Halloween at Mommy's Office

Today was the day Halloween was celebrated at Open Arm, so Riley and Ryan headed out to school in their Halloween shirts and socks. Riley was sporting her head band (which Ryan had to try on again this year). Ryan didn't quite understand why he didn't have one to wear as well. I guess that lesson is for another day!

My office had trick or treating this afternoon, so I grabbed the kiddos a little early and we headed out to the 6th floor dressed in full costume. I was able to get some new costumes that fit to replace the puppy costumes that were too small. Riley was a lady bug and Ryan was a bumble bee...so cute! Thankfully my friend, Kim, in my office was able to stitch up Riley's costume to help it fit her. When I tried it on her it swallowed her whole, so Kim's handiwork made it "wearable".

They figured out the whole trick or treat thing really quickly! They loved getting candy and wanted me to open every piece. They did sample a few pieces along the way and especially loved the lollipops.

After trick or treating they played hide and seek with Avery in my office. They had a ball! I'm sure the person my boss was on the phone with was wondering what in the world was going on.

Riley loved sitting at the trading desk and playing with the keyboard. Luckily the stock market was closed by the time she was playing, so she wasn't able to do any trading.

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091030HalloweenAtMommySOffice#

Potty

I have been thinking a lot about potty training lately. I guess the kiddos hit 2 and it's just the "next step". I am so not ready to potty train and I really don't think Riley & Ryan are either. I hear over and over that you should not do it until they are ready, so we are going to save ourselves the power struggles and wait. The good news is that their teachers at Open Arms are fully on board with this and said they are ready to help whenever we all are. They did say they thought Riley would do it, but that Ryan isn't ready yet. So many questions about this. Is it ok to train one and not the other? Is it better to just bite the bullet and train them both? Since I don't use public restrooms very often myself, I keep having heart palpitations about visiting every public restroom in Atlanta, which I know will be my reality very soon. So, I guess I'm selfishly totally fine with waiting until we are all ready. With all that said, we've got the potty books ready, we talk about potty, we go in with mommy to potty and we have a little potty for them to sit on. They like to sit on it on their way to the bath tub and most nights it's just sitting. The first time they sat, I made a hissing sound trying to mimic water, so of course now they make this same sound the entire time they sit on the toilet...what have I created? The good news and the reason I decided to post about this is that they have each gone pee pee in their potty! Just once each, but man were we so proud of them! I look forward to being on the other side of this process...

Sneak Peak

We had our photos taken this weekend and Jen has given us a sneak peak! I can't wait to see all of the shots, but here's a few... http://jenwunderlichphotography.blogspot.com/2009/10/r.html

Busy weekend with Uncle Scott!

Fun and busy weekend!

Uncle Scott arrived on Friday afternoon for a whirlwind visit. He brought them a bunch of books (mostly Elmo) for their birthday and immediately won them over. They sat in his lap reading books throughout the weekend. They loved playing with him and enjoyed having him around.

Could it really be more Elmo books?!?!?

Oh Yeah!!!

Perfect Day!

Thank You Uncle Scott for our new books

Story time with Daddy & Uncle Scott

Riding on Uncle Scott's shoulders

Male Bonding

We had quite a busy weekend…2 yr photos Saturday morning followed by the Fall Festival at school Saturday afternoon. They did great for the photo session – can’t wait to see how they turned out. I was TOTALLY exhausted after shooting…it’s a lot of work! The Fall Festival was a success! I helped out with the silent auction and we brought in about $8,500 for the school, so all of the prep work paid off! The kiddos had a blast at the festival…jumping in the bouncy houses, petting zoo with a baby cow, lamb, chickens, rabbits, they rode on a pony like big kids, played in the ball pit, saw a firetruck and police car, and ate 7 hot dogs between them and their friend Avery. Unbelievable and I can’t believe they didn’t throw up at the end of the night! They went to bed without a peep!

Riding the pony like a big boy

Riley was so proud to be riding her pony

Today after church we went to brunch with Uncle Scott before he had to head to the airport. We were all sad to see him go, but look forward to his visit again in less than 2 months! We headed to the Botanical Gardens today for the scarecrow exhibit, but when we got there it was a total zoo – the lot was full and there were no parking spaces to be found…so we went to plan B and headed to Yonah Park. It was such a beautiful day and the kids had just as much fun there as they would have at the Gardens. The Fenzls, Coles (and Nonny) and Mee Maw joined us at the park, so it was a lot of fun to play with all of our friends. We did have a scare as Ryan was going down one of the slides, his foot caught the side and he was headed over the edge – about 5-6 feet in the air. We all panicked as we watched him heading straight for the ground head first – it was in slow motion for sure. This man we did not know reached over the slide and grabbed Ryan by the ankle. He was dangling by his ankle head first totally freaked out. By the time I got there (which was probably about 2 seconds, but seemed like 2 hours) I think the entire park had stopped what they were doing and were watching us. Luckily he was totally fine, just a little scared - as we all were. As soon as he stopped crying the first thing he said was “slide”! What a trooper! We are so thankful for the “angel” that was watching over him in that man that saved Ryan. It could have been disastrous. While we were there Ms. Shuronda and Ms. Jada showed up to the same park. They are the teachers from their Infant Class at Open Arms and the 2 that babysit for them. What are the odds? What a treat to see them today! After dinner at the Fenzls and a little movie time – they headed straight to bed – again, without a peep!

Yonah Park with Mee Maw

Ring around the Rosy...

...all fall down!

Slide Time with Avery

Hanging by herself on the monkey bars

If Riley can do it - so can Ryan!

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091023VisitFromUncleScott
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/200910242YrPhotoPreview
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091024OpenArmsFallFestival#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091025YonahPark#

Fall Festival & Hair Cuts

This was a weekend packed with a lot of plans, but a lot of fun too! We had a low key night on Friday night. Kevin had to work late, so I decided to put in one of my favorite movies - "The Polar Express". I wasn't sure how they would react, but they couldn't have been more interested! They were, at times, even mesmerized. The 3 of us cuddled on the couch and watched just about all of the movie. It was a fun time...good quality time.

Saturday morning we woke up to some unusally cold weather. When I say cold, I mean really cold. We had the multiples club Fall Festival from 10-12, so we were out in the frigid temps for a few hours. I am the VP of Events, so this was the big event for the year. We had "The Bubble Man" as well as a balloon artist. They were both very impressive and I think a good time was had by all. The bubbles were huge and impressive and the balloon artist was one of the best I've ever seen! I wish I had better photos of the balloons - they were very elaborate Elmo, Tigger, Dinosaurs, Cookie Monster. You name it - she made it. After the Fall Festival, Riley & Ryan went home with Mee Maw and Gran-daddy. They spent the night with them so we could attend the Decatur Beer Festival with some friends. We had a great afternoon, despite the cold temperatures and I've been told the kiddos were good, but not without a few stories to be told. Apparently Ryan decided to take off his clothes and diaper during nap time, but this time he didn't just "go #1" - he "went #2" and it got everywhere. Mom and Dad said the smell and mess was tremendous! Never a dull moment with these 2 around!

Riley has learned how to give a "thumbs up"!

My little puppy dog
My other little puppy dog...unfortunately these costumes are a bit too small, so we might be srcambling to come up with something before Halloween. I honestly felt bad ro Ryan wearing this costume that was tight and short... oh well... he still looked cute!

Riley checking out The Bubble Man

Ryan in his glory with "The Bubble Man"

Mommy with her little puppy dog

Ryan with his Elmo balloon

The whole goup - we had a great turnout!

We went up to Lawrenceville to pick them up this morning and had lunch with Mee Maw. We had a visit after lunch while the kiddos were napping and then headed home for hair cuts! Ms. Julie came to our neighbors house and cut 6 heads of hair! Ryan is an old pro at this, but it was Riley's first cut. She did great - didn't squirm or fuss at all. I guess the lollipops and dvd helped a lot! She didn't cut much of her hair since there's not a lot there, but she trimmed a few parts that were a bit out of control. Fun times! They are full of energy and I really don't think Riley ever stops...at all, but we are having the most fun! They are both quite humurous and say the funniest things.

Ms. Julie giving Riley her 1st Haircut!

Riley had a blue lollipop before the haircut

One thing I wanted to note here is that they are saying their alphabet and counting now - all the time...but Riley can also count to 10 in Spanish! Her teachers have told me she's doing it, but I heard it for myself tonight while we were doing webcam with Aunt Heather & Uncle Brad! Yes, I'm very surprises and proud!

Web Albums Added:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091017IAPOMCFallFestival

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091018RileyS1stHaircut#

Birthday Party!

The forecast all week called for a day like this... ...but I had A LOT of people praying that it not rain from 10-12 on Saturday and guess what? Even though there was a 70 % chance of rain during those hours, there was not a drop of rain! Actually, it only drizzled briefly the entire day and all I have to say is God is good! He knew we had 19 adults, 14 children and 5 babies coming to our house to play and inside for 2 hours was just not the best plan...for everyone's sake!

The kiddos were able to jump in the "jumpies" for about an hour and had a blast!

Once we got inside there were 2 crafts, face tattoos and play time in the play room - in the ball pit! And then there was story time and pizza, but FINALLY the moment we had all been waiting for came...it was time for CUPCAKES!!!! Riley had been eyeing them all day and asking for them, so she was super excited when it was time to dig in. I made cupcakes and put them on ice cream cones and then iced them so they looked like ice cream cones. I was really happy with how they turned out. We had to sing happy birthday twice!

The funniest part of the day was once everyone was gone and the house was quiet, we were gathering them for naps and I couldn't find Riley. I kept calling for her and she was no where. Not in the family room, not in the playroom. I began to get a little worried and then I found her at the table with the greatest grin on her face (see below). She was eating pizza (from who knows plate) and what else, but another cupcake! She hardly ate anything at the party because she was so excited. A girl's got to eat before she can properly nap, right!?

After naps, it was time to open presents. We thought it was just too chaotic to try to open them at the party. They got the greatest gifts....everything they love and couldn't wait to get opened! These days it takes screwdrivers and scissors to get into just about any toy, so it took way longer than they wanted, but in the end they were so happy...and BLESSED!!

They were so content to sit on the couch and watch their new Elmo video. We like to call this the Elmo trance.

After the afternoon of playing with all their loot, they decided to try out their new sleeping bags and watch one last Elmo episode, of course. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Today was such a great day! We declared it PJ day and never left the house. We got organized and cleaned and best of all Riley and Ryan had the entire day to play with all their new toys. It's like we turned a corner...they played amongst themselves and weren't clinging to us the whole day. I even found myself wandering into the playroom a few times just to see what they were up to. They coaxed me into the ball pit with them and thought that was the funniest thing. This is what life is all about. I think this has been one of the best weeks for our family. Such happy times and very happy memories. Mommy is now declaring that I am tired and heading to bed. Yes it is before 8pm, but I'm done!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/200910102ndBirthdayParty#