OH Happy Day!

Yesterday was graduation at the University of Arkansas. This is Rich's 4th degree and I couldn't be more proud of him for BEING DONE!!!! He still has his thesis to write but that shouldn't be too bad! It has been a long road, we have moved a lot (and probably more moves on the way), and had three kids all while doing all of his degrees, but it has also been a fun, great road. I love Rich so much and am so grateful for all of his hard work for our family. This is how we survived graduation...Ryan watching a show on the IPod and Sam playing her leapster (with headphones). The only problem was that you know how Dora asks questions during the show and wants you to shout the answers back to her? Well, Ryan loves that part (which I forgot) and out of no where during the ceremony he would shout out some spanish word or answer to some question. The people behind us thought it was hilarious!

At one point the man behind me had to chase down Spencer who was crawling down the aisle, about to be run over by the graduates exiting the room, while I was dealing with Ryan who suddenly was develeoping a fever in the middle of graduation and was needing to be held, or laying on the floor...fun times!

While we were walking through the reception party at the end, I was following behind Rich who had all three kids us with him, and I heard someone as we passed say "wow...that guy has three kids and just graduated?!"

One minute awake,

the next, OUT!

This was Susan, the head of the LLM (that is the degree that Rich just graduated with by the way) department.

This is a couple of the other LLM graduates. The woman wearing her cap and gown threw this party at her house. Many of the LLM students were from other countries so this was our first African party; no one needed to ask which kids were ours.

Congrats Rich and Daddy. We love you and are so proud of you!!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

I can't believe that he is 4 years old...why can't they just stay young and small?!?! He was so excited that it was his birthday that any time he saw someone new (whether he knew them or not) he would yell (almost scream) "It's my BIRTHDAY and I'm turning 4!!!". Ryan is such a joy to have in our family. He has a lot of energy, makes us laugh all the time, and really is a wonderful boy. This year he chose a pirate hat cake, thank goodness too. These birthday cakes were getting a little out of control (last year I made a huge dragon cake for Ryan and a huge mermaid for Sams birthday this year!) Ryan really loves getting in character and always plays his part very seriously.

I love his smile in this picture below. His smile always make me smile. I love my Ryan!

Arrrrrrrrrrr

All for the sake of a picture...

...And now all better

Happy Birthday Ryan! We love you!

The Cow Paddy Run

I decided it would be fun to do a run with the kids. I didn't know how far the could run, so we started small with the mile fun run. My vision for the run was to stay with both Sam and Ryan, and have to walk a lot of the way. This isn't exactly what happened. Here we are at the starting line, RIGHT up front. The kids were so excited. Ryan was so excited to run the race that as soon as we parked the car in the parking lot, he got out and took off, because he had to "win the race". (if you click on it you can see it a little better)

Spencer and Daddy hung out during the race

My plan was just to stay with the kids and let them go as fast as the wanted/could. Well, as soon as the horn blew, Sam TOOK OFF! She was determined to win the race as well. I tried my best to tell her that there will be people in the race faster than us, but she still had it in her head that she was going to win. There was NO way she was going to stay with Ryan and I and go that slow. So I just let her run as fast as she could, and I only saw her walk once, and it was only for a couple steps. She ran the whole mile and was FAST!

Here she is about to cross the finish line...she totally beat that guy!

Her time was 10 min. and 13 seconds! That is PRETTY DARN GOOD for a 6 year old, esp. one who has never run a mile before! She was so proud of herself and excited that she did so well!

Ryan is more of a sprinter. He would run as fast as he could for a little while, then we would walk. Then sprint again, and walk, and so forth. But you could tell he was having a blast! Ryan and I's time was 13 min. and 8 seconds. That isn't too bad either! It was so fun for me to do this with my kids instead of just sitting on the sidelines. We all had a great time and will always remember it.

I am SO proud of my kiddos!! I love them so much and hope we can do many more races together in the future.

Sams field trip and random pics

Sams class went to "farm friends" for a field trip and they had a great time!! I love that I am a stay-at-home mom and can go with her on her field trips. What a great blessing! She had a great time with her friends and Ryan had a great time too!

This is how Spencer spent the entire field trip!

After watching all those kindergarteners grab and hold and squeeze those little chicks (the entire school district was there also) I wonder how many survived the day. Poor things!

Gotta love bed time!

I think this is one of Rich's favorite bonus' about having a baby...Sunday naps!

My gorgeous princess

Our own Athlete of the Year!