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?

Kid Station

This week I have been watching some kids ages 6, 8, and 11 along with Riley and Sam. However, when it rained all morning yesterday we were getting stir crazy and had to get out of the house. So I took the kids to Kid Sation. Which by the way, I now would highly suggest to someone not to do that all by yourself for FOUR hours! I haven't been that exhausted in a long time but anyways... Riley and Sam both had a great time. As you can see, Riley wasn't very graceful about getting in and out of the ball pen at first but she got better. It was so sweet though, everytime that Riley heard Sam cry or squeal, she would stick her head out to check on him :) All that playing sure did wear Sam out though.

-Even though we had a great, yet exhausting time, I also had a first.

Riley was playing in the ball pen and a little girl who was probably about 3 kept jumping in on top of her. Now Riley, being the peaceful content one that she is just looked at me with her confused face but no crying and just kept playing. I didn't mind too much because it wasn't huring Riley and I figure that it won't be the last time she gets jumped on, pushed around, etc however after it continued I looked around and there was no parent to be found so I just very simply, politely, and softly, told the girl that she really needed to be a little more careful and to play nice. Of course she then loudly and not so politely started to whine saying how I had hurt her feelings and then pointed and began to let out a whail of a cry. So of course mama came to see me and griped at me for being rude to her daughter!

The whole thing made me laugh because I am quite certain that will not be my only run in with other mama's. Especially when I finally get into a classroom!

Flying High

Sorry these pictures are so small but I had to borrow them from facebook :)

Ryne was so excited because he flew to Clifton this past Tuesday as part of an assignment in his flight class. It was very cool because his family was able to go out to the airport and watch him land and take off. Ryne and Chris (His flight instructor) were able to run into town with the fam to grad a quick bite to eat at Sonic and then head home. This is just one of many of the cool flights that he will get to take. We have a friend that has a flight to San Antonio this weekend so he and his wife are going out to lunch at the riverwalk then heading home. Another neighbor took his wife to eat crawfish it Mississippi last week then flew her home. For someone who hadn't been in a plane until after high school, it still seems weird to me that you can get to places so quickly! Anyways, I am very proud of Ryne and all his hard work. Flying should get to be fun sometimes, he works hard to earn it!

Also, a couple of pics from the airplane were taken by my sister-in-law Caitlin. She is becoming quite the photographer and has some really cool photos as well as paintings! -Just wanted to let you know that these are WAY COOL Cait. Thanks for taking pictures! Love you

4 Months Old!

I have seen the most growth from our Sam man this month than ever before. He is growing SO fast! On his 4 month birthday (this past Monday) Sam rolled over for the first time. Since then he has gotten pretty good! Also this week we started rice cereal. Sam has been sleeping through the night for a while now, but after a couple of weeks of getting back up and 4:30-5:30, I decided that maybe we should try it out. And it worked! I guess my little growing man was hungry!

At 4 months Sam is so much fun to be around. He loves his sister and doesn't seem to mind that she uses him as her personal jungle gym. He has the most perfect little bow smile. He loves to be held and snuggle. As a matter of fact I have found myself wanting to rock him to sleep and let him cuddle in my arms. Miss Riley always put herself to sleep and was never much of a cuddler so that has been particularly nice. Sam has the longest eyelashes! I swear they keep growing too! He loves to be outside and is perfectly content to lay outside while I weed the flower beds and Riley plays on her slide. However, even though he isnt crawling, he inches and scoots everywhere! He has some strong little legs! Overall, Sam has been wonderful and we all love him very much!

May Madness

May was a crazy and quick month. So many things happened. Sarah got married, both Hannah Blanton and Hannah Bergren gratuated, Sam turned 4months old and Riley turned 17 months old! Riley had her first swim of the summer, and she has officially entered the climbing stage, we got to eat with some friends that are very dear to us, the Wilcoxsons before they move, we got to visit Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill, we finished up the semester, Angie had her baby and my good friend Kayla found out they were expecting and those are just for starters! I could blog about each one of these but I just don't have the time. So, as soon as I get some pictures from the wedding I will put them up, however, for now these few photos from May will just have to do. Congratulations to Sarah and Mike, and both the Hannah's.