Nathan's artistic endeavors

Preschool has really piqued Nathan's interest in drawing. Writing his name...no. But grabbing highlighters, pens and markers to draw anything that comes to mind has become a new passion for him. I just love how preschoolers draw (or at least my preschooler). The drawing is so rudimentary, but often little kids do a better job at setting the scene than adults do.

Here's one of Mark eating a hamburger. Mark was really thrilled that his son portrayed him as a huge blob.

Then Nathan drew this one:

N: Do you see that you're sad, dad? M: Yes. I also see that I'm an even bigger blob than before. N: Do you know why you're sad? M: Because I'm a huge blob? N: No, the children on the playground won't play with you. (Enter mom worrying about her son maybe experiencing utter loneliness on the playground, thus leading to this picture...) Mom: That's not nice is it? It's not nice to refuse to play with someone on the playground. N: It's okay. Mom: Why is it okay? N: Because, he's a monster! So, I was feeling a little bad for my monster blob husband until Nathan continued to draw a picture of me holding Jordyn...

C'mon, you know you want to sing it...

(Ruthie...

Pigface...

Draper!)

I'm so depressed.

Jordyn sits up!

Mark and I have been busy sorting clothes...some to save...some for Goodwill, etc. Luckily, Jordyn was a very sleepy girl today, so we had lots of uninterrupted time to get things done. During one of her waking moments this evening, I happened to look over. Then I noticed...Jordyn was sitting up without any help for the first time! I grabbed my camera and snatched a shot before she went back to her belly. (which was very soon after) Of course, my settings were all off (as usual), but I managed to capture the very brief moment.

Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of the family. I took my camera along with me all day but only managed to take a few shots. You'd think I would have this figured out by now! :)

So, anyway, I gained 10 lbs. today! The kiddos gained 6 new well-loved toys today. First, Grandma Doris has been winning teddy bears when she plays BINGO. She picked out 3 especially for Nathan, Ben and Jordyn...named by Nathan as Huggly, Snuggly and Pinky. Nathan made sure to seat belt his bear into the van for "safety's sake".

In addition, the Brinkers gave each kid a gift. I didn't manage to get any good pictures of Nathan. I'm still trying to figure this photography thing out. My mastery of the settings is sadly lacking.

Jordyn got a musical turtle.

Ben got a helicopter set with fighting men and lots of little pieces. My boys love little pieces. I have a feeling I'll be finding some in the vents, or maybe even in Jordyn's diaper. (hee! hee! I just couldn't resist, Danielle. )

Nathan discovered a toy tonight that he LOVES that isn't a train. Can you believe it? He got a kids k'nex. It's like the older version of k'nex, but the pieces are much bigger. He spent the evening playing with it at Grandma and Grandpa's. He continued playing with it at home and was mucho disappointed when Mark forced him to go to bed. After seeing Nathan have such a good time playing with his k'nex, I asked him if he would like more sets for Christmas. In a very excited voice he said, "Yes!" He then went on in typical Nathan fashion to say, "It would be my pleasure!" Honestly, I don't make this stuff up!

Since I have been at a loss as to what to get the boys for Christmas, I decided to check these k'nex out online. Lo and behold, I found the best of both worlds..

Do you see what I see? K'nex and a train. It doesn't get any better than that! I bought it, and el-groucho complained about my poor choice in Christmas presents..."the kids have too many toys"..."that's alot of tiny pieces"... (Now rewind to the 80s, pretend I'm forming a W with my fingers and let's all say "Whatever!" real city-girl like.) I think my response was similar to that. :)

Take care, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this day of Thanksgiving!

Daddy's Girl

On Monday, I had parent-teacher conferences from 4 - 8 p.m. Since I was going to be gone most of the evening anyway, I decided to go all out and go on a Wal-Mart shopping trip with my sisters. This left Mark with the ever-pleasant Jordyn for 8 hours! I think for most of the evening, she was a pretty good girl. It may have something to do with a little bribery...

I guess towards the end of the evening, Jordyn decided to revert to her old ways. According to Mark, she cried for over an hour. You'll be happy to hear that she (and Mark) survived!

(This may remind you of another blog I posted almost exactly 2 years ago!)

Danielle,

You asked for it!

Our jumpin' Jordyn!

$$$

In one of my coteaching classes, we've managed to get a permanent SmartBoard and our own LCD projector. My coteacher has never been very "techy", so I've been very impressed with how willing he has been to start using the technology almost every day. Then inservice day occurred. There was a class in our room, and wouldn't you know it...the bulb blew up! The bulbs are supposed to last approximately 2,100 hours. Here what we got: At $200 a bulb, it cost $3.51 an hour just for the bulb! We're trying to get the manufacturer to reimburse us for the replacement. Seems like a defective bulb to me! Luckily, we had a replacement in store. Otherwise, we would have had a very expensive ceiling decoration for the rest of the year. (Our school has no $$$.)

Round 2

Mark took Nathan to the doctor's today. He has a mild ear infection and pink eye. When I got home from picking up Ben and Jordyn, I noticed goop in Jordyn's eyes. Round 3 tomorrow?

Day off school.

Ben had a fever last night, and Nathan had one this morning. Pink eye has struck all Trinka's babysitting kids, so when Ben's eyes started getting goopy, I called in hoping to just get eye drops. Since Ben has had a cold for awhile, the nurse said that he needed to be seen. I went in thinking that they would think I was being overprotective. Honestly his eyes were barely pink. It turns out that not only does he have pink eye, he also has an ear infection! As I left the doctor's office, it occurred to me that it is very likely Nathan has the same thing. We headed to Sam's Club. With the lighting in there, it became apparent that Nathan's eyes also are pink. I gave Wadsworth Peds a call again, hoping to get him in before it closed. By that point, it was too late. After hearing Nathan's symptoms, they also want to see him. Nathan complained about his ears hurting this morning, so, who knows? I just figure Jordyn will come down with the same thing on Saturday....just to insure that I have to make three trips to Wadsworth! These trips are dangerous, too, because we end up spending tons of money at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. I HATE the Sam's Club run--it's always so expensive! Between diapers, formula, detergent, softener and all the other stuff, we are always running $200 or more. These darn kids and their diapers! :) So, all that to say, stay away from the Rileys. We appear to be a contagious bunch!

I won!

As you may have noticed, I haven't had much time for blogging, but I have managed to make time to enter a daily contest on http://agiveawayaday.blogspot.com/ It's exactly how it sounds...the lady who runs this site gives away something every day. Most of the items are from etsy sellers (an online craft site). They vary in value, sometimes a couple bucks to $20 or more. I think as the site gains popularity, the prizes will be even cooler. (Of course, the chances of winning will become much less, also! ) I managed to win a platypus onesie after entering contests only a handful of times. It arrived in the mail today. It's a fun little item from an etsy seller named "tater tuts". Go check her out, and, while you're at it, go enter to win today's prize of homemade soap from http://agiveawayaday.blogspot.com/. (Hopefully, you won't decrease my chances of winning!)

Okay, it's been forever...I know!

Busy! That's my life right now. I feel horrible that I haven't kept up with blogging...not because I think I have this massive blogging audience waiting on pins and needles for my next post (I know that's not true. :)...it's just that I haven't been blogging all the cute little things the kids do that someday I hope to scrapbook. If I don't blog immediately, I forget it! For example, Nathan has been cracking me up with his Rachel comments lately. Since I haven't been blogging, though, I can only remember one really well. M: Are you going to invite Rachel to your birthday party? N: No! M: Why not? N: Because she HATES me! M: Really? N: Ya, but the other day, I told her she needed to go to the nursery. M: Why? N: Because, she was being a baby! Do you notice I egg my child on just to amuse myself? Anyway, here's what's going on at the Riley household:

1. Mark is determined to get everything done that we can in the house. Going through clothes, cleaning rooms, cleaning the garage, etc.... I SO don't want to do that stuff, but it has to be done.
2. Ben is getting better and better at talking. I'd venture to say that he is somewhat delayed in his speech. Since he seems to understand what we're saying and coming up with new words each day, I'm not too concerned. He even said his first sentence the other day. It was, "Mommy, I went poopy." It just melts a mother's heart.
3. Jordyn now has 2 bottom teeth. She's a biter too! This nursing thing looks to be nearing an end very soon! Jordyn seems to be days away from crawling. She can get up on her knees. She just hasn't mastered the crawling movement. The army crawl is her current expertise.
4. Nathan has recently adopted a new interest in coloring. I have a feeling it has to do with the time he spent with Craig while Trinka was having gall bladder surgery. Craig is probably the artsiest of the "three amigos". Nathan still loves trains, but isn't quite as obsessed as he used to be. Ben has taken over that role!

So, there you have it...a brief update on the life of Rileys!

Yippee!

The van is paid for! A year and a half ago, we bought a van. Last Friday, we made our last payment on it. Can we say, "Ahhhhh"? What a good feeling to know that it is ours...free and clear!

Mark's buddy Phil...

Everyone knows Mark's buddy Phil, right? Sure, you don't know him if Mark just calls him Phil, but, as soon as Mark reminds you that Phil is his buddy, you know immediately who he is talking about. Well, we were at Mark's buddy Phil's house tonight. About a year ago, MBP and his family were at our house for the evening. On that evening, the girls discovered a wonderful secret in our house. Okay, not really a secret, but it was new to them. That secret was, of course, the secret room. I don't think they left it all evening long. They also haven't let up on Phil to give them a secret room too. Phil contemplated the best way to go about it and eventually came up with a plan. Mark and Phil tossed around a couple ideas, and Phil set about making his own secret entrance. When we were there, the door wasn't on yet, but it will be very well hidden soon.

Phil now has three very happy kiddos. In addition, Mr. Frugality even coughed up money to install a T.V. in the secret room. Phil and Tara live 2 blocks away from us, and it has taken us an entire year to get together. After seeing the kids play together tonight, I have a feeling they won't let us go that long again. They were having a ball! (We had a pretty good time too! :)

Sidney

Riley

Ben and Chase

The things that occupy boys...

This is what kept my boys busy (and very happy) this morning.

Shredding page after page after page!

And this didn't keep my girl happy...

Don't be fooled by her happy expression. She lasted in the pack-n-play for...oh...about 1 minute.

One last Nathanism...

Janine has been a saint by babysitting my kids all this week and most of next week. Trinka recently had to have her gall bladder removed. This just happened to coincide with my co-teacher who also has been out for 2 weeks after having her gall bladder removed. Stay away from me! I appear to be bad luck. Anyway, Craig and Nathan have been constant companions. Most of the time this has been a good thing, especially when they have lots of time to play together in the great outdoors. Unfortunately, today was rainy and gloomy, and the boys started to get on each other's nerves. I'm pretty sure Nathan was doing his share of bossing Craig around. Craig had enough, and, according to Janine, gave Nathan a piece of his mind. On our way home, Nathan announced, "I can't go to Craig's house any more!" "Oh, really?" "Ya. Craig told me not to come to his house anymore. He said we're not friends and that I should go on vacation!" I think Craig is going to be happy to see Nathan head back to Trinka's! :)

Nathan's politics

The other day, Nathan came into the kitchen all sad and gloomy. With a very moro'se voice, he stated, "I don't like that Barack Obama. I hate him!" We had a little talk about how even if you don't agree with someone, you're never allowed to hate them. The next day, Nathan told Janine, "The Cain lost. But I'm not allowed to hate him." (referring to our President-elect) What a goof-ball. I'm pretty sure I had no idea what a President was until at least 5th grade. Of course, I have a sneaky suspicion that Nathan's knowledge of the candidates may have a little something to do with his father's obsession with politics.

Guess what Nathan is doing?

Right now I'm telling Nathan what letters to write down for a note that he's writing to Rachel (also known as "the girl who hates me"). He want to know how to spell, "DON'T COME NEAR ME!"

Boo hoo!

I was going through some old files and came across some videos of Nathan as a baby. It feels like it was yesterday!

Today...

Jordyn is 6 months 1 day old.

Her first tooth broke through.

She's almost crawling.

Time is flying!

Our bathing beauty

Jordyn has officially joined her brothers' "I Love Baths" Club.

Gotta love sisters!

I have a wonderful sister who drives Nathan to preschool each day, and another wonderful sister who takes pictures galore! Who could ask for more? Nathan and his preschool class headed out for trick-or-treating around Spencer. They visited businesses: the bank, police station, the restaurant, etc. Any activity that involves dressing like a train and getting candy equals a good time for Nathan!

When Nathan saw these pictures he said, "Hey, that's Miss Beth!" (referring to the witch) I asked him who the other one was and he chucked, "That's Mr. Gotato Head." Does she have a name Nathan? "Yes, Mr. Gotatohead. But when she takes the costume off, she's Miss Caroline."

Here's Nathan with one of his cousins, Craig. Not sure where Weston was, but I can guarantee his picture will show up on Angie's blog.

I asked Nathan if there were any other train costumes. He claimed that "the girls who hates me" (aka Rachel) also wore a train costume. My sisters will have to let me know if Nathan is making up stories or if there really was another train costume worn by a girl who "hates Nathan". :)

I'd say the cousins had fun! I wish I could have been there!

Untimely Trick-or-treating Interruption

...otherwise known as a UTI. The sisters and their urinary tracts...I tell you! During the summer, Janine had a humongo kidney stone that was too big to pass which resulted in the "Summer of the Stone". A few weeks ago, Angie, feeling left out I guess, decided to pass a stone of her own. So, when I had a few minor symptoms of a UTI on Thursday, I immediately scheduled a doctor's appointment. I am determined to never join Angie and Janine's "party". (Not that there's much choice in that!) I went into the doctor's office pretty sure that I was just fine. I walked out with a prescription which I dropped off at the pharmacy and headed off to school. What I should have done is waited for the prescription to be filled and be late to school because, by the time school was over, I had a MASSIVE headache. Doesn't it figure that my major symptom really is unrelated to the actual problem? Unfortunately, I got sick on trick-or-treating night which meant Nathan and Ben missed out. I'm just glad that Nathan got to do some trick-or-treating with his preschool class, or he would have been very bummed! Hopefully, I can dress Nathan and Ben up in their train outfits and "pretend" that they went trick-or-treating!