Bryton Turns 6 Years Old

Bryton is 6. How can this be?! Turning 30 did not make me feel older, but this does. Although, it doesn't seem like just yesterday that we were eating a heart shaped pizza on Valentine's Day night, and Bryton gave me the first signs that he was ready to enter into this world ~ ~
Its amazing how much he's changed since last year. He's reading, spelling, drawing and coloring (really well, we think), building Lego vehicles, eating like a moose, growing taller by the minute, loving sports, and doing really well in school. Bryton's favorite foods are fish, french fries, cheeseburgers, homemade mac and cheese, mandarin oranges, chocolate chip pancakes, and eggs. He loves to play Wii, and usually beats his opponents (even if its an adult). Along w/ turning 6...naps are hit and miss, but he seems to require less sleep these days. This often means that Bryton's bedtime, during the school week, starts between 7:15 - 7:30...just so that he's asleep by 8 and able to get up in the morning on his own.
His kindergarten teacher told me last week that people and kids are drawn to him, because he's a sensitive, caring, and loving little boy...which really made me think. As I was watching him play in his classroom, I could see what she meant. He plays w/ all the kids in his class...not just his best "buddies" who he runs w/ at recess. He helps others build, color pictures, and clean up. And he's funny like his Daddy :) The other night at the basketball game, he watched pretty much the whole thing, start to finish. There he was, w/ other little kids playing, talking, yelling all around him, and he sat there and watched the game because he's truly interested in basketball. When the game was over, he ran around the gym like a madman w/ the rest of the kids...but he could sure tell us what happened during the game!
We are so very proud of him, and we feel lucky to have such a special little boy as our son.

Bryton's 6th Birthday Party

Kisses, Kisses, Kisses

Today I had to take Bryton back to the Dr., because his cough has me worried (but I did find out that his lungs sound better than 1 week ago). While we were there, Avery proclaimed to the Dr. "My Mommy kisses me all the time!" I thought to myself, Wow, I'm glad she proclaimed that and not some other family secret :) Our Dr. just laughed, and asked "Well, aren't you glad you know your Mommy loves you?!" Avery replied, very seriously, "Well, I guess so...I just don't worry about it."
Bryton laughed and shook his head, saying "My sister is silly."

Car Trips

For as many car trips as our kids have been on, they don't do too bad. Gma and Gpa Engle live a car trip away, so that is our most frequent longer car ride...but otherwise, some of the places they've been to are Florida a few times via the highway; up into the middle of Wisconsin; and Southern IL, IA, and IN. They've never been good sleepers, other than in a bed. So, you guessed it, they are wide awake on our car trips! They look around, asking questions about what they see; they sing songs; play w/ toys; and if its a long trip, they eventually get to watch a DVD (or they start watching one) and play their Leapsters. As they are getting older, Bryton and Avery also pester each other...whether its verbally (calling each other silly names) or physically (pinching). Ahhh...fun times. And as we were on our way home from Gma and Gpa Engle's yesterday afternoon, the song playing on the radio, "It won't be like this for long," summed it all up pretty well :) It's one of Brian's favorites...mine too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_lUnFjXg8

Redneck Wedding?

Yesterday morning the radio announcers on the Dubuque radio station were asking each other if anything happened at their weddings that they'd consider a bit "red-neck-ish." This made me think of our wedding, of course, because the men of this particular morning show could come up w/ nothing!
The following events quickly came to mind...
1. my maid of honor hiking her dress up over head, streaking down to the pond because she was simply dared by my college roomates to do this :) (I think it was mostly dark out and there were only a few eye witnesses)
2. another of my bridesmades dancing on the table!
3. running out of beverages at the very end of the night, and my brother walking into the reception with a few cases of said beverages (even though this was against venue policy :)
4. having no "honeymoon suite" available at the end of the night...someone had already been given this room. this someone was my brother, who didn't realize he and his lovely then-fiancee had the honeymoon suite, w/ the heart shaped hot tub. apparently they packed this room w/ many friends that night!
5. one of brian's friends creeping into the hotel the next day, while we were eating breakfast, looking as handsome as he had the night before...because he'd slept outside... by the pond... in the swing...in his suit and tie :)
6. another friend of brian's telling us stories about the night before...and how he and my cousin decided to head west to east dbq., check out the local scenery, and then drive back to Galena. he then couldn't find the room he'd reserved, so he slept in his car.
7. and last but not least..."charles", our interesting "party bus" driver (whom we'd requested in advance). after the wedding, there was no party bus waiting outside the church. it was a plain white van! charles had blown a tire on the way to the wedding, had to turn back around, and pick up that paddy wagon van to bring over :)
...And these are only some of the wonderful memories I have of our wedding :) I wouldn't change any of it for anything!

My Time

I tend to post these blogs early morning or later at night. Why? This is what I think of as "my time." I adore this time because ...
1. The house is very quiet
2. I'm on my own schedule, even if its for a short while
3. There are no interruptions
4. I can reflect on yesterday's events
5. I'm able to plan for the day ahead
6. I get little jobs done (lunches packed, dogs let out and fed, load of laundry, myself showered, etc...)

Princess Playdate

Avery got to have her cousin, Addison, over to play yesterday. They played princesses, changed their babies, played house, and danced like ballerina's. What a fun girl's day we had!