Our Adventures with Ryan and Riley Cate

instagram: may edition!

(left to right, top to bottom):
*one of riley's favorite things to do right now, is to play dress up!
*love this vinyl birthday banner I ordered for riley's birthday party.
*this picture is why I love cell phone cameras, caught this moment of riley cate wearing some of meems costume jewelry rings I chose for her.  I will treasure this picture, and it has nothing to do with camera quality.  I would not have captured this moment with my "big" camera.  one of my sweet friends pointed out that her hands are folded over her heart.  not posed.  love real life moments.
*wearing "aunt" katy's mickey hat at cousins madi and jack's birthday party.
*I was in the playroom playing mario with ryan, love this sweet boy!  and love playing mario with him, even though he is schooling me about it, not the other way around. ha!
*riley cate with a day off from school and lunch with pawpaw!
*with the kids help, made these "name" paintings for the playroom.  LOVE the way they turned out!
*sweet riley and one of the hello kitties napping on the couch.
*ryan loving his cereal in his "straw bowl" on an early morning before school.  he almosy can't eat cereal from another type of bowl these days. 
*ryan's "pete the cat" drawing from school.  he did an AMAZING job on this cat, it was a freehand drawing. 
*riley cate in front of her new big girl kitchen, which was her 4th birthday present.  she loves it!
*celebrating ryan's graduation from kindergarten with some fried catfish and shrimp!  seafood and mexican are food groups around here.

love capturing the small moments!  sometimes they are the ones with the most memories!

dare to dream: disney on ice

davon and I took riley to see the newest disney ice show, featuring the disney princesses in "dare to dream".  and the verdict, well, she loved it!  it was a great show with beautiful costumes and fabulous ice skaters.  on to the pictures!

there is a daddy back there somewhere behind all those pink feathers!

love, love, love how big their smiles are in this picture..  it was a super-fabulous day!

little miss priss with her rapunzel hair waiting on mommy to get her camera settings adjusted..

we stopped for lunch at pappasitos and enjoyed some yummy mexican food before heading home, and with full bellies and princesses on our minds, riley cate and I napped the whole way home while daddy drove. 

it was a great, great day!

easter at the lakehouse

we celebrated easter at the lakehouse this year, and while there was definitely a cloud of sadness from losing our meems, we enjoyed being together as a family for the long weekend.  being at home would have been more sad, and it was nice to be in a place that she had loved.
I did not even take out my real camera over those few days, but captured some instagrams!

we cooked the best crawfish ever (thanks dad!),
dyed easter eggs,
rode bikes,
played many rounds of mario memory,
hunted easter eggs,
ate popsicles,
dressed like princesses,
and the easter bunny brought too much loot again. 

he has a very giving heart and a weakness for mario and hello kitty, that easter bunny!

friday ramblings/confessions

Thought everyone might love a little random rambling on a Friday:

• Riley's birthday invitations came in the mail this week, and I LOVE them!  So excited about mailing them in a few weeks!  I will post one on the blog after mailing and closer to her party, but don't want to spoil the surprise before then!  We are planning her party at a local waterpark, and she is so excited about it.  It is going to be all things fun in the sun with lots of aqua colored items and red and white polka dots.  Hosting an outdoor party always leaves room for a little weather related nervousness, but I am thinking good thoughts about the weather on Saturday, May 19th!
• Related to Riley's birthday, I took some pictures of her in her birthday party swimsuit to use on the invite.  Yes, I have already ordered her a birthday party swimsuit and staged an outdoor photoshoot of her in it.  No, I have not caught up on my laundry yet.  Here are a few pictures I LOVE, but are not being used on the invite itself.  I couldn't wait to show these!

• update:  since I mentioned the germs at the fair, ryan has had tonsilitis and now I have a stomach virus.  coincidence?  I think not.  maybe next year I will see if the kids will agree to wear gloves to the fair?!  or maybe I will see if I can just give them the "fair money" in cash.  I am kind of kidding.
• Ryan had another stellar report card today!  We are so proud of him!  Grades of 98, 99 and 100 with S's and E's.  Love that boy!  He is excited about adding another mario game to his collection.  That is his reward of choice!
• I ordered some presonalized labels from erincondren.com (with my finely honed internet-flash-sale-couponing-skills of course!), and I am loving them!  I am planning to use some for Riley's birthday party (on plastic cups or favors maybe?), some on meals I deliver to people in the disposable foil containers with lids (who have babies, illnesses, or just because!), and some on birthday gifts in lieu of a separate card.  I love them all!

• we have ordered the recently introduced pizza hut "big box" at least once a week in march.  it is $10 (or $11 if you get cheesesticks instead of breadsticks) of deliciousness that feeds my WHOLE family!  cheaper than grocery shopping!  it has 1 medium one topping square pizza (although it seems larger than a medium with 8 square pieces), an order of breadsticks/cheesesticks and cinnamon sticks.  deliciousness in a box!  I feel one headed to our house sometimes this weekend...

• Lowes has a 1 year plant guarantee on plants you buy from their nursery.  I have a feeling they are about to start losing money with their guarantee where I am concerned.  
  One dead plant is already headed back their way this weekend.  Hopefully no more "returns" to come...

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!

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!

instaweek: monday randoms

1:  the angry birds birthday party is coming together, complete with a (homemade) photobooth!
2:  I gave my mom an early birthday present this week; the new Nicholas Sparks book, autographed version!  I just could not wait...  and she loved it!
3:  riley blowing me a kiss from the backseat while waiting for ryan in carline.  nothing sweeter than riley kisses!
4:  my tic-tac-toe partner at IHOP (his choice), we played at least 50 rounds before, during and after our meal.  love spending time with my little man.  he had pneumonia last week and only missed one day of school.  what a champ!
5:  while riley and I made cookies for her teacher's birthday, ryan also wanted to do something for his much loved former preschool teacher..  so he packed her a lunch.  all his own idea, how sweet is that?  then, he did not want to leave his current teacher out, so he packed her one too!  I LOVE his sweet heart!
6:  my fashionista with her blinged out hoodie paired with her hello kitty pajamas = perfect breakfast attire
7:  newsflash!  riley is selling flower BULBS for her preschool, and she would love to sell you some!  orders due 11/2, and everything is $6!  daffodils, tulips, crocus, tiger lilies, blue bells, hyacinths, iris, wildflowers and more!  the best part:  the bulbs are guaranteed, so if you kill them, the company will send more!  that means that even at the bledsoe house, we can buy these bulbs! 

now..  who wants to plant a garden...?  (email me if you are interested!)

instaweek: minnesota version

 

1:  a mid-afternoon fashion show - she dressed herself in the pink tank, giraffe pants (with one leg rolled up, jazzercise style) and purple socks.  she is beautiful no matter what the crazy outfit choice is!
2:  at the end of week 5, ryan knows all of his sight words for the NINE weeks!  he got to choose this "elf duck" as his prize at school, and he was SO PROUD!  so proud of my sweet (and smart!) little man!
3:  the.best.martini.ever, in minnesota! 
4:  one of the coolest places on earth for boys - a giant LEGO store with more legos than you can imagine!
5:  mall of america indoor amusement park, it was awesome!  (wished the kids had been there!)
6:  life sized woody from toy story 3, made of tiny legos (based on the lego store prices, I am guesstimating he would have cost $5,348 to recreate!)
7:  it's homecoming week for the lumberton raiders, and I made this fabric football for ryan's classroom door, and it turned out super-cute!

other notable things this week:

• jessica and I had something called "popovers" in MN, and found them to be delightful!  it is a puff pastry with honey and cinnamon, and then serve them like we serve dinner rolls here in TX.  if we had any room, we would have shoved some in our suitcases!
• I have officially started my Christmas shopping!
• halloween costume finalists have been narrowed to two...
• ryan has a new favorite drink at sonic:  fanta orange with a splash of vanilla  :)
• I am planning to decorate my house for fall this weekend!  yay fall!

instaweek: our week in instagram pictures!

 

1:  lunch in daddy's classroom
2:  birthday cupcakes for mommy! (kid-decorated)
3:  riley helping mommy pick out eyeshadow with my birthday giftcard... can you tell who is trying on the eyeshadow?
4:  pool time!
5:  birthday flowers for mommy
6:  kids first time to a japanese hibachi grill (with chopsticks)!  they both loved the food (shrimp, fried rice, grilled veggies including onions, zuchini and mushrooms, and onion soup!).  riley (poor thing) did not love the fire.  she cried, and stood behind davon's chair for the rest of the "show".  but at least she loved the food, right?  ryan loved the fire (after he got over feeling like it burned his eyebrows), and declared it:  the coolest place ever. 
and can you believe they both ate grilled onions, zuchini, mushrooms and onion soup?
7:  my favorite kindergartener and his angry bird!

a new beginning...

this week has started a new beginning for davon, and all of us really.

davon was offered and accepted a teaching job in jasper ISD, at the primary school.
he will be teaching a special class for kids, K-2nd grade, who are not successful in their mainstream classrooms.  he will be working with them on behavior modifications/socialization (how to be successful in a mainstream classroom), and/or identifying children whose behavior issues are stemming from learning disabilities, or something that would require special education plans (and then getting them transitioned to special ed). 

davon is so good with kids, and over the last year, has worked successfully with many kids who have behavioral issues.  we both believe that this is the perfect job for him.  will it be hard?  yes!  will the kids throw desks at him?  I hope not!  is davon up for that challenge?  absolutely.

after this first year of classroom teaching, davon will have his full teaching certification from the (great) state of texas.

we are all so proud of davon.  his persistence and determination has paid off.  he is now doing what he has always wanted to do.  and he is going to be wonderful!  yay for new beginnings!