He Did It!

Rylan made it through kindergarten! And I'm certain he had a pretty great year. He and Christian became the best of friends, being in the same class at school and in primary. He loved his teacher. She started out the year as Miss Miles and then became Mrs. Gunter after getting married in November. We've loved her and I'm happy Rylan was able to have her for a teacher...especially since she's not coming back next year :( Rylan was disappointed because he had these big plans of stopping by her classroom to say 'hi'.

I asked Ry what his favorite thing about kindergarten was and he said it was the games they got to play. He explained one game to me: They got to roll the dice and if they rolled a 12 then they'd color 12 boxes up. I asked him if they learned while they played games and he told me "No mom, they are just fun games"! We'll keep it a secret that he really was learning things all year while playing those fun games!

Ry has become a great reader this year. In preschool it was a bit frustrating to sit down with him to read. Even at the beginning of this school year it was frustrating. He'd just sound out the first letter or two and then guess what the word was. I'm sure that's a common thing for kids to do, but it sure did take a long time to get through a book, even a page! Rylan will still guess the words occasionally but he's sooo much more confident in his reading skills that he'll take more time to sound out the entire word. It's been thrilling to hear him read full books and sound out bigger words. He's surprised us several times by pulling out a book and saying "I can read this whole thing by myself"...and he will! I think our daily reading habits have been set so reading through the summer will continue.

Rylan seemed to develop an interest in numbers this year as well. He's often asking me what this big number plus that big number equals. The fact that numbers never end is also something that he talks about often, making up new numbers and adding one, two, three...

The kindergarten graduation was very cute. He had his part memorized: But I'll be my best friend each day of my life, because I like being me." He said it with 3 girls and unfortunately he was blocked by one girl so we didn't get to see him. But I knew he knew it! There were some really cute songs and all 3 kindergarten classes were darling! Rylan was himself, holding back a bit. I still thought he was the cutest one there :)

They received their kindergarten graduation diploma, or rather "Promotion Certificate" and then we picked him up in his classroom. He gave his teacher a little gift, including a note he wrote her, in this cute little owl bag I made (my sis saw it online and gave me the idea) that says "Thanks for making me wiser!" We took a few pictures and that was it. Goodbye Kindergarten!! Actually, he has a 20 minute assessment on Tuesday and then, Goodbye Kindergarten! :)

His note to his teacher :)

We celebrated by taking the boys to get a frosty at Wendy's. Since when is 10:30am too early for ice cream? Now we're ready for SUMMER FUN!!!

Music Recital

This year Rylan started a 'Let's Play Music' class. He loved it! I think he had a lot of fun learning more about music. His class was once a week and he never complained about going. In fact, a couple times he had a friend over but when I would tell him it was time to leave for music class, he'd stop playing, put his shoes on and say bye to his friend! He had homework to do every week and occasionally that was a battle to get it done... but he got it done every week!
His class (along with the other first year class) had a recital at the library and it was so cute! They had speaking parts and Rylan had his perfectly memorized. That kid is really good at memorization and he can memorize things fast!! They also sang songs and played their bells.

He's already signed up for next year when they will start on the keyboards. He's so excited!!

Ry's Quotes

(December 4, 2010)
We were out shopping and I saw a necklace I liked. I tried it on and asked Ry if daddy should buy it for me for Christmas.
Ry: "No, I think you should just wear it right now."
Man, I love this kid! Why wait till Christmas? Daddy can get me something else :)

(December 19, 2010)
After opening his gift from Abbi...
Ry: "One hundred and sixty legos? I've been wanting this many legos for a long time!"

(December 21, 2010)
Rylan to Asher: "Follow me downstairs and if you don't follow me, just listen to my voice to find me."

We had just received a plate of Christmas goodies from some friends.
Ry: "Do we get to eat them before Christmas?"
Me: "Yeah, they made us some treats."
Ry: "And we don't have to wait? We can eat them now?"

(December 24, 2010)
Me: "Should we go home and make some cookies for Santa?"
Ry: "Nah, we should just make some cookies for us."
Who is this greedy kid? :)

Poor Rylan was so scared that Santa was coming into our house. Usually on Christmas Eve kids get excited when Santa's coming and it's good motivation to get in bed (although it may take awhile to actually fall asleep!) Not Ry. You really could see fear on his face.
Ry: "Mom, if you see Santa, will you make sure he doesn't come into my room?"
and later on to Kev...
Ry: "If I have a bad dream and come into your room, what will Santa do to me?"

(December 26, 2010)
I was wrapped up in a blanket and when Ry saw me he said "Mom you look like a hot dog. A hot dog in a bun."
I laughed and laughed and that encouraged him to keep saying it over and over. :)

(December 31, 2010)
Ry: "I'm good at sleeping while I walk."
Me: "Why are you walking when you sleep?"
Ry: "I just do and I'm good at it cause I don't bump into anything."
I tried to get more info from him because I'm not really sure what he was talking about. But, it made me wonder if all these nights he's been coming into our room if he's still asleep. But if he's sleeping then how does he know he's good at it? The other night he woke up around 10:00pm so Kevin went to check on him. He went back to his bed but then he started laughing. It kinda creeped Kevin out a bit, but now I'm pretty sure Ry was just sleeping the whole time!

My Boys

Just some pictures of my boys from today I wanted to post. I love these boys!

I know I shouldn't let him sit on the couch like this, but this is where Rylan sits the majority of the time to watch his shows.

This train table (and trains, of course) has been the most played with toy in our house. Hands down. Daily the boys are building train tracks, tearing them down, fighting over trains, and having fun together!

Ry's Quotes

(October 5, 2010)
Ry: "I just want to be me forever."
Me: "You don't want to grow up and get older?"
Ry: "No, I just want to be me like this."
Okay, so if I don't want him to grow up and he doesn't want to grow up, who do we need to talk to make that happen??

(October 6, 2010)
Rylan came into our room just after 5 this morning. He always goes to Kev's side of the bed (lucky me!).
Ry: "Mom, where's daddy?"
Me: "He's in the bathroom."
Ry: (whispering) "Daddy!" after no response "Mom he's not in there"
Okay, maybe that was just funny at 5am! But I really did almost laugh out loud after he whispered and expected an answer.

(October 12, 2010)
We were looking at a picture of Rylan when he was first born, still in the NICU hooked up to tubes.
Ry: "Is that Asher?"
Me: "No, that's you when you were still in the hospital."
Ry: "What are those wires?"
Me: "The doctors had you hooked up to machines to help you breath. When you were born you needed some extra help breathing because you couldn't do it on your own."
Ry: "Oh. Well I just didn't know it wasn't a good idea to NOT breath."
And boy am I glad he decided it WAS a good idea to breath :)

(October 15, 2010)
Sometimes Ry can be the slowest human being around. We were out shopping and I was trying to get the boys in the car. Rylan always has to get in Asher's side so I have to wait for him to get in before I can get Asher in his seat. Rylan will take one step in the car, turn around and want to have a full conversation before taking even one more step. So I was getting after him trying to get him in the car. I asked him several times to buckle in his seat belt and he mockingly replied:
"Mom will you just stop saying 'Buckle, Buckle, Buckle'"--like he was really mocking me! Ugh, I can only imagine what a teenager is like!

(October 20, 2010)
Ry: "I just want three things for Christmas--a garbage truck, a road roller, and a shovel."
Me: "I thought you wanted a scooter?"
Ry: "Oh yeah, 4 things"
Me: "What about that guitar you wanted?"
Ry: "Oh yeah, 5 things"
Then I realized I better stop reminding him of things he wants!

(October 23, 2010)
While looking at pictures from our vacation last summer, we came across the pictures of the Kirtland Temple.
Ry: "Is that a temple?"
Me: "Yes, that's the temple that was built in Kirtland and we got to go see the inside."
Ry: "Was I there?"
Me: "Yep, we were all there as a family."
Ry: "So did we get married?"
Hee Hee :) I sure hope he always remember that the temple is the place to get married!

(October 29, 2010)
Last week I had made a list of a few things we needed to clean up around the house. I gave Rylan his list and told him we were going to set a timer and if we had all our chores done before the timer went off then we could bake some cookies. On my own list was to put away Asher's clothes in his room. Asher was napping while we were cleaning so I decided to put that off until after nap time. So today, out of the blue, Rylan said,
"Remember when we were cleaning and you didn't put Asher's clothes away but you still ate a cookie? That was being disobedient."
These kiddos sure keep their eyes on us! And can you tell we talk a lot about obedience in our house!!

(October 29, 2010)
Ry saw a picture of Frankenstein in the window of Toys R Us...
"Look, there's Franken Einstein"
I'm still laughing about this :)

Apple Pizza!

Monday night dinners have been very low key for us over the past several months. Kevin plays soccer on Monday night and doesn't usually get home until after 9:00 so I don't really feel the need to make a 'real' dinner.
Tonight we had english muffin pizzas and Rylan was my little helper. On his own pizza he spread the pizza sauce, topped it with pepperoni and cheese and then said he also wanted apples. "I'll slice up some apples for us to eat along with our pizza" I said. I thought I'd get the pizzas cookin' in the oven and then slice up the apples but Ry was quick to stop me. "NO! I want apples on my pizza." Not wanting to discourage his creativity I let him have a go at it and this is what he created:

Look at that piece of art! And he liked it!

Then he asked for some more apple slices and a spoonful of pizza sauce. Okay...

August Smarts

(August 1, 2010)
We got a quote from Rylan's primary teacher (thanks Whitney!!) of something he said during a class discussion on 'obedience'.
"My mom says to obey and my dad says to obey but my baby brother just throws things at me. His name is Asher. And when I obey, I get to play dad's iPod."

(August 1, 2010)
We were getting in the car and Ry asked "Can I sit here (in Asher's seat) because I love you?"

(August 9, 2010)
Rylan is always telling me "I don't like Asher because he throws things at me." Well today I caught him singing a song that went a little like this:
"I love Asher, deedeetz (a made up word). I love Asher, deedetz. Everybody now. I love Asher, deedeetz". I was one happy momma :)

(August 19, 2010)
We have some friends in the ward, the Jensens. Mindy is in my book group, one of their three sons, Cody, is Rylan's age (they were in our little neighborhood preschool together and they are in primary together), and Russ is a firefighter. For one preschool we went to Russ' fire station and the kids seriously loved it. Anyways, they have a firefighter symbol on their license plate and today we saw their car and Rylan pointed at it and said "That means his dad is a fire hydrant"! Ha ha ha! I'm still laughing about it!!

(August 21, 2010)
While driving by a yard sale Ry said "Look mom, they are having their own farmers market at their house". Cute :)

Rylan has been very lovey lately. He's always saying things like "I'll come with you mom 'cause I love you." Or just out of the blue he'll come up to me and say "I just love you." It's oh so sweet! Then there are times when I'm trying to get him in bed and he'll say "I want to sleep in your bed mom because I love you" or "I want you to stay here with me so I can be with you 'cause I love you" and it's still very sweet but it makes it harder for me to talk to him sternly to keep him in his own bed!

He's in Preschool

Rylan started preschool last Friday. On Thursday Kevin came home and worked from home while Asher took a nap and Rylan and I attended a parent/child class at Rylan's new preschool. There were only a couple times Rylan wanted me to be right next to him but for the most part he did really well. So I have high hopes for this kid :) On Friday I had to wake him up at 8:30 to get ready for school. He quickly ate some pancakes while Kevin dressed him and then we were off. I took him into his classroom to make sure he was okay. When I said goodbye he just smiled and waved. I left and broke into tears...why? Because my little boy is growing up? Because he was okay with me leaving him for several hours? Because that night I was going to be away from him and Asher? I cried the whole 3 minutes home and pulled myself together before walking in the door :)

When I went to pick up Ry he showed me the papers he worked on in school and then didn't have much else to say about it. Kevin asked him how school was and Rylan said he didn't want to talk about it right now. This boy never has been one to open up to us and tell us all about something. I fear for the teenage years! I know he had fun though because he was excited to go back again today! Today when I picked him up the first thing his teacher said was "He talked today!" Funny! Actually, I was a bit surprised that it only took him a few days. She said most the kids in there know each other so it's a pretty friendly, talkative atmosphere which I'm sure helped. Of the 12 students there are 3 boys and 9 girls--quite the opposite of Ry's primary class! His teacher also said he did a very good job writing his name today.

Yesterday...

"Mom, will you keep my bed like this so when I wake up during the night I can sleep there? And mom, if you put it away, I'll just have to make it again in the morning."

And sure enough, he has recreated his bed today and he's been asking me all day if I'm tired because he has the perfect place for me to go to sleep. He certainly fits in it better than I do! And see that blue laundry basket? He put that on the side for Asher to sleep in. What a nice brother! (although I'm certain Asher wouldn't be happy having to sleep, or even play, in a laundry basket :)

We went to the aquarium with Tami and kids and Kacy and kids. So fun! It was shark week so there were extra activities for the kids. One activity was a scavenger hunt to learn more about sharks. If they filled out the paper correctly they got a prize which was a little plastic jelly fish. Since I filled out Rylan's paper I told him he could get the prize if he wrote his name. This was seriously the first time I'd seen him write his name legibly. Good job Ry!

Rylan Smarts of July

(July 1, 2010)
With sword in hand Ry came up to me and said in urgency "Mom I hear someone at the door. I think it's a bad guy. Let's go get him."
He handed me some random toy to fight the bad guy with, we ran downstairs, opened up the door and started fighting the bad guys. When I thought we got them all he said "Wait, there's more. It's a Lamanite"! More fighting ensued and we were victorious!

(July 5, 2010)
After not getting something he wanted...
Ry: "Dad, you're wicked"
Me: "Where did you learn about being wicked?"
Ry: "From the Lamanites"

He's got the Lamanites on his brain!

(July 8, 2010)
Again, after not getting his way...
Ry: "Mom you need to go to prison"
I didn't even ask where he learned that one because I knew his answer would be "from the scriptures"!

(July 16, 2010)
As soon as he woke up this morning Ry asked me if I wanted to play trains with him. I had a ton of stuff I needed to get done so I told him I'd play with him later that day. He asked repeatedly if I could play and I kept telling him he had to wait. Finally after I had Abbi and Asher down for a nap I asked him if he still wanted to play trains. He ran over to me and excitedly asked if I really was ready to play. Then he said "I've been thinking about you all day!" I was so glad I made that time for him. Love my boy!

(July 17, 2010)
Rylan loves to check the clock to see what time it is.
Ry: "What does 1,2 make?"
Me: "You know that one. What do you think?"
Ry: "I don't think. Just tell me."

Little Kickers

Rylan started his very first soccer class! Kevin took Ry on Tuesday and came home a bit frustrated. The class is one hour and about halfway through Rylan declared himself all done and just sat around for the remaining time. Truthfully this surprised neither of us but we're always hopeful of finding something that really interests Ry.

On Thursday, Kevin had a soccer game of his own so I took Rylan to class with Asher in tow. Asher was more into it than Rylan! I kept Asher on the sidelines dribbling his own soccer ball up and down the field while I cheered Rylan on. After a drill they started their game and Rylan did great for most of it! He mainly ran around in the huddled group around the ball not really watching where he was going so I'd have to point out to him when the ball was close so he could kick it. When he actually did kick the ball his face would light up and he'd look up at me with a big smile. I think with time he really will enjoy playing soccer! And hopefully over the next couple of weeks we'll have some action shots rather than a picture of him hanging out with a cone :)

Soccer!

These days Kevin plays soccer 4 times each week. You'd think we'd get to see some of his action but it's only on Saturdays that he plays down here in Spanish Fork. He plays on a team with some guys from the neighborhood. I don't think they've won a single game which is hard on Kevin so I have to keep reminding him it's just for fun!

The boys and I were able to go to his game today and it was fun! Keeping my eyes on two little boys makes it a bit harder to watch the game...unless they are playing with daddy's phone!

Rylan really wanted to play with Kev's iPod but all we had was his phone and that kept him entertained for a bit. Then he wanted to listen to the cheesy ring tones on my phone--and Asher started dancing!

Can't wait for the next game!!

It started pouring like crazy tonight and the boys weren't satisfied just watching the rain from the window. They were ready to PLAY! It was freezing cold and neither of them have shoes, but don't judge me...judge Kevin :) He let them run out there for a few minutes and they both just loved it. Neither one wanted to come in and they both fought it. But in they came and to the bath they went to get warmed up for bed time.

Sweet Chocolate Faces

Who can resist cake with chocolate frosting? Not my boys! Who can resist kissing those two cute chocolate faces? Not me! Who can resist following a piece of cake with a cheese stick? Not Rylan! I just love Sunday nights :)

Let's go to the dentist!

Rylan visited the dentist for the first time today! I've been prepping him for awhile because he is not fond of even getting his teeth brushed. All this week we've been practicing opening our mouths wide and counting our teeth. He'd count mine and I'd count his.
Because of a long night and a little cold coming on, he hasn't been in the most chipper of moods today so I was a little worried. Before we even got to the dentist I was bribing him with a trip to the dollar store.

A little bit of play time before seeing the dentist.

He refused to lay back in the chair while the hygentist looked at his teeth. She was really good with him and just let him call the shots. When she tried to clean his teeth he was shaking his head saying he didn't want to do it. She said "if you hate it then I'll stop". I got him to sit on my lap so he would lay back and right after the hygentist started with the 'tickle brush' Rylan said "I hate it"! So she stopped, Rylan started gagging, and that was the end of that.
The dentist came in and Rylan showed him how big he can open his mouth. After several gags on the little mirror Rylan did great! He laid back in the chair and got to watch Arthur. Ry has this one spot on a tooth that I was afraid was a huge cavity. Luckily the dentist said it was not soft like a cavity, but hard so most likely some sort of deformity. Well, I don't think that's what he called it. But he said that sometimes due to a fever or medication, the little teeth can have these deformities on them. (I wish I could think of the word he used!) I, of course, was glad it wasn't a cavity.
The hygenist finished things off by painting some watermelon flouride on Rylan's teeth. Again he gagged several times and when she was done he voiced his dislike of the taste. No surprise since we have yet to find a toothpaste that Rylan is happy with the taste!
Overall he did great! He chose a yellow car from the dollar store and when I asked him if he wanted to go back to the dentist he said yes!

Rylan

Ry is so influenced by the things Kevin says and it cracks me up. Kevin said to Rylan "Can I get a 'what-what'?" to which Rylan replied "no. Can I get a witness?"!! I mean seriously? Then Rylan was asking Kevin to chase him around the house, or maybe play hide-n-seek, and Kevin was wanting to do something else. Rylan said "I'll give you five dollars"!! How can you say no to that? (well, coming from Rylan it's hilarious, coming from Kevin it's, well, not as hilarious but still sometimes funny!)
Rylan is also funny in the fact that some days he'd rather throw a fit for 15 mintues, screaming and crying and kicking the couch, than simply say 'please'. That happened this morning. I was upstairs, he was downstairs and I heard him yell 'Mom, I said I want more'...he yelled it. Not just to be heard since we were not in the same room, but more like he was demanding me to serve him immediately. Ugh! So I came downstairs and had a little talk about how we need to use a nice voice and nice words. He refused. I told him he could have more cereal if he would ask nicely. Nope. Instead he started crying and kicking and yelling "I want more". Times like this I have to just tell him when he calms down and decides to talk nicely to mommy I'll help him out. And then I have to leave the room. It's the only way to keep myself calm. He's pretty good and coming to me later and saying "I'm all done. Can I have some more cereal please?". I guess he just needs to freak out every once in awhile...

Preschool is so Cool!

Rylan has done some really cool things in 'preschool' this year. It's once a week for an hour and a half. The moms all stay with the boys (there's 5 of 'em) and the little siblings come along for the ride (there's 5 of them, too!). The mom's host and we just switch each week, choosing our own topics. Some weeks the boys are great and attentive, other weeks they are wild and energetic--typical of three year olds I presume! We've had lessons on the 5 senses, the primary colors, fish, Thanksgiving, winter time, fall and leaves,...the list goes on and it's always so creative and FUN!

Just before Thanksgiving Mindy hosted and the boys had pilgrim hats to wear while they pretended to sail across the ocean in a big box.

Then they decorated Indian attire to wear while they ate a snack from a cornicopia (waffle cone...so cute!). I'm not politically correct I guess, but saying "The pilgrims and Native Americans" just doesn't feel right. Maybe I should practice that.


Just before the New Year they learned about, well, the New Year! Calendars and days of the week were reviewed and an early New Year's Eve party was thrown. They made their own confetti and 2010 glasses. HA! I love it!
Can't wait to see what next year brings for preschool!

What do you see? and a Christmas Tradition

Rylan would be great to lay down in the grass with, watching the clouds go by. Too bad there's snow on the ground and a blanket of clouds overhead. But come spring you better believe we'll be watching the clouds pointing out the shapes we see. Well, that's if I could get him to lay down long enough to find a cool shape. Anyways, at preschool the other day the kids were playing with play dough and Christmas cookie cutters. Rylan grabbed a little baby angel and cut out what he affectionately called "baby Jesus". The rest of the shapes were squished up and made into something else, but his baby Jesus laid there peacefully.
Then, Ry and I were making sugar cookie dough for our annual "let's make sugar cookies for the neighbors and then eat them all before we take them to anyone else" night. He dumped the sugar into the egg/butter mixture and exclaimed 'look mom, it's a mitten!'. Luckily I had my camera handy for proof of my son's creative eye. (As a side note, somewhere along the way Rylan started calling them 'hand mittens' which is just cute!!)
Two years in a row now we've made and decorated sugar cookies to take to neighbors. Two years in a row now we've eaten said sugar cookies before any neighbors even had any clue we were thinking about them during the Christmas season. Maybe next year we'll stick with our "let's make sugar cookies for the neighbors and then eat them all before we take them to anyone else" night (because really, it's kinda funny) and then when kids are sleeping and husbands are relaxing in front of the tv, I'll make some extra goodies to really to take the neighbors. We always get such yummy, fun, gifts and I'm determined to give away something myself next year. I really did have good intentions this year, it just didn't happen. But I do love my neighbors!!

Okay, so maybe after seeing this picture, our neighbors are grateful we ate all their cookies!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Ry has never been one to be excited about seeing Santa Claus. This year at our ward party, he couldn't wait! For months he'd been asking for a car transporter and we repeatedly told him he would have to wait for Christmas and see if he got one then. I still don't know if he gets the whole Santa thing, but after literally jumping onto Santa's lap he didn't hesitate in asking Santa for a car transporter. Santa looked up at me and said "Let's hope mom knows what he's asking for". Yep, I know just what he was asking for!!
Asher screamed immediately but Santa is used to that, right? Of course we made Asher sit there until we took a picture.