FFF

Maybe I can get just one more post in this week (man for being gone I've sure posted a lost - thank you blog scheduler thingy - awesome!)

FFF (again not a direct link since I'm not actually here, but it will take you to her blog) this week was pajama time, and since I'm actually trying to do all my posting on Sunday before we leave, I'm only gonna post one pic, but its a fun one from Christmas morning '07.

Me and my girl, opening presents

PS - Where did May go, did you realize that June comes on Sunday........talk about a month that FLEW by!!!

I'm Measuring Things!

Sometimes I like to just sit back and let Riley do things that never-in-a-million-years would I really want her doing. Not like dangerous things that could seriously hurt her, more like when I want to take a peek at how that little brain of hers works and just what exactly she's going to do.

Welcome exhibit A - note not really my house, an image I borrowed from Google

So we got a pack of toilet paper the other day (along with about 8 other bags of groceries it seems) and while I was putting things away I notice Riley pulls it off the counter and on to the floor. Which I was really pretty proud of since she's just over three feet tall and managed not to bash herself in the head in the process.

She goes on playing. After awhile I see her tear into the package and take out one roll. Hmm.....this is where I start watching because I know she's up to something, just not sure what.

Enter Exhibit B - and yep that's my toe that I didn't take the time to edit out of the bottom - sorry, at least its almost freshly painted :)

So at this point I'm intrigued and I ask "Whatcha doing" which is a line she loves from some show on the Disney Channel or Nick (I think it's called Phineas and Pherb if I remember right) adn she says she's "Measuring things" which she really loves to do - mini measuring tapes are a favorite toy of hers!!!

And I watch a little closer and sure enough she is measuring things, I'm just not sure what these things are because I think she's imagining them. You can see where she has the one side all straight and the mess on the side is where she's already used it to measure stuff.

Priceless fun (well really cheap fun) that kept Riley entertained for like 30 minutes - oh I love the sneak peaks we get into how are kids brains work!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm actually out of town on vacation (yeah!) so I'm hoping my great friend Jenelle will actually link up my Wordless Wednesday post for me (please please please and thank you). So since I'm doing it early, I can't really leave you links where to check out more entries directly, but here are a couple of sites, ok 3, that I usually link up to so check them out here, here and here but you might have to look around because that's really just a link to their main blog/page.

Loved that I clicked at just the right moment!!! And yes I failed to be wordless yet again :)

PB Bird Feeders

Riley loves to make stuff - anything really. I remember a book we had when I was little that was called something like "Recyled Treasures" or "Treasures from Trash" or something like one of those and it gave you ideas for egg cartons and old milk jugs and all these "great" things you could make. Now they weren't really treasures to any adult, but I do remember them being really fun to make............and that's what Riley thinks about pinecones, pb, and birdseed.

I was SOOO excited to catch some great pics of the process so here goes..............sidenote...........as a mom you don't think about things like what is in this birdseed and will it hurt my 2 1/2 year old if she eats it..........because if you did you would never make any crafts.

First - smear some PB on the pinecones, but be careful because they are "kinda pokey"

Next, you take a spoonful of PB for yourself, because pb is pretty good stuff!

Your mouth will be pretty full for a minute, because PB is kinda sticky stuff, especially if you didn't bring a drink outside.

Then you sprinkle on some birdseed, because that is really what the birds are after - not the pinecones or the PB.

Then you say "CHEESE" for your mama who tries really hard not to look at the birdseed mixed in with the peanut butter that is stuck on your face..........cause well I'm not sure what in birdseed, but when doing crafts you don't look at things like this as a mom.

Then you pose for a pic with your grandma - Grandma 'Lene (Arlene) was nice enough to let us invade her home without calling first and stopped working on her walkway just to help us out with these lovely birdfeeders...........and we made like 15 so we had lots of them to go around!!!

Favorite Foto Friday - Just One Pic

Yikes, our assignment this week was to pick only ONE photo - do they realize how hard this is........terribly, but I'm going to do my best, maybe that means I'll just have several different posts today to make up for it :) To check out other entries go here

Riley was helping Aunt Saray lick the candles from her birthday cake, Riley had never done or seen this before and she thought it was pretty fantastic!

Daddy's Coming Home Today!

Joey had to go to training this week and left Wednesday morning (which I know was only two days ago), but Riley and I are excited because he's coming home TODAY!!! Like driving back right now and will be home in only 1 hour (or so). We have had a couple of pretty busy days so thankfully we haven't been sitting at home crying for hours on end, but it will definitely be nice to have him back and we've missed him!!!

Riley was pretty cute as he packed on Tuesday night, I'm not sure if she was trying to sneak away with him or if she was just hiding really good - either way it made for some cute pics!

Can you tell Daddy had some sun? Silly boy forget to where sunscreen.

While daddy was gone though, Riley did get to hold her first baby completely unassisted (well in human form, the pillow was of course very strategically placed). Baby Elijah sure is a sweetie and Riley was cute with him. Every time he fussed or made a noise, even if she was in another room you heard "It's ok baby Lijah (not sure where the E goes), I'm coming" and in she would come ready to help with his binkie or rubbing his foot. What a good mama she'll be someday!

Elijah's daddy did help get him settled, but I LOVED her expression here - she was so excited!

Happy Preschool Graduation to Cayman

Our nephew, Cayman, graduated from preschool last week. The kids were cute, showing off all the songs they learned throughout the year and really put on a good show. I love how their personalities come out in things like this - I could already pick out the Class Clown, Miss Shy, and Mr. Cool Dude and they aren't even in Kindergarten yet.

Here's a pic of the proud graduate

Riley wasn't super excited about the graduation itself and was kind of confused why they weren't singing the right words to the songs (Mama's Little Baby Loves Shortening was really a song about opposites and Riley thought that was crazy). She was way more excited about going to Cousin Cayman's house and eating cake. She wasn't quite sure why their weren't any candles though, so do you know what her nice Aunt Angie did........brought out the candles and of course they had to light them twice so Cayman and Riley each had a turn blowing them out.

Riley sure was proud of her cousin and excited to get to him once the ceremony was over!

**And do you know what - even though Riley didn't get a graduation certificate like Cayman, you couldn't fool her into thinking she wasn't old enough for preschool yet........wait for it..........because "I'm big enough, I'm 2 1/2"

Because I'm 2 1/2

This is one of Riley's favorite sayings lately, "because I'm 2 1/2." Of course like any two year old "hang on" and "NO, I can do it" are right up there, but they aren't quite as cute in my mind as the fact that she thinks she can do so many things because, why else, she's 2 1/2.

Riley, wow I didn't know you could jump so high........"because I'm 2 1/2"

Riley how did you learn how to draw circles so well....."because I'm 2 1/2"

Can you hop on one foot........"yes, because I'm 2 1/2"

Can I help you........"No I big enough, I'm 2 1/2"

Shucks - she can even get out of daddy's handcuffs all by herself....because she's "2 1/2"

My girl is slightly independent and I love it, I love that she catches on to things SO quickly, I love that she wants to be a big girl-but still wants to cuddle too, I guess I love her because she's her :)

Word-Filled & Wordless Wednesday

Ha - who knew that I could talk and not talk all in the same post.....ok not really Word-filled is really about spreading the Word of Jesus, not just my words which I seem to be pretty good at.

For my Word-filled picture, I feel kinda silly posting this one, but it really is the verse that just jumped out at me - to see more Wordfilled entries go here. As my first entry, and not having a really great program to add cool looking text to my photos - I'm trying :)

For my Wordless entry - all I have to say is this is my sister, and she's only 24........to see more Wordless Wednesday's go here or here

Maybe I should say she was in a play when this was taken - hehe

FFF - Fun in the sun

Riley and one of her best friends, Emily had a fun time at the play ground the other day. I won't tell you that it was actually kind of cloudy that day or these pics might not actually follow the theme for FFF (Favorite Foto Friday) so we'll pretend it was a bright sunny day, you can keep my secret right ;)

Riley and Emily had a great time as you can see - they were making super silly faces, but they definitely got their whole bodies in on it - don't ask me what they were doing with their arms.........they are silly!

I love this one - Emily is almost 2 yrs older than Riley so of course Riley wants to do everything that she does. As you can see Riley was having a bit more trouble getting off the bench than Emily did :)

I will do better at posting......soon - our update on life the last couple of weeks

Wow - I feel like I haven't really posted anything in a couple of weeks - I guess it's because I feel like my life has been so busy that I haven't really had time to stop and think about what has been going on and if there have been any really good stories to share.

The most exciting thing that has happened this week is my dear friend Gina's little boy got amazing test results yesterday - even though he has/had cancer, he does NOT have to go thru chemo. What a relief for their family and for little Carter who is only 11 months old. I absolutely can not wait for his 5 year remission party - mark your calendars now :) The whole family could still use your prayers as they have many many follow-up visits between now and then, and each one will be difficult - but man God Is Good!

Hopefully I'll do better about posting now - I really enjoy this blogging thing, sometimes it's hard to find time to think about what has happened that other people might actually want to read about :). Watch out for like 80 posts today as I contemplate what's going on with the Graves family and try to catch anyone who reads this up with our life.

Of course - what's a post without some pics - here is my sis Sarah and my Riley jamming on Sarah's ipod. I'm always amazed how quickly Riley figures things out and how at 2 1/2 she will let you know that "that's not my song" if you play the wrong one.

Did you know?

My dad, who loves to try new things, bought a bag of these the other day and they are SOOO yummy. You can eat them straight out of the bag, although I think they might be tasty melted between a couple of graham crackers with vanilla icing too , but I haven't tried that yet.

Good job Kraft - I LOVE these!!!

Wordless Wednesday

My sis, Sarah, and my sweet baby big girl, Riley, blowing out birthday candles (Riley's only helping because she wants to, her birthday isn't really until November)

How did this icing end up all over my toe - well its Wordless Wednesday so I can't tell you but you can check out more back there or here.

FFF - Mommy and Me

Wow, this has been a crazy week - so crazy I haven't had time, nor thought about posting anything. I didn't want to miss this one though - I love FFF (favorite foto friday's) so here are some pics - some new, some old, of my sweetie Riley and me.

Wow - I don't think I realized how much I had changed too - Riley was about 1 month old here - her first Christmas :)

Riley's first Easter (06) we were learning how to hop like a bunny but took a minute to take a pic ourselves........not too shabby (well except for the wrinkle she's making on my face which really isn't there I promise)

Playing at the Bolivar park

San Antonio, TX - The Alamo
Riley was excited because she got animal crackers - Joey and I thought it was hillarious that they were shaped like TX, boots, etc

At the top of some tower in San Antonio - it was WINDY!


Multnomah Falls, OR - so pretty!

These two (above and below) are playing at a park in Cascade Locks, OR

Giving Mama the love in Oregon

Merry Christmas ('07) everyone

Chuck E Cheese - only the coolest place ever! (PS I won 50 tickets with one token see here for the lovely pic of that occasion)