More Birthday Fun!

We took Rylan bowling to celebrate his birthday.  He loves bowling and is getting pretty good at his method - the run-and-throw.

Watching Mackenzie's ball head down the lane.

Finding the right ball.

Go!

He did great, and had such a fun time.

Mackenzie was hilarious!  Every time she would push the ball down the ramp, she would throw her arms up with accomplishment.  She absolutely loved it!

It happened to be a dress-up week at school this past week, so Rylan had so much fun with non-traditional outfits.  Monday was purple day, Tuesday was beach day, Wednesday was wacky day, Thursday was sports day, and Friday was pajama day.   On his actual birthday, this is what he looked like - pretty wacky huh?  Jammie bottoms, camo shorts, dress shirt, cowboy boots, spiked up hair, and a transformer sticker right on the forehead. 

He was pretty proud of his outfit!

We had to sing and have cake on his actual birthday too, he was in heaven!

Here's a look at our awesome April weather!

I pouted about the snow all morning, but then decided we might as well have fun with it.  It was perfect for snowmen!

   Cute!

We had to dress the snowman up like a pirate, he looked great!

Mackenzie was eager to help with the snowman, but her tactic was a little different.

One for you...

 One for me!!!

Rylan is really ready for spring, all he wanted to do was play soccer,  so we kicked all ball around the yard.

Eating snow - as long as it's from the top and it's clean, I don't care!

Happy Birthday Rylan!

My little boy is 5!  Like every other parent, I can't believe how fast these 5 years have gone.  Rylan is such a sweet little boy and I'm so proud of him.  I would love to keep him little and innocent and shelter him from all the bad stuff in life, but I can't.  So I'm excited when he learns new things and has new experiences.  He loves life and he makes us laugh every day.  His imagination runs wild and he sings all day long.  I love that little boy more than life itself and I can't wait to see what the future brings for him.

Here are pictures from his pirate party.  We only mentioned dressing up to everyone, so we had no idea how great everyone would look!  Rylan was so excited that everyone got into it and we all had such a fun time!

Mackenzie supplied some entertainment on the harmonica.

Rylan loves treasure maps, so in order to get his presents, he had to follow the maps Nick drew and find them throughout the house.  

Happy Birthday Buddy, I love you!

Top Ten

I would like to say that this will be the first of many top ten lists, but who knows.  I was cleaning up the playroom today and was thumbing through all the books we have so I picked out my top ten favorite children's books.  They are in no particular order, so number 1 is not more favorite than number 10.  

1. One Hungry Monster 

by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

The counting and rhyming is fun to read and the monsters' shenanigans are cute.

 

2. Dumpy the Dump Truck series

by Julie Andrews Edwards & Emma Walton Hamilton

There are numerous books about this lovable little dump truck and I love the vocabulary they use along with the message of helping others.

3. So Many Bunnies

by Rick Walton & Paige Miglio

A story of a mother rabbit putting her babies to bed that incorporates numbers, the alphabet and rhymes.

4. VeggieTales Bible Storybook

by Big Idea

21 favorite Bible stories told using Veggie Tales stories accompanied with scripture from the NIrV.  Each story ends with "God made you special and he loves you very much!"

5. Mr. Brown Can Moo!  Can You?

by Dr. Seuss

Obviously the rhyming is fun, but so is making all the animal noises!

6. Pig's Egg

by Katherine Sully

An adorable pig thinks he lays an egg like all his friends on the farm.  So sweet!

7. One Sneaky Sheep

by Janet Samuel

A fun touch-and-feel book about a sheep who doesn't want to be sheared.

8. The Easter Egg

by Jan Brett

Amazing illustrations in a book about a little bunny trying to make the perfect egg for the Easter rabbit.

9. My Penguin Osbert
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
The sweetest story about a self-less little boy and his Christmas wish.  I cried the first time I read it!  I was pregnant at the time, but it's seriously so sweet!




10. Morris's Disappearing Bag
by Rosemary Wells
This was a favorite when I was growing up, but I had forgotten about it.  When I found it on a garage sale, I was so excited to get to share it with my kids.  And who doesn't love Morris?!  :)
The first picture is the book I remember having as a kid.  The second picture is the book we have now. (same story though)





One of the best things you can do for your children is read to them, so let me hear your favorite children's books!

More Skiing

Here is a young moose that wandered right up to the house.  He was eating the dead plants that were still in the flower pot.  Merrilee opened the front door to try to scare him off, but he just stood there, 3 feet away and stared.  

Then his momma showed up and off they went.

Rylan with his ski instructor on St. Patricks Day.

Riding the magic carpet to the top!

Life really is good!

The grown-ups

The kids went to daycare so we could get some time on the slopes too, it was wonderful!

Off we go!

The adorable parents-to-be!  I can't wait to be an aunt!!!

Rylan and Jack

Walking with Grandma

Tied up to Jack, going for a ride.

The only house cleaner allowed to sweep in his underwear!

He'll hate me for this picture some day, but he doesn't get much cuter does he?

Nick and I took a ride on the zip line, pretty awesome!

Ski School!

We went skiing over spring break and Rylan learned to ski! ski  We weren't sure how he would do because he tends to get frustrated easily, but I think it helped that he was with a group of kids and we weren't doing the teaching.  

 They just did some playing at ski school too - here they were getting ready for a race down the bunny hill on their tummies. 

So cute!

He was such a good listener, he always did just what his teachers told him to.

Look at him go, no big deal!  I can't even begin to describe how proud I am!

Hanging out, taking a break on a swing.

Totally zonked out.

I have to get more pictures of our trip, but they are on other cameras, so be patient!

Alone Time Ever?

Even in the morning when I'm getting ready, this is what is behind me.  

Okay, they are adorable as anything and it warms a momma's heart when they both sit nice and read books, but really, I can't even dry my hair by myself?  :)

Girls Night Out

It's just Mackenzie and I for a day as Nick and Rylan headed west to the ranch this morning.  They will be back tomorrow, but I thought us girls could have a night out.

After school/daycare, we first had to pick up Ace at the groomer, as he had a much needed bath today.   We brought him home, then headed to a baby store to do a little shopping.  I love this little store because the owner is one of the most beautiful mom's ever, inside and out, and she was there today with her little lady, who I haven't seen in awhile, so it was a treat to get to visit with her a little.  Not only does this store have ADORABLE stuff, but there's a little section with toys for kids to play with, so Mackenzie was happy as a clam there as well.

We then headed to supper at a local restaurant I haven't been to in a while.  Mackenzie was the perfect child and we had a great time, just the two of us.  We got home around 7:15pm and she told me she was tired.  So we got pj's on, brushed teeth, read a book, and she snuggled right in her bed and went right to sleep.  I seriously have the most wonderful little girl ever!!!!  She is so good about going to sleep.  We usually read a couple books, tuck her in, and that's it.  She rarely ever fights bedtime, I am so blessed!  We've never really had that with Rylan.  Since he's been out of the crib, he comes up with every excuse not to go to sleep.  One night (over a year ago) he told me his hair hurt and that's why he couldn't sleep.  And that was after his arm, leg, and tummy were hurting too.

But anyhow, it was so special  to have that one on one time with her.  Often times, I feel we try to do more special little things with Rylan because we're harder on him.  He gets held to different rules because he's the older one and he should know better.  He usually has to finish all his dinner before dessert where we might be more lenient with Kenzie because you can't really reason with her yet.  So special outings are usually for him because we want him to know we love him and are proud of him when he's a good brother.  So it was nice to have that time with Mackenzie tonight, just her and I, it doesn't happen very often.