My Own Private Pilot

Ryne is officially a Private Pilot!

Today he finished up his last flight for this summer and completed the course for his private pilots certificate. (I just learned that pilots don't have a liscence, they have certificates) I am so happy for him because he always works so hard. This past week especially has been grueling as every free moment (literally) that he has had, has been spent preparing for the number of tests that he had this week. So congratualtions Ryne! It is cool to say that I have my very own Private Pilot!

*pictures from top to bottom:

Riley helped me make some airplane cookies A.K.A. "santa cookies" for Ryne when he got home. That was the note with the cookies and two of the multitude of mini airplanes. It took me forever to make and ice all of those little suckers

That is Riley wearing my new apron. How cute!

The next two are Ryne from when he got home today. Again, How cute! -atleast I think so :)

Next a picture of Ryne and I. Way to go babe, I love you!

And Last but not least, that was the face that Samuel made when Ryne told him his daddy was a private pilot. I think he was proud too :)

Weekend Fun

This past weekend Ryne's parents and sister Caitlin came down for a visit. We had such a good time I didn't even have time to pull out my camera. However, Cait took some pictures of Sam and a few of Riley for me. Thank you SO much Cait! I love your pictures and of course I love my kids :)

In the last picture, miss Riley put her necklace on Sam. I guess he thought it was funny.

It was great that Ryne and his dad got to spend Father's Day together. Next weekend we will get to celebrate with my dad. Yah!

18months+

I have been a little behind because a couple of Friday's ago, miss Riley turned 18 months old! She is SO much fun to be around and is such a joy. Here are 18 random things about our sweet Riley.

• She is climbing everywhere!!! She climbs into her carseat now, into her high chair, and almost into her brothers crib.
• She is becoming very independent. She wants to walk all on her own without holding anyone's hand. And if for some reason she does need your help, as soon as she can she wants to be back on her own.
• She LOVES her little brother. She says "uh-oh" when he is crying and brings him a paci or a burp rag. She will kiss him goodnight and give him hugs. It is so sweet.
• She loves her pink blanket.
• She still uses her paci every single night.
• She now knows how to say cookie, and teeth, and were still working on Sam. She has even said Lizzy (Aunt Lizzy aka Hannah Blanton) and even said Leah a couple of times.
• She is very good at sharing. (most of the time)
• She loves to wrestle with her daddy.
• She is "jumping" all over the place. We can't quite seem to get that second foot completly off the ground yet.
• She LOVES shoes and cell phones.
• She has become quite the helper. She puts away her dirty laundry and will throw things in the trash.
• She has the most beautiful blue eyes.
• She wants to be outside all the time. But here lately it has just been SO hot...
• She loves to rider her horsey and play with her building blocks.
• She knows where her nose, mouth, ear, eye and bellybutton are.
• She can even say "eye"
• She brushes her teeth with mommy every single day.
• She Loves to dance around to music. Right now we have really been listening to the VBS soundtrack from a western themed VBS. She loves when she hears to horse neigh.
• The only show she really likes watching on TV is Family Feud and it is only because she gets to say "yah" and clap every 5-10 seconds.

ok that was 19 but thats ok...

Up, Up, and Away

Before we went outside he met with his flight instructor to go over the flight and then he had to call (some place) to get a weather briefing. Way cool! The airport that he wanted to fly to was closed so he just practiced landings over and over around the airport.

There was a board full of pictures of pilots from recent solos. There is Ryne!

Next Ryne had to go through his "pre flight". He checked the plane from top to bottom. He checked the gas and looked at the wings and the tail and propeller. He even looked pretty good doing it :)

Then it was time to fly! This is Ryne landing. If you look you can see the road getting closer and closer.

This morning I got to go fly with Ryne for the first time. It was so neat to be able to see the fruit of some of his hard work. Josh and Maryanne watched the kids for us so that I could go. THANKS a million you guys. I was so glad I got to go.

It was neat to see the airport and to meet some of the people that I hear him talk about. I know it may sound silly but I couldn't get over the fact of how quick and simple it seemed to be flying. It was very different than in a big jet. We were only on the runway for like 2 seconds and then we were off! It was very windy today but Ryne did GREAT! I think he was determined to let me fly too since weather had ruined our plans for yesterday's flight, but anyways... He did great! His flight instructor is wonderful too. He kept giving him senario's like "there is a cliff over there and the engine went out. You need to land on the cliff". I didn't get that it was pretend at first and I couldn't see what cliff he was talking about. lol However, he really did kill the engine! That was the only time I got a little nervous.

Overall, I had a great time and I was so glad that I got to see him fly. He sure does enjoy it.

-Love you Ryne, Way to go!

He's Home!

I am so happy for my friend Ang, because her husband is home! Last night we all went over and celebrated that he was home with some cake and cookies. It was so neat to get to see him with his daughter the first day that he was back home. As it turns out, even though his flight to Dallas was delayed, so was his flight from Dallas to Longview. So he did end up making it and got home about 2:00 a.m. yesterday morning! Glad you're home John.

-Not So- Wordless Wednesday

Today we went to the public library to see the Chik-fil-A cow and play at the bounce house etc. etc. Anyways, Riley and I have been working on "What does the cow say?" "Mooooo" especially this week so that we could perform when we saw the cow. And she did great! Except for the fact that she was clingy and tired and didn't want to get her face painted or jump in the bounce house. She didnt want some of the free snacks (really weird) or to play with the sidewalk chalk. She didnt want to be near the cow, she just wanted to point and "moo" so atleast we got that down. However, as we were leaving she did want to stop and play with the chain!

-Also, I had planned on having a picture of the entire Bartel family because John was supposed to land here in Longview at 8:30 tonight. However, because of bad weather he is stuck in Shrevport and they wont let anyone off the plane. So, so much for us just going to pick him up! After 6 months, these last few hours have really been long for Ang. So, I will let everyone know when he finally makes it home!

Today the kids were playing while I was putting their clothes away, when I noticed that Riley had covered Sam up with her blanket. It was so sweet! I also couldn't resist taking a picture of Sam asleep in his cute little outfit. I love the little bear on his butt.

Weekend Fun

Saturday night we got to go out to eat with our good friends Joseph and Kayla. Because of our schedules, all four of us haven't gotten to hang out with each other in a while. Thanks for staying up all night playing Dutch Blitz with us. We love you very much. -This is me trying to mimic Riley's "O" face :)

On Sunday Ryne and I went to a new sandwhich place in town called "Which Wich". It was fun and different. You picked up the paper bag you wanted, then filled it out and put your name at the bottom. They then clip it to a zip line, make your sandwhich, then put it in the bag and call your name. It was fun. We also got to walk around the mall for a little bit. It was some much needed one-on-one time so thanks again to Joseph and Kayla for watching the kids for a couple of hours.

Later that afternoon, I took the kids down to the laundry mat to do laundry and play so that Ryne could have a couple of hours all to himself to do some homework. We even got to see miss Livy while we were there!

That evening we also had some watermelon that I picked up in Pittsburg. Yum! We have some fun pictures of miss Riley eating watermelon that Joseph and Kayla took. I will post them when I can. And yes, she ate the watermelon naked and then we sprayed her off with the waterhose :)

Congrats Jacob!

This past Friday Riley, Sam, and I headed to Detroit, TX to watch my cousin graduate high school! Even though it was a short trip it was great to see my mom, dad, hannah and leah. Aunt B and her 3 kids were there too and of course I got to see Uncle Jeff and his family. Cousin David was even there! Thanks G-ma for letting us stay with you. As always I had a great time. There is nothing like staying up late and snacking constantly! Congrats again Jacob. We love you!

Isn't it funny...

how you never have to teach a child how to do things like splash in the mud puddles?! I know that it requires me rinsing out the tub a little extra after a bath, and doing an extra load of laundry, and having to remop the kitchen floor, but isn't this just priceless?