For the Record

We had a really great weekend around here. We kicked it off with a family trip to the movies for a Friday matinee of The Lorax. Both kids loved it and there were lines that definitely had me laughing. I had the great pleasure of holding Natalie in my lap for the entire movie and she just kind of melted into me. Glancing over to see sweet Wyatt taking it all in with a smile on his face the whole time was pretty great, too. Oh, and to proof that Natalie's growing up: she downed almost an entire bag of popcorn without later announcing that her skirt was too tight. As soon as the movie ended, Wyatt started telling Jeff thank you for taking him to the movie. Gratitude is a beautiful thing.

Saturday found us in Columbia, enjoying the children's museum followed by lunch at the Carolina Ale House. The kids were fun, the arguing was at a minimum and it was so nice to be together as a family after Jeff's crazy week at work. Side note: Wyatt ate twelve mini corndogs at lunch. Twelve! It was two kids' meals, because he finished the first batch and announced he was still really hungry. So we ordered another one and watched with amazement as he polished it off. Miraculously, he didn't make himself sick and still managed to eat a little dinner last night! The kids capped off their night by having their first successful sibling sleepover. Wyatt slept on his top bunk, Natalie on the bottom. It took them a little bit to settle down (at one point, I had to go in and remove Natalie from the top bunk) but they did it. I think they both enjoyed a really early start to their day. I was awakened by a Natalie shriek at 6:00 this morning and went in to find two delighted young people eager to show me their trio block creations. I threatened them within an inch of their lives politely requested that they go back to bed for a bit. The were quiet until 6:45, but I have a feeling they were just having a dance party once I closed the door behind me. Oh well.

Natalie told me last night at bedtime that she would go to the kids' room today at church without "frying" (a.k.a. crying) and maintained that story until we actually arrived at the kids' room this morning, at which point she started to flip out. So this was another Sunday that Natalie sat with us during church, which is really just another opportunity for me to cuddle my baby girl. No complaints! Wyatt provided our comic relief of the morning when, on our way to church, he asked me why I wasn't dressed like everyone else. When pressed for clarification, he basically insinuated that I wasn't dressed up enough for church. When he realized he was just maybe treading in dangerous territory, he started backpedaling so fast it made our heads spin. Something about it all was just hilarious. Not to be outdone in the funny category, Natalie finished the day strong. I was doing dinner dishes while Jeff was getting the kids in the bath and all of a sudden, there was a naked, crying Natalie standing at the sink with me. I'm not quite sure what started the crying, but I know how it ended: all of a sudden, mid-cry, she rubbed her arm with the opposite hand and said, "I'm really soft!" When I agreed, she started laughing and let me chase her all the way to the tub.

So that's how this one went down. We're all ready for another week ahead, already looking forward to another family weekend starting in five days.