Pics and Updates

Well, it's been two weeks and life has been super busy! Our routine this fall, though, seems a little out of whack without my involvement in the musical. It's strange to not be out three nights a week planning and preparing a show. I miss it when I think about it, but I think we're all enjoying getting to spend our evenings together. Of course, now I've replaced it with classes, but I've been able to take care of those after Rylan goes to bed.

Shaun has gotten to go scuba diving once the last month and is going again on Saturday. It's weird that this will be his last chance to go before our January cruise! We're getting pretty excited about that trip. I missed getting pics of him with his beard, which he sported for about the last three weeks. He had to shave it off to be more comfortable in his wet suit! I won't miss it.

Rylan is overdue for her 18 month check-up because her parents are slackers and haven't made an appointment yet. Oops. She has ten teeth now! I'm not sure she will ever get any other top teeth but she gets by just fine. Her favorite thing to drink are "shakes" (milk with a bit of chocolate). When she sees pictures of herself she will point and say, "Ry-Ry," and she loves to identify her other favorite people, too. Any picture of Tucker is "My Tu-Tu." I'm not sure where that came from, but she says it over and over because we laugh. She is also obsessed with crayons and making pretty pictures. One day after school I came home and asked her what she'd done with Daddy and she took me to the fridge to show me her latest artwork. When she is with her Mema they listen to a lot of music and play dress-up. From what I hear she really gets herself all decked out!

School is really busy but it is so nice to not have grades to do, or parents to call, or testing to worry about. Last week I went to Mallo Camp. I didn't go as a child, but I can guarantee you that adults have more fun than the students! I had a great Council and a super High School student to work with. We came in second in the tug-of-war, a little disappointing since my Council won the last time I went. 3 of my good friends were also there and we all got to be in the same cabin. It was too much fun but I was ready to be home for sure. There is still no cell phone service at Mallo-and only 2-minute conversations (due to long lines with other people and no free time) to check on Shaun and Rylan were hard!

The first day-cheesy and fresh! Wendy, Me, Charity and Lindsay


Charity and I hanging out in the lodge on our first night


Our Cabin-The "Haunted" Cabin 13!


Me, Charity and Wendy on our last day-pretty worn out and ready to go home to our families!


Last weekend Wyoming Machinery celebrated their 40th Anniversary with an Open House/Picnic at the new 60,000 square foot building. Since Dad, Shaun and Paul all work for Wyoming Machinery it was a family affair. We had fun checking the place out, climbing on the machines they all work on and eating yummy barbeque!

Ry sporting her new hat and walking around with Aiden.


Aiden and PaPa using a simulator to drive a scraper. He did awesome! My grandparents got to join us and they are in the background.


Ella and Rylan sitting with Papa in a dozer.


I'm not sure what Echo and Ry are so excited about-but Echo's face is priceless!


Rylan on the way home from the day-still sporting her hat!


I'm excited that Daunee' is coming for a visit tomorrow. Mom is out of town and Dad and Shaun are going early to Buffalo for their dive, so it's just going to be us girls! We are going to meet Echo for dinner and head to the Energy Bowl. On Saturday we are all going to our friend Nicole's wedding. I'm boycotting the reception though-no cake-which is a cardinal sin! Fall is shaping up to be full of other fun activities and hopefully I'll find time to post about them!

18 months old

I have been telling everyone for over a week at school that Rylan was almost 18 months old. Then, on the actual day, today, I totally spaced it! Not until Shaun came home and asked me if I sang her Happy Birthday did I remember! It is crazy to think she has reached that milestone. She is for sure acting older and becoming more independent every day. Fully proficient at saying "Please" and "Thank You" now, she thinks those words will get her whatever she wants. Rylan has fallen in love with baby dolls. She has one from Mema that came with a bottle, paci and diaper bag. She loves to play with the baby and change its clothes.* She's getting pretty good at taking her own clothes off and tries hard to put them back on! We took her high chair out to the garage this week. It saves us room in the kitchen and she does much better sitting in her booster at the table now. I can't believe how much she changes every day-I thought it would slow down but it hasn't yet!

She found this hat in the cupboard the other day and will put it on at random moments. On this morning, when I asked her to get her shoes, she went for the hat first, and wore it all the way to Mema's house!


She's really in copycat mode now-since Papa was sitting on the coffee table at Auntie Nee's house, she thought she needed to also!


*No comments about how she must be ready for a sibling, please. She likes being an only child and her parents like it that way, too! She's just getting ready to welcome a new cousin in November!

Off to a great start...

We are two days into the school year, and so far, so good! I am very quickly learning the ins and outs of library media. I saw my first groups of students today and really enjoyed all of them. It was a bit crazy schedule-wise (I only got a 15-min break for lunch) but that should iron itself out in the next couple of weeks. My feet sure hurt! I had my first phone call of the year yesterday morning first thing. I immediately assumed it was a parent calling about a book but instead the gentleman announced he was the author Bill Wallace! In case you don't know who that is, check here, and then believe me when I tell you that he is a BIG DEAL in Wyoming and at Conestoga. I read two of his books with my fourth graders every year and they always loved them. Anyway, he is coming to our school in October and wanted our fax number to send the contract. I pretty much made a fool of myself when I couldn't find the number, put the phone down on the desk (not on hold) and ran to the next room screaming for help. When I got back to the phone he was gone, but he did call back. During that call I told him about 50 times that we are so excited to have him and his wife (also an author) and how much I loved him. Oy. Mom says I should take a public speaking class so I can learn how to talk to people without losing it. Probably a good idea. In the meantime, though, I have started two classes for my endorsement. One is pretty basic and the other is going to require some effort. So far I have been diligent in getting homework done as soon as Rylan goes to sleep at night. Hopefully I can continue that pattern.

Shaun is back at work full-time, as in home with Rylan on his days off and then at his "day" job. Now that school has resumed we're like ships passing in the night. We miss seeing him! While he was off this last weekend he got to go scuba diving at De Smet with Dad. It was the first time since May he's had a chance to go, so I think he enjoyed it. We are still trying to figure out how to get him to Tennessee to pick up his old Jeep. He wants to get out there before much snow comes. We'll see what we can get worked out. We just found out we have a wedding to attend on New Year's weekend and that might change his plans for vacation time.

Rylan is finally getting into a routine. When I first started having to wake her up last week she would growl at me then roll over and go back to sleep. I felt like it was a flash of what the teen years will be like! Her first couple days with Mema were a bit hairy as far as routine goes, but she's in the groove now. Her newest word is "yeah" which makes life easier; she used to say "no" to all things-even if she meant yes. She had a screening a couple of weeks ago and passed the list for 15 months (she was 17 months) and got all but one thing on the 18 month list. I expected her to miss it! A "skill" at that age is to stack four blocks. We haven't worked on that at all. I woke up at 4 that morning and thought, "They're going to ask her to stack blocks today! Maybe we should cram!" We didn't, but she did get three blocks done. We learned that her feet, which she sometimes turns in, are just fine. The dental hygienist said that if the gap between her top teeth doesn't close by two we need to get her into a dentist. It might cause the other top teeth to have trouble coming in but hopefully someday she'll have a mouth full of pretty, white teeth!

I took the following pics of Rylan with my Blackberry and I'm still not great at using it. This is her using her "phone" (her Mema's calculator) at Olive Garden.


She kept the phone even while eating some fruit and olives the sweet waitress brought her.


When you ask her to smile this is what you get! Pretty good for being just up from a nap!


And she will do it anytime. She loves to sit at the piano and play. We don't have a piano bench so she will ask for a chair from the table.


Sometimes she's very sweet. Sometimes.


She has always loved shoes and recently has learned to put her shoes on (as well as a 17-month-old can) and her Daddy helped her get mine on the other day.


That's it for now. Rylan was anxious to get to bed tonight. She was trying to climb into her crib when we got to her room! But now that she's in bed it's homework time! Hope your September is off to a swell start!