Half Birthday!

Now a days, if you have a summer birthday the school celebrates your half birthday. So Ryan celebrated his 3.5 birthday last Wednesday. I loved celebrating with Ryan and all his little preschool friends. Ryan got a birthday badge for the day, they all sang Happy Birthday, birthday hugs, he took little birthday treat bags for everyone, and he got to be the special helper for the day. He had a really great day at preschool.

Since I was at preschool, I was able to observe him in his element. His teacher was reviewing the letters P, Q, R, and S. She would hold up a letter and the class would shout out which letter it was. Ryan would shout it before everyone else, almost every time. He knows the whole alphabet, out of order, but I was shocked at how quickly he recognized each letter. It's not a competition but he is a smart little stinker. GREAT! I am so proud of him. He is learning so much! The best part of it is that his teacher makes learning fun. Now, I truely understand why Ryan likes preschool so much.

Ryan blowing out the "candles"

Learning to form an S
Ryan and his good friend Jillian writing the letter S

V-DAY

Happy Valentine's Day!

We don't do a whole lot for Valentine's Day. Ben and Ryan gave me a cute card. We got Ryan a couple little things (game for his Click Start, Cars coloring book and Cars pajamas). After supper tonight, Ry and I made Valentine's rice crispie bars then we used a heart shaped cookie cutter and made a bunch of hearts to give to our friends that are coming over tomorrow. I think Valentine's Day is suppose to be about a "couple" but we like spending time and including Ryan in everything. I might talk Ben into taking me out to eat this weekend. We haven't been out by ourselves for a while so this might be a good excuse.

Ryan had his V-day party at preschool on Wednesday. He had to write his name about 20 times for his valentines cards that he handed out to his friends. He loved bringing home all his treats. It is almost like Halloween with all the candy. It was fun for him though.

Ryan still needs a little help writing his name

His loot from school

Ben and I's annual truffles from his parents

M&M's from Gpa/Gma Johnson and a cute book from Aunt Lynn and Uncle Michael

More M&M's from Gpa/Gma Knerr
Ben and Ryan trying out the new color wonder markers and Cars coloring book

Ryan's Bedroom

Ry's room has been done for a couple weeks but I hadn't taken any pictures. He really likes it and I am happy with it also. I bought all the bedding, valances, shades, lantern lamp at Target. Two of the animal heads Ryan received at a gift from Aunt Lynn and the bear rug from Aunt Katie. All the other wildlife are things that Donna, Ben and I have collected on vacations or trips. I took the bedding to Lowe's and had them color match the paint to the bedding. I was going to put up a chair rail but it just wouldn't have looked right to have a modern chair rail with 100 year old base boards so I painted and stenciled a border. The bed itself is also new. I really enjoyed creating this room.

I took this picture tonight. Too cute! I wanted to show everyone the sheets. The whole room was inspired by these sheets. I saw them at Target one day which led to my bright idea to redecorate Ry's room.
I found this light switch cover online. Perfect match! I also bought outlet covers.

I am so sick of snow!

We have had snow on the ground since November :( I think I heard on the news tonight that we are at 18 inches above normal. I believe it! One of the first storms we got was an ice storm so we still have that same ice underneath all the snow. Our driveway has been a sheet of ice for almost 3 months. I actually don't mind snow in general but I have had enough, I am ready for spring.


This is the first year that I have had a vehicle with 4 wheel drive. Perfect timing because I have had to bust through many snow drifts this winter. My van would have never made it. The only downfall is now Ben thinks he doesn't have to clear snow (with the tractor) as quickly because I can still get out if I need too.


Ryan hasn't had preschool all week. He is anxious to go back especially since we have been stuck in the house. I am taking him out for a playdate tomorrow morning. He will be able to burn off some engery.


I have been working on labeling and organizing photos from the last 3-4 months and I noticed a reoccuring theme...snow! Okay, okay my pity party is over. I know lots of you are in the same boat as us and probably feel the same way as us also. I am looking forward to going back to my hometown this weekend. They actually have more snow than us right now but at least I get to spend the time inside with my family.

November

December

January - he doesn't care if the swingset has snow on it or not Yesterday, right before the latest snow storm which dropped about 4 more inches of snow

A whole lot of nothing

Ever felt like you are so busy but when you think about it you ask yourself, "what is it that we have been busy doing?" I guess we are just busy enjoying what life has to offer.

Last night I went with a little group of my mom friends to eat Thai food for the first time. LOVED IT! All four of us ordered something different then we shared. I like Chinese cuisine so I was sure that I would like Thai. I actually liked it more then Chinese. The restuarant we went to is called The Spice in downtown Ames. I won't be eating there very often though. Ben and Ryan would not like it. Our group of moms goes out on the last Thursday of every month so I hoping that we can go there again along with trying other unique places that my boys would not appreciate as much as myself.

This morning Ryan and I went swimming at a friends house. Yes, they have a heated indoor pool. And very generous to let us come and enjoy some nice warm swimming in the middle of winter! After swimming the kids played a little bit then made pretzels. Ryan must of thought his pretzel tasted pretty good because he got sassy when I wanted to taste a little piece. He usually is willing to share me but NOT that pretzel. We had a great time.

Swimming

Making pretzels

Final product Our friend, Julia eating her pretzel. She's so cute. I love her hair.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am going to spend the day scrapbooking at a friends house tomorrow. I haven't been able to scrapbook much lately so I am looking forward to it. I always feel a little guilty for leaving Ryan all day but I remind myself that it is good for Ryan and dad to have one-on-one time (grandma and grandpa are usually involved in that one-on-one time). It's good for mom to get a break from "mommy mode" once in awhile too. Everyone comes back refreshed!

A couple little stories from the week

A DISGUSTING STORY!
A week ago, Ryan and I stopped at Panera Bread for a late lunch. I had just gotten Ryan's coat so we could leave, I turned around to throw our trash away and I heard Ryan say with a quiver in his voice, "mama, mama, MAMA!" I turned around to this freaky, weird, sicko middle aged man laughing with his arm reached out to Ryan. In his hand were his TEETH (dentures). The man looks at me, still laughing and says, "I think I scared him." Then says to Ryan, "Do you want to touch them?"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I just about died. I stood there in shock then grabbed Ryan and headed straight out the door. I didn't say a word to this guy because I was so shocked but now I can think of a million things I should have said. Ryan was very confused and asked me a whole series of questions once we got in the Tahoe. I did take the opportunity to stress how important it is to take care of your teeth.

A CUTE STORY

Ben was home Thursday morning because of the bad weather so Ryan was begging Ben to take him to grandma and grandpa's. It was still pretty early in the morning so Ben used the excuse, "You aren't dressed yet. You can't go over there in your jammies." Ryan disappears to his bedroom. He comes downstairs 5 minutes later, completely dressed! He picked out his own clothes and dressed himself. Ryan's comment to me was, "I picked out a cool shirt, cool pants and they match." Ben and I were both laughing. The socks were a different story. They didn't match at all. I let him wear them anyway because he was so proud of himself. So Ben HAD to take him to grandpa's now and he did. Ryan would do just about anything if it meant that he gets to go to grandma and grandpa's house. Good for mom to know that Ryan CAN get dressed by himself if he really wants too. Here is the outfit...

We try and get fresh air everyday even if it 0 degrees out. BBBRRRR! I didn't stay outside very long but Ryan survived for about 15 minutes. We were just walking from the Tahoe to the house but Ryan decided to stay outside so that is why he isn't bundled up very well. Wasn't expecting him to WANT to be outside in the freezing cold.

Playing at our friends house today.

Our wild child, Little Miss Libby. She looks cute but don't let her fool ya.

Life is getting back to normal

Geez, I know I stated in my Christmas letter that I am pretty good at keeping this website up to date but Christmas was so hectic that it just didn't happen.

We had a wonderful holiday season. On Christmas eve, I thought we would be stuck at home all week with a sick child. Ryan was not feeling good at our Christmas celebration with Ben's family. He threw up 3 times while sitting at Grandma's beautiful table. But it was one of those times that when you finally throw up you feel much better. I took him straight to the bathtub and he came out feeling fine and back to his normal self. So we moved along with our plans as scheduled.

Christmas Morning - Santa visited our house!

Dad and Ryan playing with the huge firetruck that Santa brought

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave Ryan a really neat fireman outfit
We spent a lot of time with family, received some very thoughtful gifts, ate way to much food, and did a little traveling. We left for Washington on Christmas day. On Wednesday Ryan really wanted to try ice fishing so we took him. We just fished at dads. Wednesday night, I went out with several of my friends from high school. It was nice to sit down and enjoy their company without the kiddos running around. It is amazing that we all keep in contact and are still good friends 10 years later. We can go without talking for a few months but when we get together again it is like the good ole days. That is what you call lifelong friends, you definitely don't find that much anymore. I didn't get back to dad's until 1am and was up at 4:45am to leave for Branson. Good thing Ben and Ryan were well rested because I was dead tired.

Ben had to bring Ry's new remote control 4-wheeler out to the ice

Ben says, "Let's drive around the pond" Not a good idea- STUCK!

Lookin cool while mom and dad are trying to get me pulled out of the deep snow We met up with my family (my mom's side) in Branson on Thursday afternoon. We went to Silver Dollar City that evening. It was pretty cold so we didn't stay long. We ate supper with the family, rode a few rides, HAD to ride the train since we didn't get to last year because the waiting line was to long. We tried staying warm by drinking hot chocolate but it didn't help so we headed back to the hotel and went swimming in the heated pool. Friday we headed to West Plains, MO where my aunt and uncle live. We all stopped for lunch at Lambert's Restaurant. They are known for throwing rolls. Ryan loved it. He got to catch the rolls all by himself. We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in West Plains. We celebrated Christmas and hung out. We don't see that side of the family very often so it was nice to catch up with them. We truly enjoyed ourselves. We went to Mammoth Springs in AR. That was a neat little state park. I think I read that it is the largest spring in AR and the second largest spring in the Ozark mountains. We happened to be walking along a path in the park as a train passed by. Both Ben and Ryan were pretty impressed with that. It was a beautiful spot to take photos but my camera was not working very well :(

Playing with his new smart click at the hotel

HILARIOUS! Groceries and salvage all in one spot!

Mammoth Springs - Attack of the geese

One weird looking bird Ben and Ryan in front of the spring
Me and Ryan - a rare picture - I am usually behind the camera
Train!!!

Cousin KatieWe weren't sure if we would be home for New Years Eve so we didn't make any plans to celebrate. We ended up being home so we had a movie night as a family. We ordered pizza, got a couple movies and Ryan requested popcorn with M&M's. We didn't make it to midnight though. Ryan zonked out around 9 and we went to bed at 11.

Things are starting to fall back in place. Ryan went back to preschool this last week. He was asking to go back. Ben went back to work. It took me a couple days to find a place for all the new toys, unpack our luggage, and take down the Christmas decor. We missed our friends during all the hoopla of Christmas so we have had several playdates.

This weekend, I am working on Ryan's bedroom. I bought new bedding, decor and paint about 10 months ago but hadn't gotten around to actually redecorating. We bought him a new bed 6 months ago and it was back ordered, we finally got to pick it up last week so I decided it was time to get the room done. All the painting is done, now we just have to put up the chair rail, put the bed together, and hang stuff on the walls. Next up: painting the upstairs bathroom. I wonder how long it will take for me to get that done?? I will post pictures of Ry's room when I get it completely finished.