christmas break days at home

Yesterday was our first day of "Christmas Break" and boy did it feel good to not have an alarm set to wake up to!  I actually woke up worried I had missed my alarm and slept through work...oh my!  NOT a good feeling!

We had a day 100% at home and it felt glorious!  I think Ryder and I both enjoyed our chill day at home together!  He was such a big help around the house...and it's so odd him being so grown up now he doesn't need me to do a lot of things he just needed me to do for him this summer!  It's kinda nice, but it's also kinda sad!!  

 He is Mr. Lego now!  & to think a year and a half ago I "didn't allow legos in my house..." My how mother's eat their words! ;)

He even wanted to help me vacuum!!  Go for it boy!!  

I even talked him into taking a nap with me!  Even though "he wasn't tired".  He was laying there, but wasn't closing his eyes and I said, you have to close your eyes to rest and he said, "But then I'll fall asleep!"  Ha!  That's kinda the point! :P 

He was obviously tired enough to need a two hour nap, even though "he wasn't tired!!"  I don't care how old he gets...I love a sleeping kiddo!

As soon as he woke up, he said "Since I took a good nap, can I go to my KeeKee's house!?"  How sweet is that! 

I found him like this underneath the coffee table with all his tools out "workin"...crackin me up!  

& he was all ready to go to KeeKee & Poppy's house for the night!!  He said, "If I spent the night there tonight, can we still spend the night there on Christmas Eve?"  So sweet!

I've thoroughly enjoyed this semi-chill time at home with him over the last few days.  He is growing up on me too fast, but I'm enjoying every minute of it!

Happy almost Merry Christmas Eve!  =) 

31 day blog challenge...day 4

Day 4:  Best childhood memory

I have a few random ones I want to share...nothing too special, just great memories.

• Going to my great aunt and uncles' house out in the middle of know where with my cousin Tonya and getting to sleep under the pullout couch in the living room...making our own "tents"
• My family's vacation to St. Louis in the 3rd-ish grade?  We went to a 17 inning Cardinals game, went up in the arch, St. Louis Children's Museum, and ate on a McDonald's boat.  For some reason...very memorable!
• Getting ice cream at my Nana's when we were little, each grandkid would get the number of cherries in their bowl plus one!  So fun because I was always the oldest!  :P
• Going down to the farm with my dad and brother and our friends during the summer to ride four wheelers and fish, and "rough it" for a couple of days.
• My dad taking us to monster truck rallies, rodeos etc. just to expose us to different things!  So thankful!

That's about it...told ya it wasn't too excited, but it's my most vivid and thankful memories growing up! =)

Dr. Ryder-

R is really in to Doc McStuffin's on Disney Junior...so he ended up asking for a Dr. kit for his birthday.  I found an exact one form the show on Amazon but it was pink & purple & glittery...umm no!!  Ha!  So KeeKee ended up finding him a good one at once again our favorite toy store!  

The other night before bed...I was teaching him how to use all the tools & Tang was our patient!

Such sweet & precious memories with my little man that I don't ever want to forget!  =)

Maybe one day he'll be a Dr. & be able to take good care of his Mama!  ;)

Disney On Ice

Ryder had his first Disney on Ice experience!  Ryder was so excited to go...& I'm glad his dad got to go with us.  It's important to me that we do things together every once & a while for Ryder to remember us being together at times.  We went & ate hibachi before hand...

{Love this lil booger}

 {Pretty into the show!--His favorite was Peter Pan (& maybe Tinker Bell ;) )}

 {Under the Sea}

Little man was WORN out by the time we got home!  He feel asleep as soon as he laid down on the couch!

I am so thankful for these memories with my little man & I hope he remembers them & appreciates them as he grows up!

It's Okay...

A few events that have occurred this week have made me realize a few things...

• It's okay for Ryder to play in the bath passed his bed time
• What's the big deal if Ryder ate all the Easter candy he got at the egg hunt today during MDO?
• If Ryder wakes up in the middle of the night & says his stomach & throat hurts, but tells me that watching Mickey Mouse will "make him feel better..." & we end up watching MMCH together from midnight to 2 am...that's okay, it's just sleep.
• It's okay to let R play get muddy outside in his "good clothes"...they're just clothes.
• It's okay if I have to bathe him twice a day for having too much fun.
• It's okay to let him be "that kid" inside of Wal-Mart with no shoes on (in the buggy of course! :P) (I was the person who SWORE this would NEVER be MY child!  ;) )
• It's okay to let him play Dora on my phone while I'm missing phone calls & text messages...they'll still be there when he's done.
• It's okay to let him eat 12 donut holes every Saturday morning on our weekly trip to the "donut shop"...
• It's okay that I spend 80% of most of my Saturdays outside letting him play instead of keeping him cooped up inside while I do homework or housework.
• It's okay that my floors aren't always vacuumed or mopped...
• It's okay for me & R to jump on the bed together--while it's made!
• It's okay for me to let R make a mess in the living room when people are about to come over...
• It's okay for me to let him wear his cowboy boots with shorts while we play outside...
• It's okay to let him drink a small sweet tea from Sonic two days a week...
• It's okay that my blogging isn't up to par with my old blogging habits because I am too busy with spending time with him and/or school and am just too dang tired to tackle it after he goes to bed (even though there is SO much I want to say!)

It's okay...

Life is too too precious, & these things that may seem like such "No-Nos" in the perfect parenting world...are the things that our kids are going to remember about growing up, so I am going to let them happen, and try to do better about reminding myself that we ONLY LIVE ONCE & so do our kids & to LET THEM LIVE!  

Easter Bunny 2012

Last Friday me & lil booger drove to LR to see the Easter Bunny!  I am so glad I've taken the time to do this with him every year!  It may not take 5 minutes, but I'm glad we've done it together!  This year he told the Easter Bunny he wanted a Woody & Buzz towel to take to the pool!-So...I'll see if the EB can pull that off! :P

& just because I love looking back & reflecting, all three years of visiting the EB!  

 {2010}

 {2011}

{2012}

He was kinda scared of him once he saw him, even though he had REALLY been looking forward to seeing him (or at least acted like it)!!  But I finally got him to get up there & smile!  This is the first time I didn't take the stroller in with me in the mall, I actually let him walk & he actually did really well!  He even let me I even got to go in Forever 21 & try on some cute dresses!  I was so proud of my big boy!  We had a good afternoon together!  

OBU-my favorite staff member!

It's week two of the OBU BlogAbout!  You can see my post from last week here.  Thank you for stopping by and be sure & check out the rest of the link ups during the 2nd annual OBU BlogAbout!  

The very first person I thought about when I read "favorite professor or staff member" was Dr. Wesley Kluck.  

I don't remember the first time I met him or anything, which is kind of sad, but I just remember him always being the guy that was running around with the big camera taking pictures of you when you least expected it!  I always remember being in fear of getting on Facebook & seeing a notification saying "Wesley Kluck has tagged you in a photo" because NO TELLING what you might have been doing!  He is a sneaky lil fella with that camera!  ;) :P

He was/is the school Dr. & always took such good care of me!  I was the healthiest little kid in HS, but when I went to college it was a different story!  Geez!  I had "tonsil-itis" 4 times in one year there at school & at one point I had to have 5 rocephrin shots in 6 days!  He made me so much at ease when going in with my crazy problems and made me feel comfortable & right at home (kinda like everybody at Ouachita!  ;) ).  It wouldn't have been that way without his nurse DeeDee though!  She also happened to be my roomie's mom!  =) & always made sure I was being taken care of!  She was like my mom away from home!

Dr. Kluck has such a giving heart and will do anything for anyone that asks it seems like!  His wife is a sweetheart as well! They are even better together!  =) 

In the middle of my 1st semester Sophomore year I joined the competitive cheerleading team.  I had been a competitive cheerleader before, as well as cheering in HS.  I had always enjoyed competing on the blue mat more than cheering on the sidelines at a football or basketball game.  So, when I saw signs for "try-outs" just for competitive I was super interested!  It was something I never thought I would do again...& was excited to get back into something I hadn't done for almost 3 years.  

Dr. Kluck was very involved with the spirit squads & helped us with whatever we needed.  The competitive squad was going to one competition & that was National's in Orlando, FL at the one & only Disney World!  & of course Dr. Kluck was going with us!  

I don't have any pictures of Dr. Kluck from Disney...but here are a few from our trip!  I remember him buying me dinner one night because I was the only one at the table without a parent there! (my mom didn't come because my dad was having surgery to have his prostate cancer removed the week before we left...SOO...I let it slide!)  It's the little things like that that I remember most about him!  =)  He also bought us all National's t-shirts for making it to finals!  That may not seem like a lot, but there were 20 something of us!  SO....THANK YOU!  

What a great experience that I'll never forget!  & never thought I would get to experience!  

I get to see Dr. Kluck every once & a while, when I go down to visit campus & friends!  It's so good to have such great memories with such a great man!  Thanks Dr. Kluck for making my OBU experience great!

OBU-my favorite memory!

Ouachita is doing their 2nd annual "Blog About" today, because it is Founder's Day!  ANNDD...as of just a few weeks ago, Gov. Mike Beebe officially made September 6th "Ouachita Baptist University" day in the state of Arkansas!  How fun!?  You can see what I blogged about last year during the OBU BlogAbout here.  

This year, to celebrate the 125 years of the OBU experience, they are asking bloggers to blog every Tuesday during the month of September.  This week is your "favorite OBU memory."

It's hard to just name ONE memory from my year & a half there, because there are just SO dang many!!  Reflecting back on them make me laugh & ask myself, "What were we THINKING!?"  Ha!  We had some good, yet CRAZY times, & I wouldn't change it for the world! =)

But...my favorite memory while being at OBU has to be getting the opportunity to join such a great sisterhood!--Bid Day 2008 when I became and EEE (just like my mom...but not for that reason!  :P  hehe!)  These girls are some of my closest friends & I wouldn't have known a lot of them if it wasn't for joining this wonderful social club!  That's what made it so great!  I am so thankful for my PC & the girls above us!  

 {me & my future roomie, Allie with Megan!  & now me & Ryder get to be apart of Allie's special day next AUGUST!  =)}

 Through joining this social club, I met girls I hope to be forever friends with, & we automatically have a special bond, having gone through so much together!  I am so thankful for the EEE's & my PC!

Lake Day!

Ryder & I were lucky enough to go to the lake with Pooh & her family yesterday!  I knew Ryder would LOVE it, but not as much as he REALLY did!  He was so happy out there & it made me so happy to see him so happy!  He loves Pooh & her family & you would think he had known them his whole life!  The last time we saw them was in October at Lindsey's wedding!

We had a great day...the boat didn't bother him at all, & we had him jumping off the back NON STOP!  All he wanted to do was "swiiiiiiim!"   Ha!  We would have to have Pretty Ricky stop the boat so Punkin could get out & "swiiiiiiiim"!  He even road on the inner-tube with me & Pooh & loved it so much!  I can't wait to get him back out on the water!

 {He loved helping Pretty Ricky drive!}

 {He loves his Pooh!}

 {My child is crazy...}

 {There were even some ducks out there & Punkin' wanted to feed them!  He's not scared of anything!}

 {Lou Lou was his new best friend!}

And just for kicks..here are a few pictures from my first "White Family Vacation At The Lake!"  Boy how times change!  =)

{I spent most of my time chillin' at the pool...}

{We made our nightly ventures to Miss Arkansas every night!}

{All the FRIENDS!-such a FUN week!}

{Cheering for Kristen!  So fun!}

Miss Arkansas starts tomorrow night & I am SO sad that I can't be there at all this year!  Watching it online will have to do!  I know a good number of girls from OBU competing this year, & I can't wait to see how each & every one of them do!