First Steps

	My baby is walking!!! Ember took three steps towards her daddy today.

Kid Stats

Ryvre
age: 4 years, 9 months, 26 days
Height: 42.75 inches (65% percentile)
Weight: 42 lbs (65% percentile)

Willow
age: 3 years, 1 month, 23 days
Height: 37.5 inches (75% percentile)
Weight: 33 lbs (75% percentile)

Ember
age: 9 months, 29 days
Height: 29.5 inches (90% percentile)
Weight: 23.75 lbs (90% percentile)

Wonders of Wildlife

Yesterday we went to Wonders of Wildlife...Before i broke my camera, i managed to upload some pics...enjoy, because it may be a very long time before i have any more to share I know Ryvre isn't in the most flattering of poses here...but i love how Willow is pressed up against the glass, haha. Dale and i debated for a bit how thick we thought the glass was, so he reached the top and checked. Four inches. Looking at the underside of a waterfall...this one was totally posed Ember loved watching the fish swim by--WOW that one was big! i would have much prefered to carry her in the mei tai, but she only likes that for a few minutes at a time these days :( The spongebob chair is all cool though... Crawling through a bear den, if i remember correctly...i was proud of this shot, it was taken in complete darkness according to the LCD screen, but it came out perfect! (*sniff* i miss my camera!!!) Willow coming out of the same tunnel Under the domed terrarium (that's another kid's hand, pointing out the frog Fish Racing Under each "rock" was a model of a critter known to idicate water quality (reminescent of my Stream Team days!) Dale, taunting Ember with the foam fish...nice Virtual Fishing...Dale said this was pretty hard Willow's turn; you can tell she's doing alot of the work! Petting a starfish Inside a Fish

Chocolate Baby

				Ember had her first Oreo today, thanks to Willow. The mess was pretty ridiculous; her arms, legs, hands, feet, and onesie all looked like her face, not to mention the pawprints all over the couch, carpet, coffee table, and stack of folded laundry next to her.  And what about that chocolate booger, WTF???  She does look awfully pleased with herself though, doesn't she?

Willow's 3rd Birthday

Willow's party was awesome, despite the fact that only one friend showed up!  Seriously, i invited 12 kids, and only one came.  I know it's a busy weekend, and the moms of 6 of the kids were kind enough to tell me they had other plans.  Two more, i didn't hear from, so whatever, but the other three led me to believe they were coming, but didn't call or anything (one of these has done this to me before!!!).  Nevermind that we spent money we didn't need to for food and party favors enough for all those kids and their families (thanks, by the way, for letting me do that b*******), i just thought it was pretty crappy that our supposed friends didn't think enough of us to at least let us know they wouldn't be there!  Poor Willow, she's THREE, NOT AN IDIOT.  And yes, when she's told her friends are coming for a party, she IS disappointed that they don't.  She is "old enough to understand" and even if she wasn't, it's still not cool. End Rant. ANYWAY we did have fun, Dale's parents bbq-ed a bunch of stuff, and we had LOTS of fruit and cupcakes.  Willow decorated them last night, except for a few i arranged as a flower...yeah, one of my "famous" birthday cakes, heh.  But noone complained :)  My mom came over, and so did my friend Rachel and her little boy, Jack.  Rachel almost didn't make it, but i'm glad she did; we love the company of our family, but finally having another kid there really made it special for my little people :)  They played all over the playground and the pool; it was so much fun!  i think they liked just being with him as much as they would have with a whole mess of kids :)  and Jack is very mild-mannered like Willow, so it was cool that they got to kind of set the tone instead of Ryvre for once..that boy does tend to rule a crowd ;) Willow wearing her new crown The Cake In the "boat" with Jack!

Lake Fun

	The kids at Table Rock Lake   Ryvre, being wild as usual   Sweet Willow   Ember, trying to eat rocks   Weirdos posing for the camera!

Girlfriend

Yes, Ryvre has a girlfriend.  Her name is Madison, and they're in the same Sunday school class.  Her mom was their teacher, until last week when they "graduated" to the pre-k class, so she knows all about their relationship, and has been keeping me updated.  She thinks her daughter loves him so much because they're both mature for their age, and he's the only one that understands her.  i can see this.  Apparently she'll do a little dance in class, and Ryvre says: "Oh Madison, that was sooo beautiful."  Oy.  He's just a sucker for a pretty face.  And she loves the attention he gives her.  This is all far too close to the pattern of more mature relationships for my comfort!  He told me yesterday that "all the girls in my class love me"  WHY did he have to be born a scorpio?  Lord help us. 

i know i'm bragging, but he truly is a smart little booger.  His teacher said to me "Ryvre isn't like the other kids..." which of course made me worry LOL.  She said the other day, he looked at a picture and said "N. O. P. A. R. K. I. N. G.  No Parking."  i'm thinking he probably just recognized the sign from seeing it another time and asking what it said, but i'm still impressed.  Another teacher told me almost a year ago (he was three) that the kids going into kindergarten didn't know their letters as well as he does.  And i hadn't tried "teaching" them to him yet.  Of course i'm proud that he picks things up so easily, but more than that i am WORRIED, as a homeschooling parent, because i don't know how i'm going to keep him entertained/interested with acedemics when he catches up to me!