Just...life

I knew it had been a long time since I posted, but was shocked to see that it's been a MONTH! School-and all the paperwork, things to remember, and new schedule it brings with it-has definitely been an adjustment. Y'all know how casual and laid-back I am. Ha. I'm still trying to get it all to work out! In any case, here are a few gems from the last 30 days or so.

 

I had plans to do a "Bus Stop Beauty" post of her outfits each day while we waited for the bus. But with it getting colder, she has NO desire to unzip her coat and pose! However, for the first few weeks (when I remembered my phone or remembered to take the pictures) it was fun!

SO cute!

The outfit was going well until I turned my back while she picked out socks and shoes. Oh well. This can be in the slideshow at her wedding some day. Can you tell she likes pink?!

I think she's singing "I'm a Little Teapot" in her head.

There's a phenomenon known as "photo bombing." Someone's posing just fine, then someone else pops into the shot at the last second. Ryan decided to pop his big, fuzzy head into this picture.

I have no idea where she learned to pose like this. Maybe she's sneaking a peak at Glamour magazine in the checkout lane at Meijer...

This was picture day. Again, pink takes over!

This was either on a Monday or Friday-PE days and therefore I "force" her to wear something other than a dress!

Dress, tights and shoes are good! And then she comes out of her room with her "hair pretties" like this. It just cracks me up.

Photo Bombing #1 (and I can't get it to post the right way for the life of me).

Photo Bombing #2.

Ryan-free shot (after a "Ryan Lucas!" warning).

Bella's self portrait. I absolutely love the pictures she brings home!

 The upside of Bella going to school is that I get to spend time with Little Man. The bus pulls away, Ryan grabs my hand and says, "It's just me and you, Mom." Love that. So we go to the museum, we run errands together, and he's working on school each day as well. He's going through the same curriculum Bella did when she was three. He's doing an amazing job!

Tracing his name-week 2. He's doing a good job! He's also a definite lefty.

Doing his favorite thing-riding the carousel-at the museum.

Ryan's first official "school" paper. Obviously gross motor skills are fine...

 One day many moons ago, I let Bella have my camera for a few hours and I've kept the photos she took of her world. Recently, it was Ryan's turn. Only, in true Ryan fashion, he just did it without asking. He had my phone to play a game, and decided to turn it into a photo session. Here's life from his perspective (well, a handful of the nearly 30 photos he took!).

Our basket of books from the library.

Light switch. The funny part? I had to walk through the house to figure out which one this was! It's in their bathroom. It's not full of dirty fingerprints, which is why I didn't immediately recognize it.

Part of his big bunny foot, and the cow bell that was a prize for the kids at the State Fair. CLEARLY the person who chose this as a prize was not a parent. And I'm sure the trash bags were ringing like a dairy farm the following week on trash day!

Skippy peanut butter. A staple in this house.

His jammie pants. Not sure why I love this, but I do.

Photographic evidence. That little face...I'm a sucker for it.

This is Bella's school, Orchard Park Elementary. I love the "bell tower" on top. We absolutely LOVE this school!

We were at Bella's school for "Muffins with Me." Clearly she's a fan of the chocolate.

Ryan was in on the action too.

I took Ryan to the library for "Tales and Treats". We listened to stories about mice, then made a pudding treat.

Here's the job Ryan did and what it was supposed to look like on the left. I think he did a pretty good job! He ate the M&Ms and the 'nilla wafers and left the rest.

This is Ryan's new "angry face" which is laughable because he's such a happy little guy.

Bella's class spent weeks on their apple unit and I was able to be there for the culminating party. All the kids wore "pots" on their heads with their names: Bella Appleseed sports her chapeau.

That's Bella's table-she's at the "lion" table. They have a loft with a play kitchen-so fun! We never had anything like that!

This is Bella and Ruby. The blonde in the background who looks like a teenager is actually Bella's teacher, Mrs. Fisher. I'm sure every kindergarten teacher is nice, but Mrs. Fisher is so sweet.

And this is Bella's "boyfriend" Eddison. She said she likes him because he's silly. Having met the kid, I wholeheartedly agree. After showing him this picture he said, "That's a kinda scary smile!" and I offered to take his picture again.

Take Two wasn't much better.

I got to spend lunch with Bella. Well, brunch, because they eat at 10:20! We sat next to Eddison (of course) and it was a trip to watch Bella laugh and say, "Oh, Eddison!" Such a flirt.

This past Sunday we got home from church, ate sammies for lunch, then had naps. I have decided to make Sundays "screen-free" days (no TV/movies/computer/iPhone), so we headed off to Flowing Well Park. The kids took off down the trail. I had to practically jog to keep up with my little explorers!

Can you tell that Bella's excited?! And no, she doesn't have the mumps-it's a wad of gum, her new favorite thing.

I love Ryan's deer-in-the-headlights look. He wears this frequently, as if he's always in the middle of mischief (which, let's be honest, he usually is).

I knew the creek would be shallow in parts, so I had the kids wear their rain boots. When they found out they could walk IN the creek, they thought that was the coolest thing ever. And of course, that made me the coolest mom ever (which I am. Not humble, just cool.).

Naturally Ryan chose to RUN across the creek. Over and over. And over.

It being Flowing Well Park and all, the kids drank from the well. You can see how Bella's pants are wet halfway up her thigh in this shot.

Ryan getting his slurps in as well.

The minute he fell in from running across the creek, he looked up to see if he was in trouble. When I shook my head and laughed at him, he took that to be license to also crawl and sit in the creek. He was like a drowned rat when we left but the smile never left his face.

Bella dropped this leaf in and then followed its course as far as she could. Her once light grey pants are now dark grey and soaked almost to the waistband. Overall, I'd say our screen-free Sunday was a success!

I say this every time, but maybe I can be better about posting more often instead of once a month! Here's hoping!