Riley Roo ... and his family too!

Summer Fun

2009-07-23T08:20:00.003-04:00

Back in June.......Riley and I met up with my friend Melanie, and her two daughters Cheyenne and Jaydenne, at a local water park. It was a nice sunny day and a perfect way to start off the summer. The kids had a blast, especially afterward getting ice cream! A few pictures from our super fun day......

Melanie and her girls.

Riley and Cheyenne enjoying their treat.

Preschool Graduation

2009-07-20T10:28:00.004-04:00

Riley finished up his first year of preschool June 9th, 2009. Riley loved school and we couldn't have asked for better teachers. First, we had a wonderful graduation breakfast with his class followed by a very informal ceremony where his teacher handed out awards and certificates and talked about the year. Then it was back to the classroom for one last party and some pictures.

Last day of preschool!

BreakfastSigning the Pledge of Allegiance to start the ceremony, so cute.
(His teacher was really into sign language and they had practiced this all year.)Getting his certificate.His class.With assistant teacher, Ms. MaureenWith his teacher, Ms. SandyBest friend at school, MaxMommy's proud graduate!Pre-Kindergarten.....Here We Come!

Hilton Head (May 2009)

2009-06-08T14:07:00.005-04:00

Every year, some of Shea's extended family invites us to spend the week with them at their house in Hilton Head, SC. We did not get to go last year, so we were very excited about this years trip. Riley couldn't wait to go to the beach and we were excited to spend time with family. It turned out to be an interesting week. We ended up having a great time, but I can pretty much sum the week up with these two pictures.....From the time we got there late Sat. night to the time we left the following Sat. morning, Riley had a fever......oh, and it rained everyday. Sometimes all day. Shea and I were also dealing with our own allergy issues as well. The good thing is, is that when Riley is sick, he is great. A fever never really seems to slow him down much. So we made the most of our week, getting out as much as possible (including taking Riley to Urgent Care.....upper respiratory/sinus infection) and spending time with family, which we always enjoy doing. A slide show of some of the fun we had......

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Another fun thing we found to do was a children's museum called The Sandbox. We have wanted to go every other year we have been down there, but never had the time (because we have always been on the beach :), because it has always been nice and sunny.) So this year we decided to check it out, along with everyone else on the island trying to stay dry. We waited about a half hour to get in, but it was worth the wait. Riley had a blast! See for yourself......

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Blastball

2009-05-15T14:52:00.006-04:00

This spring, Riley was finally old enough to start t-ball. In our local league, they actually have a pre t-ball called blastball for 4 year olds, which is what Riley is playing for now. In the fall he will play regular t-ball. In blastball, there are only 6-7 kids on a team, instead of like 14-15. Shea is Riley's coach and is having so much fun. Two of our friends are the assistant coaches, which makes it all that much more fun for everyone. I can't believe that my little boy is starting to play t-ball already. It has been so much fun watching him play on a team with other kids and to see his daddy coach him. Riley really loves to play and asks everyday if he has a game. Shea and I are so happy that he is so excited about playing.....since Shea grew up playing baseball and I softball. He seems, for now, to be following in our footsteps which we can't be more happy about. Here are some pictures form Opening Day and his first game......

Ready for Opening Day!

Hanging out with his teammates.

"Introducing.....The Gray Foxes!"

{we didn't pick our color or our name :)}Later in the day, they had their first game. We only had 2 out of 4 practices because of the rain, so we didn't really know what to expect from the team. They all did great!! This is pretty much what happened after the ball was hit, every time :)........All 7 kids would run after the ball and dive on it, in a big pile. It was hysterical! they were having so much fun. Shea quickly realized though what he had to work on with them....staying in your spot until the ball comes at least near you, then you can get it :).

Riley getting ready to bat...

Good hit!After every game, the team gets a snack(pizza) and soda. The kids love their after game snack just as much as playing the actual game!

My little slugger!

Easter Day

2009-05-15T14:29:00.004-04:00

For the past couple of years now, we have gone to church on Easter morning, with my mom, and then out to lunch afterward. This year we decided to do the same. After lunch my mom came back to our house to hang out and we hid more eggs for Riley to hunt. He loves egg hunts and it was such a nice day, so we hid them all over the backyard and he had a blast.

Outside of church.

Riley was super excited to see the Easter Bunny for lunch. He wasn't there last year so it was a nice surprise.

Riley and Grammy

Not a bad picture of the two of us :)!"I see one!!""Look at all my eggs!"

Easter Eve Fun

2009-05-05T12:05:00.007-04:00

On Saturday of Easter weekend, we got together with family at my brother Eric's house. We had a great time and Riley really enjoyed spending time with all his cousins. My mom set up her annual egg hunt which all the kids enjoyed.We tried to take some family pictures, but Riley was not really in the mood to sit still for very long. This is the best we could do.....I did happen to get a good picture of my brother Don and his family, and a decent one of me and my brothers though.

Jessie, Callie, Don and CheriMe, Don, and Eric

Pre-Easter Fun

2009-05-04T10:19:00.005-04:00

Our Easter festivities this year started early. With a visit from Mamaw and Papaw in mid-March came a huge Easter basket full of toys and candy. Riley was super excited....I can't believe I didn't get one picture :(. Then that next week we had our annual egg hunt at Frying Pan Park with Judie, Tanner and Tegan and some friends. Even though it was a little rainy and cold, everyone still had fun.

Waiting for the hunt to begin.

Riley found a special numbered clear egg!!

Checking out all our goodies.

Riley's number matched this cute little lamb.

The first week of April brought the much anticipated annual Easter Box from Auntie Donna. Riley loves getting his own packages in the mail and gets so excited to see them sitting on the front stoop waiting for him.

Ready to open!

Super excited about the bunny....he actually still sleeps with it every night.

Second most exciting thing!

Thanks Auntie Donna!

Sledding, back in March :)

2009-04-30T14:15:00.007-04:00

OK. I promise this is the last post about winter.

This was such a fun day too though, because after we went snow tubing I really thought that was going to be the last snow we saw of the season. Then out of no where we get an early March snow storm! Riley and I were super excited. We bundled up and headed outside.

This....quickly turned into this....

and this.We needed something more exciting, so we jumped in the car and found this.....After climbing to the top, we were ready!Here we go! (not to worry, I jumped on before he went down)see :)!

We ended up going down about 10 more times, and if it was up to Riley (and if I was in better shape) we would have done it 100 times. He loved it.....almost as much as parking next to this monster truck :)!

Snow Tubing, back in Feb :)

2009-04-15T17:10:00.002-04:00

So I'm still trying to catch up on my blog posts. I was just going to start fresh and not worry about posting about things in the past, but we had so much fun tubing that I just had to share.

We took a day trip to Ski Liberty with my friend Jeanette, and her son Hudson, and had a blast. We will definitely be going again next winter!

Here is a slide show from our super fun day...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Quick trip to PA!

2009-04-15T11:14:00.003-04:00

Back in Feb., Riley and I...along with my mom and brother Don...decided to visit my Aunt Donna for her birthday. Even though it was a quick weekend trip, we had a lot of fun spending time with family. Not only did we see Aunt Donna and Grandma, but we were able to visit with Aunt Kathleen(Grandma's sister) and her family as well. We always love the time we get to spend with our family from Pittsburgh and wish we could do it more often. Some pictures from the trip.....

Aunt Donna and DonAunt Donna, Aunt Kathleen, Grandma and my MomRiley with Aunt Kathleen and his Great Grandma.

Country Music Fan

2009-04-04T15:10:00.003-04:00

For awhile now Riley has really enjoyed listening to music, mostly in the car though. Of course all I listen to is country, so Riley has become quite the country music fan. A few months ago, he discovered his Daddy's iPod and loves the fact that he can play his favorite songs whenever he wants. It is so cute. He has certain songs that he really likes and will sing along most of the time, as long as no one is watching. Right now, Rodney Atkins is his favorite singer and "Life is a Highway" from the Cars movie is one of his all time favorite songs.

Picking out his song.

Of course.."These Are My People" by Rodney Atkins!

Good Boy, Bent!

2009-04-04T14:55:00.003-04:00

So the other day....ok, back in February :)....I could hear Riley talking to Bentley. He was telling him what a good dog he was and how he loved him. Then Riley yells to me and says he gave Bentley a sticker for being a good boy. I of course thought he was just messing around, but when I went into the living room, there was Bentley proudly showing off his sticker!

Update on Dad's House

2009-04-04T14:40:00.003-04:00

On another nice weekend back in Feb., we headed down to Lake Anna to check on my Dad's lake house. We had not been there since this trip last Oct. and we wanted to see how much more was done. Most of the siding had been put on, and they were working on the stone for the chimney. Most of the drywall was up inside and my Dad, and Riley :), were painting on the first coats of primer.We love going to the lake and can't wait to enjoy the house, hopefully by this summer!

The Zoo

2009-03-30T11:17:00.002-04:00

Back in February......Me, Riley, Judie (SIL), Tanner and Tegan (nephews) all headed to the National Zoo in DC for the day. A new gorilla was born and we were so excited to finally see it in person. It was a lot smaller than we thought it was going to be....pretty much like a human one month old baby actually. It was so cute and I was bummed that I couldn't get one picture that wasn't all blurry. The day was perfect....not to cold and warm enough that the animals were all so active, enjoying the sunshine. The boys ran around, we got to see a lot of animals and just had a fun day.

Tanner, Tegan and Riley.....The 3 Amigos!

Letting out some energy!

Riley enjoyed "reading" the signs.

A slide show of some of the animals.....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I've been slacking!!

2009-03-30T11:06:00.002-04:00

I know...I have been doing a terrible job at keeping up with the blog. Sorry if you have been actually checking in, waiting for a new post. (Mom!) I am going to try and catch up in the next few days. My posts will probably be a shortened version of what I would have posted if I had done them when the events happened, but I want to get at least something new up.

Riley and Cheyenne

2009-02-04T13:00:00.004-05:00

My friend Melanie and I have known each other since high school. We both went on to VA Tech and were college roommates. After college we backpacked through Europe together, moved back home and were roommates again before we both got married in 2000. When Shea and I found out we were finally pregnant, I was so excited to find out shortly after, that Melanie was too! She was actually due only about a month after me. Turns out that Riley was almost 2 weeks late and was born on Jan. 4th 2005. Exactly one month to the day later, Cheyenne was born.....Feb. 4th 2005. Mel and I are still friends today and it has been so much fun to see Riley and Cheyenne (and her baby sister Jaydenne too) grow up together. One of my all time favorite pictures of our kids together was taken the day Cheyenne was baptized. We had gone back to Mel's for an after party and I took a few pictures of Riley and Cheyenne sitting together in a big blue chair. They were so cute! This is the one I just love......

Cheyenne(almost 4m) & Riley(almost 5m)

The reason behind this post is that I have always wanted to get another picture of Riley and Cheyenne together in this same big blue chair. I never seem to remember my camera though, or I just forget to do it. So, finally at Cheyenne's 4th birthday party today, I remembered!!

Here are Cheyenne and Riley at 4 years old.....

Super fun day!

2009-01-27T14:15:00.001-05:00

(Alternative titles to this post.......Riley's first real snow day, best day ever, or why I love being a mom.)

I love snow......and I love it even more because my son loves it too, finally. We actually got some real snow today, meaning enough to actually play in, and I was so excited to go out and play with Riley, hoping that he would enjoy it as much as I do. Riley has never been a big fan of the snow before, especially if it was still falling. Today he loved it! We had so much fun....making snowballs, snow angels, snowmen, shoveling and just hanging out outside. the only thing we didn't do is go sledding. Since there are not too many good sledding hills around our house, later this month I think we might try and go snow tubing at an area ski resort. Now that I know Riley loves the snow, I can't wait to go! Enjoy our slide show from the day......

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Monster Jam Live

2009-01-24T22:00:00.001-05:00

Since Riley wanted a monster truck party, we decided to get him Monster Jam Live tickets for his birthday. When I checked into when they would be in the area, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were coming in Jan. How convenient! Riley couldn't wait to go. My brother Eric and his son Tanner joined us for our fun day. We headed out early and first went in for the Pit Party. That was really cool because we got to be right up next to the trucks. The boys loved it. After the Pit Party we had some lunch and then headed back to the Verizon center for the big show. Riley was so amazed at everything going on around him, he just sat and stared the whole time, taking everything in. Tanner is just now really getting into the whole monster truck thing, but I think he really enjoyed it.....that is after he woke up from his power nap! We all had a great time and I'm sure that will not be the last Monster Jam show we see. Enjoy the slide show of our day.....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Riley turns 4!

2009-01-04T11:55:00.005-05:00

Today is Riley's 4th birthday! (Remember, still trying to catch up.) I can't believe he is so old. I feel like it was just yesterday that his due date came and went and we were all just waiting around anxiously for his arrival. Finally almost 2 weeks late, Riley was born on Jan. 4th 2005 and our lives were changed forever. I truly believe that he is our miracle child and he continues to amaze us everyday. Every year we always end up having several birthday celebrations for Riley. I guess that's what happens when you have a "holiday birthday" :). Riley started off his "birthday's" with a small joint party at my brother Don's house. My niece Jessie has a Jan. birthday as well, so we celebrated them together over the holiday's with family.

Uncle Don with the birthday cupcakes!

There really was 4 candles, doesn't look like it here though.

Cousins enjoying cupcakes!

For round 2 of birthday celebrations, we decided to have an actual party for Riley on his birthday since it was over a weekend. Following right along with Riley's obsession with cars, trucks, and vehicles in general :), we had him a Monster Truck party. He was so excited! We ordered Monster Jam party supplies, including a huge monster truck pinata. Since he has really gotten into the Monster Jam scene, (he watches it every night now when Daddy gets home) we even bought him tickets to go see the live show coming later in Jan. Riley had a lot of fun playing with all his friends and it was great to see everyone too. Here are some pictures from the day....

Riley's monster truck cake!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."Riley starts the pinata fun!Time for presents.

Christmas in Review

2009-01-02T10:27:00.003-05:00

Every year our Christmas festivities start on Christmas Eve, when we gather with my mom, Aunt Donna, Grandma and both my brother's families. Each year someone different hosts the party, this year being at my brother Eric's house. We have lots of fun, eating all kinds of yummy food and goodies, and opening presents. Here is a slide show of the nights events......

Make a Smilebox slideshow

After returning home to our house late Christmas Eve, we prepared for Christmas morning.....cookies for Santa, Christmas PJ's, reading the real story of Christmas, and then staying up all night putting things together! Christmas morning we spent here, opening presents and just relaxing. We never even got out of our PJ's all day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas festivities continued on Saturday the 27th, with my Dad and Camille over at my brother Eric's house again. More yummy food and opening gifts, this time celebrating Eric's birthday as well...gotta love birthdays around Christmas...more on that later :)! Saturday night we headed down to Shea's parents house, in Southwest VA, to spend some time with them and have Christmas part 4! We actually made a quick pit stop at our good friends, The Femrite's, to exchange gifts and say hi as well. We stayed all week with Shea's parents and had fun hanging out and relaxing. Here are a few photo's from the trip....

Mamaw's little tree.

"What is it?"Riley and Papaw playing with his new Hot Wheels town.

We had a great holiday season this year, spending a lot of time with family and just hanging out. We hope everyone had a great holiday too!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T09:05:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone is having a happy New Year! I'm finally getting around to updating the blog and changing things around a bit. Still in the process of getting everything worked out with the new background, but hopefully within the next few days it will be finished. I will be adding some "in review" posts as well to get all caught up. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T00:46:00.004-05:00

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year!!!

Fun weekend with Grammy!

2008-12-21T23:51:00.005-05:00

This weekend Shea and I had a Christmas party to go to, so my mom came to spend the night with Riley. Riley loves to spend time with Grammy, so my mom hung out for the day on Sunday. Our fun started out with making sugar cookies and then decorating them. Then, once it got dark, we headed to the Festival of Lights at Bull Run Park. It is a 2 mile long drive-thru light show that we go to every year. We really enjoy it and Riley was really into it this year, which made it all the more fun. At the end of the light show they have a winter wonderland festival set up with amusement rides, fire pits, a few craft stands and pictures with Santa. Even though Riley really wanted to ride some rides, it was way to cold for that, but we did visit with Santa. A few pictures of our day.....

Riley and GrammyCutting out cookies.Time to decorate!Don't they look yummy!Shea tried to get pictures of some of the light displays. This is the best he could do...Riley wasn't too excited about sitting on Santa's lap, but he was really excited about the reindeer, who was really cute actually!Finally Riley decided he would visit Santa, only if I sat on his lap too!

Preschool Christmas Party

2008-12-18T13:12:00.005-05:00

Today Riley had his school Christmas party with his class. It was so much fun and the kids were all so excited. I actually stayed the whole morning and helped the teachers get ready for the party. This was really fun because I got to see Riley interact with his friends and observe how his day goes. I thought at first he would want to sit with me and not sit with the class. That was not what happened at all. I just sat in the back and he followed along with what his teacher wanted him to do the whole time. It was so cute. I even got to see the sign language teacher have her session with the kids. That was really neat too. After morning activities, the party began.

Riley actually let me put something on him other than a t-shirt. I thought he looked so old in this picture....They started the party with some yummy food for snack.Then they did some activities, making a marshmallow snowman, decorating cookies, and making reindeer food.After the activities, they had a gift exchange. All the kids brought in a small gift to exchange with their friends. This is Riley picking his number for the exchange.
Opening their gifts.
After the gift exchange, several of Riley's classmate gave out goodie bags to all their friends. Riley did this as well. Here he is passing them out...

Random pics....

2008-12-15T14:43:00.002-05:00

Shea tried to get a few pictures of our outside lights. This is the best we could do...

These are an attempt at getting a good Christmas card picture. Not what I was looking for, but they came out cute so I thought I would share. We decided to go with a family shot instead. Thanks Bethany for taking the family pictures and tweaking them to look good!

A birthday party for Baby Jesus!

2008-12-12T19:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday at Riley's preschool they had a little birthday party for Baby Jesus. I was able to volunteer and I'm glad I did. It was so cute. Before everyone headed to the sanctuary, Santa made an appearence in each classroom to talk about the spirit of giving. Then all the classes met in the sanctuary to hear the nativity story, read by Mary holding Baby Jesus...One of the teachers who just had a baby played Mary with her newborn son as Jesus. After the story was read, the children all brought gifts for baby Jesus and placed them on the stage. His preschool then donated all the gifts to an area shelter for families in need. I thought that was a great idea! After they gave their gifts, they headed down to the fellowship hall {I helped hang the streamers:)} for snack, yummy cookies, after singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

Decorating

2008-12-12T14:45:00.004-05:00

Last week we finished all the decorating we are doing this year. We have so much stuff that I only really put out what I'm in the mood to put out at the moment we decide to decorate. Does that make any sense :)? Anyway, one thing I always do is put up 3 trees. Ones only a table top one, but the other 2 are regular size. Riley was a big help with decorating this year and actually spread the ornaments out really well on the trees.Here is our fun tree....with colored lights, random ornaments and the train.This is our "nice tree".....with white lights and glass ornaments, set up in the dining room.Then we have our VA Tech tree.....a table top scene of Hokie Pride!!

A train for our tree!

2008-12-12T09:45:00.003-05:00

I decided that with Riley's obsession with cars, trucks, trains etc., that this year would be a great year to get a Christmas train for our tree. I should have picked one up earlier in the season, because by the time I went to get one there were not too many to pick from. I just wanted something simple, and inexpensive since I knew it was going to get a lot of use :). I finally found this one.... .....and Riley loved it. He played with it nonstop when we first put it up. It didn't take him long to figure out how to work it and put it back on the track. Bentley even enjoyed it too!

Riley had an exciting day.

2008-12-09T15:13:00.006-05:00

I picked Riley up from preschool today and he was so excited to tell me about his day. They went on a field trip to a local kids gym and from what Riley said, they had a fun time. Of course, how they got there was the highlight of the trip....by school bus! Yes, Riley is still obsessed with vehicles. It wasn't your typical yellow school bus though. It was a small little white bus, but Riley was still very excited he got to ride a bus. His mind was going a mile a minute and he was just talking the whole way home.....how Ms. Sandy(his teacher) was the bus driver, and that he got to sit with Jesse(his best friend at school) on the bus, and that the bus has wheels, and that it was so cool, and that they all yelled when they went over the railroad tracks. I knew he would be thrilled, but he was so excited. It was so cute. He continued to ramble on and started talking about "buses have wheels, and so do trucks, and my friend Mason has a truck with wheels, and I have a truck with wheels and Tanner has 2 four-wheelers with wheels so our 4 trucks all have wheels." Seriously, did he just do a math problem?! The way he just, without hesitation, said "our 4 trucks" really amazed me for some reason. How he counted them in his head that quickly is crazy to me. Then he starts naming all things that have wheels, "but not airplanes or helicopters." I told him that airplanes do have wheels and that they only come out when they take off and are going to land. Then he starts with, "the wheels come down to land, abajo and go up when it's flying, arriba. Abajo down, arriba up." Now the fact that he knows these spanish words didn't totally shock me because he loves to watch Dora, and these 2 specific words are used a lot in her shows. What did surprise me is that out of no where he used them, and correctly. I have never heard him use Spanish before this, except for an occasional word that he hears from Diego or Dora, but never really in regular conversation. I know that as part of his preschool curriculum they go to Spanish class twice a month or so. Maybe that is where he is learning to actually use the Spanish he knows. Just another reason why I love his preschool!

Weekend at the Femrite's

2008-11-29T22:49:00.001-05:00

This past weekend(remember look at the date, still trying to catch up) we visited with our good friends, Mark and Sherri Femrite and their family. If you know us well, then you know we have and continue to spend many fall weekends down at VA Tech. We are so grateful for our wonderful friends, who are really like family to us, who open their home to us every time we are in town. The Femrite's used to live right outside the town of Blacksburg, just minutes from campus. Several years ago they built a house on many, many acres in the middle of the woods out in Floyd, basically on the other side of I81 from Blacksburg. Even though they are now about 20-25 minutes from campus, we still say "we are going to Tech." Just habit I guess. We love when we get to visit the Femrite's because it is always such a relaxing, fun time. Hanging out in the woods by the fire pit(one of my favorite things to do), tailgating on Hokie game day, and just spending time with good friends. This particular weekend all of Mark and Sherri's kids, and grandson were in town for Thanksgiving. We don't get to visit with them often, so it was nice to catch up with everyone. Riley loves playing with their grandson Josh too. I have put togehter a slide show of our fun weekend. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Riley's Thanksgiving Project

2008-11-27T23:55:00.002-05:00

Riley made this place mat at school for Thanksgiving, along with his Indian head band. Most kids were thankful for their parents, brothers or sisters, or some toy...Riley was thankful for cows, horses and chicken. Not sure where that came from!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T22:07:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. (I know I'm a little late.....trying to catch up.) We went up to my brother Don's house in Maryland and had a great time. My mom, grandma, and Aunt Donna were there along with my SIL Cheri's family. It was so nice to spend time with family and Riley really enjoyed playing with his cousins. I thought I would share some pictures from the day....

My brother Don and Aunt Donna

Gathered around the table.
Riley enjoying his meal.
My niece Callie, her cousin Loren, and my niece Jessie.
My grandma, Riley and Me
My mom's yummy Texas sheet cake, Thanksgiving style. Good job Mom!

Our glasses......finally.

2008-11-26T20:26:00.004-05:00

I have been saying I would post a picture of Shea and I in our glasses....not too exciting, but here ya go.....

Riley wanted to get in the picture too!

We both have realized that we really do need to wear them more than we thought. Shea more than me really, but I need them more than I had hoped I would :). I'm getting more and more used to them and my eyes are definitely not as tired at night as they used to be. As I get more used to them and need them to see more often, I guess I will need to get a cool pair, but for now these will have to do.

Addison is home!

2008-11-26T20:02:00.002-05:00

Our friends, Kyle and Bethany, have finally completed their adoption journey. Addison Veronika, or Nika for short, is finally home with her forever family. She has been home a week now and doing great....I've been a little behind on my blogging :)! We actually got to see Addison the night she got home. We greeted Kyle, Bethany, and Addison at the airport along with some of their family. It was so exciting seeing everyone reunited. Addison is just too cute! Here she is with Shea at the airport.....

A picture of the family...

2008-11-14T23:08:00.003-05:00

Tonight, Riley decided to explore his artistic side. He has never really been into art. Coloring books and crayons have never been too exciting to him. He would and still does just scribble in them. He has for awhile now drawn people though, getting more recognizable each time. He also likes writing his name, but that's about it for letters. So when Riley sat down at his desk and pulled out his markers and paper all on his own tonight, which he has never really done, I asked him to draw me a picture. He said he would, one of "Mommy and Daddy"......I then asked him if he could draw one of the whole family. Not bad, even with 2 Bentley's!

Riley Counting

2008-11-14T21:11:00.002-05:00

I have been meaning to post an update on Riley for a while now and have just now got around to it. I just figured out how to take more than a 10 second video with our camera too and wanted to add a video along with this post, so that has delayed things a bit as well. Anyway, Riley caught on to recognizing and counting numbers 1-10 rather quickly, moving on to 1-20 skipping a few here and there. So, around six months or so ago....not too positive exactly when, but it's been awhile now....Riley started showing more of an interest for counting and numbers in general. I decided to print out a 1-100 number grid and just had it laying around. The first time I showed it to him he read numbers 1-20, with a little help, and then I would read the rest. After only one or two more times of me reading the grid to him, he was able to read it himself with me only helping with the 10's......I would read 30, 40, 50 etc. and he could fill in the rest all the way to 100. I was amazed at how he was remembering the grid so fast, literally only after a few times of going over it. I left the grid out, just sitting on the counter or where ever, and we would pick it up whenever we noticed it. Before long, Riley was able to read it himself all the way to 100. He still couldn't recognize numbers above 20 for the longest time, just knew how to count them in order and only with looking at the grid. He can now pretty much count from 1-100 using his grid without messing up. He still sometimes will say "2-teen" or "3-teen" for 20 and 30 when he goes too fast. I have been trying to get Riley on video counting, but it would cut off before he got finished. I fixed the recording speed on the camera tonight, so we finally got him counting the whole grid. He is now working on recognizing all his numbers, not just 1-20. With a little warm up, he can point to most numbers 1-100 when asked and can tell you the number when you point to it. He sometimes will say the numbers backwards, but we are hoping with a little more practice he will learn to correct that. It just is amazing to me how fast Riley picks up on things. I know they say kids are like sponges and take in everything, but I guess it's just different when you see it in your own child...and he's only 3! I know being in preschool this year has really helped Riley get excited about learning as well. Here is the video of him counting.....you'll have to excuse the crazy Bulldog nose and snorting, Bentley was curious as to what I was taping and tried to eat the camera cord!

So excited...

2008-11-09T20:03:00.003-05:00

Our friends, Kyle and Bethany, boarded a plane today for Russia. This is their second trip to Russia on their journey to bring home their new daughter, who they will officially adopt on Wed. We wish them all the best and can't wait to meet their new baby girl, Addison. I thought it was an interesting coincidence that this article was published in the Washington Post today....(thanks Dad for letting me know about the article!) The article mentions Reece's Rainbow, which I'm almost positive is where Bethany first saw pictures of Addison, waiting for her forever family. Follow their journey to bring Addison home here! We can't wait to meet you Addison....hopefully next week!!!

Cheers To Us!

2008-11-04T10:12:00.004-05:00

Today is mine and Shea's wedding anniversary.....8 years!! I can't believe we have been married that long! It seems like just yesterday that we walked out of the church as husband and wife.

Trick or Treat Time

2008-10-31T22:31:00.003-04:00

After a busy week, and a fun morning it was finally time to get our costumes on and go trick or treating. Some of our friends came over with their kids to join in on the festivities. We had a great time going door to door. There are so many kids in our neighborhood which makes it so much fun. Most people sit out on their front porch to hand out candy and many house are decorated in some way which makes it fun as well. Let's go trick or treating......

Officer Ridings and his prisoner.
Riley making sure his whistle worked in case he had to stop traffic!
The whole gang!
"Trick or Treat."
Checking out the cool decorations.
Larry the Cable Guy stayed back at the house to hand out candy.....
....and kept an eye on our prisoner!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Mamaw's Halloween Surprise

2008-10-31T22:04:00.004-04:00

After our visit to the pumpkin patch earlier today, Riley continued his day full of fun by opening his Halloween surprise that Shea's mom had left for him last time she was up. Riley was super excited to see what was inside.....

Uh Oh....is that what I think it is.....

....YES, a new car!!!

It's truly amazing how something as simple as a little metal car can bring so much joy to a 3 year old. There were actually 2 cars in his pumpkin and he couldn't have been happier. He loved the lollipops too, those are his favorite candy I think, but if on Halloween you gave out little metal cars instead of candy, Riley would be the happiest little boy in the world! "Thanks Mamaw for the Halloween surprise, love you!"

Cox Farm 2008...Revisited

2008-10-31T21:47:00.004-04:00

This morning, Riley and I met up with my friend Jeanette and her son Hudson for one last pumpkin patch visit. This was their first visit to Cox Farm, so Riley showed Hudson all the fun things to do there. We started with a few slides then jumped on the hay ride. After that we saw some farm animals and hit some more slides. We had a lot of fun and it was a great way to start off Halloween!

Hudson taking it all in on the hay ride.

Some of the many piglets...so cute!

Hudson loving the slide....I think Jeanette did too!
Riley's turn.

Pumpkin Fun

2008-10-30T20:54:00.006-04:00

Tonight we finally decorated and carved our pumpkins. Every year we end up with several little pumpkins...the ones you get free from visits to the pumpkin patch...and we decided long ago that they were just too hard to carve. So we use those silly plastic face pieces to decorate them instead. This year we got a new set in our Halloween Box and were excited to make new faces. In the new set there were ones to make a Frankenstein face. This worked really well for the green pumpkin Riley and I picked out on his field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Using the plastic face pieces has always been Riley's favorite way to decorate his pumpkins. He has never been a big fan of cleaning out the insides of the bigger pumpkins that Shea and I love to carve. For whatever reason he never wants to touch the slimy insides or help get the seeds out. This year I thought he would be more into it. Clearly I was wrong....

Shea a little too excited, Riley not so much!

He wanted nothing to do with touching any part of those insides! So, when I cut his pumpkin to carve open, I had to clean it out while he took the pictures.

After I got it all nice and clean, Riley drew his face on and I helped him cut it out.Every year Shea and I try to pick new designs to carve. Riley picked my design out and thought Shea's was a little scary. They turned out better than we thought they would.

Mine, Riley's, Shea's

Fizz-n-Find

2008-10-30T20:35:00.004-04:00

One of the fun things in Riley's Halloween Box was a Fizz-n-Find....basically a pressed soap pellet that fizzes and dissolves, revealing one of four creatures inside.Riley was really excited to try this out, so here goes....Riley really didn't understand that he couldn't pick what was going to be inside. I tried to explain that it would be one of the four and that we would just have to wait and see. He was hoping for a ghost...So he was a little diappointed when this is what appeared after all the fizzing stopped......but soon was excited again when I showed him that it glowed in the dark!!

The Halloween Box

2008-10-27T20:15:00.004-04:00

The week or so before Halloween is always very busy....decorating, buying and carving pumpkins, getting costumes together and the arrival of the Halloween Box! Every year my Aunt Donna sends all her great nieces and nephews a goody box full of Halloween fun and every year I document it's arrival. Riley is always very excited to see whats inside.

Here it is!

"I Love M&M's!"Whoa Cool!"Perfect book, he still loves the Backyardigans.
"Thanks Auntie Donna for my Halloween Box! Love You!"

Boo At The Zoo 2008

2008-10-24T22:00:00.007-04:00

Every year our area zoo has several nights of Boo At The Zoo. Basically it is trick or treating at the zoo and they have fun decorations and different displays set up as well. This year we went with my brother Eric and his family. Riley was really excited and had a great time. Being with his cousins made it all that much more fun. This year Riley decided he wanted to be a police officer for Halloween and stuck with that idea for weeks. I was sure he would change his mind a dozen times before he settled on something, but not this year. So, after searching for a half way decent police costume to buy, I realized that I could make one for about the same price as a store bought one and it would look so much more real. My friend Jeanette, who used to be a uniformed officer and is now a detective, gave me 2 police patches from a real uniform. Riley already had blue pants and I sewed the patches on a boys dark blue flannel shirt I bought at Walmart for $5! Costume done! I found his hat, badge, and accessory belt at the party store. He HAD to have a whistle too....apparently that is a very important part of a police officers uniform because "how will the cars know to stop if I don't have a whistle." His costume turned out better than I had expected and everyone at the zoo loved it. Here he is.....

Officer Ridings

Riley in action!
Trying to get a group shot...
Tanner as Spiderman and Tegan as Pablo from the Backyardigans.
Some of the fun displays.

My glasses have arrived.

2008-10-20T15:01:00.002-04:00

Today I went with Shea to his eye doctor appointment so I could pick up my glasses that arrived last week. They are just plain cheap frames that I figured I would get at first until I really convince myself that I need to wear them all the time:). When I first put them on everything looked strange. I guess I thought that it would instantly make me see clearly once I put them on. The doctor said to just gradually wear them off and on so my eyes have time to adjust. When I'm on the computer I have been trying to wear them, but it still feels so weird. I hate the feeling of them on my face. I find that if I focus on what I am reading or typing I forget I have the glasses on and it helps a little. I guess I will get used to them the more I wear them. I haven't tried them for night driving yet....I keep forgetting to grab them and put them in the car. I think I will see a big difference at night. I will try and get a picture of me wearing them soon. Off to put my glasses on since I just realized this would be a good time to get used to them!

Buddy Walk 2008

2008-10-18T14:27:00.004-04:00

Today Riley and I met up with the Balsis Family to participate in our area Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome. We have so much fun every year and really enjoy helping to raise money and awareness for Down Syndrome in honor of Miss Payton.It was a beautiful day with so many fun things to do for the kids. This year they had a petting zoo which the kids really enjoyed....ok, so I really enjoyed, they had a real live hedge hog! They also have moon bounces and slides and even live music. We can't wait for next year when not only will we be walking in Payton's honor, but also in honor of Miss Addison, who our friends are adopting from Russia and who also happens to have Down Syndrome. A few more pictures from our fun day....

Riley with Mason and Payton and their cousins.

Some of the group starting to walk.
Riley and our friends daughter Alexis leading the way.

Preschool Pictures

2008-10-16T22:18:00.003-04:00

Riley's preschool pictures came in today. I was very pleased that they actually turned out so good. He has not been a big fan of getting real pictures taken, as in sitting still for a good picture, so I was afraid they wouldn't turn out so well. Other than looking like he needs a hair cut :), I think they are so cute!

Riley's First Preschool Field Trip

2008-10-16T21:22:00.005-04:00

Today Riley and I went to a pumpkin patch with his preschool class. We had so much fun and it was nice to meet all his classmates and their mom's too. I had never been to this particular pumpkin farm before and was very pleased with all they had there. We started with the spooky barn, which Riley wanted nothing to do with, at first. I had to carry him in and he ended up wanting to go back out immediately. So we moved on to looking at some goats and then to the hayride. The hayride took us to the pumpkin patch where we were able to actually pick our own pumpkins right off the vine.

Looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Making sure it really is the one he wants.I thought the green one was cool!

After the hayride we headed over to the slides. This was by far the most fun for all the kids...and some parents too! At first the kids were going down without the mats and it wasn't all that fast. Once they got on the mats they realized they could go a lot faster. After the slides we headed over to the fire pit, where the kids got to roast marshmallows and drink hot apple cider. Next the kids all played on the playground while the parents got the lunches ready. They sat as a class and had lunch and then we were pretty much free to go. Well, on the way out Riley decided that the spooky barn was not so spooky any more and had to go back in.

Getting up the nerve to go in.Here he goes.......and here he comes!

He actually ended up going back in and out over and over and loved it. It was pretty dark inside with all kinds of lights and things to scare you. I was so proud of him for actually going in on his own. I really didn't think he would do it. We had a great time and I think he really enjoyed his first field trip. Of course we couldn't leave without climbing up on the tractor!

Riley's Scarecrow

2008-10-15T14:54:00.003-04:00

Last night we finished Riley's second family project...a scarecrow. His teacher sent home a blank body cutout and asked each family to make their own scarecrows. Riley was so excited to make his own because he has been noticing all our neighbors Halloween decorations, most of them containing some sort of scarecrow, and has been asking when we are getting one. We did end up buying one for our front light post, but making one was much more fun. Since I really don't have a good stock yet of random craft supplies, we went shopping to find all the right stuff. Time to start the project!

First we started with the straw.

Riley was very excited to use the yarn we had bought, that actually at one point he wanted nothing to do with completing the project, just to play with the yarn!

Once I showed Riley what we were going to do with the yarn, he was interested again. He did a great job sewing the hat.Riley had picked out some buttons at the craft store and you can see he put them to good use.

The finished project!

Day trip to Lake Anna

2008-10-11T22:02:00.004-04:00

It was a beautiful day today so we decided to take a ride down to Lake Anna, VA, where my Dad is building a lake house, to do some fishing. It's only about an hour and a half away so it's a perfect day trip. The house is still under construction, but we had not seen it since they broke ground, so we were eager to see how much was done. The last time we were there, just the boat house and sea wall were complete. As soon as we got there Riley wanted to go fishing, but we toured the house first. It is much bigger than we expected and now we can't wait for it to be completed. It's so nice! We fished for several hours and had a blast. We all caught several fish...some catfish, bluegill and Shea caught a bass. Riley loved running around and throwing rocks and acorns in the water when he was taking a break from fishing. At one point we all were standing on the sea wall and Shea had just told Riley to be careful, that he should probably not stand up on the wall, but on the grass below the wall. Just about this time Shea hooked a fish on Riley's rod and stepped back to hand the rod to Riley. We think Riley reached forward to grab the rod and the next thing we know Riley is doing a belly flop into the water! I scream "get him" and Shea jumps down with one foot in the water to scoop Riley up. Luckily it is only about a foot and a half deep at the edge of the sea wall...deep enough though to completely soak a 3 year old from head to toe! It was all over in mere seconds and Riley only cried for a minute or two. I think he was more mad at just being wet than anything. After all that, Shea still had the rod in his hand and reeled in the fish! It was actually all kind of funny and I wish we had it on video. Once I got Riley into dry clothes (knew this would probably happen so I had clothes and a towel in the car) he thought it was funny too. We ended up leaving soon after Riley decided to go "swimming" since we had been there all day and it was getting to be dinner time anyway. We had a fantastic time and can't wait for the house to be finished so we can visit more often. Here is a slide show of the days events. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cox Farm 2008

2008-10-10T21:11:00.001-04:00

Today we met my SIL Judie and my nephew Tanner at Cox Farm. My dad decided to meet us there too, which the boys were very excited about. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time. We started with the hayride, then hit the slides, saw some baby animals, and ate some lunch. I had to leave at lunch time, but Riley stayed with Granddad and Aunt Judie for a while longer. They went through a corn maze and went down more slides before picking out there mini pumpkin to take home. Here is a slide show of the days events. Enjoy!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2008-10-08T14:35:00.001-04:00

Riley~3 1/2 months

It's official.....

2008-10-06T18:13:00.002-04:00

I'm old!! I need glasses...aaahhhhhh. I went to the eye doctor today for only the second time in my life. The last time was back in 2005 and back then I was told that eventually I would need them, it's part of getting older. Well, I guess I'm older, but I was hoping it would have happened when I was A LOT older....oh well. I have been really lucky actually since my whole family has needed glasses pretty much their whole life. I just hate wearing glasses. I have tried to wear sun glasses on many occasions and I end up taking them off after only a few minutes. I really want to wear them, I just can't stand the feeling of having something on my face. I guess I have no choice now. The eye doctor said I need to wear them almost all the time....when driving at night especially, when reading, on the computer, watching TV for a long time, pretty much when I need to focus on seeing anything. I'm actuall kind of relieved because for a long time now, probably too long, I have felt "tired" by the end of the day, almost like things were sort of fuzzy or disoriented. I knew it probably was my eyes, and just procrastinated too long. I wasn't really looking forward to picking out frames, there are just too many to choose from, but Shea was there and helped pick them out. Actually, the docter and the receptionist helped a little too :). I will be sure to post pictures when I get them in about 2 weeks.

Fun Fun Weekend

2008-09-30T11:14:00.009-04:00

This past weekend Shea and I went to Tappahannock, VA for Larry and Anne's wedding. Larry is Shea's best friend from childhood and Shea was one of his groomsmen. We had a fantastic time and are so happy for them both. It was great to see all our old college friends as well. Riley stayed home with Shea's parents and had a blast being spoiled.....thanks Mamaw and Papaw! It's nice to have a weekend to ourselves every now and then :).

Shea and Larry's dad, Don, showing off their suits.
Husband and Wife
Shea and I at the reception.

The reception was at Anne's uncles house along the Rappahannock River. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. Here is a picture of the reception tent and boat dock along the river bank.

When the reception was over, Larry and Anne made their way down an illuminated path to the dock, where they boarded Anne's dad's boat and sailed off. There were even a few fireworks to complete the night. Here they are making their way to the boat.

After the reception we all headed back to the hotel parking lot, where we took over the Applebees to watch the last half of the Va Tech football game. Lets just say there were a lot of Hokies at this wedding so you can imagine the look on the bartenders faces when we all showed up. A Hokie victory was a great ending to a great day!

Hey Kyle and Bethany!

2008-09-25T15:12:00.003-04:00

Our friends Kyle and Bethany are over in Russia meeting their new daughter. Their son Mason, who I watch during the day along with his sister Payton, wanted to share his school project with his Mom and Dad. Since we couldn't get the web cam to work, I thought I would share Mason's work on here so they could see it.

"Hi Mom and Dad. Here it is."
"I hope you like it. See you soon, love you!"

Our Friends are in Russia!

2008-09-24T14:25:00.002-04:00

Kyle and Bethany, our friends who are adopting a little girl from Russia, got to meet their daughter today! They arrived yesterday morning, I think. With the 8 hour time change I really don't know the exact time line of things. I do know that they got to finally meet their precious little girl and have posted a few pictures on their adoption blog, along with some updates of what has been going on. You can check out how cute Addison is by clicking here! We are so excited for them and can't wait for them to be able to finally bring Addison home for good!

Bentley...

2008-09-18T11:38:00.002-04:00

Could he be any lazier?!!

Homework

2008-09-17T20:07:00.008-04:00

When Shea and I went to Riley's preschool orientation, his teacher told us that once a month she would be sending home a family homework assignment. She gave us our first one that night and it is due tomorrow. So tonight we sat down together and did our homework. We had to make a family flag, on the paper provided, with anything we had around the house...markers, craft stuff, stickers, whatever. Riley's class will be learning about different countries throughout the year, starting with traveling around the world and the United States. We had so much fun making our flag, and Riley was really excited about it too. He hasn't really been much into art type stuff, so I was glad to see him get really excited about this. I was hoping that being in preschool and being exposed to more art materials that he would start to like it more. I think it is working already.

Riley and Daddy showing off our family flag.

The Balsis Family Adoption Journey

2008-09-16T19:10:00.005-04:00

Some of you may know that our good friends, Kyle and Bethany, are planning to adopt a little girl from Russia. For the past several months they have been doing many fundraisers, trying to gain as much money as possible to help with the major costs of an international adoption. They have had online raffles, family lemonade stands, and even a huge yard sale that made the Washington Post. Even though they have done really well from their fundraisers, they still have a ways to go to help cover their costs. They just got word that they are to be in Russia a week from yesterday, the 22nd, to finally meet their daughter and start the paper work to bring her home. This means they need your help NOW. Some of Bethany's friends have started an online raffle that I would love for everyone reading this to take a look at and help out. Just click on the ad below!
You can follow their whole adoption journey here as well. Thanks so much for helping any way you can.

Day 3 of Preschool

2008-09-16T14:34:00.002-04:00

Riley had a great day today, but I learned one thing.....stick to carpool drop off. Today I walked Riley in to his class because both Riley and Mason said they had to use the bathroom. I decided that since we arrive so early, we could walk in, use the bathroom to take up some time and then I could just drop Riley at his class. Well we were still too early to drop off in his class, even after the bathroom break, so I walked down to where they were collecting the kids for carpool. I thought Riley would be fine just sitting with the other kids, but one little boy was hysterically crying, which did not help the situation. Riley just burst into tears when I tried to leave him. So we walked back upstairs to wait for his class to open. Riley seemed to calm down and I thought he would walk right into class. I thought wrong. He was fine right up until it was time to walk through the door, then the tears started again. This time his teacher just took him and Mason and I ran out the door. I figured the sooner I left the sooner he would calm down. I picked him up from the carpool line and his teacher was the one to bring him out again. She said he was fine all day and calmed down quickly in the morning after getting his elephant out of his back pack. I definitely will be using the carpool until he is more used to going to school. I think when I drop him off in the carpool line he has less time to think about me leaving him and just goes with the flow.

First full day at preschool: The Pick Up

2008-09-11T14:39:00.004-04:00

Riley had a great day. His teacher was actually the one to bring him out to the car so I was able to talk with her a minute...she said he had a great day. Riley was excited to tell me all about the day...that they had circle time, he made a fish, got to go on the playground, and had cupcakes for snack. Sounds like a fun day to me! The cupcakes were for a boy's birthday in his class and they got a goodie bag as well. The theme was construction equipment...couldn't have been any more perfect for his first day at school. One of the only things I was worried about was that Riley would get sad during the day because he missed me or Shea. When we were talking about going to preschool in the beginning, this was the only thing that Riley kept bringing up. At our parent orientation, his teacher talked about letting the kids bring something from home to make them feel more comfortable in the first few weeks of school...favorite toy, a picture of Mom and Dad, a blanket, whatever. So last night I asked Riley if he wanted to take his stuffed elephant (it's one that he has had in his bed since birth and just recently has become attached to it, sort of) to school with him so if he started to miss Mommy or Daddy he could get it out and not be sad. He thought that was a great idea. This morning I asked him if he wanted to carry it in or keep it in his pack for when he needed it. He chose to keep it in his pack. (If you read the last post you will see he obviously didn't need it this morning.) I asked his teacher if he took the elephant out through out the day and she said yes a few times, but put it right back. I think after a few weeks he should be fine and not need the comfort of his elephant. We shall see.

First full day at preschool: The Drop Off

2008-09-11T11:28:00.005-04:00

Riley did great!! He was so excited to go this morning, even after I had to wake him up early to get ready. We have to leave a bit early because I have to drop off Payton (the little girl I watch) first at her preschool, then we go to Riley's school. Here he is all ready to go...
Here are Riley, Payton and Mason off to school. (Mason actually stays with me on T/H, his school is M/W/F.) Mason was a big help today getting Riley excited about the carpool drop off. I thought I would try it today, since Mason did it yesterday and Riley got to see how it worked. I really thought that Riley would want me to walk him in, but he seemed fine with just jumping out on his own. The whole time we were in the carpool line he just kept asking when he could go in. Then when they finally came to get him out, the teacher helped him out of the car and walked him in. No tears.....not even a hesitation. I was so proud of him.

Have a great day at school Riley!

Parent Orientation

2008-09-09T21:47:00.002-04:00

Tonight was Riley's preschool orientation for the parents. We were able to meet Riley's teachers and see his classroom for more than just the few minutes we did this morning. We love both his teachers, who seem to really love teaching children and have been doing it for many years. They basically went over all that they would be doing through out the year and it sounds like they will be having a lot of fun. They will be going on all kinds of neat field trips, which is one reason I was really glad he got put in the 4's class instead of the 3's. (The 3's don't go on many filed trips.) A few weeks ago, Riley was evaluated by the school director to basically get to know him a little better since he is new to the school. (I was very impressed by this...another reason I really love this preschool.) Anyway, from what the director observed and from what I told her about Riley, she decided that he would do better in a more structured 4's class, than a 3's class. After seeing all that his 4's class is going to cover and the cool things that they will be doing, I'm so glad that he is in the class he is in. I think he will do just fine. At the end of our meeting, we were able to walk around and we saw Riley's first art project already on the wall. When I asked Riley if he did art this morning, he said no, so I was pleased to see what he had done. Of course it had stickers of school buses all over it. (One of their themes this month is traveling around the world, so they made paper suitcases.....very cute.) Anyway, when I gave Riley a bath tonight, I was talking to him about his art that I saw. He couldn't remember what it was that he made, but he did remember that he put school bus stickers on it. We are looking forward to a very exciting school year!

Riley's 1st Day of Preschool

2008-09-09T15:14:00.013-04:00

Well...it was more of an orientation day, but still very exciting! He only went for an hour and a half today and on Thursday he will start his regular schedule of 9:30-12:30. We have been talking about going to school now for several weeks and last night he seemed really excited. He was a little nervous though that he would miss me and Daddy and Bentley and his fishy. So this morning at first he wasn't too excited because I started to tell him about me not staying with him and he started with missing everyone again. I decided to drop the subject so he wouldn't get too worked up about it and by 9:30 he was saying "Can we go to school now Mom?" So we started getting ready and took some pictures. To make the day extra special, last week we went to the mall to pick out a new shirt. This is what he picked out...of course :)

"Yes Riley, I see the truck on your shirt."

So excited for my first day!

At this point he was really excited to go so he ran back in for his backpack and more pictures. (Bentley wanted to get in there too)

"Get a picture of just my backpack too Mom."

One last picture of Riley and I before we got in the car...

Daddy met us at school for the first day...

Walking in like a big boy!

We found his class and right away Riley found his hook.

"Here it is, see R-I-L-E-Y that's my name!"

We met his teachers and explored the room a bit before it was time for the parents to leave. Riley really didn't want me to leave at first, but his teacher tried to distract him as I made my way out. Shea was able to look in as they closed the door and said he wasn't crying...just kind of standing there, so that was a good thing. I was hoping he wouldn't cry. Since it was just orientation, the parents actually stayed and they had a little breakfast area set up for us in the basement. Shea had to get back to work so before I made it down to the basement, I stayed out in the hall around the corner from Riley's class and talked with another mother for awhile. I checked around the corner when I heard a class in the hall too see Riley following along in line to the bathroom. So proud of him following directions :). Luckily they were going in the opposite direction and he did not see me, because about 3 minutes later I heard a child crying. Yep...Riley! I actually was a little shocked because I thought if he was going to cry it would have been when I left. At this point I could only hear them and I didn't know which way they were going to go, so I quickly took the stairs to the basement so he wouldn't see me and make matters worse. Later I asked him why he was crying and he said he wanted to eat breakfast with me, so I guess he thought they were taking them to their parents, not the bathroom. I'm assuming it didn't take him long to stop crying because he was happy as can be when I picked him up. He told me he loved it so hopefully he will be excited for his real first full day on Thursday. Shea and I have our parent orientation tonight, so I will learn more about everything then. I'm super excited for him and just love this preschool. I know he is going to love it too after he gets a little more used to it. He even got his first classmate birthday invitation in his take home folder and it's only the first day! How cool!!

Visit to DC...Part 2

2008-09-07T21:07:00.015-04:00

When Riley and I visited Grammy for lunch in DC, we had some time to kill while Grammy got some work done and then again after lunch before our train ride home. In the morning we decided to walk the few blocks down to the "big White House" as Riley liked to call it.

Riley walking the streets of DC.

Along the way we talked all about what we might see or hear in the big city. Of course Riley loved all the trucks, cars, and taxis that he saw as well as all the people and big buildings. Riley loves taking his own pictures, so I let him take a few since he wouldn't stop asking for the camera. This is what a 3 year old thinks is cool in the big city.....

Mommy walking down the street...

...a big building...

...and a Verizon van. His obsession with vehicles is getting out of control :)!!

We finally made it to the "big White House" and Riley thought it was really cool, not because it's the White House though, with its pretty fountain and flowers out front......
....but because the "big White House" has it's own police cars with a picture of the "same house" on it. This I think made his day :)!
On our way back to meet Grammy for lunch, we stopped to rest and take a look at a tourist map of the area. There was a big red circle on the map and I explained to Riley what it meant....that the red dot showed us where on the map we were standing and that the buildings on the map were the buildings all around us. He took this in for a few seconds, looked on the ground all around us and said, "I don't see a big red dot Mommy!" (I just love this boy. I swear I forget sometimes that he is only 3.) After telling him that "yes, you are right, there is no red dot on the ground" I noticed that we were only a few blocks away from the National Aquarium. Perfect, we could go there after lunch and before our train ride home.
This aquarium is not very big, perfect for toddlers with a short attention span. We were able to walk through several times in the hour that we were there. Here are our favorite exhibits...

I think Riley really enjoyed the time we spent just walking around the city. We definitely made the most of our trip to see Grammy.

Lunch with Grammy

2008-08-28T12:52:00.013-04:00

All summer I have been telling Riley we would go visit Grammy at work for lunch, and this past Monday we finally did. Visiting Grammy in it self was going to be fun, but how we got there was just as exciting. We took the VRE(Virginia Railway Express) and it was great! I thought Riley would really enjoy going on a train ride, and since my mom works in DC, taking the commuter train worked out perfect. Even though I had to wake Riley up earlier than he is used to, since it is a commuter train and all and my kid is the worlds best sleeper, he still was really excited about the trip. Here he is waiting excitedly for the train to start rolling.....

Here we go!

Then for the next hour this is what he did......

"Look Mommy, I see a big tree! Look Mommy, I see a truck! Look Mommy, I see an airplane! Look Mommy, I see water! Look Mommy, I see buildings!" You can imagine all we saw on our hour long ride. The grumpy old business man across from us didn't seem to be as excited about what was out side his window. I guess that's what happens when you see it every day :).

We made it to our first destination, Union Station....
Then It was on to the Metro for a few stops to get to Grammy's building. Riley wanted to take a picture of the oncoming Metro train, not bad timing!
When we came up the stairs from the Metro, Grammy's building was right there...how convenient! Riley thought the building was "really big."

It took Riley a minute to see Grammy in the window, but was excited when he finally did.

Hi Grammy!

So happy to see his Grammy!

Riley and Grammy relaxing in her office.

We had some time to kill before we had lunch, so Riley and I took a walk around the big city. (I'll post about that later.) After our walk, we met up with Grammy again and got some food. Since the VRE only runs certain times we had more time to kill until we caught our train. Grammy had to get back to work, so Riley and I headed to the National Aquarium. (I'll post more on this later too.) I had heard of this aquarium before, but didn't realize how close it was to my mom's office. After the aquarium, we headed back to the Metro and then onto Union Station to catch our return train back home. We were a little early, so we relaxed in the waiting area and Riley entertained himself with his new truck......Grammy had this truck on her desk, but you see who has it now!
We finally got on our train and Riley enjoyed his snack.Not 3 minutes after he finished his snack he was on my lap sound asleep! I knew he had to be tired from all the walking we did...I was exhausted! We had a great day though and will definitely do it again. Thanks to all my VRE riding friends who's tips for a successful trip were perfect and thanks Grammy for a great lunch!

Our trip to the orchard.

2008-08-27T11:05:00.013-04:00

Every year around this time I have wanted to take Riley peach picking. Peaches are one of my favorite fruits, especially fresh from the tree. This past Sunday we finally made the trip. Since it is nearing the end of peach season I was worried that there might not be any left. We decided to go to an orchard that was not too far away in case there was not much to pick. We were happy to find that there were plenty of peaches left and that some apples were ready to pick as well. After checking in and driving up to the top of the orchard, this is what we found......

Plenty of yummy, yummy peaches!

Riley and Shea took off to start picking.

Riley doing some picking.

We ended up filling the bottom of this whole box with mostly peaches and a few apples.

Since the apples were just coming into picking season, there were not too many trees to pick from just yet. By the time we started picking apples, most of the big apples were already picked from the lower levels. Riley needed a little help to get to the good apples.....
Even though we didn't stay too long, it was fun for our first time. The peaches were so good and even the ones that were on the smaller side were still so sweet. When we got home I searched the internet for the perfect peach cobbler recipe. I have tried to make it in the past and never end up liking the crust/topping part, so I tried to find one this time that sounded good. I knew I had finally found the one when at the top it said "I've been experimenting with cobbler for some time and this recipe is the final result. Loved by all." Lets just say it didn't last but 2 days in this house. It was awesome! Here is the first one.....I say first because tonight I will be making another one. Gotta use up the peaches before they go bad, right?!
It kind of looks burnt in this picture, but that's just the yummy cinnamon sugar topping! I'll be sure to let you all know how the second one turns out.

A yard sale like no other.

2008-08-27T10:27:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday we helped our friends Kyle and Bethany with their yard sale, but it wasn't just your average yard sale at all. It was a yard sale to raise money for their upcoming adoption of a baby girl from Russia. (You can follow their adoption journey and read more about the yard sale here.) They have been raising money over the past several months to help cover the expenses related to international adoption. They collected items to sell at the yard sale from anyone who wanted to donate, trying to get as much stuff to sell as possible. It turned out that the community support was so amazing and they collected so much stuff to sell that they ended up making over $2500!! When they contacted The Washington Post to put an ad in about the sale, they did an article instead! We were so excited to be a part of this amazing event. We are so excited for Kyle and Bethany and their family and can't wait until they can bring baby Addison home!

Another busy weekend......a preview.

2008-08-26T13:22:00.003-04:00

Our schedule this weekend was once again packed full of fun! It started off on Sat. with our friend's amazing yard sale, followed by Riley's friend Scott's 4th birthday pool party. Sunday started with another stop over at the yard sale and then we were off to pick our own peaches and apples. Monday, Riley and I headed into DC by train to meet my Mom for lunch.

In the next few days, look for more detailed posts of our weekend fun!

My boy is so sweet.

2008-08-22T09:43:00.005-04:00

This morning as I was getting ready, Riley was sitting on my bed asking me his usual morning questions.....(a little background, I watch our friends 2 kids 4 days a week and we see them often on weekends.)

R:"Is Mason and Payton coming today?"
Me:"Yes, they will be here shortly."
R:"Mason is my friend, Tanner is my cousin."
Me:"Yes, that is right" (A few months ago we were discussing the difference between friends and family.)
Me:"What about Payton...is she your friend?"
R:"No, she's my girl!"

I thought that was so cute. I used to tell Riley secrets and I would whisper to him that he was my sweet boy or silly boy or whatever and he would whisper back that I was his girl. I guess I have been replaced!

Here they are watching a show together,
right before she gave him a kiss!

Here they are pretending to go to school.

Off to catch the school bus!

PW County Fair 2008

2008-08-21T11:41:00.007-04:00

Last Sat. Riley and I went to the Prince William County Fair and had a blast(Shea was out of town). We met up with some friends, which made it even better. Riley was mostly into the rides, which he loved last year as well, so I got him a wrist band to ride all day. He loved it! He definitely got his moneys worth. Here are a few of the rides.......can you guess which was his favorite?

The main event that night was the Motorcross show where guys on dirt bikes fly up huge ramps and then do crazy tricks in the air. It was really exciting and Riley was somewhat into it, but got bored after about 30 min....he wanted to go back to the rides, so we did. This was at the beginning before the thrill wore off.....

Here are a few of what they are looking at, pretty cool huh?!

We ended up staying until after 10pm and I think Riley would have stayed longer if I wasn't so tired :)! I had had my share of the PWC Fair by then. It was a really fun day though and Riley can't wait for next year.

We have a virus!

2008-08-20T22:35:00.003-04:00

No not Riley.......the computer! It just happened yesterday and we are in the process of getting it fixed. Basically we need to reformat our whole computer. Luckily we have a wonderful friend who is an amazing computer guy and has helped us twice now at getting our computer to work again(Skinner, we love you!) This time though he says it's bad, we have a virus and it's bad. Did I say it's bad? We have known for awhile that we needed to reformat, but have just been putting it off. A few hours ago we couldn't even get on the internet, but our friend saved the day! So, I thought while it is still working, or working again for the time being, that I would let you all know that I might not update for a little while. Not that I have been keeping up with this as much as I would have hoped, but I am trying to get into blogging, really I am :)! I really do want to share with you all our fun time at the PW County Fair, our crazy garden, my attempt at being a photographer and much more, but it's just going to have to wait. I will try to get some blogging in tomorrow.....let's just hope I can log on again!!

Riley's 1st Dentist Visit

2008-08-13T16:06:00.004-04:00

Riley had his first dentist visit on Monday and he did great! Aside from the 14 pages of paperwork that I had to fill out while trying to keep Riley from climbing all over the waiting room chairs and asking really loudly why the man was sleeping (obviously he had been there a while) and then announcing to everyone that was not sleeping that he had to pee, it went really well. Thankfully they called us back after only a few minutes, which felt like an eternity to me, and Riley was soon on his best behavior.....being scared will do that to you I guess. After a bit of bribing and a lot of patience the hygienist(sp) was able to count all his teeth, look for cavities (he has none, yea), and polish them, only after she showed him that it wouldn't hurt by polishing his nails first....oh, and taking off her mask! Riley was not liking the mask. He sat on my lap for the whole thing and I actually started out doing the polishing and then the hygienist took over. After she was done with the top, Riley realized that the toothpaste was too minty for him and she had to finish the rest without the paste. I was just happy he let her come near him at all at that point. Then the actual dentist came in for the exam and Riley was having nothing to do with him, even after he took off the mask. The dentist must not have had kids because he had zero patience with Riley and basically after about 2 minutes told me that we would have to try again in 6 months to do the exam part of the visit and walked out. I guess he thought all 3 year olds were just going to lay back and let some strange man shine a light in his eyes and then stick a pick and mirror thing in his mouth just because he demands him too. Not gonna happen, not with Riley at least. At that point I was so happy that Riley let them polish his teeth that I didn't even fight him to sit still and told the dentist we would reschedule. Next time it won't be with him though! Actually, I found out after we got there that the dentist I had originally made the appointment with, and the one who is great with kids, called out and someone else was filling in for him. I'll make sure next time that we actually get the kid friendly guy.

So, since I had to keep with my promise/bribe we headed to Target after the dentist to "get anything you want. " I was just trying not to make a scene, what can I say :)! After searching for the perfect toy, do you want to know what he picked out? Out of all the toys at Target, this is what he picked.......

Of course, more matchbox cars......yes another garbage truck. Hey, I'm not complaining. I can handle a couple of $.99 cars any day, but seriously, do we need anymore of these........

Gretchen Wilson

2008-08-13T15:32:00.006-04:00

My mom had 2 tickets to the Gretchen Wilson concert at Wolf Trap for Sat. Aug. 9th and she asked me to go. We had a blast! It was so fun and if you have never been to Wolf Trap you need to go. I had been there before, a while ago, and had forgotten how nice a venue it is. We actually had lawn seats, but decided it would be better for both our backs to up-grade to the regular stadium seats. We were not sure if any good seats would be left since we traded them the night of the concert, but there were! Look how close we are.....

We were only about 20 rows from the stage and almost right in the middle, perfect view. Here we are before the show...
Gretchen put on a good show, even though she is known to be a little rowdy and Wolf Trap is not really a rowdy venue, so she did the best she could with the crowd she had. There was definitely an interesting mix of people to say the least. Here are a few pictures from the night. My camera doesn't do too well when you zoom in, so they are kind of blurry.

Thanks for a fun night Mom!!

8-8-08

2008-08-13T14:27:00.005-04:00

Not only was Aug. 8th just a great date to have a party, it was also my nephew Tanner's 3rd birthday and the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Sounds like a great reason to have a party to me! My sister-in-law, Judie, thought so too. Actually, I think this party was in the works pretty much from the day Tanner was born, back in 2005, when Judie realized that he would be turning 3 on 8-8-08....how cool! The party was at my brother Eric's house and there was lots of good food, a pinata for the kids and a moon bounce for......well everyone actually. I love moon bounces. It even had a slide in it! Here is a slide show of some of the days activities.........

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Even though it was Tanner's actual birthday on the 8th, the party was more of a great day to celebrate, not really a birthday party. So, since Riley had a sleepover with Tanner, and Shea and I stayed too, we stayed for lunch on Sat. and had cake for dessert! A 3 year old can't have a birthday without cake, right?! The cake.......

Blowing out the candle......

and one of Tanner's little brother, Tegan......just because he's so cute!

Crazy busy weekend!

2008-08-12T10:11:00.002-04:00

Since this past Friday we have been super busy. Stay tuned for all the details on our 8-8-08 celebration, my nephew Tanner's 3rd birthday, the Gretchen Wilson concert at Wolf Trap with my mom, and Riley's first dental appointment!

Comments

2008-08-12T09:50:00.000-04:00

Some people have contacted me saying they want to leave a comment, but don't have an account or don't want to get one. Now you can! I didn't know that I had to change the setting to let anyone comment, not just account holders. I have made the change, so comment away. When you click on comment under the post there should now be an option to comment anonymously. You will still have to type in the security word, but it should still let you post.

Riley's Photo Shoot

2008-08-07T14:45:00.000-04:00

Riley really hasn't been into taking pictures, or staying still long enough to take one, so a few weeks ago I bribed him into a photo shoot. We had just got back from the pool and he looked so grown up to me and so cute with his hair all a mess and his surf shirt on.........so I decided to try and get some good pictures. This is what I got...........

Riley's new backpack!

2008-08-07T13:52:00.000-04:00

Just writing the title to this post almost brings me to tears! You might think this sounds crazy, but the reason behind why Riley got a new backpack is because he will be starting preschool this Sept. I can't believe that he is already 3 1/2 and such a big boy. I'm not sure who is more excited though, Riley or me!!! Lets just hope he is still excited come Sept. 9th. Anyway, to get Riley all into going to school I had him pick out his own backpack. A couple weeks ago we got a L.L.Bean catalog in the mail. Riley was looking through it and saw the backpacks so I had him pick one out. I thought this was perfect since we could get his name on it and they make a Jr pack just for preschoolers. (They would have put a label on it anyway at school, just thought I would help them out.) Ever since I ordered it Riley has been looking for the mail man to bring him his backpack. Yesterday was the day! He was so excited, especially since it had his name on it. When he spotted his name he said "Look R-I-L-E-Y, that spells Riley! That's me!" He wore it around for a while last night and today he was pretending to go to school, but of course not until he filled his pack up with his Matchbox cars. Here's a few pictures........

2008-08-06T13:08:00.000-04:00

So.....I guess this is the official start to my blogging adventure! I hope to keep up with this as much as possible and I'm super excited to be able to share with everyone all the fun things about raising a truly amazing son! Every day Riley seems to be getting into something new or learning more and more and I always want to share it with everyone.......and now I can! He is growing up so fast, too fast it seems, and I hope through this blog that those of you that we don't see as often as we would love to can at least keep up with what we are doing. That is if I remember to blog, right?!! I still have a lot to learn about this crazy blogging world, but I did manage to change the background from a standard one and added a picture. I was really excited about that and I'm sure I will change it around whenever I figure everything out, but for now I'm just happy that I have my first post!