Peeping Tom Cat

Rylee wanted nothing more than a kitten for her birthday. We decided it wasnt the best time to get a pet, trying to sell a house and all but we promised her that when we moved into our new house we would reconsider. Well she talked about it nonstop, begged, pleaded, and PRAYED. This week....a cat has shown up at our house every day.
Every. Day!

It is a calico cat. No collar or anything. Very pretty looking golden orange, black and white. It is very skiddish around humans though so only comes around when we are inside the house. If we move to fast or are too loud, it takes off again. We have been leaving it milk and leftovers and Rylee named it 'Dewey' after a cat in a book we read together once.

I call him "Peeping Tomcat" because he just sits on the steps at our sliding glass door and watches us from outside :) But, if I get up too suddenly he takes off like he's scared to death. I dont know why or how this cat showed up...maybe it was her prayers being answered. I dont know how long Dewey will be here or if we will ever get within 5 feet of him but the kids are so happy that he is here. Rylee wants to and a I quote " catch that cat and put a leash on him so he will never run away"

....Elmira from Looney Toons always comes to mind when dealing with Rylee and pets...she wants to hold them and love them and squeeze them...

for now we are enjoying our daily/nightly visits from Dewey and we hope he follows us when we move!

Pumpkin Farm Fun

Last weekend Josh took a break from harvest and took us on a family date to Rader Farms! We had such a great afternoon there and we already decided we would go back next month. The farm has a lot of things for families to do together. They loved getting pulled behind a tractor on the caterpillar ride and the little kids town they had set up was so cute! The kids played in the little grocery store and post office for a long time while Josh and I just sat and relaxed and watched them play. They enjoyed the petting zoo and seeing Murphy, the old donkey. They also got to play on a "pillow jump" which is like a bounce house but flatter. Josh helped them climb up the strawstacks and I took a quick pic before B looked down and got freaked out about how high up he was :) We ended the day by picking out our pumpkins!

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Superhero Birthday Party....fit for a Princess

Rylee had an awesome 5th birthday party! Thank you to all the friends and family that made it out to help her celebrate. Rylee loves you all so much. The Princess Theatre did an awesome job setting everything up. They even let us take home the slideshow they made of pictures from Rylee with her favorite songs playing in the background. The Pow! Zap! Bif! cupcakes were a hit and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Pawpaw Tractor even wore a Captain America T-shirt and Ya Ya wore a Wonder Woman necklace. The kids looked so cute in their capes and masks. This was such a fun party to plan!
And MOST IMPORTANTLY Rylee had a SUPER great time at her Superhero party! On her actual birthday she got so many calls and visits and mail that I called my mom and said "our daughter is just so loved. it's just awesome!" Rylee's Sunday School teacher ( who also is one of our friends and Josh's cousin) put "Jesus Loves You Happy 5th Birthday Rylee!" on the sign at our church. Rylee was so excited.

Birthday Girl

I cannot believe it but our little girl is 5! This birthday has been creeping up on me for months now. I have cried more tears over her turning 5 than I care to talk about. It fills me with joy that she is happy and healthy and so bright and wonderful. I thank God for blessing me with someone who is so much like me and so much like Josh all in one. She has the best of both of us; from my dramatics and love of reading, writing and learning to Josh's fearlessness and love of art and puzzles and figuring things out for herself. She is the best little girl and God hand picked and hand made the perfect daughter for us.
She makes me laugh every day and she still amazes us with the things that she says and knows. She has such a big heart and cares about all people and animals and bugs :) It has been so fun watching her grow and I look forward to the little lady she will become. I was only 22 when I had her so in a way, I feel like we are growing up together sometimes. It's been a wonderful ride and I know it will continue to be.
I want to always remember how she cannot clearly pronounce the letter R, how she loves all stuffed animals and books. The millions of questions she asks when she has discovered something new. The way she gets up in the morning with her 2 pink blankets and 5 or 6 stuffed animals and dolls and carries them all with her out to the living room where she lays on the couch and snuggles with them until she is fully awake. I want to always remember how she holds those two pink blanky's up to her little nose and buries her face in them when she is tired. I want to always remember the way she spends hours at a time up at the kitchen table drawing and coloring and creating. The way she dances and twirls in her dress up clothes and how much she loves wearing my shoes, purses and sunglasses. I want to always remember the time the two of us share together at bed time every night when we read a chapter out of the library book she chose that week. I will remember always the way she looks at her daddy when he plays the part of the Prince or King. Or, how she looks at me like I can do anything. I love the way she is with her brother and I know their bond will only get deeper. I want to always remember the way her eyes lit up and her mouth dropped when she met all the princesses at Disney World. I will remember always the sounds of her first cry how we looked into eachothers eyes and how we instantly fell in love. The nights I spent in the rocking chair singing and talking her to sleep. I want to always remember how excited she gets over the smallest things. I will always remember the little things even more than the big ones!
I love you Rylee! Happy Birthday my little Ladybug Girl!

she will hate me for this later

One of Rylee's best friends is ...well we will call him "Joe" from pre-school. They met up a lot this summer for picnics, sprinkler fun and playdates at the park. They were both excited when they found out the other one was on their tee ball team! They have a blast together and when she is with him its like she is finally a kid. She doesn't feel like she has to keep all the younger kids in line like she sometimes does. She runs and laughs and plays and smiles and its wonderful! So, when she wanted to start planning her Superhero Birthday party..."Joe" was on the top of her invite list. Now mind you, all her other friends are girls so I tried to tell her as best I could that "Joe" may not want to come to a girly birthday party and that that was okay, she would still have fun! But you know Rylee...she just KNEW "Joe" HAD to be at her party. Well stop the presses because he R.S.V.P'd this afternoon and her little buddy is coming! She is more excited about this than she was meeting Ariel in Disney World and you all know how exciting that was for her!
So...I am writing it here on my blog and I am writing it in her baby book so that one day when she's about 12 I can say "remember that year you turned 5 and you wished so badly that "Joe" would come to your party?" .... she will hate me for this later but she is so psyched now!
I'll keep you updated!

Camping Trip

Over the Labor Day weekend we decided to pack up the camper and head for Moraine View. Rylee still remembers our 1st trip there 2 years ago and asked several times this year to go. I decided to make a lot of the food ahead of time this year so that all we had to worry about was what we wanted to cook over the fire. We got there about 5:30 on Friday night and the kids were off the wall crazy. They were so excited and it took the better part of the evening to get them to calm down long enough to eat. I think the other campers trying to enjoy a quiet relaxing weekend probably wanted to kill us. BUT they had so much fun! We sang campfire songs, went for a nature walk, played card games and UNO MOO (which is the kids new favorite game)and went fishing! The kids liked finding acorns on the ground and popping the tops off of them -- hey, whatever works--! We had such a great time together just the four of us. We laughed a lot and cuddled by the campfire. My favorite moment was of Rylee playing with the worms and actually touching the fish that they caught! She is such a brave little girl! Beckett loved going in the woods to get fire wood with Josh and had the best time just running around outside! We all slept great both nights and it was so nice to just be with each other with no phones or computers or t.v.! By Sunday morning we were ready to be back home but we enjoyed every second of our trip! We hope to do it again next year :)