Archive for the 'Rilyn' Category



01
Jun
11

almost to the finish line!

One day left of first grade!  Rilyn is almost at the finish line!

At “fun day” for first grade yesterday.

She had her awards ceremony last Friday and she got the top point earner for Accelerated Reader program in first grade! She read about 160 books and took quizzes on them and then the AR computer program keeps track of your scores. She was totally self motivated to be #1. I’m not surprised, because she does have two “achievers” as parents, but I did have to tell Rilyn several times this spring, “It’s okay if you’re not #1. We know that you always try your best and we give God the glory for the skills He has blessed you with!” Rilyn will always be her toughest critic though. Here she is with her reading medal and you can tell the look on her face is pride.

I did it!
31
May
11

chillaxing

Summer is so close Rilyn can feel it!

sun bathing
jumping for joy!

Asher has no fear in the water, and he loved getting to swim in grandpa’s pool this past weekend!

wheeeeeeeeee
Asher took swimming lessons in May, but he didn’t pass.  Don’t tell him that though, he thinks he can swim!  😉
21
May
11

field day 2011

Field Day at Manor Elementary was a success if you ask this happy girl!

yes, she is wet.  You’ll find out why in a minute…

There was tug of war:

love Rilyn’s look of determination

Potato sack races:

with her best friend

Sprints:

she had a smile on her face the whole sprint!

Hula hooping:

she is really good at this even though the picture didn’t catch it

Flag tag:

run!

And Rilyn got to do all these games with her most loyal supporters cheering her on!

Ella and Asher and proud sister, Rilyn

But her favorite activity? When her teacher sprayed all the kids with a hose over and over and over!

Rilyn trying to run!
direct shot from Mrs. Stein!

Rilyn and her friend trying to escape the hose!

pure joy

Not a tear was shed…by Rilyn.  But Asher?…well he wanted his own big bag of M&M’s at the concession stand and I’m such a mean mommy, I wouldn’t let him.

There is his one tear.
20
May
11

flashback friday-wedding edition

Today is my brother’s 5 year anniversary to his bride, Becca!  I thought it would be fun to show some pictures of his wedding for flashback Friday!

Rilyn was the flower girl at 23 months old.  She never made it down the aisle (she cried), despite James’ parents waiting on the front row with a chocolate shake from McDonalds. Rookie mistake: she still got the shake at the back of the church because Papaw couldn’t resist her sweet tears, and she spilled it all over her dress.  Needless to say James’ parents took her home after the pictures were taken in the church.  No reception for her.

love this pic of her soon-to-be aunt Becca!

I was a bridesmaid and James was a groomsman.

Ella was only 5 months old, and I had to pump in the public restroom during the reception. I’m sure there were strange looks when ladies came in and heard the noises coming from the stall…

only picture I have with Ella in it (these are my cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandpa)…I had my hands full with Rilyn that day!!
19
May
11

gymnastics

It’s the end of a school year, so here comes all the awards ceremonies!  Rilyn wanted to do gymnastics to help her tumbling skills when it comes to cheerleading.  Since cheer is only August-October, we put her in gymnastics in January and will take her out in July to start her 2nd season of cheer.  She has a lot of fun and loves Capital Gymnastics!

She had her 4th birthday party here in 2008.

june 2008

And here she is bouncing on the same “tumbl trak” this afternoon 3 years later!  (Hair still flying high!)

yes, I edited this funky because I was in that kinda mood

She took gymnastics here in 2008 too.

her “award ceremony” 2008  (I like how Ella thinks she was in gymnastics too!)  She will get her turn this fall.

Rilyn’s award ceremony today:

that is her coach in the red shirt
jumping off the beam
balance…
18
May
11

budding author

Warning:  this might be a brag post.  😉

My favorite thing in school (beside art) would be creative writing.  Rilyn came home yesterday with a story she had written at school and I just had to post because I thought it was cute, and she really worked hard on it!  Maybe we will share favorite subjects in school!

Rilyn has done very well in first grade and we are so pleased with how her year went.  She has climbed to a 4th grade reading level and does 4th grade spelling tests!  We are definitely proud parents, but also remind Rilyn that it is God who gave her that brain and it is not in her power to succeed, but in the Lord’s.
(Instead of trying to make you read her handwriting and grammatically incorrect punctuation, etc.), I typed it out for you.

“Once upon a time there were 4 princesses. Their names were Shaliya, Rilyn, Jada, and Ariana. Ariana had nature power, Jada had sun power, Shaliya had rain power, and Rilyn had wind power. One day a fairy appeared. The fairy said, “I can grant four wishes.”  But at that time an evil queen was watching them and her name was Leah.

At that second, the fairy was gone. The queen had captured her and they didn’t know what to do. The evil queen had left a clue. It said “Go over the creepy mountains then go through a forest to meet me.” They followed it, but then the queen captured them. A knight heard their scream. He followed it and lead him to a castle. The knight saved them, his name was Ed Manuel.

One day the knight changed into a werewolf. The princesses were scared. They ran off to their homes. One day they heard a knock at the door. It was the werewolf. Ahhhhh!!!! They screamed. The werewolf said, “I’m sorry, I’m here to save you.”

That day the queen was destroyed. The fairy was free. They wished their wishes.
The end.”

(I think she ran out of time finishing the story in class, so she just got straight to the point!)

14
May
11

new glass and a little potty training

For my birthday I received the best birthday present ever from my hubs!  He had me convinced that we could not afford this, and I was perfectly fine with that.  After all, it was a big want, and not a need.  So, as the post title states, I got some new glass for my camera.  A professional Canon luxury lens!  I was speechless.  I told James the last time I felt like that was when he proposed, and I had no clue what was coming.  I played around with it this afternoon because I have a photo shoot tomorrow evening.  Here are some pics of the girls:

making an ella face
a little sass

I took the girls to the pool this afternoon in an effort to finish potty training Asher. What I mean by this is I took the girls to the pool without Asher because he still won’t go poo poo in the potty. He doesn’t get to go in the neighborhood pool until he does (now, I could fold on this promise because it’s not fair during the week to keep my girls home because of Asher, but for now, while the pool is only opened on the weekends…) While we were getting ready for the pool, Asher was putting his shoes on too, and when we told him he couldn’t go, he started crying. In an effort to rub it in, James even walked him to the pool and let him watch the girls and I behind the fence. I, of course, had my camera ready to capture this moment of, how shall we say it nicely? Extreme parenting? 🙂 Listen, I’m tired of buying pull-ups!!!
Here’s him pouting:

if you would just poo poo in the potty stubborn boy!
full out crying=success?  We’ll see tomorrow…
28
Apr
11

just some rilyn

Rilyn had to fill out a “student interest inventory” for one of her classes at school.  When she brought it home and I read it, I had to laugh at some of her answers.

I like to collect:  toilet paper rolls

I like to read about:  interesting things

I like to write about:  interesting stuff

My favorite place to visit is:  24 Hour Fitness

When I grow up I want to be a:  teacher and a make-up doer

If I could have three wishes, I would wish for:

1.  Aggies to win all of their games

2.  To be the president

3.  To have cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

School would be better if:  everyone at school was an Aggie.  🙂

26
Apr
11

Easter!

We celebrated Maundy Thursday this past week by James washing the girl’s feet.  We read John 13:1-17 about Jesus washing Simon Peter’s feet the night before he died.

James washing Ella’s feet.

Then the girls dyed eggs with their Oma and Papaw on Saturday in colors that represented parts of the Easter story.

Black is for the sin that hurts us so
But God can clean it white as snow.
Red, Jesus died because He loves us so,
And green, He wants us all to grow.
Purple, His royal color true,
Blue, He will come back one day for you.
There is orange and pink of sun rise bold,
And in Heaven, yellow streets of gold.

*poem taken from here

After church on Sunday, we had our Easter egg hunt!

90 eggs between the 3 of them!
this one looks good!

And then the kids got to open their Easter baskets (and Asher opened his birthday presents from family)

thanks grandma!  😉

Picture that Asher wouldn’t want me to post if he was older:

this is a ring pop in his mouth!

Then we sang “Happy Birthday” to Asher!

blow!

The rest of the afternoon, Asher played with his sisters in his new pool! It was a wonderful day celebrating the Risen Son and our son!

birthday fun
22
Apr
11

flashback Friday

I can’t help but post this again from Easter in March 2008:

Rilyn lately likes to make up her own songs. Today, Easter Sunday, she did not disappoint and decided to compose a ballad of the true meaning of Easter for us. Her video is priceless (her lyrics a bit random), but if you will watch till the end, Ella will manage to get attention too! (Watch her practice her launching skills too, you will see it didn’t help much!)

Lyrics:

Jesus died on the cross

For the dead of God

He is the rose of the dead

That’s right!

He rose up from dead

Now we go to church on Sundays and Thursdays

That’s why we are churches

We have church in heaven all way down

Jesus loves us because we are heaven

We are going to go in heaven

Someday we will go in heaven

We will want Him too

And someday we will see Jesus in our heart

Completely

May Jesus loves us and you mommy and

That’s-why-Jesus-loves-us-too!!!!!

Hmm. Hmm.