Alli's Third Grade Wrap-Up

Alli finished third grade on Friday and will embark on her last year of elementary school next in August.

Here we were on the first day of school:

And now here we are on the last day of third grade:

From the Botanical Gardens field trip and hiking Devils Den...

To the Fall Festival...

To being on Green Team, Honor Choir, and having awesome class parties....

From making new best friends...

To getting the teacher she wanted and loving her every second.

We had trials like math struggles and being challenged with a model of Neptune, and we had victories like being second in the school-wide spelling bee and making the Principal's Honor Roll.

We also endured TEN SNOW DAYS.

She performed alone in the talent show in front of parents and peers, and danced her heart out at every single school dance.  I am so so proud to be the mama of such a strong, happy girl who is confident in herself and knows what she likes, and loves her family above all.

Happy summer, Alli!!  You've earned it!

Riley's First Birthday!

Last week, our little Riley girl turned O-N-E!  We decided to have a party at the house with family and friends - I didn't even send out invitations!  I just texted everyone to let them know what time.  I teased with one of my friends that the theme of the party was "Shut Up Pinterest."  I didn't put together a big themed party with invites and decorations and so much expectation I couldn't live up to.  I hung a banner, bought some balloons, ordered a cake, and made some dips.  And I really couldn't be happier about how it all went.  I was relaxed, I enjoyed, and I think everyone else did too.  I'll delve into my feelings on mommy guilt and overdone birthdays in another post...on to the pictures!

Riley was a little unsure about the smash cake at first - she delicately put her finger into the icing after some prompting from her Nini.

Then she got the hang of it and realized how good Ricks cake is...

Then it was time for presents.  Our little lady racked up books, toys, pool stuff, her first baby doll, the Little People Klip Klop Princess Stable - oh and some shades.

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family who want to be a part of Riley's life.  Much love to you all, and happy first birthday to our sweet girl!

Pre-Mothers Day Recap

So even though my Mother's Day was by far the best day of the weekend (or ever), a lot happened this weekend before my special day.  First of all, I had to leave work early on Friday to pick up Riley.  She had a 101.5 degree fever.  Her fever finally broke today, and last night was one of my worst ever as a parent.  Nothing could make her happy, and I didn't know a child could cry for two hours straight.  But we survived, and how can you not love this face?

I didn't get to go, but Friday night Alli had her last school dance of the year where her dance club performed some Michael Jackson numbers.  The girl has some moves!  Saturday morning, Alli and I went on a bike ride together after Ryan went on his solo.  Then we headed to the ballpark for Alli's scrimmage.  She was 2 for 3 batting with two singles and two runs scored.  She also played the pitcher position as well as catcher.  She did awesome.  I am so excited to get to spend evenings at the ballpark again.  Alli is really enjoying playing, and many of the girls on her team go to school with her, so we get to interact with families who have kids Alli's age who live nearby.

After the game, we took Riley for the inaugural spin in her bike chariot, which she loved.  Thank goodness, because when that girl isn't happy, no one is happy!  It was a wonderful Mother's Day weekend all around, and I am just ecstatic that I got to spend it doing all of my favorite things (except having a sicko kiddo...).

Mama's Day 2014

I've been a mama for nine Mother's Days now, and I've had some good ones.  But let me tell you - this year is shaping up to be one of the best yet.  Riley let me sleep in until 8:30am (she's had a fever all weekend, so we didn't go to church this morning).  Then Ryan and Alli went to go get me donuts and Starbucks, the breakfast of champions!  And since Riley seemed to be feeling all right, we decided to go on our first family bike ride.  Ryan and I got bikes last weekend, and we've been antsy to try them out all together.

We did a 45 minute, 5 mile bike ride on the Mud Creek and Scull Creek trails.  Riley adored her trailer, and Ryan and I enjoyed our bikes.  Alli, however, did not enjoy much of anything.  Her tires were almost flat, and the bike is way too small for her.  Plus, she only has one gear.  Her new bike with seven gears was ready later the same day, thank goodness.  So this little trek represented the last hurrah for Alli's old bike.

After a good ride and throwing some rocks into the creek, we came home to drop Ryan & Riley off and Alli & I headed to the barn.  I got to sit in the sun and watch Miss Thang ride Tater Tot.  She even cantered over a jump!

Then we came home and left again to pick up Alli's bike.  Afterwards we went for "lupper" - lunch/supper at my favorite Mexican place on the planet La Hacienda.  Mama even had a marg.

Now Ryan is doing the grocery shopping while I lounge around the house.  We're planning another bike ride later this evening so Alli can test our her new wheels.  Then I was promised cookies and wine for dinner followed by watching the new episode of Game of Thrones when the kids are snoozing.  I'm serious, this might be my perfect non-beach non-Thanksgiving day.  Happy Mothers Day to all of the mamas out there.  I hope your days are as wonderful as mine!

Slang by Alli

A few nights ago I was getting Alli ready for school the next day by having her lay out her clothes.  She said "You know, Mom, I really need some new clothes."  "I know you do, Alli.  I'll go get you some.  What are you into these days?  Jeans and t-shirts still okay, or do you want to change it up?"

"I think jeans and t-shirts.  That's my swagga."  This statement was followed by two hands in deuces thrown up in the air.

Radio silence.  Then "Um, what did you say?"

"That's my swagga.  The jeans and t-shirts."  More deuces.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"You know, like that's what makes me cool.  It's my swagga."

I'm really not ready for this, people.

Riley {Eleven Month Update}

I know I say this every month, but come on.  Can you believe it's been eleven months since this little sweet thing joined our family?

Here are Riley's key words for the month:

• Standing.  Like tall.  Like pulling up on any and everything she can find.  She will pull up on cabinets, on the bench, on your legs, in the bathtub (horrors).  Anything she can use to get her feet under her she'll do it.  She transitions pretty easily from flat on her tummy to sitting down to her knees to standing.  It's alarming.
• Talking.  We aren't truly communicating verbally yet, but a few distinct noises that definitely are intentional.  When people walk in the room for the first time, she very cheerfully says "Hiiii!"  When she drops something throws something down, she looks over her chair and says "Uh."  One time I got her to say "Uh oh" but just the once.
• Clapping.  One day while singing patty cake to her, I noticed Riley rolling her hands together when I said "Roll 'em up," and then she followed that up with clapping.  A few times, she's even thrown her arms for the grand "Throw 'em in the pan" finale.

See that standing baby?  I am absolutely amazed at the changes that have happened in such a short time.  A month ago we were celebrating the army crawl, and now we're quickly baby-proofing and chasing her all over the house.  And telling her over and over again that she can't stand in the tub!

Our eleven month photoshoot didn't go as well as planned because someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and then she decided to have coffee talk with Lola rather than face the camera.  But Mama didn't get her coffee that morning because someone leaned over and pushed it off the bench.

When Riley wants you to sing to her, she bobs her head back and forth and says "Mmmbop" which almost always makes me break into a Hanson solo.  She loves any music with a good beat that she can dance to - she get it from her mama.

Can it really be her one year birthday next month?  Where has the time gone?  If she changes as much this month as she did last month, she'll be driving a car.  Slow down time!  Happy eleven months, Riley Roo!

Hoppy Easter!

I've made it no secret that Easter is not one of my favorite holidays - one of the major reasons being that it's on a Sunday, so I always have to travel!  This year my family did me the honor of letting me hostess Easter at my own house, so it made it just a little bit sweeter.

We spent Saturday at Alli's first ever softball practice where she demonstrated her mad (inherited) softball skills.  Seriously, this kid is a natural.  After practice, we went to Academy Sports where the men determined she needed a pitch back and some practice balls to work on hitting.  We spent the entire beautiful afternoon on the patio playing ball.  Alli couldn't get enough.

That evening we grilled burgers and dyed Easter eggs.  Riley observed and Ryan did most of the work. And I made sure Alli didn't color every single egg like a Ninja Turtle.

Alli left carrots and Reese's eggs for the Easter Bunny.  I have it on good authority that he enjoyed the eggs more than the carrots.  And he wishes she'd leave wine instead of water, but it's totally fine either way.

The next morning, Alli awoke to 23 eggs hidden around the house and a basket full of goodies.

Because she wasn't familiar with all of the good hiding spots in this house, she needed all of the egg hunting help she could get.

I know you're not going to believe me, but after egg hunting and breakfast, we got this house full of people up and to church at 9:45AM!  We even got there early, so we got good parking and good seats.  The service was beautiful and we sang some of my favorite hymns.  Riley made it to the sermon when Ryan took her in the narthex with the other daddy-baby combos to play until it was time to sing again.  We had beautiful weather to come home and take pictures as well to document that we all got prettied up and went to church together.

After lunch of fried chicken and chocolate layer dessert, we kept softballin'.  It was really a fantastic Easter.  Maybe I'm starting to come around on this holiday...