Just Ordinary Days

Just capturing a few snapshots of the "ordinary" days of life for Ryan's scrapbook. Thought I would post them here. Most days are ordinary by worldly standards; but if we stop and enjoy the extraordinary moments and blessings God has given us, every day can be extraordinary!! Ryan is one of those beautiful blessings and 99.9% of the time we remember that :)! No, really, we know that all the time, but it may take stepping back from some 3-year-old situations to bring it to the front of our minds! How easy it is to take our family and health for granted. We thank God for our beautiful, healthy, growing, intelligent and curious little boy. We are so grateful that God has given us the privilege to raise and love him each of these ordinary days!






Another blessing taken for granted... we now have more grass showing than dirt, YEAH... still some weeds, but we'll take care of those after the grass is well established!! Quality father/son time... Ryan really enjoys helping Steve mow these days. He will ride for sometimes up to almost 2 hours! Great time for them and Mom, too :)!

Ryan also spends several days in the sand boat - building race tracks in the sand or scooping dirt like "Bob the Builder".

I love this picture... despite his high energy level around others, he really does play quietly by himself a lot. He will sit and just flip through books for long periods of time. I caught him yesterday playing with his Leap Pad... so innocently! I love those moments!

He is so ready for the adventures of preschool. He'll go 2 afternoons a week starting after Labor Day! Look out world!

Twins and Trains

We decided to have a short get-away at the last minute this past weekend. We've been "teaching" Ryan the basics of baseball with our home-made, chalk-drawn baseball diamond on the driveway (no, we don't have enough grass to move the game to the yard, yet :)!) So, we thought, why not try a Twins game in the Cities this weekend?

I came prepared, as a Mom should, with bug spray, umbrella, sunscreen, etc. Steve asks me, "What do you need all of that stuff for? Isn't it indoors?" Am I alone? I have to ask... How many of you have been to an INDOOR baseball game? Well, sure enough, Steve was right!! That's how it works here, I soon learned !!! Can you tell we really keep up on our teams and their stadiums? Yes, the Twins play in the MetroDOME... totally covered, sheltered from the rain, sun and mosquitos... so yes, I was harassed the rest of the evening by Steve telling me how much the bugs were bothering him!! Regardless, we made it through the game. Ryan was interested off and on... but was asking by the 2nd inning if the game was over yet... guess he takes after his Dad when it comes to following sports!

The highlight of the evening for Ryan was when we were leaving the game and said we were heading to the hotel. He literally jumped up and down screaming..."yeah, we are going to the hotel now.. this is going to be so much fun!"... Guess we should have opted for the really "cheap seats"!
On Sunday, we played in the pool and headed out into the rain to do some shopping and stalling until the next big event. We were headed what we thought was about 30 minutes from where we stayed to enjoy a "Day with Thomas"... for those of you behind or without kids... Thomas is a big blue train! We had driven there on Saturday, hoping to go in the sunshine to enjoy the other activities. They were sold out... but had opened up one more train ride time for Sunday. We took it. But because of the rain, we skipped out on running thru straw bales and face painting and blow up slides... we just waited until the train ride at 3:45. Well, we stalled a little too long and caused me some stress on the drive there... just praying we'd make it. How would I tell Ryan we missed the train and how would I deal with Steve's frustration about the wasted money :)? The drive was about 45 minutes and Steve dropped Ryan and I off at the boarding line... he made it in the end, too! Thomas was a life size engine.... attached to the "back" of the train. Most kids didn't get that. But Ryan sure did. He noticed how we boarded and when the train started, he asked "Why are we going backwards?" We justified it by telling him Thomas must be pushing us, instead of pulling us. When the train stopped and went back towards the station, he piped up..."Hey, Thomas is pulling us now!" Can't fool this guy!

So while the weekend looks like we were just spoiling Ryan... Steve and I had other motives... different restaurant choices than the handful we have here in the big city of Willmar :)! A good time was had by all.

I Love This Man!

Well, we said these posts might not be too profound... but can I just say that I love my man!! :) He is such a hard worker and sooo determined when he sets his mind to something. Here is the big city boy looking rather farmer-like!

We have a pond on our lot that is about 60 x 90 feet, and we agreed as part of our purchase agreement that we would pay to have rock put around it. That's a lot of rock and a good amount of money.... well, we had it done late last summer. We pictured a nice clean landscaped-look. Well, last fall we had LOTS of rain, and most of our dirt yard was washed into these beautiful stones! Thus, leaving them covered in mud in several spots. This summer we have watched this rock bed become a weed garden. So, Steve has spent several hours this week (after Round-Up) pulling and pulling. Today, he borrowed some waders and headed in. While some might like the natural look of the tall grasses, they were not what we pictured. So hours later and several pounds lighter from sweat loss, Steve heads in for a much needed shower! Thanks, hon! As you know, I would have said "This is pointless" hours ago! The pond is looking much better... we'll see if the pulling and raising of the water level keep these natural beauties away!

Can you see the before and after sections? :) I better post this before he finds out!!