we wish you a merry christmas!

I had all intentions of posting the adorable pictures of Delaney opening gifts today but to be quite honest, after all of the running around the last few days... I am utterly exhausted! So I wanted to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! And I promise to post as soon as I have my energy back!

Next up in our busy lives... Maryland for the Shelton Family Christmas then, flying to Orlando on Monday and won't return until after the new year! GEAUX TIGERS!

Stay tuned because there will be lots to see in the upcoming weeks! :)

I hope this finds everyone feeling as loved and as blessed as we do.

Love,
us.

snowed in!

Santa came early to the Rice house this year. My parents bought us a 40" flat screen TV last night. It is so nice not to have to squint to see the TV anymore. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Santa Shelton came right at the perfect time as we are snowed in! Over last night and today we have gotten 12 inches of snow. And although most of the roads seem to be clearing quite quickly, we haven't budged.

The best part of the snow, is that it is Fletch's first. When there was just a few inches on the ground last night, he was lovin' it! This morning when it was up to his belly and he had to literally doggie paddle through it, I think he became unsure about this white stuff everywhere. But I have taken him out a lot over the course of our morning and he is back to lovin' it! I must've looked like an idiot barely able to stand up from laughing so hard! I took him to the dog park so he could play off the leash and he went nuts. I think he might have some rabbit in him somewhere in his genes!

Hard to tell how much snow is really there, since most of you haven't seen Fletch and how tall he is now, but it is definitely a lot!

My handsome boy!

Our complex pool area.

On a different note, I don't believe I shared the pictures from the cookie bake at my aunt's house last weekend. Delaney had a GREAT time helping her momma bake!

So happy to be getting soooo messy!

Had to take her outside to get her cleaned up! I don't think she was ready to be finished!

All the bakers!

Hope this finds everyone happy, safe and enjoying their day as much as us.

Love,

your snowed-in richmond rices.

weekend at the great wolf lodge! x2

I am taking the night off of card making (which is probably not wise since I have plans every evening the rest of the week...) so I guess I have no excuse but to post the pictures from the lodge.

I had teacher training all day on Saturday, so we left for Williamsburg after I finished. It worked out better than we could have hoped because it was sleeting pretty heavily in Richmond so it worked out to be the PERFECT weekend to be in an 84 degree water park.

The Bostons and Richmond Sheltons were already in Williamsburg, they had gone to the VCU vs. W&M game and met us at the lodge. My dad and I spent that evening trying water slides and helping Kaira get Laney used to the water.

We ate pizza, watched football and laughed together the rest of the night.

The next day we spent all day in the water park only taking breaks for Redskins football, which ended up being a waste of our time and for Pierce's BBQ!!

I am not sure what the best part of the weekend was... riding the tornado in the pitch black watching my dad's face... watching Kaira giggle so hard she could barely stand up because of Bill being a scardey cat... watching Rick "surf" on the wave because he was having so much fun... or watching Delaney giggle with her big girl haircut...

I am so happy to be able to have so much fun with my family. It is truely unreal how much fun we have together. I just wish my brother was here for it.

Next up on the Richmond Rice family calendar...

We are going to see a play on Thursday night with my parents. This weekend I am going to the annual cookie bake day at my aunt's house in Asland. I am very excited because I have never been! Kaira and Delaney will be here too! We will also be heading to the VCU vs. UofR on Saturday.

Our tentative holiday schedule is filling up quickly!

December 19 - Heidi's Birthday/Tacky Light Tour/Tacky Sweater Party - Elizzabeth will be in town for that!!

December 23 - Rick's Family's Christmas Party/White Elephant Gift Exchange

December 24 - Nanny's, Momma Rossi & Cheri's Birthday/Christmas Eve Church&Dinner

December 25 - Wake up at my folks for Christmas morning with the Bostons!

December 27 - Shelton Family Christmas in Maryland

December 28 - FLY TO ORLANDO!! So very excited about going where its warm! LSU plays Penn State on January 1st!

There is still a lot of family that hasn't even been penciled in so I am sure our holidays will be even busier!

Hope this finds you all healthy, happy and feeling as blessed as we do.

Love,

your busy-bee-richmond rices.

ima card-makin' fool!

Sorry for not posting pictures from the Lodge this weekend as promised! This is what I did instead...These are called: "flowers&polkadots."

My school is having a silent auction for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the teachers were asked to donate something. My pod (my class and the class next door) is making a basket of coorespondence items like pens, pads and these handmade cards!

I am starting to think I could do this card-making thing full-time?!

Love,

us.

weekend at the great wolf lodge!

To say this weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge with the Shelton-Boston clan was amazing, wouldn't even do it justice! I believe Delaney was the only one that acted her age and the rest of us only acted a few years older!!  :)

I will post pictures tomorrow, but I was able capture a bit of the cuteness that is Delaney and her new big girl haircut!

But until then... this Rice family is utterly exhausted from all the water slidin'!

We feel so overwhelmed to be blessed with a family that is able to have so much fun together.

Until tomorrow Rice Life readers...

Love,
us.

from the rice cache...

Okay, so maybe this was looong before there was such thing as our rice family but still worth sharing.

Me and my dad... I believe I am doing the legendary cheer: "Gerties can't be stopped 'cause they're to-to-ally ho-ot!"

Love,

us.

new address.

So by new, I don't mean we have moved again, but I wanted to make sure everyone has our newest address so holiday cards aren't lost in the mail!

Rick and Erin Rice
3504 Corum Dr. #917
Henrico, VA 23294

Can't wait to see everyone's new family pictures!

Love,
us.

Ps. If you have moved since last Christmas and I haven't contacted you about your new address... please email it to me at 1erinrice@gmail.com THANKS!!

holiday card assembly line?!

I am making all of our holiday cards this year! Here is a preview of the rice santa and friends line!

Love, us.

new years in orlando??

Keep your fingers crossed that LSU gets an invitation to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida so that Delaney can meet Minnie Mouse and Cinderella! We will know for sure on December 6th! But the outlook is GOOOOD!!

Love,

your desperate-to-go-to-orlando richmond rices.

turkey-ed out for sure!

Let's see... the turkey for me started on Wednesday. My bosses bought turkey and dressing and all the teachers brought in a side dish. Then, on Thursday we went to Nanny's house in Ashland for more turkey, yams with ooey gooey marshmellows (yumm) broccoli casserole (yumm, yumm) and lots of yummy desserts like a pumpkin bread roll that had an ooey, gooey cream cheese mixture inside! After Nanny's we went to Dave and Rita's (family friends) where they deep fried a turkey and had homemade desserts like yummy apple pie. We had a great time! It was a great thankgiving day, but on Friday morning we were turkey-ed out!

It's hard to think about turkey right now...So yesterday when we drove to Deltaville, we were both really hoping there wouldn't be aaannyy turkey. And just as I predicted there was none, instead we had pork bbq, cole slaw, crab soup, seasoned shrimp, etc. All the food you should have at a thanksgiving in Deltaville. We spent the day there and had a great time.

Rick pulled a muscle in his back so he has been pretty miserable today, hopefully some icey hot, a hot bath and a bottle of advil will get him back to feeling better.

LSU beat Arkansas yesterday in overtime! So we may have a shot at going to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando once again... Maybe the Cotton Bowl in Dallas but we shall have to see.

I apologize for the lack of pictures but we are going to the Great Wolf Lodge next weekend with the Bostons and my parents so I should have lots of pictures next weekend! :)

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and still in a thankful glow.

Love,
your turkey-ed-out richmond rices.

Oh, turkey day how I love thee!

I am thankful for...
...a loving husband who lets me sleep in and might not always do the right thing but tries pretty damn hard to.
...an amazing familyx2. Aunts that say things like you are an ooey-gooey girl and uncles that say things like "Yeah, people in my church are killing people in mafia wars, it's confusing... it's like opposite day!" Sisters that text me to let me know about circut sales, sisters that remember the marshmellows on the yams and sisters that skype to talk about skyping boots AND mothers that tell me I am a smart cookie and bake apple pies and mashed potatoes to take home... just to name a few!
...amazing friends that invite us over to experience new ways to eat yams, introduce new learning tools like african dwarf frogs and text from 1500 miles to say they are thinking of us!
...a new church family that is both honest and welcoming and makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger than myself (which is often easy to forget!)

Each and every day no matter where we are or what we are doing something or someone is there to remind us how blessed we are. We hope everyone in our life realizes how thankful we are to have this life and every single person in it.

Have a happy and blessed thanksgiving! We hope this finds everyone as stuffed and sleepy as we are!

Love,
your oh-so-very-thankful richmond rices.

from the rice cache...

Rick and his coho salmon he caught when we went salmon fishing in Seattle. Less than 5 hours later we grilled this and 4 others with some corn on the cob and asparagus at our hotel... It was warm and beautiful out, perfect day for a shelton-boston-rice family picnic.

You can't plan memories like this!

Love,

us.

a place to call our own...

...like house would be great. I have the house-itch like I have never had it before. I am so ready to settle in somewhere, to paint, decorate and invest in furniture to carry us through a family. I want to do home improvement projects on the weekends that I learn about on HGTV and plant a garden in the backyard where Fletch has plenty of space to run, a craft room with space to scrapbook and house the cricut when I have it (my mil and I share one!!) and a place to set up a sewing machine (when I actually buy one). A room or 2 for some family growth since the next big step will be babies...but until then, our apartment will have to do. We have talked about maybe renting a house... but I am just soooo tired of moving. I want my next move to be into a house I will start my family in!

Anyway, so since we don't have a place to call our own as in a house... we have found a church! Rick and I went to pick out a pumpkin a few weeks ago at a place he had seen while driving around... there was a pumpkin patch at a place called Good Shepard United Methodist Church. When we got out of the car, Rick realized he knew a guy that went there. So we decided we should try it. After about 12 or 13 churches this is the first place we left after a service agreeing to go back. Rick had noticed they needed a guitar player in their worship band so he met up for a practice last week and is now playing with them on Sunday mornings. We met the Pastor last night for coffee and realized that we have a lot more in common (with him and the church) than we ever imagined. We are so very happy to have found some place (even if not a house) to call our own! Who knows if this is going to be the place for us forever, but right now all the signs say it is for us, at least for now!

So see why I have the house itch? I think everyone who knows me has always known my obsession with doing things in the proper order. I know that it isn't up to me, to make sure things happen the way I think they should, but so far they have sooo I feel like the house is supposed to be next, I am so ready!!

I guess in the meantime, I will keep myself busy with my usual things and now getting involved in a church community can be a house-itch distraction as well.

And when all is said and done, the important thing is that I have a warm place to sleep each night.

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and getting into the holiday spirit!

Love,
your blessed-to-be-sheltered richmond rices.

I have no excuse...

As to why I have turned into such a slacker. I used to love this blog. I would be out doing something fun and think to myself, "Oh, gotta get the camera out because I am going to want to write about this!"

Somehow, our blog got put on the back burner and has not climbed the priority list yet. Maybe with the holidays coming up, I will have more to report. I guess now is as good a time as any... I really have no idea where to begin... I guess the best thing is to start with what is happening now. BUT first... a recap of our summer...

Rick and I took Delaney on her first trip to Kings Dominion. We were both really nervous initially because we were responsible for her safety as well as her enjoyment... But it turned out she was so very excited about the rides. So much that she would cry when she had to get off. So Rick and I worked out a strategy... the person in charge of the stroller would wheel it over to get in line while the other one got Laney off the ride in order to decrease her wait time, which equaled less crying. It was truly an experience! We had a blast and Laney slept the whole ride home. :)

The next group of pictures is from our trip to Atlantic City. Neither us had every been there but we had more fun than expected! My parents, Rick and I drove to Atlantic City and stayed at the Trump Plaze Hotel. Rick's sister, Jenny (from Long Island) and her boyfriend Chris met us there. We had tickets to the Jimmy Buffett show in Boardwalk Hall. We got to do a little gambling, eat amazing steak/seafood dinners, play in the ocean and see an amazing concert all the while having tons of fun laughing, drinking and eating together. It was such a great weekend!

It will be close to impossible to recap our trip to Seattle, but I will try my best. We stayed for 10 days and my sister (plus the boston crew) and my brother came for half of the week. We went on a seaplane to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada... we went to Mt. Rainier and did a little hiking and sightseeing... we went to a mariners game at Safeco Field (vs. the LA Angels, how fitting since Bryan was with us)... we went to the Space Needle for lunch... the boys went to a preseason Seahawks game... we went salmon fishing and cooked it on the gas grills at the hotel for lunch... We went to the LSU vs. Washington Huskies game... and we went to Pike's Market... See why it is impossible to really recap! It was so fun, more fun than any family should ever have together!! :)

Fletch was in some sort of accident while we were visiting Rick's dad at the river. We aren't sure what happened because we didn't see it, but Fletch somehow got a hole ripped in his side. He had to get 6 staples and wear this silly cone (which lasted a total of maybe an hour!) But he has healed nicely. There is still a dark spot where the hair hasn't grown in all the way and the scar is showing. He once again didn't seem affected by the whole thing... all of it was harder on me (just like when he sliced is paw open) but you know that will probably never change!

Also over the summer, we saw Billy Joel and Elton John at the Nationals Stadium in DC. We celebrated our one year anniversary with a fancy dinner at the Hardshell (our favorite restaurant!) And we saw our favorite local band Boneanchor a few times at various bars in Richmond.

We moved out of the fan at the end of July. We are now living in the West End of Richmond, Henrico actually. We live in a 1-bedroom apartment in a pretty nice complex, with a fitness room, a pool and a dog park. Fletch took some time getting used to it but so far seems to have adjusted nicely. I think he definitely misses having a yard but the dog park has been good for his exercise. The move has been hard on me too. I can't believe I dont live in the fan. One day I will again, but until then I try to look at the positive things... like how much we are saving in gas, rent, utilities, etc.

Rick started college this semester. He is going to J. Sargent Reynolds and beginning a 2 year program in international business which he will then transfer to VCU to finish his BS. So far, he loves it. He is taking 3 classes this semester and plans to take a little more next semester as he eases himself back into being a student.

I switched jobs. This probably seems like a bit of a shock because no one really knew how unhappy I was (including my former bosses). It is a long story, not really important in the long run... But I love my new school! I am teaching a preK class of young 4 year olds and they are great. The school is more like a 10-minute drive instead of the 5-minute drive to my old school but the extra time has just given me time to finish my coffee! :) I work 4-ten hour days and get every Monday off! (3-day weekends are awesome!). Great benefits, life insurance, 401K and 1 week paid vacation after 6 months and another week after a year! Life is good.

We are staying busy as usual. With football season, staying connected to family and friends as well as the many obligations that come with melding families including weddings, birthdays and other celebrations.

Two girls from my sorority got married the last two weekends. The first being one of my first roommates and the other being my sorority big sister. They both had absolutely amazing weddings and looked absolutely stunning.

These were Rick and I's first weddings as a married couple and I have found it has made me a lot more emotional about weddings. Both times I teared up watching the bride walk down the aisle, which I have never done at any other wedding before... It not only brought back memories of me walking down the aisle, the excitement, nervousness and utter joy but more importantly memories of the promises Rick and I made to each other. I am very excited about the life we have begun building together and sooo very excited about what our future holds!

I hope this catches everyone up to where we are in our lives. I really am going to make more of an honest effort to keep up with this because I have learned a lot of people keep up with us this way. (Although now that everyone is on facebook it seems that is just as easy!)

We hope this finds everyone as happy and healthy as us. We love you all.

Love,

your not-so-newlywed richmond rices.

weeerreee baaaaacccckkkkk!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know we are alive and give a quick preview of what is to come.

First of all, sorry for being MIA all summer. We had an incident with our computer and have not had one for the last few months, but as you can probably guess we finally got a computer so be expecting to hear from us often!

I really have to get to bed but we do have much to report about...

We had (are having) a great summer from Billy Joel to Boneanchor to Jimmy Buffet from Atlantic City to Deltaville to Seattle, including an apartment move, birthdays AND our one year anniversary! It has been busy! It is probably good that we didn't have a computer; I am not sure we would have had time to update as often as we should. I have taken lots of pictures to share with everyone so you can look forward to that as well.

I will try, but cannot promise a post tomorrow (fingers crossed!) updating everyone on our fun but hot summer, as I do have to pack for our summer finale to Seattle on Saturday for 10 days!!!

Here is a picture in the meantime...Us before our anniversary dinner at the Hard Shell downtown.

I have thought about this blog often and have been very impressed to hear how many people missed it so I will continue to stay as up to date as our busy schedule allows.

We hope this finds everyone enjoying another great summer!

Love,

your finally reconnected richmond rices.

just another day at the rice house.

Our party went great. It was actually super fun, so better than great. Almost all of our favorite people came out and everyone acted like mature adults... well almost everyone. But overall a very good and drama-free party!

This is what Fletch did during the party. I guess he was either tired or overwhelmed because he usually loves new people.

His foot has healed quite nicely, in fact, we went to the dog park today for the first time since it all happened and he had a great time! You could tell he hadn't been in awhile because it took him a little bit to warm back up to all the dogs.

Hopefully, if the rain stays away, we will be back on our everyday schedule. I gotta say he is so much more cuddly when he has been at the dog park all evening... I guess because it wears out all that puppy energy!

Saturday, my grandparents from Maryland, my cousin Elizzabeth, my sister and her Boston clan, my parents and of course, Rick and I went to the annual Central Virginia LSU Alumni Crawfish Boil. It was out in Southside on the River. It was such a great day to be outside and to be pickin' some authentic Louisianner Crawdads!

View of the River

Rick pickin' away.

My empty tray and my grandparents working on theirs...

Delaney in awe of the balloons.

One just wasn't enough!

Bored with the balloons now onto mardi gras beads. Take them off, put them on, take them off, put them on, take them off, get frustrated because they won't come off, auntie erin takes them off, put them back on. It was surprisingly entertaining for the both of us!

Isn't she just the cutest!!!

On a different note...

At school, we are preparing for our annual charity event, the Spring Fling. The only part that I have really had to accomplish is helping my kids prepare a painting for our silent auction, which raises money for Safe Kids.

Each classroom was assigned a painting of a famous artist, for us: Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Our job was not to replicate the painting but borrow the style to make our own painting. The basic concept was to use quick and easy brushstrokes like van Gogh uses. We also used some of our newer concepts of artistic expression and added in our new knowledge of secondary colors.

Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night

Instead of using the entire painting for inspiration, we limited it to this one corner and focused on shapes and motion instead of landscape.

Our inspiration providing corner...

Preschool 2's masterpiece!

Obviously, there is no justice with a picture but it is pretty amazing. They really did a great job of not only following directions but making the artwork their own. They have come so far in 9 short months!

Pretty advanced for 3/4 years olds, eh?

Hope this finds everyone enjoying the last few weeks of Spring as Summer is just around the corner!!

Love,
your artistically-inspired richmond rices.