Let It SNOW!!

13 plus inches! Yup, you got it, Richmond finally was hit with some REAL snow! For the first time since the little Surratts have been around and they are LOVING it! Riley, as we discovered last year at the Wintergreen snow park, is a Dare Devil and Loves the hill in our back yard and Kyle has jumped on board this year as well... however that was no surprise since he copies EVERYTHING Ri does right now! In fact, we have forbid Ri from claiming 'not to like' any type of food because when she does, Kyle decides he doesn't like that food either, even when it is his Favorite item!! The kids have had a blast with friends in the neighborhood and Eric and Tracy have as well. The Surratt Pack has checked out from real life and has enjoyed being snowed in:-)

I'm not sure how this many weeks has passed without blogging... I'm going to blame it on the virus that we caught. Not the one that make Riley puke the other night (she was so cautious of vomiting only in the blue puke bowl!) but the virus that our computer caught - it was a week long of cleaning and ultimately reformatting!

In the past month we have had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Bebe's with fabulous friends and of course amazing family, we have had a school thanksgiving celebration that first showed the newly terrifying stage fright that Ri has discovered, many playgroups, the jingle bell jamboree, a couple b-day parties, a couple illnesses, our neighborhood holiday party, a mini dance recital, and soooo much more! I hope it can all be detailed with pix, b/c it would take pages to detail!! Over all, the holiday season is fully with us and there is lots of love to go around!

We were not as on top of sending xmas cards this year, so if you didn't get one - here it is (taken by Gil Hires!!):

To the Core

As always, the Surratt Pack has been busy! Last week, we had our first teacher/parent conferences at the new school. Riley was described by her teacher as "extremely sweet and respectful", "above average", having "great penmanship", "loved by everyone in the class", and a "giggle bunny". Over all, it was a great meeting:-) Kyle's was also glowing. His teachers adore him and find him to be super sweet and listen very well (we are not sure why that doesn't occur at home!) He is ready to move up to the next class and should do just as well with the bigger kids.

In the past couple weeks we have stayed busy. Eric cooked his annual massive batch of chili for a bunch of our friends and we had a fun afternoon/evening at the house catching up with old friends. Tracy helped plan and coordinate "Kids Give Back II" which was held this past weekend. The kids made Angels to put on their xmas trees (b/c they have been angels all year helping others) and also made a ton of wreaths to deliver to Ashland Convalescent Center.

Over all the weather has been so-so, but we have spend many days on the playground soaking up the last bit of decent weather. Riley is also still enjoying dance class and Kyle Romp-n-roll and both playgroup. Enjoy the pix and Happy Thanksgiving (early!)!!

Riley, Kyle, and Lexa at the Childrens Museum hunting for bones

Kyle dressed as a clown at the museum's stage
The Museum is all decked out for the holiday already including this cool sleigh

Baby Ben, Ri, and Ruthie playing in the leaves after delivering the wreaths

Riley playing in the leaves

Riley and Laura waiting to deliver the wreaths (didn't they come out great!?)

Riley all ready for the holidays!

Kyle putting his new Cars underwear on his head.... I stopped asking 'why' a long time ago!

Autumn leaves

Our baby girl is FIVE!! It has been the fastest and best 5 years of our lives because of the joy she (and Kyle!) bring every day! I tend to drone on about the activities the kids have been up to however in celebration of our little girls 5th year, it is important to mention what an amazing person Riley is turning into. Aside from being smart and adorable, she is compassionate and caring and way too insightful for her age! We are so lucky to have such an outstanding little girl and are looking forward to the coming years to see what an amazing young lady she turns into!

And back to the last couple weeks... Halloween monopolized out lives for a week! We had the neighborhood halloween parade, a halloween party with the moms club, dance class, and Grace and then topped the week off with a visit to Ashland Convalescent Center for one last Halloween parade. And then of course was the big night! The kids had a blast - there is no stopping the girls and Kyle did his best to keep up!

Riley has had 2 more fun birthday parties for friends and also had her last couple tball games. It was a fun ride, but she plans to take a couple seasons off to explore her love of gymnastics, tennis, and dance;-) Choices have to be made, but hopefully she'll play again later in life!

Riley also had her 5 year check up. We get to have another appointment with the peds eye doctor in a few weeks... between Tracy and Eric, it is inevitable that the kids will wear glasses at some point! Other than that, all is great. She is 43 inches tall and 44 pounds. This puts her well above 50% on both parts.

Kyle is as sweet as ever! He hangs tough with the big kids, but is beyond excited to have a new buddy his age who just moved in across the street! Kyle fought some sort of stomach bug for a few days and then ended up with a nasty ear infection in the middle of the week... but nothing that would keep him down! Kyle also started a Romp-n-roll class and much to Tracy's surprise, can follow directions very well (when it is not Tracy giving the direction!!).

And most importantly, Happy Birthday Bebe!! Today is Bebe's 73 birthday! We love you!
Enjoy the pix:

Calebs birthday party (Nike shirt) - Ri is on the right

Caleb was one of the 1st kids who befriended Ri at her new school and they adore each other.

The Yankees! The Yankees! Coach Charlie and his assistants, Brad Best and Eric (daddy) were the best!Riley FINALLY started running for real by the end of the season!

Up at bat and all pink!

Riley at Laurens bday party

Lauren is the other friend Riley had instantly at the new school and they too adore each other!

Kyle (frog) sorting through his loot. We told them they could pick 1 item to eat and they were cool with that... strange... never thought that would work!

Ri (bride) and her loot!

Riley & Kyle with the Red Robin on Riley's 5th birthday!

The bride and wonder woman!

Riley, Emma, Lexa, Kyle, and Ruthie

The Frog in the bounce house

The bride in the bounce house

It's not easy being green.

Jumpin into 5!

What a week!! Our baby girl is about to turn FIVE!! On Saturday we celebrated Riley's birthday at All Smiles - All American Gymnastics with a ton of her friends! Riley surprised us all by enjoying being the center of attention and doing everything asked of her on all the gymnastics equipment! She had a blast, as did all of her friends and brother! Riley received sooo many wonderful gifts and loved spending time with Grandma, Papa, Bebe, and Aunt Becky. Thank you Everyone for making her birthday so special!

We are now in Halloween mode and will have tons of pix of our little Bride and Frog!!

Birthday beginnings

The birthday frenzy continues! Riley had a blast at Pump It Up again on Saturday and Kyle had just as much fun at a separate birthday party at Romp N Roll too! Unfortunately, was cold and wet all weekend so t-ball was cancelled, but that gave Riley even more time to enjoy with Bebe and Eric as they shopped Toy-R-Us for Ri's 5th birthday and had a nice dinner out together!

Kyle had a fun play date with his buddy, Cerys on Sunday while Tracy and Riley shopped for a new leotard to get ready for Riley's gymnastics birthday party this Saturday!!

The weather has finally cleared up and the kids enjoyed playing tennis today - we hope there are a few more nice afternoons for biking and tennis still before the real winter comes in!! Between Halloween events and Riley's birthday party events, we will have TONs of pix coming soon!

Riley at dance with her teacher, Ms. Amy.

Ms. Amy commented this week how impressed she is with how much Riley retains!

We've always said, she has the mind of an elephant!

Kyle under the parachute at Romp-n-roll

The following are beach pix from our vacation to Emerald Isle in September... it took me this long to get them off my camera and organize them!

You're My Hugabuga!

Fall is officially here and it began with our annual trip to the Ashland Berry Farm to pick pumpkins! For the 1st time in 5 years, the weather was perfect for pumpkin picking and fresh donuts! The Lamberts and O'Sullivans joined us and we had a great morning on the tractor, in the fields and running through the maze/obstacle course!

The week was a busy one! Riley is loving dance and tball is still... fun! Actually, her shyness is getting better and she is starting to really nail the ball. Kyle is still upset at every practice and game b/c he doesn't get to play, but a Cars sticker book seems to have distracted him pretty well.

On Friday we visited the local airport to watch the planes come in... however due to wind, we only saw one plane take off. None the less, the kids had a blast and we had time to catch up with old friends. That afternoon we celebrated Emory's 4th birthday with the Sprouls! Saturday was the neighborhood yard sale and we are now free of all baby items!! Riley also had the 1st of a month and a half string of Saturday b-day parties! Pump It Up was as much fun as always and then she headed off to tball. After church on Sunday, Tracy, Ri, & Kyle headed up to Kings Dominion while Eric watched the Steelers WIN!! Go Steelers!

Needless to say, the week before was just as busy but we also took a trip up to Arlington Cemetery, plus Tracy was out of town the entire week. Wait, the most exciting news - we can officially say that Kyle is potty trained! He requires very few reminders and loves his Cars big boy pants! ok, ok, enough - on to the good stuff... pix!

Riley, year 5, at the pumpkin patch - to check out the past 4 years:

http://thesurrattpack.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Riley and Eric on the tractor
Kyle with his Women, Ivy and Cerys

Kyle doing a happy dance!

Riley and Aiden (courtesy of Amanda!)

Tracy, Eric, Riley, Lexa and Kyle

The annual pix at Ashland Berry Farm

Ri playing ball in front of our house

At Arlington Cemetery