Happy 6th Birthday Riley!!

October is always such a fun and exciting month!! Not only do we get dressed up often for halloween, it is also our baby girls birthday!! Riley turned 6 this week and what an amazing week it was! She was so spoiled with fabulous thoughtful gifts and almost tolerated all the attention!! Seeing that Ri does NOT like to be center of attention (or even dress up) birthday/Halloween time is an emotional week for her:-) She has been having mini melt downs lately - they typically result after dropping a pencil or not being able to get her shoes on fast enough - you know, important things! But they don't last long and she is always so apologetic for losing it:-) This past weekend Grandma and Papa watched the kids while we went to see SCI for a couple shows. Riley had one little melt down on Grandma and while crying she said, "This keeps happening to me!!" (meaning the melt downs! LOL) She is sooo cute and quite wise! We are hoping patience and more sleep helps!

Kyle got Riley Steelers Scrubs/PJs for her bday
This year Riley wanted cupcakes with sugar toppers - easy!

YUMM!

Ri had a fun and exciting birthday - got her nails painted at the salon, out to dinner at Red Robin, and hot her EARS Pierced!!! She picked Hello Kitty earrings and they are adorable! She was such a trooper and didn't even shed a tear! The night after her bday the entire family came over for cupcakes and dinner - fun times!!
Halloween!! Here we have Little Red Ridding hood and the scariest Big Bad Wolf ever!

Look at the beautiful and sparkly angel!

This is Rileys buddy Addie. When I asked Ri earlier in the day what Addie was dressing as, she told me a Leprechaun:-) (LOL she is a Leopard! too funny!)

The loot!

Pumpkin Everything!!

October has been sooo much fun!! We've visited the pumpkin patch 2 times, continued with soccer and tennis in beautiful weather, hosted our annual chili party, visited the police station for a tour, attended Octoberfest in the neighborhood, and visited Grandma and Papa in NC!
and just think, the coming week holds even more fun!!

Our annual trip to Ashland Berry Farm for pumpkin picking was a blast, although HOT! This was our 6th year going with the Lamberts and every year is more fun as the kids get bigger and more independent!

Kyle trying to pick up a HUGE pumpkin!

Our little toothless wonder! Ri is still loving school, however finally had her first color change (which means she was not behaving) however she still managed to come home with only green (obviously the best color!) Riley continues to be hard core 'type A' so we find it amusing at this point that she was finally repremanded in school, whereas all her best buds have color changes nearly daily. It was such a big deal that Ri's color was moved, her friends told their moms, and they told me - however Ri had already filled me in (tears included!) The great part about Riley is that she never had to tell us... by the end of the day, she was back to green so her color change was more of a warning and her teacher doesn't pass those on to the parents!

Eric carried 12 pumpkins this year!

Riley's favorite thing to do during soccer is to play with her buddie Elena but since Elena was prepping for her super fun pump it up party the kids went to today, Riley spent the morning taking pix of Kyle with my phone!

Kyle's last soccer practice was today:-( He has LOVED playing and is looking forward to the spring! Last week he dominated and scored 5 goals. Today there were only 2 or 3 but he was a little lost... off in space a little! He is still a super sweet and affectionate kid however testing us somewhat lately!!

Riley is loving Daisy's! We held the investiture ceremony last week and the girls got their pins and first patches! We had a great group of super sweet girls!

Our second trip to the pumpkin patch had a sand box full of corn!! So much fun!

Riley has continued to enjoy tennis and so has Kyle - his favorite thing to do is watch high school foot ball players finish up practice during Rileys tennis practice!

Golf-widows Weekend

As the majority of fall weeks go, ours was packed full of fun!
Before the rain came in this week, we spent a lot of time outside! Eric left for a golf trip on Thursday so it was all about me and the kids and we did everything we could to keep it fun! Friday night was a social event for Kyle's school. The event was at Crump Park and Johnathan the Juggler (Ri's Favorite guy!) and the hot dog guy were there and the kids played hard with their school friends and teachers! After Crump park, we dropped Riley off for a sleep over with Lexa at Uncle Mikes house and Nate came over to play with Kyle - it was a fun and late night!

Riley and Kyle playing at Crump Park

I get dizzy looking at this pix!
Kyle is LOVING soccer - he still thinks he rocks at the game and honestly, he is getting better and better each week.

Down he goes in this pix - this happens often! He really throws himself into the game!

Look at his face - so intense! Grayson is the boy in yellow with the ball - he is one of K's best buds from school.

The boy in blue is really good - I over head him tell his dad that he was "giving the other kids a chance" once when his dad questioned why he wasn't in the mix at that moment. But look at Kyle, trying hard!

Kyle with his two Buds, Grayson and Nate.

That afternoon, we crashed the backyard of the Scholtens - There were 6 of the 8 golf widows and a couple other friends - I think it totalled 19 kids!

This pix is Riley and one of Jill and Byrons beautiful girls chillin out!

Falling into Fall

Kyle continues to LOVE soccer - week two was a huge success and he proceeded to tell us on the way home that he "is really good at soccer" and "knows everything about soccer". We hope his skills some day measure up to his confidence:-)

Riley had another great week at school - still all Green (relating to their behavior chart). She has the schedule down pat due to the daily songs she sings with her class about the various activities they are doing. There is a lot of singing, which Ri loves! She has not been willing to buy lunch yet, but did buy icecream the past 2 tuesday's (with our permission - she is our rule abider!)

We spent a good amount of time at the park and ran into 2 of Ri's classmates this weekend and had a great dinner with the Berniers. Hannah may have her 1st crush and Kyle was a complete gentleman - even when Hannah wouldn't let him go outside b/c she wanted him to stay in and play with her! Sooo cute!!

Riley holding baby Sean

Riley, Hanna, and Kyle at dinner
Daisy's started this week and we have a great group of girls! None are in Riley's kindergarten class so this is another great way to get to know more girls in the area! Ri was crazy at our first meeting - wild, silly, and outgoing - Daisy's may be her thing!

Silly Faces!!

We also started a new playgroup on Wednesdays and next week have another Tuesday after school playgroup starting up again too! No rest for the weary!

But the most fun of the week for us was back to school night! Riley's teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, seems wonderful and we are all excited about the year!

Kindergarten here we come!

WOW! What a week of FIRSTS!! Kindergarten, pre-school, biking, bubbles, and soccer! Fall is in the air and the kids are loving every moment!

Riley started Kindergarten on September 7th - also Darcy's birthday! Happy Birthday Aunt Darcy!!! The morning was surprisingly relaxing and everyone was just chilling... we had about 10 min or so and we headed outside to take some pix and stand at the corner to wait for the bus... as we began to take a pix, what rolls on by... yes, our BUS!! Well, we made it on the bus, but no time for tears, fears... or even pix!

Riley's first day was fabulous! She loves her teacher and knows of a couple kids in her class. None of the kids she regularly plays with are in her class but this will be a great way of getting to know more kids! Her teacher is super sweet and has already begun sending us daily 'snap shots' of the day which explain everything the kids did during the day. We are all sure it is going to be a great year!

Breakfast on the first morning of Kindergarten and preschool! The only pix I got that morning!

I may have missed the getting on the bus pix, but I didn't miss the getting off! Ri and I spent quite a while chatting about the day and having a snack. She had so much to say - I know this is going to be a great year for her!

Kyle has an exciting day too - his first day of preschool with a new class and teacher. His teacher seems Great and he is already super happy to have moved to Ms. Katy's class!

This is our do-over pix day! day 2 of kindergarten - still all smiles!

They really do love each other!!

Not only is Riley in kindergarten now, she also can blow bubbles (she is obsessed with gum) and ride her bike with no training wheels!!! We bribed her to try riding with 2 packs of gum... we never claimed to be above bribery!

Kyle also had some first this week - he is now playing soccer with Strikers and LOVES it!

Look at that smile!

He really seems to pay attention and want to play and do well.
Riley enjoyed hanging and will enjoy next week even more when one of her buddies, Elena, is there to play with (sister of K's buddy Grayson)

Score!
I love this shot - it looks like such good form, but really he missed the ball:-)