Pink Princess Party

Birthday party at Granny and Papa Pittman's house. We had cupcakes that were great and fun with the family. Ryley got a new pink robe. It is so soft that she tried to sleep in it when we came home. Ryan and I took it off of her in the night because we were afraid she would be too hot. Pink princess dress, crown, scepter, and purse. She has put this dress on everyday since she got it.

Yummy cake. Grandma Nancy and Aunt Erin made a really yummy, pretty cake. Thanks! I guess we didn't take pictures of her opening gifts at Grandma and Papa Silverwood's. She got a barbie, barbie bed, and a barbie car. She also got pink stripped pj's, a stuffed camel, and slippers. Ryley has been playing Barbie's every day, and told me yesterday that she needs a "Daddy barbie". She also loves her pj's, I had to wash them when we came home so she could wear them the next day.

Ryley loves pink and princesses. So here is the cake I made her. It was supposed to have seven princesses on it, but they wouldn't all fit.
She wanted to open her gifts before Ryan went to work so here are the pictures with us all still in our pj's.
Mason and Jodie bought Ryley a Snow White doll. She had to come to the grocery store with us today.
When Ryley went to blow out the candles she almost caught her hair on fire.
Today Ryley told me she wasn't four yet, because she wasn't big enough to be four. I have had to tell her all day that she is in fact four years old, but I don't know if she is convinced!

Happy Birthday Ryley!

Four years ago today Ryley made her entrance into the world. Of course she had to come at 4:00 am, she has always liked to get up early! I just said to Ryan how quickly she has went from being the baby to being the big sister and big helper. She loves to help with everything (feeding Jodie, laundry, dishes, etc.). However, she hates cleaning up her toys go figure!?! Ryley is such a wonderful child. She is loving, caring, funny, and sometimes just crazy. She enjoys getting herself dressed so one never knows what she will be wearing, example, pink fuzzy tiara to church (Daddy said no, that it had to stay in the car.) Ryley is our child that makes life interesting and I look forward to our lives with her.
Aunt Erin and Granny thought she needed a swimsuit and matching sunglasses. Maybe this is what started the obsession with accessories!Thanks Kristin for the wonderful hand knit sweater. Jodie just outgrew it so it is being retired to the save it box.
After looking at pictures I remembered that Ryley had the most interesting way of crawling, she would drag one leg and sometimes crawl sideways. It was so funny to watch her. Here she is learning to walk.

Mason wore this costume for his first Halloween so for Ryley's first Halloween I added a bow to the costume and instantly she was a girl lion.

See sunglasses again.

and again Loving her baby sister. I think Ryley misses the days of being able to hold Jodie.
Here she is wearing Grandpa Jones's hat. She and Mason love to climb up on my dresser and wear his hat around.

Ryley is just an amazing child. She is so full of love. Ryley is Mommy's girl one day and Daddy's girl the next. She loves to dress up, but she isn't afraid to get dirty with the boys too. Again, I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful child that I get to raise!

Hunting

For the past three years Ryan and Mason have went hunting with my sister Erin, her husband Tommy, and my step-dad John. This year Tommy had set up a deer blind (for those of you who don't hunt it looks like a large camo tent.) for Ryan and Mason. The blind worked out perfect because it was large enough for Mason to move around in, it kept the wind, sleet, and snow off of them and kept him hidden. They saw two deer (a mom and her baby), but Ryan didn't shoot. Mason had a great time hunting and loved the blind! Thank you John, Ryan, Erin, and Tommy for taking Mason out with you. I know that this will be something that he remembers always!

Oh and I must brag a little...Mason won a good citizenship award from school on Friday. His teacher said he always follows the rules, is helpful, and a great friend! We are so proud of him. Plus, his parent-teacher conference could not have been any better. He read us a book, and showed us the writing he is doing. He is writing whole sentences!! The changes in him are just incredible!
One of Mason's favorite things about hunting: Eating the snacks that everyone had. He ate chips, beef jerky, and peanut butter cups. Thanks Papa for bringing snacks.

Ryan, Mason, and Tommy: Ryan told me that Mason got to carry his own knife this year.

Smile!!!

Being Helpful!

Thank you to those people who gave suggestions. I e-mailed Coach and they said that there is really nothing that I can do because chemicals might hurt the leather and they no longer clean/refurbish their products. Ryley says she is very sorry, but is more than willing to help me look for a new purse. She wants me to have a pink princess purse. ha ha ha ha ha Ryley can always make me laugh no matter the situation!

This is a picture of the one name brand item I own. I did not buy this Coach purse, I actually got it from a friend who was selling it at a garage sale. I like this purse because it is a nice size, it matches everything, and it says Coach (so I really don't care that it says "Coach", but how many people can say they have a free Coach purse?!?)

This morning I did not take the time to put my purse back up in the closet and Ryley decided to be helpful and draw on it. She told me that she wrote my name on it so no one else would use it. However, it is clearly her intitals. So I guess Ryley now has a new Coach purse and I need to go shopping. The writing is a little hard to make out in the picture but trust me it does say RS.

If anyone out there knows how to take ink pen off of leather let me know. I tried hairspray and finger nail polish remover.

Here Comes the Bride

Ryley wanted to try on my wedding dress. She is so pretty and she already knows who she is going to marry. She wanted to marry her dad but I told her that I was already married to him, then she wanted to marry Mason, but I told her that wouldn't work either. So she decided that she could marry our neighbor Austin. I told her she has to wait until she is 30.

Party Animal

Mason was able to celebrate his birthday three times this month.

We went to Grandma and Papa Silverwoods and had cake and ice cream. Aunt Erin made a really neat cake with a football and football plays on it. Mason really liked it! He got a race track that hangs from his door and walkie talkies. He and Ryley ran around the house with the walkie talkies saying "roger roger" and laughing hysterically.

Granny and Papa Pittman came up before his birthday and brought presents. He got a new gun, and a new football outfit (which he wore the rest of the day). Granny found a Star Wars card that plays the Darth Vader song when you open it, so needless to say I can't get the song out of my head.

We celebrated his birthday on Monday with presents, a cake, and tacos for dinner (he got to choose). We bought him a digital camera which he loves, and the girls bought him an air hockey game.
Mason wanted a red velevet cake, white frosting, and Star Wars on top.

Happy Birthday Mason!

Six years ago today Mason was born. I am still in shock that he is six years old. It seems like just yesterday that we were embarking on the adventure of parenthood, and here we are with three kids. Mason is such a wonderful child. He is incredibly smart, he is great with his sisters, and he has one of the biggest hearts. I feel truly blessed to be his Mom and I can't wait to see the man he will grow up to be. Here are just a few of the pictures we have taken along the way. I have tons of pictures so I tried to pick just a few.

This picture was taken on Oct. 31 2002 (Sorry for the poor quality we took this with our video camera!) I am still amazed at how big my body gets when pregnant.

This is Mason just a few days old. August of 2003. Doesn't Jodie look a lot like her brother? He loved to stand in the little potty and look out his window.

I loved this costume. He looked so cute.So he never actually wore this outfit anywhere, but I had to dress him up and again he was just darling.Here he is with Ryley. They really love each other and have started to be great friends.He decided to put on every headband in the house. I have video of him sitting there singing, with the headbands on. Ahh Jodie, he loves her too, this day I needed to finish getting everything ready to leave for school so he was trying to get her to go back to sleep. She laid back and sat with him until time to go. She really loves her big brother (she has started calling him bubba or something that sounds like it!)My little football player. He has told me that one day he will play for the Minnesota Vikings, so I guess one day Ryan and I will have to leave Missouri to go be closer to him (oh and the girls will have to move too!). People have always told me that kids grow up too fast, but you don't really understand until you have kids of your own. I am amazed at how fast the time went. When Mason was a baby I held him while he napped and some people said I was spoiling him. I am glad that I chose to listen to the Moms out their who said "Good for you, he will grow up faster than you can imagine." My Mom gave me a plaque for my wall that says "...quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I am rocking my babies and babies don't keep."