A Peaceful Autumn (aka Ryley Stories)

So the days are getting shorter, and the fall colors are getting brighter. We are settling into a peaceful routine, and things are 93.2% better than they were the last time I wrote. Yay for fall! Yay for peace! Yay for God! He is soooo good.

I received the most wonderful call today from Ryley’s school. Given that the last call I received was when she was in the principal’s office, the school’s name  showing up on my caller ID made me feel immediately sick to my stomach. But it was just her teacher calling to tell me that they have seen a marked difference in Ryley and that her behavior has been wonderful these last couple of weeks…that she has been a good and helpful friend to all. Oh, thank You, Jesus!

We’ve been enjoying her as well. :-)

 

 

Here are some recent Ryley Stories:

Ryley is addicted to collecting box tops to support her school. I don’t buy a ton of name brand items, so we don’t have a lot of box tops that we can donate. (If we did, knowing Ryley, she would raid our pantry and cut up all our boxes before we were done with the food). Anyhow, there’s a contest to see which classroom can collect  the most box tops, so when her great-grandma sent her some from Nebraska, she was absolutely thrilled! She took them with her one morning but accidentally left them in the van when I dropped her off. As she told me about it later, she used the following phrase:

“I was walking up to the school when I noticed I didn’t have my box tops, and I said to myself, ‘Dang!’”

I thought it was so funny, but it was one of those things you don’t laugh at! I think I must say “dang” too much….?

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Ryley is constantly trying to define herself. Recently, she’s decided that she wants to grow her hair out to be fairly long.

“Mommy, long hair is my thing. Short hair is your thing.”

I don’t mind if her hair is long as long as she takes good care of it and it stays out of her eyes. She has tried barrettes, pony tails, pig tails, etc., but she hasn’t liked any of them. In the last few weeks, however, she’s settled on headbands. They’re actually pretty cute!

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Ryley and I attended “The Sound of Music Sing-along” on Tuesday night with a friend. This movie is iconic for me. When I was 9, I bought my first vinyl record of the movie soundtrack, and I broke my ankle while dancing to it in our living room. Ryley loves the movie too, so when I saw the sing-along event advertised, I knew we just had to do it!

It was a blast! Ryley was the only kid there, and she just belted out all the tunes. She is so fearless and brave that way, and I love her for it!

But I just want to say that singing along to Julie Andrews’s voice is extremely difficult. All the songs are written in such high keys, so it’s hard to reach those notes. And if you sing an octave lower, you just sound dumb. Her voice is matchless, and a  theater full of older women who aren’t Julie Andrews? Well, it was fun! :-)

And seeing “The Sound of Music” on the big screen is absolutely amazing.

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Ryan and I went to the Broncos game with my aunt and uncle this weekend. We had so much fun!

This is who we sit behind. Yep. He calls himself the “Mile High Jester.” Nice guy.

I love the color orange.

I love the colors pink and purple, too :-)

Happy fall to you!