Flying with Mike

On Sunday we made a decision to take Ryan up in a small airplane for the first time. He has been on an airliner about 6 or 7 times when he was pretty tiny, but nothing like this. When you are in an airliner you don't feel like you are flying in an airplane. You get on the airplane from a buliding, you can barely feel any turbulence and you can't even see the ground for 99% of the plane ride. Flying in a small airplane is such a different experience. I have been flying with Mike like 3 or 4 times so far and everytime I do, I have more fun. I get less nervous and am able to look around and take pictures and just enjoy the ride. Mike is a pretty good pilot (not that I would really even know). He likes to explain everything he is doing to me (that is the flight instructor in him). He says that one day he will teach me to fly. I don't know about that, but it would be cool to say that I know how to FLY AN AIRPLANE!

Here are some pictures of our little adventure....

He was a little nervous at first

Santa Paula airport from inside the plane

I tried to distract him by looking at the other airplanes
Wow, cool

Santa Paula from the sky

Mike flying


Just landed in Camarillo

Taking off from Camarillo

He must have been really relaxed

We had alot of fun. If Ryan grew up to love flying and airplanes like Mike, I think that would be the proudest dad in the whole world. It's important to have something that Mike and Ryan both love to and can do together.

Like Father, Like Son........

I just have to share this with everyone. People with children (especially boys) will find this funny and probably familiar.

I made meatloaf last night (it was actually pretty good), I put it on Ryan's plate he looks at it and says "ewww, poo poo". I almost fell out of my chair I thought it was so funny and to be honest, it kinda does look like it. let's just say that he didn't eat his meatloaf last night. At least I know my child won't eat just ANYTHING.

It just reminded me of how alike Mike & Ryan are and for those of you who know Mike you know what I mean when I say "poor me".

December 7th...

December 7th has alot of different meanings to me. It is both happy and sad.

December 7th, 2001 - My 18 year old cousin Anthony was killed in a car accident. This was the first time that I anyone I knew died. My grandfather died a few years eariler, but he had been sick for a long time. He had lived a long, fullilling life. Anthony was taken at such a young age. It's hard to imagine why god would take someone so young and so innocent. I guess that everything happens for a reason. There was a reason he lived and there was a reason he died.

December 7, 2006 - Ryan was born. He was born and he changed my whole life. I never knew what it meant to love another person so unconditionally. To love someone you barely knew. I felt that he had part of me. I dont think it was a concidence that Ryan was born on the same day that Anthony died. I think he was born to turn December 7th from a sad day to a happy one. To remind us of the important things in life. Life turns into death...that's what makes this world go round. The most important part of Ryan being born is that I feel he has a part of Anthony inside of him. Everytime I look at him, I remember Anthony. He is here because of Anthony, I truely believe that.

The long road has an end in sight..................

For those of you who know Mike's dad was diganosed with Lymphoma at the beginning of the year.

Well after 9 months on intense chemotherapy...HE IS DONE!!!

He said that he hasn't felt this good since before he was diagnosed.

Please keep him in your prayers, he still has a long road ahead of him, but at least now he can start to get his life back.

September 21, 2008

Here are some wedding pictures..... I obviously couldn't post all of them, but the website where you can see all of them is http://www.eileens.photoreflect.com/...

I do have to say other than when Ryan was born, this had to be the best day of my life. I felt so beautiful and so loved. I have never felt like that before. I have never felt pressured to be married and not that I didn't want to be married, but I didn't feel that it was that big of a deal. Well, after being married, I have changed my mind. I think it makes a big impact on your relationship. You make promises and vows to each other that you never did before. I can't think of anyone else that I would wanted to be married to more than Mike. I hope that we grow old and grumpy together.

My cookie project

I could tell that at about 7:30, Ryan was getting pretty bored. So, I whipped out some cookies that I bought at the grocery store to see him I could occupy him for a while.

So, I baked the cookies then I whipped out the frosting and the sprinkles and me and Ryan went to it. He caught on pretty well, until he actually tried the frosting and sprinkles, then I kind of lost him. He spend more time eating and less time decorating.

So, even thought Ryan had frosting in his hair & all over his clothes and then he tracked it accross the carpet, he had fun. I think we were very successful. The cookies were YUMMY!!

My domestic project

So, we were given a couch a few years ago by some friends when we lived in Florida. They bought new couches and gave us their old ones, which was great because at the time we didn't have any. They were in okay condition when we got them but after being in storage for over a year, they got pretty banged up. Stains that I have no idea where tehy came from and since we have taken them out a month ago, they now have juice, ketchup and other mysterious stains. I was telling my mom that I wanted to get them cleaned and she suggested that I do it myself. So, I decided to take on the task. This included taking off the covers, washing them & doing some stain removing. Then my mom let me borrow her bissell "little green machine" to wash the arms and stuff that I obviously couldn't put in the washing machine.

Here are the before pictures....

Okay, here are the after pictures. I tried to take pictures the same pictures as the before ones...

I have to say that I am very proud of myself. I was really surprised w/the results. I don't think that it looks like the same couch. I've been feeling very domestic lately and this was my latest project.

Why are we always looking to money to solve our problems?

Why is this country so obsessed with money?

I swear, sometimes I feel like people in this Country are so concerened with money. The more money you have the better off that you are. For some reason your material possesions determine your status. I know that not everyone is like that, but I find myself striving for more money. I don't understand why this is exactly. I'm not about having the best car, clothes, jewelry etc etc. Somehow I find myself getting sucked into material crap. The other day I was upset and bitching (to myself) that I didn't have money for this, or for that (nothing specifically) and I had to catch myself. I found myself being envious of people with money. I thought "life would be so much simpler if I had unlimited money, if I never had to worry about money again". Then after thinking about it, I realized that that is not necessarily true. Money can buy material things, it can make you look better but it CANNOT solve your problems. At the end of the day MONEY CANNOT MAKE YOU HAPPIER.

I had to sit back and think of the things that made me happy and after I made my list I realized that money was not one of those things. Money couldn't buy me anything to make me happier either. Believe me, if I had more money, I would not be complaining. I just want to be able to give my son things that he wants without having to constantly look at my back account to determine if we have to money to buy it. Things are better for us then they were a year ago. Even though our progress may be slow, it is progress.

I have all of the things that make me happy, so why do I find myself wanting more? I guess that sometimes we all loose prospective on what is important and life and we have to remind ourselves of that. I'm sure every other human being in this world has the same concerns that I do. I don't need to be rich or drive a fancy car, but I want to be able to continue to provide for my family.

Sunglasses

I don't really have anything to post...

just some cute pictures of Ryan, in his sunglasses

Sunday mornings

Waking up by a little hand touching yours

Watching Cartoons

Drinking fresh brewed coffee

Eating bacon & eggs and drinking orange juice

It's the simple things in life that I cherish the most.....

I hope there are many more sunday mornings like this one

Shoe Fetish????

Ryan has a new obession...

SHOES.......

Yes, even my shoes.....

It's to the point where I have to hide the shoes. If I try to take them away from him or if he can't get them on, he has a fit. Then he goes running around with shoes that are too big for him and falls. It just turns into a big ordeal. I am sure that soon he will move on from shoes and have a new obession.....or who know, maybe he will have a shoe fetish for the rest of his life.

Adjusting

So, we moved out of my in-laws house about 3 weeks ago. It has been taking some getting used to. I have never lived in an apartment before, so I wasn't prepared for some of the cons that go with it. I think we are finally starting to settle down and make this apartment "our" apartment.

I think Ryan had the hardest time with the change. He is used to a backyard and a house to play in. He has his own room, with all of his toys and he wouldn't go in there very much. He would go and get his toys and bring them into the living room or into our room. So, I have been making an effort to bring him in there as much as possible. Instead of folding laudry in my room, I do it in his. I lay on his bed and just hang out while he plays. I showed him where all of his toys are and made them easily accesible to him. I always make sure there is enough light in there so he can play and at night I read stories to him on his bed. He has had no problem sleeping in there, but he didn't really feel that comfortable in there, I could tell.

So I was cleaning today and I went in his room and this is what I found.

It makes me feel like he is finaling starting to get used to it here. I just have to keep encouraging him into playing in his room. When he gets in trouble, I haven't been sending him to his room, because I dont want him to think of it as a place where he goes when he is bad.