The Other Side To The Stone

Fisher was working sooo hard at playing with Rider (in Power Ranger costumes and all). Then he comes out to me with a nice bright red handprint on his chest. He is crying, saying how he was playing with Rider (because I told him to) and how Rider was being mean and hitting him!

The injustice!


So, I call Rider to come out, and I tell Fisher that he doesn't have to play with Rider anymore.


Rider comes out with his sad blue eyes looking up at me and asks politely~

"What mom?"

I told him how "not nice" it was that he would go off and hit Fisher, when Fisher was being kind and playing with him.


Rider looks down, knowing this wasn't his best moment and...

...as picked on as he could convey he says~

"But Mom, it hurt my hand...."

We Be Educated

Rider is home with me. I didn't send him to school yet. He is a summer birthday and I just wanted to wait another year...hopefully it's Mother's Intuition and not Mother's Co-Dependency :)

My day is filled with little quips and one liners that make my day perfect. I guess next year I will have to volunteer a lot to keep my cup full!

A bit of our day today~

"Rider, let's go upstairs and get a book to read, just like if you were at school." I said

And Rider answers~ "So, you're gonna learn me to read, like at school?"

I guess I better get a move-on to learning him to read!!!!

Go Buckaroos!

The first day of school was August 18th, here in Monticello. It was a lovely experience. I love the new clothes~new backpack~packed lunch~fresh start feeling :)



Shylee started the day in her (temporary) cheer attire for the pep rally. (Her actual uniform arrived before the first football game, and she is thrilled :) When she came home for lunch I shot a few pics of her "first day of school outfit :)

Football is on!



We played a pre-game with Price (which is a 3A school) and we did very well! Lance got in some action and I will post those pics later!

Monticello

Since we have moved back we have been pleasantly busy. Shylee made the cheer/drill team here and Lance is on the football team and in the midst of practicing. They have all taken swim lessons and enjoyed plenty of time at the local pool. We have travelled plenty, which will always be the case living rural. Lance loves the hospital he works at and fits in very well. We had a family reunion just this past weekend. It was terrific. There was fishing, riding horses, cooking out and enjoying the outdoors! Great job Cassy!
Our lives have been greatly improved by moving here. We are close to family which allows us to attend and participate with family frequently. The sun is always shining and when it rains, it's appreciated!

We love being in an area that appreciates that we are here. We are treated like assets of the community and that has been a long time awaited!
Living in Ohio was a struggle. We hope we learned some valuable lessons and we KNOW we grew as a family. I wouldn't want to take the opportunity away, but I am so very relieved that we have moved on to a better place where we belong. It's time we can take a sigh of relief and enjoy being where we belong. Hopefully this will be a permanent place where can plunk down some roots!
These are some pics from fishing during the family reunion with my kids and nephews! It was a blast!

Anal Retentive

I love my kids. I don't think I brag about them the same way other parents do. If my first grader was on a 7th grade reading level, I don't think I would brag about that. But if, in this situation, he decides that he needs to organize his day, down to the last "drop" (hehe) you bet, I'm gonna brag about that!!! Those are the moments in life that make all the other hum-drum-having-a-bad-day-can't-figure-out-what-to-fix-for-dinner moments worth it!

Plus, his priorities are in order.

"hug mom"

is above

"poop."

Props to me!

The photos beneath are the work of Rider Allen. I give him a camera and he loves to take pictures all around the house and yard! I love his perspective. The simple things add up to being the most important things :)

Pics on Mother's Day

For Mom's Day I wanted to take some family pics.





So we, being imposing, were driving down a road called Phalanx Mills Herner, and decided to ask some super nice people if we could take family photos on their property!!!






They were super nice and we got acquainted for a while and then took some nice photos!



We aren't use to the sun here, so we were all pretty much squinting the entire time! But it was fun and nice to have some pics of the family in Ohio!

Happy 13th Birthday Hunter!!!

I love this boy. We had such a wonderful night for his birthday! After track pictures Lance and I whisked him off to a night with mom and dad! We took him shopping so he could choose exactly what he wanted.



Then we went out to dinner at his place of choice (Applebees :) then home for cake and ice cream with the family.

He is an amazingly gracious young man. He kept saying that he wanted to go where we would like to eat. He only spent half of what he was allowed to spend on presents! He kept wanting to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves too. We were LOVING every minute!!!


He is a sweetheart. He is always complimenting and trying to understand people in different circumstances. He has always been my affectionate one. I am so glad he has such a kind heart and is such a wonderful example and asset to our family :)

PS Shylee, being a sweet daughter, made the cake while we were out and about!!