February Highlights

February was marked by Jeff's trip to Florida to visit his parents for some golf & sunshine, while the kids and I did a few secret projects around the house. None of those activities are represented below, but I wanted to mark the passage of time some how....

(Oh, and how can February pass without a birthday greeting to one of my only followers - Happy 30th, AM!)

 

Mel is convinced she's the first person ever in her family to be published in the paper for any reason.  The drawing on the left is hers.

Just a random moment I caught them in

Joey is in the front row, about a third of the way from the left.  Celebrating with Blue!

Movie night with Hadley

Interviews

A liaison from IU Dance Marathon sent a list of questions they wanted answered for the Riley kids involved in the program.  So I staged it as an opportunity to "interview" Joey and Mel.  Their answers are below, verbatim and largely incorrect :) 

Name: Joey

Age: 4

Siblings and their ages: Mel, 6

Allergies: No

Favorite color: Orange

Favorite candy: Mint cookies

Favorite movies or TV shows: Peabody & Mr. Sherman/Woody Woodpecker

Favorite after school activity: Jammies

Do you play any sports? Yes - baseball, soccer, and Purdue

Are you in any school or community clubs or activities? Yes - playing @ school

Who is your hero/biggest role model? Woody Woodpecker

If you could travel one place in the whole entire world, where would you go? Disney World

If you could meet one person in the whole world, who would it be and why? Caroline from Mrs. Deater's class

 

Name: Melanie

Age: 6
Siblings and their ages: Joey, 4
Allergies: No
Favorite color: Gold and silver
Favorite candy: Chocolate
Favorite movies or TV shows: Frozen/Good Luck Charlie
Favorite after school activity: Playing with Joey
Do you play any sports? Yes - soccer, gymnastics, cheerleading, swimming, tennis
Are you in any school or community clubs or activities? BAC (before & after
care), Union Singers, soccer
Who is your hero/biggest role model? Family

If you could travel one place in the whole entire world, where would you go?Washington, DC

If you could meet one person in the whole world, who would it be and why? Dan's
kids (Dan Curry, Julie's fiancee)

January

January was marked with a few too many family funerals, a hospital stay for Joey, but otherwise the typical kid craziness.  As I get caught up on shenanigans for the last few months, these were a few pictures that bore sharing.

Melanie's sweet friend Lydia invited her to dinner & "Disney on Ice" with her family.  Melanie was spoiled with third-row seats, two treats, and a princess doll to bring home.  A great girls' night out :)

Colts playoff fun with Grandma & Papa

Movie night with friends @ Union

For 100th day of school, the 1st graders dressed as if they were 100.  She wouldn't let me color her hair gray or white.

Silliness

December Highlights

We've had a great Christmas season, and stayed relatively healthy, despite all of the bugs going around!  We spent Christmas Eve with the Worzalas at Randy & Cory's, we hosted Christmas dinner with both sets of grandparents and the Elams, and we had an adult meal at the Bridgewater Club a couple of days after Christmas.  New Years was spent quietly at home, and we are looking forward to a wonderful 2015!

This was the first year both kids sat without a fuss on Santa's lap.  Complete with thumb guards on, to try to stop sucking their thumbs.

Mel had her second Union Singers performance, entertaining at the school's winter carnival.

Parade season; we enjoyed the Zionsville and Frankfort Christmas parades

Goofing with Gigi & Poppy

Someone was happier about this photo than the other

Melanie finally got to try ice skating; with her friend Alexa, who is a seasoned master.

Our own "elf on the shelf"

Happy New Year 2015!!

Hard work pays off

Melanie has been asking to get her ears pierced since she realized other girls her age were getting them done.  At the outset, I always told her that if she could stop sucking her thumb, she could get them pierced.  Her doctor and her dentist talked to her about it at each visit, and recently her friend GZ stopped sucking her fingers with the aid of a "finger guard" ordered on Amazon.  So then Mel got it in her head that she needed this thumb guard in order to stop herself.  Add a layer of bribery on; after the kids asked nonstop about getting bunk beds, Jeff had told them that if they altered their bedtime routine (rather than making us stay with them until they fall asleep, they needed to be able to get to sleep on their own after their bedtime story/tucking in).  They both changed that habit a few months ago, so the pressure for the bunk beds started back in.  Then, Jeff changed the rules and said they couldn't get bunk beds until they stopped sucking their thumbs.

All of this came to a peak a couple of weeks ago, when the thumb guards arrived in the mail.  On Thursday 12/3/14, Melanie came home from school ready to open the mail and stop sucking her thumb.  She put that thing on, and never looked back.  One time, the first night, she asked if she could take it off and suck her thumb for 20 seconds.  After 9 seconds, she had it back on.  By Sunday night, she felt confident enough to sleep without it.  She's done a great job, and it was time to reward her for her determination.  (Joey, on the other hand, wore his thumb guard on one hand and sucked his other thumb). 

Friday night, she decided it was time - and off we went to get her ears pierced!  If I had a dollar for every time she has said "I can't BELIEVE I got my ears pierced," well....I may have enough to pay for the earrings.  But really, it's been awesome to see how over the top excited she has been, and how proud she is to show them off.  She wore a ponytail to Sunday School and school on Monday to help highlight her new addition.  She's taken the (3X/day!) cleaning of her ears very seriously, too, and marks each cleaning on the little chart they gave her. She asked great questions at the store about caring for her ears, and has only been nervous a few times - the first time she slept, first time for a bath, etc.  I now have to wear earrings to bed, so she will feel more comfortable knowing nothing will happen to her ears while she sleeps :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

All of the Worzalas

Joey would NOT get in this picture

Silliness with Gigi

Once Molly was held like this, Melanie just had to be

Wii fun with Charlie

The "girls table" in Lebanon

Waiting for the lights to be turned on Grandma & Papa's tree.  They were told they all had to be holding hands for it to work.

Comparison of their first Thanksgiving to the one six years later.

We had a nice Thanksgiving, starting in Lebanon, and then celebrating with all of the Worzalas and Doans (and Dan!) at Ron & Diane's.

Fun with Friends

Laura's birthday party

Sydney's birthday party

Joey with Hadley at his first Union movie night

Lydia's birthday party; they actually went to see Big Hero 6, but somehow ended up in front of this poster

Beast Feast - first grade.  Mel was a raccoon

Molly silliness after a sleepover

Jaxon's birthday party - Joey's first non-family party!  It was at Interactive Academy

Fun with Luke at the Children's Museum

Just some random photos of the kids enjoying their friends throughout their first grade (Mel) and preschool (Joey) year