Almost four years old...

Sometimes I think you would rather go back to being a baby...

You love to be silly and climb in your brother's crib! 

You have the cutest face I have ever seen :)

You are such a sweet big brother to Riley.  You are quite the little protector of him!

And you make me laugh myself silly with all your cuteness!

You are quite the little performer and will still play that guitar any chance you get!  I seriously can NOT believe my baby is about to be FOUR YEARS OLD!!!  Where did the time go, Reid?  I love you more, so much more than I did the day you were born.  My heart is so full... if it were any fuller, it would burst.  I am so thankful for your sweet little life.  I can't wait to celebrate YOU!

9/11 A day to remember

I will forever remember this day like it was yesterday.  I was teaching 4th grade at the time and remember having my tv on in my room while the kids were at music or p.e.  A reporter broke in and there was all this breaking news about an airplane crashing into the twin towers in NYC.  It was just so surreal and I couldn't even believe it was happening.  It completely took my breath away and sucked the life right out of me.  I remember having a hard time teaching that day... I had to hold it together for the children.  I remember having to sit my classroom of 4th graders down at the end of the day that day and tell them what had happened and tell them it was going to be okay.  We were all going to be okay.  How do you go on after something like that?  Today marks the 10 year anniversary of all those that lost their lives that day.  It seems like yesterday.

 

As I watched the coverage on the news this morning of all the names being read of those that perished, I couldn't help but shed tears for those families who are still grieving for the loved ones they lost that horrific day.  I said a prayer for those families before my children ate their breakfast this morning.   I love that President Obama read Psalm 46 as part of his speech.  Thank you that we have a God we can lean on & trust in at all times... especially today. 

Our new little walker

Riley decided to start walking this weekend when he was at his Mimi & Papa's house.  He is SO dang cute walking all over the place and can even stand up on his own without any help from any piece of furniture!  We can hardly believe it!  He took his first steps on August 12 (13 months) and on September 2, (almost 14 months) decided he was ready to be done with crawling!  Oh my.... now the real fun begins!  

LOVE watchin' you walk little buddy!

A little Labor Day Fun

This has truly been a "laboring" holiday weekend in every sense of the word, but we had a little fun in there too! Rodney & I had been planning a weekend sans kiddos this weekend for quite some time.  My sweet parents kept our boys from Friday to Sunday so we could organize, clean out, and just have a little time together to reconnect.  It was a TON of fun, but we sure did miss our boys!!  They had a ball hanging out with their Mimi & Papa and Rodney & I just soaked it up as much as we could for those 2 1/2 days.  Ahhhh.... :) 

I wish I had a picture of our closet BEFORE the clean out!  You should have seen the pile of clothes we had! I just get giddy when I walk into the closet now.  It's so clean and organized!!!   Organizing is one of the things in life that makes me a VERY happy woman!  After bagging up 7 garbage bags FULL of clothes, 2 boxes of shoes, organizing my office, and the mudroom, we felt we deserved a night out on the town!  We got to see a movie on Friday and & have some sushi on Saturday night.  It was glorious!! 

Here are some of the organization "after" pics....

Our closet... Now I need a new wardrobe! ;)

The mudroom with some wonderful new baskets!

My amazingly organized office....and notice the diploma hanging up.  Yes, I graduated from college over 12 years ago and that is JUST NOW getting hung up!

We did a little eating outside tonight... Ahhhh, glorious weather!

The boys got to do some playing OUTSIDE!

Don'tcha just wanna EAT.UP.THAT.FACE??!!

Boys will forever be boys! The higher I can go the better, MOM!

AND Riley-Roo decided he was ready to walk all on his own this weekend! The sad part was, he decided to start it all at my mom & dad's house while we were at home in the midst of organization central!

"Look at me, Mom!  I can do it all by myself now!"

LOVE.THESE.BOYS!  We sure did miss you both! 

I think we tuckered 'em out... Happy Labor Day weekend. Thanks again Mom & Dad.  We can't thank you enough for the gift of TIME!   Hope those boys didn't wear you out too much! 

 WE LOVE YOU!

Mickey Mouse & Oatmeal

Yesterday morning I got Reid to watch something other than Barney!!!!  YAY!!!  AND.... He loved it!

He also ate oatmeal... his normal breakfast is waffles, french toast or pancakes. 

AND, he liked it!!!!

ALL GONE!!!  Whew hoo!!!

YAY Reid!!

Even little Riley took some bites and seemed to like it, but when I tried to feed it to him this morning, his little mouth was clamped SHUT!!  I just had to laugh... Oh well!

So proud of you for trying new things buddy.  I know it's hard!  Mickey Mouse is cool....I promise!  ;) Mommy used to watch that cartoon when she was a little girl.  It was her favorite!  This was a monumental day in our house, so I just HAD to share!  Trying two new things in one day is no easy task!  Great job Reid and Riley too!

And soccer begins.....

Reid all ready for his 1st soccer practice!

Complete with cleats & shin guards... Mommy didn't know the socks are supposed to go OVER the shin guards.  Silly Mommy!

When it's 120,000 degrees outside, you can sometimes have a hard time keeping your head in the "game."

Reid is playing soccer this fall.  He's never played soccer, so I wasn't sure how this would all go. He has been taking t-ball classes all summer and is SO.IN.LOVE with that, but of course little league won't start till the spring.  

He did really well at the 1st practice considering it was so dang hot.  There were a few tears during the practice because he was so hot, but luckily he made it through and I think he was proud of himself after it was all said & done.  He kicked the ball well and tried his best to pay attention to the coach while beads of sweat were running into his eyes!  It looks like we're in for another 10 days of over 100 degree heat.  UGH!  Happy soccer season!

New year, new teachers

Reid is officially a preschooler this year.  He is in the preschool 3's class!

I love this little face... looks like he's about to get into some mischief!

Riley-Roo is even going to MDO this year 1 day a week. 

It was like pulling teeth to get them to BOTH look at the camera at the same time.  We took MANY pictures to get this one shot below....

LOVE these precious faces!  Just wanna eat 'em up!

Reid's new teachers this year-- Ms. Cindy & Ms. Tina

They already seem sweet as pie :) 

I can't believe it's time to start another year of school for Reid and now Riley TOO!  Reid went right in as if it was no big deal, but Riley was a whole different story.  I handed him over to one of his teachers and just as I walked away from the door, I could immediately hear him crying.  Broke.my.heart.  Hence, no picture with his cute teachers!

I know he will be fine once he gets to know these sweet ladies, but oh the tears.  Riley is going through MAJOR separation anxiety right now and dropping him off anywhere is not easy.  

Mommy has a day off this year with no kids, so life is a little different... and fun! I see a few mommy lunches with friends in my future! :) Here's to a new school year!