Two For One

Okay, this is a quick blog. I have a ton of work and this is my way of procrastinating. I took pictures of Grant's brilliance. His preschool teacher said he talks a lot...surprise, but it looks like he is good at art...or gluing macaroni. Oh, and he followed the highlighting of his name...I was impressed (but I might be a littel biased).

The other pictures are of my two other boys...Willie and Waylon. I haven't posted any pictures of the kitties lately. They are such lovers. However, at five in the morning they are "crouching kitties, hidden leapers." It is insane. They literally do kamakaze jumps across the room. It is funny until they land on you or YOUR HEAD. Grant always wants to "go home and feed the kitties." The sad part is they are always at the door waiting to be fed. I swear they have a tapeworm. :)

Baby Emily Ryan Has Arrived!!

Baby Emily has arrived. We received a phone call on Thursday night that Tracy was going to the hospital and they would be inducing the next day if nothing had happened. Well, Emily Ryan was born on Friday, September 14th at 9:33 pm. She weighs 7 lbs. 3 oz. and is 19.5" long. She has a head full of hair and is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! If you don't believe me, check out the pictures yourself...

Spaghetti, Anyone?

We went to dinner the other night with the family. Grant loves spaghetti or as he calls it "sketti." We had fun and were so glad Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Diney, Aunt Kris, Lisa and Natalie made it out! We use to do this several years ago and we have tried to start it up again. We hope that it does!

Thank You, Judee!

I have a friend, Judee, whom I worked with until she retired a few years ago. She is such a sweet and caring person. She is really interested in Grant and is always giving him toys, clothes, etc. She called me up a couple of weeks ago and gave Grant some of her son's clothes that she had found while cleaning out her house. Well, her son is in his early 20's...enjoy the picture and tell me that you are not reminiscing!!! Enjoy and thank you so much Judee. Grant loves the Bear game, too!

We All Need A Little Dirty, Right?

Okay, just a survey of my friends and family...do we all need just a little dirty? I think so and here is why. I have cleaned every dish and every piece of dirty clothes today (while working on my APU work and planning for weeks ahead of me in my classes at work). Okay, now with this in mind, I have a bit of a problem. There is not one single hanger left, no space in any drawer and well, I don't want to go into the overcrowding in the kitchen cabinets. Anyone else experience this? Well, that leads me to believe we are not supposed to be that good of cleaners, right? We all need a little dirty! Just a thought and I know you may think it has nothing to do with Grant, well...his drawers are stuffed, too!

Happy Grandparents Day!!

On Thursday, Grant brought home a really cool handprint with a message that read, "Happy Grandparents Day!" Hmmm, better check my calendar. Okay, all you new parents, there is a day that we celebrate our parents who are now our child's GRANDPARENTS!! Yeah!! They definitely deserve the recognition, plus why not make up another reason to hang out with the Grandparents. I mean if you ask Grant he would tell us to have Grandparents day everyday. Grant loves both of his Grandpas (Gary and Bill), but he LOVES Grandma. So, he was excited to give her what he made. So, we asked them to breakfast. We had a wonderful breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa.

Then, Grant wanted to call Grandpa Bill and tell him. So, we called Grandpa Bill and told him Happy Grandparents Day. When he was on the phone with my dad (who lives in Arkansas), he told him about the alarm clock that he had bought him (and even "acted out" the alarm sound), preschool, and called the hogs!!! My dad was tickled. Dad tried to ask Grant, "How did you like preschool? Did you make some friends? Are you getting up early?" Grant responded with, "Hmmmm, hmmm, ummm." We decided that asking a three-year old three questions in a row...not so good. Love to all the Grandparents and thanks for the love and care you give the little Gman!

Arboretum, Peacocks and CalPhil Symphony

Grant and dad at the table
Grant and dad in front of CalPhil Symphony orchestra
Grant playing his instruments

Grant making the drum
making his banjo
dad singing to Grant while they play their instruments
Look, Mom there's a peacock behind me!
mom and Grant

Peacock with a death-wish...chasing cars
Scott and Grant
Fantasy Island house
coloring
More peacock!

Grandma told us about a free family night at the Arboretum with the CalPhil symphony. It was great! Since it was postponed from last week, they did not have the usual turnout (which was great for us because who wants to wait in line?).

When we first arrived we watched the peacocks chasing cars. We later found out that they do that because they are chasing their reflection from the car. That makes sense. Okay, then we were inside and went on a tram ride that toured the arboretum (well, not all of it but we got a basic idea of the different areas and the Fantasy Island house).

We went to put our stuff down at a front row table and then headed for the musical booths. Grant colored a picture and was supposed to give it to the lady to enter a contest, but well he couldn't part with his masterpiece. Then, we went to make some instruments (a drum and a banjo). He colored some pictures. We offered him a chance at playing all kinds of instruments that they had, but the peacocks in the field caught his eye...and well, off he went chasing the peacocks. He had a great time doing this and rolling down a grassy hill.

The music was 45 minutes long (which was the perfect amount of time, if you know what I mean). The orchestra was rehearsing their season finale and that really cool, plus they geared all the tunes for little kids. They played an excerpt from Star Wars, Sinbad, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. They did a fabulous job and Victor Venor was there as the director (he is the director of the CalPhil and super funny). We had a great time.

Our little one was worn out by the end of the night, but the thing that cracked him up most was when we got home. He put his banjo on the coffee table in the living room and Willie started plucking at the rubberbands. Grant was laughing and yelling, "Wheewie make the muzik." We took a quick shower and off to bed...not a word from him.

Preschool Started Today....hold your tears

Hi everyone, our little guy went to preschool today...his first day in preschool. He is officially a "big boy." He has been telling all of us that he wasn't a big boy, "no, I not big boy until Wednesday." Okay, I am sorry but that has been cracking me up.

Scott took pictures and dropped him off today. He said he got a little choked up seeing him off. I got choked up with him describing that. I just really cannot believe it. His teacher sent home a note that read, "Grant had a wonderful 1st day!" She told Scott the next day that he was so funny. She has been in child development for over 20 years and Grant was the funniest kid. Hmmm, I wonder where he gets that. He did well with his lunch and helped up fix it the night before. I asked him about naptime and he said he took a nap!

Go Angels...

Go Angels!!!! And Go Razorbacks!!! Well, we are in Angels land, so Scott took Grant to his first professional baseball game ever on Saturday, September 1st!! Now, I want you to also know that they stayed the entire game in over 100 degree temperature!!! They are true Angels fans! I think you can tell by the pictures, they had a great time. Not surprisingly, Grant slept on the way home and a little longer, but woke up in time to go to a double-feature at the drive-in (although he only stayed up for one). We had a great family Saturday!

A Very Busy Saturday...Are We Popular or What?

Jennifer, Grant and Grandma
Jessica & Grant
Melissa, Yvonne & Jennifer
Me, Melissa, Yvonne, & Jenn

Grant & new friend
Grandpa, Grant & Dad
Chris & Grandma
Sisters
Eddie and family

Isabel & Ariel

Isabel & Grant
Eliza & Ariel

Alex
Fun pinata
Happy Bday, Natalie!
Scott & his childhood friends with their sons

Natalie & Grant
Matthew & Grant
Cake by Ryan
Grant and I making his treasure chest
finished product

One of the greatest things to do on a Saturday (for us) is go to birthday parties. Well, a couple of weeks ago, we were privileged with two!!! And a family recipe party later that night!!! Three parties in one day.

Well, we started out with our friend Natalie's birthday who turned 4 years old. Her theme was Ariel and she was definitely a princess. We had loads of fun. Her mom knows how to put together a party. We started by heading straight to the train room...oh, Grant does love their train table with the whole set up. He likes their playroom and mostly stays in there. I was proud of him too for eating a whole piece of pizza. He really liked it!! Natalie's mom planned a craft where every kid made their own treasure chest! I had someone take a picture of Grant and I working on it together. I think he did a great job. Also, the kids had a cool pinata where you pull strings instead of hitting it. That is really cool for three and four-year olds (and some younger). Then onto the cake that was created by Natalie's dad...good job, Dad. Okay, after the cake...we were off to the next Ariel party.

Our next party was for our friend Isabel who turned three. Ariel showed up at her party at the same time as us. In fact, we were a little lost and then we saw Ariel walking down the street and turned the car toward her. It was kindof funny at the time (we were laughing hysterically about it). We went into this party and enjoyed some home cooked pazole and carna asada. Grant wasn't into Ariel or the food (well, he was definitely into the guacamole), but he was REALLY into their playset!!! We could not get him to come down. He met some other boys his age and they were playing "monkey" (whatever that means). So, he had a blast playing with the other kids on their playset or jungle gym or whatever people are calling these days.

Next, we were off to the next party. The last party was at Scott's cousins house, Chris and Jennifer. They had a great idea of getting the family together to share family recipes. You brought the item that you cooked. Since we were late to this one, we didn't get many to try our food item (which was taco soup...thanks to Stacey). Anyway, that was a great time because as soon as we got there, a little boy that was one year older than Grant came up and they were running the whole time. We ate and talked to everyone. We really liked the idea because a lot of times we only see certain parts of the family at Christmas only. They had a great turn out and I believe we are having another at Halloween!!

When we left...Grant went to sleep almost immediately in the car. Thankfully, we were only ten minutes away from our house! Thanks for all the fun, friends and family! I start back at grad school tomorrow, so the updates might be spread out. I hope to keep up the blog, but if not...keep checking back.