Doodlebugs

I know I'm biased, but aren't these little doodles fantastic?
Ryen amazes me.

No Fair

Against our better judgment, Sonny and I decided to take the kids to our city fair tonight. Ryen and Maddie loved going on the rides. That Ry is a fearless girl, let me tell you! It was pretty eventful for me as well. I realized a lot of things. Specifically:

1. The mullet is alive and well
2. People who go to fairs love their tobacco products
   
3. The rides look just as unsafe in person as they appear on the news
   
4. Marijuana is very stinky
5. A fight between a drunk woman and a very old ride operator is a pretty fair fight
6. Cotton candy is not the thing to feed a child within an hour or two of bedtime
7. It costs $5 to spend 42 seconds in the back of a monster truck going 3 mph
8. If you choose to walk beside your child during a pony ride, the man prodding the ponies will think it's funny to make you run in circles
9. Three bears dancing on their hind legs to "Y'all Ready For This" is more disturbing than entertaining
10. We are never going to another fair
    

Nana & Papa

We were so blessed to have Dave and Norma come visit us. We love them so much! How special it is to see our children fall in love with their grandparents.

City Girl

I don't think I will ever forget holding Ryen's hand as we walked along the busy street. She took in a deep breath, looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm a city girl."

Nana's Treat

While we were at the museum, the girls (including myself!) were getting a little anxious to move on. Rather than pulling our husbands out before they were ready to leave, Norma suggested we take the kids to a carousel she had seen down the street. What a wonderful idea! It was so fun to watch Ryen and Maddie spend that precious time with their Nana. How grateful I am for her willingness to create these beautiful moments with my children.

Always A Museum

Of course, you can't go to DC without hitting some museums. This time we went to the National Air and Space Museum. It was pretty cool. Everyone who knows Sonny knows how much he loves that sort of thing. He was in heaven and probably could have stayed for hours on end.

My Favorite Little Monkeys

DC was so great. Sonny's parents flew in and met us there. We were also able to spend a little bit of time with Sheri (Sonny's sister), Jamie, and adorable little Grant. It was really wonderful to be able to meet up with them. We visited the zoo- where the wildest animals seemed to be my own. My goodness, these silly girls of mine keep me laughing!

Our Nation's Capitol

We're heading up to DC tomorrow. We'll pack up Sonny's work car (the "Man Van") and let the good times roll! Nana and Papa (Sonny's parents) are flying in from AZ to meet us there, along with Uncle Jamie and Aunt Sheri. We'll only get a couple of days with Sheri and Jamie, but we are so excited to spend that time with them! Dave and Norma will come home with us for the rest of the weekend. We are all so looking forward to that! Ryen has been literally counting down the days! She's going to completely freak out when I tell her tomorrow that it is finally THE DAY.

Jacket Weather

The weather has finally cooled off around here and we are loving it! We're taking lots of walks and soaking up the delicious fall splendor. Making our time outdoors even sweeter is this adorable coat I bought for Maddie at Old Navy. Isn't it adorable? She melts my heart!

Yo Gabba Gabba

Have any of you seen this show? It is insane! It's like something you'd see while watching TV in a foreign county... in the 70's. My kids love it. Crazy.

Artsy Fartsy

I have truly loved nurturing the budding artist in each of my children. Ryen's school does this cool thing where they save all of their art throughout the week and then they bring everything home at the same time- on Fridays. Just one more reason to love that blessed day of the week. :)

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
-Pablo Picasso

Sweetie Pie

We were driving home from school yesterday, when out of nowhere Ryen said to me:

"Mom, when you grow old, I will call you Sweetie Pie."

Just Some Random Stuff

It may not be the coolest of things to do in your free time, but digital scrapbooking is fun. :)

I love this man.

Anyone want to go to Disney World with us in October?

While The Cat's Away

The Princess of Preschool

Poor Maddie. She missed her big sister so much today!

Ryen is so happy at her school!

Check out that super-excited face!

Already surrounded by buddies...

How did she get so old???

Ryen with her teacher- Mrs. Howard

Well, today was the day. The day that all of us moms both look forward to and dread. That very first day of school. I couldn't sleep last night. My mind was a swamp. I couldn't stop wondering and stressing over the stupidest things. "Would her sandals be okay or are they supposed to wear tennis shoes? Do kids wear bows in preschool? Maybe I should have gotten some sort of gift for her teacher... but what? An apple? That's so lame. A bottle of aspirin?" When this morning finally rolled around, everything went just fine. I had planned to give Ryen a pocket full of (invisible) kisses so that if she ever felt sad or needed some love, she could just reach in there and take out a little kiss from her mommy. As soon as we entered her school building, she was off and running. She settled in with her classmates and, without looking back, started playing with some blocks. No kiss good-bye. No hug. No wave. Nothing. I was suddenly very aware of three things. #1- I am an idiot, #2- my little Ry is exactly where she should be, and #3- I was going to need some Kleenex for the car ride home.

Happy Labor Day

These are actually pictures I took on Saturday when we went biking at the park. Believe me when I say you would NOT want to see pictures of today. We all celebrated Labor Day with a big, nasty stomach flu. Hoping your holiday weekend was better than ours was!

Little Big Girl

Well, it's official. Madelyn moved into Ryen's room a few days ago. After listening to her sobs of devastation each night over not being able to stay with her sister, we finally gave in. I wasn't sure how it would work out but, to my surprise, they have done wonderfully as roomies! Madelyn is SO happy getting to stay with her big sister and has only gotten out of bed once- so far. Still, it's a strange thing to walk into Maddie's old room and see that empty crib. I still think of her as my baby. Ryen seemed so much older at this age. (We had to move her out of her crib early because she was climbing out of it early- the little hooligan!) It's amazing how different each of these beautiful girls is. Part of me hates to see them grow older, but I love to see the incredible people they are growing to be. I'm so proud of them.