Dylan Turns THREE!!!!

What a blessing this little guy has been to our family!!!

Thomas the Train is the Big Deal in our house right now. Dylan just loves, loves, LOVES Thomas. It's one of the few words in his vocabulary that is crystal clear: "Thomas" and "Train".

Here he is before his first day at preschool. I tried to get him to wear his backpack, but no dice. C'est la vie!

He has found plastic food. What's the natural progression in this particular instance?

Yep, pretend to eat plastic food.

And here he is with a new classmate at what I assume is referred to as the "Bean Table". I'm only guessing that it must be super fun. When Rachel went to preschool they had a water table...same concept, just less messy. ;)

Hamming it up for the camera in Daddy's hat. It's waaay too big for the little guy, but he wants to wear it anyhow.

What choo lookin at Willis?

And this is what he's been doing all day...with anyone who will come over and play with him....

Thomas the Train, Carnival at Sodor.

It is now the central fixture in our living room. Who needs to walk back and forth? It's THOMAS!!

And a list of Dylan-isms:

"Mom....Mom...Kay-ee [Katie]...look at this!"
He's calling me Katie now...and he wants everyone to "look at this!"
"By-wan! By-wan! C'mere!"
"Rachel! Rachel! Come back!"
"What're you doing?"
"Are you okay?"
"Gappish. Wan' Gappish." (GOLDFISH CRACKERS)

He also regularly asks for chips or crackers. And juice...and lately, milk. The added benefit is that he will bring me (if I am in the living room and not nearly as on the ball as he would like) a cup with the corresponding lid AND the juice out of the refrigerator. He will also put it back when I hand it back to him.

He calls Rhianna "Eena"

He calls all children (and Auntie Saleina & Uncle Dave) "Grace".

He just LOVES Grace! :)

He calls all people whose name he does not know "Mom". Or Grace.

This, of course, does not scratch the surface, but is what I can recall off the top of my head! It's so cute and it's so fun watching him grow and mature every day.

9.09.09

I must post something today - it just seems like the thing to do. Amid a mountain of homework stretching across the couch that beckons finishing, and utter exhaustion setting in at the end of this day...

What a day! Dylan is going to start preschool (officially) on the 28th of September. We will be meeting his teacher and seeing the classroom on the 24th. He'll be at Green Mountain Elementary with his sister Rachel.

Rhianna is on her first Fall Trip with West Sound Academy - they are camping out in this weather - what troupers!

Rachel is grateful to have the room to herself for two nights - it's certainly been a transition since Rhianna came home.

So, the only thing that would make this day better is sleep. Oh, and someone else cooking dinner...and cleaning...and doing laundry...well, I guess I'll settle for sleep. ;)

BIG Changes Goin' On! Fall 2009

So much is going on right now, I hardly feel like I have time to breathe!!

Rhianna came home this last July and we are so grateful that she is home again!! She was accepted into West Sound Academy on FULL SCHOLARSHIP, and has begun an exciting academic year as a squashmore...er, 10th grader. She's taking Spanish, Contemporary Dance and Poetry in addition to the usual academic subjects. She is excited and focused, which is really exhilarating for us as parents.

A great photo of Rhianna at the beach.

Rhianna with her new glasses.


***For some reason, I can download a pic of Rach!!!! I'll come back to that later...***

Rachel started the 5th grade at Green Mountain Elementary and loves her new teacher, Mr. Osborne. She is also excited to be taking P.E. again with her most favorite teacher, Mr. Lancaster. She is back hanging out with all of her friends, and all of her best friends are in her new class, with the exception of Nathan. Well, I'm sure she'll live.

Sam & Dylan hangin' out after a long day.

Sam also started the 5th grade at Sakai - an intermediate school for 5th and 6th graders. His take on things? "Boring." Oh, well. Maybe his forays into fall sports will lift his spirits. Besides, there are a lot of exciting things on the horizon: the holidays are comin'!

Well, we were at the mall and he found this hat.
He doesn't like hats! But, he couldn't let this one go.
So, we got it for him. Early birthday gift!!

Dylan will turn THREE on September 25th, and he has been making some really astounding changes recently. Today, he was asked he wanted juice and he said, "No, no. Water." And drank his water! Words are coming like crazy, which has been a concern of ours - but, he seems to be doing just great! He'll be starting preschool this fall at Green Mountain Elementary and I think it will be so great for him to have that time!

And I am still in school, plugging away. One more year and I will have achieved earning my Bachelor's Degree! It's a very exciting prospect that I keep focused on when the last thing I want to do is homework.

We are just grateful that God has been taking such good care of our family and that even in this time of economic recession, when work has slowed down so much for Byran, that God provides. We have so much to be grateful for!!


We made it out for a rare night on our own. What a great time we had!!