Happy Happenings Last Weekend

Last weekend we spent the weekend at my parents house- and had a wonderful time as always. The ride there- with Hailey- not usually so much fun- but the fun times we have once we arrive make it worth it.

We have recently started letting Hailey watch a DVD while we travel- it's amazing how mesmerized she is by Baby Einstein. At home we have a no TV rule for Hailey. I did a lot of research on this topic (AAP recommends no TV for kids under age 2) and we decided this was a good rule for our family. Once in a great while she will watch a couple minutes of Sesame Street on a Saturday morning but for the most part we are pretty consistent with this rule.

But I digress.

Hailey usually only sleeps for a little while in the car, no matter how carefully we plan the trip with her nap or bed time. So, letting her watch a DVD in the car has helped quite a bit.

On Saturday my dad went hunting and shot a lovely buck. I took some pictures but I will spare you the goryness (is that a real word?). Unless of course there is a high demand in the comments section from people who would like to see my dad smiling proudly next to his deer.

The main reason for our trip this last weekend was that Brooke lives in the same town as my parents and she was in a play at school. So of course, we wouldn't miss that for anything. We feel that it is very important to try to attend events like this. Before we had to move out of the area we always went to all of Brookes activities. Even though we live a bit of a distance away now and can no longer attend everything she is a part of we try to make sure we are there as much as we can be.

The play was excellent- one of the best high school plays I've ever seen- and I'm not just saying that because Brooke was in it. Hailey was not quite as impressed as I was. During the first half of the play Rich and I took turns letting her run around in the school hallways. Hailey thought this was wonderful. After the intermission my mom took Hailey so that Rich and I could watch the rest of the play (Thank you mom!!).

I wasn't able to take any pictures because of the no flash photography rule, but my dad was able to get some with his camera.

Brooke is the in the middle of the row that has the five girls in it.
This was part of the court scene.
Brooke is on the left end of the row here at the end of the play.

We came home on Sunday afternoon and while I know I shouldn't tell you this, lest I jinx myself- Hailey slept almost the whole way home. I slept too- for an entire hour. I can't tell you the last time I had an hour long afternoon nap.

So, we're home for now. But, tomorrow we will leave once again to head back to my parents house for Thanksgiving. I probably won't be around much while we're there because I'll be busy doing important things like eating and shopping. And of course- visiting with our families.

The Big Step

While I was on my bloggy break last week Hailey took her first steps. We've been trying to get her to do it for a little while. Brooke was really trying to help her to take those first steps and she finally did it! Hailey was quite proud of herself, although she fell over when we all started to cheer for her.

I was so excited to see Hailey enter this new stage but at the same time it made me a stop to think. Not that long ago we brought home this totally helpless little person from the hospital. We're watching her grow and develop. She wants to do things on her own and gets a little mad when someone tries to help her. She wants to be more independent. And that is what made me just a little sad.

We're teaching her to do things on her own so that she won't have to depend on us. So that she can grow up to be an adult who does not need her mommy to do stuff for her. I know it's a little ways off still. But, with each new step she takes towards her independence she takes a little piece of my heart with her.

Where A Kid (Or A Dad) Can Be A Kid

Since I was on a bloggy break last week I have a little bit of updating to do!

One night last week we decided to take Hailey for her visit to Chuck-E-Cheese. Brooke was quite sure it would be babyish (her words) and that she was much too old for such a cheesy place (my words with the pun intended). I think she had fun in spite of herself.

Rich loves Chuck-E-Cheese and has been looking forward to the day that Hailey would be old enough to go. He was in quite a hurry to get there. As soon as we left our house he asked me which route of travel would be fastest given the time of day. Since Chuck-E-Cheese is in a commercial area, near some of my favorite shopping locations, I was able to tell him exactly which way to go. We got there pretty quickly. He waited impatiently at the last red light by Chuck-E-Cheese and as soon as the light turned green he took off "to get ahead of that other family." Once we reached the parking lot Rich quickly found a spot and told us to hurry and get out of the car because there were others getting inside ahead of us. We went at around 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon so I'm sure you can imagine the droves of people pushing in front of us because we did not run to the building fast enough.

Here are some pictures of the evening.

Hailey loved her dinner plate.

Hailey enjoys a ride with Chuck-E-Cheese.

Since there were not very many people there I let Hailey
crawl around explore in the toddler area.
She LOVED it! She seemed to really enjoy the school bus.
(I did not pose her for this picture.)
Brooke and Rich work on putting out a fire.

Brooke while racing against Rich.

Brooke and Rich played several rounds of basketball.
Brooke won every time! But, don't tell Rich I told you.

If you didn't see my post yesterday, please check it out and offer me some advice. Thanks!!

Wordless Wednesday #18

2001

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Brooke in DC

A message from Brooke:

As most people know I was nominated for NYLC (National Young Leaders Conference). I was the only person from my school who went and it was a great honor. I went to Washington D.C. and they had us busy from 7:30 in the morning 'til 11 at night. At the hotel we were assigned to a group that we met with every day. This group was our Leadership Group Meeting (LGM). In our LGM we discussed what qualities a person had to have in order to be a leader. We came up with 2 pages front and back full of qualities. We voted on a president and my new friend Josh from Mississippi won the election. We also held our own press conferences. At the press conferences we had to ask the President (Josh) questions about the war on Iraq, the economics issues, and what would happen if his plan had failed. During the conferences I was the Economist. LGM wasn't all just business though we had fun too. We played games and I even learned that our leader, Anthony, was really good at break dancing and a really good singer!
At the hotel we also had Model Congress (MoCo). MoCo was to prepare us for a session where we were to have Cacauses and Committees. There were 4 committees. The Democrat Criminal Justices Committee, Republican Criminal Justices Committee, Democrat Telecommunications Committee, and the Republican Telecommunications Committee. I was on the Democrat Criminal Justices Committee. The Cacauses A-G were democrat and the Cacauses H-L were republican (democrats had majority because of the congress today). The Cacauses were to come up with amendments for 2 bills, a criminal justice bill and a telecommunications bill. The Committees were to ask the Cacauses questions about the amendments they had come up with. Committees voted on the amendments and turned them into a bill. The next day we had a huge session with all 380 people and voted on the bills to make them laws. Both bills passed and became laws.

We didn't just stay in the hotel though we also went to museums, monuments, memorials, and shopping. Some of the museums that I went to were the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Holocaust Museum. I had the most fun at the National Museum of Natural History.

One of the monuments that I went to was the Washington Monument. Some of the memorials I went to were the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the WWII Memorial.

The shopping was great and my new friends and I had a lot of fun.

We had some pretty fun nights at the hotel. We had a karaoke night, a talent show, and on our last night in D.C. we had a dance at the Marriott! My friends and I had a lot of fun and even though I didn't know them for that long, I still miss them and I am keeping in touch with them.

Thank you again to everyone who helped to make it possible for me to go on this great trip!

Love,

Brooke

Happy Father's Day

What A Dad Will Do For His Daughter
by Cheryl D'Aprix

What a Dad will do for his daughter is rock his sick baby girl until the sun peeks through the darkness letting him know the night of worry is over.

He will take her small hand in his and walk slowly as she takes her first walk to the ice cream shop to share a cone full of heaven on earth.

He will sip from the tiny tea cup she has set in front of him and in harmony with the stuffed animals carefully placed in their seats he will sing the praises of her great hospitality.

He will sit through dance recitals and fashion shows where he is the only audience and will clap with the enthusiasm of a thousand people.

He will take her fishing and play soccer, and introduce her to the world outside as if just experiencing it for the first time himself. Perhaps he is.

He will sit with her through sweat and tears over homework that was supposed to be turned in the day before and he'll smile as they finish, seeing her relief.

He will place a firm hand on the shoulder of the young man that comes to take her to the school dance silently letting him know where he stands and what he expects.

He will watch with overflowing pride as his young lady accepts her high school diploma and will silently pray to God to calm his fears and get him throughout the day.

He will be full of conversation and more than happy to listen when she calls home now and then. Even when the game of the year is on.

He will gently fold her arm around his and with all the courage and faith he can hold onto he will stroll down the aisle, giving her hand but keeping her youth.

He will be the first one in the maternity ward, at the nursery window, carefully inspecting the activities of his new family member. Another part of her, another part of him.

He will reassure her as time rages on and the signs of his old age start to frighten her.

He will caress her hand with a passion to which she has never felt as he whispers his last wishes to her.

He will come to her heart for all her life as she sees his manner in herself or his features in her children.

He will live in the smiles that grace her face as she remembers the things he did for her.

Happy Father's Day to the two best Dads I know!

Happy Father's Day & Happy Birthday

Since we will not be able to see my dad on Father's Day or his birthday (June 28th) we decided to celebrate both occasions last weekend.

Although he tried to act like he didn't enjoy it, everyone who knows my dad knows that he loved it when the waiters and waitresses sang to him.

Opening some presents
Grandpa helps Hailey take a little walk outside the restaurant.
Brooke and Hailey pose for a picture.

Wordless Wednesday #3

Happy Birthday

Happy 15th Birthday Brooke!

These are some of my favorite pictures of Brooke and they bring back lots of happy memories.

Time has gone by much too quickly and you are growing up so fast. We are so proud of all that you have accomplished and look forward to what the future holds for you. We love you so much. Have a wonderful 15th birthday, Brooke!