"Good" Friday?!?!?!?

Welcome to my "good" Friday. Today I woke up around 0530-0600 to get ready to take my girlfriend to the airport. This was great I was earlier then both my children so I had to time to eat breakfast in peace and watch a little of the news. Riley was woke up around 0630 so we could be out the door by 0715. She is a crab when she has to woke up. Well today was different she was ready so I got Brenden up and dressed and we were ready to walk out the door at 0710. We made it out the door. That when I realized that I did not have my truck keys or the key to the house. I had everything else. I had to call my girlfriend and have let us in the house so I could start all over again. While waiting for help to arrive Riley is trying with all her might to open the door or find my keys. I told her about 3 different times that I did not have my keys so she looked and looked for them. The whole time she was crying and yelling at me to help her with the door. "Come on Mommy help me push." I tried to get her to understand and she was not having it this morning. We finally made it to "school" at 0750 but Riley was already having a melt down because of being locked out of her house. I was not able to leave "school" until 0815 because Riley was having a hard time to the transition. I made it my girlfriend's house around 0825. Oh did I mention that her flight leaves at 1015 and its an hour drive to Nashville? When we make it just in time. I am helping her take her things in and as I am walking out I am being written a ticket for leaving my truck unattented. Nice. The sad thing is I was already get back into the truck when I receive the stupid things. Then I receive a phone from my girlfriend at the airport. I was worried what she was going to say after the morning I had already had but she tells me that she meet Kelly Pickler while filling out her name tags in the ticket line. Kelly Pickler was talking to her son and telling my friend how cute he was. She had a good morning to my crazy morning.

The afternoon was better since I did not leave the house. I was able to mow the lawn today and start our spring cleaning. I did not want to cook so we ordered pizza. Brenden the little boy with no teeth wanted what we were eating so I gave him some of the crust. He loved it. Here are a few pictures of him enjoying his version of pizza.

Yum! Yum! This is some good stuff!!!

SILLY TIME

This is Riley being silly. She bought a princess bucket and when she got home she decided that it made a wonderful helmet. It was NOT a hat but a helmet. She thought it fit perfectly. She did look pretty cute.

Brenden is learning to play the piano. He does a nice job. When Ben was home he showed him what he could do and you can see Ben's hands clapping along with the music.

Brenden is so sweet when he is sleeping. But look at those cheeks. He is starting to fill out like his sister did at this age. He is eating like a growing boy. I have been told by many that this is just the beginning and it gets better when they are teenagers.

Bath time is more fun when you have a sibling to show you how things work. Riley has an alligator that shoots out water. When she did this it had some soap in it that had turned black. So when she shot the water out at Brenden out came the uck. That is what she is freaking out about is the uck that is now in the bath tub.

They had a wonderful time laughing and playing.

TRAVELLING WITH KIDS

Traveling in a SUV with a three year old and a seven month old, by my self, is not the easiest job. But as a military wife and mother I have done this several times already. This was the first trip with Brenden in his BIG boy car seat. He graduated out of his carrier into a rear facing car seat. This is difficult when either Riley or I have to use the bath. I no longer have a place to put Brenden except for on my lap. This is a challenge in itself. Riley is not old enough to hold him or is she strong enough now. So when we drive to and from Michigan I try to stop only twice. Once to eat either lunch or dinner and then again for a bathroom break. This helps keep life in order and a little less crazy if there is such a thing.


On our return trip home at this past visit we made the best time ever. We made it home to Tennessee in about 10 hours. This is excellent. The few trips it took us 12 + hours to make it to Michigan and sometimes longer to get home to Tennessee. The kids were great. They were tired and slept most of the time. With sleeping babies in the truck I was able to drive straight through without stopping. I think the kids were telling that they can handle the travelling. Both kids have become wonderful car/truck riders. More advertures to come has we will be travelling to Michigan a few more times before Ben returns home.

Family Time

The kids and I made unplanned visit to Michigan after Ben left to go back to "work". Spending time with close family members made it a lot easier to handle the transition back to single parenthood. I was able to get some much needed rest while I was home visiting. I was also able to talk to other adults which is not always possible when you are a stay at home mom with two young children. Here are a few pictures from our trip home. Brenden was spoiled as Riley did not want to have her picture taken. The camera is not her friend at the age of three. I am hoping this will change soon. Enjoy.

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Papa and his boy.

The three amigos. Brenden can't wait to be able to keep up with these two.

August and Brenden

Father & Son

Here are a few priceless picytures of my boys.

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The boys with their thug hats.

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Look at those eyes.

PLAY DATE!!

Look at those faces. They were not too happy about getting their pricture taken. They did have a good time playing all morning long. Notice the small "Ben" in the background. That is one of the daddy dolls that the kids received from Ben before he headed back to "work".

Notice the smile on Brenden and Reese is busy tasting his new shirt.
Finding new toys to taste. Brenden loves his butterfly and Reese his calling his girlies on his phone. Look at that photo of his phone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!

Well today is extra special for the Ringman family. Brenden is 7 months old today and Mommy is 28 years old. Brenden is growing and growing and growing. He is not slowing down for anything. He is on a mission to walk and get moving to keep up with his Big Sister. He is working on getting his first set of teeth so he can enjoy the same foods as everyone else at the dinner table. Brenden is talking more and more each day. His favorite word at this point is Mom-ma, and bye-bye. When he wants to go for a ride in the truck he tells me that he wants to go bye-bye. He enjoys playing and being with his family.

Thanks to Riley we have pictures of Mom. I am working on keeping the kids going without Ben home. I spent my birthday in Michigan with my family. With Ben leaving just a week ago I needed some family support on this special day.
Mom and Brenden on their Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy and Brenden, Love Riley

Picture Time!!!!

Here are the Family photos we had taken at Sears. It took us only two attemps to accomplish this task. We went on Thursday and waited an hour and half past our appointment due to the fact that there was only one photographer. By the time it was our turn Riley had nothing to do with getting her picture taken. It was very upsetting to me since Ben was leaving in just a few days. The gentlemen rescheduled us for Friday at 10 am and Riley and I had a long talk about what we were going to do. She was ok with the fact after we talked about what I needed her to do. So here are a few of my favorites. Our pictures will be in around March 14 and then everyone will receive their copies in the mail. Hope you enjoy.

Family time is always fun.
Riley and Mommy
Daddy and kids.

Yes that is me in the background holding Riley. She did not want me to let her go. All she wanted was to "hold me". So that is me behind that brown cloth.
Priceless!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, RILEY!!!!

Here we are at Chuck E. Cheese's for Riley's birthday. Riley was a little shy and not too sure about the environment but as you can see she warmed up to the idea pretty quickly. She is not still about an inch too short to climb up this playground by herself so I spend most of the afternoon climbing up with her to help her get to the top. She had a blast.

Thank you Aunt Debbie for the princess cup. Riley is a real little princess.
Here we are playing skeet ball. This was just about the only game that she would play. That could be because Grandpa, Daddy, Mommy, and Uncle Rick were all playing too.

Here we are playing skeet ball with mommy's help. We all had a great afternoon.

The Past Two Weeks

Where do I begin. Our computer went down the night before Ben arrived here in Tennessee and we just received back yesterday 29 February. There is lots to share with everyone. I know you are all waiting to hear how the kids reacted to seeing daddy for the first time but during the past two weeks we had an anniversary, Riley's third birthday and a great visit from Grandma and Grandpa Ringman and Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rick. So here are a few pictures of the time we have shared with Daddy and family.

When I received the phone call from Grandma Ringman telling that I needed to pick Ben up at the airport Riley was already at day care and I was getting ready to take Brenden to the his 6 months well baby appointment. I was very excited and did not know what to do. Should I go and pick Riley from day care so all three of could be at the airport or do I leave her and have daddy go and pick her up at the end of the day? Well I left her at "school" because we were in for a long day with the wait at the airport and then straight to Brenden's appointment. Brenden and I were in the car all day long that day. When we arrived at the airport we made it just in time to see the guys walk through the terminal. Their flight was 30 minutes early and we arrived 30 minutes early to their arrival time. Brenden knew his daddy right away and was not afraid for him. He gave him a BIG smile and hug in the airport and then played together all night long. Ben picked Riley up at "school" and she was surprised to see her daddy. No she did not know that he was coming home that day due to the fact that I received the call after she was "school" that morning. When Ben walked into her classroom she smiled and acted like a little school girl who just received a kiss from the cutest boy in school. She was shy and full of smiles. It was great to see them together. We all had a wonderful time with daddy being home. His trip is coming to an end very quickly. We take him back to the airport tomorrow morning, 2 March. We will be sad to him go again but we enjoyed the time we had together. We will see him again in just a few short/long 10 months.

Computer Problems!

Ben made it home safe and sound, we're enjoying our family time. We had a short visit from Mom and Dad Ringman and Uncle Rick and Aunt Debbie. Just before Ben arrived home our computer crashed and so I haven't been able to post any pictures. It should be back in a few days.

The Waitng Game

Ok so today is February 11, 2008. Today is an important day to the Ringman Family because today is the day that we are waiting to hear from Daddy about the day and time he will arrive at the Nashville airport. Ben in currently in Kawait waiting to hop on a plane to Germany then to Altanta Georgia then finely to Nashville and home. We have waiting a long 5 months for this and cant wait to have him home to complete our family of four.


Knowing that this is just a visit will be hard too. Riley is excited to help daddy off the plan. She does not realize that he will have to go back onto that plan to go back to work for another 10 months at this point. I am hoping that rumors of a shortened deployment comes true but with the Army you don't hold your breath to anything because is can change at the last mintue.


There will be lots of pictures to follow in the up coming weeks with Daddy being home and Grandma and Grandpa Ringman being here with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rick too. Then next Monday is Riley's third birthday which is hard to believe that she will be three years old. Time will is going fast for us with all that is coming up. Hang in there and we will have some wonderful cute pictures for you all to see and enjoy.

Oh My, 6 Months Old

Look at me I am 6 months old today. I am growing up to be a big boy. Here are some of the things that I have mastered in the past 6 months of my life.

• Sleeping through the night
• Holding my own bottle
• Eating three meals a day
• Eating baby food and cereal
• Playing with my feet
• Learning that I can pull out my binky and put it back
• Rolling over from my belly to my back
• Scooting across the floor on my back
• Sitting up with out support
• Reaching for the toys that I love to play with
• Pulling my Big sister's hair
• Making my family laugh and smile
• Playing in the bath tub - splashes with hands and feet
• Sitting in the bath tub
• Sitting the highchair to eat
• Drinking from a cup and holding it on my own
• I can stand holding on to mommy or sissy
• Crying for what I want and need
• Screams "mama", "ouch", and "dada"
• Laughing and smiling
• Giving mommy and sissy kisses
• Making kissing noises with my lips
• Giving BIG hugs to both mommy and sissy

I am sure there is more that I am able to do but right now these are all that me and mommy can come up with to share. I am growing up fast. I will get to visit with my daddy in just a few more days. We are hoping he will be here on Tuesday morning or maybe on Wednesday. I will share with you my height and weight when I go to my well-baby appointment on Tuesday afternoon. But I know that I am a big boy because mommy had to go shopping for me for some bigger clothes for me. We had a good time. Enjoy the pictures of ME!

6 Months Old!

Ready to eat. Loves to sit in the highchair.
Watching sissy climb up the kitchen chair to see Brenden.
Loves to eat. Look at that Green Bean face.
Showing off his new skill of drinking and using a big boy cup while sitting in the highchair.

Ringman Look-alike Meter

Who would have guessed this when Riley was an infant. She is growing up to look more and more like her mommy. We will have to try this again in a few months to see if there is a difference in the meter.

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family pictures - Search for family tree for free

Ringman Look-alike Meter

Who would have thought. Little Brenden looks like his mommy. I am sure this will change as Brenden grows up and becomes a little boy. We will have to do this again in a few months to see if it changes.

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

The Surprises of a Home Owner

Well let me start with a story. My water bill was higher then normal for the past few months so I called the water company and they told me that I have water running somewhere. So I look around and notice that the water hose will not turn off and that is where the water is running. I dont know how long this has been going on but long enough that it caused me to have a few huge water bills. So I called a plumber and I received on quote that was around 500.00 to replace the outside hydrent. My mouth hit the floor but he was very nice and gave a name of another company to call. I called them and they gave me the quote of 175.00 so I had them come out to fix the water leak. Here comes the surprise. Just last night we had very havy rain and nasty weather that we all made it through safe and sound. The plumber went to go into the crawl space to get to the pipes to replace them and it was full of.....................WATER!!!! The crawl space was flooded with water to the point that we might have to put in a sumb pump to empty it all out. They tried to pumped it out but there was too much water for the littel pump they had on hand. The plumber had to crawl through the water and sit under the house to fix my pipe while sitting/kneeling in all that water.

I am not happy to hear this since we just moved in to this house in April. I am trying to get a hold of the realitor who sold us this house. I am trying to find out if we have some type of warrenty that will help us with all this that has happened. Today has been an emotional over all. The only good news from today is that Ben will be home next week.

Being a stay at home Mom!!

Being a stay at home mom for the first time in three years, is a different experience. One that I like after day one. The things you are able to get accomplished throughout the day is great. I think the house is going to look better now then it has since we moved in here last April. Brenden has adjusted well to staying home with mom too. He seems to be happy and a little more outgoing. This is a huge difference from Riley at this age. She loved "school" and still does. She is still enrolled and we are trying to make it work out. We will see in the up coming months. More pictures of the kids and the family coming soon

In about 6 days. But I am not counting.

COUNTING DOWN!!!

8 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8 DAYS

(But who's couting)

You maybe asking 8 days until what? Well we have 8 more days to wait to see daddy, my husband, Ben. Time is flying. Which is a good thing since we are all looking forward to seeing him. So look forward to seeing lots of new pictures of our family of four in just a few short days.

8 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8 DAYS, 8 DAYS