The Month of May

I have no profound thoughts to share tonight -- just pictures chronicling the events of the last couple of weeks. As always, we're growing, wiggling teeth, etc.

Ryley had her first-ever sleep-over last weekend. Amirah was a perfect guest, and the girls had so much fun. Here, Ryley waits ever so impatiently for her friend to arrive....











Ryley's Kindergarten Graduation was Thursday. It was really cute!









Here she poses with one of her teachers, Miss Saunier.



Here she is with Mrs. Chadwick and Amirah.



With Aunt Coleen and Uncle Paul...



And with Mom and Dad....Before Ryan dropped her off that day, she said, "Don't forget to wear a tie, Daddy!"



Yesterday was Field Day.



Her school set a world record for the largest "Duck, Duck, Goose" game ever (500 people). In the distance, you can see Ryley running after the little boy in the wheelchair who tagged her. :-)



We had a baby shower and graduation party to attend today, and now I look forward to two days of work in the house and yard. Ryan layed the sod in the front lawn this week, and we're hoping our property will start looking a little more decent in the weeks to come. ;-)

Ryley Stories

A couple of book-related Ryley Stories from this week:

We had ordered some books for Ryley through her Scholastic book club at school. Ryan and I actually love looking through the Scholastic catalogs and choosing books for her (they're cheap!!!); thus, we rarely ask for her opinion, and the books she receives are often a surprise to her. So today she received her books -- a four-pack of "Junie B. Jones, First Grader" chapter books and a Max Lucado princess book. I had thought that maybe over the summer we could work on encouraging/challenging her to read a little bit longer of stories, AND these books are supposedly on a first grade reading level. When Ryan picked her up from school, her teacher relayed Ryley's reaction to her new books:

"Oh, no! My mommy and daddy ordered chapter books! I'm just a little girl -- I can't read chapter books! Oh, I know....They must have ordered them for themselves!"

Ryley's teacher thought it was so funny....She said she had an image in her head of Ryan and me sitting up in bed reading "Junie B. Jones" books to ourselves. ;-)


Also, on Saturday, I stopped by the library and picked up "The Five Love Languages of Children," which came highly recommended to me by a lady at church. Ryley wanted to know what the book was about, so I told her it was a book that helps mommies understand their kids a little better so they can ultimately become better mommies. In retrospect, I probably should have worded that differently.

A couple of hours later, I was sitting on the couch reading a regular old novel, and Ryley sat next to me watching cartoons. She leaned over my lap to look at the book I was reading.

"Mommy? Why aren't you reading that book that will make you a better mommy?"

"Do you think I need to be a better mommy?"

"Well...." She looked at me hesitantly and shyly. "Sometimes, when I do something bad, you can be kind of mean."

"Oh. So I'm a mean mommy?"

"Only when I do bad things. Not all the time."

And she snuggled back down against me to cuddle some more on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Happy Mother's Day to me. :-)

Making Friends and Neighbors

Ryan and I have long had a phrase that we use to describe those days when we feel like we're just a few seconds off everyone else's time -- "out of sync." And we have had a few of those this week. If I were just 20 seconds faster or slower, I wouldn't be stopping at every stoplight, there wouldn't be a crowd of people standing in front of every item I need at the grocery store, etc. Just now, we came home from swimming lessons to find two men in suits standing on our porch, clipboards in hand. Not wanting to deal with that right then, I drove on past, and we proceeded to circle the neighborhood for the next 15 minutes as the two men knocked on each of our neighbors' doors. I have found that you either have to increase your speed or be still for a few minutes while you wait for your life to sync up with those around you. :-) Silly, I know. But I hate awkwardness.

Ryley's school held a Book Fair at Barnes and Noble this week to raise money for the new wing they're building. I would have gladly not gone (just to avoid the awkward conversations), but Ryley's heart was set on it. "Mommy, we have to go so that they can raise enough money to build the 5th and 6th graders' new classrooms!" So we went. And stood awkwardly. But then, her teacher showed up. And four other little kindergarteners came with their parents, all of whom stood awkwardly. So we all delved into awkward conversations that, in the end, turned out really, really nice. Ryley has been concerned for awhile that we need to collect phone numbers from her friends so she can invite them to her birthday party in July. And that night, I had a nice, long talk with her friend's aunt...and we got a number! I had a nice conversation with her teacher, too. Sometimes it's good to force ourselves into those situations, I suppose. And I know there will be plenty more events like that in the future. ;-) It's just part of parenting.

We're making strides in the neighborliness arena as well. Ryley and I attended the fire spinners' BBQ a few weeks back, and then in the last two weeks, she has played nearly every day with the two little kids from next door. They hop back and forth over the fence into each others' yards. I am glad to see her making friends from all backgrounds. It does my heart good to see her little blonde head bobbing up and down on their jungle gym, and them, in turn, swinging on our swingset. It's very, very sweet. The only problem we have is when a friend from school calls, and Ryley has to come in and talk on the phone. "Life is hard," she says. "Sometimes there are two fun things, and you have to make a choice about which fun thing you're going to do!" If only that was the hardest thing about life. :-)

I went to the eye doctor this week for the first time since Ryley was a wee baby in Montana. That's pretty bad when you consider how bad my eyes are! But my eyes have been burning and watering uncontrollably, and I decided it was because my contacts are five years old (I've been stretching the wear in an attempt to save money). So I made an appointment with my childhood optometrist; I hadn't seen him since I was 18. Funny how his office was remarkably the same; and he is the same....just older. And now I have to wear my glasses for the next month and use lots and lots of eye drops in the hopes of reversing the damage I've done to my corneas. Yay.

Well, I have three hours before Ryan gets home, and I need to clean the house so we can start working on the yard and garden later on. Even though it's so expensive, I love strolling and browsing through our local nursery. Last week when we visited, Ryley announced so confidently, "I am into beautiful flowers."

And so am I. :-)

"Time Marches On" or "Once Upon a Time on I-80"

I've been looking forward to this posting for several days, but as always, work before play! There was editing to be done, piano lessons to be taught, surfaces to be dusted, little girls to be fed, dishes to be cleaned, dogs to be dealt with, etc. And repeat.

Ryley and I enjoyed a lovely, rainy weekend in Nebraska with my grandma. She and I had been looking forward to it for several weeks, and it did not disappoint! Lots of good girl-time ensued. We sewed...or rather, my grandma sewed. :-)



Ryley and I just watched as our dolly blanket and piano bench cover took shape under her capable, talented hands, as well as her new sewing machine "toy." Honey indulged Ryley by sewing all the scraps of material into bracelets, dolly belts, etc...Such a good great-grandma! We also talked a lot about her childhood memories. Precious, precious time, and we need to do it again soon!





The entire weekend felt a little surreal, and it all began on Friday night. I had purposed in my heart that I would be more "present" with Ryley on the drive...that I would sing the songs that she wanted to sing, talk about the things she wanted to talk about, etc. So, around 9:30 p.m., we had just exited a patch of fog (through which we had sung rounds to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat") when my front driver side tire blew out. Shredded, in fact. I found myself alone, on I-80, in pitch black, somewhere in the 20 miles between Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, and Kimball, Nebraska. I was in shock...(not here, not now!). I pulled over, got out, and stared blankly at the shredded tire, still smoking. I walked to the back of the van, opened it, and stared blankly inside, wondering where we kept a spare tire and jack. I eventually found them, but in the pitch black darkness, I didn’t know how to use them. I actually don’t think I’d know how to use them in daylight! I shakily called Ryan, and at that point, I didn’t know if I had yet crossed the state line, so I didn’t even know what state I was in. But God was good. He brought to Ryan’s remembrance our Chrysler Roadside Assistance card in his wallet, so I was able to call for help, and a service representative arrived within an hour. In the meantime, Ryley and I prayed, sang songs, and I did my best to make a tired and concerned little girl very comfortable. I feared we would be struck by one of the big semi-trucks zooming past. I felt completely removed from the situation, like it was a very bad dream, and I felt powerless, helpless, and out of control. Good thing God is bigger than all of that. A lot of things could have gone wrong that didn't.

Speaking of vehicles, Ryan traded in his 10-year-old Chevy for a 2008 Hyundai Sonata last week. It was much needed (if you call air conditioning a need), and God provided a good car at the right price. I had originally been against the idea of acquiring another bill just as we are finishing paying off some debt, but then, one fateful morning I had to drive the Chevy, myself. We bought the Hyundai that night. :-)

In my editing for the magazine this week, my responsibility was to write a bio for each of our 20 contributors, and the bio was to revolve around the type of flower that is most like the writer's personality. OK. So, apparently, while other ladies can be likened to something pretty like a water lily or a daffodil, I am most similar to the very rare "Venice Sumac." I had never heard of it, so I googled it. What I found was an article titled, "Is the Sumac garden-worthy?" Hmmmm. So now I know. The flower I am most similar to is a rare plant whose presence in a garden is generally questioned. Figures. ;-)

I look forward to planting my garden in the next two weeks. It is always difficult for me to narrow down the list of vegetables I will plant! I am typically over-zealous. Now if only I could find a way to keep Juliet's excited "Figure 8 of Jubilation" run out of the garden plot....

My husband just got home from work, and it's time to watch LOST over a bowl of ice cream. I wish I could become more regular in my posting. Writing is so therapeutic for me! But time always seems so short. The evenings turn to weeks, and the weeks become months. Ryley graduates to 1st Grade in 15 days.

Craziness.

It's Not So Easy Being Not-So-Green

I am not sure if it is with pride or embarrassment that I admit the fact that we are not a "green" people, per se. I honestly don't know what I believe... or what I should believe. I simply feel nothing one way or another. We used to collect cans when I was little, but that was pretty much the extent of it. I really don't think much about it.

Then Ryley comes home from school more animated than I've seen her in months, all because of a very special Earth Day assembly in the gym! Non-stop chatter fills the car, along with thrilling stories and ideas of how each and every person can be involved in saving the earth. There was even Earth Day homework, and we had to pick from a list of things we could do to save the earth this very night and then write about it. Being the multi-tasker that I am, I encouraged Ryley to pick "walking somewhere instead of taking the car" so we could get our exercise in, too. Maybe not the best idea.... As I stumbled home from Little Caesars with a rambunctious dog on her leash, a skipping little girl at my side, and a pizza in my hand, I said to Ryley, "Wow, driving would have been much easier than this, wouldn't it have been?" "Yes," she replied. "But we're conserving!"

Ryley shared with me that she would really like us to start recycling, too. There's certainly nothing wrong with recycling, being frugal, or with adjusting our lifestyle so as not to be wasteful. But the term "green" is different. It's overboard. It evokes a level of passion that makes me feel guilty for just living my life the way I normally live it. When people take their greenness to extremes and become obsessed with "saving the earth," I think they sometimes start losing sight of the greater battle (and maybe were never really aware of it to begin with)...the one that Christ died for. People's hearts. God's more concerned with people than with the state of the earth.

Enough Earth Day chatter. I'm probably alienating most of my audience! Again, I'm not "anti-earth." I just think that as a society we have bigger fish to fry.

Today was also Administrative Professionals Day. But since my workplace tends to not do things the way other offices do, my co-worker Leahh and I celebrated of our own volition, buying tortilla chips, queso, and salsa to share between us. We appreciate each other tremendously. :-)

And here's a little personal/work issue I am still trying to wrap my head around: Ryan's brother Derrick moved back to Florida last September very suddenly. And for the last seven months, since the day Ryan gave him a ride to the airport, none of us have heard a thing from him. He doesn't have a phone, he hardly checks his e-mail, and to be perfectly honest, we have all been very concerned about him. We've just been praying for him, trusting that God has him in His hands.

Enter interesting development of the week:

This past weekend, we were online when, out of the blue, we received a Yahoo Messenger chat message from Derrick. Ryan started chatting with him, asking him how he was, etc. Derrick started explaining his new job...that he works for a company that helps insurance companies connect their customers with preferred roofing contractors. It turns out that this is the same company for which I completed training in Houston last October and through which I have been extremely involved for the last six months!!! Derrick has been working there for only a couple of weeks, however, his best friend and roommate is an executive within the company (son of the founder), as is his friend's girlfriend. When he named them, I knew both of them immediately; I e-mail the girl back and forth at least once a week regarding various issues! In fact, both of them were there in the room with Derrick as he was chatting with Ryan, and we were making this very unreal, odd connection across the miles.

This entire time, as we've prayed for Derrick's safety, etc., he was literally within my career's social circle. God definitely has a sense of humor; I felt like He was saying, "See? I had him in My hand the entire time. There was no need to worry." It's still hard for me to believe, though. :-) These people that I would e-mail back and forth throughout my workday, would, unbeknownst to me, leave the office to go hang out with my brother-in-law at night.

Not really a small world....Just a world where God knows what He's doing. :-)

Fullness

I sit here on a Saturday morning, with our big fluffy snowflakes trying to turn into rain as the day grows warmer. We have a foot of snow in our yard, and I'm sure it will be a big, slushy mess by evening. We have no TV (our satellite is laden with snow), and we've been busy baking...snickerdoodles, banana bread, etc....enjoying this (most likely) last snowfall of the spring.

But this is why we live in Colorado...because we love weather. I was planning to take Ryley to Nebraska to visit my grandma for the weekend, but yesterday I decided we had better postpone our trip to a few weeks from now. Good thing I did....We had a tornado, thunder, hail in some parts of the city, rain, sleet, and big, chunky snowflakes that left parts of the foothills with two to three feet of snow. Very odd weather day.

I am looking forward to the snowmelt tomorrow. Muddy yard + energetic puppy = just lovely. Fellow dog owners, do you have any tips for me????

Also, how do you keep her out of chocolate that is already on top of the piano AND out of Miracle Gro that is on the patio table? This is going to be such a fun summer with all the lawn chemicals, the water hose, the garden....Oh my.

The last few weeks have just been jam-packed for us. So many thoughts in my head and so many pictures to share! I think we'll start with the present and work backwards....

The snow early this morning. We've received a few more inches since then:


Yesterday:



Easter was a beautiful, rainy day!


Coleen and Paul came over, and we had a delicious ham dinner, followed by naps and indoor eggs hunts.

We attempted to give Juliet some bunny ears (courtesy of Aly and Justin), but this is the best we could do!!


The night before Easter, we were so excited to see our good friend Jeremy Marchbank and meet his wife Becky and daughter Reagan. They are seriously the nicest people in the world...the kind of people that have such a sweet spirit and good hearts and that you know you want to stay in touch with the rest of your life. We had a lot of fun reconnecting, talking about old high school days, etc. Funny little bit of trivia: Jeremy was my only other date in high school besides Ryan!! He and I also went to Washington D.C. together our senior year, and he and Ryan were good friends throughout high school too. They live in Iowa and were visiting family in Denver, so we felt really blessed that they would call us and take the time to come over for dinner.


I love this picture of the two old friends and their little girls:


When we have warmer weather, Ryley and I have been trying to take Juliet on walks to tire her out.


Ryan's dad and his wife Linda left Denver and moved to Florida last week. We helped them get out of town. It was really sad to see them go. They moved to Denver the same month that we moved here from Montana.



Ryan gets stern with Puppa:


Painting eggs:



We tried to dress up Juliet again, but the shirt got all muddy within a day's time.


And here's a sweet shot of Ryley reading a book to herself. It makes our hearts glad!!!


One of my biggest struggles of the last few weeks has been getting enough sleep. Ever since college, I have made it my routine to stay up until midnight or later. I guess I feel that it's an improvement on my college days when 1 a.m. was considered "early." But I think it's starting to catch up with me! My 31-year-old body is starting to wake up with headaches if I get less than five hours of sleep. I honestly don't know how people get everything done when they go to bed before 10 p.m. I mean, I'm still going strong until about 11, and then we start to wind down with some Tivo'd programs. Every morning I promise myself that I will go to bed early that night, but by evening, I can't justify losing more precious hours to get things done, so I just stay up. I have to somehow adjust my mindset, but it's really hard when this has been my lifestyle for 13 years, you know?

Our lives are so full, and maybe I need to back it off just a little bit...cut some things out. Like housework. If I got a maid and a cook and a dog-looker-after, that would help a ton. Anybody think they can convince Ryan of this for me??? ;-)

I'm just whiny, I know. My final magazine deadline is in two weeks, and then things should slow down until fall. That alone will help tremendously.

It feels good to blog. Writing has always been therapeutic for me...clears my chest and head of the thoughts that are bogging me down. And once they've been written, I'm free of them. And now that I'm all caught up on blogging our lives, I can get back to folding laundry, doing some editing, cleaning up muddy paw prints, and enjoying this wet, wet day.

Dog aside, it's still my favorite kind. :-)

Dummies, Not Mummies

Ryley has a very bad habit of crawling into bed with us during the early morning hours. We love the cuddling, of course, but since we're actually often still asleep, it can be kind of annoying to be jostled and kicked and elbowed and whispered to at 6 a.m.

"Mommy, let's play 'I Spy'!"

"Mommy, what do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, let's play the Rhyming Game!"

But a couple of days ago, she woke us up with a very serious, important question.

"What is a mummy?"

That sounded to me like a question for Daddy. Now, in the long-run, I should probably re-think my whole "that's a question for Daddy" stance on life. Ryley is beginning to assume that I am not as smart as her daddy, which is absolutely not true. I'm smarter. We all know that. I'm just not quite as patient with the multitude of questions and the complicated answers. :-)

So anyway, we woke up Ryan, and he delved into a long explanation about Egypt, ancient mummification practices, King Tut, etc. Ryley was extremely wide-eyed and continued to contribute thoughtful questions.

Somehow the conversation quickly (and without explanation) turned to the Test Track ride we rode at Epcot at Disney World. The ride was all about testing fast cars. I forget how it all went down, but Ryley alluded to the fact that she remembered seeing mummies in that ride. We told her she hadn't. She insisted that she had -- that the cars had had mummies in them to pretend like they were drivers.

Dummies! Dummies, Ryley, dummies. NOT mummies.

Ryan then explained what a dummy was, how it's never been a real person but just looks like one, and what it's used for. We assured her that the dummies we saw on the Epcot ride had never, ever been real, living people. But what an interesting thing to get confused!!!! Has she really thought, all this time, that those were actual dead people scattered around that ride?

And using her pure, five-year-old logic, Ryley replied, "Well, they could use mummies instead of dummies to test cars if they wanted to... because they're already dead."

Hmmmm. How about it, GM? Honestly, how much more realistic can you get? ;-)