Alex's 2nd bday

Saturday morning Alex & I woke up and ran to the Albertson's in Saginaw to pick up her birthday cake & balloons.  While we were gone, Daddy got busy assembling Alex's birthday present.  When we got home, I tried to close the door before she saw, but of course my nosy little girl just had to open the door anyway.  Luckily Randy had just finished up her new dollhouse bookshelf.  I think she was pretty excited about it.

Then we rushed around getting everyone's clothes changed and rushed over to set up at Nana & Gampa's for her 2nd birthday party.

Here was the cake we got at Albertson's.  I was so impressed!  She did a fabulous job of matching the plates perfectly!  In usual fashion, I was running late & still setting up when the family started arriving.  But as soon as the guys arrived we sent them in to the media room to get the Wii set up.  It was a good thing too, because all the big kids spent the entire time playing.  They had so much fun and we enjoyed not having them screaming & being underfoot the whole time.

The rest of us hung around just talking & enjoying each other's company until it was time for presents.

Alex got a TON of toys!  Most following the Disney princess theme...and then lots of girly things, like kitchen stuff and baby dolls.  Plus she got a few clothes, so that mommy does not have to buy all of her fall clothes.  Although this year not near as many as last year, I guess everyone thinks she would rather have toys!

After a while Alex, quit opening presents and went off to play with her new pink sports balls.  A rare moment, we actually got several of them to pose sweetly.

Alex was having a ball with her new baby stroller & baby doll.

Finally it was time for cake & ice cream.  YUM!  As we were preparing to light the candles though, Alex stuck her fingers in the cake.  I think she was remembering last year when the whole cake was hers and she got to dive in with her fingers.  Now a year later Mommy expects her to wait for a piece & use a fork!  :)
   It was a great party & afterward we were all exhausted.  One of my friends even sent me a picture of her little girl sound asleep with a ring pop in her mouth. I just can't imagine how exhuasted I would have been if they party had been at our house.  A huge thank you to Mom & Dad for cleaning their house, cooking the food, setting up, and just generally hosting the party for us.

A New Addition to the Family

Last night, I unexpectedly had another baby.  Well maybe not a human baby, but we now have a kitten.  I have spent the last 7 years telling Randy that I do not want a cat!  Then without any warning he brings home a kitten last night!  Don't get me wrong, she is cute and pretty sweet, but I don't want a cat!  Besides of course she is cute, she is just a baby.  Last night was a pretty interesting evening.  Riley freaked out every time he tried to hold her and Alex screamed bloody murder everytime the kitten got close to her.  Finally after getting everyone tucked in bed, I sat down to do some school work and where does the kitten decide to lay?  On my arm of course!  She fell sound asleep laying right there upside down on my arm.  The biggest thing is I don't need another responsibility right now, especially the first week of school!

Tonight was a little calmer, although I didn't think I would ever get dinner ready between the demands of Alex & Riley, and constantly keeping an eye out for where the kitten is and what she is getting into.  Oh by the way, she doesn't have a name yet!  Right now I am liking peanut because she looks like she stuck her paws in peanut butter, but I am not sure that will sound right when she is a full grown cat.

As I read Riley a story tonight, she curled up in bed with him and fell sound asleep.  Riley begged for her to stay so we let him fall asleep with her.  But then we went in to check on them and she woke up, so we carried her in with us while we watched a movie.  Now she is sound asleep on my right arm, which makes it really hard to type!

Not much bigger than a peanut!

Then Alex decided that if Riley got to go to bed with the cat, she would go to bed with every baby she owns!  I think I will be sneaking in there later to remove at least half of them!

My Big Kindergartener

Yesterday Riley started KINDERGARTEN! Oh my goodness!  I can't believe how fast the time flies.  Thursday night was Meet the Teacher Night.  His teacher was of course, hand picked by me.  It is one of the few perks of working for the school system.  Here he is with Mrs. Adams.

Unfortunately the whole school has Meet the Teacher at the same time.  Then Randy had to work late, but thank goodness we have Nana & Gampa.  They met me up at school and took Riley down to his classroom.  He was pretty excited the whole time.  While Nana unpacked & labeled his supplies, Riley checked out his new classroom and "read" a book.  Afterward they came back up to my room to wait until I was finished and then we went out for a celebration dinner.  Our original plan was to head to Cheddar's, but apparantly the whole district had meet the teacher that night because everywhere was SOOOO crowded.  We ended up eating at Kincaid's. 
    The excitement continued to build.  Sunday morning we had Blessing of the Kindergartners at church.  They all looked so cute up there.  There was one really fun moment.  Our minister asked who was starting school tomorrow.  They all just sat there.  Then one little kid spoke up and said that she was starting school on Monday.  So Dr. Mike McKee explained that today was Sunday so tomorrow was Monday.  Then he asked again who was starting school tomorrow.  Sadly they were still confused.  I guess that is why they do calendar math everyday.
   Then Sunday night my best friend, Teresa, called and said she was on her way over.  She lives over an hour away from me.  But she drove over to deliver a First Day of Kindergarten care package for Riley and I.  It was the sweetest thing.  Inside it was waterproof mascara, in case of tears, goldfish for Riley to have a
snack for afterschool, a coloring book & crayons for some after school fun, a Starbucks gift card for those really tough mornings, chocolate because chocolate makes everything better, and some kleenexes.  There was also some stuff for celebrating with the next afternoon.  I thought it was a great idea.  I wish I had her creativity!

   Monday morning we got up REALLY early so that we could drop Alex off at Mrs. Tracey's and get to school by 7:15.  Everything went pretty smoothly and he wasn't too hard to wake up.  I had packed his lunch the night before and had everything laid out ready to go.  He was even in bed at his new bedtime of 8:00. 

Not only was this Riley's first day of school, but it was also Alex's first day at Mrs. Tracey's by herself.  She did great.  Not a tear, well at least the first day.  This morning she did cry for just a minute as we left.

Here we are before school.  You can just tell how excited he is.  Then the craziness started.  My students started arriving to my classroom, but Riley needed to be walked to his classroom.  So I walked him down the stairs and waited for Mrs. Adams to arrive with the rest of the class that had been waiting in the gym. 

Then I hurried up the stairs to my classroom and my first day of school.  I did not cry.  In fact, I really didn't even want to.  Part of it was I didn't have time to think about it.  But mostly I think it is not quite so hard on me because I know he is at my school.  So I am seeing him alot more in a day now than I was when I dropped him off at daycare.

Here he is all ready to begin a successful day. 

After school, he was pretty excited, but like most kids couldn't really tell me what they did.  The main thing he knew was he didn't get to get in the treasure box.  (Only 2 children did)  All I cared about was he earned a sticker, which means he was well behaved.  He did get to get in the treasure box today and was quite excited about it.  He got a Shrek donkey watch!  I never really doubted that Riley would be well behaved in school.  He is such a people pleaser.  I'm so proud of him!

Riley is growing up!

      To continue Riley's growing up on me, yesterday I verified his residency for Kindergarten.  This was the last step in making sure that he is ready to start Kindergarten.  I still can't believe I am going to be a parent of a kindergartener.
    Then today, I took him to the dr for his 5 year check-up.  Riley's checkups are always so easy.  He is a good eater, usually well behaved, and is growing like a weed.  In fact we spent part of our time, discussing Alex and her skin issues.  Not to anybody's surprise, Riley is 47 1/4 inches tall, which is off the charts on his height.  He also weighs 50 lbs, which is 90-95% in weight.  In fact Randy has been teasing me that both kids are a little thick right now.  I know this means they are both about to have huge growth spurts and I will have to go shopping!  I just wish that they would grow before tax free weekend so I could shop the big sales!

    Lastly, Riley got his first bat this week.  My dad has been itching to get Riley into baseball since he was born.  We have held off starting t-ball because we don't really think he can tolerate the slowness of the sport.  He gets bored and distracted when he doesn't have enough competition in soccer!  But this week my dad decided it was time to buy him a real bat anyway.  Riley is doing pretty well learning to hit from a coach pitch setting instead of using a t. 

   The bat fits in well with what has become a nightly routine. Alex has decided that every night we should go outside and swing on the swingset.

  So now we go outside, hit a few balls, and swing on the swingset.  I'm just glad that one of my children has decided to get a good use out of the swingset.  We bought it for Riley's 2nd birthday and he has never been that intereseted in playing on it.  Riley is more of the type to be riding bikes or playing on his motorized truck.  Alex on the other hand LOVES to go out and swing every night.  The great thing is that our family spends 15-30 minutes together every night just playing.

Ahh!  I love summer nights!

Riley's First Freebirds

This week has been another reminder that Riley is growing up.

       For starters, we went to Freebird's for lunch, per Riley's request, and he ordered his first full Hybird, not a kid's meal. Now for those of you unaware of Freebird's, it is a extra large burrito place that started in Aggieland.  It is quite a tradition for most Aggies.  I have to admit that I usually frequented one of the 5 Freebirds in College Station every Thursday night, while I was in college.  So as a good Aggie, I feel it is my duty to introduce my children to Freebirds and how to eat them.  Up until now though, I have ordered them a kid's meal, which consists of a quesadilla and chips.  But on this particular visit, Riley informed me that he was a big boy and did not want a baby meal!  He wanted to order exactly what I order!  I wasn't sure he was ready for a full Freebird, so I ordered him a Hybird, which is a slightly smaller version.

Luckily, I cut some off for Alex out of my burrito because Riley was not kidding.  He was a hungry boy.  He ate all but the very bottom of it.  Then just as we were finishing up, the manager walked over to ask us how everything was.  We proudly told him how Riley had just eaten his first full burrito.  He asked if Riley was still hungry, and rewarded him with a cookie!

But we made him share it with Alex!