August 2010

Here we are another month has come and gone in what seems like a flash. August has been pretty slow for us. It's my birthday month, and Kib surprised me with a dinner party at one of my favorite restaurants. Adults only, it was great. My dear friend Tracy was nice enough to watch the boys for us so that Kib could take me shopping at the mall. It was really the perfect day.
Both of the boys started school this month. Zane goes to preschool 3 mornings a week, with the same teachers as last year. He loves it, and I love the time with just Ryder. One Tuesdays and Thursdays Ryder and Zane are doing a preschool co-op that I started with some friends. It's great, 6 kids, 4 families, so I only have to teach every 4 weeks. The rest of the time they go elsewhere and I get 2 hours to myself. Wow. It's amazing! I taught this past week and the kids LOVED my marching band. It was such a hoot. I really enjoyed the time with them.
We have had the most bizarre weather here this month. With cooler weather, high humidity, and lost of awesome storms. The boys love playing in the rain.
And when it's too awful for them to play outside, they usually get into lots of fun with all their dress-ups. Occasionally they even play nice together. This is a rare moment, so I had to capture it on film.That's all in Reed news. Kib and I are training hard for our century coming up in November. Our fabulous friends have all taken the boys here and there for us so that we can get our long rides in. To say that we are blessed, doesn't even begin. Great kids, great friends, great life.

Zane's Birthday

This is such a crazy month, I feel like I need to post more than once. And, it is of course, Zane's birthday month, which is very important and deserves it's own post. I remember as a kid feeling like my birthday lasted an entire week. Between friends and family, it did. Well, Zane's birthday seemed to have done the same thing. He started receiving packages early in the week. He got dress ups from Andrea. And not just one or 2, it was a good 5 outfits. He is in heaven with all the fun dress-ups he now has.


On Zane's actual birthday we went to our good friend James' house and spend the whole day in his pool with his 6 kids. Yup, 10 kids and 3 adults. It was a blast. The kids were all exhausted by the time we left. On Sunday, the kids went to the Natural History Museum with Kib while I worked. We had a few close friends over for a party Sunday afternoon. It was a fun, and relaxing birthday weekend. Zane loved all of his gifts, his new bike was a hit, although it's a tad too big. His dress-ups are amazing, and he has already played his games a handful of times. I am so grateful to all of our friends that helped to make Zane's day so special.

Beautiful June

We had the most beautiful June since we moved to PHX almost 5 years ago. We didn't hit 100 degrees until the middle of the month. For those of you not from here, we usually hit 100 by the middle of May. So we got about 4 extra weeks of gorgeous, outdoor weather this year. The boys may very well grow fins by the end of the summer. I took them to the pool for the first time this year, and they both loved it. We have literally been in the pool almost everyday for the past month. I am so excited for them to start their swim lessons in July. I know they will both love it.
We were fortunate enough to be able to go to San Diego for a week. I am so grateful to Andrea for giving up some of her time without her family, to have us bombard her house. We did so much while we were there, including a trip to LEGOland, and a bunch of trips to the local parks and play areas. It was so relaxing, and the boys really enjoyed it there. Zane really loved legoland since he was finally big enough to go on most of the rides. Ryder on the other-hand couldn't go on a single one, which is why he looked like this photo most of the day...

Thanks to Andrea we were able to get some new family photos this month. They turned out so well thanks to her.


I took Zane on a Mommy son date for the first time. We had so much fun. I taught him all about how to take a girl on a date. He took me out for ice cream, held the doors for me, paid with the money from his wallet, and we sat and talked. I couldn't believe that he sat nicely the whole time and just talked. He is getting so grown up. After ice cream we went and played at the park, and watched a baseball game here in Maricopa. It was the perfect date night.
After my date night with Zane, I decided to take Ryder on a day date (since he isn't so fun at night when he is tired). We went to the Elmo Live show. Boy-oh-boy did that kid think he had hit the jackpot. He loved it. And I loved watching him enjoy the show. He was so excited and blown away by the whole experience. It was awesome.


That about sums up our month of June. Zane had his first sleep over this month, it was with a 13 year old. Pretty funny. But he thinks he is pretty cool now that he can have sleepovers. I made it home for a few days at the end of the month. It was so nice to travel without the boys to see my family. It was far less stressful that way. I was really enjoyable, I got to see all my extended family as well as immediate. It certainly makes me miss home even more. But that is a battle that I fear I will definitely lose. Now we are into another crazy month of fun. Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Reeds.

May Days

I am so disappointed that it is half way through June, and I am just getting around to updating all of our May happenings. I'll work backwards since my brain seems to work better that way right now.For Memorial Day we spent the morning Kayaking on the Salt River. It has become a tradition in our house, and we all seem to really enjoy it.

Zane graduated preschool, again, but this time he refused to participate in any part of it. As a matter of fact, Ryder ended up going to the front of the room and accepting Zane's diploma for him. It was so cute. I am waiting for a friend to send me the photos, and then will make sure to post them. Good thing Ryder likes being the center of attention.
I ran the MOAB Relay with some girls from Maricopa. It was so much fun, and a really good experience. Somehow I seem to have become a runner, and although it's not my first love, it offers a lot more opportunity to participate in fun/crazy events.

The boys always seem to be on the go, doing things, learning things. We went to the butterfly conservatory with Zane's favorite girlfriend, MaKenna.

We went to the zoo with our good friend Audrey. Both my boys are in love with her, it's so adorable. And I am pretty sure she is totally in love with them too. I treated the boys to feeding the Giraffe's that day. They loved it. We have a really great zoo here.

Last, but not least, we had our trip to the Children's museum, we hadn't been there in over a year, and they had made a lot of huge changes so it felt like new.
Both of the boys are growing by leaps and bounds. Ryder is saying 3 and 4 word sentences, and his cognitive skills are really picking up. He has started pronouncing his P's really well. And he is getting easier to understand. On the flip side, he is 2, so very, very 2. He is a very little 2 with a very big attitude. We call him Napoleon because he refuses to let his size get in the way of what he does. He tries to do everything Zane does, and it shows. He is a walking bruise these days. But I have never seen a happier kid.
Zane is getting more mature, and wickedly smart, by the day. I think we are phasing out of the terrible 2's/3's and transitioning into our fabulous 4's. His reasoning skills are so well developed. He has the best manners of any kid his age, and is smart as a whip. He and Daddy are making huge headway with his reading. He still has his total meltdowns, but they are getting easier, fewer and further in between. I am really enjoying my little dude and all the cool questions and statements that he makes. Although he sometimes is exhausting, I really do enjoy him so much.
June is shaping up to be even busier than May. Stay tuned for another exciting edition of MY2REEDBOYS!!!

April 2010

It's almost half way through May, and I am just getting around to updating all the things that happened in April. Needless to say, life is very busy around here.
My Dad and Di came to Tucson for a visit and we were able to spend the day with them at my Aunt and Uncle's house. It was so nice, and we really enjoyed having some family time.

Tweet-Tweet sent Zane a new kilt in April. He LOVES it, and seems to wear it almost everyday. Here he is playing his drums and watching Brigadoon.
This picture of Ryder is just too cute not to post. He is so sweet, and such a chatter box. Although he still doesn't speak clearly, he is putting together 2 and 3 word sentences. He can count forward and backwards to 10, thanks to Elmo. and he is learning his colors too.


It's not often that we get a photo with both boys smiling and pretending to love each other. Priceless.
Here is a photo from our trip to Disney with our friends, the Gassners. We had such a hoot, and got to meet some family of mine that we hadn't ever met before.
So many other things happened this month, none of which are particularly note worthy. I did my first run, ever. And my second. And now i am hooked. Kib got injured rock climbing, so he has been on the injured list, which is a real bummer in this house. Other than that all is wonderful. We are already enjoying a busy month of May, and looking forward to our summer plans.

Disney!

Here we are at Disney. We had such a wonderful time. We made the 7.5 hour drive to LA on Friday. It wasn't bad. We have learned that we can make road trips, as long as we stop every 2 hours and let the boys run around for about 20 minutes. I was really happy with how well they did. We met up with our great friends, the Gassner's, for our day at Disney. It was their sons 6th birthday celebration, and we were so excited to help them celebrate it.

We stayed with my Mom's cousin and her husband. I had never met them before, but they offered their home for us to stay in and we were more than happy to accept. What a treat, at the age of 30, to meet family for the first time. They were such wonderful, enjoyable folks. I am so excited to go out again for another visit. As you can see, they have 2 dogs. I am not sure who had more fun, the kids, or the dogs. Ryder was a handful, as usual, almost took a dip in their pool, thankfully, Zane is a tattle-tail and we avoid a major catastrophe. Then, Ryder somehow rolled under the bed he was sleeping next to. We thought he had somehow gotten out of the house in the middle of the night. It was way too cute when he popped his head out from underneath the bed, like he was playing hide and seek or something.


Zane is not actually picking his nose, he is biting his nails. Not that that is much better, but just to clarify.
The boys, Zane, CJ, and Ryder. Our family dressed in orange shirts to make it easier to find each other. We thought it was quite funny when we net up with our friends, and they were dressed in orange as well.


We really had a fabulous weekend with friends and family. I hope we get to do it again soon.

Easter

I owe a huge thanks to Cheryl, for without her, my poor kids wouldn't have had much of an Easter. Thankfully, Cheryl invited the boys to participate in all of her families Easter activities. From egg decorating, to the Easter egg hunt, and of course, cookie decorating. We had such a fun weekend of celebration and spending time with our Copa family. Andrea also came out for the weekend which really made my Easter. On Easter Sunday we went to some friends of ours for dinner. Great company, good dinner, and most importantly, the boys had fun. I can't forget to mention that Kib and Zane went flying on Easter. They really enjoyed it, especially Zane. Lucky for them, they missed the earthquake that we had here. Can't say I felt it, but we did see it. Swaying lights, and water slopping out of the bowls, it was a real trip.

The boys with there Halloween, I mean Easter, baskets.

Some of the Easter eggs, the Yellow one is Tinkie Winkie

Ryder, just before he took the egg out and beat it to death.

Zane and Ryder working on their Easter eggs. They both did really well at it.