Golfing buddies to be

Ryder and I sat out at the driving range tonight while JM hit some balls.  It was so hard to keep him quiet and I was afraid he was making the others mad, so I just kept stuffing Cheetos in his mouth.  He didn't complain.

Then JM came over and gave him some juice.

Once he went back to hit, Ryder couldn't stand it any longer, so he wobbled his way over to see what this "golfing" was all about.

Now he's hooked.

 Then we got home, took a bath and read our favorite book,

"That's not MY monster"

Connie - He is OBSESSED!

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Last weekend we had fun at Preston and Pace's first birthday party.  We attempted a group photo of the chillins and it wasn't as successful as we'd hoped, but cute nonetheless. 

Let's see, we've got from the left: Collin, Preston, Brantlee, one of the triplets (Allie, Reese or Juliet), Ryder, Luke, two more of the triplets, Pace and Charlie.

Hi!!!

Birthday Boy Pace pulling Birthday Boy Preston's hair.

Didn't faze Preston.

"You get my drift?"

Cheesin' in the hay

Trying to wiggle out of my hands so he could go play

Ryder finally got to meet his friend Charlie Kingrea, who is only about 3 weeks older than Ryder.  

After fighting over the toys, Ryder finally agreed to share.  The more he is around kids, the more I see that my child does not like other people holding "his" toys.  He likes to hold ALL of them at once.

Three muskateers: Pace, Charlie and Ryder

The cute, cute cake

Jan, Pace, Preston and Payton
Happy Birthday to the sweetest twins I know!

Ryder learned something new at the party, how to suck a straw from a juice box.  That juice was gone before I could run and get the camera to get this picture.

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Ryder had his mini-session pictures with Jeanelle on Monday and he was a HOOOT!  The pictures were taken out at an old barn, and the minute we opened the car door and Ryder heard that cow moo, he was in hog heaven.  JM unbuckled the seatbelt and I thought Ryder was going to roll right out of his seat, he was ready to see his cows.  He started Moooo'ing and didn't stop until the pictures were over.

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Since Ryder turned 1, he has decided it would be appropriate to change his bedtime.  He refuses to go to bed before 8:00.  Here is a picture from last night around 8:15.  He was screaming so bad in his crib.  I figured another glass of milk and half an episode of his favorite show, Sid might help.  And it did.

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We can't keep little jungle man out of the bushes.

Well, until he sees his car.  Why must we always forget to put it away until we are ready to stroll him?  Now that he knows how to get into by himself he will just sit in it and stare at us until we push him around.  And if he has been sitting still for more than 20 seconds, he starts banging his head back and forth trying to get it to move himself.

Some things Ryder is doing since he has turned one:
-He can roar like a monster.
-He is completely off the bottle and only drinking from a sippy cup.
-He is drinking whole milk, and cold at that.  I never warmed it up from the beginning so that he wouldn't get used to it.
-He can now stand up by himself when getting ready to walk.
-Crawling is still his preference.
-He says BYE MAMA (only when I say it first, of course).
-When I say one...two...three...four... He will say "Fiiiii" (sounding like eye with an "f" at the front.

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Okay, it's kind of difficult to cook dinner while it's just me and Ryder at the house.  But I really want to cook dinner most nights.  And JM is still so busy at work that he can't get home before 6:30 or 7 (except tonight of course.... driving range, remember?).  Last night I wanted to make something so I put Ryder in his highchair and cut up some grapes to put on his tray so that he would have something to munch on in between bites of real food that I would give him in between running around the kitchen, back and forth from the high chair to the stove to the high chair to the fridge from the high chair to the microwave from the high chair to the sink.  Trying to cook dinner and feed Ryder all at the same time.  I felt like I was neglecting him so much because I could hardly pay any attention to him while he sat in the highchair so I would just try and talk to him the whole time I was cooking, telling him what I was making and what ingredients I was using and so forth.  So here is what we had:  I don't know what it's actually called, so I'll call it yummy.

YUMMY
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 lb ground beef
fresh garlic (I used garlic powder b/c we didn't have any fresh)
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 cup sour cream
8 oz cheese, shredded
10 oz package egg noodles, prepared

Mix together cream cheese, onion powder and sour cream with electric mixer and set aside.  Brown ground beef with garlic until cooked; drain.  Add tomato sauce, tomato paste and prepared noodles to meat; stir.  Then add in the cream cheese mixture; stir.  Pour into a 9x13 dish and top with shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Easy.

MY MEME'S GREEN BEANS

1 can Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans (only kind I use - don't accidentally get the can that is no salt added)
1 tablespoon sugar (or a tiny bit less)
1 tablespoon olive oil (or a tiny bit less)

Don't drain the green beans and pour all three ingredients into a pot and cook on the stove on medium-high for about 30 minutes, or until all the water is soaked up.

Many times I double this recipe if my main dish is large enough that we'll have leftovers the next day.  My mom and grandmother have always made green beans like this so it's how I always thought green beans should taste.  When I was younger and would eat green beans at school or at a friend's house, I honestly thought something was wrong with them because they weren't sweet.

MAYONNAISE ROLLS
Please know these do NOT taste like mayo.

1 cup self-rising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk

Mix first 3 ingredients well.  Add milk and stir until smooth.
Either fill muffin cups 1/2 full (instead of muffin cups, I just spooned them onto a pan)
Bake at 400 for 12 minutes

Just butter 'em up and these are good rolls!  I knew we needed a "bread" with our meal, but we were out of any frozen garlic toast and the bisquick was expired when I checked, so I searched the recipe books for some type of bread that I could made with flour, and this is the first one I found.  I'll be making them again.

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My dad and Ryder's Papa has had a birthday since I last blogged, so I want to wish him a happy late birthday! He and Becky took a fun trip to Boston, Maine and New Hampshire for his birthday. How fun!!!  I love you daddy!!!