Deep Thoughts Of a 4 Year Old

Rylee: I love you so much mommy!

Me: I love you too sweetie.

Rylee: But I love you more.

Me: No, I love you more.

Rylee: No, I love you more!

Me: I love you most! I've loved you since you were in my tummy.

Rylee: No, I love you most since I was in your tummy!

Me: Honi, I love you the most.

Rylee: Mommy....you're right. You do love me most!

Gotta love the kid's honesty!

Just A Little Fun

On a previous post, I had mentioned that we adults had a fun night while the kiddos were at grandmas house a couple of weekends ago. I also promised pictures.... Now remember, as adults and responsible parents, we are not allowed to act immature and drink larger amounts very often. Well apparently that rule does not apply to us :)

Another cute picture of us...after quite a few Long Islands...

And what the heck is up with my hair??

I could be mistaken, but it looks as though Mike has had enough!

Ah yes...another shot, though you're not supposed to taste it first!

I'm not sure I want to know what he's contemplating..

Surveying the possibilities...how you doin??

Um.....ahh......where's the drool?

After sitting around for quite some time, trying to come up with good items for a random scavenger hunt, we decided to WALK up the hill to see if Rick was still awake. It was getting a little late, but there was a slight possiblility that he was still up. So with dog in tow, we journeyed up the steep hill (not an easy feat when you've been drinking) to surprise Rick. Mike thought he'd "sneak" around to the back door and catch him off guard. Unbeknownst to him, the dog proceeded to follow and got spooked when the light came on and the other dog started barking. Around the other side of the house, we heard a yell, a gust of wind, and a large thud. For a moment, I thought he had fallen off the roof and had I been sober, I probably would have been scared...lol. Anyway, we heard him yell, "The dog took me out!!" and hearing Rick's dog barking, assumed he meant that dog....oh no, it was our stupid dog. She was the culprit! So, after cleaning up his bleeding wound, surprising Rick's guests (who were absolutely NOT happy to see us), and waking him up, we went out into his garage so the boys could play ping pong.

Not sure if he was really awake yet or not

Him either

Showing off his masculine abilities to scare the opponent!

Is he serious or what???

Check out the ball in mid-air

And finally back at the house again...

(The only thing missing is the drip from her nose)Sorry Kelly!!

I'm so scared sound bite

So... after taking a 4 hour quad ride that afternoon, this was just what the doctor ordered! Who says we have to always live by our labels??

Can You Spot The Difference?

BEFORE...


AND AFTER...


We still have a ways to go, but can I get a woot-woot??

Fun At The Capitol Building

A couple of weekends ago, my mother-in-law was kind enough to take all of the kids that are currently residing at my house for two whole nights! That's also 2 1/2 days, mind you...though I'm not counting. Before we dropped the munchkins off, we decided to go and "play" at the Capitol Building and grab a few shots. When we were younger, this was one of Mike's and my favorite places to hang out. I think though that way back then, all of the big fans worked and we could float many things across them and ooh and ahh at how they skimmed the air. Now, however, only one or two actually blow air and it's only during work hours (which as we all know, are few and far between for those darn state workers :-) Luckily, this was one of the very rare occasions that we were all together, off both work and school, during the day on a week day. The girls thought this was awesome! Of course, since we didn't really have anything to float over the top of these ginormous fans, spit was the only option. GROSS!!! I almost got hit a few times and finally had to put my foot down when the name of the game was "Try and catch it back in your mouth." Who are these people???

Though the only pictures I could find of the girls' hair flying in the air were on my phone, we got several other cute ones. Here are a few of our goofy afternoon at the capitol...though I did not include the collection of Rylee's head bouncing off the ground, as Mike watched her jump from a ledge. I thought that might be a little over the top.

After we dropped the girls off, we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves.....almost. Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty restful and quiet....until we decided to pretend that we weren't adults but silly, young, underage drinkers. I'll save those pictures for another time...

Go Baby Go!

Rylee got a bike for her birthday last year but living where we do, it's kind of hard for her to get any time to ride it. This summer however, she decided that she wanted to learn how to ride (with her training wheels of course). As she played around, she seemed a little top heavy but I think it was just getting used to riding on the uneven ground. Before this, she had been riding around inside our house, so moving outside without the carpet to cushion her falls, proved to be a little difficult. She was a trooper though, and after several walks, she was getting the hang of it....until her training wheel broke. Now, I believe that most mothers would either a) buy a new set of training wheels or b) buy a bigger bike with new training wheels because the bike was a little small anyway; however, mom wasn't in charge of this one...dad was. Neither A nor B took place...C came into play: just take the training wheels off! I, personally, thought that my small 4 year old was much too young and fragile to be riding a 2 wheel bike with nothing to hold her up...obviously I was mistaken.

I think the face says it all...though I didn't think I'd be seeing it from her for quite a few more years but what do I know?? I'm just mom! They surprise me every day~lol.

Some Wedding Photos

On the last weekend in August, Mike got the chance to shoot his first official "paid" wedding. It was down in Vader with pictures in Longview and along the way back to the wedding site. When we first heard about one of the photograph locations, it seemed a little odd, but having a theme of "Until Death Do Us Part," the cemetery fit right in. Our friend Jerry came along as well, and captured some great shots for us.

The morning dawned cloudy and threatening and after we dropped off the kids and headed south, the rain began in earnest. Luckily, by the time we got to Longview, it had subsided and only sprinkled a little as we were finishing up at the cemetery. As the wedding hour drew closer, the sunshine decided to grace us with it's presence (thank goodness). It was a very long day, but very uneventful and fun, which is a good thing...for a wedding anyway. The ceremony was quick, the reception easy and low-key, and we were back to have dinner and pick up the kids by a decent hour. All in all, it was a great first experience! Mike did a really good job and proved to be patient and courteous. No wonder I married him!

You can click here to see the rest of the pictures. We had a great time and will hopefully be able to get some more practice in there..(hint hint) :-)

Back to School All Ready

Yesterday was the first day of school....again. I can't believe how quickly the summer flew by. It seems like just yesterday was the last day of school, thoughts of bbq's and swimming right in our faces. Now, our schedule begins again. Yay!!!

The morning dawned bright and early...4 girls so ready for school! Kenzie was a little nervous about having more than one class to keep track of, as she was starting middle school! Alyssa and Brosia were excited to be in the same 4th grade class, and Bella was secretly ecstatic to be heading back to M.V. Since I had to be at work way before school starts, Kelly graciously did the honors of shuttling excited, nervous, chatty kids. Though I didn't actually drive Kenzie, I had my own little teary session in my car all by myself. Kelly told me later though, she shed a few too.. My baby is no longer in elementary school. I only had to go to one classroom for open house the evening before, and only got to help unpack one bag of school supplies :( Such a milestone... Still tough not to start blubbering so I'll post a few pictures instead! Even though the girls weren't totally ready to go when I had to leave, they humored me and grabbed their backpacks to "pretend" they were headed out the door; all though I hope Alyssa and Brosia's hair was dry by the time they left :)

It seems that every year, I impatiently wait all day long to find out how their day went and when I ask, I am rewarded with "Mmmm...good." That's it...that's all I get! This year however, all faces were plastered with smiles. Kenzie said that it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it was going to be and the other girls all had fun too. All in all, they had a great day! A very good start to another year. Next year, Rylee will be joining them...I can certainly wait for that!