Day 151 / 365 - Parking Lot Adventures

Today reminded me why it is ok just to breathe, relax and take in how wonderful it is just to be a mom. Dad went into work to get some things done. Ryder and I were supposed to take the truck and go do our own thing for a bit... but dad walked into the building with the keys. So 2.5 hours in a parking lot (with no cell phone) on a 90 degree day could have been terrible. We decided we should make the most of it. We chased a baby bird, sat under a shaded tree and watched the planes go by, I may or may not have taken a rock to the head, and we ended with his clothes off playing games in dad's truck. He is so much fun to hang out with. I hope I will never forget today, it was so much fun just to sit back and be in that moment. #exceptfortherock #hisbuttwenttotimeout #idontcareifitwasaparkinglot

                                    

Day 150 / 365 - Schools out for summer!!!

We did it! We made it to summer and we couldn't really be any happier. So excited to spend my summer with my family, especially this little dude! I definitely do not teach just for the summers off, but man it is sure a sweet reward that teaching offers.

Day 149 / 365 - Where is the R at?

This little turkey likes to climb up on his table in the toy room now and touch his letters. He likes me to tell him which letters he is pointing to. But his favorite thing to do is point to the R and say, "R is for Ryaada". Now I am sure his R recognition has nothing to do with that fact that it is the only blue highly glittered letter on that wall.....

Day 148 / 365 - Making a wish

Jarin and I have been struck hard with the stomach flu. Three days of school left and here I am taking a sick day. Not the best luck for sure. Tonight I am making a wish that my tiny dude stays healthy. So far he is still happy and wild. Strong prayers because he never seems to get a "touch" of anything, he seems to be sick for weeks when it happens!

Day 147 / 365 - Rock throwing, flower picking, turtle searching, fishing fun.

We decided to head behind our house for a bit and play at the pond. Little dude was all about fishing and realin' in his real on his own. He also wanted to look for turtles and each time he saw a rock he thought for sure it was a turtle. The sky was beautiful and it was nice getting to enjoy the outdoors before Jarin and I were hit hard with the stomach flu.

Day 146 / 365 - Left alone for 10 seconds

I was in the other room for what couldn't have been more than 10 seconds and came back to a fully decorated child.
The conversation went something like this-
"Ummmm, excuse me.... where are we supposed to color at?"
"On the paper." (he said very matter of fact)
"That does not look like paper, where did you color at?"
"On Ryder"
... long pause between the two of us as I stare at him uncomfortably.
He puts his head down and sighs, "ohhhh".

I especially like the arrow that seems to lead straight to his underwear. 

Day 145 / 365 - Brookfield Zoo Day

What an awesome day we had today! It was seriously amazing and full of memories. The Brookfield Zoo is such a huge beautiful place. Our most memorable experience of the day was the polar bear exhibit. We went underneath to the viewing center and noticed the polar bear was moving around a lot, so we walked up to the glass and decided to just watch for a minute. He then dove into the water and disappeared for a second. That in itself was cool. Then out of nowhere he rose up from the bottom of the water right in front of us and stopped. There he was this giant polar bear face to face with my two year old. Ryder was in animal awe. He was nervous and I gave him a hug to let him know that this was awesome. He then relaxed and just let out a squeal of excitement and was all smiles as he stared at him. The polar bear just sat there looking at him face to face. The giant animal then nuzzled the glass while Ryder put his hand out and then off he swam as he pushed off the glass with his giant paw. I had goosebumps all over, such an amazing thing to witness. The closeness of the polar bear was shocking in itself, but watching my child's face process the experience was unbelievable. I fought every urge in my body to reach for my camera and just enjoyed that moment with my son. Thankful I did, I will never forget it.

Day 144 / 365 - Gone Fishin'

Tonight we went fishing. Ryder caught his first fish and was so excited. Yes he has his own pole but wanted to use Daddy's. It was about a 5 inch bass, and we kept trying to tell him he caught a "big" fish. He would look at us and say, "no it's just a little one". We kept telling him that you always say your fish is big, but he wasn't having any of it. 

We also ended the night with his favorite past time ... rock throwing. If there was a competition of most rocks thrown in an hour this little dude would win it, I am sure. He will grab a rock and throw it and be so excited once it hits the water. He laughs and gives a "whoa". This continues even on the 857 rock thrown.  We have to eventually tell him he can take a rock with us if he comes with us and then he will leave. We usually never leave an adventure without a new stick or rock to add to our collection. 

Day 143 / 365 - No Words

Day 142 / 365 - Dance Party

Tonight we danced. The sun was setting and we were winding down and then he started singing, "let me take you to Rio Rio" "na na na" He was cracking me up. He was hard to capture but loved watching him jump around.

Day 141 / 365 - "Bang it loud like Daddy"

It was almost dark outside and this little guy was pulling out every trick in the book trying to stay up. I gave Jarin a "project" for my classroom and Ryder thought he was hot stuff helping out and banging his hammer as loud as daddy was. Every time I told him to come in we needed to go to bed he looked at me and said, "mom stop one more minute" then would turn and hammer and mutter "I need to fix this". What a cheese.

Day 140 / 365 - Sigh

It has been a long and stressful couple weeks at work. My teacher patience is being tested to the max. I have been praying a lot lately asking for guidance to show me the direction I am supposed to take. Next year is already looking to be very challenging and I worry that I wont have enough of myself to give this little man. I am going to lay it all out there, I was hardcore one of those teachers that thought to myself, "how can you ever have a child when these 23 students take everything out of me I possibly have". Well I have learned that you do it and the love and energy for your own child comes from somewhere else, somewhere deeper. Tonight I watched him laying there and thought no matter what those hours hold for me in that building it is these moments that are important and keep me sane. Thank you for being my breath of fresh air  and for giving me the strength to keep going and try harder.

Day 139 / 365 - Bubble Love & Summer Nights

If you can't find us, pretty sure you can find us out in the woods. If there is water nearby check there. This is his bubble gun and he is in love with it. It fights monsters, blows "biiiiiiiggggggg" bubbles, and can get mom "all soopy". He freaks when he blows a giant bubble and if there is anyone in a 5 mile radius they will hear him.

Day 138 / 365 - Park Days

I can get this child to do just about anything if I promise a stop at the park on the way home. Tonight I had to go to the grocery and this little dude didn't want any part of it. I told him if he went and was happy then we could go to the park. By golly it worked! He was the sweetest most content child at the store. Now granted he looked at me about 27 times and said, "mom I gonna slide". #nothingwrongwithalittlebribery

Day 137 / 365 - Treat Yourself Well

I think the words on the bowl are fitting. We have a frozen yogurt feign in this house. He is obsessed and I am not going to lie, it sometimes ends up being his dinner. He now wants to grab the handle on his own, and put his toppings on by himself. He loads on blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries and sprinkles.  He ate the whole bowl tonight and was drinking it like cereal he said when it was almost gone. I think he got every last sprinkle out of that bowl!

Day 136 / 365 - Not Always Happy

Just a little proof that he is not always the easiest child to photograph. Even when mad he is still pretty darn cute!

Day 135 / 365 - Boys will be boys

Hearing words like "power bomb" "razor's edge" and this so called "torture rack" is becoming a common thing in this house. I am so far lost at the idea of boys and why they love this stuff. However, hearing the giggles from the other room  or hearing Ryder call out, "hey dad, let's power bomb" always makes me smile. #boysaresoweird

Day 134 / 365 - All Tuckered Out

Day 133 / 365 - Dr. Office

Today we had a doctor's apt that was really no big deal. However we were informed earlier in the year that it could be more than we thought it was. As a parent I was positive, but it's hard not to let yourself worry. However, we got a clean bill of health and it was no big deal. **sigh** Thankful for my blessings and praying for those families that do not always get the positive news that they want.

Day 132 / 365 - Mommy Love

You my son make me a better person. Yesterday may have been Mother's Day, but honestly I feel blessed everyday by my family. Our life is so much fun with you and it is filled with content. Sitting at our favorite spot and watching you throw rocks for hours is just about the best thing ever. You are perfect and I thank god everyday for making me your mom.

Day 131 / 365 - Mother's Day

Today I woke up to a my favorite tiny person carrying an Orchid plant that was about as big as he is. The beautiful first words I heard this morning were, "mom, its tooooooooo heavy". haha! Then I got a Happy Mother's Day, and then I heard, "mom, I starving". The necklace hanging on the Orchid is also a necklace I have been wanting. I am very loved and blessed. I truly could not ask for a better life.

Day 130 / 365 - Skinned Knees

Smooth knees are a thing of the past. We can't seem to go outside without it ending in a few tears at some point. He loves to run down the sidewalk and protect us from "monsters". He runs down the sidewalk, does a little kick jump with a few noises and what seems to be karate chops (I have no idea where he gets this from). He then runs back and tells me, "all gone mom". I might as well start enjoying the look of band aids, I think they will be around for awhile.

Day 129 / 365 - Visitors

Grandma and Grandpa showed up tonight and it was so great to see them. Ryder has been talking about seeing them all week and he was very excited. We had a great dinner and enjoyed some margaritas and got home and there was a rainbow! It was faint and I am not sure that Ryder ever actually saw it, but he sure played it off like he was excited about it. :)) Thanks for visiting grandma and papa!

Day 128 / 365 - Baby Chicks

I have been promising him all week that we could go and see the baby chicks at mom's school. I am very happy to announce we left my classroom and all the baby chicks still had their heads, beaks, and legs were in tact. My child is anything but brave, he is very timid about the weirdest things. However he loved these little guys and held them and was super gentle with them. I love that his heart is so big and loving. He kept holding them and saying, "awwww hi baby chickens".

Day 127 / 365 - Giggles

Day 126 / 365 - Pweeese

We have a giant hill near our house. On the way home tonight from a buddies performance I hear this come from the back seat, "mom, I climb that hill pweeesee". He points to the hill. Well who am I to say no? He got out of the car and took off towards the top. It was really windy so he kept looking back at me and going, "whoa that wind". When he got to the top this happened.... I needed that laugh. Then I am pretty sure the words, "big muscles" came out of his mouth a few minutes later. #boyswillbeboys

Day 125 / 365 - Mickey

One of my best friends gave us this Mickey greenhouse for Ryder to plant a mini "garden". Ryder loved it, he thought it was so fun to scoop the dirt into the cups and put the seeds in. However when we went to put the ears on the greenhouse, he could not quite understand why we would not put them on our head instead. <3 I told him they go on top of the plants, and he looked at me dead serious and said, "no mom, on head".

Day 124 / 365 - Willow Tree

Whenever I see a willow tree I think of my grandpa and playing in his yard. He taught me a lot about enjoying the simple things and noticing the beauty that surrounds me. He was an amazing man and I give credit to him for my love of trees. <3

Day 123 / 365 - Ice Cream Date Fun Night

Overbooked myself on photo sessions this weekend, so I did not get to see this little guy that much. So to make it up to him, we went on a family ice cream date. He insisted on walking around downtown and "no back to mommy's car".

Day 122 / 365- This is my son... he takes my breath away.

Day 121 / 365 - My Rear View

This is the view from my rear view in the morning and it always makes me smile. He is one cool dude in his "sunny's". It is an absolute must that we start our morning in the car with "peanut budda bread" (one slice of bread with a heaping amount of peanut butter folded in half). His day would be completely thrown off if he did not have his bread within about 10 minutes of waking up. We usually sing a few songs, and talk about what our day is going to look like. He keeps his eyes out for buses, trucks, cows, and dirt mounds. The 25 minute drive to work/daycare is not always welcomed, but these mornings with him are lovely.