Anything Like Me

Have you heard the song "Anything Like Me" by Brad Paisley?  That's the song I thought of on our walk this week (relating Shawn and Ry).  Ryder was on his Scuut at Elm Creek, doing awesome.  He has the balance down and loves hills.  We like the small hills, too because that lets him actually cruise and learn to balance rather than just kick his feet. 

Buuut...we forgot how large this hill ahead of us was...Ryder went straight for it...no breaks...Shawn ran after him to try to grab him at the top, but couldn't keep up...Ryder was going faster than sprinting pace and getting further and further from Shawn.  I heard Shawn screaming and I couldn't see either of them.  I was thinking, broken arm, broken neck, road rash...my tiny fearless little boy...

(view from the bottom of one of the tiers on the hill)

I finally got to a point where I could see Shawn and Ryder at the bottom of the hill.  They both had their arms in the air and HUGE smiles on their faces!! Whew!!  When asked if he was scared, Ry just said, "No - that was super fun! I went faaaasssttt!" Lol!

And of course, Shawn gives me a look and says something like "Did you see how big that hill was?! That was sweet!" Then turns to Ryder and says "Now don't ever do that again - that was too fast (wink, wink)." 

I have a feeling he's going to be just like his daddy...rappelling out of windows, flipping on skis, jumping off double-decker pontoon boats...oh boy...

"I Was There, Too"

Inspiration from my first issue of Click Magazine:

"...We all talk about how important it is to document life, to capture memories for our families, to have a visual history of the day-to-day because the years are fleeting.  Well, I have news for you: You're a part of that. You need to be in pictures.
...What they will care about is that they can see what their mom looked like at 25, 35, 45 and 55; that she played with them, that she gazed at them lovingly, that she laughed with them...capture that for them. We need more than just memories.  We need pictures..." -Sarah Wilkerson

I am almost never in photos - my kids are going to grow up with a zillion photos of them, a few with dad and none of their mom.  I'm starting to work on that....For example, I jumped in the kids' pic during last Friday's playdate:

I was there...there loving every moment with the little ones and their moms.  Thanks for a great morning Jen, Everett, Cora, Christy, Leyla, Lori, Charlie and of course, Ryder & Logan!

Engen Wedding

Last night we hepled Brandon and Becky celebrate their first night as a married couple!  I loved seeing my dad's side of the family and had sooo much fun watching the little kids dance!

Logan has Grandpa's baby blues!

Logan playing with Auntie Christy

Cousins! Looks like Autumn's swing dancing! Lol!

These kiddos did not want to leave the dance floor! 

So incredibly adorable!!

Ryder shot me this look that said "I'm so cool - I got a dance with the Flower Girl!" They both thought they were so grown up :)

Fam photo :) *Thanks Christy!*

Also, for our own notes, this was Ryder's first day without a PullUp! And he did awesome!! Risky day to choose as parents, but he was so insistent.

Wilson Family Camp

I know Logan will be up any moment, but wanted to post a couple photos from Wilson Family Camp.  We all went up to "camp" (RV with heat) at Pine Island last weekend.  Good thing we had heat (and a constant bonfire) because the high temps were in the low 40's!  Neither kid seemed to mind.  Logan took an outdoor siesta all bundled up and Ry played golf, baseball and jumped on the trampoline with no comments about the weather.  He was too busy having fun and loving being outside :)  With both kids keeping me busy, I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures! But we had a good time :)

*We didn't get a photo of it this year, but Stephanie & Lisa had special shirts made for everyone to surprise Nana that said "Fight Like a Girl".  I made coordinating ones with for the boys.  Next year, we need a group photo of everyone showing their support.  In the meantime, FIGHT LIKE A GIRL NANA!! We love you!!

Eeek!!

There are a few things to be worked out yet, but these are the shirts that were put on the kids when we met Mom, Craig and Mikayla for dinner Thursday night!! Beyond excited!!

Family

We have had lots of family time these past few days and I LOVE it!! Here are a few pics:

Ry at the park with "MissKayla" and Autumn

 

This morning: Halloween art and making pancakes with cousin Autumn

I enjoyed having three kids at the house this morning while Laura and Nick were out doing their 5K :)

Teeth!!

I just discovered at dinner tonight that this little guy has two bottom teeth!! You can barely see them, but they're there!  No wonder why he's been so addicted to chewing on the Sophie giraffe lately!  He can't get enough of her!

You can't see them in this photo, but this is when I found them!

He's also started to smack his lips together - maybe for fun, maybe for "hungry"?

P.S. I am not ready for teeth!! Makes it seem like he's not my tiny baby anymore! And if he's our last, I'm really not ready for my baby to be 'growing' up!

Just Thinkin...

Just thinkin...it's pretty cool that I get to be an Architect M-Th, a Full Time Mom Fri-Sun and a Photographer now and then :)

And now I'm adding "Student" to the list since I've finally scheduled my next exam!  Yah, not quite as exciting, but I'm am excited to have these done!  There never seems to be a convenient time to study, but with my NCARB Rolling Clock coming to a close at the end of May, I need to finish my last two.  So if I'm not blogging as frequently, you know why...

Here are a few photos I've been meaning to post...

Now that the weather's getting chilly, "Mall of America Season" has started :)

Dinner date at Noodles while dad was out of town

Logan has started to join in on meal time! :)

Fulton Brewing before the Twins Game with Sue, Roger and Becky

Logan is all smiles with Great Auntie Kath

Sorry Shawn, but Ry and I had a great time playing hockey in the yard this past Friday :)

One of my fav "dates" with Ry is a trip to Caribou.  We played "I Spy", "What's Missing", and other games.  It's so much fun to chat with this sweet and silly 3 year old!

Official 5 Month Photo

Fall!!

I am loving fall! We've been taking the kids on walks frequently and it feels like we're walking in a painting with all this beautiful color! This past Monday, we brought the tripod along to the park and took a few family photos...I was trying to save them for our Christmas card, but I just can't resist sharing!  So you may see these again in December :)

(*Recognize this sweater Jen? Perfect for our family photos!)

Ryder's Alphabet Book

Click here to view this photo book larger
I am so excited to share the alphabet book I just finished for Ryder! I can't take all the credit on the creativity, as I initially saw this idea on Pinterest.  But I had fun pulling it together and am super excited to read it with Ryder!  (Also, I didn't forget a page - I censored the letter U since I could not think of anything else, so mine - and the example book - stood for underwear!) Enjoy!

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.