What a Difference a Year Makes

Left: 9/6/11- First Day of Preschool

Right: 8/20/12- First Day of Pre-K

Boy, has he changed! I love this sweet boy of mine so dearly.  Every day is a new adventure with him and I love watching him learn and soak up everything around him.  I'm a blessed mama!

I did a little interview with him to remember his favorite things as he begins another year of school.  Here are his answers:

1) What is your favorite color? Blue

2) What is your favorite toy? Horse

3) What is your favorite fruit? Apples

4) What is your favorite TV show? Dino Dan

5) What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PB&J

6) What is your favorite outfit? basketball outfit

7) What is your favorite game? soccer

8) What is your favorite snack? Teddy Grahams

9) What is your favorite animal? cow

10) What is your favorite book? The 3 Little Pigs

11) Who is your best friend? Jonah

12) What is your favorite cereal? Fruit Loops

13) What is your favorite thing to do outside? run with Tucker

14) What is your favorite drink? milk

15) What is your favorite holiday? Easter

16) What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my stuffed animals

17) What do you like for breakfast? Pop Tarts

18) What do you want to be when you grow up? a vet

Insta Update

1. Nana and Ryker sharing lunch.

2. Cam taking a bath in Nana's utility sink after dinner.

3. This kid is obsessed with brushing his teeth. He screams when you take the toothbrush away.

4. Swinging at the park.

5. Ryker's shadow.

6. Ryker sleeping on the dog bed...again.

7. Ryker's interesting clothing choices never cease to amaze me. (Those pumpkins socks make an apperance WAY more than I'd like them to.)

8. Trying to get Cam's picture for his b'day invites was quite the task!

9. Cam wanted to read the Bible with me.

1. Playing farm.  Big brother has taught him well.

2. Making a wish in the fountain at Guadalaraja.

3. He climbed up on the stool all by himself.

4. Ryker and Kainen playing with the horse, Jessie.

5. Camden trying out Piper's new bouncy seat.

6. Ryker and Kainen playing bad guys.

7. Ryker watching Little Mermaid for the first time.  He didn't like Ursula too well.

8. My handsome boys.

9. Ryker was using his toy saw to saw through this diaper box. 

Back to School Night

All the boys fell asleep on the way home from the State Fair.

First soccer practice was a success!

1. Curly headed boy.

2. Roman soldier at the fair.

3. Ironing Robert's suit at 11:30 at night.  Good wife points!

4. Trying on his Halloween costume.

5. Ryker loves playing vet.

6. Stealing lemon drops at Aunt Karen's house.

7. First soccer practice

8. Camden helping me clean at Aunt Karen's.

9. Then, he fell asleep...cleaning takes it out of ya!

I showed Ryker how to take pictures of himself with my phone and he had fun taking a bunch!

1. Birdwatching at lunch one day.

2. Reading with Daddy.

3. After his first soccer game.

4. Cam's invites all ready to be sent out.

5. Audrey giving Cam some love.

6. Audrey, Ryker, and Ruby enjoying the playground.

7. Camden "helping" me clean the front door.

8. Ryker using his curtain rod to "get fit." (his words, not mine)

9. Having a peppermint with Grandpa.

We took lunch over to Grandma and Grandpa after school.  Ryker had fun exploring their woods.

1. Cuddle time with Daddy

2. Playing outside.

3. He was cranky, so I stuck him in the bath.  Instant happy baby.

4. Ready for 2nd day of school.

5. Having yogurt for the first time. It was a hit!

6. Ryker thought my new colander was a helmet.

7. Cam was so tired he slept through most of our grocery trip just like this.

1. Ryker has such an imagination.  He was hunting dinosaurs this day.

2. Cam has really started to like playing music.

3. I love the way he sleeps...it cracks me up.

4. Ryker helped me make fruit dip for Auntie Em's sprinkle and had to taste test it.

I've been doing some shopping for the new house.  Mostly just getting ideas right now.  I can't wait to start decorating a new house and make all my dreams and plans a reality.  I LOVE doing that! 

1st Day of Pre-K

Today was Ryker's first day of Pre-K.  He was, much to my surprise, very excited about going to school.  I was so pleased to know he was looking forward to it.  He has such a good time with his friends, loves his teachers, and learns so much.  He is attending Weekday Preschool again this year, but has moved up to the Pre-K class.  He will be going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  They get to do new and different things this year which he is excited about.  He even has homework! 

He's such a handsome boy!

Daddy was working from home today so he was able to get a picture before we left. (Yes, they have matching shorts...cute, isn't it?)

All my boys. Cam was pretty interested in the sign and we didn't have much time for retake after retake.

Me and my big Pre-K boy.

Gotta get the backpack on outside pic too. ;-)

When I came to pick him up they were just returning from the park.  He is always so quiet and listens so well to them (why can't he do that at home?!!)

Ryker's First Soccer Game

Saturday was Ryker's first soccer game.  The way his league works is they split the team into two groups.  One is a more aggressive group and the other is a less aggressive group.  The age range is from 4-6 years old. Typically, the younger kids end up in the less aggressive group and vice versa.  Ryker was in the less aggressive group.  One of the coaches goes to our church and his little boy, Eli, is in Ryker's class at church.  His dad, Troy, coached Ryker's game and Ryker did well with him.  He started off great and scored a goal in the first two minutes of the game.  It was much hotter than we expected.  His stamina could use some major improvement.  He would run off the field while they were playing and ask for a drink.  It was so ridiculous, it was funny.  He hung in there though and ran hard and was a great team player.  During his practice he had gotten a bit aggressive with teammates fighting over the ball.  On the way to the game we discussed how he needed to help anyone wearing a red jersey because they were on his team.  He did a great job with this and assisted another player, Kendall, is scoring many other goals.  Overall, it was a pretty good game.  You never know what you're going to get with Ryker, so I'll admit I was a bit nervous.  He had a good attitude though.  Nana came to watch and he was thrilled about that.  Having her there helped me see the humor in his behavior at times.  I mean, he is just 4 years old!  lol  I just like him learning to be part of a team and to be a good sport.

Getting ready to start playing.

Coach Troy lining them up for kick off.

Nana brought some mini animal crackers for Cam.  He had a great time!

He was great at getting the ball away from the other team and moving it back down the field to our goal.

It was supposed to be 64 degrees...it ended up being like 84 (or at least it felt like it!) Nana and Cam both stripped down.

After the game.  We told him if he played well he could have a ring pop.  He was pretty excited when we told him he could get one.

Play Late at the Museum

Friday night the Children's Museum had a special event for members where you could come at 5 when the museum usually closes and play until 9.  Robert was going to go with us, but ended up staying home due to a strained neck that left him pretty immobilized.  We met the Brown's, the Nye's, and our friend Nicole and two of her kiddos.  We had a great time playing and it was a fun way to spend a Friday night.

We headed up to the 4th floor to meet up with everybody.  The boys had fun banging on this and making funny noises as we waited in the line for the carousel.

Clearly, Cam was too busy looking at other things to focus on the camera.

Tucker was checking out Ryker's Buzz Lightyear watch.

These two were hilarious together!  I just know they will be good buddies.

Sweet Emily lifting up Ryker to show him the turtle (I think).

All the littles.

Left to Right: Henry, Rigley, Camden, and Ruby

Big bro showing Little Bro some stuff in the Egypt exhibit

Michelle's Graduation

Wednesday was Michelle's nursing school graduation.  We were invited to a reception for the graduates and their families at Allison Mansion on Marian University's campus.  We were thrilled to attend and honor Michelle and all her hard work.  The mansion was a gorgeous place and perfect for photos.

The graduate with her family

Ryker and Robert acting like statues.

All 4 of the grandkids.

I was pretty impressed that we got so many good ones!

We have very few pictures of all 4 of us. 

And even less of just Robert and I (at least since we became parents).

Ryker had fun posing

This was his "I'm Deep in Thought" statue.

He is such a fun little man.

He was being a mean king here.  He said he was the mean king that made Daniel go in the lion's den sitting on his throne.  Cracked me up! I told him he should be more like King David, a man after God's own heart.

All the boys flanked by the Roberts :-)

We went to dinner afterwards and then Robert left for class.  Cam was really loud during dinner and since we skipped nap to attend the reception, and I was flying solo, we decided to skip the ceremony.  The kids were both knocked out in nothing flat and slept forever.  I was glad I didn't try to tough it out.  It would've been unpleasant for all involved. ;-)



First Soccer Practice

After the fair, Ryker took a brief nap, and then it was time to get up and get ready for his first soccer practice! He wasn't overly excited about soccer when we talked about it, but was eager to play once we got ready to go. Yay! He took off on the field and joined right in. He is on the Mustangs this season and is on the same team as a little boy we know from church.

Meeting his teammates and coaches.  The coach asked if any of them knew what a mustang was.  The first answer was "a really fast car"  lol!  Ryker responded with a "fast horse that jumps high"  Too cute!

He was a great listener and was very careful to follow all the rules and keep the ball between the cones they set up.

The broke up into teams and had a scrimmage.  It got a little aggressive toward the end.  We had to discuss how to better handle that in the future.  He was upset that all the kids were crowding around fighting over the ball.  His first game is this Saturday.  It should be interesting to see how it goes.

Back to the Fair

Tuesday morning we met up with Aunt Kate and Hudson and headed back to the state fair for $2 Tuesdays!

We headed to the dairy barn first since Ryker missed out on that on Saturday.

He loved getting in the pen with the calves...they are so sweet.

Then, he wanted to pet a big one so we set off to find one he could reach.

Proof Hudson was with us. :-)

Checking out the horses.

Me and my (not so) little boy.

We had someone take a group shot of us.  Hudson was asleep.

We ran into the Nye's and Charlotte shared her ice cream with Ryker.

We went through the Little Hands on the Farm again.  This time Cam was awake and enjoyed it.

This was probably Cam's favorite part.

Hudson wanted to participate too. :-)

He was so stinking cute on it!

Ryker is a professional cow milker.

Such a goof ball.

We tried out some fried goodies before heading home.  I got the fried Snickers and it was oh-so-delicious!

Ryker ate quite a bit of it too. :-)