Lake of the Ozarks

Now that I've finally joined facebook, with much arm twisting, the blogging is harder to do. These were taken at the Lake for the Fourth of July weekend. We had a great time and I had a nice birthday. We enjoyed the pool, the sun, the rain, the BBQ, and the fireworks. What little fireworks I did see....Ryder wanted me to take him back to the room after 3 fireworks went off. Cole was crying and shaking like a leaf at the noise of the fireworks. You could see the fireworks from our room and they were really close, so it did seem a little louder than usual. Cole was a little uncertain about the water but once he saw Ryder splashing around, he was fine. It is true: you can burn when it's cloudy. Mike and I burned but we were smart enough to lather the boys with sunscreen. I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Say Cheese

Here's some pics we took over the weekend. Ryder turned 4 one day after Cole turned 7 months. Cole has 1 new tooth on the bottom and 1 trying to come in on the top. Cole has gained 2 pounds and 1 inch in length in 4 weeks. Ryder was the same height at 7 months as Cole (28.5") but Cole's length is all in his body. He's our eater. We put one bite in and as soon as it hits his mouth, he's grunting for more.
We're all enjoying our visit with the grandparents this week. They will leave us on Tuesday.

Scooby Scooby Doo

Whew, this house has been full of boys today. Ryder turned 4 on Wednesday and today we had a Scooby Doo Birthday Party with 5 little boys from his preschool. They all had such fun together and I enjoyed watching them interact. Luckily, Mike, Mom and Dad were here to help. Here's some photos from today's big event.

Cole and his smiles joined us for the fun

Yum Yum

Dad showing off his transformers

Grandaddy quizzing the boys about girls....

A Water Gun Fight, (not sure this was the best idea)

Lots of fun presents (Legos seemed to be the gifts of the day)

Ryder's Graduation

Charlie, Ryder, and Daniel

Lining up to slide down and get the class certificate and class photo

Ryder loved school and is so sad tomorrow is his last day.

A Hungry Boy

Eating his broccoli

So Yummy!!

When Ryder turned 1 he became a rather picky eater. I know I enhanced it to some degree. He was so picky he wouldn't even eat pizza or noodles from about 18 months on. What kid won't eat pizza.?

Ryder is almost 4 and I would say in the last 6 months his palate has completely changed. His favorite food: are you ready for this? Broccoli. Steamed broccoli with salt. That's it. No cheese, nothing! From a preference of about 5 things, this is what he will now eat:

hominey, squash, turnips, carrots, on occassion potatoes but not his favorite, spinach, green bean casserole or plain green beans

steak, beef but no hamburger meat

Turkey Breast and Ground Turkey
Pork Chops

chicken-casserole, grilled, crockpot etc. (Any way really)

Fish

Soup-any kind as long as it's not spicey. He loves Bopa's Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Spaghetti, noodles of any sort or in any casserole

Bread-he could live on bread, rolls, muffins, alone (so could I)

What he won't eat: Salad, Hamburger Meat, tomatoes, avocados, onion, or bacon.

Because of a "max and ruby" episode, he won't eat eggs. "Ruby" cooks "Max" an egg and he says "bad egg." So since seeing that cartoon episode, he says bad egg and won't eat any eggs. That's ok b/c we're not big egg eaters anyway.

This is a big deal for us b/c we were afraid Ryder wasn't going to ever try anything new and actually like it. But he's changing as most kids do and we're glad for the eating change.

We've come a long way.

All my efforts, finally recognized!!!

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=LU3uKCMkpqlblnkN6jUYGTU2NTcxOQ--&referred_by=16712925-QIgCAVx&p=moveon

Rock Star in the Making-Watch This