Rock Climbing!!

Well, hello there!!! We hope you all had a magical Christmas! We sure did!! I'll have a post up soon to recap ours. But, I wanted to take this time and post a few pictures. Adam and I took the kids to a rock climbing gym Tuesday. Aiden was really excited to go back, and Ryann was dealing with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. On our last trip to the rock gym Aiden really struggled to make it all the way to the top. By the end of our visit he had conquered one wall, (several times). This trip however, he was a like Spiderman. He scaled every wall with no problems at all. 

Ryann had a bit harder time. Mostly because of her slight fear of heights, and what would happen if she fell. Her first time up she made it about 5 feet off the group before turning around and saying she was scared. So I told her to just jump away from the wall - so she would see that she wasn't just going to plummet to the group. That seemed to ease her fears. After that she had several attempts where she would make it about 3 feet from the top and decide she was scared......... so we took her over to the wall Aiden made it up his last trip... Ryann went straight up - no problems. After that her confidence was high and she was really enjoying herself. I don't think she made it to the top of any other walls, but she was much more willing to try.  

Both kids were kinda bummed to leave, but were beyond exhausted, and they are really looking forward to going back again!

December Happenings... so far

We’ve got less than one week until Christmas, and we’ve got one little boy that CAN NOT WAIT! Aiden is beyond excited! Last we saw Ryann she was really excited too, but that was almost two weeks ago.

So much has happened since our last post, I know I won't remember it all - but I'll hit the high points. First Ryann when to the orthodontist and learned she’ll be getting her braces taken off January 9th, and she is SO EXCITED!!! She has been such a champ dealing with her braces we’ve heard very little complaining this past year! It’s amazing what a difference a year has made. Do you remember what her teeth looked like before?! Her under-bite was so severe that when she bit down her bottom teeth would touch her top gums... she is no longer dealing with that problem!! There is a very good chance she’ll have braces again once all her permanent teeth come in. However, if she will wear her retainer like she is supposed to we MAY get away with not having them put back on… fingers crossed!!

Aiden has lost so many teeth, he is beginning to look like a little old man…He lost one of his top front teeth and the other is loose. The bottom ones are not in all the way – so if he looses that other top tooth before the others come in we’re really going to have to consider a liquid diet for him for a while!

Both kids were dismissed for Christmas break Friday. I was able to take off half the day and go to Aiden’s class Christmas party.

School dismissed at noon, and we spent the reminder of the day hanging out. Adam, Aiden and I spent the weekend playing, watching movies and just enjoying our time together. Saturday night we met Gamma and Papa for dinner. Sunday we made and decorated our Christmas cookies. Both my guys were so much help making the cookies and the royal icing. It was a lot of fun spending that time together.

We each picked our favorite cookie that we decorated to leave out for Santa…

The snowflake is mine, the snowman is Aiden’s and the stocking is Adam’s

The rest of these guys are for us when we drive around and look at Christmas lights later this week!

Jacob the elf has been a busy little guy spying on the kids…..

Riding the dinosaurs, playing Wii



Making "snow" angels, drinking the syrup 

                            And even reading a book!

Aiden has had so much fun finding Jacob every morning! I'm so glad we added this fun, new tradition this year!

We hope you are all enjoying this holiday season. We'll update again soon.

Cookies With Santa

Well, Aiden’s game went really well Monday night. Odyssey won, 7 to 1!!! Aiden made it through the game with out reinjuring his hockey cut. However, he was not able to make out of the game unscathed. In fact he was hurt three times that game…. None of which were terrible, but dude! Needless to say, Monday was a tough day for our little man.

Last night the PTA hosted “Cookies with Santa”. I was at the school from 3 to 7:30, setting up and taking pictures. Adam brought Aiden up after soccer practice to have his pictures made, have a cookie and then get a few books from book fair.

(Check out how well he is healing!)

When we got home Aiden got his first gift out of the advent calendar. Finger soccer. He loved it. Then we started a new tradition when we welcomed Jacob, our new Elf on the Shelf… I’ll update on that more as the month passes; I think it’s something Ryann and Aiden are really going to love!

We don’t have ONE SINGLE THING planned this weekend! I am SO VERY EXCITED!! We haven’t had a completely open weekend in, well; I don’t know how long!  We hope you enjoy your weekend!

Turkey Hangover...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, despite the sickies taking over Adam and I. Wednesday when I got home from work I laid down to take a nap, and didn't wake up until Thursday morning. I was able to pull the dressing together and get everyone dressed so we could head over to Gamma and Papa's house. We had a lovely dinner, and the kids had a wonderful time playing football out front with Uncle Brent, Daddy and Papa. I slept most of the day. Napping all day ended up making it a little easier for me to stay up and watch the Aggie/ Texas game.

 This picture makes me laugh! Ryann got Adam and Aiden to make her a goal post!!!

Friday was a tough day, because Adam and I were exhausted, and didn't feel well but it was the only day we had to get our Christmas decor out while Ryann was still here. Poor girl, she was really looking forward to getting everything out and put up, (she really loves all our Christmas traditions) but it was all Adam or I could do just to get both trees up/decorated and start on the mantel. I felt horrible that we couldn't get more done while she was here, but whatever this little bug was zapped every ounce of energy I had. Saturday Adam took Ryann to her mom and I laid on the couch and slept THE. WHOLE. DAY. It was a good thing Aiden  didn't need me for anything, I was a waste of a human being the entire day. But, all that sleep really paid off, and I woke up yesterday feeling like a new person. Still didn't get anymore decorations up, (I think my guilt is eating at me, and we just may wait for Ryann to come back next weekend before doing anymore...) but I did get some cleaning and grocery shopping done, as well as squeezed in some quality time with  Aiden. Poor Adam was stuck in bed all day yesterday. Hopefully a full day of rest did the trick for him too!!

One of the decorations I was eager, (as eager as I could be) to get up was this painting I did.... It's hard to get a good picture of it, because I painted him a metallic silver - one white canvas. But I LOVE how it turned out!! LOVE!!

Here are the kids with their new 2011 ornaments.. Ryann and her girl chipmunk.

Aiden and his glass swan. YEP, he picked a swan. A swan. A. SWAN. I can't wrap my mind around this choice.... This kid LOVES soccer, and every year we ask, "do you want a soccer ornament?" nope. He LOVES the Saints, and every fleur de lis he sees requires him to shout "SAINTS!" We found several fleur de lis ornaments, a few that were even gold and black (the Saints) colors, but nope didn't want those either. Couldn't talk him into an Aggie ornament - but he is just peachy with a glass swan. I don't think I will ever understand that child. But, he is happy with his girly pretty swan, and that is all that matters. LOL!!!

and a few of the progress.

So, everyone one returned to work and school today. Around 1:20 my phone rings. "Hello?" "Hi Mrs. Nabors, this is the nurse at Independence, cute little Aiden is in the clinic. It seems he was hit in the head during PE with a plastic hockey puck, and I'm afraid he may require stitches". Well, it turns out he was actually hit with the hockey stick, not the puck. And his doctor decided that the school nurse put the butterfly stitch on well enough that he didn't require stitches this time. Praise the Lord!! While we were at the doctor's office I opted to go ahead and get his flu vaccination out of the way. My crazy kid CHOSE THE SHOT over the mist! Again, I will NEVER GET THIS KID! LOL!!! On a side, and I think funny note. Aiden wore a cream colored shirt today, so he was checking out the dried blood and told me, "Mommy, I must be a really big Aggie fan. I even bleed maroon!"

So, we had an eventful afternoon. Aiden has a soccer game today, and I've got my fingers crossed that he doesn't hit his head, and cause this thing to bust open... we'd have him sit out this game except that in doing that there wouldn't be enough boys, and they would have to forfeit the game... so fingers crossed!!

Happy Holidays!!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is TOMORROW?!!! This year has flown by, and we have been blessed beyond words. One of our many blessings is that we get to spend this entire week with Ryann! I picked her up Friday after work. Surprisingly we had an easy drive home, like seriously easy - we made it home in about 50 minutes!! Saturday we had a cleaning day - now the house shines from top to bottom - I just LOVE a clean house!! We also did some clothes shopping. We HAD to get Aiden a new snow jacket. That kid grows so stinking fast! His hands and feet are already bigger than Ryann's! Sunday Aiden had his first indoor game of the season. Some things have changed with soccer.... with the end of the fall season came the end of Aiden's req team. The coach needed a break. So, for now Aiden is only playing with his club team, (I'm SUPER excited about this development - more time at home!!) So, back to Sunday's game. The coach had to be out of town with the '94 boys for a tournament, so Adam stepped in as coach again. The team we played was tough, and our boys only had one sub. They ended up tying the game 3-3. They had about 15 shots on goal, but the other teams keeper was really good. All in all they had a pretty good game. Sunday night the kids went home with Gamma and Papa for a sleep over. Papa dropped them off with me at work Monday afternoon. Ryann and Aiden popped in to say "hi" to my co-workers, and then we were off to Toys R Us to make their Christmas lists. Unfortunately, we'll only have Ryann one weekend in December before Christmas, so we've gotten a jump start on some of our Christmas traditions. We're usually one of those families that refuses to do anything Christmassy until after Thanksgiving, but when you have a blended family sometimes that is difficult - so we just have to roll with the punches. At Toys R Us I learned that Aiden wants pretty much anything LEGO, his list wound up being 25 items long. Ryann was much more selective, she didn't want anything on her list that she just liked. She only added something that she REALLY wanted. She ended up with just 12 items on her list. When we got home each kid had to take their list and put their top 5 picks in order. Obviously this was a much easier task for Ryann - because she was doing that in her head as we looked around. When Daddy got home from work we headed out to pick our new Christmas ornament. We do this every year, it's a tradition the kids really look forward to. The kids took FOREVER picking their ornaments this year, but they both were really happy with their final selections, (Aiden's was really surprising to Adam and I)........I'll post pictures of them with their ornaments when I post about getting the tree up on Friday.

Yesterday we headed out to the Gaylord Texan to see ICE! and ride the snow hills. We had a wonderful time!!!

Pictures in ICE!

 Kids on the snow hill

 Around the Gaylord

We hope you are all having a wonderful holiday week, and that you have a blessed Thanksgiving. I'll update again soon!

Colonial Day

Yesterday I took the day off and spent the morning in Aiden's classroom. The first graders celebrated Thanksgiving with Colonial Day, where they rotated through each first grade classroom, doing crafts/ learning about life in Coloinal Days. It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with each child, and nice to put a face with a name in some cases. Here are a few pictures from our morning.

While I was in his classroom his teacher wanted to show me a new "thing" she started with Aiden. She has learned he is very into data, and being able to SEE his progress, and that he is very competitive- even with himself. So she has him working on a "goal data folder". She will send it home every 3 weeks for Adam and I to see. At the beginning of each six weeks he'll set a goal in each of his subjects. He has to write a plan of action, for how he will achieve his goal, and then he and his teacher will keep track of his progress. She said he is very into it. I love it! One of the things that I found very cool is that she had him evaluate himself to him set his goals, and keep him on track. For instance in reading he had to evaluate his strengths and weaknesses, and what I thought was SO COOL is that he was able to be totally honest with himself. He said he felt his biggest weakness was comprehension, due to him wanting to read fast, which meant he didn't always pay attention to punctuation, which sometime made it hard to comprehend. I was blown away, because I would agree - that really is his ONLY weakness in reading. She also told me she is still finding it very challenging for her to challenge Aiden, especially in reading. All of that to say, I love his teacher - and I'm so happy she is willing to work so hard to make his first year a success! While he may not be challenged as much as we would like, it isn't for her like of trying! We're so proud of our little smarty!

After I finished up with Aiden's class I stuck around the school the rest of the day taking pictures for the yearbook. Then last night we headed to Spring Creek for our fundraiser. It was a long, tiring day - but also FUN! Both kids get out of school today at noon to start their week long Thanksgiving break. I'm heading to pick Ryann up right after work. We're all looking forward to this nice little break.

I'll update again soon!!! We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Prayers needed

If you can read this, and it not bring a tear to your eye, I'd have to say you must be broken. Go here, and read; http://randycourtneytripproth.blogspot.com/ then say a prayer for Tripp and Courtney.

Ryann's orthodontist appointment went great yesterday! Her orthodontist now wants to see her every 4 weeks. After 8 weeks he'll make a decision on when she gets her braces off! She is BEYOND excited to know the end is insight.

Family Pictures!!!

Whew, another week has passed! For some reason this past week seemed to last forever. I guess we’re all getting excited about Thanksgiving break. We had a relatively uneventful week; we actually got to enjoy some down time < That like, never happens! LOL!! Friday the PTA hosted movie night at Aiden’s school. So Aiden and I were there from right after school until after the movie ended. Adam picked up Ryann and we all enjoyed a fun family night. Saturday we met my friend Jeanette in downtown Roanoke and took some family pictures. She did an awesome job, and captured some really great images. And the kids were SO GREAT! We had a totally stress free experience… it was awesome. Those kids are such little models! Here are just a few of my favs… there really are to many to share.

Saturday night Adam stayed home with the kids and I headed out for girls night out. We had such a great time!

Sunday Aiden had his last soccer game of the fall season. The coach had to be out of town so Adam coached the boys to an impressive win, the final score was 6 to 3. Aiden scored an amazing goal! The crowd went NUTS!

Adam took Ryann to the orthodontist this morning for her 6 week check up. I haven’t heard from him yet, so I’m not sure how it went, but I’ll update on that next time.

The second six week ended on Friday. Ryann hasn’t received her report card yet, but Aiden did, and he did awesome!! Like I said before we’re all looking forward to Thanksgiving break. I’ll update again soon.

Here is one more picture from our trip to College Station last weekend... Adam took it on his phone, and I just saw it... so cute!

FUN FUN FUN!

We have had a fun week! Monday night Aiden went trick-or-treating. He had an absolute blast! But, that boy is so scheduled. His usual bed time is 8:00 pm. At about 7:30 he said he was ready to head home. So we hit up the remaining houses on the street we were on, and headed home. Aiden was sound asleep by 8:15. Here are a few pictures of him Halloween night.

Friday after school/ work we hit the road for a quick, and I mean QUICK, trip to College Station. We arrived around 8pm Friday night and headed home just after 8pm Saturday night. We had a wonderful time on 24 hour trip. We got to do lots of visiting, and most importantly we helped Dealyn celebrate her 5th birthday.

We arrived home around 12:30 Sunday morning, YAWN! Caught a few Z’s, and headed out to Aiden’s soccer game. During warm ups the boys take turns being goalie. Aiden was in the goal, he dove to catch a ball – and although I wasn’t watching I did hear a VERY LOUD “dong!” then an even louder scream. When Aiden dove he slammed his head into the goal post, OUCH! It scared everyone at the fields. Luckily he was not injured badly. No concussion, or cut – just a goose egg and bruise. He iced it, and was back on the field in no time at all. The boys played a great game. The final score was 5 to 1.

After the soccer game the team met up at a local rock climbing gym. It was a fun night. Aiden is a perfectionist, and has a very hard time dealing with not being able to do something with in the first few tries. At first he was just having a good time. Then he realized there were bells at the tops of the walls that you could ring if you made it all the way up. He was having a hard time making it that high. Out of frustration he cried, (he hasn’t quite grasped the concept of channeling that frustration and putting it to better use). Then he just got mad. I mean seriously mad. You could look at him and tell he was ticked. Adam and I have learned, that when he gets that way it’s best to just leave him alone to process that anger. So, that’s exactly what we did. Next thing you know Aiden’s at the top of the wall ringing the bell! He was SO EXCITED, and we were proud he didn’t give up. We talked to him about not being so hard on himself, but I don’t know if that’ll ever change – he comes by it honest.

Anyways, we had a lot of fun this weekend, hope you did too!