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.

Ruby and Ryan decided they wanted to make a bird house for all the birdies that come and visit our backyard. Ruby and Todd headed to the local craft store to get all the supplies. They ended up with a bird house and a bird feeder. Each kid needs their own, right?

After lots of nails, wood glue, and patience - and help from Todd, of course - both were assembled. Yay! Ryan wanted the bird feeder to be his and Ruby wanted the bird house to be hers. It was settled!

Next, the kids couldn’t wait to paint the wood. Ruby chose to have the paint look like it was dripping down the top after she painted the base color. Very creative! It’s a little hard to see the design in the pic, but it turned out really nice.

Ruby's Bird House

Ryan sat at the kitchen counter and carefully chose his colors. Apparently he couldn’t decide on just one, so he went with a whole bunch! Such a masterpiece!

Ryan's Bird Feeder

Obviously we weren’t the only ones admiring their work because the same night we hung them outside on the tree, two birdies came to chill out on our BBQ island in the backyard! Maybe they were attracted to all the pretty colors!

This is the life!

I just happened to look out our kitchen window after dinner and see them sitting there. I’m calling them love birds because every now and then I would look over at them and they would be pecking at the other one’s beak. Now, to me it looked like they were kissing. I’m just sayin’…

The two little love birds just chilled for about 20 minutes or so. I headed out to the backyard with Todd and Ryan to do some cleaning up. The birds were a little scared, so they moved to the top of the pillar in the corner of our backyard.

Two Little Love Birds

We still need to buy some bird seed for the feeder. We haven’t seen any birds come around because it has been raining since we put up the bird feeder and house. I’ll keep you posted!

Welcome to part two of our Easter weekend! We had so much fun, it requires two posts! Read part one here.

The kids woke up and found their Easter baskets downstairs. Ryan’s was near his drum set and Ruby’s was on her blanket she had left on the couch the night before. I didn’t talk too much about the Easter Bunny coming to our house because I didn’t want Ryan to freak out and be afraid to sleep the night before!

After checking out the baskets, we all had breakfast and got ready for church. Church wasn’t going to be the same as usual, we were holding our Easter service at the local high school where they were going to drop 1,000′s of Easter eggs from a helicopter! Candy and prizes included! Way cool, right? Right!

Here are some pics of us before the service started. We were all excited to praise God, sing, listen to the message, and then head to the other field to see the eggs drop!

Our church usually has about 600 weekly visitors and on Easter we had nearly 2,500!! Yay, God!! My best friend, her hubby, and mother also came with us, but I only got a pic of their daughter, Abby. Here’s the lovely little lady!

Well, it ended up being super hot that day and we were all trying to grin and bear it, but it was hard! Finally after a great service and lots of waiting around for the helicopter, it was on its way! Kids (and parents) were so anxious for the action to begin because the kids (and parents) were ready for nap time and/or lunch time.

We all yelled and cheered when the helicopter circled around us! The moment was here! The eggs dropped and children of all ages were able to go on the field and get as many eggs as they could. Unfortunately, many of the plastic eggs cracked open when they hit the ground so it made it a little difficult. Candy was mostly all over the grass! Oops! Well, the kids didn’t care and they still had a blast.

After church we headed over to Dick and Barbara’s (my brother’s in-laws house) for a HUGE late lunch. Lots of family and friends, plus lots of food! What more could you want, right? He, he! Before the eating began, we had another Easter egg hunt! Since the eggs were so hard to get at church because of all the people, Ryan was on a mission to get some eggs this time! He ended up with a little over 50 eggs!!

Here he is scouring the yard for all his eggs…these ones were filled with candy and coins!

I would have taken more photos, but my camera battery ran out!! I was so bummed! At least I was able to capture some special moments first!

We definitely had an amazing Easter weekend!

Ruby and I volunteered at our church carnival on Saturday. They had free food, games, activities, and even some prizes! We helped set up in the morning and then ran one of the game booths the last two hours of the carnival. While we were waiting for our game booth shift to start, we walked around the carnival and enjoyed the wonderful weather – and each other. Awe!

Ruby and Ryan both had their faces painted. Pretty cute!

I absolutely love this picture of the two of them! Ruby looks so pretty and grown up, doesn’t she?!?!

We also checked out the reptile room. It definitely wasn’t Ryan’s favorite area! I couldn’t get him close enough to even take a picture.

Holy cow!!

Speaking of cows…here’s another animal that Ryan can live without! He hates ANYTHING in a costume!

Here’s Ryan with his teacher.

The kids area had a pirate theme going on, so Ryan and Ruby made pirate maps together.

Then Ryan did some pirate stamping on the wall.

All-in-all it was a wonderful day with our church members, guests, and our own family!

Next, I’ll have some pictures from Easter Sunday! Another great day!

Updated: Check out Easter Weekend: Part Two here.

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.”

Last weekend someone gave us four free tickets to a Lakers game. Todd and I decided to take the kids with us. None of us had ever attended a professional basketball game before.

The game didn’t start until 7:30 p.m. so we had time to head up early to LA and have dinner beforehand. We ate at a Mexican restaurant called El Cholo. It was close to Staples Center so we were able to park, walk to the restaurant, and then walk back across the street to the arena.

I wasn’t sure if Ruby and Ryan were going to like the game or if they’d be bored. Also, it didn’t start until late and I was worried Ryan might be tired and cranky when we got there.

I was wrong!

Ryan was in awe of the game and couldn’t take his eyes off the court. The cotton candy was a big hit too! You’d never know he had just eaten dinner less than an hour earlier.

Ruby was just as excited to be there. We wanted to leave in the fourth quarter to avoid traffic getting out of there and it was getting really late for Ryan. The kids were so disappointed we had to leave before it was over. I’m so glad everyone had such a great time.

We took a few photos of our fun night. Even though our seats were in the very last row – center court – we could see everything. The only problem was that it was a bit scary sitting up so high and so steep! Yikes!

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!