's mostly just for fun- for me. It's just one day and week and it's great for Hadley to have a morning to interact with other kids and learn to share her toys. The kids did great today, especially for their first time. I love the no-pressure teaching since it's free, it makes it just feel like fun and not work. Today we worked on a couple of colors and the shapes circles and squares. The kids were a lot of fun!