Our Adventures with Ryan and Riley Cate

the day she turned 4

instagram: may edition!

(left to right, top to bottom):
*one of riley's favorite things to do right now, is to play dress up!
*love this vinyl birthday banner I ordered for riley's birthday party.
*this picture is why I love cell phone cameras, caught this moment of riley cate wearing some of meems costume jewelry rings I chose for her.  I will treasure this picture, and it has nothing to do with camera quality.  I would not have captured this moment with my "big" camera.  one of my sweet friends pointed out that her hands are folded over her heart.  not posed.  love real life moments.
*wearing "aunt" katy's mickey hat at cousins madi and jack's birthday party.
*I was in the playroom playing mario with ryan, love this sweet boy!  and love playing mario with him, even though he is schooling me about it, not the other way around. ha!
*riley cate with a day off from school and lunch with pawpaw!
*with the kids help, made these "name" paintings for the playroom.  LOVE the way they turned out!
*sweet riley and one of the hello kitties napping on the couch.
*ryan loving his cereal in his "straw bowl" on an early morning before school.  he almosy can't eat cereal from another type of bowl these days. 
*ryan's "pete the cat" drawing from school.  he did an AMAZING job on this cat, it was a freehand drawing. 
*riley cate in front of her new big girl kitchen, which was her 4th birthday present.  she loves it!
*celebrating ryan's graduation from kindergarten with some fried catfish and shrimp!  seafood and mexican are food groups around here.

love capturing the small moments!  sometimes they are the ones with the most memories!

riley cate's spring program

riley cate (and her cousin brandon) sang beautifully (and loud) in the spring preschool program.  her favorite song was "chicken one and chicken two".  love this sweet girl!  only one more year of preschool for her, she is tiny, but is now officially a preschool "upperclassman".  ha!

splish splash {riley's waterpark birthday!}

we hosted riley's 4th birthday party at the waterpark with our closest family and friends
(minus our murray friends, who were sick, and very, very missed)!

it was a beautiful summer day, with lots of sunshine and even a (hot) breeze at times. 
riley reported that it was the best day ever.

{riley cate and her BFF sarah!}

{it is never too early for a cookie!}

{riley and her sweet friend grant!  they are 11 days apart in age, and have known each other since they were both 15 months old.  so sweet!}

{ryan and ben, sarah's brother, who ryan loves!  ben is also very into mario and has red hair.  could they have any more in common?!}

{mimi and pawpaw!}

{birthday girl and her daddy, floating in the lazy river}

{pawpaw and our sweet friend marley, who was rocking her sunglasses and having a great time!}

{trying to keep the candle lit, in the hot breeze!}

{birthday girl and mommy, in front of the super cute, mommy designed, vinyl birthday banner!  I sorted through 600 fonts before I found the perfect one.  is anyone surprised?}

{the sweet brother was so gracious, and was a great little mini-host}

{sand and sun}

{sand angel}

{the littlest guest, madison!  5 month old daughter of our sweet friends brad and kammy}

{ryan, riley cate and mason...  their parents were friends long before kids!  and now we could fill up a minivan!}

{ryan loves the giant pineapple bucket dumping water on his head.  his sister, not so much.  she runs when she hears it tipping over!}

{mason.  who looks 12 years old in this picture!}

{sweet siblings}

it was a great day, celebrating our beautiful daughter! 
thanks to everyone who came and made the birthday girl feel so special!

(murrays:  we expect a raincheck waterpark date later this summer!)

happy 4th birthday to my precious riley cate!

dearest riley cate,

where do I start?  I cannot believe you are turning 4 years old today.  the time has passed so quickly.  you are the smartest 4 year old I know.  you are small in stature but BIG in personality.  people smile at you everywhere you go.  you are one happy girl!  people tell you that you are beautiful all the time, and you are.  strangers may not, but your daddy and I know that your beauty is more than skin deep.  your inner beauty is what makes you so beautiful on the outside too.  you radiate beauty.  you care about others so much, and very often put their wants/needs ahead of your own, which is rare at your age.  your daddy and I could not be more proud of the little lady you are.

what are you up to at age 4?

you already meet all the basic requirements to go to kindergarten, even though it will be another 1+ years before you start!  you have been learning from ryan's lessons all year!
your vocabulary and comprehension of words is incredible.
you are extremely compassionate.
you are on the small side, weighing in around 32 lbs, and are still wearing your 2T blue jeans.
your favorite tv shows right now are doc mcstuffins and bubble guppies with a little mickey mouse and little einsteins mixed in.
you love to sing.  your favorite artist is adele.  you do a great version of, "rolling in the deep".
you love to be near other people.  you are usually in the same room as one of us.  you do not even like to brush your teeth alone.
you color beautifully and have a creative imagination.
you love high heels.
you are funny.
you like to play kitchen, doctor and dress up more than anything else.
you can eat an adult sized portion of spaghetti.  with a side of garlic bread and a sweet tea.
you told me this week that you want to be the tooth fairy when you grow up.
you are currently sleeping on your sweet brothers bottom bunk, due to not wanting to be alone in your room.  he loves having you in there just as much as you love being there.  sometimes you both giggle and talk after bedtime, and daddy and I pretend not to hear you, just so we won't have to tell you to be quiet.
you have a zest for life.  and we are so lucky to be living it with you. 

an interview with riley at four years old:  her favorites in her words...

food:  spaghetti
dessert:  cake
movie:  tangled
tv:  mickey mouse clubhouse
toy:  doctor toys
stuffed animal/doll:  purple hello kitty
game:  mario memory
number:  1
letter:  RILEY (all the letters in her name)
candy:  m&m's
book:  tangled
clothes/thing to wear:  dresses
animal:  hello kitty
song:  wheels on the bus
color:  all the colors in the rainbow 

kindergarten graduation

ryan graduated from kindergarten last week, and we were happy to spend the morning celebrating him!  where has the time gone?  I read something recently that said, "the days are long, but the years are short", and with a kindergarten graduate and my "baby" turning 4, I have definitely been feeling that way lately.

ryan missed the graduation portraits a couple of months ago because he was out sick, so I took a few portraits of my own!  at least that way I can make sure he didn't have lunch on his face, right?!

ryan had a cheering section at graduation...

and look who is ready to have her turn at kindergarten graduation...

don't rush it riley, I am sure it will happen soon enough!

congratulations to our sweet graduate!

riley's waterpark birthday: sneak peek!

it was a fabulous day for a waterpark party,
and our birthday girl had the BEST day! 
more photos to come soon!

happy party day, riley cate!

the graduate

our sweet ryan will graduate from kindergarten tomorrow morning at 8am!
and his daddy and I could not be more proud of him!

more to come from the graduation ceremony!

olympic field day {ryan, kindergarten}

today was an olympic themed field day at ryan's school, and I attended and managed to snap a few pictures.  his class was representing the coutry of italy, and they might not have looked italian, but they had a nice flag and represented well!  and after all, italian food is ryan's favorite!

they placed 2nd in the baton relay, which ryan was super-excited about, and he ran very, very fast, with a stick baton in his hand.  funny thing about that:  as the instructions are being given, ryan says (really loudly), "but I am not allowed to run with sticks!"

olympic procession:

running with sticks:

long-jump:

love this one, definitely a new favorite:

basketball:

water relay (his favorite, since the cup had holes!):

(look closely, the tongue sticking out is helping with his focus):

sizing up the tug-o-war competition:

had a good day with my long jumping, fast running special little guy!

teacher appreciation week {2012}

may 7-11th is teacher appreciation week, and I have lots of great ideas for ways to appreciate the favorite teachers in your life!  (here is my post from teacher appreciation week 2011).

we love teachers around the bledsoe house (and we now have a daddy-teacher to appreciate as well!).  I am helping to plan events for teachers at both schools this year, and have found lots of great ideas on pinterest.  teachers love good food!  chickfila for breakfast!  yes!  catered lunch!  yes!  sonic drinks!  yes!  Any of those things are good ideas, especially if you are helping to plan for a group of teachers.  

Source: skiptomylou.org via Kimberly on Pinterest

  

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: thecraftingchicks.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

 

 

Source: therachelberryblog.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

 

If you are strapped for time, pick them up a giftcard to sonic or chickfila (or something universal that everyone loves, or that you know they love in particular). 

And most important of all, YOU and YOUR CHILD tell the teachers in your life how much you appreciate them.  we did personalized cards this year with photos of the kids for teacher appreciation week expressing our thanks, and I love the way they turned out!

happy teacher appreciation week (may 7-11), now take some time to go appreciate those teachers!

a good big brother...

a good big brother
watches 5 straight episodes of Dora the Explorer with you
when you are feeling under the weather:

a REALLY good big brother
lets you lay crossways on him
WHILE watching said Dora the Explorer:

summer is almost here!

the last few weekends have been just beautiful!  we have tried to spend as much time as we can letting the kids play in the backyard and coak up the sunshine, before the temperatures top 100 degrees.

(sidenote:  yes, ryan has an angry bird tattoo.  no, it is not real.  or so I thought.  it said "temporary", but lasted one week with us SCRUBBING it every night.  lovely.  guess who else had one?  yes, the sister.  yes, it was also an angry bird.  after the tattoo was applied, she decided she wanted to wear sleeveless dresses all week and she looked like a cross between TLC's toddlers and tiaras and miami ink.  it was delightful!)

shortly after that last picture, the water hose came out!  davon had promised them some sprinkler fun, but they love just spraying the water hose too!

we are convinced ryan is part primate or spiderman.  he cam climb anything!  including the swingset.  wet.  it is a talent we are sure will come in handy one day.

check out riley's pose in this next picture (her hand is on her hip although you cannot see that part of her arm).  she walks around with her hands on her hips 80% of the time lately.  she acts like she is rocking a beauty pageant runway even though she has never seen one.  some things are innate I guess.  although the only runway she will be rocking is the pretend one at home, it is fun to see her be so "dramatic".  my sweet girly girl!

another shot with her hands on her hips (and the fading angry bird tattoo)...

they had their first taste of summer, and they loved it!

confessions

time for another edition of confessions!

1. we have had a few more pizza hut big boxes since april started.  I try to remember which night of the week we ordered last week so I am sure to only order it once a week.  7 days apart is an acceptable time frame (in my crazy little mind) to order pizza, but 6 is not.  rational, right?
2. I have some beautiful plants that were sent to meems memorial service.  I love plants, but for obvious reasons, I am a little nervous about turning these plants into brown crunchy sticks.  grow, plants, grow!
3. riley asks to wear her minnie mouse ears almost daily lately, and I let her.  she is precious!  so far, she has worn them to school and out to eat.  davon drew the line at wearing them to bed and in the bathtub. 
   
4. I found a new local kolache place.  It does not have a drive thru, which makes me sad.  How am I supposed to do a drive by in my PJ's now?  I wonder if my old kolache place will notice I have moved on? 
5. ryan is going on a field trip tomorrow to a giant playground/spray park.  I am considering "sharpie-ing" my phone number on both of his forearms.
6. my whole family is ready for summer vacation from school.  them, because they will all be out of school hanging out by the pool.  me, because I will no longer have to wake in the 6am hour to rush (them) out of the house.  just waking up and working seems so... EASY!  yahoo for summer break!
7. davon and I have 2 new favorite shows this season:  revenge and missing.  they are both great and I can't wait to tune in each week!
8. I have been sick for a couple of days, having to be an adult/mommy/employee and be sick is kind of rough.  this morning ryan offered to stay home from school to take care of me.  this afternoon, riley checked me over with her doctor kit.  sounds silly, but both of them made me feel very loved today by caring so much about how I was feeling.  sometimes kids demonstrate love in ways you would not expect.
9. I may be just as excited about riley's upcoming 4th birthday party as she is!  I am not excited about her getting older (how is she already turning 4?), but I love hosting a good party, and seeing my kids feel so special and have such a good time with a day all about them!  I was born to be a party planner.  Now if only someone would PAY me to plan their parties!
10. ryan's kindergarten graduation cap and gown came home yesterday.  I wanted to see the cap on him, and my goodness, I don't think any 6 year old has ever been this cute in a mortar board!
    

dare to dream: disney on ice

davon and I took riley to see the newest disney ice show, featuring the disney princesses in "dare to dream".  and the verdict, well, she loved it!  it was a great show with beautiful costumes and fabulous ice skaters.  on to the pictures!

there is a daddy back there somewhere behind all those pink feathers!

love, love, love how big their smiles are in this picture..  it was a super-fabulous day!

little miss priss with her rapunzel hair waiting on mommy to get her camera settings adjusted..

we stopped for lunch at pappasitos and enjoyed some yummy mexican food before heading home, and with full bellies and princesses on our minds, riley cate and I napped the whole way home while daddy drove. 

it was a great, great day!