Ry's funny

Yesterday we were driving and there was a no parking sign on the side of the road. Ryan noticed it and said, "Look, a P!" Now, for those of you who don't know we are working on Ryan recognizing letters, we forgot that we actually had to teach the child this and it wasn't one of those naturally emerging things.

He goes on to say, "Look, the P is exed out." That would be exed, as in rhymes with text.

He then says, "That means you can't pee on the grass."

Hahaha, "no, that means you can't park on the side of the road."

A minute of silence and he corrects me, "No mom, a exed out P means no peeing on the grass."

Thank goodness they have those signs all over, now I will never worry about picnicking on the grass in Havre de Grace...although I worry that the people in the city are misunderstanding the big signs where the P is not exed out...is that why it smells so foul sometimes?

Smart girl

Just now Layla was writing a story and she asked, "Is there a little see after the eye in aisle?"

Um, what?

"Is there a little see after the eye in aisle?!?"

Say it one more time....

"IS THERE A LITTLE SEE AFTER THE EYE IS AISLE?!?!?!?!?!?!"

I finally turned around and looked at what she was asking...

Is there a little c after the I in I'll? She didn't know the name of the little c (apostrophe). And I am not smart enough to understand the difference between aisle and I'll.

I guess I need to pay more attention to my children and look when they are talking to me!!

Could have gone a lifetime without this experience

Jason called me yesterday at work. I was in a patient's room and normally wouldn't talk to him, but I could tell something was up. You know what I mean, that tone of voice that just cuts to your heart and you worry about what happened. He wasn't panicked though, so I knew the kids were okay and nothing terrible had happened.

I listened with growing shock as he told me the following story:

Austin and one of the neighborhood boys were playing out back. Another little boy ran by and Austin asked him why he was running. Other little boy replied that he needed to get home so his dad wouldn't spank him. Austin answered that he got spankings all the time and that they weren't so bad. Other little boy started punching and kicking Austin. Austin tried to hold other boys arms down. Other little boy pushed Austin down and climbed on top of him. At some point neighbor boy ran inside to get his mom. Meanwhile Austin was yelling, "I give up! I give up!" While other little boy scratched at his eyes.

I was in shock and near tears. I am sure some of you know that feeling of helplessness and shock when something happens to your child that you can't undo and you can't make better. I wanted to leave work right then and go and hold Austin in my arms. (A separate part of me wanted to leave work and go fight other boy! Thankfully that was a small part of me.)

Layla ran inside and got Jason. He went and talked to other boys mom and they discussed the whole situation.

Austin is over it, and I will be soon too, but it is a hard thing. And I know it will just get worse as the kids get older. Below: Austin enjoying a mini ice cream cone, you can see the scratches under his eye.

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. We went on the hay ride. And then spent almost 30minutes finding just the right pumpkin for each of us.

It was a very fun day. It was so nice to do something all together.

Stinky or not!

We started this new plan. Every morning is a nightmare because the kids can never find everything they need to get up and dressed for the day. So a week or so ago I found a book shelf and put it in the hallway upstairs and now before bed the kids put all of there things on the shelf. Clean undies, shirt, pants, socks, and shoes. Everything they need in one convenient place. This morning Layla's clothes wouldn't fit. Really just her pants. They were too tight. Not surprising, she is still wearing her 5T jeans. With her size 6 bootie! So I have her try on each pair of her pants. Three pairs of pants fit, probably ten don't. (Yes, she has way too many clothes!) Annoying, now I need to buy her new jeans. I remember doing this not that long ago (it has probably been a year or more!).

Then I come down stairs and Austin is walking around with one shoe on. Only one of the $40 we just bought him because he has no arch and needs really good support so we had to buy fancy, stinking, New Balance tennis shoes that he will probably out grow right about Christmas time when I won't be able to afford new ones. So anyway, he is walking around.
"What are you doing?"
"I can't find my shoe."
"Why wasn't it on the shelf?"
"I couldn't find it last night."
"So it made more sense to you to wait until this morning to start looking for it?"
I will edit the other not motherly things I said to the poor child. I did find his shoe under the curtain in the computer room.

I put the two big kids on the bus and am happy to only have one to entertain for the morning.

When the kids get home from school we run around and get Austin's stuff all ready for piano lessons and scouts. We take him to lessons and drop him off.

We then go to Target to look at new clothes for Layla. We probably spend 20 minutes in the girls section with me yelling every 2 minutes. The kids are fighting and hitting and pushing and I am saying, "You better stop." "Quiet!" and "do you want me to be mad?" So finally, after 20 minutes of this and finding no good deals on jeans, but some pretty good deals on summer clothes for next year, I finally say, "FORGET IT!! WE ARE LEAVING!!" and I put all the good deals back on the clearance rack and storm out of the store.

With two little sad blond children in tow.

We get in the car and I start to calm down. I decide to swing by a consignment shop on the way home and find four pairs of jeans for $4 each. They are in great shape, cuter and cheaper than the others I had seen that day.

We then go to the library and get the rest of the books from the new series that I have started.

So all in all, this day only kind of stunk!

Ryan in Pre-school

Ryan is in pre-k now. He gets to go to school everyday from 1:00 until 3:30. Then he gets to ride the bus home with Austin and Layla.
He really loves going to school!

Lessons from Primary

This is Ryan's Primary Handout from a few weeks ago. It made me laugh and laugh that his three forgiving people were so unhappy.

Sunday afternoon Pictures

Sunday after church I had the kids pose for some pictures. Ryan and Austin were both wearing their little black suits for the first time. I asked them to pretend like they were spies. By the look on Ryan's face, he took that pretending a little too far. He looks like a little slightly inebriated spy!!

My baby!

I sure do need some color on that wall!!

Aren't they cute!!

A first day of school Sadness

I was just getting ready to blog about the first day of school...but apparently my pictures are lost. I swear I uploaded them to the computer, but they are nowhere to be found...
No cute picture of Layla and Austin on their first day of first and third grade, both wearing their new shirts.

No picture of both of them getting on the bus.

No picture of the cute (slightly off color) pencil shape and frosted brownie I made for them when they got off the bus.

No picture of Ryan on his very first day riding the bus to school ever.

No picture of Ryan getting on the bus with his big brother and going off to pre-k.

No picture of how clean my house was when they all came home from school on my first day all by myself for a few hours.

Okay, so that last one didn't exist in the first place, but all of the others did, and they are lost.

O'well, most of those things really did happen and we will just have to try and remember them. Maybe we will remember them like the people on the Windows Seven commercials. Do you know what I mean? Austin will remember himself slightly older. Layla will remember herself slightly more princess like. Ryan will remember himself with slightly more crazy hair. And I will remember myself showered, dressed, matching, with my hair done, make-up on, and a clean house!

Thinking

So, I have been thinking...

No, that is not new...I do think sometimes...

I am always stressed out about something,

most of the time it is money. It is an easy thing to stress about. I think I worry extra about it because I am the one who is making it. Wow, I didn't know how hard it was for the husband. It is stressful!

Anyway, we went to the beach with some friends and she mentioned refinancing to lower her interest rate. I looked into it a little, filled out an online application, Jason talked to some people at our bank...lots of work made short, we are hopefully going to be lowering our interest rate, WITHOUT having to refinance!!! It will save over $150 a month.

This got me thinking about other ways we can cut down on expenses...

Get rid of cable? We lived for five or six years without it...

Get rid of cell phones? We are seriously considering this (okay, seriously may be a stretch). Rationally I know that we don't need cell phones, but really? How will we live without them? What will I do while I am driving? I will be so bored and lonely!!

We don't need to get rid of expenses, but it certainly would help!

I just wonder what you can or can't live without.

I don't even know what to title this

Layla is in the bathroom and calling for more toilet paper. I asked Austin to please get her some. My hands are soapy as I wash the dinner dishes.

Austin responded with the following:

Mom, yesterday when Layla was going to the bathroom she called and asked me to get her more toilet paper. I told her I would get her some, but I would not get her any the next day. Well that is today. I asked her why she couldn't just use the toilet paper that accidentally fell into the garbage can. She said that it was gross and there were bad things on it, like snot. I told her that I use that toilet paper all the time and I never see anything on it. I don't know why she won't use it...







I didn't even know what to say to that...

Growing Pains

Not too long ago Austin and I were walking side by side holding hands. For whatever reason, I thought, "How much longer will he let me hold his hand?" I felt like I needed to remember and treasure this moment because he is getting to THAT age. You know what I am talking about.

The age where he realizes how uncool I am.

The age where he is more worried about his friends than his family.

The age where he doesn't want to be my little boy any more.

As these thoughts all ran through my mind I teared up (yes, like a crazy person) and started to miss these days. Yes, the days that I am still living, I started to miss.
I feel like I spend most of my days looking forward to tomorrow. And I don't spend enough time enjoying today and the little things that bring me joy. So I am going to try and enjoy life more.
I am going to not think of bedtime as often.
I am going to try and remind myself that the kids will be grown-up before I know it and I will miss the days when they used to play (loudly) together.
I am going to try and hold Austin's hand for as long as I can.

I am thinking that Austin is somewhere around 15 months in this picture!

This was at a Stake Mother/Son activity. One of our cool friends gave each of the boys a mustache to wear. They thought they were so awesome...and they were!

CELL PHONE

We have had Verizon phones for over 7 years. Every year or so we get new phones and renew our contract. In one month our contract is officially over. I am investigating different cell phone companies and contemplating going with a different company. I am not sure that we will leave Verizon, but I feel like they are SO expensive. Maybe they all are.

I wonder who do you use as your cell carrier and would you recommend them?

My garden part 2

This is our garden today. I had to clean up the tomatoes because they were out of control.
I still love all of the green! The squashes are a little over powering.

This is the tiniest watermelon I have ever seen! About the size of a seed!

Hammerman Beach

This is the Hammerman Beach Area. It is in Gunpowder State Park in Baltimore County. It is exactly 40minutes from my house and we love it. It was a recent discovery that will help our summer be so much more fun. Anyone want to come play with us? I am serious. We will probably go once a week because it is so close and just the right size for my kids. They can swim, they can play in the sand! Let me know if you are interested and we can car pool there!

My garden

We had the big dead trees cut out of our back yard...this is the open space we have now!!

This is my garden! Jason built it for me. I bought mostly starters, but did plant
carrots and radishes from seeds. I love it!

Happy Anniversary

Jason and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary a couple weeks ago...we didn't even realize we were matching until we went out to dinner!! Great minds and great couples think alike!

Happy Birthday to the most beautiful 6 year old girl!

Today is Layla's 6th birthday!

This is her new bigger bike!

When she and Austin woke up this morning they both had low grade temperatures. We kept them both home from school. But then as the morning went on...we didn't know what we were going to do with our day! I jokingly said we should go to the beach. The next thing I knew we were in the car on the way to Rehoboth.

We had the best time. We spent about four hours there and it was just perfect.

Our new van...finally

Some people won't drive a mini-van...but I LOVE MINE!!!
See why below
Our new van, I don't LOVE the color, but when you're buying used, you can' be too choosy.

Butt Warmers, a must for my chilly buns...

Built in garage door opener!

Automatic everything

Navigation

Wood paneling

This is trying to show you the built in rear entertainment system

in floor storage area...it is a lazy susan, and head phones for the DVD player

third row seat, which can fold down two seats, or one seat, or all three seats.

fold flat rear seating

deep back of van for lots of groceries

rear back up camera....stop, don't back up!!!

We LOVE our new van (it is not new, 2005, just new to us). It is the touring model which means it has all the bells and whistles. A few of the things that I couldn't show you were the 17 built in cup holders (seriously?!? who needs that many cup holders? If you have that many cups you better also have a built in port-a-potty!). A 6-CD disc changer, this is actually behind the back up camera/navigation screen, the screen folds in and there is where you put your CDs, it is SO cool. (Not that we really even have CDs that we listen to anymore). XM radio, that we had for the first month, but haven't paid for, so not so cool. Run flat tires, it also tells you when your tire pressure is low. It has a sonar type system so it will beep when you are getting to close to something or when someone is getting to close to you (this one is actually annoying sometimes and you can turn it off). All leather seating. lots of little compartments to put things in...really nice on at 15 hour drive to Florida. Rear heating and air conditioning. Dual temperature controls ( his side 60's, my side 80's). we can listen to the radio/CD while the kids use their head phones in the back to listen to a DVD. Sun roof, roof rack, automatic side doors, automatic back door. Anyway, I LOVE MY NEW CAR!

Crappy things about the car: black carpet...almost as bad as white carpet, I seriously need to vacuum...and CAR PAYMENT...we have been very blessed to never have a car payment before and this is not very fun to get used to...