Valentine Date

For Valentine's Day we swapped babysitting with the Chases so we could each go on a date that weekend. Josh and I went out on Friday night, and Aaron & Becca went out on Saturday night. We did the same thing last year and it worked out really well.

Ronan was eager for me to get ready to go so that he could be with his cousins! He asked over and over again, "Is it time for Aunt Becca and Sadie to babysit me?" (:

Josh came home from work early and we headed to a movie & then dinner.

We ate at Izumi, a new sushi restaurant in Crescent Village. The atmosphere was really cool and the food was all SO delicious!

Preschool Party

On Wednesday, February 11th, I went to school with Ronan for his Valentine party. This was always my favorite holiday when I was a teacher, so it brought back a lot of memories from my years at EEP. (: I love all of the heart decorations and cards (& goodies!). Ronan's teacher, Miss Julie, is awesome! She is so great with the kids and always has such fun and creative ideas. During the party, each kid got to dip strawberries in chocolate and sprinkles, and later eat them along with ice cream sundaes. Lot of sugar for a room full of 4 year olds (at 10:00 in the morning), but it was a special day. (:

Ronan focusing on his strawberry dipping.

Ice cream in the morning--a dream come true!

All 6~On Groundhog Day

When I pick Ronan up from school (on Mondays and Wednesdays) he always asks to go to Memaw & Papa's house, because he knows that his cousins will be there. So, we often do that. They all eat lunch together and play until it's time for Griffin's nap.
This was one of those days:

January 29, 2009

Carrying on the family tradition of celebrating half-Birthdays:

Our big 4 1/2 year old! He has the craziest hair in the morning!!

Ronan likes preschool and is becoming more interested in writing and doing art projects.
Ronan mainly just LOVES to play, play, play! He is active and imaginative, and is motivated by fun! He wants to grow up and play all kinds of sports like football, basketball, soccer, and baseball, then become a police officer. (: He loves swimming and wants to learn karate. (:

Half-Birthday presents are normally things like socks, underwear, or your favorite cereal. This year we gave him something that we had planned to give him for Christmas, but it was on back order until the middle of January. It was something he really, really wanted and dreamed about getting for a long time: a real football uniform and helmet!
Go Beavers!!

What a lucky guy!

Small Group + Silly Faces

Our small group typically meets either at the church (where there is childcare), or we take the kids to the church and then the adults go to the Fisher's house. This week there wasn't childcare available, so everyone came over to our new house for pizza. This was the first time our group had been to our new house, so it was neat for them to see the product of so many months of prayers! We really feel blessed to have such a caring & encouraging group of friends!

The big kids took over the attic play area, and the little kids played in the playroom. It was nice to be able to hang out and talk with the adults, and take turns checking on the kids. (:

Melissa & Corey, Cheryl with grandson Tayden, Gabriella, and Camille
Kid Table: Griffin, Tyler, and Cohen
Aaron, Erik, Ben, and Becca
Ronan and Sadie ate in the formal dining room. (:

These next few pictures were taken by Ronan's request. Such an animated boy (:

Griffin rockin' the mullet wig (:

Birthday Party

We were invited to celebrate Aurora's 2nd Birthday with our new friends, the Torkornoos. They are fairly new to Eugene and joined our small group at church this Fall. It's been great getting to know their family!
Aurora's favorite color is orange, so they had an orange creamsicle cake and all kids of "orange" foods like cheese, doritos, goldfish crackers, and chicken nuggets. (:

The Birthday Girl with big sisters Gabriella and Camille

Aurora and Griffin eating together. (: He calls her "Rora"

Opening Presents!

Ronan sitting with Camille, Gabriella, Ben, and baby Josephine

I found Griffin and Aurora playing together on the top bunk in the girls' room. Such cute little buddies. :)

Little Minnow

Ronan started taking swimming lessons at Willamalane Pool in January. He loves the water and has done great with the lessons! I wasn't sure if he would be nervous about going in the water without me (or Josh), and having a teacher to listen to, but he has been just fine with it all. It helps that some of his buddies are taking lessons at the same time.
It's been fun to see how quickly he picks up on the skills. I have some videos to post later. (:

Grandpa's 80th B-Day

On January 18th we had a little celebration at our house in honor of Grandpa Ruddick's 80th Birthday! His actual B-Day was January 10th, and Aunt Kathy made the trip all the way from Virginia to be there for it! Grandpa and Grandma were able to spend time with all four of their children (Gordon, Janice, Kathy, and Kris), which hasn't happened in a really long time!

On this day, Aunt Kathy drove down to Eugene with Grandma and Grandpa to see all of us before heading back to Virginia. Grandpa and Grammie Lermo also joined in the celebration. (: Here's a picture of the whole group:

Grandma, Dad, Grandpa, and Aunt Kathy

Josh & Amy with Aunt Kathy

Ethan playing guitar for Grandpa Lermo

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandpa!!

Aunt Kathy getting to know our boys. (:

...and baby Emma

Aunt Kathy said that she remembers Josh saying as a kid that he would someday build a house. (: It was cool that she got to see the (almost) finished product of that dream. (:

Christmas in January

Ronan's preschool Christmas program was cancelled because of the snow, and ended up being rescheduled after Christmas break for a daytime performance on January 15th. His class dressed up as little squirrels, which was the best part for Ronan since he loves wearing costumes. (: He looked so cute! When he got up on stage you could tell that he was nervous. He kind of zoned out and didn't sing much...but it was still fun to watch, and we were proud of him for going on stage and standing/sitting when he was supposed to. (:

Memaw, Papa, Grandpa, Aunt Becca, Sadie, & Cohen all came to watch!

We had a good view of Ronan--he's the squirrel on the far right.

Saying hi to Memaw after the show: