Day 175 / 365 - Balloon Glow

It is becoming a tradition that we are home for the annual Cedar Rapids Balloon Glow. It is seriously so much fun and we love getting to run around on all the beautiful property of the Brucemore mansion. I wish Lafayette would do something fun like this each year. It is such a great way to get people together. Ryder was amazed this year at the big balloons and a little thrown back by the loud noise and the fire that was needed to make them inflate. We were on a no nap kind of day, and I know moms out there know those are not always the best day to hang out around hundreds of people and loud noises. He was a little overwhelmed, and a little more like a lot cranky. But I loved it, such a fun time with family and we may have had wet butts when the night was over but we left with new memories and that is what life is about.    

Day 174 / 365 - Family Fun

Playing with cousins is pretty darn fun. Tonight we went over to his cousins house. They ran the length of the yard, they splashed in some water, they chased each other up and down the yard. My summers absolutely fly by because I spend so much time at home, but this is exactly why I do it. Being away it is pretty cool to have your child wake up and ask, "mom I see Ben and 'T'olin today" and I can respond by saying, "yes, we can go over there". Pretty magical stuff.

Day 173 / 365 - Bridal Shower Fun

Today was bridal shower day. It was such a great day. It was a complete torrential downpour all day, but we made the most of it and just kept in mind why we were there. Fireside Winery was AWESOME! Highly recommend hosing an event there, it was beautiful and they went above and beyond to make sure the rain didn't ruin her day. Love getting a chance to watch my sisters get showered with love. Thankful for all the people that came out despite the bad storms to shower her she was worth it. Can not wait until July 11th! It's going to be an amazing day. #timetofocusontheMOHspeech #ugh

Day 172 / 365 - Shower Prep

My sister and I decided to try our hand in cake making. I have to admit it, I am pretty impressed with how we did. Love this cake, and am so excited to shower my sister with love tomorrow.

Day 171 / 365 - Bachelorette Fun

A lot of preparation and a lot of time has gone into this weekend and I am so thankful to do it. Tonight is the bachelorette party and we are all so excited to celebrate with Amy. I am finding one detail when doing parties for one of these beautiful women, it is never enough in my book. I wish I could give them giant catered events with massive floral arrangements. I love these girls so much and they deserve the best, but the best thing about them.... no matter what the event it is always enough.

Day 170 / 365 - Hide and Seek

We are currently into playing hide and seek with mom. Only there is a slight catch to it, if he finds a spot that he likes to hide in... he will hide there every.single.time. Needless to say it does not create a very long "searching" phase of the game. Also, it is pretty easy to listen for the giggles coming from where he is hiding.

Day 169 /365 - Water & Rocks

The more and more I get to know my child and try to get him to branch out and do new things, the more and more I realize I may only be doing that for my own personal enjoyment. Water & rocks is all it takes to make this guy think he is in a little boy's heaven. If he can grab them and throw them, then he is completely satisfied.

Day 168 / 365 - Bridal Festivities

Looking forward to a very fun very busy weekend ahead. As my beautiful sister's wedding draws near I am trying to complete last minute projects for her shower and bachelorette party. If you are one of my blog followers I am sure are well aware that I enjoy the little things, well here is the challenge so does my sister. She loves details and notices those small bits of "extras". So you pair me up with doing her festivities and I am a tad stressed about perfection. I love her so much and am so excited for her and hope that these parties show her how much she is loved by everyone. She deserves a weekend of friends, love, and laughter and I hope that I can give her all she has hoped it will be! **cheers bestie**

Day 167 / 365 - Sink Baby

I really can't tell you what I love more, the fact that he likes to keep it classy even while taking a bath or the fact that he still fits in the sink for baths. <3 Either way they are both pretty perfect.

Day 166 / 365 - US Open

This weekend involved a lot of US Open watching, which also spiraled to lots of "crushing" inside our home. So in honor of celebrating father's day we decided to head to the golf course and see if this little dude could take it to the greens. Well he loved it. To be honest, he was actually pretty darn good. We may not have been able to get him to use his "real" clubs but he rocked it with the plastic ones. He even enjoyed chipping from the sand and much to my surprise he did not once stop to build a castle. He doesn't quite get the idea that when close to the hole making your ball airborne may not be the best thing to do. But, eh... who cares right?  He would crush it high and then yell, "whoaaaa I crushed that one so high". Then he would point his club to the air.  

Day 165 / 365 - Art Love

I was painting some wood crates for my classroom today and this little nugget was just watching me in awe. He was asking me why I was not painting on paper. I explained that sometimes we need to paint other things. Yes I am sure I will come home to painted walls now. So I decided to find something he could  paint, after a long lecture of asking mom when he wants to paint something I let him free. He loved it and by the end of it, his little pull wagon looked much better than it did when he started. ;))

Day 164 / 365 - Watermelon

 I was slicing up a watermelon when I looked over and he had grabbed a whole quarter of it and was chowing down. Following the first picture he goes, "mmmmmmmm" and licked his lips. He then continued to carry around the quarter of watermelon until it was finished. He is such a ham.

Day 163 / 365 - Sneaking Snacks

He was asking for a snack and I told him we were getting ready to eat dinner, when I came back in the room I found this... there was a sleeve of crackers in his lap. #timetousethenextshelf

Day 162 / 365 - "ccchhhhk... a"

I am adding a nautical theme to my already beach themed classroom. I was painting  a few of these lighthouses I ordered and was taking a couple pictures of them to show my sister. The next thing I knew he had grabbed two of my old cameras and I heard a "ccchhhhk... a" sound. {this is his very strange camera sound}. Then I heard a "ohhhh I like that one" as he clicked away. I can only hope this love of cameras will continue.

Day 161 / 365 - Headed Home

We decided to make the whole trip in one. I was a little nervous about 6 hours in the car with him by myself, but he was honestly perfect. He slept about half the trip {I think family wore him out} and watched movies the other half of the trip. He was laughing and trying to make me laugh. Thankful for an easy going child who seems to just role with whatever we are doing. It is nice knowing we can get through things together with no problem.

Day 160 / 365 - Watching Papaw

Papaw was out working on the yard and this little one was just staring and watching him. I honestly could not get him away from the window. He loves his papaw and in fact doesn't seem to want to leave. Thankful for this time that he can spend with family.

Day 159 / 365 - Sweet Boys

"Hey Ben, I love sitting with you and watching movies together."
... he gives me a sweet smile.
"Me too Aunt Jess"

Man I love these kids. It is such a bittersweet thing being home and spending time with them. You are one cool dude Ben and it is amazing to me how much you have grown. I loved the smile I got when I walked in the door on Friday and you came running up to me and gave me a big hug. Please don't stop doing that.

Day 158 / 365 - Wedding Preparations

As mentioned in a previous post, I am blessed with four beautiful sisters. They are a part of my everything in this world. This beautiful sister is Amy. People laugh and I can tell many do not believe me when I say we usually talk 3-5 times everyday. We talk in the morning, we talk after work, we talk around dinner time while we are both making our meals, and we talk before bed. The phone rings and Ryder says, "Amy calling". Amy is getting married in almost one month to the day. She is going to make a beautiful bride and an amazing wife. She is caring, motivated, strong, and independent. Her fiance brings out the best in her and their relationship is real and that's why I love it. I love you Amy, and can't wait to see you rocking that amazing gown on July 11th. I am proud to be your kick ass MOH. :))

Day 157 / 365 / Cousins

There is really no better feeling than watching Ryder play and hang-out with family. I am sure I hold a little bit different of an outlook than those who are around family all the time. There is something different about the way he grabs grandma's hand or jumps on grandpa's back or trusts his Aunts to take him somewhere. He knows this is special and these people love him deeply. I seem to get more and more sad when I come home because I realize all that he is missing out on by being away. I am blessed with a wonderful family who makes us their top priority when we are in town and that feels amazing. I can't help but this about what it would be like to be surrounded by this kind of love on a daily basis. Here's to hoping we can one day get home and enjoy this full-time.

Day 156 / 365 - Niabi Zoo

Went to the Niabi Zoo today with grandma, Kati, and mom. So much fun getting to share that with them. We had an awesome day riding the train, looking at animals, scaring birds, and eating snow cones.  I love watching Ryder and Kati together. Kati is so good with him and even though she is so much older than him she always seems to understand what he needs. She is so patient with him. 

Day 155 / 365 - Headed Home

Home is a funny word. What defines it? A roof? A place where you sleep at night? A place where you grew up? I know home to this little dude is Indiana, it is all he has ever known and quite frankly that baffles me a bit. Home to me is family. It is where your heart resides, it is where the people who know you the best out of anyone in the whole world live and love you even though you do not talk each and everyday. I love my Indiana home and my little 3 person family. I love that we are each others everything and we have to overcome life together on our own because there is no one there to help us pick up the slack. But I will always call where our families reside home. That is my home, they are my home. We are excited to spend time with family. We have been talking about cousin fun all week and he claps when I mention the word "Ben". Looking forward to a few days at home. 

Day 154 / 365 - All Pruned Up

First day home with mom and this kid is all pruned up. We started with a one ring tiny pool from when he was a baby, and ended with a much cooler "tunnel" pool as he called it by the end of the day. This is no exaggeration when I say he spent about 6 hours in the pool today. He loved it, I heard him reenacting the entire Finding Nemo movie with his Nemo figurines in the water. Every time I asked him if he wanted to get out, he responded with, "no mom, not 'et".

Day - 153 / 365 - Simply because you are cute.

Day 152 / 365 - Taking it all in

I told him we were going to have to go because the bugs were starting to get bad. He looked at me and gave me his favorite overused line right now, "mom... just wait a minute". I guess he needs to wrap his mind around his busy week ahead. ;))

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.