Keeping Busy :)

 Ryan had been gone for nearly four weeks now!!  Though it has been difficult, we are doing surprisingly well!! We have been keeping busy and having our fair share of...interesting...adventures. Here is a little of what we have been up to...
 
Just the other day, Beckham came to me...a little uneasy...and told me he put a bead in his ear.  Of course, I looked in his ear and couldn't see a thing!!  At first, I assumed he didn't really actually get the bead in his ear.  So, I looked around on the floor.  I couldn't see anything...and Beckham was starting to panic. He was saying he could feel the bead in his ear.  I panicked and called the doctor.  What do you do when your child puts something in their ear??  I was stumped. 

While I waited for the nurse to call me back, I laid Beckham down and had him lay his head with the "bead" ear down.  The poor boy was really upset and nervous. The funny boy said, "I think the bead is at my cochlea!"  It was pretty hilarious!! I looked in his ear again and was so happy when I saw the bead had come at least to where I could see it!!! Though I was scared to push the bead down deeper into his ear, I felt like I should try to get it out. To my surprise, I pulled it right out with tweezers!!  When the nurse finally called back, she told me "Job well done!!" 

Haha- I was pretty proud of myself and my sweet little guy was seriously giddy with relief.  He  told me he loved me about twelve times that evening :) It's good to be a hero!!

 Beckham and I have been spending a lot of special time together!!  I love having mommy, son dates with Beckham!!  One day we went bowling together and had lunch!!  I was a blast!!  He is a superb bowler :)

 Jane and I spend some special time together every night after Beckham goes to bed :) I am a lucky mama to have such sweet kids!! 

Last week, however, we had a pretty rough week.  We had coughs, congestion, and fevers all around :( And to top it all off, Jane got a yucky case of pink eye...

 With the help of some antibiotics, and the wonderful advice from my fabulous pharmacist husband :) (that really comes in so handy!!!) we all got better!!  And I am now determined to not complain about being big and prego while Ryan is gone.  That is a breeze compared to trying to do all that with a fever, cough and congestion...uuugh

Other than all that fun, we are just anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little gal!!  Here are Beckham's interpretations of my pregnant belly.  I thought they were pretty darn cute...though unflattering.

 Here is what I really look like! I actually think Beckham's green picture is pretty spot on- hehe.

We are doing well so far, though we really can't wait to see daddy again!!

And the Learning Continues...

 It has been awhile since I posted about school for Beckham!!  Through all the Holidays and Ryan leaving and all the craziness that has been going on, we have continued doing our letter of the week!! We are getting really close to finishing the alphabet!!  Beckham loves learning and is just such a smarty pants!!  I am so so proud of him.I have stopped taking pictures of everything we do, but here are a few ideas of what we have been up to...

For letter L:
We did a special Lightning McQueen puzzle.

 A lady bug sun catcher art project.

 He got to dress a silly lion...

 Of course we have continued working on his handwriting and letters and recognizing their sounds!!!  He is doing amazingly!!

 A lion mask.

 We have continued to complete his work book pages.

 For M week:
He made a mosaic mouse, listened and danced to music, etc.

 For N week:
We made noodle art, a fruit loop necklace, and ate nuts- Beckham's favorite snack. Etc.

 For O week:
We grew some Orbeez, ate at Olive garden, wore orange etc.

 For P week:

 We made a pirate mask

 And a puppy mask.

 I, of course, did week Q ... but with all the holiday madness, I must have not gotten any pictures.  We made a porcupine with quills made out of Q-tips, played the quiet game with Jane...rather unsuccessfully, played a quilt matching game I have, etc.

For week R:
We made rabbit puppets!!

 Did a Rhino puzzle.

 Made sparkly rainbows.

 For S week:
We randomly got some snow to play in- hehe!!

 Made a strawberry art project.

 Read a story together called "Stone Soup"

 For T week:
We did a Truck puzzle.

 Made a tiger mask.

 painted a Turkey

 And read "The Tortoise and the Hare"

I have had so much fun with Beckham while he learns!!!  I am one lucky mama to have such smarty pants kids!!

Gone for Awhile :(

Well, Ryan left for a very LONG Air Force training a few days ago.  He will be gone for two months!! He was also gone for his 30th birthday. So, we were sure to celebrate before he left. 

The kids made Ryan some very special birthday cards!! I can't believe I don't have pictures of the finished products!! They worked so hard :)

 We went out to dinner!! And I had an array of very special treats at home for us to sample :) For his birthday we got Ryan new tires on his bike!! And he is getting new glasses very soon!!

 The kids loved trying each one of the delicious cakes!

 Ryan had to leave early in the morning, so he sat and cuddled with the kids on the couch for a bit before he had to go:( I am pretty sure the kids DO NOT grasp the concept of two months yet- boo hoo:(

 And I had to snap one picture of Ry in his "packed to the brim" car before he left.  As one last birthday present, I put together a travel kit for him full of breakfast bars, treats, drinks, beef jerky, a McDonald gift card and more!! I didn't want this guy falling asleep at the wheel... He'll have enough snacks and treats to drive across the country if he needed to :)

 Well, it pretty much stinks to think about the kids and I being alone for that long, but we are so proud of Ryan and are so thankful for all of his hard work!! Good Luck at SOS, Ry!!!

A New Year, Ice Cream and Snow!!

 I am super excited for this new year!!!  There are lots of amazing new adventures in store for the Dick family!!! In April we have a new baby girl making her appearance in our family.  We can't wait to finally meet her!!  However, just two or three short weeks after she will be born we will be going on one VERY long drive across the country to California where we are moving!  It may be crazy but I am excited to be on the West Coast again though we will dearly miss Dover and all the wonderful friends we have here.

We have been here two and a half years with NO snow, so when Delaware randomly decided to have a snow storm... all our snow gear was desperately outdated.  The kids just couldn't wait to play in the snow, though, so with snow boots and pants that were too small- we enjoyed our moment of snow!!

 This new year also brings a touch of sad news, as Ryan has to leave us for an Air Force training for two whole months :( So, we decided to have another East coast adventure on Ryan's last weekend with us.  We visited the Turkey Hill Experience- a fun sort of museum of how Turkey Hill makes their delicious ice cream!!  We got as many free samples of ice cream as we wanted- yum!!

 The funnest part was being able to make our very own custom flavors of ice cream!!

 We each got our own pints of ice cream and were able to add in a flavoring, add ins and swirls!! I just loved Beckham's name tag on his ice cream :)

 Can you see the massive wall of add in behind me!!

 Here is Beckham adding in some marshmallow swirls!! I made a lemon ice cream with strawberry swirls and graham cracker chunks mixed in.  It was pretty darn good!!

 The kids had a blast doing all the fun things around the museum!

 The kids each got to make a commercial promoting their ice cream flavor!!  They may not have been very effective commercials but they were super cute!!

 We had such a fun day having our very first adventure of the new year!!

 We are really going to miss this guy for the next two months :( But we are so proud of him!! Ry is such a great husband and daddy and we are lucky to have him.  He works so hard for us and we just love him lots!!