vbs

madelyn and mason are attending vacation bible school this week at the church where they are enrolled in preschool.  (vbs was the week manning was born at our church so they didn't go.)  the only problem is that vbs is at night.  our kids generally go to sleep by 8pm and vbs goes until 8:30.  by the time we get out of there it is closer to 9 and we just try to get them showered and in bed as quickly as possible.

maddux' favorite part of a few hours without his siblings?  bathtime alone!  he played in the tub for a long time tonight and i even gave him a bubble bath.  it might have been his first bubble bath, and if not, it was the first one he remembers because he thought that it was the greatest thing.

crazy hair

having all three kids in the tub has gotten me thinking about tub time when i was growing up. one thing i remember was styling my hair with shampoo.  the kids and i had fun coming up with 'crazy hair'.  i tried to take pictures, but i couldn't style, rinse, dry my hands and get the camera fast enough.  the kids, especially mason, liked seeing what he looked like in the preview window. love.

 

bath time for maddux

madelyn was nice enough to take this picture of maddux and i after his bath.  i realized that we didn't really have pictures of him in the tub or his towels.  i think part of that is that matt and i aren't in the same place during baths and part of it is because maddux hates (and i mean hates) being in a towel.  this was actually the first time that he didn't scream his head off when i wrapped him up - at least not until i got him to his room.  i think he just doesn't like the feel of terry cloth.  the second i get it out from under him on the changing table he stops crying and calms down.

anyway.  i have started putting the baby tub into the big tub in the past few weeks and that has lead to maddux getting to 'play' with our rubber duckies (thanks to great uncle jim and great aunt kathy).  he just loves kicking his legs at those ducks!  madelyn was assisting with bath time.  love.

o christmas tree

madelyn added "bite" to her vocabulary this morning - as in "could i have a bite of your cereal, mom?". since madelyn was in the mood for sharing this morning, i decided that we should discuss her sharing in the church nursery so that she isn't the room "bully" any more. she told me that "yes" she would "share" at church today. and she repeated to say "share" as she played with her toys before we had to leave.

and there were lots of new things once we got to church too. it started as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. instead of crying when we pulled into the parking lot, madelyn called out "church" excitedly! and she repeated "church" a few more times as we parked. she did cry for a little bit when we got to her room and were taking off her coat. by the time we got off her outer layers she was happy and ready to go. but we got a surprise, madelyn was moving up to the toddler room today! the nursery folks bring her over to the toddler room halfway through the service so that she can get used to it and be ready when we drop her off there next week. everyone expressed that she was ready to be with the rest of the toddlers. at least some of them are her size - or almost that tall.

after church we went to run a few errands before the snow started since maddie and i would be indoors for a few days. between this afternoon and tomorrow morning we are expected to get anywhere from 6-8 inches of snow. and tomorrow it is forecasted to be really windy and really cold so we won't get to play in it until later in the week.

so since we were inside for the day by noon, matt went down to the basement for our christmas tree. (we have used a fake tree for years - we miss the smell but it is very convenient.) madelyn didn't quite know what to think about the tree parts. but once it was together and lit up she was pretty amazed and checked it out from every angle. we didn't get the reaction we were expecting. when she saw the exterior lights she was really excited and "wow" was said over and over, louder and louder. it might not have been her immediate reaction, but once she woke up from her nap and saw it all decorated then she was excited! i missed her reaction, but here she is giving a tour of the christmas tree's ornaments. bear is along because she just woke up.



she also went from a few flurries before she went down to a few inches of snow when she woke up. she was pretty excited about that too, but thankfully she didn't ask to go outside. madelyn has the start of a little bit of a cold. one of those where the congestion isn't really bad, but things are draining into her lungs. i am praying that it will be short-lived since i am heading out of town for a business trip next week and she will be spending the days with one of the neighbors and her son.

matt called me into the bathroom for bath time because madelyn had put on some new 'shoes'. this was the most modest of her poses to show me her 'shoes' and the only one that could possibly be posted. she would put them on her feet and then stick her legs straight up in the air, sliding backwards into the bath water.

i also managed to overhear her asking to have her hair "rinse". i asked matt if i had heard correctly and he said that she was saying "rinse" while trying to hand him the bucket we use to rinse her hair. and one rinse was not enough. he had repeated requests until bath time was finally over.

one last note for the day, in addition to saying "color" (to request to color and to demand that you color) and "i color" (while coloring) madelyn says "sitting" to let you know that she is indeed sitting. sometimes she uses it as a request for us to get her stool so that she can sit while coloring.

i am sure that there will be more snow posts for you all to look forward to this week. love.