black wins!

Yesterday we took a family adventure to Athens for the Red and Black scrimmage game.  It was great!  It was a fairly spontaneous trip; it took me until Saturday morning to convince Coleson to go :)  Ryan had a soccer game in the morning, so we didn't get there until the third quarter.  But we realize now that that was the way to do it.  The crowd had cleared out a bit at halftime apparently, and we got a decent parking spot.  We walked right in and sat on the 50 yard line for awhile.  Alright, maybe only ten minutes or so before the kids got antsy and we had to move on.  But yes, we did see Aaron Murray play, although his side didn't pull out the win.  Ryan was cheering for the red team- the number one offense.  I'm not really sure why, but he was set on the red.  So anyways, we walked down to field level to check out the hedges and stand near the band.  Poor Chloe [in the snugli on Daddy] couldn't see over the hedges, but she did enjoy reaching and touching them.  Ryan and Abby both really liked the Redcoats, but Abby loved them!  She was dancing and shaking her pom-pom and having a grand time.  She would get so excited when they played and didn't seem to understand why they had to wait for the breaks in the football game.  We showed them the tubas of course and Abby wants to play the tuba.  She told me after the game that "tubas are fun and I'm going to play one when I get big and Chloe's going to play with me too."  [I so wish I had been in a position to write down everything she said, there was some good stuff!]. 

After the game, we wandered north campus for a bit.  We saw the pretty fountains and Abby told me that the "flowers in the pool" were one of her favorite parts of the day.  Ryan had a great time climbing in a couple of the trees.  And we got to ring the chapel bell which was pretty awesome!  [well they rung it and I took pictures :)].  Three years of school and this was our first time ringing it.  Abby begged to ring it again and we had to talk about taking turns.  We also saw the Arch.  Ryan wasn't too keen on it and I guess I just assumed he was getting tired, but I realized today that I think we had scared him.  We had said something about how it was bad luck to walk under the Arch before you graduate and I don't think he understood.   

The weather was beautiful, the kids were very well behaved, parking was no problem, everything was free [well, except for Welcome to Moe's on the way home].  It was as close to perfect as we get these days!  And, while it took him a lot of prompting, several tries, and until 11pm, Coleson did finally admit that I was right and going to the game was a good idea!

 

Happy Easter!!

 

 

 

our Abby-Girl

While driving today, Abby made a call on her phone ...
"Yes, I wanted to see if you have any emails for me." 

And when we got home she was asking what something was.  Only problem is there are lots of somethings in our garage.  I asked her what she was looking at. 
"It's the thing with the other thing.  Right there on top of it." 
Wow, that really clarified things for me, she's very descriptive and helpful like that.

chomp chomp x2

I just got a good look in Chloe's mouth, and my poor baby is getting both of her bottom teeth, ouch!!

Happy Turtle, visit #2

Happy Turtle’s visit to Ryan’s house, March 2013

 

 

Thank you for picking this weekend for Happy Turtle to come to our house.  Both Ryan’s Grandma and his cousin had birthdays this weekend and Ryan was super excited Happy Turtle got to celebrate with us.

 

 

“On Thursday after preschool, me and Happy Turtle went to Zaxby’s with Grandma and Mommy and Abby and Chloe [Ryan’s sisters].  And we went to the mechanic to pick Daddy up.  On Friday, we had Grandma’s party.  Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner.  On Saturday, we packed up and got ready for to go to Cousin Maxim’s.  And then we played and we ate pizza for dinner and we spent the night at Cousin Maxim’s.  On Sunday we had a party with Cousin Maxim and he’s turning five.”

 

 

Thanks for coming to visit, Happy Turtle!!

 

 

 

chomp chomp

Chloe's getting her first tooth.  She's not very excited about it and was pretty fussy yesterday evening.  She also is not a big fan of me trying to pry open her mouth and peek in.  But it's in there, bottom right.  She's seven and a half months old.  I feel like I should be excited since it's a big milestone and all, but I guess by child number three I know that teething just really isn't all that fun!

the three amigos

Yesterday Ryan read a book to his class!!  He came home talking about it and then his teacher, Ms. Jennifer, confirmed it today.  A classmate had brought in a Bob book with his show and tell stuff, but I guess he didn't know how to read it.  Ryan said he did, and so he read it out loud to the class.  Ms. Jennifer said he did great and didn't miss a word!!  She said it was a very proud moment for her, and you know what?  I'm super proud too!!  Good job, Buddy!!

Chloe has finally decided that rolling has its benefits.  Just like that she's off.  I've known for a long time she can do it, but she has not been interested.  Within the last two days or so everything has changed.  Around and around until she runs into something.  All of a sudden we have to be careful about toys and blokus pieces and other things on the floor - not only does she roll, she puts everything in her mouth.

Over the weekend I sold at a consignment sale with Ms. Shannon - Abby's current 2s teacher and Ryan's former 2s teacher.  I was trying to get the inside scoop on Abby at preschool without being too obvious or annoying :)  She told me that the first day of preschool Abby was playing with an Angelina Ballerina doll and someone tried to take it from her.  Abby apparently hit him/her over the head with it and Ms. Shannon knew then that she'd be fine in preschool.  That's my sweet girl for you!  Shannon did say it wasn't an aggressive hit or anything, just a standing-her-ground type of thing.  She also said Abby follows her around a lot and walks right behind her with her hands in Shannon's pockets, just like she does to me. 

A super cute picture of Thing One and Thing Two, just because.

panda parade, newborn gorilla, and bird poop

On Friday the kids and I went to the zoo with our friend Ms. Christa and her kids.  We had a great time: the weather was nice, schools were in session so it wasn't crowded, I wasn't either a) miserably pregnant or b) caring for an itty bitty baby who wasn't in a good eating routine!  It was our best trip so far :)  Although unfortunately Ms. Alicia and her crew couldn't make it, bummer. 

There were several highlights including the panda parade.  The pandas were super active when we were there and we were able to sit right up at the glass [a nice advantage to there being almost no one there!].  One panda kept circling around and walking right up against the the glass.  Ryan loved it!  The kids had fun saying hi and waving.  Ryan's favorite animal is a panda and he always looks forward to seeing them. 

Chloe rode on the carousel for the first time [for real at least].  Last time she stayed in her car seat carrier.  She didn't like riding initially, but then I thought to turn her backwards on the seat which allowed her to face her brother and sister.  She did much better this way, although she did even better when she sat in Ryan's lap! 

Another exciting thing was running into Colleen and Kevin - our friends from UGA!  We hadn't seen them in waayyy too long.  It was fun seeing them and their little boy & girl and catching up for a couple of minutes.

We enjoyed seeing the rhino take a mudbath, and while I wouldn't say it was a highlight, I did get pooped on by a parakeet in the bird exhibit.  yuck!!

Ryan liked the pandas the best of course and our parrot Abby was quick to agree.  The train was Ryan's favorite ride and Abby liked the carousel.  The naked mole rats were also a hit, presumably because the kids entered the viewing area through a tunnel, just like mole rats live in.  Meerkats are also always fun and we saw them eating this time.

Oh!!  I almost forgot one of the super coolest parts - the baby gorilla.  Not even 24 hrs old!!  I'm honestly not sure if it was a she or he, but either way sooo cute.  Abby was glued to the glass right in front of baby and mama.  [the people that were at the zoo were all in there, lucky Abby was little enough to squeeze her way up to the best spot!]. 

Thanks Ms. Christa for getting us all in on her season's pass!!  the zoo is fun, the zoo for free is really fun :) 



the big four watching the sea otters

 

Abby checking out the newborn gorilla, so sweet!



the panda parade

riding the carousel with Big Brother
[Mommy still held her too though!]

but-it's-not-my-birthday birthday interviews

I've seen these kid questionnaires a lot recently, usually set up as a birthday interview. I liked the idea, but the thought of committing to do it every year seemed overwhelming.  And I didn't want to wait until Ryan's birthday in September to start. And if I do something, I like to do it right, and I didn't know what to do about the fact that I wouldn't be starting Ryan's interviews until he was six. So I decided that doing them sporadically here and there was better than nothing at all. This way I can do them whenever I choose without the pressure or worry of forgetting a year and not doing it just right. I guess what I'm saying is if it can't be perfect, I'd rather it be fun and spontaneous! [I imagine if you are into psychology and whatnot, that last sentence is probably an accurate description of my outlook on life :)]

So here are Ryan and Abby’s first official questionnaires. Enjoy!

PS everything is a direct quote.  Anything I added is in parentheses. 

fire hydrants

This morning Ryan took our fire hydrant spotting game to a new level and we kept track of how many we passed on our way to preschool.  His official count came in at twenty-four although that number may be closer to thirty.  There are so many in our neighborhood and it was especially hard at the cul-de-sac intersections when there would be one on each side of the car.  But either way, we had fun counting them.  And as an added bonus, I've been making him tell me if they are on the left or right; that seems to be a pretty hard concept, but I think he's finally getting it!