Back on the horse

I am very proud of my little girl today. She had a bad experience at a previous swim lesson, and was not wanting to come back to swim lessons. As a family, we had a mission to get her back here. Since her Nanna and Pappa live on a lake, the a bility to properly swim early can be a life saver. We changed her time slot to do her lessons with a friend, and she aslo has a new teacher in this time slot. Watching her try hard and have fun again makes me very proud of this girl getting back on her horse and not staying scared of swim class. Of course, she's always felt safer with her daddy around. Her having a smile is priceless.



Sitting and waiting with Marley and Teyton




Swimming across the pool with her teacher




-- Post From JoeB's iPhone

Riah's Private Swim Lesson

Riah's Nanna and Pappa enrolled her in KinderSwim around the corner from their house. Today when I took her, the other kids didn't show up, so Riah had a private lesson













Riah had lots of fun at her lesson today.

-- Post From JoeB's iPhone

New professional blog

Hey all... I have made a new blog that is work related... I started it because I didn't want to do another powerpoint presentation... So check it out!

http://lifeonsped.blogspot.com/

Been a while…

I know it’s been a hot second since I’ve made any updates, so in the next week or so, I will try to get all caught up…  As a glimpse of what’s coming, we changed phone companies, Sara had her graduation, I have only two more classes to go, we are expecting baby number two that is due in Nov., and some other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.  I will try to get caught up, but I am chaperoning the Relay for Life event at Eastlake HS this weekend. 

Peas in a Pod

Somehow, somewhere, these two were best buds. And in this lifetime, God thought it fitting that they should be related. If there were ever two people seperatd by only time it would be these two. They have an unexplainable bond that has ALWAYS been present.

We are all glad she gets to be close to her Papa.

An Odd Pair

These two have had an interesting friendship in their short couple of years alive.  As two first-born girls, they have strong opinions and personalities that have , and probably will clash again.  Here’s a look at how they have grow together. 

This was taken on December 31st 2006.  Riah was almost 2 months old, and Addie would have been about 8 months old. 

July 5th, 2007. 

May 5th, 2008

February 12th, 2009. A recent tea  party where little bro’ Caleb was trying to “Ruin everything.”

February 18th, 2009.  We had the McDowells over for dinner that lasted until after bedtime. 

 

Can’t wait to see what these two have in toe for us, and for each other. 

How They Grow

It amazes me when I look back at the days when I had a “little” baby that would cozy on my chest…

She used to be the sweetest most innocent thing and she was a little doll. However, she is has grown into a feisty little toddler, that already acts like she runs the show.

She has become this little ball of personality and highs and lows. She goes from extreme happiness to hearing the words “nite nite” or “nap time” and suddenly her world crumbles around her. We had a brief stint where she tried to throw temper tantrums and she soon found out that they would not be dealt with and found herself alone yelling at no one, and those seem to have gone as as as they came. Though she still says not to nap time, she still walks herself to her bed and lays down.

Now, when she tries to come and share our bed in the lazy weekend mornings, I get kicked out of my spot, and my pillow becomes her pillow. She has her opinion and will let you know it. She is defiant to fault, but she keeps me on my toes, and I don’t ant to take that away from her. We want her to question the norms and not do what everyone else is doing, and we want her to be able to do her own thing and not care about anyone else. As she continues to grow, I can only hope to have a little girl that will try and fail and be honest in failures so she can learn to succeed.

Riah and Justice

I am posting this simply so that those who know can see what a great thing that has happened recently. If, for some reason you do not know the gravity of the situation, than i am sorry, because I am not going to explain it. Just know that this was the first time that this pic could have been taken. You'll have to check my other blog to see if I write more about this. Something must be said for the bond that brothers have.

Snowman

Riah was able to enjoy the snow yet again today with Nana and Papa, who helped her make her first snowmsn this year. We took lots of pictures and even a video of her "sledding" around the yard pulled by Papa the red-nosed Reindeer.

Riah's Tree

As the holiday season marches on, we have been very busy, but Sara was able to take a day from school work to setup the Christmas trees. We have a small one that we put in Riah's playroom and she likes it. She helped Sara decorate it and she helped decorate our main tree. We are ALL looking forward to the holiday season, and now it looks a little more like Christmas.

Nicaragua Fund Raiser 2008

We had a lot of fun Friday night at the Renton Event Center for the Nicaragua Silent Auction Fund Raiser by the Corner of Love Ministries. Our table of 8 had lots of fun drinking and eating and laughing together. No oe really bid on anything, but Sara bid on a delicious cheesecake which we won and ate for dessert.

Riah stayed with her great grandparents, and decided that while they were babysitting her for the first time she would use the toilet for the first time. Great Grandma Shourek assumed that that is what riah does, but we had to let her know that that was the first time she actually went in the toilet. We were very excited.

The "Kung Fu" FIAT PANDA

One of the best parts of Greece was getting around the island of Milos in our Fiat Panda. This rugged vehicle seats 2 adults and 3 children comfortably. Which made it the perfect automobile for the 6 of us. How did 6 adults and a baby fit into this massive 7-seater. Well, Rian drove, and Mark and Carol shared the front seat. Sara and Lauren and myself were squeezed into the back, and Riah was on my lap, or crawling across the three of us.

Good times, and eben though not the safest way to travel (especially with Rian thinking he was playing PGR4 or GRID) it was a lot of fun and thrilling, and forced family to bond... whether we wanted to or not.

Riah's "The Office" Dance

The theme to the shoe "The Office" brings happy thoughts in our house, as it causes Riah to run from wherever she may be and whatever she may be doing and dance in front of the TV. Of course she says "Daddy dance too!!!" and I have to jump up and join her, but when it's done, we clap and then I sit down to watch the episode and she goes back to wherever she was. It's like momentary insanity... not uncommon in my family.

Riah's First Fish

Today, Riah went t spend time with her favorite person in the world, her granpa, or "Papa". They went to his house on Lake Lucrene in Cedar Downs, which was recently restocked with fish. Mark (Papa) had just caught a 13" trout and handed Riah the pole to "fish" with. But she soon had a bite on the line. Since she had trouble holding the pole with her tiny hands, he pu t her in his lap and let her reel the fish in herself.

After 30-40 minutes, she did just that. The result was a 26" trout that is only 10" shorter that Riah herself.

When they got the fish in the boat, it flopped around a lot and freaked Riah out a bit.

That's why she wasn't too excited about the big fish once she got back home.

As you can see, the fish is two-thirds of her height.

The joys of living near a lake fo Riah is that she loves the water, and is apparently a pretty good fisher.

Eating with Cousins

These pictures were taken with my phone and are of low quality. They are from last night at my brother's place where Riah spends one day each week with her cousins and aunt and uncle. She loves it and loves her cousins. Pictured here are Riah's two youngest cousins.

They were eating raisins and having fun. AJ, on the left, has a couple funny smiles. These three are peas in a pod and crack me up everytime I see them together.

Officially Two

Riah Jean, had her 2nd birthday party on Sunday.

It was a LOT of fun with a LOT of litle ones running around. Thanks to every
one who attended. Riah really appreciated it... and the toys.

Halloween 2008...in the bag

This year we were really busy, but not too busy to dress Riah up in a costume that will embarrass her in front of future dates. We took her to the City Church's Fun Festival and even though she was tired, we were able to find things that she liked... water and bubbles.

Pre-Birthday Bounce

Since it is supposed to rain on Riah's birthday on Election Tuesday, Sara and I took advantage of one of the last sunny Fall days and pulled out our present to Riah early.

This little girl is spoiled... I know this, and anyone who says otherwise woud only be fooling themselves. I'm sure by the first picture you can see her other playtoy that was in the yard. She has more than she could want, and I don't feel bad. She doesn't deserve half of it, but we want her to have it.

Sara and I had fun outside in the sun on the bouncy with her, and she had a blast with it. It will be fun to break out on sunday for her party. However, since it will be sprinkling, we will have it inside ;-)

As far as the lower pictures are concerned, I do not go around wearing my old college jerseys. It was Jersey Day at the Jr. High and I felt like participating. Can't wait to see those who are coming to the party on Sunday.

Mother Award Mominee

This is an old picture, but she had an intersting day yesterday. I got a call from Sara saying how "my" daughter was in deep [doo doo]. She had gotten into Sara's purse and make-up bag and began an extreme home makeover.

She had drawn all over the office floor in lipstick and other think make-up things that I don't know what they are, and it was caked all over her hands and face and body. Needless to say... it was a horrible mess.

By the time I got home, however, Sara had performed a miracle and got it all cleaned up to the point where I wouldn;t have known that there was a massive oily mess all over the floor if she had not told me. The magic cleaning agent she used were her Neutrogena make-up wipes that she cleans her face with daily. And after three hours of cleaning, the mess was gone.

She get's my vote for Mom of the month on that one. But here is a picture of when these two were not making messes and having to clean them. Aren't they cute!!!

Beginning of the Holidays

The holidays begin, in my book, with Halloween. And Halloween has been different the last two years with Riah in the mix. This year we dressed her up as a little pink piggy. On Sunday the 26th, I took her to Church (Common Ground) when Sara went to work. Riah doesn't normally like to hold my hand, but she held my finger as she is in the picture for 10 minutes. Once she figured out that she had to let go of my hand to get candy, she was fine.






The first place she went into was an Egyptian Pyramid where you were supposed to dig through the sand to uncover candy. She likes digging and playing in dirt so much that she was just digging for a while until I showed her that there was candy in there.














Her favorite candy turned out to be suckers!















We had a lot of fun and she enjoyed her little piggy costume.