Ryen's Room: September 2009

September 19, 2009

Megan Day

Joel watched the girls this morning. My mom watched them this afternoon. Why? So The Hubster and I could hit a flea market at my faaaaavorite antique shop. I got an awesome china hutch for our new house (I have been wanting one for ages!) for $100 and a huge old cupboard thing for $30. It's hard to explain it, but trust me- it's fantastic! From there, we headed down to Saugatuck and hit a few other favorite places. I was able to get a ton of great photos to use in my blog designs. Today was totally Megan Day. Heaven. Loooove my hubby for being such a good sport!

September 18, 2009

Little Girls

Some women are dripping with diamonds

Some women are dripping with pearls
Lucky me! Lucky me!
Look at what I'm dripping with
Little girls

Sometimes I feel like Ms. Hannigan from "Annie." Everywhere I go it's little girls! Unlike Ms. Hannigan though, I love every minute of it. :) I recently decided to pull our dress-up clothes out of storage. As a result, I haven't seen Madelyn in "real" clothes in days. It's amazing how much happier she is...in all seriousness. All these little princesses! They crack me up. (It also cracks me up seeing Tanner in our ladybug tutu costume, but I will refrain from posting photos of that. Poor outnumbered little guy!)

The Office

There is only one show I watch on TV. Uno. I am soooo glad it's back.

September 16, 2009

Freaky to Fabulous

I am addicted to thrift stores, antique stores, and flea markets. I can't help it. There is something so thrilling to me to turn trash into treasures. I was at a thrift store a couple weeks ago and came across this huge picture that was so enormously tacky that it both alarmed and amused me. Who this guys is, I have no idea- but he scares the bajeezers out of me. The big gaudy frame his cardboard self was placed in, however, was just too awesome to pass up. So...for $2.99 I snatched it up and turned this:

into this:

It's now a totally shabulous chalkboard for Ryen and Maddie's room. You can thank me later, Sonny. :)

September 14, 2009

This is it.

Oh, yellow farmhouse. We've been through a lot together already. Several visits, thinking you were the one, thinking your floor plan just wouldn't suffice, thinking we'd look at other homes, not finding anything else that we liked as well as you, feeling drawn to you, feeling torn by your shortcomings, but loving the essence of you all along. Though you weren't our ideal, we felt drawn to you, like we belonged together. And so, yellow farmhouse, after everything we've been through, you should know that the floundering is over. We are buying you. The Hastings family is going to take good care of you. We'll paint your shutters and carpet your floors. We'll give you a bigger kitchen and plant fruit trees by your side. We'll do everything within the power of man to protect you from mice. Most importantly, we will fill your rooms with laughter and love and memories.

September 13, 2009

Blah Blah Blah

My mom got together with her sisters this weekend. They call themselves The Blah Blah's and whenever they get together, my mom turns into a 14-year-old. :) It occurred to me that someone should be documenting the sisterhood of these 4 wild women so I volunteered to drive to my mom's for a little photo shoot. It was such a neat experience to spend a couple hours with these amazing women. I learn so much from each of them. What a blessing to know them and to be able to peek into life at the Crandall house.

September 8, 2009

First Day of First Grade

Today was Ryen's first day of school. I can't believe our little pixie is a first grader! Was she nervous? Uh...no. Was she hesitant? Uh...NO. She was ready to go and off she went like a rocket! That's the Ryen way. :) I asked her how school went when she got off the bus this afternoon and she flashed me a huge smile and said it was GREAT! She was really excited about getting three recesses. I have no idea how long we'll be here, but I'm glad Ryen's school year seems to be off to a good start. I am so proud of her!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Sonny turned 33 on Labor Day. We celebrated by taking a little day trip to Traverse City while my mom watched the girls. We had so much fun! We brought our bikes and rode all over the city. We discovered a secret garden that seemed like a portal to Fairy Land. It was so fun, just him and me, riding our bikes wherever the wind blew us. On Sunday night, we had cake and Sonny opened his presents. I can't believe he is 33. And, even after almost 10 years of marriage, I still can't believe he is mine. For you Sonny, here are 33 things I love about you...

1. You don't get embarrassed easily- which is why I can post hilarious pictures of you on my blog
2. You humor me- which is why you were walking around with a giant green leaf on your head in the first place
3. You always say you're sorry
4. You never raise your voice and rarely get angry
5. You try harder than anyone I know to be the person God wants you to be
6. You see the best in people
7. You are generous
8. You are an incredible father
9. You are humble
10. You are brilliant
11. You act on your dreams and ideas
12. You have a gentle soul
13. You endlessly encourage me
14. You are honest
15. You never keep score
16. You are hard-working
17. You are selfless
18. You tuck our girls in at night
19. You don't think there is an ailment in life that can't be fixed with hot wings
20. You laugh like you mean it
21. You love without conditions
22. You do an amazing job supporting our family and do it happily
23. You help me see things in a different way while always respecting my point of view
24. You appreciate a good bargain
25. You are never chauvinistic
26. You are romantic
27. You make me laugh
28. You do a horrible English accent
29. You love goodness
30. You aren't afraid to wear reindeer pajamas to the grocery store...in June
31. You sing to me
32. You are my best friend
33. You show our daughters the kind of man they should aspire to marry

I am the luckiest.
Happy birthday, my love!

September 2, 2009

A Daredevil & A Diva

Before school starts, we like to take our kids out to do something fun. It's sort of a final celebration to usher in the new school year. Last year we went on a little vacation. This year Ryen asked us to take her to a theme park called Michigan's Adventure. I volunteered Sonny to take her. :) What? I'm a chicken. Ryen, on the other hand, is a total and complete thrill seeker. The child is fearless. Roller coaster? Yes, please. Would you like to sit in this seat and drop several stories to your eminent death? Yes, please. How about this thing where we launch you into space? Yep. She has been that way since the day she was born. So...while Maddie and I were safely doing girly things (shopping, ice cream, manicures) like this:

Ryen was doing this:

Where does that girl get her courage??? I went to the same theme park when I was her age and didn't ride anything bigger than this:

This girl is craaaaazy! :)

Youngest Love

I realize to many of you this picture may be alarming. Looks like Maddie is going to drop her, doesn't it? She won't. She's been carrying Ally around for ages and hasn't dropped her yet. Ryen has, but that's a different story. Sadly, Ally spends a good part of her days being carted around by children barely larger than she is. It's the curse of The Youngest.