The joys of having a first grader....

I love, love, love that Ryder is in first grade. I love that he can write and most of all love that he is reading. He sometimes leaves me love letters and he wrote this one at school for Brandon and I:

Translation:
Dear Mom & Dad,
I love you so much. I love you to the moon and back. I love my mom.
Love, Ryder

Brandon felt bad I got more attention in the letter than he did. Oh well.

Then sometimes I get this letters like this to put me in my place:


Translation:
Mom,
I love you so much. But, be a little nice please.
Love, Ryder

Talking smack......

Ryder just recently started talking back to me......WHY?!?!?!?!??!

For example, when he is crying or whining (this kid is SENSITIVE....and I mean SENSITIVE) and I tell him to "stop acting like your two" he will say, in his best whiny voice "stop acting like your MEAN".

Or like yesterday when I said "maybe later today we can get the Easy Bake Oven out and bake some treats" and he said (with attitude) "yeah right. you say that all the time and we've never baked anything." Oh right.

I can't think of anymore right now...but when I do...I'll let you know. (I'm tired, it's early and I didn't sleep worth a crap last night.)

And WHY, WHY I ask does he insist this song goes like this:

Jack & Jane sitting in a tree (however he is always using different names)
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love
Then comes marriage
Then comes baby in a baby carriage

THAT'S NOT ALL, THAT'S NOT ALL, I SEE BABY DRINKING ALCOHOL!!

And where he got the last line to the song, beats the hell out of me....he said that's how they all sing it at school. Hmmmmm............

P.S. Kam also talks a lot of smack. However, she BARELY shuts up long enough to breathe. Therefore, I usually block out most of what she is saying.....

Walking with Dinosaurs

As most of you know, Ryder LOVES dinosaurs and has ever since he was itty bitty. He has never grown out of his love for dinosaurs! I have never met a kid that knows more about dinosaurs. When we were in Disney World, we went to Dino Land and Ryder knew more about dinosaurs than the people that worked there. It was hilarious to watch him outsmart the people that worked there! With that said, I took him to Walking with Dinosaurs tonight. It was a surprise so I didn't tell him until we got there. He was so excited when he found out what we were doing he literally jumped on and almost knocked me over...then he kind of humped my leg like a dog. The show was great and Ry LOVED it. The pictures that I took of the show were really dark and blurry, but I got some of this cute little guy:


Another thing Ry has done since he was little is he squeezes his face when he gets excited. (Doc says nothing is wrong with him....but when he first started doing it, I seriously thought something wasn't right.) However, now he proves to be entertainment to everyone around when he gets excited. My sister wanted to go to Walking with Dinosaurs with us just so she could see Ry "squeeze his face off". And guess what...he did squeeze it. Not as much as I thought he would, but this one is for you Christy:



Meanwhile, daddy took Kam to McDonalds to eat and play. Truth be told, I think the makeup Kam put on herself and Brandon this afternoon was still on when they went to dinner. Kam was complete with eyeliner all over her eyes, eye shadow on her cheeks and lipgloss that pretty much extended from the bottom of her nose to her chin!!! Oh...and daddy got the sparkly
pink lipgloss....and didn't look half bad in it! :)

DELICIOUS!!

So, I had some kalamata olives in my pantry (don't know why I bought them) but I decided that I needed to find a recipe to use them in. Google came up with this little diddy and they were delish....

FETA CHEESE TURKEY BURGERS (4 servings)

• 1 pound ground turkey (I use the 99% lean turkey...the other turkey just isn't as good)
  
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (I bought the basil & tomato feta)
  
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced (These are easy to find...I think I bought these at Macey's)
  
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the grill for medium high heat. (I wasn't going outside in the cold...so I did these on my stove)
2. In a large bowl, combine turkey, feta cheese, olives, oregano, and pepper. Mix together, and form into patties.
3. Lightly oil the grate. Place patties on the grill. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway through.

Recipe says to either put them on a whole wheat bun OR stuff them inside a pita.

I chose the whole wheat bun with a little mayo, torn romaine lettuce, sliced onion & avocados and I was in HEAVEN!!!

SPORTSMAN'S WAREHOUSE

I have a gift certificate to Sportsman's Warehouse for $50...$50.91 to be EXACT. Only problem is...we have had it for a while and haven't used it and probably won't. So, I am wondering if anyone is interested in buying it....let me know if you are! :)

HOW EMBARASSING.....

is it that I JUST took my Christmas down today. I have been so busy I just haven't had the time to do it. Ok...I'm lying. I DID try to take it down right after Christmas and Kambree FREAKED out. She loves the tree and all the decorations, so she talked me out of taking it down. Then today as I was taking it down I asked her if it made her sad and she said:

"No, I'm glad your putting it away!"

She cared 3 weeks ago.

WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS:


is what my 3 year old is capable of doing in LESS than an hour. And guess what? As soon as we pick it up....it looks like THAT in no time at all....AGAIN.

P.S. Zoom in people. You will see:
1) Her train set that you trip over walking into her room.
2) All her drawers open & MOSTLY emptied onto the floor.
3) An empty measuring cup on her nightstand. The contents (peanuts) on the floor next to her nightstand.
4) On her nightstand is also a granola bar box emptied and filled with cheetos, 2 slices of bread (1 of which is the heel) & peanuts. She told us it's her "lunch box" and that she would need it for her bike ride. WHAT BIKE RIDE?!?!?!?!? It's freezing outside....no one is riding their bike!
5) A & D ointment....ALL over her sheets.
6) The mess is spilling out into the hallway. And the closet which you can't see...is even worse.

And, then her little friend came over and let's just say the above picture looks SPOTLESS compared to what it looked like when she left!

Wishing you.....

A vErY mErRy ChRiStMaS!!

2008 was a great year for us and we now welcome 2009! We have been very blessed this year and can't wait for the new year. Some of the highlights of this year:
Brandon and I took a trip to the Bahamas and stayed at the amazing Atlantis Resort.
Our very first trip to Disney World!
Kambree started Preschool!! (Double exclamation points)
Ryder started the first grade!!! (Triple exclamation points)
LOTS of fun camping trips with lots of great people!
Spending time with friends and family.

We hope all of you have a safe and happy Holiday!!

Love,
Brandon, Tiffany, Ryder & Kambree

Hopefully next year Christmas won't sneak up on me too fast and I will send out my Christmas Cards!

R.I.P.

Kam: "Mom, come look at the bed I made for me and my friend kitty."

Mom: "Pretty sweet bed!"

Kam: "Kitty's mom died and is in heaven, but I bought her a new one!"

Mom: "Hmmmmmm........."

And I won't even begin to tell you what she said when I asked why her friend's mom was in heaven.

AND....to make it clear....I'm not sure who kitty is. She may have renamed an existing doll she has or she may have an imaginary friend.

ISABEL SURGERY UPDATE!

You can read it here.

THIS, THAT & THE OTHER

Kam is apparently asking Santa for a hot tub for Christmas. Ryder can't wait for Christmas Break so he can watch cartoons in the morning. Kam humors me in the car when she tells me: "MOM, I see dead people out my window" (cemeteries). I ran my first 5K over the weekend and did suprisingly AWESOME! We had a "Christmas" party at my house this weekend and would prefer to never talk about it again as long as I shall live. I got my toes painted this morning. My niece goes to Primary Children's tomorrow morning for brain surgery (keep your fingers crossed...or PRAY...do whichever floats your boat). I can't wait to play in the snow with the kids after school. I gave B my Christmas list today...(AND it would be greatly appreciated if while you are praying or crossing your fingers for Isabel's surgery to go smoothly...you don't leave out gift #6 on my Christmas list which is OBVIOUSLY an engamgement ring!!!!!)

CHECK IT OUT....

My 6 year old niece got a blog of her very own!! She goes in next week for brain surgery and my sister decided to start a blog so friends and family could see how she was doing. It's been such an emotional journey for my sister (and everyone else) so far...I hope everything goes well!!! You can view her blog here!

I GOT TAGGED...KIND OF!!

This is called husband tag folks...but I guess Bree needed a good laugh so she tagged me!!!!

I've been tagged...
What's your husband's name? Seriously Bree...what is wrong with you? You know this is a sore subject...
How long have you guys been married? We. Are. Not.
How long did you date? It will be 9 years on January 1st. WOW!
How old is he? 28
Who eats more sweets? I do.
Who said "I love you" first? Brandon
Who is taller? B, by exactly 1 foot.
Who is the better singer? I don't know. I honestly don't think I have ever heard Brandon sing.
Who does the laundry? ME
Who pays the bills? B, for sure. I have a really bad memory and forget to pay bills!!!!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me...and it's closer to the door. I guess if someone breaks in, he wants them to get to me first!!
Who mows the lawn? Brandon...but I did mow the lawn for the first time this summer! (And it took me a good couple hours and it was entertaining for the neighbors!)
Who cooks dinner? Me...always. I don't think B knows how to cook.
Who drives? Brandon
Who's the first to admit they are wrong? ME, ME, ME. I think B's greatest fear in life is to admit that he is wrong. He just can't do it.
Who kissed who first? Brandon kissed me!
Who asked out who first? Brandon
Who wears the pants? Hmmm...it's probably about 50/50 around here.

I tag...Christy, Heather, Tricia, Tia and anyone else who wants to do it.

YEAH...WELL GUESS WHAT????

I don't really care that it isn't Christmas yet, or that there is no snow on the ground, or that my Christmas decorations aren't even up yet OR the fact that we haven't even had THANKSGIVING yet...but I'm gonna sport a Christmas background for TWO reasons: 1) I wish it was December and 2) Because I don't like any of the Thanksgiving backgrounds...sorry if I offended any of you Thanksgiving background lovin' people!

ZOO WISHES

We took the kids to the ZOO on Sunday. Perfect Weather. Before we went in Ryder asked for a coin to toss in the waterfall/pond at the front. I gave them each a quarter and told them to make a wish.


Ryder threw in his quarter and said "I wish my mom would let me have a pet rat."

Kambree threw in her quarter and said "I pledge allegiance to my mom."

THE END!