Princess Friends

Julie, Sophia and Layden. They are all beautiful princesses.
Back row, Julie, Layden, Annabella, Lilly,
Front row: Sophia and Anna
Each princess recieved a different crown.

Look at me

When each girl was finished at one beauty station, they were able to go into the front room and complete their outfit with more jewelry, check themselves out in the mirror, or play with swords (we did have one boy so the swords were important!)

Anna loves the tiara and feather boa.
Julie may be trying to cut off Anna's dress since it is so pretty.
Sophia a getting a new necklace on.
Future frat party. Julie knocking one back.

Sophia at the "beauty salon"

Sophia loves getting her nails done. The things that we have learned with a 5 year old is that we have to use quick dry to make sure that the nails stay perfect.

Being the birthday girl, she got her hair done first.
We are saving this picture below to pull out when her boyfriends come over!
Our princess is almost ready.

All finished, all princessed.

Getting ready....

Sophia loves the movie Enchanted where the princess goes to the beauty salon before going to her party. So all the girls got their hair, nails and make-up done.

Our friends, Lisa and Kristin, did hair.
I did all the make-up

Layden, with dark hair, was bored while getting her hair done.
Margie and Sarah helped with nails.
It took 5 adults 1 hour to help get 6 little girls ready. They all loved it and it was a lot of fun.

Birthday cake

For Sophia's 5th birthday, she wanted a castle cake. This was a fun adventure to try to make. We started with a sheet cake from Sam's club and purchased more icing, same color. My mom had made 2 small round cakes to place in the middle to create a multi-tiered castle.

We took sugar cones and frosted them, then added sprinkles.
Next started the fun part, assembly of the castle. Adding the turrets at different levels to build the castle. We had to make sure that we 'glued' the pieces to the cake with icing.
Sophia is pretty proud of her birthday cake.
The final touches were added by Margie. She did such a great job!!

Soccer anyone???

I had signed Sophia up for recreation soccer in early July. I agreed that I would coach the team if it was needed, specifically expressing that I HAVE NEVER COACH SOCCER BEFORE IN MY LIFE. Okay, so that did not seem to help. I guess that other parents did not want to coach soccer for all the large number of kindergarten girls that want to play soccer. I specifically told Justin that I would coach soccer, since I signed up to do it. I got the call tonight, I am the new soccer coach. Okay, so I think that it could be a lot of fun. Ultimately, I just hope that the girls have a good time. I have to remember, everything happens for a reason; I'm just still waiting to understand this one. We are supposed to squeeze in a practice next week before our game on Saturday, are you kidding me. I think that we will just try our first game, no practice. Then, we will talk and decide how to divide everything up, including snack duty. I mean really, if people do not want to coach, then they can at least be in charge of snacks!

And so it begins....

Tonight was the ice cream social at Evening Street Elementary. Being new to the school idea, we thought that it was a harmless ice cream social. Can I just tell you, the ice cream was just used to sucker us in!!!

Yes, it was Graeters ice cream, for only $2.00 for a single serve. That is a great price, let me tell you. But, it was just to get you there to sign up for PTA, classroom directory, art projects, Eagle Bucks, and more. In just 1 short hour, they took us for a grand total of $22.50. I am still in shock. I realized that school had unexpected cost, but really, is this necessary???

And let me just note, the craziness that was going on was amazing. Maybe we will know more people next year, but being 1st time school parents, nothing really seemed organized, just a free for all with lots of paperwork and money.

I am expecting that my social calendar will be booked with Sophia for the next 13 years. This week there are already 3 events and next week we start soccer. This is crazy. Justin asked for an outline of the typical week, so he would know where he fit in and what he needed to do. Right now, I am just trying to make it through this week and then we can look at attempting to create a schedule. If you are a school parent already, I could use some helpful hints. Please send them my way!!!

Happy Anniversary

9 years ago today, Justin and I were married after dating for 8 years. Yes, if you do the math we have been together more than 1/2 of our lives. Not much is different from the picture, longer hair and newer glasses, but otherwise, about the same. I thought that many of you would enjoy this picture, since most people that are reading the blog did not know us back then. It does not seem like 9 years, but adding in 2 kids, 2 different houses, multiple job changes and a few major illnesses here and there, then it seems like 9 years. Happy Anniversary, I look forward to 99 more. Love, ri

Happy Birthday to You

Dear Sophia,

It was 5 years ago today that you came into our world. You kept us very busy when you were little. You did not like to sleep much at all and needed to be walked all day and night. When we brought you home from the hospital, you slept in a wicker basket between your dad and I. I just could not imagine you sleeping in the other room. Now, you are the best sleeper that I know, even if you are afraid of going to sleep for fear of missing something fun. You have filled our home and heart with princesses and barbies. You are my girly girl that loves everything pink, princess, wearing dressing, having your hair and nails done, and satin p.j.'s -- and don't forget chocolate! Your love of life and creative nature reminds us to have fun in all that we do. You are a great daughter and great big sister to your brother. These last 5 years have passed so quickly and you will soon be starting kindergarten, another new chapter and another adventure to document. I cannot wait to see what the next 5 years brings our way. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

LOVE,
MOM, DAD AND BRUNO (AKA MILES)

Sorry for the delay

i am so sorry for the delay in any recent posts. everything has been very busy and crazy around here since vacation that it has been hard to try to find any time to post. I am finding myself working 3 days a week more than not, especially d/t our weekends that we need to work.

We had company of Justin's family, including mom, dad, sister and her son during the 4th. the kids had a great time together. Miles got to meet his aunt Julie for the 1st time. The trip was short and sweet, which was greatly appreciated after our vacation trek.

Miles continued to go to school, 1 day a week. It has continue to be an extreme challenge. He has a good friend, Matilyn there that helps him thru his day. She is the only one he talks about when we talk about school. I really think that he is in love with Mattie. Finally last week, Miles made some good headway about being at school. He actually ate some lunch, played with the kids, played on the playground, colored, slept, and appeared to have had a good time. He was spotted walking around to the office with his teacher Brandy. He has really connected with her. Hopefully, his day at school will be a good one again tomorrow. He has also been willing to give out hugs and high fives to may of the staff that he does not even know that well. This is HUGE progress especially since he is usually shy around other adults that he does not always know.

We had great weather for our dinner party --- BBQ-- in July. The dinner parties this year have been even better than the last 2 years.

At the end of July, Justin's mom returned for another summer visit. Again, this visit seemed to go by too fast. The kids loved the time alone with grandma linda. I worked many of the days that Linda was here, but this gave my mom some time to do her own thing and focus on her To-Do list.

Our friend, Sean and his wife have recently left for Atlanta, GA. This will be a big change for us since we have considered Sean to be an uncle to the kids. There were the final dinners out at Schmidts' Sausage House and a final poker game for the guys. We wish them well and hope to see them all soon.

This past weekend we also had our wine tasting fundraiser for the American Heart Association. This was a last minute decision to do for our Heart Walk Team, but we had a great time. It was in Powell at a GREAT Wine shop. The owners were spectacular and did a great job hosting us. It was a success and we will plan for 1 or 2 fundraisers there next year. At the same time, Miles and Sophia had their 1st, non-family member babysitter. This was a girl from Kindercare. The kids had a great time. We are happy to know that they do fine without us and we will plan to use other babysitter in the future since Ms. Tiffany will be leaving for college next week.

This week has been busy with a many things. On tuesday, I gave a 3 hour lecture at OU in Athens on Cancer and PT. It was a good lecture, best of all, they paid for my gas and a stipend for the lecture. We are having the house painted soon, so the decorator came to help us choose a paint color. Of course, we will now have a red door, paint color called..... baked bean. Justin, Sophia and Miles are so excited. I cannot believe that we will be using a color named after food.

We are also getting ready for Sophia's 5th b-day party. It is a full PRINCESS (whose surprised) b-day party. Tonight, we made our thank you take home bags for all that are attending. These are some pretty good bags, especially if you are 5. They include a fancy white purse full of nail polish, stick on earrings, lipstick, rings, necklaces, etc. I think the girls will really like them. Sophia had a great time helping me to fill the purses full of all the "goods". The b-day theme is Enchanted, the movie. She will be receiving a lot of good enchanted gifts, including the enchanted Giselle dolls, in her many outfits including a Prince. A castle will be built outside by Kevin and Dad. Margie and mom will work to decorate the princess castle. There will be a completely pink princess cake. I am really excited about making the princess castle cake.

Then after this week, we will be getting ready for school stuff. On Sophia's actually b-day, she has to go to school with all of her school supplies, including each individual crayon labeled with her name, and complete a Kindergarten Lit test. I have no idea what this includes, but I know that we have to go to complete the starting kindergarten testing. The next day will be our 9th anniversary. Wow, 9 year already. It really does not seem that long.

The heart walk will be that weekend. I am pretty excited to say that I think we will have raised close to $7500 by the time it is all said and done. I did not meet my goal, but i had a good time doing it. I figure that my goal will be $10,000 again next year and I already have some good ideas of things i would like to try next year for fundraising. This has definitely been a great learning experience. I have learned what works, and what does not work.

One week after her b-day, she starts Kindergarten. Then we will be traveling to IL for a visit. GO BUCKS football season starts very soon and I know that Justin and the kids are ready. Sophia is even getting a pink jersey this year. I think that miles will actually love watching football, especially with dad.

I cannot believe that the summer has gone by so quickly. Everything will change once sophia starts kindergarten. I am excited to be able to help out in the classroom by volunteering as needed. She will be playing soccer this fall and I might be helping to coach. I plan to sign Miles up for soccer as well. I think that the kid needs a little time running around with other kids his age, and really, how cute will it be to have 2 year old running around after a ball.

Well, that is the update for now. I will try to post pictures of the b-day party as soon as i can. I also need to upload the rest of the vacation pictures. We hope that everyone is doing well. We hope to hear from you soon. send us an e-mail and let us know what is going on at rianntaylor@hotmail.com

Being a girl

The other night, after I had read to Sophia, before bed, we just laid there and talked. I love those times when she just starts talking, about her day. Nothing particular, just about what is in her head.

That night, she was just talking. She announced, "I just love being a girl." I tried to get her to explain why she loved being a girl, the fancy dresses, painting toe nails, dressing up at play time, etc. But she could not tell me why. She just knew that she loved "being a girl."

She shows how much she loves "being a girl" everyday. At school, her teacher, Ms. Sarah asked what type of an athlete she would like to be. Her obvious answer was, "princess". Ms. Sarah was not aware that was a type of athlete, Sophia will continue to work to prove her wrong. Sophia is as dedicated as an athlete to being a princess. After swimming, her hair must be combed, out of her eyes, and not too messy. Shoes must match the outfit, comfort is less of a concern. And she wears dresses everyday in the summer. She is a girly girl. I know that she will really love her b-day that is coming up. We are getting the girls hair done, letting them dress up like princesses and then taking their pictures. How much fun for 5, 5 year olds.

WINE TASTING FUNDRAISER

We are having a wine tasting fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Please come to the great party and invite a friend. see the add below!

Please join us for a
Wine tasting fundraiser
On Saturday August, 9th, 2008
From 7:00-9:00 p.m.
At Simplified Wines
8730 Moreland Street, Powell OH 43065
~
Advanced Tickets: $25 single/$45 couple
Tickets at the door: $35 single/$60 couple
Space is limited, please buy tickets early
~
Drawing will be held with over $1500 in prizes
A sampling of fine wine will be served
with cheese and crackers
~
Attendees must be 21 or older. Sorry, no children.
All proceeds to benefit the Walk Miles for Miles American Heart Association, Heart Walk Team
~
Please contact Riann Taylor at 614-565-4689 or rianntaylor@hotmail.com for tickets and more information
Must R.S.V.P. by August 1st, 2008 for advanced tickets
~



Simplified Wines
At the Corner of Sawmill Parkway and Seldom Seen Road located in the Golf Village Retail Center (just north of Seldom Seen Road on Sawmill)

5 weeks and only 1/5 of the way there

The heart walk is quickly approaching and I am no where near my goal ($10,000). I am not even close to my goal last year ($3,000). I know my goal this year was lofty, and I felt like i started on a good foot by doing the pasta fundraiser last year before Christmas, but that only netted $300 towards the fundraiser. I question if i will get to my goal and i would hate to let Maria down, but i do feel that a lot of people are just not in to donating this year. With the change in the economy, i find people are very resistant to donate. I have learned a few things which will hopefully make my fundraiser better for next year:

1. Raffle- a good idea, but harder to implement than i thought. I have collected over $1,800 in prizes, but i am not having any luck to selling the tickets. Not sure how best to get the word out.
2. Personalize letters seem to help. I have taken my families address books hostage and written letters to each person in them. Next year, i will have my close friend give me their address books and mail letters to all of their family and friends.
3. I have a hard time asking people to help me raise money. It is a close fundraiser to my heart, but it is hard to explain that to others and for them to in turn be willing to help raise the money.
4. Start early. I thought that starting in October of 2007 would help for a fundraiser in August of 2008, but that has not worked yet.
5. Those that gave last year, have given this year. There are some tried and true donors that continue to give. I thank you, but next year i will probably be asking for more.
6. Try other fundraiser: if i can swing it, we will be doing a wine tasting this year and possibly an event at California Pizza Kitchen. Hey, S.D. do you know anyone that can play for free at the wine tasting, such as a violinist, harpist, acoustic guitar???
7. i need to ask people that I know, to ask people that they know to donate money. I need to figure out how to use my resources more wisely.

I am sure that i have learned more, but i cannot remember right now. My mind is swimming trying to get this all together. It is a good thing that i do not work full-time. I have always enjoyed volunteering, this is just a more organized form of volunteering. Happy donating!!
and thank you.

Paying forward

We are truly blessed. We have everything we could want. I look around at our neighborhood and i am reminded that everything can change in an instant. Our neighbor next to us foreclosed on her house and we will be getting new neighbors soon. We are blessed to have a house, in a great neighborhood with good schools and great old neighbors. There are sidewalks to walk on at night and there are kids in the neighborhood for our kids to play with.

This past 2 weeks at work have been trying. The death of a young kid, that i grew to know and be part of his family. And illnesses that should not be. We are blessed to have our health. We may not have perfect health but we have pretty good health. We also have good health insurance. I realize that we are lucky to have this great health insurance, especially with Miles' health issues.

These are the times to remember that we should share our blessing with others. You might be surprised who needs just a little help. The person sitting next to you, your neighbor, or someone that is just a stranger. If you are blessed, take the time to give. Give of your time, give of your money, or just give of your smile. Even the simplest acts can change someones attitude and their life. There is always a very thin line between needing money and having money.

Today

Well, today was the day, that i thought may never happen. After Miles was diagnosed with his heart defect, everything changed. I was no longer going back to work full time, we did not know when Miles could go to daycare.

Well, today was the day. It went as expected. Drop off was better than expected, no tears from Miles, but there were plenty of tears as I left. When I called, he had cried for most of the morning, but found a new friend, Matilyn (Mattie) that helped him through his day. The only way he would sleep was with his cot lined up next to hers. She is very sweet and protective of him. I know that they will get along great. I picked him up after nap. He was pretty tired and did not even want to go find sister, just "Go home". Those words broke my heart. I hope that next week is better and this gets easier.

I was reminded by a friend that any transition is hard, when you are alone and do not know anyone. But we all make friends and it gets easier. Thanks for reminding me of that. I at least know that he is safe and is slowly warming up and making friends. The best part is the socialization and germs that he will be experiencing.

I am glad that his 1st day is over, the rest will come and be better

Not a problem

After ballet class tonight, i thought that we would do something special. We went to DQ to pick up dinner. When we pulled into the parking lot, Sophia asked if she could have ice cream.

the conversation followed.

mom: "the problem is that we have ice cream at home." (not wanting to purchase expensive ice cream at DQ)
sophia: "that's not a problem!"

she can really make me smile.

Scrabble

I have to admit that I cannot always spell, but i love to play the game scrabble. In fact, i spell better than Justin, even though we should have challenged one of his words yesterday and did not.

Yesterday morning, we decided to play scrabble. Sophia played on my team. Let me just tell you, it is fun to play scrabble with a 4 1/2 y/o, she can pick out the tiles. However, she has a tendency to tell the other players what pieces you have on your board. Specifically, she said, "well, we only have 1 S, so we cannot spell PRINCESS"

This girl can recognize Princess and Queen in a heart beat.

Too much sun

We arrived on Saturday and loved the location, view and pool. On Sunday, it appears that Justin with his too fair skin, stayed outside a little too long, even with 50 sunblock. By that evening, he had a sunburn and it just continued to get worse from there.

This has happened before for Justin. When he was younger, he had sunburns that would itch, not hurt. On vacation in the Caymens, on our honeymoon -9 years ago and now. On our honeymoon, we had to call the local "paramedics" who came with not much in the way of meds to treat him.

He continues to get an itchiness after a sunburn, big or small. The answer, SUN POISONING.

Justin is just too susceptible to the sun and is sensitive. He needs to wear sunscreen and a long-sleeved shirt if he is going to be outside.

He is now on a fabulous med combo of
1. predinisone
2. claratin or benedryl (for the antihistimine affect)
3. pepcid (also an antihistime affect but a different type)
4. 800 mg ibupron every 4-6 hours
5. aveno bath
6. calamin lotion

Hopefully this will do the trick and he will feel better and less stir crazy with this itch. He cannot be outside in the heat/sun do to the itching.

Bath time

Sophia fell in love with the jacuzzi bathtub.

Miles thought that it was fun to help out and throw stuff in, until
he got in trouble.

Helping take pictures

I had a little help taking this picture, then he wanted to see how it
TURNED OUT

Banana Pudding

On vacation, Sophia and G.G. made fabulous banana pudding. Recipe follows below:
Banana Pudding
2 Large boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 large carton of sour cream
1 med or large cool whip
1 box vanilla wafers
bananas- sliced

Mix pudding and mix with beater until thick. Add sour cream and cool whip. line large dish with vanilla wafers top with sliced bananas, cover with pudding. Continue alternating layers ending with pudding on top. serves a large crowd.

Waterworks

Miles and Sophia using the water guns.

Loading up the water guns
Per Sophia: "I'm squirting my brother with water and making him cry."
Sophia uses her belly or neck to push the release to shoot grandpa herb
Miles enjoying sitting on the raft and Sophia enjoys swimming with her noodle.
Sophia: "I love that swimming pool and mom could not even stand on the bottom, she had to stand on her tippie-toes"

Muscle Man

Miles wanted to show off his muscles,




I think that he is getting ready for weight lifting

Eating after swimming

Justin would always have Bugle chips after swimming when he was a kid. So, we decided to make sure that the kids got a chance to enjoy the Bugles as well. The kids loved the chips and enjoyed them with home-made chicken salad as well.

CRAB WACKERS

When Sophia heard that we were going to wack crabs, she got really, really upset.

She began to pout about the idea of hitting the crabs
We were instructed by our waitress how to open the soft shell crab.
Then sophia thought that it was fun to hit them, over and
over, and over again.