Our Adventures with Ryan and Riley Cate

confessions, part two

I believe it is time for another confessions post!

1.  I wear flip flops year round.  I have not bought a pair of closed toed shoes in YEARS!

2.  ryan is on time to school (starts at 7:20a.m.) every day;  we have not been late/tardy one time this year.  riley is late to preschool (starts at 8:45a.m.) almost every day (explanation:  we come back home, get ready, and get engrossed in things at home:  my work, cartoons, toys, etc, and leave late for preschool 4 days out of 5). 

3.  I despise styrofoam.  the touch, the feel, the noise.  ick!

4.  I am already planning riley's 4th birthday with is more than 3 months away, and have been scouring my favorite websites and pinterest for party favors, the most precious birthday outfit, etc!  I have not, however, used these planning skills to plan what is for dinner later today.

5.  if we drive thru anywhere with french fries, I cannot stop myself from eating some on the way home.  sometimes, I eat out of more than one box to "distribute" the munching.

6.  I organize my grocery basket as I am filling it.  I put like items together on the grocery store conveyor belt.  in my pantry, all the pictures on the cans must be facing forward.  if someone moves them, I move them back.

7.  when dropping ryan off at school in the carline (remember the 7:20a.m.?), I wear my PJ's and big sunglasses (even though it is barely light).  I do brush my teeth, but I will be in trouble if I am ever needed in ryan's school for something, pulled over, or have car trouble.  for some reason, that has still not stopped me.  riley follows in my footsteps and wears her PJ's with bedhead as well!

8.  I have way too many tv shows set to record each week on my DVR, and feel an obligation to watch them in a timely manner once they are recorded.  I believe this to be the reason I am always behind on laundry.  I have no immediate plans to make any changes to that.

9.  I am addicted to zulily.com.  It may or may not be a sickness.

10.  I do not believe I have ever met a potato I did not like:  mashed, smashed, broiled, baked, fried, with cheese, or any other way (see #5)!  why can't I feel this way about carrots? 

Q: what is the stickiest substance on earth?

A:  cotton candy!

davon and I hosted the cotton candy booth today at ryan's school for their annual happy hearts festival (largest fundraiser of the school year)!  we, along with some other parent volunteers, served what I believe to be 400-500 sticks of cotton candy for 4.5 hours!  at one point I looked like a furry cotton candy sugar monster with cotton candy "fuzz" all down both arms!  we had a great time, and the kids loved it!  our kids loved playing at the festival for most of the day as well.  one of their favorites was the spray in hair color (although ryan initially chose "red" for his hair color, and I advised him that something else might show up better, since he does already have red hair and all!).

the basket in the photo was a silent auction basket I prepared for ryan's class (each class puts on together for auction), and ours was a "birthday in a basket" theme, with a bouncy house rental, pizza giftcard, and all sorts of fun polka dot party items!  if I had not put together the basket, I definitely would have bid on it!

I believe after the kids go to bed tonight, you might find me on the couch with my tired feet up eating a leftover stick of cotton candy...

MONSTERnation!

the boys went to MONSTERnation monster truck show for the first time in 2011, and this year, the girls decided to get in on the dirt-slinging action!  I was a little concerned about riley and the noise, but I should not have been! 

ryan was more skiddish at first than she was.  who would have thought?!

riley's favorite part were the monster trucks and ryan's favorite were the high flying stunt motorcycles!

we had a great time, and riley cried when we left because she "wasn't ready for the monster truck show to be over".  (we fixed that with lots of chips and mexican food after the show!)

I would bet they should be expecting the four of us back in 2013!

be mine {valentines day 2012}

these were our valentine cards this year, and they were super popular!  ryan reported that he was the only kid in his class with his picture on all of his valentines and all the kids thought that he was "super cool".  (I wonder if he told them it was his "super cool" mom's idea?!). 

love him and his sweet sister!

I received lots of valentine artwork this year... 
I also made helped ryan make a valentine shoebox to collect his valentines.  I ended up glitter glueing the lid and covering it with valentine sprinkles.  it turned out super cute, and then ryan added the stickers.  (I couldn't very well give him the bottles of glitter glue and sprinkles, could I?)!

I love how on ryan's valentine card to me, his mother, he included his last name. 
like I might not know which ryan it came from!

I made the heart shaped oreo cakesters for riley's valentine party, and they were a huge hit!
 


happy heart day to you too!

a day in the life of riley cate

age 3 and a HALF.  the HALF is very important! 
{january and february 2012}

her days usually consist of:
playing with her babies, preschool, baking in her kitchen, preschool celebrations and party days, wearing sunglasses, dining out with mommy and mimi, and playdates with friends

a good, good life for a good, good girl!

did you know: a groundhog is also known as a woodchuck?

Until this week, I was blissfully unaware that groundhogs and woodchucks were the same animal.  I believed them to be of the same family...  but not the same animal!  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog)

I think of a groundhog as Punxsutawney Phil (yes, I looked up the correct spelling of Punxsutawney.  I am a good speller, but not that good!).  I think of a woodchuck as the one in the geico commercial where the rancher says, "hey!  you woodchucks!  stop chucking my wood!). 
You learn something new every day.
Do you know who taught me that they were the same though? 
Riley Cate.  Already learning more than her mommy in preschool.  Her daddy and I are proud.

Enjoy some groundhog artwork, courtesy of Riley!

(the one on the bottom right may be a squirrel?  it came home last week, so I am not sure.  but it is in the "rodent" family, so it will be known as a groundhog, or a friend of the groundhogs!)

is this not the most superior 3-year old coloring you have ever seen?  she even gave the one in the middle some "texture" to his fur with those crayon strokes.  and the one on the top left, yes, that is him seeing his shadow.

Riley also had to inform me that Punxsutawney Phil had seen his shadow, and so we would have 6 more weeks of the mildest winter ever winter. 

I am glad I have her to let me know these things, or I might have packed our winter clothes away! 

pinterest love: {valentines treats!}

{1}:  rice krispie treats cut with a small/medium heart shaped cookie cutter into heart shapes and then dipped in chocolate, sprinkled and put on a stick. 
original link:  http://www.howdoesshe.com/rice-crispie-valentines-suckers

{2}:  maybe my favorite, the oreo "cakester: cut with a small heart shaped cookie cutter, and then rolled in sprinkles or colored sugar if you wish.  EASY and PRECIOUS!
original link:  http://www.bakerella.com/easy-and-easier-valentine-treats/

{3}:  how to make a heart shaped cake:  one 8" round cake, one 8" square cake, cut the round cake in half to make the top of the heart, and frost!

{4}:  love this cupcake for valentines:  bottom is brownie batter, top strawberry cake mix, and icing!
original link:  http://iheart2stamp.com/2010/06/

{5}:  easy peanut butter cookies with a dove chocolate heart.  SIMPLE and PRECIOUS!  I went searching for the dove chocolate hearts and instead found reeses peanut butter filled chocolate hearts about the same size.  I like a little peanut butter with my peanut butter.
original link:  http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/01/from-recipe-box.html

and there you have it!  my favorite valentine treats from pinterest.  I will be making some next weekend.  and I may deem all of february as valentine month, so I can eventually try them all!

confessions, part one

since this is my childrens window to what our lives were like, I cannot only share the highlights, but must also share the lowlights.  this is our reality.  welcome to confessions, part one of a yet to be determined number!

1. my children ate cereal and oatmeal for dinner more than once this week.  I try to keep it to once a week.  reality:  I said yes to the easiest dinner ever more than once this week.
2. when requested, I put bandaids on "owies" that are "invisible to the naked eye" just to avoid conflict, begging and whining.
3. when I needed a bandaid for myself this week, I dumped out the first aid box and sought out a princess bandaid.  I can sport a princess bandaid, but I was NOT wearing a little einsteins bandaid.  enough said.
4. riley notices within 30 seconds of seeing me if I have had a manicure or a pedicure.  this week was the first time that she asked if I could take her next time.  I think I will :)
5. riley has worn ryan's socks on several occasions when I cannot locate clean matchers for her.  she asks if they are his and I tell her that white or gray socks could be for anyone. 
6. I love that ryan is learning to read, but I don't love that I can no longer spell things to davon that he will not hear (should we give them a d-e-s-s-e-r-t?), or keep what billboards/magazines say a secret from him.
7. I drive thru and get breakfast a couple of days a week AFTER I have dropped the kids off at school. 
8. I throw artwork away, and then I bury it in the trashcan so no one will see it. 
   (Sorry kids:  I cannot possibly keep every scribbled on piece of copy paper masterpiece!)
   I keep the best pieces.  Those may have to be culled eventually.
9. my favorite pallette of eyeshadow is "NAKED" by urban decay, and has that written on the cover in large letters.  I tell riley it spells "EYESHADOW".  I don't need her talking about "mommy" and "naked" during show and tell.  (it is her favorite eyeshadow too.)
10. I tell ryan we are running late for school when we are really not.  I should probably stop, I may be giving him a complex.  He only hurries if I tell him we are late though, and (almost) every day, he says, "we made it just in time AGAIN".

well, this was fun!  stay tuned for some fun valentine ideas from (where else?):  PINTEREST!

we interrupt the blog silence...

with some 2011-2012 school pictures! 
(is it a little weird that I am the only one in my family now who does not have "school picture day"?)

Ryan, age 6, Kindergarten

Riley Cate, Age 3, Pre-K3

Davon, Age 35, First Year Teacher, Jasper ISD

I have to say, I believe my precious girl was a tad bit overshadowed by all those pumpkins! 
Even she has an orange tinge!

I have lots coming up to blog about, the silence has not been due to lack of activities
(or antics by the children), but rather a lack of time. 
Work is busy for both of us, and the kids are busy with school activities. 
We are gearing up for valentines, monsternation (even the girls are going this year!),
birthday parties for friends and family, and much more!

Stay tuned, lots coming soon!

be mine

I had a little valentines day photoshoot with riley cate recently, I found a perfect idea on pinterest for valentines for her friends (and ryans too, if he will allow it!)...

I will wait to show the actual valentines, but here are some other pictures from our fun red photoshoot!

I love, love, love, this sweet girl!

family photo shoot...

we had family photos taken back in november, but I didn't post them at the time because they were classified top secret for my christmas card!  now that my card is out, here are some that didn't make the card, but were still favorites (and some that were a little bit goofy)!

and one last, "real life moment":

more of riley cate and "little" riley cate

who can resist?  we had a few extra minutes before school and riley cate AND little riley cate love my camera!

little riley cate caught a ride in ryan's booster seat to preschool to drop riley off...

and as riley was getting out of the car, she kissed little riley cate on the forehead and said, "now little riley cate, you be good for grandma."  she then looked at me and said, "you know, you are my mommy, so you are her grandmother." 

nice riley, nice!  she definitely has learned about the family tree.  ha!

back to basics...

our lives are so hectic sometimes.  work, school, classes, homework, readers, sight words, cooking (oh, you guys want to eat?!?), laundry, dishes, packing up those pesky holiday decorations, more work, more school, and repeat.  in 2012, I am trying to get back to the simple things in life.  spend more time with my family doing FUN things.  or at least doing the things we MUST do, together.

and today I did just that.  I woke up early, and spent the early morning with this sweet girl, "getting ready for the day".  we dried hair, put on lipgloss, and ate dry cereal in my bathroom, things I usually do not allow time for.  I love her so much, and it made my day better, just starting it with her.

and then, a work meeting was cancelled, and I decided to have lunch with my favorite kindergartener.  I brought the happy meals and he brought the smiles (probably because I bought us both a happy meal and there were two toys, but that's beside the point...)

he told me about his day, explained his theory on why the cafeteria should stop selling (or maybe the COWS should stop MAKING) buttermilk, because what if he accidentally grabbed it.  ewww!

he said I love you first, unprompted, while he was munching on his fries.  that is not a common occurence with a 6-year old boy (unless at bedtime, drop off, etc).  it was special. 

he also educated me on optimus prime, and other transformers his friends are teaching him about at school.  he was proud for his friends to see his mommy had come for lunch.  and I am going to make sure I go more often.  it was just what I needed.

january, already?

well, 2012 has been a busy year already:

• the kids (and the BIG kid) went back to school january 3rd, everyone was ready to see their friends, but maybe not to get back into the early morning routine!
• on january 4th, I began the process of getting my 4 front teeth crowned, which is something I have wanted to do for a long, long time!  by february 1st, I should have a new smile!  and that is something to smile about.
• we had a family movie night to see alvin and the chipmunks:  chipwrecked at the theatre, and it got rave reviews from both kids!  along with the drinks, popcorn and laffy taffy. 
  
• davon and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on january 8th.

the rest of january and february are shaping up to be busy months!  now, if only we could trade our current april/may-ish weather for some january cold!

introducing...

little riley cate bledsoe!
riley got an american girl doll for christmas,
and out of all the names in the world,
she chose...
little riley cate bledsoe.

you always have to say the little, that way she knows who you are talking to.

we love this girl SO much.