Mr. Attitude!

I wanted to take some photos of Owen yesterday because he was in one of those 'look how cute I am' modes. So, out comes the camera......................and this is the look I get! He knows how to spoil a good photo shoot (I really do love this look, so maybe not a wasted effort after all)!

A Long Winter's Day!

Yesterday was a very long day in the Riddle home! Benjamin and Jack both stayed home from school with the flu and Owen was just worn out trying to keep up with it all!

I went upstairs to check on Jack and when I came back down Owen had snuggled in for a nap!
Ben had the roughest time yesterday with a fever peaking at 106.9 (yes, I have one of those temporal scanners and I managed to get that reading 5 times). Needless to say.....Ed came home from work and off to the Dr. we went. We had the hardest time getting him to stay coherent in route and by the time we arrived his temp was at a nice 103.5 (the Tylenol had finally kicked in)! They checked him for meningitis and pneumonia but he had been on amoxicillin for an ear infection (last week) so he was diagnosed with a viral infection (the flu)! We kept him on Tylenol and Motrin all day and not once did his temp drop below 101.5. In fact, this morning he was back at a 103.5 temp, so another day home to rest,recover and hydrate! He's actually feeling much better this afternoon and thank goodness, we leave on Sat. for our family trip to Disney World!

Jack was feeling much better last night (not only did he have the nasty flu bug, but he managed to get pink eye too). He couldn't resist making a fort in a new big box (yes, it's 'Jack' in a box)!

I think everyone is on their way back to peak health (except for me, who needs a mental health day)! Thanks goodness Saturday we are getting out of the rain and will be enjoying 10 days in sunny Florida!

Snow Day!

The boys were off from school today because of the "snow". There was some ice and maybe a little sprinkling of powder but not enough to play in and enjoy. We ended up having a low key, slacker day! It was a good day (as shown in the smiles above)!

Don't you dare!

Owen usually loves his pic taken, but he was eating
and wanted the moment to himself and there I was
with a camera in his face!
Can't stay mad at mom for long........back to his smiley self!

Luna Chix!

Portland Luna Chix Tri Team
(L to R: Terres, Melissa, Sara, Me)

Most of you know that I'm an ambassador for the Luna Bar company and part of the Portland Luna Chix Tri Team. There are 7 women on our team (yes, one of them is my sister Melissa), our main purpose is to raise money for breast cancer research while helping women connect to sport (our sport focus is Triathlon). It has been an AMAZING experience (this is my fourth year) and I love to know I am a small part of the bigger picture in the fight against breast cancer. We all have been affected in some way by breast cancer and I'm hopeful that this effort will save lives if it has not already! Luna Bar is an incredible company to be affiliated with! They even host a Luna Summit where all the ambassadors from around the country join together to learn more about our cause, learn more about our sport and workout with professional athletes to boot(sponsored by Luna/Cliff Bar). In fact, our next summit is in April and I'm looking forward to it (it will be the 3rd for me).

Our team is also part of fund raisers and clinics that are held in the Portland area. Last night we were part of a small film festival at PSU and above is a pic of our team (4 of us attended this event). I will post more info about future team workouts and clinics coming up for this season!

Weekend.........

Just some pics of the boys taken over the weekend......
Ben is an amazing big brother, very protective of Owen and loves spending time with him!














Mom made us waffles and Owen is all smiles!














Jack lost another tooth and was pretty excited about the impending tooth fairy visit!

Oh, how I've grown!

This is one of my favorite pics of Owen in his Bumbo (he was only 4 weeks old and a little young for the seat, but I couldn't resist)! I laugh so hard every time I see his goofy expression! Fortunately, he has developed better eye control since then.






This is a recent pic taken of Owen in his J. Cash onesie (thanks to Brian and Amanda-Hello in Chile)!






It's hard to believe our little guy has changed so much and is already 14 months!
I love that people ask me when I'm going to try for our "girl"? Hmmmm, three boys are a pretty wonderful gift from above and if you ask Ed, he says he would have another only if we were guaranteed a boy (it's all he knows)! Of course, that would be great if he could be pregnant and deliver, I'd be up for several more boys or girls if that were the case (ok, not really)!

All Boys!

Our family has been so blessed with BOYS! I have two sisters, my older sister and I (youngest sis Mel has only been married a little over a year.......won't go there yet) have 5 boys between us! What an exhausting joy (especially shopping with all of them and that's not really a joy at all)!

Here is a pic with the older 4 playing video games:

and a pic of all 5!

(L to R: Tyler-2, Theo-5, Ben-9, Owen-1 & Jack-7)

New Camera and Jack's 7th B-day!

I've been out of the blogging loop for a few days because our camera decided to retire last week leaving me without a way to capture our exciting lives on film! Not to mention, Jack's 7th Birthday was quickly approaching (yes, it's today, see below) and the idea of not having a camera was upsetting. So, sweet Ed let me go and get a brand spankin' new one that I am so charged about! The below photos were taken with it and I assure you there will be many more to come!

Our spunky, intuitive and very energetic Jack turned 7 today! Hard to believe, but true. Happy Birthday Jack! We love you!

Yes, he even posed on this one for me~what a ham!

Our Aunt Sasa (Sally)!

Many of you know or have heard me mention my Aunt Sasa (Sally). She's actually my mom's cousin, but when Ben was little we would call her Aunt Sally to keep it simple. Well, our little Ben had a rough time pronouncing "Sally" and it ended up sounding like Sasa.........and so she was forever renamed!

Anyway, you might notice that Sally is wearing a really cute sparkly hat in the photo above that covers a newly growing head of hair (you can't really see the hair peeking out just yet, but it's getting there). Sasa recently went through her second round of breast cancer (first bout fought 17 years ago). Sally was so brave about it, she had surgery and chemo (thus the reason for the hair loss) and is charging through the remaining medicinal treatments and check ups as she continues to build strength and grow back her beautifully thick hair.

Her fight is an inspiration to me and I am so proud of her for her bravery and strength through the last year. I was actually the one who shaved her hair off when she started to loose it as she felt that is was better for it to come off all at once rather than in clumps. It was such a humbling experience for me. I will never forget the love and respect I felt for her as I took off her remaining locks with clippers. I will also say I don't care nearly as much about my hair or how it looks as I once did! I was so touched to have been a part of such an emotional and impactful moment. It was as if Sally was saying, "Hey cancer, bring it on, I am ready to kick your butt". Honestly though, I was such a small part in the whole process, it was my mom that was so devoted and dedicated to helping the fight by getting Sally to her appointments and sitting with her through the hours of Chemo. I must say I have really big shoes to fill when it comes to strong women in our family!

I will finish by saying how thankful I am for my family and friends. I learn from them and am inspired by them through their battles and triumphs!

As I close for this evening, I will leave you one of my favorite quotes......................



It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters."--Mother Teresa

Blogging or Bragging?

For a while I've wanted to start a blog to help keep friends and family (that I don't speak to everyday) informed on the comings and goings of the Riddle clan (not that it's super exciting or anything). I did however have several concerns about blogging. The main concern being: is this really just a way of posting a year round Christmas letter (it's all about me, me, me or us, us, us)? We all know that some people (notice: I said some, not all) use Christmas letters to endlessly brag about their family and how awesome they are, their jobs are or their kids are. Don't get me wrong here, I love Christmas cards and the photos that go with them (in fact I look forward to receiving them each year-we've even been know to send one in the past) but sometimes the letters attached inside can be quite boring or too "braggy." I'm all for family updates and even the acknowledgement of achievements (like I said above, I do enjoy reading them) but if it takes more than a page or two to cover it, it might be just a bit overdone. So, that brings me back to blogging (bragging?). I had a fear that it was the same thing, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that I really don't care if I end up bragging, it is my family and I am proud of them. Not to mention, for those who are annoyed by that sort of thing, they don't have to read this. Just as I don't have to read a five page Christmas letter if I'm not up for it. So, carry on with caution as photos of our children will be prevalent on the pages to come (yes, and some bragging too, but this is for family and friends that knowingly WANT to expose themselves to that sort of thing). Don't say I didn't warn you!
For my first blog it would be a shame to leave without a photo or two . So, the first pic here is our family photo taken in Dec. 2007. Turned out pretty good (no one's eyes are closed, no boogers are visible and we actually managed to all be smiling) considering everyone was tired and a little grouchy because it was an evening appointment to beat the holiday rush (we still waited for almost two hours. Yes, that's with an appointment)! The second photo, just of the boys (notice the shoes jack wore-nice)!
Enjoy!