From the mouth of Ry

Instead of just having a thing on the side of my blog that says it made me smile... I really need an entire blog dedicated to the things Rylan says. Everyday the kid cracks me up and amazes me. I need to start a post everyday that says... Ry's sayings for the day. Here are a few that I can think of right off hand.

After his Christmas program he told me he could not sing anymore as his voice was all tapped out.

After catching him kissing a girl on the bus (yes, on the lips) Josh was telling him not to kiss girls cuz they have coodies... his response "No dad those are called nipples and everyone has them."

At Pauls the other day.... very very loudly "Mom, I am itchy, the fleas are biting me. Me: "You don't have fleas Ry". Him "Yes I do and they hurt".

Santa comes to Pauls

Ry's Christmas Program

Ry had his Christmas program on Friday. It was very bittersweet for me. This is my 4th preschool Christmas program that I have attended with my boys and it will be my last preschool program I will attend with my boys. Amazing to me that it is gone... so fast!

Ry did a great job and tried to sing really loud but he just doesn't have a loud voice. He was so cute up there though and knew all the sings by heart... he had been singing them to me everyday for about 3 weeks.

Holiday Parade

A couple weeks ago they had the Christmas Parade here in Homedale. I was worried because the week before it had been below 0 and there was no way I was taking the kids to the parade in that kindof weather. But the day of the parade it had made it up to about 20 degrees. That is the only good thing about it being below 0... it defenitely redefines cold.

They boys had a blast and got a huge amount of candy for as cold and wet as it was.

Catching Up

I have a few posts to catch up on so that is what I am currently working on... however I ask that you bear with me on these as I am currently heavily medicated on Sudafed. I refuse to be sick over Christmas so I doped myself up on Sudafed and Tylenol and am hoping to get over this crap I have recently acquired. Anyone who knows me knows that me taking Sudafed is the equivalent of a normal person taking Ativan (an extremely heavy narcotic). I just cannot tolerate the stuff and don't take it unless deemed absolutely necessary. Since I have nowhere I absolutely have to be until Thursday I figured now was as good as any to take it. And it will take me until about Wed. to recover from said meds.

Christmas cards minus me

I ordered our Christmas cards yesterday and I had a picture I wanted so badly to use on them. The problem is I am not in it... so i thought of ways to photo shop myself in but in the end it really didn't work out. So everyone is getting Christmas Cards that say from Josh, Lindsey, Jace and Rylan Love but there is no me. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this picture so much in fact I orderd an 8x10 of it and it really is the perfect Christmas picture.

I know it is strange to do a Christmas card from the family and then not have the whole family in it but that is just the way I am.

Dog Tired

Yesterday Josh took Katey duck hunting on the river for the morning. She did great for him but was wiped out when they got back. After several minutes of searching my house for her... I found her.




Please don't look at the horribly messy closet... but instead at the cute animal inside of it. She retreated to my dirty clothes basket when she had no other way of getting away from my boys. What can I say... they are boys and slightly rambunctious, which most of the time bothers her.

The hunt for the perfect tree

I am doing this different because my blog is acting weird... so I will post all pics and then tell the story.

Every year Josh and the boys go to the mountains to search for the perfect Christmas tree and every year I struggle with the decision of whether or not I should go. I HATE the cold and the snow but feel like I am missing out on some major memories being made. I know when my kids get older they are going to remember the tradition of doing this every year and I am not going to be apart of that. BUT I have alot of my own things I do with the boys that Josh is unable to do because of work so I always come to the decision that I will stay home and let this be Josh;s tradition. I really really hate the snow.

That being said... Josh and the boys went to the mountains yesterday and found the "perfect" tree. I use that term very loosely... they love the fresh cut trees. I don't so much, I like the really full ones you get when you go to a stand and buy one but again this is there memories being made.

So today we were able to decorate it. I LOVE how my tree is decorated, it isn't pretty or stylish but all the ornaments on it are ones my boys have made for me or ones I have bought specifically for them. I wouldn't have it decorated any other way and this was the first year I let them do it all and didn't hover and change them. I will be the first to admit I am a bit of a control freak and have a hard time letting them do it all when they have 5 ornaments on 1 branch but I let it be this year and I really really love it.

I love this time of year and the magic it brings with it when you have young kids!

Ads on my blog

On the left you will see ads on my blog. My blog has been approved to put ads on and I am hoping to make a small extra income by doing this. If you are at all interested in the ad please check it out as I get paid by how many times an ad is looked at.

Thanks to add who read my blog.

More like Black Saturday

I did spend all day in town yesterday and got pretty much all my shopping done. YAY! It really wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be, although I didn't get up at 4 am and we didn't get over there until after 10 am. In the rushing to try and get all my shopping done in one day I totally forgot we needed groceries.

So this morning with the boys and Josh gone hunting for the perfect Christmas tree I decided to run over to Walmart and get some stuff. I got out of my car and was headed inside when I felt my feet go out from under me... like fly out from under me. There was black ice all over the parking lot. As I was going down I felt my hat fly off me and before I knew it I was on the ground... minus my hat. Of course there were several people around who witnessed it... no getting up and acting like it never happened. I did have one lady run over and ask me if I was ok while some other onlookers tried so hard not to laugh. I can't blame them I would have totalled laughed if it wasn't me. So I got up and dusted myself off and went shopping.

I think me and Walmart are having some issues lately... maybe it is time to change shopping destinations.

Jace is 7

It seems like I just posted Jace is 6! Each year goes by faster then the last... I really wish time would slow down just a little. I don't think I am asking for to much.

Friday night we had a "family" b-day party at the house and Saturday we had the "friend" b-day party at the roller skating rink. Jace was quite the skater when we got done. Jen and Randy came and brought there son Cameron who is great friends with Jace and Ry. His parents are great friends with Josh and I so it works out really well. Jen told me she was gonna skate... I laughed and had images of her falling on her rear. She really showed me... that woman can skate. I finally asked her "what is up with the pro skating Jen?" She told me she was on a speed skating team when she was younger. I knew something was up!

All in all both parties were alot of fun!

Oh and P.S.... those stupid fish that caused me to go to the wrong car (thats right, I am not above blaming the fish) are dead. Both of them deader then a doornail. So we bought a Beta fish which I have heard is nearly impossible to kill. Anyone wanna bet that I can get that job done?! I kill everything I touch... I am amazed everyday that my kids have made it this long!

The crazy lady in the Walmart parking lot

Jaces birthday is tomorrow and as always I procrastinated til the last minute to go and get his gift. Well not really procrasitinated... he wants a gold fish and there was really no way to get one before today and hide it for that long. So this morning I headed to Walmart after dropping Ry off at preschool.

After I got my gold fish and all the gold fish paraphanelia I headed back to my car. I was really focused on these fish in this bag and trying not to kill them before I made it home. My battery on my key fob has been acting funny so when I got to my car and realized it wouldn't unlock my car.. i was not all that surprised. Mad but not surprised. I stood there for 20 minutes taking the battery out, putting it back in (I couldn't just unlock my car cuz the alarm would go off and without the key fob I had no way to turn it off) and pulling on the handle as if it would magically be unlocked if I pulled on it 50 times. Just as I was getting ready to cry and call someone to help me out I looked in the window and realized this was not my car. Not only did I realize this was not my car but I realized although it was a similar color it was not even the same color as my car. So I casually push my cart away from the car trying to look totally normal and find my own car 2 rows away. Just as I get up to my car and it unlocks just fine an "older gentleman" comes up to me and says "I have been watching you for about 5 minutes now... I was getting ready to come ask you if you needed help, but apparently the only problem was you were totally lost in the parking lot." So much for noone seeing me. "I told him yes I was and we laughed. He then said "I have done that before but I am really old... you can't use that excuse."

Thanks old guy.... thanks alot! I am just so thankful that the rightful owner of the look a like Trailblazer didn't come out and see me trying to get into their car.

Building fence....and bonds

Let me just start by saying that Jace loves his dad... now I know all kids love there parents but Jace idolizes his dad... thinks he is perfect in every sense of the word.... wants to be EXACTLY like him. Jace has always been a daddys boy, from the very beginning. I remember Jace was a little over a year old and he smacked his head on our coffee table... I ran over to pick him up and he got mad and said "I want daddy". At the time it BROKE my heart... now I have come to grips with the fact that he is daddys boy.

So this weekend it was time for us to rebuild our fence. I use the word "us" very loosely since I was just pretty much giving moral support.... from inside the warm house. But Josh and Jace spent most of the weekend outside and got it done late Sunday afternoon. By the time they were done Jace was just as good if not better then Josh with the drill. It never ceases to amaze me how "boy" things come so natural to Jace... as if he has always been doing them. Whether it be sports, cars, rodeo or building things. They don't come more "boy" then Jace.



Jaces own little project.

The finished result.

Elk Down!

Josh got an elk today.... he is so excited. It has been years since he got one.

Halloween Party

Ry's Halloween Party was Friday at his school. Between school and trick or treaing the kids got a mountain of candy!!

Happy Halloween!!

Elk Camp

Yesterday we went up to the mountains so Josh and randy could set up there "elk camp" for hunting this next week. I LOVE being in the mtns. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the kids had a great time!!

The Pumpkin Patch

On Friday Ry's class went to the Pumpkin Patch... my kids LOVE going to the pumpkin patch. This was the first year his class did the corn maze and thank goodness the owner told us the secret to getting out before we started!!! Being lost in a corn maze with ten 4 year olds is not my idea of a good time.

That evening we carved the pumpkins that Riley picked out. He did a really good job at getting some big ones. After we carved them I told Josh to go out and get some pics of them.

If you are wondering where the pics of the pumpkins that I asked Josh to take are... well so am I?! The pics above are what he took when asked to take pics of the pumpkins... I am confused!

So I went and took this one this morning.....

The Firestation

So this is officially my 5th field trip to the firestation... one left to go and there will be no more trips to the firestation. I am not sure if I am happy or sad about that. There isn't much to do here in Homedale... so the firestation is at the top of the list for field trips. And it is the exact same speech and demos everytime we go. But my boys still love it so I go and act like I am really thrilled about being there! Isn't that what us moms do?!

Ry had a great time... he is so different then his brother. Jace would be really quiet and not answer any questions or volunteer for anything.... Ry volunteered for everything and yelled the answers out. They put him on the stretcher and he was fine until they lifted him into the ambulance and they he FREAKED! He rolled around on the ground demonstrating the stop, drop and roll. He is so much more outgoing then his brother.

On another note... I went to pick him up from preschool on Thursday and his teacher asked me to stay a minute because she needed to talk to me.... UH-OH! That is never good. She was laughing and said during class she was talking about the planets and after naming all the planets Ry raised his hand and said "Teacher Erica.... which planet is hell?" She asked him "what did you say" and he said "You know the place where bad people burn". Oh my.... I am happy he has the concept of heaven and hell but had to sit down and try to explain it a little bit better. The things kids say!!!

It finally hit us....

I am honestly not surprised, I am surprised that it didn't happen sooner. Jace has the flu!! Whether it is Swine flu or Influenza A we will never know... there is so much of it here in Homedale that they aren't even testing for it any longer. It hit Jace like a ton of bricks.... within 12 hours he went from running around at football practice to 104.3 fever. He couldn't even walk into the doctors office he is so sick. My heart breaks for him!

I am keeping my fingers crossed the rest of us don't get it... but I won't hold my breath!

bad about blogging

I haven't blogged in quite awhile... my camera is having problems and has not been working so there will be no pics.

Jace has been playing flag football.... the kid loves sports!! He has done really well and really seems to like it.

Josh and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on Sept 25th with a trip to Jackpot (technically we celebrated it when we went to Vegas last Spring but I felt we should do something the weekend of). We had such a good time!

I have really been trying to get out and walk everyday... been doing good, about 2 miles a day now. It helps that I have 2 great friends I go walking with... helps keep me motivated!

I started a bunco group and last Friday was our 1st night. I had played in one about 5 years ago with a friend from Nampa but it all ended when she moved to Hawaii (lucky gal) so I got one restarted and we had so much fun! It is a fun kid free night once a month with 7 good friends... just what I needed to get re-energized!

I think that is pretty much about it.... I have been driving bus pretty much every day and I LOVE IT!! I wish I had started doing this years ago. I only work 2-3 hours a day, make fairly good money and am with my kids at all times.... what more could I want?!

A weekend of painting

This last weekend we painted our house.... we should have done it 5 years ago. I will NEVER paint my house again... I will pay someone to do it. It was not a good exeperience for me or for my marriage!! Josh gets very grumpy when he does fix-ups around the house and this size of a project was way to much for him. Anyway - point being it was not a fun weekend!!!

But the house looks soooooo much better!!! I didn't think to get a before picture but take my word it looks 100 times better. Next thing to do is replace the doors and the florring then hopefully the house will be going on the market!

Back to preschool

Ry started back to preschool today. It is his 2nd year in preschool... his last year in preschool. I can't even begin to talk about him going to Kindergarten because the mere thought of it puts me into tears. So I have a whole year to not talk about it and I plan to utilize it!

Ry was so excited to go to school today... there was no tears! I was standing there talking to his teacher and a couple of the moms when he came up to me and said "Mom... when are you going to leave?" Apparently there was no issue with him being left.

So now I have 3 days a week with no kids for 2 1/2 hours.... whatever shall I do with my time?!

1st Grade

I cannot believe it!! Jace is in 1st grade this year... I cannot believe how fast these years have flown by. He is really becoming a little man and I don't like it one bit! I miss our lazy mornings when he was little and we had nowhere to be.

He did great this morning and he is super excited about getting to eat lunch at school. He has Mrs. Smith this year and has a couple good buds that he sits right next to so he was thrilled about that. I only got a little teary eyed as I left him with his teacher. I know he is in good hands, this teacher has gotten rave reviews by everyone I know!

I sure love this guy....

(Don't mind the date on the pic... it is really wrong)

Brother had to take a pic with him.