only 75 minutes to go...

We have been dropping Ryder off over the last few weeks in his new two year old class at church.  Here is his routine:

note: when we drop him off we always say that we will be back and that we will ALWAYS come to get him.

After we drop him off in his class, he pulls a chair over to the door and sits there, waiting for us.  He will occasionally get up to listen to the lesson and do worship/music, but then he will go right back to his chair by the door.  The teachers call it his "comfort chair".  Our friend went to check on him for us and captured the "comfort chair":

His face kills me... and breaks my heart...  I hate dropping him off.

Our friend joked, "Only 75 minutes to go..."

I am so thankful that dropping him off is extremely infrequent...
(Once a week for 75 minutes...)
 I just don't think I could handle that face on a regular basis.

playdates and sweet moments

We had a play date with our close friends the Warkentins... We love them so much and love every chance that we get to be together.

Here is Mad with the big kids:

 And then the little ones had their own play date:

 It could not have been more precious!

Play dates like these really cause you to appreciate the community around you and the friends that are part of your family!  We are so thankful to live life with these close friends!

Warks:

We love you guys so much and are so thankful to have you in our lives!  Thank you for sharing life with us!  We look forward to MANY more play dates!

road trips

We did a little craft project the other day.  I had seen this on Pinterest and thought that it would be perfect for our family and then some friends of our did it and I thought we just had to try it.

Note: I talked to Ryder about the shirt and what I should put on it, but I actually implemented it while he was napping.  We are currently working on not writing on ourselves, especially our clothes, and this seemed like it would be sending a mixed message.

We took our sharpies:

And made a "road trip" shirt:

 So when Kit gets home, he puts it on and he gets a back massage:

 And sometimes there is a little "off roading":

Thanks Pinterest!

things that make us laugh

Kids, whether they know it or not, can do the funniest things.

Ryder really has no idea how unintentionally funny he is.

Here are a few examples that made me laugh recently:

I came into the garage to this scene:

Apparently Ryder didn't heed the SLOW sign and that dinosaur probably came out of nowhere and didn't even see it coming...  All Ryder said when he came into the house was "all done GRRRRRR".  Would that be considered a hit and run since he left the scene?

He will not let me trim his nails unless the dinosaur gets his nails trimmed first:

Good thing the dinosaur makes it look so painless... That makes my job so much easier...

If Ryder wants something that he knows he might not normally get, like juice, or to hold a remote, he tilts his head and gives the silliest smirk:

In this case, he was trying to get another cereal bar instead of eating his string cheese

I can have a hard time saying no to those eyes...  I am so weak sometimes!

He has no idea how obvious he is with wanting to be like his dad:

He was trying to tell us something and we didn't understand him right away.  He picked up this shirt and handed it to Kit, and Kit said, "Oh, you want to wear the shirt?"  And with the BIGGEST smile, he says, as clear as a a bell, "SURE!"  Like saying, "Hey if you are offering, I would LOVE to wear my dad's shirt..." 

Ryder Rae~

You are an incredible human being.  I love watching you and learning how your mind works.  You are such a sweet and relational kid and I am so thankful to be your mom.  I look forward to watching you grow and for sharing many laughs with you...  
I love you little man!

baby prints

We finally got around to hanging Eden's baby prints next to her brother's.

I can't believe that Ryder was ever that tiny!  We had each one done when both the kids were exactly a week old, and I love looking at them as we go in and out of the nursery... It reminds me how fast it all goes and how much I just love my babies!!!  

coloring

Recently, Ryder has really gotten into:

1. Coloring (markers or crayons)

2. Toy Story Characters (Buzz is the favorite)

So when I found these 20 inch coloring pages at Target, I realized that they just had to come home with us.

The funny thing is that I usually have him do all crafts/play-doh/coloring of any kind in his chair, but guess what is too big for that?  Yup, 20 inch coloring sheets.  

So we broke tradition and he got to color on the floor.   I don't know if he was more excited about the characters, or that he was able to sit with ALL the crayons on the floor.  It's the little things...♥

family time

Enjoying some time at Disneyland.

Yep, that zebra is just "sleeping"...

His favorite part of the ride was the elephants and imitating what they do with their trunks.

His least favorite part was when the piranhas scared the crap out of him...

Who would have thought that FISH would have been the least favorite part of the ride?!?! 

 Then on Pirates, he only got nervous on the drop and when the cannons felt like they blew right by our heads, but then he was all about the pirates and the music.

 This was his first time in the Tarzan tree.  He loved it!

The corn dogs are located right outside where I feed and change Eden, so guess who got a corn dog...

 Main street is such fun place to people watch.

Good thing the corn dog made it to the family picture...

The day consisted of the jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tarzan's tree house, Buzz Light Year, Monster's Inc, and the Ariel Ride.  Plus a stop off for a corn dog.  It was a full day!