Getting Ready for Pre-K.......early.....

Ryan is wanting to go to school sooooooo bad!!! He asks daily if he gets to go to Pre-K yet. So I told him he'll go next year, but we better make sure he's going to be ready. Normally for daycare we use Funshine Express Curriculum, but this year most of the kids are so young (8 months-23 months) that I decided to create my own this year. For Ryan though we are using Brighter Vision Curriculum just to give him an added boost for next year.

So this week I've been using their beginner books just to see where he is with his learning. I've really been amazed. He's doing great on his colors, shapes, sizes, counting, problem solving, and even adding numbers!! So I think next week we'll start the next stage books - luckily I have TONS of these books already - before I found Funshine these are what I used with Dylan & Kale.

Of course Ryan isn't too accepting of my answer about how quickly he gets to start school. Every morning he gets himself dressed(faster then Dylan), packs his backpack, eats his breakfast then asks for me to pack him a lunch. He wants to go with Daddy & Dylan too. He's not very happy when Dylan gets to go to class & he doesn't though.....But, he is getting dropped off at daycare now instead of waking up there!! LOL

But as you can see he's VERY into finger painting. You'd be amazed at the things I convince him to do by telling him he can finger paint when he's done. (clean his room, put away his laundry, eat his lunch...) It's so great! Hopefully he'll still enjoy finger painting when he's a teenager!! Hey I can hope! :)

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round & Round

Last Saturday was Build & Grow at Lowes again - only this time I got to go too!!! (So of course I took as good of pictures as I could get.

This time the boys got to build a School Bus

They have sooo much fun doing these little projects! Dylan did most of his by himself & for Ryan we would just start the nails for him then he would finish hammering them in.

Both boys were so proud of these little things when they finished. They were really cute each kit came with stickers & 4 little "people" slide in cards so you could choose who was ridding the bus. Dylan Picked Aliens & Ryan picked Robots.

Our friend Zane was even there building a School Bus with his Dad!

He's in Kindergarten!!!! :'(

We went to enrollment verification on the 12th of Aug. and found out that Dylan's teacher from last year had moved up to kindergarten this year & guess what?!?! He's in her class again! This is really good because he was actually scared about going to school this year. So this made him very excited!! On the 17th we got to go to meet the teacher night(well, for Dylan it was see your new classroom night). Then the first day of school was the 20th. Today is his 3rd day & so far he really likes it. Yes, he already has a "girlfriend" Hannah is his new little friend, but we haven't gotten to meet her yet. Asha is in a different class this year....

Here are a few pictures of the events....
Breakfast on the first day of school ~ Dylan's request *Waffle, Banana, Yogurt, & milk!! Yum!
Getting ready to walk out the door...

Being Silly on the Second Day of School (we couldn't get pics the first day, too many people around)

MMMmmm.......Chicken & Dumplings! (w/ carrots)

Last week my mom came to stay a few days. On Friday she made homemade chicken & dumplings.

Every time I would eat Aydan would stare at me, so I decided to give him a few bites of mine. He loved them!! So for super that night I gave him some on a plate with some steamed carrots. He ate them so well, he had no problem feeding himself, in fact I think he liked it better...I was doing it too slow.
He had only fed himself fruit/veggie puffs & cheerios before this. Since he has also had pancakes....yumm!(no syrup-that'll be an adventure for another day!)

Brotherly Playtime

Yesterday we witnessed a rare moment in our house, all three boys playing near each other. This usually ends up with Dylan & Ryan upset that Aydan is chewing on the toys. I guess the paci was taking care of that.

This is the daycare "cage", we use it until the youngsters start walking then off they go with the rest of the kids. I just worry that the older ones will trample the babies...
Of course we don't usually have that many toys in there, but if you are wanting to build a castle you'll need lots of Pop-Onz!

Wow, Kindergarten....I just can't believe it.....

Less then 2 weeks until Dylan starts Kindergarten. I still can't hardly believe he's old enough. Yesterday JD & I were talking about the day we discovered Dylan was on his way....the last 5 years has just flown by!

He's not too excited about it though, I guess last year he heard that kids get put out in the hallway by themselves if they aren't resting at rest time. Not that I think he really has a reason to worry as far as I know he had no problems with this last year, but it still has him very freaked out. He's scared of being out there alone...so maybe I'll have to talk to his teacher about it.

In one week we get to go to "meet the teacher night". We are super excited to find out who his teacher is! Plus we want to get his supply list so we can shop.

This year we didn't really have to do much clothes shopping because some friends gave of a bunch of really really really nice clothes! So we are good to go through fall or until he grows - which ever comes first...

Build and Grow - Power Boats

Last Saturday the boys got to go to Lowes for the Build and Grow class again. This time the got their aprons.

I haven't gotten to go with them to this class yet so I have to do my picture taking after they're done.

I think they look so cute in their goggles & aprons!

...Anyways, these are the power boats they built this time. They have rubber bands in the center, so when you turn their "motors" and put them in water they go pretty fast. We had boat races in the tub yesterday morning, Dylans seem to win the most, but I think it was just because Ryans would get started before it touched the water loosing it's power....

We have quickly discovered they weren't really meant for water though, The bottom of Ryans split as it dried, and both of them have signs of rusting nails.....but oh well, I guess really we can't keep them forever anyways...

So much personality!!!

Aydan has changed so much over the past few months. He's starting to go from baby to little boy. Sometimes the things he laughs at - just shows how much of a boy he really is. The other day I was changing his diaper & he starting peeing everywhere!!! He just starting laughing-I mean a full belly laugh! You would have though someone had in strapped down and was tickling him with a feather, just laughed & laughed.

He also enjoys dress up. Dylan & Ryan love bringing things in the living room for him to wear. Last week this is what he got. He really enjoys it and doesn't like it when you take his costume away.


Of course even dressing up can wear you out.....

He slept like this for about 45 min, then started playing again...

Visiting Grannie

Well, recently we went to visit Grannie. Her brother passed away from cancer, so we went down for the funeral.

It was really nice for us to all get to visit even if it was a sad reason.

Grannie got to feed Aydan his breakfast. Baby Oatmeal & Pears....yumm!
Dylan was enjoying a bowl of Coco Puffs.
Andrew was eating his "corn cereal", and Ryan had Coco Puffs.
The cousins sure do enjoy playing together! (and eating breakfast)

I got in trouble....

..for not having any new pics of Aydan so here he is!!!

He's almost 9 months old already, I can't believe it - time is just going by so fast!!

Halloween in July?!?!?!

A couple weeks ago some friends gave us a bag of dress-up clothes for the daycare kids to use. The night I was going through them Dylan & Ryan came in and wanted to have a "Halloween Party" in their room & invited J.D. & I to attend(well it was more telling us we had to, but you get the point). So being the fun loving parents we are we dressed up, grabbed the camera & entered the ~dark & scary~ room(lights were off).

Lowes: Kids Club

Last Saturday J.D. took the boys to Lowes for the Kids Club activity. This is the project they did. They give the kids safety goggles, a Lowes apron, and a patch after they finished.

J.D. helped Ryan with his.


Dylan did his all by himself!! He kept the stickers & said he didn't like them on it.

At least someone is getting to enjoy it.....

Well a couple months ago I planted a garden. I keep seeing the plants starting to produce veggies, but then a couple days later they've disappeared. Last Monday I went out to discover a baby bunny eating my cucumbers then he quickly made a getaway under our back fence. On Wednesday I went out and found him laying with his legs all stretched out & his tummy resting on the ground just soaking up the sun, but when he saw me...again under the fence! So being the person I am I rush to Amazon.com to buy a trap!!! My cute little live trap got here Monday, so I set it right away. Within 4 hours here's what I caught(yes I set the trap twice). We took them that night and released them far far away.

Well, two days later smart little bunny boy in still loving my garden.
At least I got a few things!

Aarrgg!!! Me gots teeth!!!

Well, last Thursday Aydan got his first tooth!! He gave us no signs, no swollen gums, no crabiness - nothing! It just showed up!
Front bottom left.

Today he got #2. For this one his gums were a tiny bit red & were white on top so since about Monday we knew it was coming!!
Front bottom right.

He did it, he finally did it....I knew he would someday...

On Friday the boys & I were making some nifty little Fathers Day cards while J.D. was at work(they are sail boats made out of paper plates and the stand up on their own!!), well once we were finished making them Dylan & Ryan asked if they could do some "art" with the left over construction paper. I told them they could as long as they cleaned up their mess when they were done.

Dylan got finished first so he went on to his room to play, then Ryan went running through the living room with the scissors so I told him he needed to go back to the kitchen with them. He went into the kitchen put them down and ran back through the living room....well I immediately knew something wasn't right - for two reasons #1 he NEVER listens the first time you ask him to do something and #2 he doesn't give up an opportunity to make a mess using paper & scissors... So away I went on my search to find out what he did.....

Here is what I found


I was soooo sad...I've worked so long and so hard to grow out that sweet red hair.
Well I guess I'll remember these sweet locks by putting them in his scrapbook (of course that means I have to actually find time to scrapbook).

Of the two older kids he is the one I expected to try this. He just has that sort of personality.

6 years as of May 31st - boy what a great 6 years!

I don't watch a lot of TV but when I do I like to watch "Jon & Kate plus 8". I've always been impressed with how well they've done raising so many little ones all the same age. Anyone who knows me knows how much that show is right up my alley.
Last night I watched and found out that sadly yesterday they filed for divorce. I understand things can be tough with kids and just life in general, but don't get how two people who love each other enough to get married in the first place can just let it all go. They had made it through so many struggles in their lives, but now just give up. I know of at least 20 reasons why they needed to stay together...8 blessings, 10 years & 2 people who love each other (but just can't get past their anger). Life is so much more then anger towards someone.

Well, okay time to get back on track. So anyway, all of this made me proud of what God has given me. I may not have a TV show on TLC, a big giant house, or 8 kids...but I do have a wonderful Husband a three wonderful little blessings. I'm so proud of where I've ended up. I guess I'm just lucky.

Today I pulled out our wedding video. While I watched it I though about all the things we've been through together easy & hard. Sometimes we have been brought almost to our knees but we've always been able to stand back up - Stronger then before.

6 years Strong!!

1 Cat($100+)
3 Kids($10000+)
Many Friends & bridges that have been put under construction(okay so I need to work on that still).($???)
1 House (personal)
1 Dog ($100+)
=1 Wonderful Life!! (Priceless)


On to ten years! We are planning to renew our vows then. So I guess I'll have to try to get the wedding gang all back together for that.

Sorry for the most random post ever! :)

Fishing can be painful..... :(

Saturday evening we decided to go fishing at the lake. This lake is completely man made so it has a cement border all the way around it.



The fish weren't biting at all so Dylan & Ryan were running around when Ryan tripped on the cement.
He scrapped both knees & his head. Needless to say the next night when we started getting ready to go fishing again Ryan didn't want to go.
We still went & had no owies this time. Together we caught 5 fish though!!

Time to eat...

Last week Ryan & one of my daycare kids told me they wanted to "cook" for me. (They were playing restaurant) So first they took my order & Nana's order, then proceeded to make our food. Of course Aydan had to join in. As soon as we got sat down they asked if I needed a highchair for my baby & brought me one. (Isn't he so cute in it!! Just ignore the color, that's all Step 2 ever made them in!!)

Sorry about the blurred out faces, I don't put daycare kids pictures on my blog without asking first. If I get permission I'll fix it. (Of course this means I have to remember to ask...lol)

What are they doing to me???? (part 2)

We just took Aydan to his 6 month appt. with OSU for their research study. (For info on it please check my blog form March)

Well this appt. was fast!! Less then an hour. Could've been even faster but Aydan wanted to play with his toes during the first test (computer screen faces thing), really he was doing anything he could to keep from looking at it. I think he thought it was funny to not look. Finally I gave him his paci & rubbed his head so he settled down & got it over with. It took about 15 min, when he could have had it over with in about 4-5min.

He had no problem with the second test though(cap brain wave thing). He nursed & played the whole time.
We go back for the last appt. at 9 months so I guess sometime in July/Aug. Hopefully that one goes as well as this one!

Why you wear safety goggles while doing yard work....

This happened today while J.D. was using the weed eater in our front yard. He was about 6-7 yards away too!
Just a reminder to always use your safety gear and keep youngsters away too!

Took a while to clean up! We'll park the cars down the street from now on!! :)