Happy 3rd Birthday Monkey-man!!

The Surratt Pack is BACK! After a 4 month break we have decided to come back... I'm not sure what happened... I got busy, got bored, got sidetracked... but either way, I was tired of detailing out the craziness of our weeks. We stay busy. That is a fact and I got tired of writing the blow by blow of our weeks when really, what I should be doing is detailing out all the GREAT stuff the kids do and say - so they can come back to this some day (or I can!) and remember all the super sweet moments of their little lives. Which is why we are BACK! I went looking for a specific pix the other day on this blog and got sucked in on all the memories... the kids have grown soooo much even since we started this blog and thats what this blog is all about - watching Riley and Kyle grow and turn into amazing people!

So... Happy Third Birthday little man!! We can't belive you are THREE!!! You are amazing! Fearless (which is why you have no teeth, I'll get back to that story!), loving, sweet, compassionate, and sooo full of life!

Kyle is now in the 75th % for height (38.25 inches) and 50th % in weight (33 lbs). I was worried about this balance (Kyle falls ALOT - also back to the teeth story, which I'll get to in the coming days!) so I asked Dr. Chun about it. The Doc had kyle do a bunch of tests (jumping, balancing etc) As it turns out, Kyle is more agile and more daring than he should be for his age (and THAT was the diagnosis!) Kyle is also speaking beyond his age and his comprehension is excellent (we, the parents, are not sure we believe that one... his listening skills with us is not where we'd like it!) Not long ago, Darcy asked Kyle, "do you ever have a thought you DON'T say out loud?" Kyle paused, shook his head and replied, "nope!" and kept on running!

All in all, K is a love bug and we are not sure how we got soooo lucky!!

K looking oh so serious!

Pinata - remind in future years NOT to get a pinata!
Kyle sporting his new CARs shirt!
Kyle and the Lightning McQueen cake

The CAKE! Months back, I helped organize the Thumbs Up Ball in honor/memory of CJ Reynolds, a 4 year old little girl in our area who lost her battle with cancer. At the Ball, we had a GREAT silent auction. And as we all know, Grandma LOVES silent auctions. Grandma bid on and won a cake (an expensive cake!) from Cakes by Favi and this is what we asked her to make! It definitely surpasses the racetrack sheet cake I was going to make but thats what is coming next year:-) Thanks Grandma!!

We had a little close friends/family party for Kyle. It was hot so there was lots of water play, pizza, icecream sundaes and of course cake!

Here comes the slip-n-slide! Lexa and Aiden were CRAZY on this thing!

Look at where Ri is... beyond the slide... Look at Lexa's face... we ALL know Riley being covered in mud and wet grass is NOT going to go over well:-)

Post party play!

Happy 2010!!!

Riley and Kyle want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!


Christmas and the new years celebrations were great around here! Christmas was spent with our wonderful family, kicking back and enjoying great food, tons of wonderful and thoughtful gifts, and lots of fun!



Grandma and Papa came to town and spent the week between us and Darcy's house and volunteered to hang with the kids while the adults went off to see Dark Star Orchestra in Baltimore. The kids had a blast - ate pizza and ice cream sundaes and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks (the 1st on DVD, however the grandparents took them to the 2nd as well - it rated high by young and old!)


Hopefully this new year will everyone happiness and joy (and help me get caught up on the blog)

New Years Celebration!

Happy 2010 - look at those little booties shake! Who is that guy?? Kyle, Bebe, & Riley on Christmas The new art desk - xmas morning The new bike!Race time! Christmas Eve
This is Scout! Our scout elf that keeps track of the kids during the holidays and reports back to Santa each night. Finding Scouts new location every morning is the highlight of the kids day!


Waiting for Santa to drive through on the fire truck

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!!