Getting Ready to Go...

We are off to Indiana next week for my cousin's wedding and for general visiting with my relatives. In preparation, I cut the kids hair today. They both did a great job holding still and I did a pretty darn good job:) They even got a treat like a real hair place:)

Yesterday, we checked another thing off of our to-do list, pick up books from the library. We went on a grand adventure in order to do it:) We walked down to the post office with my sister-in-law and her girls and got on the Yamhill County bus. The kids and I were able to ride to and from the library in Newberg for only $2. The kids loved it and I enjoyed the freedom to look around and visit with Beth. The rain held off and we enjoyed the brisk air as we walked the couple of blocks to the Library. We even stopped for ice cream as a special treat before we got on the bus heading home.

Now I have to go and tackle the rest of the things on my ever growing to-do list:)

A weekend away:)

This past weekend, I was able to spend the weekend at the beach and scrapbook with 7 of my friends. We try to do this 1 or 2 times a year and we were all REALLY ready for this trip:) We rented a big house in Lincoln City and set up all our tables and scrapbooking supplies in the basement and watched movies and scrapbooked until we could no longer see straight:) I worked on Kyla's third year book, I'm a bit behind...but I'm catching up fast. Here is some of my completed pages. I was able to get over 20 layouts done! I enjoyed spending time with friends and rejuvenating my soul:).

The kids had a blast with their Daddy and did lots of "special" things including eating breakfast upstairs, sleeping in tents inside, playing at the park for half the day and generally having much more fun than normal:) Chad and Kyla wore Gavin out so much so that he was fighting to stay awake at dinner:)

We were tagged!

I don't mean the fun, cute internet way, but real graffiti on our garage! As the kids and I walked to the bus stop this morning and I noticed brown letters on the front of the garage. I filed a police report and had a deputy out here to take pictures already this morning. He recommend that we get it covered quickly, so my day will be filled with pressure washing, priming and painting the spot on the garage. We planned on painting the garage next summer, I'm not too happy with the need to do part of it now. I've blurred out the actual text, I'm not sure if it's gang related. Whether or not it is, it still offends me! We've lived her for over 5 years and have never had any big problems, yeah for small towns:) On a good note, they didn't tag the house proper that Chad finished painting last night!

Fun in the Sun

All morning it was foggy and cold. A little after lunch time, the fog finally lifted and the sun shone bright. Chad came home for work a little early and we all piled into the car and headed to Farmer John's outside of McMinnville. I try to take the kiddos here every year. It's not far from the house and best of all, we can go and play for free:) We didn't get any pumpkins, just enjoyed the surroundings and got some energy out. Enjoy the photos.

Gavin found a tractor, for those of you who don't know him well, these things rule his world. He was checking out every aspect of the huge tractor, he even kicked a wheel:)

Another First

Yesterday we braved another first for our family. My almost 9 year old niece came over and watched Gavin while I did some work for my business in our office. She was very excited to be "babysitting" Gavin, and he just loves playing with her. She was "in charge" for a little over 2 hours and she did great! It was a weird sensation...I've watched Hannah for so long, even changed her diapers and now she's babysitting my baby:) Wow, isn't it amazing how our life mutates and grows. Unfortunately, she's not ready to change stinky diapers, so I still had to do that, but it was a nice change of pace for me. What a blessing she is to me.

Here is my darling Hannah and Gavin

A big weekend!

Well, we've done it. Okay, Chad and his dad have done it. The entire first story of the house has been primed and is ready to be finished up paint wise. Looks like next weekend will be the lucky weekend:)

In an earlier blog, I whined about my broken dryer...No more whining here! Chad picked up a new-to-us set that should save us energy and do a much better job than our old 20 year old set. We are now one of the cool people with a front load washer:) Chad, the kids, and I enjoyed watching the washer do a load this morning before church. Who needs TV, just put a load of laundry in:)


While Chad and Gary worked on the house, I was out doing three family shoots this afternoon. Two in Lafayette, and one in Dundee at the beautiful Sokol Blosser Winery. The sun was shining and the leaves were beautiful.


I took some pics of the kids here at home as they enjoyed the last little bits of sunshine.Then we headed to the Lafayette Lee's for a yummy dinner of pizza and great company. All in all, a fun and productive weekend:)

When it rains...

It pours!! This week, it has been pouring metaphorically at the Riddle household. Chad had the flu early on in the week, my dryer died and I have TWO WEEKS worth of laundry piled up, the kids have colds and aren't sleeping, my house is a disaster area, and I had to wrestle with the dr's office to get prescriptions sent to our pharmacy and then they weren't there...Arggggggh.

Life is never what you think it will be:) Chad has recuperated, we have the meds the kids need, the kids finally slept through the night and I have a date with the laundromat tonight:) God has supported me through all the mess raining about our heads. It's amazing how calm I've been, considering all the craziness:)

Thanks to everyone who have supported us through prayer and given us laughter this week!

Speed Racer

Last month my dad took a racing course in Portland and I"ve been meaning to put the pics up so... here they are. He rented a 2008 Ford Mustang on a Thursday and had a four hour class to learn how to drive at super fast speeds. On Friday, he met his instructor at a raceway in Portland and was able to test his skill out on the track. He had a blast and came out of the adventure unscathed, we can't say the same for the mustang, those brakes may never be the same:) Unfortunately, the kids and I were unable to go and watch, but mom was there with their pastor. Hmmm, maybe praying for his safety:)

Scary!

The kids and I were playing at the park today across from the house enjoying the warm sunshine when all of sudden, I realized that Gavin was having a difficult time breathing! We rushed home and got his nebulizer set up in record time and started his breathing treatment. Within a minute, his breathing was much less labored and by the time his treatment was over (about 10 minutes) he was good as new.

I've been in denial this summer, I hadn't even gotten the nebulizer machine out yet. Gavin has asthma, a mild form of it to be sure, but asthma none the less. I kept hoping that he would miraculously grow out of it, like some kids do. No such luck. We are in for another winter of breathing treatments, inhalers, and wheezing.

Please pray...For Gavin's lungs, my patience, and most of all for healing. At this point, the Dr's say that there is a good chance of him growing out of this, lets pray that it happens quickly!

Decisions, Decisions...

While at the Linfield campus this weekend. I took some pics of Gavin in hopes of getting a good one to put up in the living room. Here are my two favorites. I just can't choose. What do you think?

#1 So Much Personality

#2 Great Smile

SCORE!!

We introduced the kids to football this weekend. On Saturday, we had Andrew and Suzanne for a yummy lunch and then all headed to Linfield for the homecoming game. It is Chad and Andrews 10 year Anniversary and we thought we'd celebrate it by going back for the football game and checking out all the additions made to the campus since they've been gone. The game was great! The sun was shining and it wasn't too chilly.Kyla was more interested in the cheerleaders than the actual game, unlike Gavin who seemed to be understanding all the action going on down on the field. Even cheering or saying "No" when appropriate:) We were way up in the grandstand, but the game was fun, Linfield won! Go Team:)

Gavin migrated from Chad, to me, to Suzanne, to Andrew throughout the game, while Kyla stayed pretty close to Aunt Suzanne:) What a surprise:)

Afterwards, we checked out the new library and the kids did some exploring.

Our little family went to our church for a special thank-you dinner for volunteers while Andrew and Suzanne went to a reunion dinner. They came over after they were done and had desert. We are so blessed with their friendship and so glad that they came!

Our Favorite Books...

Gavin has finally found the joy in sitting still and looking at books. Right now his favorite books are "The Alphabet Construction Book," "My Book of Tractors," and "Green Eggs and Ham." Though any book with cars, animals, or kids will do. He'll back right into your lap and hand you a book and sit still for an entire book. For those who really know our little guy, this is amazing:) Often I find him in is chair by the window quietly looking at a book.What a joy that he enjoys the world of books!

Kyla's favorite books right now are "Black Beauty," her princess horse stories, and her book about horses. Any thing with horses will do:) We've been reading chapter books at bed time for the last year now. She has a great memory, she can tell you exactly where we left off, no matter how long it's been. She also recently checked out a book from the library at school, "The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh":) She shares her love of Pooh Bear with her Ting-a-ling.

It truly warms my heart to see my kids have such a love for books. My legacy to them:)

And In This Corner...

After dinner we had wrestle mania in our living room. I think the extra energy can be attributed to our sweet and sour chicken that we had for dinner. A little too much sugar I'm thinking:) The wrestlers came to the arena dressed in their finest socks, I mean outfits:) What a grand time we had:)

Check out that pin.

Yes, those are tights on Chad's head compliments of the upside-down Kyla.

The fierce Kyla in her finery. Watch out, those moraccas hurt:)

It's raining, it's pouring...

Okay, it's not really pouring, but it was sprinkling:) The kids got on their rain coats from their Great-Grandma Clara and played out on the porch. It's pretty warm outside, not normal for a rainy day in Oregon. Please don't pay any attention to how bad the house looks in the background. That part has been scraped and is ready to be primed, now we wait for sun:)

What a blessing that my children are friends,
at least most of the time they are:)

Gavin and I started our yearly bible study in McMinnville. It's a non-denominational community bible study hosted at a presbyterian church. This is our third year. It feels very strange to not have Kyla with us as we walk in the doors. This has been a big part of her socialization and our friend base. She had school pictures today, I'm always a little wary spending money for other people to take pictures of my children:) But you just gotta have school pictures, it's a tradition:)