Random Riley

-The other day I was sitting at my computer, Riley comes up next to me and says, “Mommy?” and I reply, “Yes, baby?”, the gives me a big smile, throws his arms up above his head and says, “I’m a SUPERHERO!!!”. It was so random, but too cute!

-Sometimes Riley will be playing alone and I’ll ask him if he wants to come read a book, if he’s hungry, etc. and he will reply, “I’m busy, Mommy…I’m really busy.” It’s so cute, and he sounds so much older when he says it, but I have to admit that I feel a bit guilty when I hear it…does this mean he hears it from Mommy too much?!?

-When Riley wants to make sure you are listening, and that you understand what he’s talking about, he has started using an adorable little phrase…he’ll say something like, “That’s a great white shark, Mommy…YOU GOT IT?!?” and he says it with such emphasis. “Mommy, I’m going to play in my play room…YOU GOT IT?!?!” I just can’t help but smile every time I hear it.

-When Riley does something all by himself, like buckling himself into his booster seat, putting on his sandals, sliding down his slide, pulling up his pants, etc. he’ll get so excited and just shout, “I DID IT!!!” with a huge grin on his face! I love this particular phrase of his, and his excitement, because I think it shows that we express just how proud he makes us enough that he’s adopted a form of pride in himself from it.

-Also check out my video blog, there are some cute clips of Riley singing and being silly. Below are a few more cute moments that we were able to capture on camera:

Xander is getting so big and I just can't wait until they can really play together...but this was just a sweet moment of the two cousins!

Riley taking a picture of me taking a picture of him taking a picture of me taking a picture....

Riley SERIOUSLY kept himself busy for almost an hour (while I was cleaning) by playing with my cannister vacuum! He just kept putting together and taking apart the different peices, then moved on to reading all the papers that came with it!

This is Riley's first pet of his own, Groucho the Goldfish...I just upgraded his tank and thought I would take a picture for posperity's sake...but do you notice Groucho's new tank mate?!? Blue the Shark...guess who begged for him at the store?! :-)

Our friend Justin (who is like a 2nd brother to me and an uncle to Riley) bought him a 20th Anniversary Shark Week DVD Collection...and Riley LOVES IT...and his Uncle Justin (as you can see).

Fish Out of Water?!

We went swimming at a friends house last week and had a BLAST! Her son, Jake, just floats around in the pool wonderfully in a life jacket type thing, and I had purchased one for Riley, but he was constantly dipping under the water and getting a mouthful. So I tried Jake's jacket...not any better. Finally I decided I'd try these arm floaties that I just grabbed for the heck of it the other day ($1.87 at Walmart, can't pass that up)...and sure enough...he was swimming like a pro! I couldn't believe it! I don't think I've been more proud of him to date!

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Sharks Rule

Riley LOOOVES sharks, and he knows the names of more than I can count! Here's a video and a couple of pictures we took after he got some new shark books from his sweet aunt and cousins.

He was so excited to get this book!

He's saying "WOW!!!!"
















"Look at this Mommy!"
















That's the 'sh' in SHark!

"Oh boy, look at all these sharks!"

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Lightning Update

We are ALMOST done!!!

A/C - ALL FIXED!!! And we are enjoying it.
Water Heater - Done
Dishwasher - Done
Garage Door Opener - Done
House Alarm - still not working, will have electrician out to replace transformer
Surround Sound Receiver - Done - after replacing receiver we discovered sub was blown, so that has also been replaced now
C's Desktop Computer - Done (and hard drive is okay!)
Cable/Internet - Done
HP All-In-One Printer/Scanner/Copier - Done (had to have it for work)
Riley's TV - Done (replaced with bigger screen, tv/dvd combo)
Master BR TV - We are trying to decide what we want to replace it with...the tv that's in there was our old living room 32", but we don't NEED that big, and of course, Chris wants LCD or something, so we're still researching
Washing Machine - Done (ended up getting a new one)
Attic - need to call the company out this week

So, we're getting there. I'm not sure if I mentioned the Virtual Real Estate Assistant business I started in May, but things are starting to get busy with that right now as I've been hired to work 2 contracts right now, and I'm hoping for more to come!

Weight loss is still going well. It has halted a bit (we ate out A LOT while a/c was out), but luckily I'm still at same weight, so I'm slowling getting back into the groove of things.

Our 4th of July was totally uneventful because the cable guy was here until 8pm Tuesday night (big fireworks show was Tuesday night that we were supposed to go to). Wednesday a bunch of friends came over and we hung out in our garage/driveway, but we could only see a few random fireworks (no front row seats like our last house in Plano). Oh well, guess we'll catch it next year!

Rain is still a total downer for us...keeping us indoors, and from doing anything remotely SUMMER. Ugh!

Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!

When It Rains, It Pours...And Lightnings!

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know that our house got hit by lightning Saturday afternoon. No fire (although there was smoke in the attics and garage so we did have to vacate quickly, call 911 and have fire department out to check the house), but TONS of electrical issues.

List of non-working items:
A/C - just fixed at 1:30 this afternoon, but upstairs is still not working right
Water Heater - replaced Monday afternoon
Dishwasher - purchased yesterday, pick up and install tomorrow
Garage Door Opener - replaced yesterday evening
House Alarm - still not working, will have electrician out next week to replace transformer
Surround Sound Receiver - blown, waiting to find out how much money they will give for replacement
C's Desktop Computer - he's taking for professional diagnosis right now to find out what exactly is wrong (keep fingers crossed that hard drive is okay, that's where all our photography business photos are and they haven't been backed up in a few weeks!)
Cable/Internet - all 3 cable boxes were blown, outside box was actually hit by lightning, and internet gateway was down; all was repaired Tuesday evening around 8pm
HP All-In-One Printer/Scanner/Copier - still not working, waiting to find out how much money we have for replacement
Riley's TV - magnetized, it works, but color is all screwy; once again, waiting to find out on money
Master BR TV - not working at all really; waiting to find out on money
Washing Machine - not cycling through, repairman coming tomorrow to look at it
Attic - burn damage on wood and aluminum sheeting or whatever; insurance guy said he wants chimney professional to see if it's chimney problems, says it doesn't look like lightning strick, but that's where smell/smoke was coming from Saturday and electrician said it was lightning, so we'll see what happens here

So, it's been a fun week for us, as you can tell! I also have been getting some interest in my new Virtual Assistant business, so I actually have to close this post and start my first 'real' job for an agent right now!!!

I'll try to keep in touch! Hope everyone is doing well and that I can find time (and the internet keeps working) to check on others' blogs soon!