Schoenfeld MT

Skating and Santa

2012-01-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Our dentist always has a Christmas party at the skating rink and it is crazy!

A Christmas Tree Hunting we will go!

2012-01-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

After we got back from Thanksgiving, we realized that we better get on it if we wanted to be able to get into our top secret location for Christmas trees before the gate was closed for the season and we had to walk a little bit further in the snow. We headed out one night after work and made the most of the daylight we had remaining. It wasn't cold and it wasn't too snowy!

Sledding/Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

We had a little bit of snowfall, so decided to go sledding one afternoon after school near where Mark works.

This year for Thanksgiving, we were able to travel to Miles City. The weather was great. Everyone was excited to go. We hung out with Grandma Denise, Grandpa Jay, Uncle Charles, Great Grandpa Ruben, and Great Grandma Helen. Mark and I did a little late night Walmart standing around and waiting. Rori and Rylie went to help Grandma ring the bell for the Salvation Army. They're cute, so we figured they might pull in some more money! Rori got a little bit sleepy as you can see.

Spooktober-all of it in one post

2011-11-04T10:21:00.000-06:00

Halloween has come and gone and here are the highlights!
Rori had her own party with 16 kids! Her mother must be crazy, but it was fun. Trunk or Treat with the ward. Trick or treating down Main and carving pumpkins. Trick or treating on the walking mall. Yes, we have a huge bowl of candy, so if you come by please request a piece. Thanks!

Rylie was Student of the Month for September for her class!

Rori, Bryce, Batman, and a witch attending the Halloween Party!

My monster cookies for the party!

Rylie, center, in the Red Ribbon Parade

Bryce insisted on wearing his penguin feet even when not in costume

Rori, the hay guy, Schoenfeld (Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz)

Hip Hop Ry

Mark and I went as our high school selves

Carving pumpkins

Penguin feet, climbing anything and everything

Ta da!

Cyclocross

2011-10-27T11:42:00.001-06:00

Mark went to Missoula last week and competed in a cyclocross race for the first time. He did a write-up for the local bike shop where he is a team member. He is the one in photo on the right. Thanks to Melinda Barnes for taking the photo.

After some prodding from some of our teammates I finally decided it was time to give cyclocross racing a try. I watched a couple of YouTube videos to get an idea of what to expect and a few days later I was in Missoula for the Rolling Thunder cyclocross races with fellow teammates Jesús and Melinda.

My first dilemma was deciding which bike of mine would get me around the course the fastest. I loaded both and hauled them to the race so I could make a game time decision. I have a full-suspension Giant Trance. It's a great mountain bike that hammers tough descents. It was overkill and overweight for this race. My other mountain bike is an older hardtail Gary Fisher Marlin that I put road slicks on a couple of years ago and use for commuting. It's slightly lighter than the Giant, but with the road tires on the bike I was worried about traction and flatting out. I consulted a few different people on which bike they thought would be the better option and I wasn't above asking some random dude that looked like he had done the cyclocross thing many times before. The consensus was either one would do just fine. I pre-rode the course on the Gary Fisher and felt good. With the skinny tires on there I thought it looked more like the real cyclocross bikes which made me feel less out of place. Just in case something didn't go as planned I placed my Giant and a water bottle in the pit area.

22
OCT

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All of the cat 4 riders gathered excitedly at the start line. I was wearing the team jersey and my underoos. At least that's what it felt like. I always where some baggy shorts over my riding shorts so I'm not so…exposed. Tight shorts are flattering on some folks, many of you I'm sure, and then there are the rest of us. The decision to go with just riding shorts was made a couple days prior to the race while I was showing my girls my new technique for jumping off and back on my bike just like in the YouTube videos. They were less than impressed when I not just once, but twice, caught the front of my saggy shorts on the seat and never made it back on the bike. Decision made, no baggies.
So at the starting line all 50 or so racers listened anxiously as the announcers called certain stud riders to the front. I listened carefully for my name and my proud walk to my place before lesser riders. It never came. Must have been a typo or something, so I started last. The course starts off on a paved straight away, around a parking lot and then enters the outfield of the baseball diamond. You ride the warning track from left field to right and as you round the right field corner you go through the bullpen and out onto the gravel section. After playing baseball and softball for so many years there was a weird satisfaction to riding through the field and then catching air off the pitching mound in the bullpen as I left the stadium.
The gravel section was the worst. There was a u-turn in the rocks that slowed me down to almost a standstill and I had to put a foot down a couple of times after spinning out a bit. The course had a couple of sections of winding dirt track that weren't too bad, but I was wishing I had some knobby tires. There were two downhills, one was grassy and the other was a quick drop, banked and pretty smooth. The one climb was unrideable and it got harder and harder to drag my bike up that thing.
A few laps in I was middle of the pack and yo-yoing a couple different riders, I passed them, they caught me. I did see Ed from team GDC out in front of me in his Metallica jersey. My new goal was to catch him within the next lap or so. I pushed a little but wasn't making much ground. Until I came to the downhill and the spectators were shouting, rider down, rider down. I proceeded down slowly and saw Ed dusting off and picking up his bike. He looked okay so I eased by and looked for my next pass. Ed was looking pretty strong and I'm not sure I would've passed if it hadn't been for the crash. The pace throughout the race was fast with some tight corners and Ed wasn't the only rider I saw go down.
As I came around the corner towards the start of my last lap, within a hundred yards or so of the line, I got passed by the race winner. I assumed I still had a lap to go so I kept going and eventually finished. I didn't know the race results would actually say that I finished 1 lap behind. Ouch. The race results might as well have added, "1 lap back, was this guy walking?" Next time I'll know that if some young kid that I haven't seen since they called him out to take his special spot at the start of the race tries to pass me and lap me, do not let it happen. That's my goal for the next race, don't get lapped and maybe figure out a way to wear my baggies.
I finished tired, happy and satisfied. The race was better than expected and I'll be back in the future. The support from the team and their families and other Helenan's at the race was great. The specifics—I finished 28 out of 49 and according to the Garmin I road just over 11 miles in about 51 minutes. Jesús Salazar was right there with me. Wish I could have stayed and watched all the races and supported the other riders, it was a great atmosphere.

First day of 2nd grade

2011-09-26T23:11:00.000-06:00

Rylie is officially a second grader now. She is at a new school and rides the bus from her old school to her new school everyday. She is growing way to fast and we keep telling her to stop growing, but she is not very obedient in that regard. She looked so cute on the first day of school and it wasn't raining, so it was all good! I don't even think she was really nervous. We had checked it out the day before!
Go Ry!

Last days of Summer

2011-09-20T12:01:00.000-06:00

Well, it is official, I am now 35 years old. We celebrated by having Papa Murphy's pizza, brownies, and cake provided by my great friend, Kara!
I didn't do a whole lot that day, mostly just waited for the cable guy to come and hook up the cable.

All my children were smiling!

Mark decided we should go and float the Missouri River one night before school started. We loaded the boats in the truck after work and headed toward Craig, MT to put in. Our youth in our ward had done it the week before so Mark knew where and what he was doing. The kids loved it, except Bryce who cried and screamed and generally disrupted all fly fishermen we passed along the way. It was a lot of fun. Rylie told everyone that asked what she did this summer, that she floated the Missouri River. We did do other things, but she must have loved this.

The pelicans stay in this spot

Bryce with a smile, which was a result of shoving fruit snacks at him. He was not happy most of float.

The baby is not paddling the boat and his dad is holding on to him right there.

Spokane Trip part 3-photos

2011-09-18T18:06:00.000-06:00

The white dot on the right is me, Mark took this of me so you could see the scenery. I had no idea a very steep hill was just around the bend!

This was before we started. This photo was taken prior to 6:15 am! Love Nichole's hair!

We stopped for some fuel. Heather apparently was all about the safety at dinner as well as running!

We made it to the finish eventually. We were the last team to cross, but not the last team time wise. Yeah!

She is her father's daughter

2011-09-08T22:34:00.000-06:00

So, a few weeks ago, Mark got an email from a guy he knows that runs and cycles and does triathalons here in Helena about putting on a kids' triathalon. Rylie is the same age as his daughter and they were in swimming lessons together about 2 years ago. We asked Rylie if she was interested in doing it and she said yes. She is not a big fan of swimming just yet, but has made great progress this summer and has even been swimming without her life jacket by herself. She did a great job. She made it through the swim and thought that best thing was the cool medal she got afterwards.

Rylie with her triathalon number on her legs. I think she was more excited about this than anything.

The girls with their legs up crashed on their bikes. Isn't it cool that most of them were girls doing it!?

Spokane Trip part 2

2011-09-06T11:03:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it to the hotel in Spokane and I left the family before 5 am on Friday to begin our crazy relay!
It was a lot of fun, a lot of no sleep and a lot of running. Everyone ran 3 legs for a total of 36 legs total, which matched the number of children we had between us all. 36 kids! We were slow and steady and even rode the crazy rollercoaster at Silverwood in the middle of the night.

Ry, Rori, and I just before my first leg

The handoff and Rori wanting to run with me

I did pass the lady in the pink in front of me

The kids and Mark went to a park to hangout and play while we drove all over

It looks like Bryce is getting ready to hike the ball to Rori

Beginning my 2nd over 5 miles leg

Rori was racing up and down the sidewalk, this was in Coeur D'Alene, Rylie with the goofy hat

Spokane Trip part 1

2011-08-23T22:24:00.002-06:00

Rylie looking at the silver mining drills

Bryce climbed up on the luggage rack with the remote and chilled out in the hotel room

So, I've been training for a 185 mile relay with my friends and it finally arrived. We have a team of 12 women who will be running non-stop from Friday, August 12th until we finish sometime on Saturday, August 13th. We left Helena on Thursday morning and drove to Wallace, Idaho to eat our lunch. Wallace is this funny little town that the interstate goes over since it is a silver mining town stuck in a little valley between two mountains. There was a fun park that had a bunch of old mining stuff on display. The kids had fun looking at it and playing in the park.

Camping-Lions, and Tigers, and Bears Oh My!

2011-08-17T22:05:00.000-06:00

We decided that if we wanted to go camping this summer, we just had to do it and get on it before we ran out of summer. It seems as if the summer months are flying by at an alarming pace. We decided to head up above York, MT for a night. It was a lot of fun. We had plenty of smores and hot dogs. We topped the morning off with pancakes and bacon. The kids and I headed up in the afternoon to find our camp spot at Vigilante campground. We got there and got the tent set up along with the beds and sleeping bags. The kids had a ball and got very very dirty, so mission accomplished. Bryce was in the dirt all the time and even tried a piece of dog food he found on the ground. He spit it out luckily. I decided I should go for a run on Saturday morning and lo and behold I saw a little black bear cross the road ahead of me, so I made a quick u-turn and headed back up the road. He didn't even see me and I didn't wait to see if there was mama with him. My thought as I saw the bear was, wow that is a big black cat, then wait, that isn't a cat. Is that a jaguar? (because we have a lot of jaguars in Montana) I think I had been thinking of mountain lions at that point, so I'm guessing that is where the random jaguar came in. Then it dawned on me that it was a bear.

Rylie turns 7

2011-08-09T15:01:00.000-06:00

Well, Ry turned 7 on July 6th and it was quite a party. She decided on a Despicable Me themed party. There were minion cupcakes, squid launchers, and Mr. Gru even put in an appearance. We gave her our present in the morning before Mom and Dad had to leave. We went to lunch with Grandma Denise and Grandpa Jay at Applebees where she was serenaded and received an ice cream sundae. Dad took Rylie skateboarding at the skate park with her new present. That afternoon we had the friends party and it was hot! We watched some of the minion movies, had popcorn, and played games outside.

Wizard of Oz

2011-08-09T14:13:00.000-06:00

So Rori is my little movie maniac. She is a very auditory kid and remembers things she hears quite easily. This would make it very prudent to watch what we say around her. She has come to just love love love the Wizard of Oz. We thought she might be scared of the Wicked Witch, but she has no fear. She will watch it over and over again. She can identify every one of the characters: Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Lion, and of course the Hay Guy! You know the Hay Guy, right? The other day she told me she wanted to be the Hay Guy for Halloween and everyone else could be a different character.

Hillarious!

Cupid

2011-08-02T09:55:00.000-06:00

Bryce posing as Cupid. Isn't he the cutest little boy ever!?

4th of July Cuties

2011-08-02T09:54:00.000-06:00

We went red, white and blue for Sunday. I made the skirts for the girls on Saturday night. Rori's was made from a bandana!

End of Eastgate

2011-07-19T14:43:00.000-06:00

Rylie finished first grade and will be going to the other elementary school this coming school year. Here are a few photos of her with some of the teachers from Eastgate!

Rylie with her Kindergarten teacher

Rylie with her 1st grade teacher

Rylie and her buddy Gage on the last day of school

Rylie and her music teacher

The librarian

Her PE teacher retired this year and Rylie is going to miss her

A trip to the big city

2011-06-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

Mark traveled to Connecticut in May for work and was able to head into New York City for Saturday to have some fun and do some sightseeing.

If you watch Cake Boss, then you'll recognize Buddy from it. They went to Carlo's Bakery and got some good stuff. Buddy happened to come in with his kids while they were there.

T-Rex at the Museum of Natural History in New York City

Yankees vs. Mets, not sure how the foam finger is floating there

And the pitchers throws one in there

"Coaching" 3 year old soccer

2011-06-07T11:42:00.000-06:00

Trophy!

So, I endeavored to coach Rori's soccer team this spring. We had a few weather issues like snow and rain, but it was a lot of fun. We had 7 little boys and girls, ages 3 and 4. They have a lot of energy when they want to and they just want to sit down when they are tired. I compare it to herding cats. I was usually quite tired by the end of the game or practice, but I think they had fun. I found out the key to any 3 year old is the promise of stickers. Stickers will get you everywhere. Occasionally they noticed there was a ball on the field as well. One child would rather do forward rolls than play. We could dribble out of the field, around the back of the goal and back on to the field. Very fun!

Stretching

Go Snow Leopards!

Walka Walka

2011-06-07T11:24:00.000-06:00

Bryce man will be 9 months this week and has been trying to get around as a biped lately!
He thinks he's big boy!

No, we don't keep our baby in a jail! Gotta love Rylie's toothless grin!

All that walking makes a boy tired!

A little behind-Easter 2011

2011-06-07T11:12:00.000-06:00

We drove down to see Mark's family at Easter. The kids had a fun time playing with their cousins. They played in the backyard non-stop all weekend.

Rori with her Easter basket

Rylie's Easter stuff, rockin' new shoes

Easter egg-palooza

The Easter egg haul

Bryce getting in on the action, we gave his eggs away after he collected them

Kissing brother

They were doing construction right over the fence from the backyard so all of the huge machinery and noise was quite interesting. They are putting a new canal underground where there was an old one. Never knew moving dirt was so fascinating.

Once upon a time

2011-04-27T10:09:00.000-06:00

I came across the negatives from our wedding the other day and had them transferred to a CD. Yes, I got married when there was still film in the camera. I thought I would post a couple of pics for old times sake. Pretty fun!

Rori "isms" Part 2

2011-04-17T16:08:00.000-06:00

I've been trying to use this blog as a way to keep a record of things in our family, so here is Rori "isms"-part 2. Rori is a bit of wild card. We are never quite sure what she is going to say and to whom she might say it, but she is 3 and very cute, so who could find fault with her?

Lately she's been obsessed with having pets. She loves my parents' birds, as well as Mark's parents' dogs. She really loves Louie (a Jack Russell terrier) and Chloe (a rat terrier), as well as Mai Mai, CJ, and Berkeley (the cockatiels). She told me the other day that she was going to get a baby crocodile. Interesting choice! Then she said it's name would be LaLa. I asked her why it would be LaLa and she said, "Isn't that a good name?" I had to say yes. Apparently LaLa's dad is going to live in the bathtub as well. His name is Dave. (sidenote: Rori's mother had imaginary cats and dogs that lived in the bathtub) Now, she named all of her pets for me the other day: Guinea pig, Dog, Cat, 2 Crocodiles.

She has also started to tell jokes. Last night we were driving home in the van and she began a short comedy routine. See the transcript below:

Rori: Knock Knock
Dad:Who's there?
Rori: Frog
Dad: Frog who?
Rori: Why did the frog have to go to the doctor?
Dad: Why?
Rori: Because he wasn't hopping very well

Repeat with Banana-because he wasn't peeling very well
Repeat with Giraffe-because he wasn't eating very well
Repeat with Lion-because he wasn't roaring very well
Repeat with Zebra-because he wasn't moving his tail very well
Repeat with Panda-because he wasn't eating very well
Repeat with ?-we can't remember now :)

Her format was very consistent. I'm sensing a theme here!

Bryce

2011-04-17T16:07:00.000-06:00

Easter pics or our attempt at it

2011-04-15T11:20:00.001-06:00

The other night I decided I wanted to take some cute pics of my children in their Easter attire, so we attempted to do so, with varying success!

Rori decided on this pose herself!

I have to say that these are the cutest kids in the world, or I might be a little biased!

Rori "isms"

2011-04-06T10:06:00.000-06:00

Monkey 1, Monkey 2, and Monkey 3

Rori is growing into a spunky little girl. She's doesn't look like a toddler anymore and sure doesn't talk like one. She has been saying some pretty funny things lately. A few weeks ago on a relatively nice day, I decided to take the van through the carwash. Late she told me that the carwash was "amazing". While we were in Miles City over the break, my dad was trying to put a movie in the DVD player and couldn't see the letters on the remote because of lighting and he wasn't wearing his glasses. He said I can't read this. Rori responded by saying, "Grandma, can you help Grandpa, because he can't read?" It was very funny. She has also started to tell us "stories". She will say, "Listen, listen! I have to tell you a story." Then she will proceed to tell you something from a movie or her day that consists of one short point. That is her story and she is sticking to it. She appears to be my movie quoting child as well. She already quotes Sandlot. She says "Keep your eye on the ball, kid" and "Forever, forever..."

Goin' wild on Spring Break! part 2

2011-04-03T21:14:00.000-06:00

We were able to go to Miles City for a few days over Spring Break! It was a lot of fun. We were able to go to a magic show with Jay Owenhouse. Rylie is into magic right now and really liked it. She even got his autograph. We saw chicks, ducklings, and turkeys. We were able to pet rabbits and guinea pigs, eat cotton candy ice cream (even Bryce got some), watch some Wizard of Oz, and even bottle feed some lambs. Lots and lots of fun!

The lambs ran up to us like puppies.

Rori with Grandpa feeding Fancy

Not sure who is being fed

Goin' wild on Spring Break!

2011-04-03T20:27:00.001-06:00

Bryce hanging out with Grandma Denise. He lost the pants and decided to eat her hair! This was the only way to keep him from grabbing and destroying the paper.

Halfway there!

2011-03-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

Bryce is now 6 months old. He is such a happy baby, smiling and talking all the time. Very cute and loved by his sisters. They talk to him and he smiles as wide as he can. He loves to play with his feet and can move himself in a circle while lying on the floor. He sits up unsupported pretty well now and loves to eat pears!

I think he sneezed while eating, eww!

Check him out

He's not really standing by himself, just leaning

Hmmm, yummy keys, snack of champions!

Way to go!

2011-03-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Rylie's school and her teacher pulled me aside to tell me that Rylie had won a contest that the VFW Ladies Auxiliary held. She would be getting an award the next Friday during the Student of the Month assembly and it was a secret. We kept the secret and showed up to the assembly. Rylie was sitting up front with a group of students. I am not sure if she saw us come in or not. I asked her later what they told the kids who had to sit up front. She said they were suppose to be showing the kids how to sit the right way during the assembly.

They started announcing the winners for each class. Everyone was called up except Rylie and she was left sitting in the front by herself. It was then announced that she had been the winner for her classroom, the first grade in the school district and had taken 3rd place for the state of Montana. I think the contest was for K-2 kids. Not sure if that is completely accurate. She received a certificate, her picture in a frame, a $2 bill, colored pencils, 2 Lincoln dollar coins, and a cute puppy stuffed animal.

She was quite surprised and we are very proud of her. Good job, Rylie!

Rylie received her awards

Only Ry left sitting

All the kids sitting up front as good sitting examples

Bath Buddies

2011-03-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

Bryce loves being in the big bathtub with his sisters. He kicks and kicks and tries to get down as low as he can in the water. Rori is great at holding him in the tub and keeping his head out of the water. Rylie was there as well, but a little old for bathtub pics.

Princess Dress-up

2011-03-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Rori decided to get out the dress-ups a few weeks ago and this is what she came up with. A pasta necklace completes the ensemble nicely, adding the splash of color. The picture of her with her finger under her nose is apparently the mustache a lot of ballerinas are showing up with lately!

Cute Boy

2011-02-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

1, 2 touch your shoes

3,4 months old

Twinkle Toes is 3

2011-02-18T15:19:00.001-07:00

Rori turned 3 at the end of January. For her birthday, we went to Billings and met Grandma Denise, Grandpa Jay, Great Grandma Helen and Great Grandpa Ruben, and Uncle Charles. We stayed at a motel and went swimming. Then we did some shopping and had lunch at Red Lobster because Rori wanted shrimps. She had popcorn shrimp and stripped all of the breading off each and every shrimp.

Shrimp at Red Lobster for birthday lunch!!!

New clothes for birthday!

Twinkle toes shoes from Grandma Denise and Grandpa Jay

This is how we Little People

2011-02-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

We have a literal Little People village/small town living under Bryce's crib these days. Along with the actual toys themselves, we also are very privileged to have 3, count them 3, Little People claymation DVDs. Rori loves to watch these, over and over and over. They are good and wholesome and they have good moral lessons in them, but if I have to hear Aaron Neville singing "Discovering Michael and his friend ..." too many more times, I think I might lose it. No, it is just a problem when it gets stuck on repeat in my head. We love our Little People! (Photos courtesy of Rylie Schoenfeld, age 6)

Apparently this Little People person is having a birthday!

Ahh, justing enjoying the fire!

Rori lined everyone up for a campout/carwash?

Happy New Year, Bryce!

2011-01-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

We finally blessed Bryce on Sunday, January 2nd. Our families were able to come and participate with us. We had a little get together the night before with lots of food and goodies!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

Christmas arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Miles City. It looked like a paper war as we went along, with wrapping paper strewn far and wide across the living room!

Apparently all the excitement made Rori and Grandpa tired!

Pre-Christmas

2011-01-03T20:59:00.005-07:00

December contained a number of great adventures in our house!

We went on our annual Christmas tree hunt outside of York. Even Bryce braved it. Rori got cold feet due to snow getting in her boots. Rylie didn't ride in the sled at all and was quite the little snow hiker.

Rylie's school does a Christmas program. Last year as a kindergartner, all the speaking roles went to older first graders. Her school only has K-1, so when you are a first grader, you are at the top of the food chain. This year, we were surprised when Rylie came home and said she was going to have speaking parts as a ladybug in the the 2010 Eastgate production of A Bugz Christmas. Always glad to see when popular culture spelling put into our schools!
Check out her costume:

Rylie also just finished her first basketball season. She played on a girls' 1st and 2nd grade team. It was quite fun to watch at times. I mean, it's easy to play defense if the girl you are suppose to be guarding is guarding you instead. Very funny at times. Ry even made a basket in one game and improved on playing defense and getting open. Sometimes it looked a little like a rugby scrum, but very cute overall.

We had a great time this holiday season. We went to Miles City for Christmas and arrived on December 23rd. The girls were very excited to get to Grandma's house.
The electricity went out that night for a couple hours, which led to pajama flashlight dancing. Grandpa gathered all the flashlights and lanterns throughout the house.

All kiddos received new monkey pajamas which they loved. Rori put hers on and they were little long with floppy feet. She said, "I look like a duck". She proceede to convert this phrase into a song to which she flashlight danced in the power outage.

On Christmas Eve day, all the preparations were made for the welcoming of Santa and his reindeer.

More to come in the next installment:

Rori "isms" part 2

2010-12-21T08:29:00.003-07:00

Rori is the wild child in our family at this point. She is 2 going on 16 and tries to negotiate herself out of trouble. She threw a toy at Rylie and I told her we don't throw toys, to which she promptly responds, "But we throw balls". Of course, those would be toys too. She also is acquiring quite the vocabulary. The other day she had a runny nose and said, "I certainly need a tissue." The word, personally came out of her in some context. We were driving in the car and she said, "Isn't that interesting?"

For a few days she kept asking me if I knew gono and ghost. I thought this was some cartoon character that I was not familiar with. I asked her what she was talking about and she would just get mad. I asked her again one day when she was talking to Mark and she said it's spanish. Dora is her friend, so this didn't surprise me. Mark finally figured out the gono and ghost were uno and dos. She also added ocho to the mix for good measure.

So, adios for now!

Skating and Santa Claus

2010-12-09T14:14:00.005-07:00

This past Friday, we went to an ice skating party thrown by the kids' dentist. I think it is just a ploy to see if anyone can fall and knock a tooth out :) Instant business!!

No, just kidding about the teeth falling out, but it is a well attended event by hundreds of kids! Santa Claus was there along with treats, hot chocolate, and crafts. And yes, even Santa skated. Rylie wasn't really shy about talking to Santa, but Rori didn't want anything to do with him as you can see from the photos (until he offered her a candy cane). Apparently we haven't had the "don't take candy from strangers" talk yet!

While waiting to speak with Santa, a little girl around eight years old was asking Santa for a machete. Yes, a machete. Apparently she and her dad go hiking a lot through the vast rain forest/jungle of Montana. Santa deferred this request to her parents and asked if there was something less violent that she wanted. It was pretty hilarious!

Rylie did a great job skating around and hardly fell down. Rori's skates didn't really fit and were kind of trashed. She tried though, with Daddy's help. I guess Rylie's roller-blading in her mom's size 10 blades in the basement has paid off.

Rock and Roll

2010-12-08T09:15:00.004-07:00

We were at Costco a few weeks ago and Daddy had to go and mess with the electric guitars, so others had to follow. I think they look like naturals!

Rori "isms"

2010-11-12T18:08:00.003-07:00

When Rylie was younger, I made a better note of funny things she said, so I am working on doing that for Rori as well.

She said, "Jourdan has a bob named cat." when referring to a friend's pet.
She always tells me that "When I was baby, I was soo cute." She told my mom that Mark was lost in the hotel today.

One day while sitting at the dinner table, she was mad for some reason and threw her hands up in the air and said, "I give up." Not sure where that came from.

I will submit more later as I remember them!

Awesome pics

2010-11-03T20:28:00.005-06:00

My friend, the totally talented Janna Beecher, took some great family photos for us. There are so many to choose from, but here are a few of my favorites.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T19:00:00.003-06:00

Halloween arrived again this year. I think we were ready for it. The weather hasn't been too bad. Rylie and Rori decided what they were going to dress up as and away we went. Bryce didn't have a choice and was beholden to what his mother did to him.
Enjoy! We think they turned out pretty good.

Sleeping like a baby?

2010-10-24T21:12:00.003-06:00

Bryce is now 6 1/2 weeks old and weighing in at a whopping 11 lbs 1 oz! Wow! He is growing and changing so much everyday. He likes to look at faces and seems to recognize and hear when his sisters are around. He smiles and coos! Mark asked him what letter came after N in the alphabet and he replied "O" (since this is pretty much the only thing that he can say). What can I say, he's a prodigy :)

My Helpers

2010-10-06T13:58:00.007-06:00

After going to Rylie's first grade class as her show and tell. Bryce didn't want to sit up and have a photo taken.

The two best big sisters in the whole world!

More pics

2010-09-23T09:11:00.002-06:00

Bryce is now two weeks old. He seems to have grown, but hasn't really gained a ton of weight yet. He is awake more now these days.

Welcome, Welcome!

2010-09-12T21:59:00.003-06:00

Welcome to our newest addition to the Schoenfeld family:
Bryce Johnson Schoenfeld
Born at 1:28 am on Wednesday, September 8th
Weighing in at 21 inches long and 8 lbs 7.5 ounces

Bryce was scheduled to come into the world on Friday, but decided he couldn't wait any longer to meet his sisters. He decided to send Mom and Dad to the hospital at 11:30 on Tuesday night. A friend came to stay with the girls until Grandma Denise and Grandpa Jay could make the night drive from Miles City!

Everyone essential was assembled for the C-section and we were underway. Dr. Malany was the surgeon and it was a quiet affair until Bryce was taken out. Then we heard him cry and it was a wonderful moment. He was such a pink baby and looked to be quite healthy. He looked great.

When Rylie and Rori woke up in the morning, they were very surprised to see Grandma and Grandpa here instead of mom. Rylie figured that the baby had come. They all came up that morning to see him and love him. He didn't have a name until after they came. We let Rylie choose between the two names that we had been working on. We thought we had until Friday to decide, but I guess not. I guess if we had just listened to Rori we would have had a name already. For the past couple of months, when Rori had been asked what the baby's name was, she replied, "Treasure Box". After Bryce was born and people would ask her his name, she would say "Treasure".
She refused to call him Bryce until we decided to name her own baby doll Treasure.

We came home on Friday morning. The nurse wheeled me down to the lobby and Mark went to get the van and pull it up to the front doors. He came back and told us that we had a problem. The van had a flat tire. Great! He put the spare on and we headed for home.

Sisters, School, End of Summer

2010-09-02T09:07:00.003-06:00

First day of school 2010-Rori and I walked Rylie over to the school!

We ride grizzlies here in Montana. This is in the park in York. Rori told me that the bear was dangerous!

Capital Classic Kids' Fun Run

I could tell that the time was quickly approaching for school to be back in session. My girls would not stop bickering! Aaah! They love each other, just a little too much sometimes. We love them both and know that they will be good friends and fantastic sisters to each other and their soon-to-be arriving brother!

Rylie's first day of first grade-it was terrible weather, but she got to wear her cute pink raincoat!!!

Mark finishing the York 38 Special bike ride-he rode really well!

Summer fun!

2010-08-13T10:06:00.003-06:00

This past month, we've been doing all kinds of things. Fingerpainting, biking, racing, and just taking it easy. We went camping last weekend before the baby arrives. It was beautiful and I love air mattresses for camping. Bears can stay away!

Ry did her first bike "race". I think they should give medals (a giant sugar cookie on a ribbon) like hers all the time. Who needs another piece of metal? Rori can hardly wait be able to ride her own bike.

She's Golden!

2010-07-13T16:10:00.001-06:00

Rylie celebrated her 6th birthday on the 6th of July! She decided to have a Treasure Party to go along with the golden theme. We looked for treasure and decorated our own ice cream cone cupcakes with as much frosting and sprinkles as each child wanted! We did it outside so mess didn't even matter and clean up was a snap! Thanks to all who came and thanks to Grandma Denise and Daddy who helped too!

Fun in the Sun

2010-07-01T17:24:00.003-06:00

We went to Utah to see family and watch Mark do the Wasatch Back! We had beautiful weather and the cousins got to play and play. This made for some very tired kiddos, but they did have a blast!

The Best Kind of Crazy -Ragnar Relay 2010

2010-06-28T16:46:00.000-06:00

Mark and his sister participated in the 2010 Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. Runners are on a team of 12 and run continuously starting from Logan to Park City for a total of 188 miles! Each runner completes 3 legs of the race. It is a crazy fun time! There were over 1000 teams competing in this two day event.

Catching up! (sort of)

2010-06-14T07:24:00.002-06:00

Well, I think that summer may finally finally be around the corner. It has been wet and kind of miserable spring on the weather front around here. I don't think we had a single Saturday soccer game that didn't include wind or rain of some sort. Rylie is officially a 1st grader now. She had a great kindergarten year with a fantastic teacher. I thought she was going to be sad on the last day of school but she quickly got past that. Rori had her cast removed on May 27th, so she if off and running for the summer. I am the event manager for everyone as Mark has done a few different races and we all participated in the Govenor's Cup this Saturday! Beautiful weather compared to last year's snow,rain, and cold (39 degrees). The girls and my parents even ended up on the local news on Friday evening. We went to pick up our race packets and stopped to see the seatbelt demonstration.!Thankfully I was able to stay out of the shot since I am carrying baby 3 and feel a little like a wide load! I did do the 5K with my mom after she finished the 10K. Lots of fun things

Our first broken limb!

2010-05-20T07:24:00.003-06:00

Just FYI, some of you may have noticed the bright orange cast on Rori's arm in the previous post. She fell in the backyard on the swingset about three weeks ago and fractured her right radius. She likes to show people her cast and thinks that she will get a purple one after this. It hasn't slowed her down at all. Should be off next Tuesday!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T10:25:00.005-06:00

My children decided to get up as early as possible on Mother's Day. Not sure exactly why, but they were wide awake at 6:30 am! Here are a couple of highlights from the day! I have a wonderful family!

Mark and Rori making the French toast

Early risers looking a little tired

Loyalty Day

2010-05-10T10:19:00.002-06:00

Rylie recently won the VFW Loyalty award for her class. She drew a picture celebrating America and received her very first trophy. She had taken possession of an old baseball trophy of her dad's. She had this sitting on her headboard. After she got her own she didn't want his baseball trophy anymore. He was out of town and when he came home, found his old trophy on his dresser. It was very funny.
We were very proud of her. She had to speak in front of whole school about what her picture was about.

Coming soon!!!

2010-05-01T14:11:00.002-06:00

Spring Soccer in Montana

2010-04-26T17:09:00.003-06:00

Well, another spring soccer season has sprung in Montana. We are never sure of what the weather will bring. Will Rylie need to wear a winter jacket to play or shorts. It depends on the day. The first practice called for a winter jacket and was done in the snow. Yikes! The next week was shorts. Crazy. I think her team was the only one that didn't cancel practice in the snow. As I was standing in the snow watching her practice with other parents standing in the snow, I thought, "What am I doing? They are five, if we miss a practice I don't think it will make too much difference. " She had her first game this past Saturday. This is the first time she has played using a goalie and I think she liked being the goalie. It was very fun to watch.

Happy Easter, Part 2

2010-04-20T09:28:00.003-06:00

Here are the rest of the Easter photos!

Happy Easter

2010-04-12T11:52:00.004-06:00

Easter has come and gone again this year. It seems like the year just started and now we are almost a third of the way through the year. We traveled to Miles City for Easter. Rylie was in Miles City for the week of Spring Break just prior to Easter so she was excited to see us. We went to an Easter Egg hunt in the park and then another Easter activity at the nursing home where the residents handed out candy, eggs, and little toys. It was very nice. It wasn't fantastically warm, but we didn't have to wear winter coats either. Such is Easter in Montana.
Check out the photos!

Sweetest Sisters

2010-03-31T12:20:00.002-06:00

I have two of the cutest little girls on the planet. Completely different personalities but still adorable, although I may exhibit some kind of bias being their mother. Rylie is growing up way too fast and is gone to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Spring Break. We miss her. I asked Rori where Rylie was and she told me she was at our grandma's house. Rori has never had this much continuous alone time with Mom and Dad. Rori has been dancing all morning in her leotard and tutu. I hope that they will be friends as they grow up. Rori actually does all the picking on Rylie usually. Ry never lays a hand on Rori for now anyway. Love my girls!

GoHelena.com

2010-03-17T09:01:00.002-06:00

Some family pictures of us are featured on a new website for Helena Area Chamber of Commerce. Check out the link. These were taken about 18 months ago as you can tell from the babyish looking Rori and round-faced Rylie.
Go Helena

Who are you? Who! Who!

2010-03-04T13:38:00.006-07:00

Our family likes to attend community events like high school and college sports in the Helena area. A few weeks ago, we decided to go to the Carroll College basketball games. We went last year when they played Westminster College from Salt Lake, because a student from my very first year of teaching was playing for Westminster. He was an eighth grader in 1998 and was now a senior in college. I talked to him at the game and he remembered me. It was funny now to see him as a 24 year old grown up, but he looked the same, just a little bigger. So, we decided to the game this year even though he had graduated, because Westminster is one of the higher ranked teams for the NAIA Frontier Conference. Rori just goes to basketball games for the mascots and the food. Rori is terrified of actually being near the mascots, so she yells at them from afar. Hey, dog!! (Carroll's mascot) Rylie goes for the mascots, food, free t-shirts and balls as well, but isn't afraid of mascots anymore. In fact, apparently we had been to a few too many games in a short amount of time. Before we left, Rori wanted to know if the tiger and the bear were going to be there. We went to crosstown basketball here and the mascots are the Bengals(aka tiger) and the Bruins (aka bear).
So, last year at this particular game, a certain basketball legend had made an appearance and I thought maybe he would again this year. I tucked my camera into my purse hoping for the best. Last year, I was the first to spot said celebrity and as luck would have it, I was again standing in the doorway when he walked into the gym.
I'm not going to tell you who it is. You have to identify him yourself!

Did you get it yet??

Once There Was a Snowman!!!

2010-02-18T11:46:00.001-07:00

Birthday Fun!

2010-02-10T14:44:00.004-07:00

Rori celebrated her birthday on Jan. 31st. We had a family party on Saturday with Bapa Jay, Bapa Denise, Bapa Helen, and Bapa Ruben, and Charlie. Bapa is what Rori says for Grandpa and Grandma. It is really quite cute. She got to go to Applebee's for lunch and they sang to her. Then she got to go shopping for some new clothes. Finally we had pizza and opened presents, followed by cake and ice cream. She had a ball.

5 going on 15??

2010-02-05T09:14:00.002-07:00

Rylie is a funny girl. She loves school and she is loving to read in kindergarten. She is very picky about her clothes and has to wear gym clothes on gym day so she can do the "warrior" pose. I asked her what that was and she proceeded to show me her fiercest warrior pose. I didn't get a picture of that but can now see why she needs flexible clothing. She did however get some new fashion items when grandma came to town. Check her out!

Soon to be 2

2010-01-27T09:33:00.003-07:00

Miss Rori is turning 2 this Sunday! Wow, two years has flown by. She's no longer a baby!

Christmas part 2

2010-01-19T09:02:00.002-07:00

We made a quick trip to Miles City for New Year's and to celebrate the rest of Christmas. While we were there, we helped with a veterans' New Year's Eve party. Rori and Rylie were the hits of the night, where we ate, played Bingo, and listened to live music.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T14:13:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Snow fun and Gingerbread time!

2009-12-22T21:11:00.004-07:00

Rylie, Rori and Rylie's buddy from school went out last week to have a little fun in the snow!

Rylie decorated a gingerbread house and had a blast. Rori wanted to help. At one point we thought she had stuffed a small round candy up her nose, but it was a false alarm!
Enjoy!

A hunting we will go!

2009-12-16T10:59:00.003-07:00

On Saturday, Dec. 5th, we decided to brave the snow and head out to our usual spot to search for the perfect tree. The weather decided to be a little iffy, but 4-wheel drive can work wonders in the snow. We made up into the mountains past York, MT. If you've never been there, you should try it.

It is home to a great park for kids, the York Bar (home of the famous York burgers), and the York 38 special bike ride (which does not take place in the winter). When Rylie was just a few months old, Mark and I went with some friends to YorkFest. Rylie was riding in the stroller in her carseat. We parked it outside the community hall and somehow, she was left in the stroller (she was sleeping and completely warm). I thought Mark had her and he thought I had her, while neither one of us had her. We were both inside the building and she was not. We quickly remedied the matter. Anyway, here are some photos of the adventure. The batteries died on the camera so I to wait to get the after shot of the tree. Merry Christmas!!!

Portable North Pole-Santa sent videos this year!

2009-12-15T17:06:00.004-07:00

To Rylie:

To Rori:

Merry Christmas!!!

What have we been up to?

2009-11-23T10:09:00.003-07:00

The month of November is flying by. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is around the corner and through the woods already. Rylie was Student of the Month for her Health Enhancement class (aka gym)at school, so she was in the Student of the Month assembly. We were very proud. The marched into the gym for the assembly to "Eye of the Tiger", very funny. They are the Eastgate Tigers, so it was appropriate. Rori is talking and talking and talking. She has imaginary conversations on retired cell phones. She likes to do things herself and is very independent.

Ryle and Rori got new dresses and they are very cute!

Mark just got back from New York for work. He was just outside of New York City and saw a couple of celebrities. He saw Tyra Banks coming out of the company he was auditing and tried to take a photo but was stifled by the company receptionist. He also saw hockey player, Mark Messier. (I don't know who this is, but we saw him on TV last night as well.) He went into Manhattan one day and went to the Metropolitan Museum and Times Square.

Seuss-tastic

2009-11-01T21:56:00.002-07:00

Rylie is learning a lot in kindergarten. Her teacher told the class if there is a book they can read all by themselves and they practice, they can bring it to school and read it to the class. Rylie decided to do this and read "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss to her class last week. It is 61 pages long, so it took her two different days to finish it. She took her own pictures of herself and the book!

Halloween fun!

2009-11-01T18:16:00.003-07:00

We'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

A Little Space of My Own

2009-11-01T17:57:00.004-07:00

Rori seems to love to get into small confined spaces Apparently claustrophobia is not something she suffers from. Take a look at the funny places she likes to be.

We were taking out the cabinets in our kitchen and this is Rori helping.

After we got the new cabinet put in, Rori decided to move in with her banana. You can just see her shoes neatly placed and her stuffed panda in the background of the cabinet. All of the comforts of home!

Fall is fun!

2009-09-30T13:30:00.004-06:00

I've been behind posting, so I thought I would catch up a little bit. Rylie is enjoying school but all day kindergarten is very tiring. We live close to the school so we walk there every morning. She is getting so big and mature! She's doing great in school. She's playing soccer and loves it. Her team is the yellow one.

Rori is adjusting to not having Rylie around but asks everyday, "Where Rylie at?" I always tell her she is at school, but she keeps asking. She loves to imitate her big sister and when we drive by the school during the day, she yells "Hi Rylie!"
She wants to do everything Rylie does.

Look Mom!

2009-09-30T13:13:00.003-06:00

So, we were getting ready to travel to visit Miles City the Friday before Labor day. I was getting everything loaded and waiting to get Rylie from school and Mark home from work. Rori took the time to look through my nightstand and this was the result:

She of course got it on her shirt, so I had to wash it before we left. She was very proud of her makeup abilities and actually got some of it on her lips. She also tried to apply lipstick to the family photo behind her. Funny monkey!

K is for Kindergarten

2009-08-28T11:26:00.003-06:00

Well, Rylie is officially a kindergartener and she loves it. The night before I asked her if she had any questions about it before she went to bed. She told me she couldn't wait to see what it was like and she imagined it was like high school (obviously she's been with mom and grandma at high school a lot). She did great as we walked over to the school and when it was time to leave her, she went right in to the classroom and sat down and didn't look back! It was me who cried on the way back to the house. When she got home the first day she was very tired and went down to bed about 2 hours before she normally would. She couldn't fall asleep and was very frustrated because she couldn't wait to go back to school! I think she will be exhausted tonight! Take a look at the pictures!

5 Alive!

2009-07-30T11:37:00.006-06:00

Well, she did it! Rylie turned 5 on July 6th! She has gotten so tall and grown up this summer. She can hardly wait for kindergarten and has learned to ride her bike this summer as well. She had her first "friends party" which was a lot of fun. I'll post more pictures of birthday soon!

My Girls

2009-07-21T17:05:00.002-06:00

This week my girls went with Grandma and Grandpa for the whole entire week. This is the first time I have been away from them for any length of time other than a night or so. I have the best children in the world, and yes, I am biased. It is so quiet around my house without them. I don't really know what to do with myself, although I'm sure that I can come up with a few things (weed the garden, laundry, sewing, napping, nothing, cleaning, reading, etc.) I feel so very blessed to have them in my life and love them endlessly. I found myself walking through the toy aisle at the store yesterday even though I had no one to talk about the toys with. Rylie is getting so grown up and smart. She amazes me everyday with everything she knows. Rori is a ball of fire and loves to bug her sister already, but they are still the best of friends. Rylie does a great job of playing with Rori and helping with her. I couldn't have asked Heavenly Father for two better children Love you, Ror and Ry!
Mommy

Only in Montana

2009-07-12T20:17:00.001-06:00

Need I say more!?

Crazy month!!!

2009-06-18T22:50:00.005-06:00

We've been busy over the last few weeks! The girls and I went to Miles City to visit our family and go to the Bucking Horse Sale while Mark was out of town. Then when Mark got back he participated in a sprint triathalon. He took 19th overall out of about 70+ participants. Then the next Saturday, we all participated in the Governor's Cup races in the snow and rain. Check out the video I made. The next week, we went to Coeur D'Alene, ID for Mark to do an adventure race. He met his buddy there and they kayaked, ran, mountain biked, and orienteered their way through Farragut State Park. It was a beautiful place. We went on the park tour for the girls on the way there so they enjoyed it too. I think that is all the racing we've done so far.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Rodeo Star is Born

2009-05-16T16:30:00.003-06:00

Funny Girls!

2009-05-04T07:14:00.004-06:00

Rylie's carefully chosen post-church outfit:

View from my window

2009-04-29T07:49:00.002-06:00

APRIL 29, 2009
7:50 AM

Rori knows NOSE

2009-04-24T14:51:00.002-06:00

The past couple of weeks

2009-04-16T12:54:00.002-06:00

I realized I forgot a few photos so I've added a few more. Thanks for checking it out.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

When will it end

2009-04-06T06:52:00.002-06:00

Okay, I'm talking about winter here in Montana. It seems like we are on the neverending plan this year for winter. Spring just can't seem to break through. We're hoping for it this week! Rylie tried to go out and be springy this weekend. Thanks for the chalk, Uncle Charles!

My parents came for the weekend from Miles City and Rylie called them along the way to see where they were. She loves to talk on the cell phone. I could only hear her end of the conversation and it went like this:

Rylie: Hi, where are you?
unaudible reply
Rylie: You're in a snowbank? me, saying to Rylie, They're in a snowbank? Rylie shaking her head and whispering, "Not anymore"
Rylie: You're at Three Forks? Okay
me taking the phone at this point
Me: You were in a snowbank?
Mom: No, I told her it was like we were in a snowglobe.
I get it now!

Little Daredevil

2009-03-23T11:59:00.002-06:00

Rylie likes to climb on things and jump off of things, so it is no surprise that Rori is following in her footsteps! Rylie brought up her dress up chest and Mark found Rori using it for other things.

The Protester

2009-03-12T10:02:00.008-06:00

On President's Day, my parents headed to Helena with a busload of high school kids. My dad was the bus driver and my mom was the chief organizer. Mark and I were additional chaperones, trailing the bus. We met all the other kids at Helena High and headed up to the Capital building to give those legislators a piece of our mind. They are voting on more funding for the Montana Meth Project and so it was a huge showing of kids telling the legislature to say yes to more funding (not say yes to meth). Rylie got a ride on Grandpa's shoulders for part of the march. She even got her own sign. Go Rylie! Her picture ended up on the Montana Meth project website in the photos of the event.

Shoes, shoes, shoes...

2009-03-09T09:40:00.004-06:00

Rori-March 2009
Rori has been fascinated with shoes lately. She tries to put on everyone else's shoes. I seem to recall another little girl that liked other people's shoes...
Rylie-May 2005

Tribute to President's Day

2009-02-18T08:28:00.003-07:00

On our way to the mailbox yesterday, Rylie told me about President George Lincoln, who cut down his dad's favorite cherry tree. Then he told the truth about it. Don't we wish all our presidents told the truth about everything. Funny!

Rori Rocks!

2009-02-11T17:19:00.002-07:00

Rori is the big one!

2009-02-02T12:38:00.002-07:00

We celebrated Rori's first birthday on Saturday. She was hilarious, I'll post video later. She loved all her presents and would flit from one to the other with a grin on her face! What a sweet girl!
We love you Ror!

Socks on Fox

2009-01-29T09:47:00.004-07:00

Okay, I know that I write about Rylie a lot. She's only 4 but sometimes she acts like a teenager. She tends to take her socks off at home all the time because she says her feet are hot. I understand, that's fine, but then she will tell me she is cold so I tell her to put her socks on. Crazy kid. The other night I asked her what happened to her socks. She said she had to take them off. I asked her why and she told me that she needed to have her socks off in order to "placemat surf" of course. Yeah, why didn't I think of that. Sure enough, I looked in the living room, found her socks on the couch and a placemat on the floor. Maybe it should become a new sport.

Rylie is funny

2009-01-23T15:58:00.003-07:00

Rylie is still saying some funny things:

The other night at dinner we were talking about kindergarten and filling out the paperwork for it. I said that there would be kindergarten screening in June and Rylie wanted to know "Why are the kindergartners screaming?".

She has also been learning about dinosaurs at preschool so last night we were at the Carroll College and she said that her head kept saying "Paleontologist, paleontologist, paleontologist!It's running in my head." Very funny!

The other night, Grandma Denise called to tell Rylie that she was getting a new dollar store in her town. This had come up before when the previous store closed. Rylie told us, "Grandma's getting a new dollar store so she won't have to borrow mine anymore."

Giveaway Cool Stroller

2009-01-22T09:49:00.003-07:00

Giveaway #25—Bumbleride Indie Twin Stroller

I Never Grew Up click on the link to go to the blog.
I didn't know that there were giveaways on blogs and thought I would check this one out since it is a product that I could use immensely. Check out the other cool kid craft ideas as well. Directions on how to enter are found on the blog. Good luck!

The Chief Collector and Mess Maker

2009-01-16T19:52:00.005-07:00

Rori is fast approaching her 1st birthday at the end of this month. She's grown so fast in the past year. She's already walking and signing a few signs. She's a very happy baby. Rylie loves having a little sister. Currently one of Rori's favorite hobbies is getting things out of the kitchen cupboard.

I've given over a drawer in the kitchen for Rori to store playthings in. As you can see she has some measuring spoons and cups, along with a variety of other items she collects from around the house. This is what was in the drawer tonight. 1 sock (she found this in the cupboard and didn't think it belonged in there) VCR remote, Little People, measuring spoons, sprinkes, CD Case (every almost 1 year old needs one), and various other items. Previous tenants included placemats, corn muffin mix, and a menagerie of other things. She's very good at closing the drawer which will come in handy when she is older.