No Training Wheels!

Here he goes! Such a big boy!!
(The crying at the end is Griffin who couldn't stand being so close to Daddy without being held by him!)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Ronan has been learning about Mexico in his preschool class these last few weeks, so today they had a Cinco de Mayo Party! Griffin and I picked up Josh at work and we joined Ronan for his party.

Here I am with Ronan and his friends standing in line for the pinatas. Each kid made their own pinata by decorating a paper bag and filling it with candy. Then they each took a turn trying to break open their own pinata. I thought it was a great idea for 3 year olds!

Griffin looks very serious in this picture, but he really loves being in Ronan's classroom! He warmed up quickly and started playing with toys. He even got to sit at the table with the kids and have a quesadilla and juice. (:

I love the colorful sombreros!

A close-up of Ronan. It's hard to believe he is almost done with his first year of school!

It was a beautiful, sunny day! When Josh got home from work he played outside with the kids while I made dinner (enchiladas & rice). I had to get a picture of this:

Our boys LOVE spending time with Daddy!

After dinner Josh helped Ronan ride a bike without training wheels!! He did an amazing job! We were so proud of him. I'll upload a video in my next post (:

A New Park

I took the kids for a ride in the bike trailer by myself for the first time today! Josh has always been the one to pull the trailer when we ride together, so I decided that I better get some practice so that we can switch off on longer bike rides. It was a lot of fun and a little easier than I expected it to be.

I recently heard about a park on Best Ln. that was built about a year ago, so we rode to it today. It's an awesome little park! There is a great play structure, a merry-go-round, and a sand area with water. (: Ronan loved the water & sand! He ended up completely drenching himself with water, then rolling around in the sand. Thankfully we stayed long enough for his clothes and hair to dry...the sand brushed off easily. Next time I'll remember swimsuits and baby powder (the best trick in getting wet sand off!).

Griffin- 17 months old

Ronan- 3 and 3/4 years old

Ladies Night at Chico's

Last night I was a model in a fashion show fund raiser at Chico's, a clothing store in the Oakway Mall. The women from our church were invited to come to the store for appetizers and shopping, and a percentage of the merchandise sales went to the women's ministry at Grace. I was a little nervous at first because I thought we were going to have to walk the runway, but it ended up being very casual and comfortable. We just walked around the store and mingled with the customers/guests and talked about what we were wearing. I really liked each of the outfits & accessories that were chosen for me to wear...especially the dress. I'll have to check back to see if it will go on sale (:

My Mom was one of the models, too (:

Jody and I

Mom and I modeling our black and white outfits.

Photos by Katrina Henry (:

Special Dessert

Making homemade strawberry ice cream with our new ice cream maker...

The finished product

Yummm! It was so delicious!

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

We celebrated Aaron's 34th Birthday after church on Sunday. We all enjoyed his requested lunch of chili dogs and Fritos (: For dessert we had a giant chocolate chip cookie and ice cream.

Josh and I rode our bikes to church that morning with the kids in the bike trailer. From there we rode to my parent's house for the birthday celebration, and then to our house after that. I was pretty tired by the end of the day, but it felt good to get some exercise!

Here's the birthday boy surrounded by his sweet kids.

Griffin and Cohen looking for worms.

Kenton helping the kids search for bugs and worms.

Finn's response to Sadie & Ronan saying that they found a tarantula. No worries, Finn, it was just a really big, black spider (:

Duck Pond and a Nature Walk

On Saturday, while Josh was working on the house, the kids & I went to Alton Baker park with Becca, Kelly, and their kids. Each of our husbands were busy that day, so it worked out well for us moms to band together and let our kids enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. It was a beautiful day! We fed the ducks and had a little picnic (some of us got to sit and eat). I'm learning to accept that, in this stage of my life, a picnic can mean eating while standing & holding one kid and running to keep up with the other kid who decided right away that one bite of food was enough for him! I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was overwhelming!

Griffin loved the ducks! Thankfully we brought somewhat fresh bread, because he wanted to eat the bread instead of throwing it to the ducks. (:

Becca with Sadie, Cohen, Ronan, and Griffin--all trying to sit on her little blanket since I forgot to bring one. Kelly ended up having a blanket too, so we were able to spread out.

Next we walked to the Nearby Nature area of the park. The kids had fun exploring and searching for bugs and worms.
John, Sadie, and Ronan led the way.

They came up with some funny ideas about what was in that hole (: