Those are some common words in our house.

Ryan is a tent making fool. The bigger – the better.

He likes to use every couch cushion and pillow he can find. Although, the other day he said, “I left this one here for you!” He’s a sweet kid, I tell ya.

The problem with these tents is that he needs help making them. Some of the cushions are too large for his 3-year-old body to carry or hold up.

The other problem is that I can be lazy sometimes. Making a tent isn’t on the top of my to-do list. I’d rather check out Facebook, play games on my iPad, or make a shopping list. You get the picture.

Tent making only takes a couple of minutes and provides hours of fun. It also makes Ryan one happy kid.

So now, when Ryan says, “Let’s make a tent, Momma!”

I say, “OK!”

Being a good mom only takes a couple minutes.

Ryan just completed seven weeks of combined sports – soccer, t-ball, and track & field! We’re so proud of him for working hard every week and having fun with new people! It’s not always easy at that age to get involved and really put yourself out there, but he did it!

Soccer was the first sport and he’d never really played before. Of course he’d kicked the ball around outside in our backyard (like a champ), but that was about it. The first two weeks just taught him technique and he did great. The third week they had to actually play a game – if you can consider a bunch of 3-and-4-year-old kids running around a game – and Ryan didn’t think it was too cool, but he participated anyway. So maybe soccer is not his sport exactly!

The next sport was three weeks of t-ball and this was a little more his style. He played last year too, so he had more of an idea of what to expect. He was really good at hitting the ball. He liked to swing hard which helped it actually go out into the field. My favorite part was watching the kids run the bases. They were always so unsure of what to do – when to go and when to stop. The coach wanted them to use “alligator chomps” to catch the balls, but their chomps would be so big that I don’t think they caught many balls that came to them! It was definitely a cute sport to watch!

They give them lots of water breaks!

The last sport was track and field and it was only for one day. Ryan wasn’t really looking forward to going this morning, but we made him anyway! Ha, ha! He probably enjoyed today the most so it was worth all the forcing!

The kids had to run through hoops, but I didn’t get any photos of that part. Oops! Then they hurdled – 3-and-4-year-old style! It was cute because the kids would just kind of walk up to them and then step over or try and jump at the last minute. Ryan did pretty well. I think he knocked over one hurdle.

Then they moved on to the parachute. No jumping out of planes, but they got to play under the parachute while the parents did the lifting. ALL the kids thought it was so fun! This was probably their favorite part since it didn’t have anything to do with ability – just lots of fun!

A perfect ending…a bag of candy and toys, plus a certificate of completion! Way to go, Ryan!

Yesterday Ruby turned 14 years old. I really can’t believe it! I’ve known her since she was 7 and a little girlie girl. When we’d go places in the car she’d always be drawing pictures and writing notes to Pops and me. She would innocently ask me when I was going to marry her Pops. At that time it didn’t even seem like a possibility because we hadn’t really committed to each other. I thought it was adorable!

She is no longer that little girl, but rather she is on her way to being a woman and all grown up. As a matter of fact, she’s about an inch taller than me already. When we get our nails done, people even ask us if we’re sisters! In four short years she will be going off to college. As of now her interest is in the University of Oregon where some of her family lives nearby. I never thought about the possibility of her going away to school. For now, we will cherish these next few years as she continues to mature and become even more independent.

Here are some pictures of Ruby opening her presents from Grammie when she was here visiting from Texas.

We got Ruby a new Bible and a trip to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. with some students from her 8th grade class. She’ll be leaving right after school gets out. It’s definitely going to be a trip she’ll remember forever.

Last night we took Ruby to Hibachi Steakhouse for her birthday dinner.

In true little brother fashion, Ryan wouldn’t look at the camera! So here’s the best picture I have that includes Ryan. Little booger!

Happy 14th birthday, Ruby!!

I started this blog at the end of 2009 to record my memories of motherhood and my life as a wife. I didn’t really have a plan, but I just knew that a blog sounded like a lot of fun. After all, who doesn’t enjoy talking about themselves?!?! Ha, ha!

Ryan was only a little over a year old which gave me a lot of content for some good stories along the way. It seemed like he was constantly doing something wacky to inspire me. Now that he’s 3 1/2 though, I’m finding it a bit more difficult to think of stories to write. I feel like I’m having a serious case of writer’s block. Yes, over the past few months I’ve posted some pictures here and there, but even that is happening a week or two after the event takes place.

Remember Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City? I want to be more like her – not the single and dating part, just the writer. Don’t make fun of me! Anyway, she would sit on her laptop every night and reflect on the events happening in her life. And not just write, but say something with meaning and a lesson to be learned.

Since I’m not Carrie Bradshaw, nor will I ever be, I guess I will just have to be happy with my recent posts and try to change my future. Instead of letting myself be tired at the end of the day, I’m going to try and push through it. Some of you may be asking why I’m trying to make myself crazy, but I don’t really have an answer for you! I feel like this is something I need to do.

If you have any words of wisdom – feel free to share with me! Until next time…

Here’s a quote from Carrie Bradshaw…

“As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost. And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the coulda, shoulda, woulda, buckle up and just keep going.”

Ryan’s preschool had a fundraiser and Trike-A-Thon back in February to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Ryan was able to raise $180.00!! A big thank you to all of our family and friends that donated to this wonderful cause! I’m also proud to announce that his school raised a total of $5,000.00 in one week!! Way to go!

For the Trike-A-Thon, Ryan was using his bike with the training wheels. As Todd and I pulled up in the parking lot I could see he was coming around the corner of the track fast and wasn’t quite sure how to slow himself down. It gave him a little scare which caused him to quickly get off the bike the second he saw us. We talked him into finding something else to ride until he felt comfortable getting back on his bike. You’ll see him sitting on a variety of riding toys in the pictures below. I’m happy to say he did eventually get back on his bike and gain some confidence again!

The kids rode around on a big oval-shaped track in the parking lot created by the wonderful teachers. In honor of your donations they rode around for one entire hour in the hot sun! They did an excellent job! I’m so proud of Ryan and all his preschool friends!

Here are some pictures from the Trike-A-Thon.

Ryan’s teacher approached me about getting him some speech therapy. He’s only a young three years old, but he does have a problem with a few letter sounds. He can’t sound out the letter F, he says ‘bake’ instead of ‘rake’, and his V’s sound like D’s. I thought this was probably normal for his age.

I was a teacher before I had Ryan, but by no means do I know anything about speech problems. I asked Ryan’s doctor if he agreed with the teacher. He said yes because Ryan can’t correct the sound when I coach him.

So today was step one of the process to see if he really does need to attend speech therapy.

The hearing test. This is the first step because if there’s a problem here, it explains why he’s having a speech problem.

Todd came with me for moral support since I wasn’t quite sure how Ryan was going to handle them testing his ears. He’s great with his regular doctor, but this was something new.

We prepped him on what was going to happen before we went upstairs to the Audiologist. He was okay with it. So far, so good, I thought.

Then we met the doc and she was so nice and caring. Bonus!

For the first test Ryan was able to sit on my lap and hold the monitor – so he thought that was cool. Another bonus!

The second test was a little more involved though. He had these ear plugs in each ear while sitting in the sound booth. She was on the outside of the booth, with her headset, where she could talk to Ryan and feed him sounds in his ears. When he heard a beep, I had to hand him a block and he put it in a container. Once again, having me in there and getting to play with some cool blocks made everything a little easier! You guessed it…another bonus!

After the doc did the beeping sound test, then there was a test where the computer would say a word and he would have to repeat it, if he could hear it. These words were a wide range of volume - from normal sounding conversation to a quiet whisper.

As a mom, that was just a sweet moment. I hear him talk all the time, but for some reason, hearing him say these words made me tear up! He had to say words like ‘cupcake’ and ‘hotdog’, but I’m not sure why those words made me emotional! It’s a mom thing, I guess! Silly me!

Both tests came out fine. No problems. Our next step is to have Ryan meet with the Speech Therapist so she can assess him. That will be in 20 days.

I’m just glad everything went so well today. The Audiologist said she wished all her patients were as well behaved as Ryan! He was so cooperative and pleasant! That’s my boy!

Me: “Ryan, what were you doing in the backyard?”

Ryan: “I was picking this pretty flower for you, Mommy!”

(Mommy smiles…)

I wish I was talking about the weather, but unfortunately, I’m talking about how the cold and flu season has taken over our family.

It all started at the end of December. Ryan started with a runny nose that wouldn’t quit. Then chest congestion invaded his body, followed by the stomach flu. Wow, now that’s something to talk about right there!

Ryan had the stomach flu for the first time in his life and it wasn’t pretty. Actually, my carpet isn’t pretty. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking when I bought him a strawberry soda from El Pollo Loco that night, but let’s just say I taught myself a lesson. Don’t give your kid colored beverages when he’s sick!!!!

He had thrown up many times that night (in the bowl I gave him for such instances), but for some reason when I went to put him to bed he didn’t quite think fast enough. Before I could realize what was going on, he had thrown up strawberry soda (and the rest of his dinner) on our year-old beige carpet and all down the side of his nightstand.

Was I able to get it all out of the carpet, you ask? Of course not.

Thankfully that was the end of the stomach flu for him and he slept peacefully that night.  We did end up visiting the doctor a couple days later since he didn’t seem 100%, but he just had a cold, nothing worse, so the doc couldn’t really do anything for Ryan. She did say he could possibly get an ear infection as a result of the cold, but that he was smart and he’d let me know.

Sure enough, he woke up screaming at two in the morning on New Year’s Day. Todd and I had only been asleep for about an hour when we were quickly awakened by his cries. Ryan really couldn’t be comforted. He was in so much pain.

We gave him some Tylenol hoping he would be able to handle the pain long enough to get some sleep until morning. He was in lots of pain for about three hours and then finally fell asleep in our bed at 5:30 a.m. Lucky for us, he slept in until 8:30 so we were able to get some shut eye too. That morning the doctor confirmed that he indeed had an ear infection caused by his cold. He was on antibiotics for 10 days and got a clean bill of health today!

He did not get away that easy though! He had so much wax build-up in his ear (apparently that’s a normal thing…who knew?) that the nurse had to use a syringe filled with warm water to flush it out!!! Ryan was such a trooper though. He didn’t look happy about it, but he didn’t complain either! He’s so good!

His cold managed to go away, but attending preschool 3 days a week has caused him to get another cold. Poor guy! Not only Ryan, but now Todd has a bit of one as well. Ruby managed to get a tiny one over Christmas vacation, but healed quickly. I, on the other hand, did not. A few days before New Year’s Eve I came down with a cold and had to spend a couple days in bed. I haven’t been that sick in a long time. Luckily I was better and able to go out to celebrate the new year and my friend’s birthday!

Hopefully Ruby and I will miss this round and we can all get back to our healthy lives again! Maybe I should pull him out of school for the rest of his life so he doesn’t bring the germs home? Ha, ha!

I hope 2012 has started off wonderfully for you! Even with all our illness, it is proving to be another great year already!

Happy Thanksgiving from my little turkey!

I want to start by saying – I LOVE this time of year!!!

Yesterday Ryan had a feast at his preschool and we were all invited. They started off by singing and reciting a Bible verse. So cute!! You can always tell who the older kids are because they aren’t afraid to raise their voices. Ryan isn’t one of the older kids! He just kept smiling and waving at us the entire time. Handsome boy!

All the parents brought food and we did a whole lot of celebrating by eating together! I made corn crispers and they were pretty good. Ruby wants me to make them again in the future. The school has a sign-up sheet and then provides us recipes to make for the kids, parents, and teachers. It turned out beautiful and the teachers did a great job decorating.

Here we are enjoying our time together. Ruby was lucky enough not to have school, so she came along too.

A little playground action after our meal. I just love how Ryan is looking at the camera from upside down!

Today we’ll be heading out to a buffet dinner for our Thanksgiving meal. We pretty much eat out for Thanksgiving every year. It’s always nice to have a home cooked meal, but nice not to have any dishes to clean up afterwards! I think I’m a little nervous to make a turkey for some reason. There are so many ways to do it and so I guess I find it intimidating!

Unfortunately, my grandma was admitted to the hospital Wednesday evening so she won’t be able to come to dinner with us. It seems like she always gets sick around the holidays or someone’s birthday. I sure hope she feels better soon!

I’ve been browsing the deals for Black Friday online. I really checked out Best Buy because I wanted to know why people were camping out in tents since Tuesday morning (or earlier) for electronics. They do have a lot of great deals. The sale actually starts today and a lot of the items you can buy online. I’m not sure that I’d want anything so badly that I’d camp out for it. I guess everyone is different!

Happy Thanksgiving!! We  have so much to be thankful for in this life!!