The Riley Family

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks. Color days, Will playing piano, lawn work!

Kate has color days at school, and is supposed to wear that color on the day. Last week we had yellow, red and green day, this week blue, brown and black. We have been doing a family celebration, and K gets to help pick out clothes for her brothers. I will try to take some brown day pics today.

Will's top central incisors finally made their appearance this week, and the top lateral ones are almost in too. Hopefully getting these will help Will sleep better :)

Thank God it stopped raining!  This weekend was a total washout.  Luckily no water damage to us, but we have neighbors with a broken sump-pump and a flooded basement!   Kate - is good!  Keeping busy with gymnastics and school.  I think it is hard for her to have to make all new friends at school - she was so used to last year's class.  She gets *very* tired from her 1 1/2 with Coach Joan at gymnastics, and is very irritable the rest of the day on Tuesdays.  K's cartwheels are getting very good, and she can do a back walkover on an incline! Jack - really wants to go to school too.  He goes into K's classroom every day and starts playing.  He calls the building his school when we drive past Wheatland Salem school.  We remind him that he has to use the potty to go to school... not sure if that is really helping, but coupled with the Scooby Snack treats, and chart for a new toy, he is starting to use the potty again. Will - Still not sleeping very well.  He is waking up a to...

Finally, pics from our trip to Maine!

The growing season is coming to an end.  This past week we harvested 8 acorn squash and 2 watermelons.  We will pick the last batch of soy this weekend.  I pulled the green bean plants yesterday, after a final harvest - we had eaten about a million this year!  We still have carrots, okra, and sweet peppers growing!  

Kate - Thrilled about preschool.  Working hard in her new mites 2 class at gymnastics.  We are working on some strength exercises  at home including handstands and wheelbarrows. Jack - Has slept all night in his big boy bed 3 nights in a row!!  This is huge, before this he has come into our bed in the middle of  the night every night! Will - Has been cranky lately and also not sleeping well.  He can stand and so pulls up on everything!!  When he wakes at night he immediately stands u and then is *really* awake.  Somehow is yelling isn't waking Jack!

Yes, it is early, but the Riley kids can't wait until Halloween!  Kate picked out a kitty costume, Jack a skunk!  And Will is going as a lion.   Pics at Picasa.

We had Kate's meet and greet and then her first 'real' day of class this week.  She seems to really like Mrs. Palmer.  She knew 3 of the boys and 1 girl going in, but none of her classmates from last year. Kate has 'homework' for Monday that she thinks is pretty cool.  She hears the older kids talk about homework all the time, so she is excited about it. She needs to find 3 items to bring in for a show and tell activity :).   More pics.

Kate has her meet and great with Mrs. Palmer on Wednesday (parents are there too) and then her first 'real' day of her 4-year old preschool on Friday. Kate's friend Jake is in her class, but so far not any of her classmates from last year that we know. We will be sure to take pictures!

Last Sunday Grandma & Grandpa Gilson stopped by for a few hours while they were in town. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them and catch up. Pics at Picasa.

Grandpa Bill came up last week and took us fishing over in one of the ponds in Ashbury. K and J had a great time! We spent over an hour fishing, which is quite a long time given the short attention spans :). We all caught a bunch of little bitty fish, and then tossed them right back in. Pics at Picasa.

We had an excellent time on our vacation in Maine a couple weeks ago. (Sorry it is taking me so long to get back on track!). We drove - all 18 hours of the trip - but it wasn't too bad. K and J watched a bunch of movies and slept, and W was pretty good too. In ME we played on the beach, went blueberry picking, and had a great time hanging out with everyone. Kate loved jumping the waves, and Jack really liked finding snails and hermit crabs in the tidal pools. Even Will really liked the beach! Pics soon.