Two!!

Our sweet Caroline turned two years old last month. This is such a fun age! She is finally talking more and more. She has such a maternal spirit and loves to feed and diaper her dolls, take them for walks in her stroller, and prop them up beside her at the table. She also loves music, and her current favorites include, "We are the Dinosaurs" by Laurie Berkner and "The Popcorn Song" by BNL. Her favorite show by far is Tigger and Pooh ("Eeyore!"). She and Daddy spend a lot of time each day reading book after book; she loves "We're Going on a Bear Hunt".

We had a blast at her party celebrating with family and friends. My dad and I built her a play kitchen, with a lot of last minute help from Auntie Erin, and it turned out absolutely fabulous! It makes me want to remodel mine. Stephanie and I had more fun arranging the pots and play food than two grown women should have. We were practically pushing the kiddos at the party out of the way so we could play.

Checking out her new kitchen.

"Here, kids, go play..."


"On second thought, we can do it better!"


She's taking orders! Who wants ice cream?

Your turn for cake is coming up soon, Cooper!

Congratulations, Matt and Amanda!

My big brother Matt, his girlfriend Amanda, and Amanda's family (parents, sister, and brother-in-law) came up to the lake for a visit the last weekend in July. I guess we should've known something was up, but Matt surprised us all when he let us in on his plan to propose! He wanted us ALL to go out on the boat at sunset so he could pop the question. (All 11 of us. On a boat that holds a maximum of 12 "average-sized" 150 lb people. Not sure if you've met my family, but we aren't exactly "average".)

Everyone except for Amanda and her mom, Mrs. Jane, were in on the secret. :) He asked my dad to stop the boat so we could get a picture of the sunset, and had Amanda open the camera bag where the ring was waiting. So sweet! It was the first engagement I've been privy to (other than my own, of course).

Congratulations, Matt and Amanda! We are so excited for you two!

The rest of the weekend was spent swimming, boating, tubing, and rock-wall-diving (though I didn't partake in the last!).

My two peas in a pod... Callie has become such a Daddy's girl lately.

Caroline and "May" (Mimi)

Chillin' with Uncle Matt

Someone showed her the boat's horn...

Jumpin' to Aunt Amanda

Matt and Scooter on the tube... it took us awhile to plane off the boat :)

Scooter's going for it!

Summer Fun

This little water bug loves swimming! She just jumps in, swims to the steps, and does it again over and over. She also jumps off the pier at Mimi in and Pop's, which I haven't captured on camera yet, but is a pretty far jump for such an itty bitty girl! He personality is so shy and cautious in so many other ways, but not in the water! :)

Another favorite: blueberries. We went blueberry picking recently, and she did nothign but eat and eat the whole time. She would put a couple in her bucket, put it up to her mouth, and tip it back to let 'em roll on in! Yum!

Cousins

We got to spend most of last week at the lake with Caroline's cousins. Joshua, Laura Beth, and Anna were visiting from Kentucky, and her Uncle Matt and Amanda from Mobile. We had such a blast at Mimi and Pop's! The two little ones played very well together, and the "big kids" (Philip included) enjoyed tubing. Caroline LOVES the water! She woke up this morning saying, "Boat! Pop! Mimi!"

Kiddie Music

I am not a music buff. Philip, however, is. This is no surprise if you know him at all. :) He has a genuine love for lots of kinds of music, though his favorite tends to change through the years. (When we met, it was 80's; just ask him what song we had performed at our wedding. Currently, really twangy Texas country).

Caroline seems to have inherited her daddy's love of music. It has a mesmerizing effect on her. It can stop her in the middle on almost any screaming fit. When we're in the car, I had been playing a kids' album that we downloaded from Amazon. It had 150 songs and was priced at $1.99. Not good quality, to say the least. Ever since Philip was subjected to this music on our last road trip, he has been scouring the internet for GOOD kiddie music.

It actually exists. :) And I LOVE it. (So does Caroline, by the way.) Philip called me from his truck laughing hysterically one day. He had been listening to one of the albums on his way to work. He said, "I can so identify with the song, 'Ate Too Much of My Favorite Food!'" Again, not surprising if you know Philip.

Anwyay, here are a few of our favorites. You should give them a listen on Amazon.

Dizzy by Lunch Money

Snack Time by Bare Naked Ladies (my MP3 player has them listed as BNL!)

No! by They Might be Giants

Family Dance by Dan Zanes

Catch the Moon by Lisa Loeb (lullabies)

Monday: Chicken with Bell Peppers and Pasta, served with steamed veggies

Tuesday: Crock Pot Venison Chili

Wednesday: Marinated Baked Pork Chops over rice, served with green salad green beans

Thursday: Leftovers Night

Friday: dinner with friends :)

To Do List…

When I was still writing that darn dissertation, I had a very LONG list of things I wanted to do with my time once it was complete. I was planning to:

• read more
• blog more
• cook more
• organize our house
• clean more
• organize my photos
• scrapbook more
• sew more
• organize my coupons/shopping…

The majority of my list involved organization or doing {insert good thing} more. Well, the time has come to execute said list! I begin with an inspiration from my dear friend Julie, who has also begun participating in MENU PLAN MONDAY, which will actually help to accomplish several list items: organize my coupons/shopping, cook more, and blog more. You see, I have been couponing for about a year now. I have saved our family a lot of money and built quite a substantial food stockpile in the process. The problem now lies in planning meals around what we have on hand. I used to just hop over to my favorite recipe website, allrecipes.com, browse through menu items that had a five star rating and looked like fun to try, and run out to the store to pick up the necessary ingredients. Now I need to look through my pantry and freezer and plan meals accordingly.

A little about meals at the Ryle household: I love to cook. Especially with garlic and onion. :) And lots of veggies (admittedly not P's favorite part). We are trying to eat a little healthier overall. Philip and I both love leftovers. We think most meals taste better the second time around. So I really only cook three or four meals a week, and make enough to eat more than once. And I am trying to use my crockpot more, which is actually easier now that it has a home in my cabinets and is not buried under bags of chips and boxes of cereal in the bottom of my pantry (begin organizing house... CHECK!). Here is my first Menu Plan:



Monday: Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken
Tueday: Slow Cooker Fried Rice (made with leftover chicken from Monday)
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: I will be traveling to Mobile with Caroline, so P gets a frozen pizza...
Friday: I am making ahead and taking Chicken Alfredo Lasagna to Mobile to enjoy with the group there

So there ya go! Sounds yummy... and the garlic chicken in the crock pot is already smelling delicious!