The Hutchinson Family: Catch Up..

Last weekend I went to NY for work (and a little play) from Saturday through Wednesday, so Kevin was a single parent for 5 days. He did a great job - even took some photos for me over the weekend, but I couldn't quite convince him to do a guest post on the blog. So - not a lot of details from last weekend, but I know they all had a great time. Although Kevin handled it with ease, he was very glad to see me Wednesday night - as I was to see them. 5 days is a long time and it didn't really start out being that long, so I wasn't really thinking how long it would be until I got there. Originally I was just going Monday - Wednesday, but then my friend from work, Kathy, was asked to help work, so we decided to head up on Saturday morning. I was so busy preparing for this conference that only when I was packing (Friday night) did I calculate that it was 5 full days. It was nice to have a few days to relax and play with Kathy on Saturday and Sunday. We had some fantastic meals, I had a manicure/pedicure, saw a Broadway show, shopped (we saw a dress priced at $24,000) and rested. But - once Monday hit, we were so busy we forgot about any bit of relaxation we might have experienced over the weekend. I have another conference in a month in Chicago and I'm trying to convince Kevin to come with me. We'll see if that pans out!

I got home Wednesday night and we've had some great family time since then. Joy, Avery and Margaret came over to play in the new ball pit (aka swimming pool filled with balls) on Friday night and they had so much fun playing. We got up on Saturday and had some time together in the morning and then we ran a few errands while Kevin worked in the yard. He had his football draft, so that afternoon Angie, Jack and Jacob came down to play and eat dinner. Today we attended Peachtree Presbyterian to see Margaret's baptism. Afterward we went to the Cole's house for lunch and more play time. They even had a bouncy so the kiddos were in hog heaven. They were so sweaty by the time they were done bouncing. After nap we made a quick visit over to the Fenzls and then Grandaddy came over. We had a nice visit with him and he read the new book from Alaska to them. It even plays the sounds of the different animals from Alaska. Overall it's been a great weekend! I have jury duty starting tomorrow, so it should be an interesting week.

One thing I did want to mention is that Riley put on her shirt the other day. She didn't get the sleeves, but she pulled it over her head. She was so proud of herself! They are talking more and more as well as becoming more helpful and more independent..thus a little more confrontational at times. We are definitely working on boundaries and learning things like "you don't say no to mommy or daddy" - "yes" rather than "yea". Not only saying please and thank you, but "you're welcome". I sneezed the other day and Riley said "bless you mommy". Melted my heart right on the spot. Riley has also realized that she can say "hello daddy" or "love you daddy" and she can watch him melt right in front of her. I think she's learning his number and it's so cute to watch!