March Round Up

Just a quick catch up on March before April is here. I'm going to bed tonight with a post-it note on my bedside that says "April Fools" so I am prepared for all the tricks Nate and Riley were giggling about tonight:

Riley and dad at our school's ice skating night:

Fishing with dad:

It's always a great time in Gig Harbor with the Ludlows:

Cameron and Ben are frozen while singing songs from Frozen.

Riley and Grace! Pretty crazy I met Kara when I was Riley's age. :)

Iyer & Ludlow kids

 Long walk around the neighborhood with mom:

Fancy hair:

Our active Ben:

At the Seattle Children's Staff event at EMP:

 Muddy Spring Soccer:

Swim lessons:

Pics from school:

Riley playing Piggy (from author Mo Willems) in Reader's Theater 

Ben loves to draw maps at school.

Pacific Northwest kids

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love,

The Irish Iyers and O'Mesh 

Riley has worn this bow every St. Patrick's day since her first one when she was 3 days old!

Tradition of making Noni's Irish stew.

Riley is 6!

Happy birthday Riley Isabel! It is hard to believe that she arrived 6 years ago today and blessed our family. She is funny, smart, confident and creative. Riley has the ability to lift up those around her, find ways to keep the peace, and also will always stand her ground! My favorite Riley quote this year was a conversation we had one day in the car:

Riley: "God sure has blessed us."

Mom: "Yes He sure has."

Riley: "What?! God is a he?!"

It's pretty clear that she takes after her mother! Girl power! :)

Our beautiful Riley at 2 weeks old and now.

I was the mystery reader in Riley's class and added an extra surprise by dressing like a pirate to read a few pirate books. I wasn't sure which way it would go and am happy to report that she loved it.

We celebrated with a pirate themed party at the bounce house with Riley's Kindergarten class and a few of her good friends from outside of school. It was crazy and fun! (Yes, Ben had this same party when he turned 3. Pirates are popular in our house. For a long time Riley had a sign on her door that said "Pirates Only Please.")

These are some really good guys!

The three amigas: Hook, Eye Patch, and Hat. :)

March Happenings

As always, lots is going on with the adorable Iyer trio:

Nate celebrated his First Reconciliation in preparation for his First Communion this spring. We are proud of the young man you are becoming Nate!

Ramesh took Nate to the service project that was part of preparing for Nate's First Reconciliation. Their job was to create a gift box of warm socks and toiletries for the residents of Tent City. Check out their stellar job wrapping the gift. ;)

 We were surprised to find out that Ben and his friends Lars and Grace are local celebrities! A friend spotted them in the Issaquah Community Center course registration. :)

We signed up to serve doughnuts and juice once a month after Mass and the kids love it! Of course Nate wanted to keep 1/3 of the money and Riley demanded two doughnuts for her hard work - but we are hoping the lessons of giving and charity will be worked in there someday.

Mom and Dad all dressed up for the school auction with a Kentucky Derby theme. Yes I know my hat should have been bigger but Riley and I threw it together last minute.

Riley is a natural at sales. She loved calling out to shoppers, talking to all the customers and helping them pick out lots of cookies:

 Sibling love:

Ben loves to use his own clothes and accessories to dress up as his favorite characters.  Here are a few of the many costumes of Ben: Peter Pan, Martin from Wild Krats, Jake the pirate, Woody from Toy Story, Christoff from Frozen, and a pirate.

Springtime is around the corner and night walks after dinner are back in the routine. Love a dose of fresh air before bedtime.

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