these are the moments

King of the Castle

Jay loves to follow Ri around all day long. They are the best and the worst of friends...ha!

This little guy loves chairs! Rocking chair, couch, little kid-sized chair, you name it! He loves to sit and read books, rock or just lounge. So cute!!

Spiderman Handstand

...and a somersault!

In LOVE

How did he become a big boy (although he's just now 21 pounds)? Mylesie is moving into his big boy carseat, wearing bigger clothes and packing away some of the little baby clothes. My heart leaps and aches all at the same time.

Phases

We are in the phase of


never ending messes of toys, crumbs, spilled milk, dirty diapers, laundry, smashed food,
flour messes while helping Mommy bake, and
all three gathering for some quiet and calm...

all of these moments are PRICELESS!

Week in Review

Mylesie went to one day of Sonshine School before missing the following two days due to a double ear infection. Poor guy was so miserable!! Here that sweet little guy is at Target (one of his very few trips, since I usually go alone at night) after his appointment. We had to pick up a few things. He absolutely loved strolling around in the cart and loved having Momma's full attention for two days! I think I loved it more than him!
Love watching my baby boys play together!
Beautiful roses from hubs while he was away overnight. He's a keeper!!!
Sunday morning matching! Nan Nan bought this dress for Ri for her birthday and I happened to have a matching cardigan! Gotta be cheesy while she still lets me:)

Ri's 3rd Birthday

Kids' Table

Coffee Station

Drink Station

Thanks Krispy Kreme for the extra hats...perfect for personalizing=FREE!

Several weeks ago we had Ri's 3rd birthday! It still is so hard to believe that I have a three year old!! She keeps us on her toes with her little personality! She is hilarious, beautiful, and already pretty talented for such a young tot! We adore her! She has taught me a lot of patience, that motherhood is not all rainbows and unicorns, but above all, she has taught me the joy of being a mother!! Love her with all my heart!!!

This gal (and her momma) love donuts! So, it was only fitting that she have a donut party this year! So fun!! It was the easiest party ever! I bought donuts, drinks and paper goods! I already had decor, fabric, etc. on hand. Cheap and easy!!

Day in the Life

I like to organize, schedule, write in my planner, make lists, etc. I personally enjoy seeing what other people do during their day, especially those with kiddos. Here is our new fall schedule. Looks like my daughter is fond of organizing, too;)



Our current schedule goes something like this:

6:30 My goal time to wake up, shower, get dressed, exercise, have Bible study
7:15 My more realistic wake up time lately:( I'm good to just get a shower & start kids' bkfast
8:00 Kids up and dressed, breakfast
8:30 Fix kids' hair, brush teeth, wash faces
8:50 Clean up breakfast and other morning messes
9:00 Load the car (T, W, Th) and leave for preschool or Bible study (on Mondays we use this time just to play and load the car at 10:00 for gymnastics)
9:30 Preschool or Bible Study
10:30 Gymnastics (on Mondays)
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Book Time (sit around living room and read books)
12:30 Naps (Ri has Tot School around 2:30)...I use this time to do laundry, dishes, fix dinner, clean house, blog, organize, etc. Some days I sneak in a nap or watch Netflix.
3:30/4:00 Play or Movie
4:45 Fix dinner
5:30 Dinner
6:00 Play or evening drive (recently found a great 10 minute drive around Lake Hefner...peaceful and pretty!)

6:30 Baths and get ready for bed

7:15 Bedtime for kids
11:00 Bedtime for me

1st day of Sonshine School

Ri is in the "Bumblebee" class. So, her little outfit I found on Target clearance was perfect for the first day! She sat in her chair and got straight to work!

The kids went back to school on Thursday at Sonshine School (our church's MDO). They had a great day and a few of my social butterflies enjoyed being back around friends! We are blessed with such fabulous teachers!! We know them all and love them all! I know my kids will be nurtured in every way this year and I couldn't be happier!

Mylesie seemed a little unsure at first, but did great and had a wonderful day!
No tears...yay!!

Jay in his new class. It's so crazy that he is so big now! He did great and I couldn't even get a picture of him, because he was so ready to play!

This is the first time in 7 years that I've gone a year without teaching either public school or Sonshine School. It's bittersweet. I miss the wonderful Christian ladies I work with, the ability to work in the same building as my husband and my kids, and to spend time teaching darling little ones. But, I must say, this is a welcome change this year. It has been a really hard year of balancing my role as wife, mother and teacher, to name a few. It really has seemed crazy, yet fairly "easy" for a while, up until the past two weeks. I've grown weary. I've lost the patient, fun and compassionate side that I want my kids to see. I think I see it slowly coming back. I'm hoping these days of "off time" will do my heart some good and refresh me just a bit!

Of course, while I'm typing this I had to run into the bathroom because I could hear major sink splashing in the freshly cleaned bathroom...only to find about 1/2 a roll of toilet paper in the toilet. It's always so fun fishing out huge wads of toilet paper from the toilet in order to save from a plumbing emergency! Thankfully, I kept my cool and reminded my little darling of the appropriate amount of toilet paper.

A few people have asked me what I did during my 5 hours sans kids. It's been a very long time since I've had that much time to myself, especially in daylight! Hubs is great at giving me some alone time, but this was much-needed! I browsed around Hobby Lobby and killed a little time while I waited for chapel to start at SSS. Ri got sung to and had a special certificate now that she is officially a Big Sister! I definitely cried at that one! She loved being sung to and definitely lit up! Then I went to Target to get diapers and soap. After that, I ventured down to our new Sunflower Farmer's Market. It was crowded!! But, for $17 I got Kashi cereal, 2 sm. canteloupe, 2 containers of raspberries, romaine lettuce, blackberries, fruit snacks, organic applesauce, and probably other things I've forgotten. It is a great place with wonderful specials!! I stopped by Starbucks on my way home to work on my Bible study and enjoyed my first Passion Tea Lemonade and a small vanilla bean scone. I ran home with the 1 1/2 hours remaining to eat lunch, sort the kids toys, clean out the boys' closet, do dishes, toss in some laundry, pick up the house, etc. It was a great day! I'm looking forward to my Tuesdays and Thursdays!!