A five year old!

It was a teenage mutant ninja turtle kind of birthday for this five year old.  He has been planning for his birthday since Riley's so hopefully it was everything he dreamed it would be!  

He has looked forward to getting the mail everyday.  As he  opened his cards, he placed a mark in his journal for each piece of money and then tucked the card in his journal.  He has a special metal box where he stashed his money away. It should be noted that he came up with this system all by himself.  The only problem I see with his plan is he thinks he gets to spend ALL his birthday money on toys!  I think it's time he plays an active role in depositing money at the bank!

Happy birthday Brody-odie!  

Meeting Santa

Dreams

So I don't forget...

Last week, Brody came zipping down the stairs one morning all bright eyed.  He had the best dream.  He was driving his monster truck in the dirt going fast.  

That evening as we were getting ready for bed, he told me he was going to bed early because he wanted to try and catch that dream again and hit record!  

Snow!

And now they are waiting for more snow!

Hey there!

Since my dad will soon complain about updates, I am going to make an effort to add a few posts just for him this week.  Wish me luck!

G-O Illini Go

A few weeks ago, we took the boys to their first Illini basketball game!  Oskee-wow-wow Illinois!!

Happy Halloween

Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook and his first mate, Smee, wish you a Happy Halloween...a few days late!

Last night at bedtime...

Soccer

B played soccer this fall with the Park District.  The first game made me think it would be a long season, but as the season progressed, he participated more and even scored a goal and played goalie a few times.  He knew no one on the team nor the coach and I think that was good for him. He really liked having a big audience of his people to watch him and probably played his best the weekend he had his biggest crowd.  We all learned a little bit about soccer throughout the season and had lots of fun practicing at home.  Somehow our soccer practices turned into tackle soccer though, which led to tackle football.  And this mom is unsure how she feels about football...

Brody did tell me today that he was longer going to ride bulls for his hobby...we didn't know he ever wanted to, so I am relieved to hear we don't have to worry about sport.  And no worries about Riley riding bulls either because ALL animals are going to eat him, or at least that is what his three year old mind thinks!

Off to the combine

Harvest is here

 

It's harvest time and we are busy people right now.  

Cardinals

The boys LOVE to stay in hotels.  Up until our weekend in STL, their favorite was the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.  I believe our STL hotel might take the cake now though.  The view from our hotel really was quite exceptional.

We started out the game with everyone occupying their own seats, intently watching the game.  Check out those cushioned seats!!

Riley loved being the audience!

The view from our seats...not to shabby!

Then, in about the fifth inning this happened.  
Note: The couple sitting to my left were super friendly.  I heard their life story if you are ever interested.  

Cotton Candy saved the day though!!

My new friends insisted we needed a family photo..really glad she insisted too!

After the 7th inning, we decided to pack it up and head back because it was already after 9:00 pm and we were all slowly falling apart. We were safely tucked into our room to watch the 9th inning and the fireworks as the Cardinals won.  Actually we watched the fireworks twice...once live out the window and a few seconds later on TV!  

Riley woke us up the next morning with his chattering out the window to the trains, boats and vehicles.  

To cap off the weekend, FredBird seated us at breakfast.  Riley was attempting to melt into the floor with fear.

The only negative thing I have to say about the whole weekend is that we are now spoiled...I may never be able to go back to Busch Stadium unless I have a seat with a built in cushion and an exceptional view of home plate?  I swear our seats were a little wider than the standard seat too.  

St. Louis Arch

A few weekends ago, we took the boys to St. Louis for an overnight.  We had never taken them to the arch or to the river front, so off we went.  We checked out the museum underneath the arch but were not brave enough to take them up into the arch this trip.  We could picture two little boys screaming about half way up!  The river was full of activity with helicopters zipping around and tug boats moving some barges around.  I think the boys could have sat on the steps and watched the activity most of the evening.  But we had tickets to the Cardinals game so off we went...

An evening with The Bible's

Saturday evening, we spent the evening at Kuhl's Kozy Kampground with Kurt's grandparents.  Even with the excessive heat, the boys still fished, took golf-cart rides and played their own version of baseball with fly spatters and a wiffle ball!  The highlight of their evening might have been taking a bath in the camper though.  They really wanted to sleep over, but we weren't quite prepared for that this trip.  Maybe next time?  

just a couple more of riley on his first day...

Working Guys

My working guys are busy prepping a new flower bed for me.  Riley has picked a new favorite accessory...his red rag.  He prefers the dirty one he found on the tiller.  However, after catching him wiping his nose and then the kitchen counter with it, I switch out his red rag daily and he has no clue!  I'm not sure what they are going to do when I start transplanting flowers?  

First Day

Last Tuesday was Riley's first day of three year old Pre-School.  He has been pre-planning to cry since VBS in June, but thankfully his tears were minimal and mine were too.  Cousin Eli is in the same class, and I do believe that helped the whole process go better.  I also promised him an ice cream cone after school!  I think he has made a new friend who likes to farm, but otherwise he just calls all those other people, the boys and girls.  Last year, it seemed Brody was old enough to go to school, but Ri just seems too little still?

Last Wednesday was Brody's first day of school.  Four year old Preschool meets three days a week and he basically has no need for me once I walk him to his room.  I think he would do that on his own as well, but I like to know that he got to his room safe and sound.  We rode our bikes to school the first day, but he asked me to pick him up in my car so we could go eat lunch, because you know mom, we did that last year!  

So all in all, the first days went well.  Being able to transport them to and from school makes me very thankful for the flexibility and location of my job!

Seven