Puddles

I grew up on the Oregon Coast, so rain was a pretty constant memory for me during my childhood. We would be under drizzle/rain 10-12 months out of the year(or so it seemed). Therefore, I don't really enjoy rain all that much & would rather do most of my activities when the weather is dry, not having to fight an umbrella.

However, as a child, there was always one activity I did enjoy doing in the rain...puddle jumping. I walked home from school 1st-5th grade and would always find every small or large pool of water along the way to jump in, over and around(I guess that's why we had a shoe dryer in our home).

These memories came back to me yesterday, as I watched Ryan get off the bus & walk toward the house. He didn't miss a single puddle. I gave a mom shout to "stay out of the water," hoping he wouldn't soak his school shoes(we don't have a shoe dryer)...he just looked up & smiled.

Today it was still raining & Ryan was bored, so I suggested an activity that might be fun:

Puddle Jumping



It was a hit...

When I was a kid...

Have you ever had that conversation with your kids, or heard it from your parents?



A friend posted this video from YouTube on facebook that gives humor to the changes time brings:
"Everything's amazing, nobody's happy"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

Chicken Farm

Casey started a new project at work, so he's got over 1,000 baby chickens at the farm. Ryan loves to help feed them while they are still small, so we all rode out to the farm this week to check out the chicks.



The chickens would huddle in a corner & chirp loudly whenever Ryan went into the pens...I wonder why?



A pose on the cart...



which quickly turned into a competition-who could jump the highest?



I think Cody won.

Kindergarten Crush

Ryan: Sydney said I hurt her feelings today.
Mom: Uh oh, why?
Ryan: Because, she said that I told Gracy if she pulls her tooth out then she'll be my girlfriend. I told Sydney I can have more than one girlfriend. I can have lots of girlfriends.

Are You Addicted To Texting?

I've been called a dinosaur at my house, because I'm not involved in the high-tech world of unlimited texting. I guess I just haven't felt the need to be in constant contact every waking moment of my day.

This was the picture at our house this past weekend...

3 different people all doing the same thing, pretty much off & on ALL DAY.


It really doesn't bother me that they do this, but to those in my family that call me ANCIENT, I offer this entertaining article I found on Abc News:

Is text messaging a mental illness?"
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health&id=6043089

So, how many texts did you send last month?

"CHOCATE"

I've never seen an almost 2yr. old LOVE chocolate as much as I do...


(eating some leftover chocolate cheesecake he found-yum)

But if there is "CHOCATE" Seth will find it & devour every last bite!

Kindergarten Breakfast

This morning Ryan's school had a breakfast for parents & kindergarten students. Casey & I were able to go in & eat breakfast with Ryan, even though he didn't want to go to school and had to manually be put on the bus. He was all out of sorts this morning telling us for the 30 hundreth(his number) time he wasn't going to go! I'm really not so good at tough love, so I was hoping he was o.k. by the time he arrived to his class. His teacher said he was all right, but she could tell something was wrong.

Casey & I arrived for breakfast, and he began to cheer up.



We played a little Chutes & Ladders after breakfast:



Casey & I had to try and behave ourselves, as anyone who has played games with us knows how seriously competitive we can become at a simple child's game...



We did good, and MOM & RYAN made it to the winner's circle! (poor Casey...maybe next time!)



We headed back to the classroom & said goodbye. After a few tears were shed, we left Ryan to finish his day up at Kindergarten.

PB&J

Thank goodness for Peanut Butter & Jelly, and thank goodness Ryan is not allergic to either one. He isn't really a picky eater, but he does like things a certain way:

spaghetti - with no sauce
green onions - on the side(to be eaten alone)
pasta - uncooked
wheatberries - boiled wheat
salad - only with Hidden Valley Ranch(and he CAN tell the difference)

But, the one favorite that he will eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sometimes as a snack is Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches. You would think he would get tired of the taste after awhile, but give him an option of cookies or PB&J & he will pick the sandwich.

With the bread, fruit, protein, and sometimes a glass of milk, we are at least covering 4 out of the 5 main food groups?!

Blue Eyes

When we came home from church this Sunday the sunlight was perfect for taking pictures, so I convinced my sweet Ry to pose for a few pictures. The blue in his shirt seem to bring out the blue in his eyes & they turned out so cute. This one was my favorite!

Beautiful Weekend

We had a weekend of warm weather...finally! We spent as much of it outside as we could...

Roller Skating

Riding Bikes


Dinner with friends


This week we are suppose to get up into the 70's.

We are definitely enjoying our warm February weather!

Don't try this at home...

Kaitlyn had been wanting me to put highlights in her hair, which I've done before so it wasn't a big deal....or so I thought!

After an hour of pulling her hair through the cap, waiting for the color to take, rinsing & drying...I could see it wasn't going to be the color we were looking for:



This picture doesn't give the bright orange, blonde, yellow shade justice...other than the fact that you can see her DARK roots at the top.

SHE CRIED
and
MY STOMACH WAS SICK.

So, I called a friend, who is a hair professional to see what I could do to fix it, and she offered to come over & help.



AND WE CAN'T THANK HER ENOUGH!!



She is Kaitlyn's Superhero!

Making Progress

Some might call it bribery.....



1 marble for not crying during school time.
2 stickers for not crying BOTH morning & night about not wanting to go to school.

But I call it incentive:



For the 1st time in more than 100 days of school, Ryan has made it for two consecutive weeks without crying before, during & after school about not wanting to go back. We are happy about this progress!