Happy Birthday, Andrea!

Andrea is 14 years old today! We had a party for her at Jake & Ronda's house.

A Visit from Jose & Ruthie

Our dear cousins, Jose & Ruthie, from the Bay Area are in town visiting. The boys and I were able to see them for a bit today. It was so great to spend a little time with them, and hopefully next time we see them, it will be in CA!

My baby is 3 !!!

Three years ago today, two lives began. 1: Beckett Ryder, who was not scheduled to arrive until early November, decided it was time to make his grand entrance; and 2: my life as a mother. Three years has gone by faster than the blink of an eye. It is more and more difficult to remember life before children, but that's ok....I'm not sure I want to. I'd certainly never go back. From the day I saw those two pink lines, I started dreaming of having and holding my own baby....what it would look like, how it would talk...... I always knew I'd be a mother, but never did I dream I'd be Beckett and Wyatt's mommy.

September 20, 2006:







September 20, 2009:

This is where the pictures of Beckett's birthday party are supposed to be.....but he didn't get to celebrate his big day with a birthday party. We spent the morning at the urgent care, and Beckett was diagnosed with pneumonia. Great birthday present, huh?? Poor little guy. Needless to say, he was not in a partying mood, so we had to cancel the festivities and will reschedule when he gets to feeling better.

Beckett gets a haircut

Just in time for his birthday....a much needed haircut!
(You can just look at his eyes and tell he doesn't feel good...)

County Fair

September is..... time for school to start again, crisper mornings, earlier sunsets, warm days, and the fair. There is just something about the air even, this time of year. I love it! Mom went with the boys and I to the fair. Beckett had a grand time checking out all of the animals. He was mesmorized by all the lights, sounds of the carnival rides (Wyatt did NOT like them...) - and he especially liked the "spinners." (He only watched from the sidelines...I'm not letting my 2 year old on those things!) He LOVED watching the cowboys and their horses warm up for the rodeo in an area next to the grand stand. Every so often when they'd trot by, he'd shout out, "Hi guys!" And of course, both of the boys really enjoyed the elephant ear, which they ate for their daddy. :)

Ahhh, a beautiful day for a walk

Today is Saturday. Which means we take a different than usual walk. Usually, we walk around Cannon Hill park and pond. On Saturdays, we walk to Starbucks, where they boys get a treat. Leon...April was working again today, and this time I was able to talk to her more. Tim finished his 1 year program, so they've both moved back and are still together. She said they are very glad to be back. I totally forgot to ask about the girl who had the baby, though!!! I'll try to remember next time.... After Starbucks, we walked to Manito and met Lisa, Reagan and Kaylee. The boys had a blast playing with them and all the other kids. Great weather to be out...its supposed to be 92 today! Much warmer than last week, but I'll take it for as long as possible.

Projects, Before & After

In our hurry to get Leon off to the Academy, we didn't get all of our projects done around here until after the boys and I got home, so here are some before and after pictures of some of the bigger projects we've been working on for the past.....while. :)

Kitchen Nook before:



Kitchen Nook after:
Leon made the benches himself!





Basement Bedroom before:



Basement Bedroom after:
Ugh...this was a big project. We've wanted to finish this room since we moved in, and we finally did get it done last fall, and then my cousin moved in. Leon finished this room himself...it all began with cutting into the foundation to make the window bigger. Remember that dusty mess?! Then framing in the furnace, which meant cutting a door in our laundry room for access to it instead. In the end, it came out to be a pretty nice sized room (espescially given that its in the basement of an almost 100 year old house)...and the closet is bigger than both of the upstairs bedroom ones combined!!!





New Furnace Door, before:



New Furnace Door, after:



Basement Hall, after:



Now, before anyone thinks that I did all of this handy, finishing work myself after we got home, I will admit, I did have some help, and here's proof: :)


Leon....are there any other projects that you didn't get to see finished that I have forgotten and didn't put pictures of on here???