School changes things!

O.K., my blogging is seriously suffering! School started, and I suddenly have no time for anything. It doesn't help that Mark was out of town for almost a week, plus had training all this past week. We've also taken turns being sick. Ben got hit first with a couple days of fever and general clinginess. :) Then Mark was sick all evening. Then I got hit for a couple days. Nathan's got a cough, but so far hasn't gotten what we had. We'll wait and see!

I haven't taken any recent pictures, so here's some that Shari took. I included the two pictures of Ben to show Cori that there is some hope. It appears that Ben may be her "sport guy". She's been looking for someone to be interested in sports, and I can tell you, Nathan does not fit the bill. Ben, on the other hand, always goes to the balls first. He really enjoys the basketball hoop Cori bought when he visits grandma & grandpa. Nathan...well, trains are still his thing!
I gotta get Nathan to bed, so I'm signing off. Just wanted to let you know that my blog hasn't died yet. :)

Snapshots from the fair...

Nathan got to ride on his first rides. He loved them all, but, of course, the train was his favorite. Ben was not a happy camper when Nathan rode the bus ride, and he couldn't. Maybe next year!

So, here's Nathan's funny comment for the day. He has a little radio that plays short clips of songs. (He listens to it all the time!) Today he was listening to "Pump up the Jam." ( total nineties song!) He's trying his best to sing along with it. Suddenly he stops and looks up puzzled. He then asked me, "Why do they want to poop up the ham, mom?" Look like he's going to be as good at lyrics as his daddy is! :)

Well, Mark's been out of town all week. I'm exhausted. Can't wait for everything to get back to "normal".

Chirp! Chirp!

I sold my baby bug and got THE BIG BUG!



Not long after I got my first Cricut, Provocraft came out with a bigger, better machine. I was a little disappointed that they released one so soon after the first, but I figured I didn't need such a big machine anyway. Then I started seeing lots of cool things made with the new machine, and I just "had to have it." The nice thing is that I figured out how to get the new machine free and clear. I first sold my old one to a friend. I then found an awesome deal on a buy-it-now cartridge on ebay. I bought it for $60.99 (shipping included), and turned around and sold it on ebay for $147.50. That's over $80 profit! Then I sold a cartridge that came with the new Cricut for $115 on ebay. I actually came out ahead in this whole deal. :)


So, we've been pretty busy here in the Riley household. On Thursday, Mark's best friend from the Navy stopped by to visit. We haven't seen him for 8 years. In fact, we had lost contact with each other. Mark got to thinking about him last week and started searching the Internet to see if he could find him. Mark finally got a hold of a mutual friend who let Cody know. It turned out to be perfect timing because Cody happened to be in Indiana and heading to Canada for a short vacation. He ended up stopping by for a few hours. Cody is currently heading into his third branch of the military. (He started Navy, then Army and now Air Force.) It was really nice to see him. He and his wife have a 2 yeard old son.


Yesterday, we got to spend some time with friends who only live a block away, but we haven't seen for quite some time. Nathan acted like a cat all night and tortured Phil's girls by meowing and trying to lick them. Overall, though, I think they had fun! :)


Today, Janine and I went to the Hinckley garage sales. I actually bought very little--a book shelf, a train for Nathan, a few clothes and a makeup case. Probably around $11 worth of stuff. I actually spent more going out to eat afterward. We also stopped at Goodwill. I was able to buy Nathan quite a few shirts, so I'm glad we stopped.


Tomorrow we plan on eating lunch with Mark's parents and then going to a Medieval fair in Medina. (That is, if Ben is feeling better. He has 102 temperature right now.) I will try to take pictures!

Ben got his second haircut.

This time we went much shorter, and Ben cried the whole time!