1st day of Chapel

Rachel's 1st day of chapel was yesterday. It's now going to be every Wednesday at 9:30. Families are invited, so Bradley and I went. I wasn't sure how Bradley would like it, so we sat away from the students, in the back. It was so cute watching the preschoolers march in to "Father Abraham" and sit together in a big pew. Rachel spotted us and waved and then told her teacher we were there. Surprisingly, there weren't that many parents there. It was a short program...just 15 minutes long, but just the right amount for those little wigglers. The preacher of the church and the music minister led the chapel and the kids really enjoyed it. They sang: "Jesus Loves Me," "Jesus is my friend," "Jesus loves the little children" and one more that I can't think of. The music minister taught them some sign language to go with it. The preacher had a short lesson (about 2 minutes) on God's love, since this week's Bible verse is "God is Love." from 1John, but I forgot the chapter and verse! Anyway, the whole experience was sweet and fun and I was a little tearful at times, just watching the precious little kids be excited about singing songs about Jesus. Bradley behaved superbly!! He sat in my lap or walked along our empty aisle and even listened and watched what was going on from time to time. We'll probably make this part of our Wednesday morning routine. I felt very blessed to be apart of this sincere, heartfelt children's worship.

Bradley's 1st Haircut

I forgot to take a "before" picture, but here's a glimpse of his hair...

it was a thin scraggle about 2 inches long.

the new look!

who knew Bradley had such a cute neck??

I'm a big boy now!!

It's an unofficial cut, but still a cut. I have been thinking about it for a few weeks now and decided that rat-tails on any child really aren't cute. I think Bradley's a doll, and I didn't want some scraggly hair taking away from his boyish good looks. So, today I snipped the tail off the back of his hair and it looks adorable!! He didn't care that I was doing it. He sat on my bathroom counter and "brushed his teeth" with my toothbrush and I just cut away a few snips of hair. It's definitely not blended or faded or anything, but good enough for now! I love looking at the back of his little neck now. Rachel loved that I was cutting Bradley's hair and wanted me to cut hers. But, hers looks long and lovely and I'm not going to touch it!

Nappin'

snoozin'
wakin' up...don't talk to me!

still wakin' up...still don't talk to me!
(he gets his dislike for waking up honestly from both mommy and daddy!)

Naps are still negotiable around here. Some days we take 'em and some days we don't. On the days when we do, it usually is a small battle prior to the nap happening and then a small battle to wake up. Frankly, I'm not sure they're all that great! But, I try to enforce them if I think Bradley is really tired and acting cranky. Anyway, Bradley's still been doing GREAT in his bed. Lately he has decided to stockpile as many things as he can in his bed to make himself feel "safe". At first it was every dinosaur he owned...big and small. Lately, it's been all his large, metal, tonka trucks. I think he had about 15 trucks in there one day. It didn't look very comfy to me, but he seemed fine in his tiny corner, so we let him do it. I know he's still getting adjusted to the freedom of his big boy bed and feels a little less secure than he did in his crib. I'm very proud of him for doing so well, though! He usually meets whatever challenge he faces and succeeds...what a smart boy!

Labor Day Weekend

Enjoying one of her homemade cookies!
Playing with moonsand...the moldable sand that never dries out.
(pretty cool!)

Our Labor Day weekend was extremely uneventful, but very nice! We didn't "do" anything or go anywhere, but we had fun around the house. Nick got alot of projects completed and I didn't really do anything! Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to "accomplish" anything! :)

We had our dearest friends, Jen and Micah over on Saturday night. That's always fun just hanging out and chatting.

Sunday we ate lunch with Gege and Papa at Sonny's BBQ, which was good and lots of fun! Then, Bradley and I came home to take a nap (which didn't happen) and Nick took Rachel swimming with Papa. She loved it! Nick and I are kinda tired of swimming, but thankfully Papa is still enjoying it. Rachel will never get tired of swimming!

Monday, Rachel and I made chocolate chip cookies, which really didn't turn out very good. I have no idea why. We followed the diretions to the "t" and didn't overmix, I don't think. I was disappointed, but Rachel loved them! While we baked, Nick took Bradley to Home Depot for some guy time and they had a great time. The rest of the day was spent playing and doing things around the house.

I haven't taken many pictures lately, so those are a few from the past week and weekend. :)