Ryan's First Extracurricular Activity!

What a fun day it was for Ryan and I while Justin and Katelynn were both in school!  We attended our first Mommy & Me Gym Class!

I kind of stumbled upon this kid's activity center while getting my oil changed last week.  Katelynn actually took classes there at a young age, but I had since forgotten about it over the years, and it was nice to get the reminder.  Ryan has just hit that age that I had both the other two in extracurricular activities so it was the perfect time to start.  I don't feel like he gets as much interaction with kids his age as my other two had at this age so I was psyched to start our first class.  We talked another mom from Justin's preschool and her 2-year old into joining us too, and we're going to make it a weekly thing!  So much nicer than spending our mornings running errands or home by ourselves!!

Ryan was not really shy at all.  He ran around and interacted and played pretty well.  He wasn't sure what to think about the hands-on songs, but I am sure in a few weeks he will get the hang of it.  Can anyone guess his favorite activity??

Yep, freetime with the BALLS of course!

Superheroes Want the Spotlight too!

All that picture-taking tonight for our princess going to the first ball left our two superhero boys feeling a little left out.  When I finished snapping pictures of Katelynn, they jumped up and starting yelling "Cheese!" as they struck their superhero poses!

Full Disclosure:  Yes, I do realize Ryan is in only a diaper.  It's a new thing with him to remove ALL his clothes, including his diaper 572 times a day.  It's a pretty exhausting cycle of dressing and undressing him all day.  It was almost bedtime so I gave up on the re-dressing him part.  I just have to keep putting back on his diaper (which is why it looks so saggy and off.. he keeps pulling it off. )  He hasn't mastered taking off the flaps so he just yanks on it and pulls it off like a pair of pants over and over again!

First Date to the Dance

Tonight I sent Katelynn off to her very first school dance.  I think it's safe to say that her date this year is probably the only date I will ever not worry about her being with the entire time she is gone!

She was so excited about attending the Me & My Guy Dance at school tonight.  We went out shopping for her dress this week (which we ended up finding at a consignment sale), and she requested that her hair be curled.  It took a few tries to get her hair curled since it's a bit short, but we were finally successful with my hot rollers.

And I think curling her hair is becoming a new hit.. she is already requesting we do it for school Monday!

I probably went a little overkill on the pictures, but this is my baby girl's first dance!  I would have liked more pictures of her and Jonathan, but I didn't get any more.  :(

 

They had a great time.  This was possibly even Jonathan's very first school dance!  Ha,ha.  He never attended any high school dances, and his great memory is failing him on if he actually attended any at all.  I really, really wish I could have been a fly on the wall to watch them at the dance.  Jonathan says they danced together for about 10 minutes before Katelynn found some friends and spent the rest of the evening "ditching" him as he says and dancing and running around with her friends.  Already at age 6!!  They said that Jonathan even did the cupid slide though so I really, really wish I could have been there for that!  I haven't even ever witnessed that in the 12 years we have been together!

American Girl or Ryan's?

Everything that Katelynn owns for her American Girl dolls somehow becomes something that Ryan thinks is for him.  It started at Christmas.  He has riden her American Girl scooter, crawled into her American Girl doll tent, and now the latest... he is cruising in the American Girl doll's jeep!

We found this jeep at a consignment sale this week.  I made sure to get the boys each a toy as well, but I almost wish I would have just made this a toy for all three of them to share- the boys are enjoying it almost more than Katelynn! 

Snow! It is finally snowing!!

The long awaited wish for snow has finally been granted in Charlotte!  We have had so many forecasts for possible snow this year, and they have never come true.  My poor kids have been begging for a day of snow, and I was so excited for them that it finally happened!

Katelynn and Justin had both seen snowfall at least once a year ever since they were born, but then last year (2012), it never snowed.  So, this was Ryan's very first experience with snow!

It happened so suddenly and fast.  It had been "snowing" on and off all day, but nothing was sticking to the ground.  When we got home, it had just started again and Katelynn was standing there trying to tell that it was even snow when all of a sudden it started falling heavy and thick!  It was covering the ground within minutes!

We had to head inside to load up on snow wear so we could get back outside to play.  In NC, you can't waste anytime because the snow could be gone in a flash!  Luckily, we still had three pair of snowpants that fit the kids good enough to make it work.. and we always just load up on socks and wear rainboots because snowboots in NC don't exist (and we don't really need them either)!

 Snowball FIGHT!  (And I love that she knows to go hit her daddy and leave her mommy warm and dry!)

 Of course the toys had to come out in the snow for Justin to make sure he had a super awesome time.  He caked those tires in snow so much that he got stuck and our neighbor pulled him out with his lawnmower!  Haha.

 When it snows, it automatically becomes a huge cul de sac party with all the neighbors.. big and small outside to play!

 Snow Angels!

 It isn't always good snow for making a snowman, but this time it was!  Granted, it took most of the snow we had in our front yard but we were successful!

 Okay, mean mommy, but this might be my favorite snow picture.  Ryan fell face first in the snow and it was COLD!  He was so mad for all of three minutes and then he was right back at it!

 

What a great evening of playing in the snow!  Now, we are ready for our warm weather to return since we have had our snow fix for the year!

Mud Puddles and Boys!

It didn't rain today... but the boys still managed to find some mud to play in!  At first I tried keeping them away, but then I gave in and just loaded them in their rain boots and let them go to town!
(Our neighbor was cleaning his four wheelers off from riding so that is how the mud appeared.. from power-washing the mud off them.)

And just for the record:  Katelynn was home and playing outside too but my girl had ZERO interest in participating in the mud party.  She did get a little wet from the overspray of the powerwasher, but she was much more content playing and riding her bike away from the mud!

Busy Day of Hearts, Candy, and the Color Red

Happy Valentine's Day from the Miller Family!!

I love small holidays like this one.. okay, so I guess I really love all holidays, but it's fun to be able to have extra fun and be extra crafty on days like Valentine's Day!  I love homemade valentine's and we kept with tradition and made all ours again this year.  The hardest part of all of this for me is to let my kids do their own thing with them and try not to interfere much.  I was very proud of both of them though- they spent a lot of hours handwriting and making all their own cards for each of their friends.  Katelynn made 17 and Justin made 11!

This year was Justin's first year of participating in Valentine's cards since it is his first year of preschool.  We skipped joining the crowd of handing out candy and went for a toy instead.  I, of course, stole the idea from pinterest.  Justin is working really hard on trying to write all the letters of the alphabet, and I was so proud of him for writing all 11 classmates names and then signing his own on each card.  He did a great job!

 His cards read, "Hope you have a WHEELIE fun Valentine's Day!"

 

Katelynn and Justin both gave each of their teachers a tulip plant with a little pencil holder heart-shaped note that read, "Thanks for helping me grow!"

 

Here is Justin after his Valentine's party.. full of sugar and excited about all his cards and treats!

Katelynn's class all made their own Valentine's boxes prior to Valentine's Day.  I went into the classroom that morning and helped the kids all pass out their cards in the boxes and work with them.  They were all so exctied about getting to look at all their treats and cards!  They had a salty snack, cupcakes, and read their cards but they had to wait until the end of the school day to do it!  

I had a folder of all sorts of crafty Valentine's and Katelynn went through them and picked out her own that she wanted to make.  She did the cards all by herself, including cutting out 34 hearts out of paper.  The only thing I did was help her glue the hearts together and glue on the google eyes on her suckers.  She made her own choice about what to write and color in each card and how she wanted to decorate them. 

Katelynn's box of treats was VERY full of candy when she got home.  It's almost like Halloween.  We have to keep it up high and eat them on occassion.  I can't believe the amount of sugar that comes home on this holiday these days.  Many parents made a "treat" bag full of candy instead of a card! 

Here's our third Valentine.  He may not have had a school celebration to participate in, but his brother and sister made sure to share some of their suckers with him so he didn't miss out on the sugar high today.... in fact, he got plenty of sugar.. enough that he wouldn't sit still and smile for a picture (not that he really ever sits still at his age sugar or not..)

And just for fun... look at how much my valentines have grown...

(V Day 2012)

(V Day 2013)