Just Let It Ride

Saturday, July 25, 2015

July in pictures

Fishing
Andrew, Ryder, and Steve enjoyed an evening of "boys only" fishing at the creek behind Steve and Alison's vacation house. They didn't catch anything, but they had fun goofing around!

fishing with Uncle Steve

waiting patiently

He must be up to something!

the only catch of the day--ha!

an outfit totally put together by Ryder

The Pickle Factory
Grann, Alison, and I made a HUGE batch of Nana's sweet pickles last weekend. It had been over 5 years since we last made them, so they were long gone. It's a 3-day process of slicing, soaking, washing, icing, and cooking them, and it was much more of a challenge coordinating everything this time since we were working around kids' schedules instead of just our own. The guys were very helpful in entertaining the kids while we took over Grann's kitchen, and we ended up with 65 pints!

40 lbs. of cucumbers

Welcome to the Jungle
Alison and Maisie had never been to the Jungle Gardens, so Grann took us all one morning for a mommy/kids day out. My kids hadn't been since Harper was about 16 months old, so everything seemed new and exciting to them too.

Maisie loved the parrots! When they made noises, she kind of growled back at them. :)

Ryder loved feeding the flamingos this time, and I think he used up all of Grann's quarters at the food dispensers!

This flamingo walked right up to me, so I snapped its picture. No zoom required!

This parrot said, "Hello" anytime someone walked by. I tried to capture it on video, but of course it didn't cooperate while I was recording.

*priceless*

I told the kids they didn't have to hold my hand as long as they stayed close enough to me that I could see them. At one point Harper said, "Ryder, can I hold your hand?" He replied, "Sure. You can." Grann, Alison, and I all dug out our phones to snap a picture of this sweet moment. :)

Lazy days at home

Harper loves to use my pots and pans to cook her pretend food.

so relaxed!

cooking cousins

Maisie is a natural in the kitchen!

Sunday, July 19, 2015

The Tooth Fairy visits Ryder!

By Friday afternoon, Ryder's tooth was so loose that it was pretty much sticking straight out and he could turn it every which way with his tongue. To be honest, we were all a little grossed out by it and wanted him to pull it out. He was sitting next to Alison on the couch, and she teasingly said, "Ryder, don't you dare twist that tooth right next to me. Yuck!" Ryder giggled as he kept wiggling and twisting his tooth, and then his eyes got huge as he looked at his hand and then at me and then back to his hand. His tooth was out! He handed it to me while Grann gave him a tissue to hold against his gum. He was definitely a little freaked out about what had just happened, and we just kept reassuring him that it was perfectly normal.

I didn't realize how traumatized he was until the next morning. He had insisted on keeping a tissue in his mouth Friday night when he went to bed. Not only did I think that was disgusting, but I worried about him choking on it while he slept. So to avoid a meltdown, I gave him a dry washcloth instead. Well, on Saturday he refused to take the washcloth out of his mouth. All. Day. Long. He wouldn't eat or drink anything, and he pretty much just cried or whined all day. Even the $3 the tooth fairy brought him didn't do much to cheer him up. I finally got him to admit to me that he just wanted his new tooth to grow in because he was scared that without it, eating was going to hurt.

After a looooooong day at home, we made him ditch the washcloth so he could go shopping with Andrew with his tooth fairy money. This seemed to cheer him up, and he even sucked down a chocolate milkshake before bed. Today we had our happy, washcloth-free Ryder back, and he was proud to pose for the camera with his adorable toothless grin!

Monday, July 13, 2015

Ryder's first loose tooth!

When Ryder started teething at 4 months old, I knew in the back of my mind that he would probably start losing teeth earlier than other kids. I just had no idea that time would get here so quickly! Even though I help him brush his teeth every day, it wasn't until he stood right in front of me smiling that I noticed one of his top front teeth looked different. They were always perfectly symmetrical, and now one of them is just a little "off". When I asked him if I could see it, he said, "This one wiggles a little bit." I was surprised that he was so matter of fact about it; I got a little teary-eyed because I realized once again how quickly my little boy is growing up!

Summer Fun

Now that the kids are finished with summer camp and I'm only working twice a week, we are enjoying being lazy while we can. :) We spend most mornings lounging around in our pj's until we decide to jump in the pool or change into clothes in time for lunch. Harper's afternoon nap is changing--she went from napping 2-3 hours every day to napping every other day or so. It doesn't seem to faze her, but it makes me tired! We still enforce "quiet time" for both of them--they have to play in their rooms alone with doors closed--but lately it just results in the two of them talking loudly to each other through the walls and closed doors. This is what I overheard the other day, about 20 minutes into quiet time:

H: Ryder! Ryder! Are you in your room?
R: Yes, it's quiet time. We have to stay in our rooms.
H: What are you doing in your room?
R: I'm building a Lego car.
H: Oh! I can build something too! (a crashing sound as she dumps her Legos all over the floor)
R: Are you building now?
H: Yeah, I'm making a bed.
R: Oh, that's cool.
(silence for a few minutes)
H: Ryder! Are you there?
R: I'm here!

This went on for a few more minutes before I decided to give up on quiet time since it wasn't working so well!

Random pictures from around the house...

This look just screams "attitude" to me. :)

carrot cake for breakfast--yum!

giving herself tattoos with markers

taking pictures with a Lego camera he built

enjoying a lazy morning, watching Wizard of Oz

Steve, Alison, and Maisie rented a house nearby for a few weeks for their vacation. We've already been to their place twice over the weekend and then saw them at church yesterday. Ryder said, "Mom, we've seen them three days in a row!" He's so excited, and we look forward to lots of fun get togethers this month.