Our Camping Trip

I mentioned that we went camping a few weekends ago but am just now getting around to posting the pictures from our weekend. We had so much fun!

Ryan and Jake got to Riverland while I was still working that day, and got camp set up.

We met some really nice people camped next to us, but sadly didn't get any photos of them or with them.

We spent some time at the lake fishing and enjoying the sunset.

It was a wonderfully relaxing (although HOT) weekend! We will definitely go back for more camping there.

My little buddy

Last night while baking a cake for making cake pops tonight, Ryan was my little helper. I placed a chair right up next to the counter so he could pour the cake mix into the mixing bowl, add the water and oil (I did the eggs) and then he held the mixer while we combined all the ingredients. After it was all mixed, he was really excited to lick a beater! I took one off for him and licked the other one myself. At one point, he started to say something and at the same time I said, "Mmm...this is good!" He smiled really big and said, "I was going to say that! Are you thinking what I'm thinking!?" Haha!! He's such a cutie - and such a good little helper in the kitchen.

I think it really is true that if you let kids help you cook (and bake?) that they are more likely to eat the food. After we made the cake and got it put into the oven, I made dinner and Ryan stood up there at the counter the entire time playing in the sink, "washing" dishes and then ate his dinner standing there. :)

I'm hoping to get an update with pictures from Rhys' birthday up soon. For some reason Blogger doesn't want to work on my laptop so I'll have to figure out a different way to update. Coming soon!

My boy and his fishing pole

This past weekend we went on a little camping adventure. On Friday Jake and Ryan took the trailer and set up camp at Riverland Resort in Kingsburg! I drove over after work and we had the best weekend together. Of course only being 30 - 45 minutes from home means the heat was just as horrible camping as it would have been at home (102 was the high on Saturday, I believe) so we spent lots of time in the swimming pool! Ryan did a little fishing, didn't catch anything but loved learning how to cast the line out.

I'll update with more pictures once they're loaded to the computer from the camera. For now...this is my little man fishing on the lake - what a simple reminder of how blessed I am/we are. :)

An Opportunity

Grammy and Ryan - he "jumped" on her and gave her a big hug!

Grammy has defined the term "opportunity" as the chance to get a big hug from Ryan! She'll say, "I think it's time for an opportunity!" and he will run up, arms raised, and jump in her arms! :)

Father's Day!

(Ryan and Papa reading on Father's Day!)

A sweet reminder - life is good! :)

Not going to Kindergarten

I almost forgot the best part of my morning today! When Ryan woke up and came into my room to watch cartoons while I finished getting ready for work, something sparked his memory and he came running down the hallway where we had a conversation that went a little something like this:

Ryan: I don't want to get a shot to go to Preschool!
Me: What!? What do you mean a shot?
Ryan: That's what Khloe told me. (A little girl at Nanny's daycare.)
Me: Well, I think Khloe is wrong. (Trying to take his mind off of it.)
Ryan: But....when do I have to get a shot? (With a really puzzled look on his face.)
Me: Oh, maybe for Kindergarten!
Ryan: YEAH, that's it! Well I'm NOT going to Kindergarten!

HAHA!!

Oh the Funny!

This morning Ryan was in rare, funny form! These are the funny things that my child said on the 4 minute drive to my in-laws this morning:

Ryan: Mommy, that truck lost it's back!
(Telling me that a big rig didn't have a trailer!)
Me: You mean a trailer?
Ryan: Yeah, a trailer back.

----------------------------------------------------

Me: Ryan, are you feeling better today? (Had a stuffy nose and little cough past few days.)
Ryan: Yep. I don't hear any coughing!

----------------------------------------------------

Ryan: Time to go to Nanny's!
Me: Yep. Mommy has to go to work today.
Ryan: I have to work too. After you take me to Nanny's I'm going to get Mitch.
Me: Mitch?? Who's Mitch?
Ryan: My worker.

----------------------------------------------------


And there you have it - the conversations we have in the car on the drive to Nanny's each morning. I wish I would have taken a picture of Ryan this morning. He wanted to stay in his jammies so instead of putting on a sweater, he put on a long-sleeved, hooded t-shirt AND his zip-up, Ugg like boots! Ha! Yes, it is June in California...why do you ask!? :)

Last weekend we took the training wheels off Ryan's little bike.



Today he starting riding!

Good job, Ryan!!

Mourning the loss...

Sadly, Elfie (or, Chad) the fish has passed away.

After I got the text from Jake, I called the house to find out what was going on. Ryan got on the phone and said, "Mommy, Elfie is sideways!" I tried not to laugh much because the way he said it was so cute so I said, "Sideways? What's he doing?" Ryan said, "Um....maybe killing." (I think he meant dying.) And then he was sidetracked by the snail on the sidewalk and didn't want to talk anymore.

We noticed yesterday that Elfie was swimming a little slower and not really reacting to the fish food sprinkled in his bowl.

And so we move on...maybe more fish are in our future!?

Homecoming Parade Fun

This past weekend was the Kings County Homecoming festivities, including the ever-so-fun Homecoming Parade! Ryan LOVES parades! He likes the bands the best because he likes to watch and hear the drummers.

Here's my little goofball being silly before the parade started.

And me with my friend's daughter, Jacey.

The kids had a blast watching the parade (the horses, bands and clowns were all a hit)! After the parade we spent some time in the park at the Civic Auditorium. All the kids won a gold fish playing a game in the park. Ryan first named his fish "Chad Reid" which is hilarious if you know Ryan at all. Chad Reid is a motocross rider! And he's the rival of Jake's favorite rider! Haha! Anyway, now the fish is named "Elfie" because yesterday Ryan saw a picture of our family from Christmas time and our "Elf on the Shelf," Elfie was in the picture with us!

I'll post pictures of Ryan and Elfie soon! :)

Let the Swimming Begin

Yesterday was Ryan's first swimming lesson! Since we started talking about swim lessons at the beginning of the year, Ryan has been "afraid to go under water" and I was a little nervous about how well he would to on his first day. Swim lessons start a little after I get off work so Jake has to drop him off. But I made sure I had no other plans after work last night so I could be there to pick him up.

I sort of figured that Ryan would cry a little. It was pretty much the first time we were leaving him with strangers (parents cannot be there to watch until the last 2 days of lessons next week) and he already had a fear of going under water.

So when we got there to pick Ryan up and we heard crying coming from the pool area, I was pretty sure it was my kid. There were about 4 - 5 mothers standing outside the gates when we walked up. I was concentrating listening to determine if it was in fact Ryan doing all the crying. One of the mothers said, "I think that's my girl." I said, "Nope...pretty sure it's my kid!" I felt SO BAD that I couldn't just bust through the gate, scoop up my kiddo and take him home with me right then! When the instructors called "Towel Time" that meant we could go through the gate and (rescue!) pick up our children. We were the last parents in the gate and there sat my child, crying with a red face, sitting on the step in the pool. One of the instructors was sitting at his side trying to calm him. Jake asked, "Did he stop crying at all?" She said, "Um, for about a minute. But it's all right." I scooped him up, wrapped in his towel, threw his sweater on his head and got him in the car.

Needless to say, he didn't so much like swimming lessons. We bribed him with a "big swimming pool" for our backyard if he would continue the swimming lessons with no more tears. His response to this bribe, "And you'll get me a dirt bike?" HAHA!! Yeah, sure, why not!! :)

He will be going back to swimming lessons today. Swimming lessons will last for 2 weeks. I cannot wait to see how much he learns and progresses over the next 2 weeks! I'm really hoping he does better today. I think that we talked it up enough last night that he should be fine after today's lesson. Stay tuned for an update with pictures!

A Fabulous (Mother's) Day!

We had a wonderful day today - Happy Mother's Day to my mom, mother-in-law, sister and sisters-in-law!


This morning I was up early to finish some of the things we were going to enjoy for lunch after church. I went to church with my Grandma while Jake and Ryan stayed home and finished cleaning the house a bit for me. It was a great service at church today and I was so happy to be there with my Grandma!


After church, Mom & Dad, Grandma and my friend Jeri and her kiddos came over for lunch! We had such a great day! We BBQ'd burgers and enjoyed some fun in the back yard. (I am TERRIBLE) about taking pictures. I never remember my camera anywhere we go...even in our own back yard.) Just imagine you're looking at some cute pictures of Ryan playing with Jacey and Brody, playing baseball, golf toss and washers! Even us adults got in on the action and had some washers fun!


I hope all you mother's had a wonderful day enjoying your families and little loves!


Happy Mother's Day 2011.

Last night while we laid in bed watching the breaking news about the death of Osama Bin Laden, Ryan played with monster trucks not paying any attention to the tv. At one point I started to get a little emotional about the news and Jake asked if I was stressed out. Ryan heard Jake say this to me and out of nowhere says, "You're stretching ME out!" HAHA!! So thankful for a little one who can ignore the sad news stories and make me smile when I am "stretched out"!

Pictures & 100th Post

Wow, 100 blog posts? Already? Ok...so I've been slacking in the blog post area of life lately. Other things have been keeping me busy.

For example...

This cute little guy!



Ryan is full of energy and personality! DAILY Ryan plays with his monster trucks and dirtbikes. He will line them up, race them, make them climb over the couches, race them on the "track" and even take them outside and play with them in the dirt!


Ryan also rides his "dirtbike" everyday. He usually puts on his rain boots as riding boots, wears a helmet and even puts on knit gloves as riding gloves! This kid loves to ride!


One night a few weeks ago when Ryan slept in his own bed, I said "Please sleep in your bed all night. When the sun comes up, then you can get up!" He took my statement quite literally. The next morning when he got up, he came into my room with sleepy eyes and said, "Momma, it's cloudy outside, the sun didn't come up!" Ha! Poor kid, he was patiently waiting for the sun to come up/shine through his window so he could get out of bed!


We were able to leave the house a few minutes early last week and made a stop at Starbucks before dropping Ryan off at Nanny's house. While waiting in the drive-thru line, Ryan said, "Momma, you're the best!" Awe....I Love this kid! It was totally unprompted and I didn't even get him a Hot Chocolate and I'm still the best!!


Ryan has been busy playing outside since the weather has started warming up. He does not like to come inside in the evenings. One day last week he had been playing in the flower beds with his shovel and rake and had dirt everywhere...even smashed in his hair! I'd say his least favorite part of the day is having to wash his hair in the bath. Any suggestions on how to make that an easy task? I just try to hurry, get the least amount of water in his face, and let him cry it out! I use Johnson's baby shampoo on him, "No More Tears" and he still cries because he doesn't like the water in his face.


Easter was really fun this year! We had an early Easter celebration with the Fagundes family on Saturday. It was fun to watch Ryan and Natalie dye eggs on Friday night and then see them hunt the eggs on Saturday. Next year will be super fun when Liam is able to run around with them and hunt eggs too and the new baby (Michelle & David's!) will be the baby in the highchair!



Sunday morning Jake and I went to church (Ryan spent the night at Grammy & Papa's because it "wasn't fair that Natalie was staying and [he] couldn't"). It was a fabulous service with the Easter choir singing and tons of people there to celebrate! After church I picked up Ryan in Hanford and we came back to town for Easter with the Avila's. It was a fun day with all the kids. We played washers, golf toss and basketball all day and into the evening. There was no shortage of fun to be had that day!


This week Ryan will start t-ball and he is really, really excited! Then the following week he starts swimming lessons everyday for 2 weeks! I think this week is the beginning of a long, busy summer for us.

{Last Day; & Magic Word}

I wanted to share a few funny things that Ryan has been saying lately, and to put them on the blog as a "scrapbook" of sorts.

I've noticed for a while now that when Ryan refers to something that happened in the past, be it yesterday or weeks or months ago, he will say, "Remember LAST DAY when I (fill in the blank)?" Whatever it is he wants to talk about, "Last day" is a common reference term for the little guy!

This weekend Jake, Ryan, Grammy and I were driving to a birthday party and on the way Ryan was whining and pointing to his cup in the front seat but wouldn't say what he wanted. So I said something along the lines of, "I didn't hear the magic word." He asked "please," I gave him the cup and we moved on to another topic of conversation. A few minutes later Grammy asked Ryan, "Did you get your room all cleaned up?" To which Ryan responded, "Nope. My mom hasn't said the magic word!" I'm pretty sure we all laughed for a minute at that response! :)

Funny kid!!

Friends!

This past weekend I made a cute (and easy) Easter centerpiece for my kitchen table. It was so easy and I had a few supplies leftover that I decided I would go back to the store for a few more supplies to make 2 more baskets/centerpieces!

Today I brought 1 to work with me to give to my friend and co-worker. She was so happy! Her husband is deployed right now with the U.S. Navy and she's missing him terribly. It's nice to be able to do something small for a friend knowing that they will appreciate it so much! :)

And the 2nd basket/centerpiece is going to be delivered to Grammy & Papa's house tomorrow, an early gift from the Easter Bunny!

A ghost!

This morning when I woke Ryan up to get dressed and hurry out the door (I was running late due to....well, nothing really, just too much time fixing my hair I suppose!), and let me remind you that Ryan is STILL sleeping in our bed, this is the conversation that took place:

Me: Good morning Sunshine, time to get up!

Ryan: No, I'm still sleeping.

Me: Well, you better wake up quick! I am running late and you need to get dressed before we leave.

Ryan: (Taking his sweet time rolling over/standing up/moving at all...) Momma, someone kicked me last night.

Me: What?!

Ryan: Yeah, in the night, someone kicked me.

Me: I can't imagine that happened Ryan. Maybe you kicked someone?!

Ryan: (Very serious look on his face.) Nope. It was you, or daddy.

Me: (Laughing.) Ryan. Daddy and I didn't kick you. It must have been a ghost!

Ryan: OH, YEAH. It WAS a ghost!

We are continuing to choose our battles and the bed in which the child sleeps, is not a battle I choose to take on at the moment. I know that if I ever want a good night's sleep again, I will eventually need to bite the bullet and put the child back in his own room. For now, the middle of my bed is just fine. Maybe we'll discuss the fact that big boys sleep in their own big boy rooms again tonight....but it usually doesn't get us very far!

3 Girls and a Guy

3 Girls and a Guy: Meaning, my sister, Michelle, her 2 DAUGHTERS!!! and David! :) Michelle and David found out yesterday that their little bun in the oven is another Girl! Yay! Very exciting for them. I'm glad they have everything they will need for baby girl #2, and can't wait to see how great the girls play together and get along, growing up so close in age. Congrats again Remillard family!

We're not up to much new this week. Ryan is still sleeping in our bed (really, is that a surprise to anyone??) and still being such a little goofball! Ryan has had imaginary friends for a long time now. "Guy" was Ryan's first friend. Guy went everywhere with us and Guy had to have all the same things (juice, blankets, toys) that Ryan had. Then we were introduced to "Rita." Rita is Ryan's girlfriend! Rita came into the picture after a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and it was no surprise that Rita worked at Chuck E. Cheese too!

Lately, Ryan has been riding his tricycle (or, dirt bike as Ryan calls it) in the kitchen/dining room while I'm either making dinner or folding laundry. Ryan has been talking to some new friends too! Now we have "Coocoobutt" and "Singy" as Ryan's friends that ride dirt bikes with him! On Tuesday night we called G.G. (my Grandma) to chat for a few minutes. While on the phone G.G. asked Ryan how Guy and Rita were doing. Ryan skipped over talking about them and told her about his new friends. This was the first G.G. was hearing about Coocoobutt and Singy! So G.G. asked again, "Where's Guy?" And Ryan's response......with a very serious look on his face......"Guy died." WHAT!? I tried not to laugh because I was honestly a little disturbed that my son's imaginary friend has died, and he's the only one of us who "sees" Guy. Should I be worried!?

I think I'll ask Ryan again tonight where Guy is at, see if I get the same response. :) Never a dull moment at our house!

Bedtime Conversations

Backstory: For the past few months Ryan has been sleeping in our bed only on the weekends, Friday and Saturday nights when we will be off work the following day. Lately, Ryan has been finding his way into our bed in the middle of the night. Last week, Ryan never even started the night out in his bed, he slept in our bed all night long! Last night were were going to put Ryan back in his own bed. This is the conversation we had in our bed at 9:30 p.m.:

Me: 2 minutes and you're going to bed.
Ryan: My bed? I'm gonna sleep there all night long?
Me: Yep!
Ryan: Ok. I'm not gonna get up all night. When the sun comes up, then I come up!
Me: (Laughing) Ok. Or else I'll wake you up when it's time to go to Nanny's.
Ryan: (To Jake now) You want me in your bed?
Jake: I thought you were going to sleep in your bed tonight?
Ryan: Just say yes.
Jake: (Laughing) No.
Ryan: (To Jake) Come on, just say yes! This is your bed but I want to sleep in it. (To me) Mom, you want me?
Me: I always want you, but your bed misses you. You need to sleep in your bed tonight.
Ryan: But do you want me?
Me: Yes.
Ryan: (To Jake) YAY, I get to sleep in your bed, momma said!!

HAHA! Then I asked Ryan if he knew how to say "Pushover"! :)

Good for you!

I've been having some issues with shin splints lately and for the last month or so, have really been trying to avoid wearing the high heels to work, instead favoring the flat/ballet type shoe. This morning when I went to pull my black flat shoes out of my gym bag to wear to work again today, Ryan was standing near me. I said, "Ugh, these shoes really hurt my feet..." And Ryan responded, "But they're good for you mama!" :) Yes, son. Yes they are!

Ryan has been saying THE funniest things lately. I keep meaning to write them down so I won't forget. I'll update with more funny Ryan moments as I think of them!

Happy Friday!