Just another music monday...

Just when you think kid camp is all worn out, fresh material comes along! Mimi gave Dale an extra package at his birthday party - but not a birthday present. Nope - this was all decorated for Music Monday. Dale did great at waiting until this morning to open it

We went to Paris first thing (gee that seems to come around often...) for a Rx refill and groceries and listened to Dale's new Bible songs CD on the way. A very welcome rest from Veggie Tales, which Dale must have every time he gets in the van, and we all have every word memorized...probably even Alan. His first words will probably be "if you like to talk to tomatoes..."

Dale, to brag on him some more, was a model citizen on the grocery trip. This is the child who I would haul all 3 feet and 40 pounds into the kid seat in the cart, probably up until I was too pregnant to do so, just because it was that worth it to me to contain him. Then, all the time Alan was riding in his carseat in the cart, I put Dale in the big part for small trips, and just didn't make the big trips alone. Well...Dale has been bumped. Alan now sits in the prime seat, which means...Dale is on the loose! I've wondered often what this day would be like. Strongly considered one of those kid leashes. But, I'm proud to say (based on today's experience anyway) that won't be necessary. He stuck by pretty close, and didn't give me any heart attacks grabbing for all the glass jars of pickles and spaghetti sauce. He did have his hands on a jar of olive oil once, but he must have believed the look in my eyes when I oh-so-sweetly asked him to unhand it. He didn't even pitch a fit when I said no to "cartoon" cereal. Don't get me wrong...it's not like he never strayed farther than my reach, but you have to lower your standards, you know? By the time you've done it all but the produce and you're trying to bag some plums before everyone scrambles, what's it going to hurt if he's 12 feet away "drumming" a watermelon?

Alan slept like a little angel all the way home while Dale and I snacked on our new pretzels and listened to his CD.
Nana came over after lunch and entertained Dale and Alan while I worked as fast as I could around the house. Pretty nice deal for everybody - I got stuff done, Dale and Alan got company, and we all got to visit with Nana! :) While I was putting Alan down for his nap, Nana was putting up our snack, and Dale had some kind of mini-meltdown over the whole thing. He went in his room and shut the door. Nana and I visited a little more, and then decided Dale must have put himself down for a nap. :) Nana left, and I didn't even go investigate - I just hit the couch for a nap of my own...and got to sleep a whole hour! Yippee! :)

Everybody woke up in a better mood. We played and ate and played some more. About 7:00 we went outside for a little while, and then came in for the boys' bath. Alan - little genius that he is, has figured out what a hairbrush is for:I thought this was absolutely the cutest thing he has ever done...today, at least. ;)
After Alan was asleep Dale and I read a chapter of his current library book (a boy and his horse - yeehaw) and then said prayers and I turned out the light. He almost immediately appeared to tell me I need to go to bed too. Then he almost immediately reappeared to tell me he couldn't find his flashlight. I tried the whole shrugging "I'm sorry..?" method...but that wasn't going to work. I told him I didn't know where it was. He said, "yes you do!" Not accusing me of lying to him...just in denial that I wasn't going to be any help, I guess. I didn't feel like a battle, so I went to see about it. I had him look under his bed, and .... whaddya know?! He went from the edge of hysteria to laughing about his hiding flashlight in an instant. I wasn't exactly amused. His Daddy's right.... that boy would argue with a fencepost! I have a pretty good idea where he might have gotten that....but to protect the innocent we'll just leave that up to your guesses. ;)