OOH YUMMY!

Riley loves to cook!  He always wants to know what I'm doing in the kitchen and loves it when we pull up a chair so he can help. We counted eggs and poured the water and oil in.  He did a great job stirring and was quick to boss me around when it was my turn.  He wanted me to stir fast and get it all mixed up. 

Stir Stir Stir



Mommy's helper





The best part... 



   Yummy brownies for a treat!!!

Are you ready for some football???



 No words are really neccesary to tell this story.  Rex is in heaven!  Huge thank you to Amy for taking some great pictures!!!



YES COACH!!!



Love the concentration



Bring it!



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Out of my way





The dive and snag



Success!



Pure Joy!



Financial Peace


We were by not stretch a set of financial wizards before Riley was born but I have to say he adds some financial stress to our world.  We hang out in this middle ground where we have pretty good jobs with pretty good health insurance that we stress to the maximum.  We don't qualify for any assistance and in WA there doesn't seem to be anyone in recent history that has qualified with the medicaid waiver only those with older children that hang on to that jewel.  Don't get many wrong we have many blessings in our lives including a house and enough square meals to make us all round.  We do fine but we could certainly do better. 

As a means to that end Justin and I have started taking a class through our church called Financial peace by Dave Ramsey.  http://www.daveramsey.com/ is where you can check him out.  We are headed to our third class tonight and it is all about cash flow planning.  Should be fun!  They also cover some great ways to help teach our children about the value of work and money as well.  I'm not a huge fans of a Sunday evening class but I'm glad we have committed to do this together.  We are certainly moving in the right direction together. 

Knowing that someday Riley won't have us here to take care of him means its even more important that we get all of this taken care of now so we can leave him in the best shape financially possible.

So for those of you who are familiar with this program/process we are working on Baby Step #1.  Wish us luck. 

The boys had a completely fun summer with our sitter Kristie.  Today we are missing our Kristie!  She left for School about a month ago and the boys have done really really well with the transition to a typical daycare instead of having someone come to the house.  Randomly Riley started asking for Kristie this week and even more randomly Kristie sent me a message to let me know she'll be in town this weekend and wants to stop by.  Those two have a connection! 

The boys were busy swimming, playing, picnicking and all around having a ton of fun all summer.  We wanted to make sure they had some activities so at the beginning of the summer we purchased season passes to Riverfront Park.  It is a park in downtown Spokane that has mini golf, a handful of rides and an IMAX theatre.  The first movie they saw was about Dinosaurs.  When I asked Riley about his day he simply said  DINO ROAR!!!  Apparently the movie was a little loud. 

When I was going through me email I found this little video that Kristie had taken during a golf outing.  Just tilt your head a bit...  I don't now how to fix it.

Big Brother's views on the Hurricane

We were chatting with Rex about his little brother tonight at dinner and it mad me think it would be fun to share his view of having a brother with Down syndrome.  The answers to the questions below are straight from Rex. 

1.   What is the best thing about  having Riley for a brother?  I get to wrestle with him a lot!
2. What is the worst thing about having Riley for a brother?  He yells a lot.
3. What is your favorite thing to do with Riley? Play outside.
4. What is your least favorite thing to do with Riley?  When he tackles me.
5. How do you feel about Riley having Down syndrome?  I think its fine.  It really doesn't make a difference. 
6. Anything else you want to tell me about Riley?  Hmm he loves to have fun. 

Have I mentioned that Rex is a man of few words?  This kid cracks me up. With Rex you have to take the conversation when you can get it enjoy it in the moment cause it won't last long.  I think he sums Riley up when he said he loves to have fun! 

Laughter is the best medicine!

We laugh a lot around our house and typically the boys are the source of this laughter. We have found that laughter makes our world so much better.  I hope this video brings some laughter into your world.

I'm a little bitter that my coputer wouldn't let me upload this yesterday.  I missed day 5 of the 31 for 21 challenge. 

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

 



How did that happen?

Some time during the night when I wasn't looking my little Rex became a 3rd grader.  He is doing well this school year.  Not that I expected anything else but its always nice to see that first progress report come home with great remarks about how well he is doing.  He is reading up a storm in between soccer, football and regular homework.  Thank goodness he caught the reading but because I don't think I have the energy to wage that battle every night.  He has most of his best buddies in his class so he is in heaven! 



1st day of third grade-  ~ Aug 31, 2011




Big brothers first day of school




It was a great surprise to find one of Rex's best buddies at his table




Possibly the cutest teacher ever...  I think the school has a plan to help keep little boys interested in school


Riley started preschool two weeks after Rex started.  It was a nice way to transition into the school year.  We've had to make changes in childcare as well so Riley started a new daycare and preschool on the same day.  I was worried about all the changes being too much but he handled them like a champ.  I on the other hand was a mess but that's an entirely different story.

1st day of Riley's last year of preschool ~ fall 2011



A little help from big brother!




Working hard at daycare




The girls at daycare posed him for 1st day of preschool pictures



Riley is having a great start to the school year.  He is making new friends and impressing his teachers.  Since we've all but checked potty training off the list I think he will be all set for kindergarten next fall.  The real question will be if I'm ready for kindergarten in the fall.