Ryan's John Deere bedroom!

I've been meaning to put some pictures up of his room for awhile and am finally getting around to it now that I feel that its' finally finished! It's been a work in progress for over a year. Not that it took all that much time, but when you do a little here and a little there it takes some time to get it totally done.

Here's his cozy bed furnished with ALL his stuffed animals and he likes to have them all around him when he sleeps! My sister-in-law, Beth, and I made the curtains to the right. We were hoping to find some cute John Deere fabric to use, but our local fabric store didn't have any in when we were looking... turns out they got a bunch in like a month later! Figures! Anyhow, we got creative and I found a role of natural colored burlap there and we bought some green thread to hem the edges with and they actually turned out better than I think they would have if I had used John Deere fabric. I think JD curtains would have been too much for this already JD themed out room so I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

The wife of my doctor/doctor I worked for when I had Ryan made us this blanket as a gift when Ryan was born which has JD fabric mixed in it and it worked perfect in his new room! We also finally got him a new dresser so we could keep his old ones in the baby's room for him to use.
Next to his dresser, I keep this stool that I made for him (well not the wood part, but the saying and stain!) to use so he can safely reach the top two drawers of his dresser and he loves using it and being able to get things out of it "by himself!" It says, "This little stool of mine, I use it all the time, to reach the things I couldn't and mostly things I shouldn't!" I saw this once on a stool in some expensive magazine before Ryan was even born and I kept it tucked in the back of my head to use when Ryan needed a stool and here it is!
I got some hooks to put on his door that are low enough that he can reach them for all of his coats which has come in handy so that he can get them himself with out having to ask me for help all the time.
Ryan loves this sign we put above his closet: John Deere Road.

So that's his room! Hopefully it's "big boy" enough that he can grow into it for years to come!

Mommy's helper

Yesterday we got a couple things from our local bakery outlet and, of course, had to treat ourselves to some donuts for breakfast for this morning! I picked the old fashioned glazed ones for Jeff and I and Ryan picked out (of course the most messy!) personal package of powdered donuts! Nothing like donuts and a cup of cold milk to start your day. Oh and the sunshine coming through the windows didn't hurt, either! :)

Next it was time to get to work. I'm trying to get things here and there done around the house before the baby comes and cleaning our kitchen floor was on the list. Ryan LOVES helping me clean with our Clorox mop. He had to have a lesson on how to use it as he tends to stand in one place and just pump out all the cleaning stuff and then I have more of a mess than what I started with! This morning I went through the whole downstairs and did it myself first and then told him he could do the kitchen and bathroom, but not to spray any more cleaner on the floor.

Here he is putting some muscle into it! :)
Jeff popped in for a minute while Ryan was cleaning and gave him big kudos for helping me, too! He did finally ask when he got to the bathroom if he could spray just one time so I let him and then he was content and so was I. I love that he's my little helper and I hope (and pray!) it will continue through the years.... someday his future wife will thank me!!! ;)

New book for the BIG BROTHER to be!!

I had to run (well, almost waddle at this point to be honest!) to the mall this morning while Ryan was in school to get a couple things and I walked by the book store and thought I'd stop in and see if they happened to have any books for big brothers-to-be and low and behold, they did and it's perfect!

I told him about it on the way home from school and he was so excited about it we had to come right in and read it before we even ate lunch! Then we read it again after lunch... and before his nap... and after his nap! :) Then when Jeff got home tonight, we showed it to him and he read it to Ryan. He really liked it and how informative it really was for Ryan. It's a sweet book, but also explains how he has to ask me to hold his baby brother and how his little brother can't eat the foods that his big brother can eat and just practical stuff like that. I love the end because it tells how much his (Ryan's) mommy & daddy love him and how there's only one of him in the whole world! Very sweet book and highly recommended to little boys with a baby brother or sister on the way!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM/GRANDMA!!!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday so we went out to their house last night to celebrate! Us girls put a yummy dinner together of homemade lasagna, garlic bread, salad and of course, birthday cupcakes and even one of my mom's favorite desserts, an apple cake that my sister made!

After our yummy dinner, it was present time and my mom had 3 very excited grandchildren helping her open her gifts! My aunt and uncle got my mom this years Hallmark singing snowmen which was a big hit with the grand kids. She already has the last few years of them and the kids LOVE it when she gets them out every year!

Grandma's helpers at work!
Austin is holding up the sweater that we got her telling her how he thinks she's really going to like it because it's really soft! :)
The kiddos!
ALL the kiddos... Ryan, Shelby, Grandma, Anna & Austin!
Happy birthday, Mom! We hope you have many, many more!!!!

Carmel apples!

We've sort of made it an annual event over the last few years to make homemade carmel apples out at my mom's with my niece and nephew. Of course, I forgot to take some pictures of the process, but did get a few of Ryan enjoying them!

This one is actually of him before church on Sunday and he looked so darn handsome that I told him I needed to take his picture. A bit a of a cheesy grin, but still adorable if you ask me! :)

After church and lunch and before nap time, Ryan got to have one of the carmel apples we'd made!

Where do I begin to dig in??

This is going to be SO yummy!
Ya caught me after a bite!
And I'm going back for more!!!
They really did turn out very yummy and we're thinking we may need to make one more batch this weekend again!

3 pregnant ladies!

Today Ryan and I went to a baby shower for my friend, Tracey (in the middle). When we got there, another friend of ours from high school, Sarah Jane, was there, too! Sarah Jane is having a boy also and Tracey is having a girl. It was hilarious to give her a hug and have her belly, literally, be on top of mine as she's carrying much higher with a girl than both Sarah and I are with boys. Sarah Jane is due Oct. 18th, I'll be having my little peanut on Oct. 20th and Tracey is due Nov. 6th, but will more than likely be early. It was a fun time catching up with them and talking our pregnancies and life in general. We couldn't believe that the next time we'd all see each other, we'll all have newborns!

And no, we did not color coordinate our outfits ahead of time, but how funny is it that we were all wearing the same colors?! We were apparently all on the same page today when we got dressed!

Thanks again to Nicole, Tracey's sister, for having us all over to your house for the shower. Ryan told me tonight he had fun at "Morgyn's party". :)

p.s. thank you for the great gift, too!!

Playdate!

On Thursday, after Ryan got out of school, we grabbed some lunch and headed to my friend, Mindy's house, to have a little lunch playdate with Bergen, a 3 yr. old she watches once and week, and her son Asher who is 8 mons. old!

Unfortunately, my lens had something on it when I took this picture, but I thought it was cute anyhow! All the boys had a great time- Ryan & Bergen hit it off immediately. Probably didn't hurt that Ryan wanted to get his "friend" (whom he'd never met!) a little container of chocolate candies from the store and gave to him right when we walked in the door. Always a quick way to make friends... bring chocolate! :) Asher just watched the boys running around and you could tell he was totally entertained and in awe of them- such a cutie. Some day he'll be up and running around with them, too!

Brothers workin' together...

Well "the season" has begun, also known as corn season when the guys work long hours to get all the acres of corn chopped and in the bunker for the year. Thankfully, the weather has held off until this afternoon, but we're optimistic as we saw on the forecast it's supposed to clear up for a few days next week... we'll see, though!

Anyhow, Jeff is now pretty much the official "chopper man" and his brother Steve generally is the "pit man" (the guy who pushes all the loads of silage into the bunker which can get somewhat dangerously high- not a job for someone afraid of heights!). Today for some reason, when Ryan and I drove down to the field to drop a lunch off for Jeff, Steve was driving one of the silage trucks for one of the loads so I got a shot of them working together in the same picture!

Field trip continued...

Here's the boys on their way back to the farm after getting their pumpkins- Jordan with a big grin and Ryan intently checking out tractor and cows in the field across the way.

When they got back, they got to for a little ride down the slide which, of course, to a bunch of 3 year olds was a big hit!
After that, they had a few minutes for story time while they all colored the big pumpkin picture they were given. Ryan is raising his hand because the lady asked who was going to carve funny or scary faces in their pumpkins... he didn't miss a beat!
After snack time we had a few minutes to take some pictures before we left- silly Farmer Ryan.
I thought this was a cute one of the boys and Melinda. I love the way Ryan is standing in it- cracked me up when I looked at it later at home.
I can't wait till they go on another field trip, but it will be hard to top this one to the pumpkin patch!

Ryan's 1st Field Trip!

This morning we went on Ryan's 1st class field trip, and what better place to have a field trip, but to the PUMPKIN PATCH!

Melinda and I were both going to go so we rode with them, along with the boys' classmate, Brooks. I had to take a quick picture of the boys before we left because when we had them put their boots on in the car, we realized they all had camo rubber boots! Guess us 3 mommy's thought alike!

When we got there we got a chance to take a "class picture" which turned out really cute!

Our tour began with this lovely fall-themed guide... she even had a crow sitting on her hat! She definitely had the kids' attention!

The kids got to pet the donkeys, feed the pigs some apples (that was hilarious!) and feed the chickens some fresh corn on the cob! They even got to touch a freshly laid egg out of the chicken coup!

Next after we visited all the animals, it was time to catch a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch!Ryan & Jordan sitting next to each other on the ride.

All the kiddos on the search for the perfect pumpkin!