Life As We Know It

Whoa!

2012-01-29T17:50:00.000-06:00

I went to work the day after writing my last post and learned that The Dallas Opera House will be hosting The Magic Flute! I can not tell you how excited Adam and I were to learn this good news! So, we have plans to take Aiden in April. We're all beyond excited!!! I swear Aiden's eyes were the size of saucers when we told him.
I can't remember if I wrote about Aiden's TPRI, (Texas Primary Ready Inventory) results at the beginning of the school year... He scored 100%, and was reading 69/79, (he read 2 stories) WPM. They take this test three times a year in kinder, 1st and 2nd grade. So, we got his 2nd results on Friday.... They included a chart of his progress - that made Adam and I laugh out loud....

The gray area is where a first grade "should" test. The two lines WAY up there, are where Aiden has tested. 69/79WPM at the beginning of the year and 120/112WPM this go around. So needless to say he is well above the average reading level at this period in time, (that really is no surprise) but he is also WELL above where the he is expected to be at the end of the year. According to this test, the goal at the end of the year is to be reading 60WPM, (Aiden was above this a the beginning of the year). Oh, he also scored 100% on the question/answer section of the test too. Of course we're extremely proud of our little man, but slightly aggravated that he is stuck working on things that are obviously below his level. Really makes us wonder what our next step should be concerning his schooling......... decisions, decisions.

Aiden has been earning an allowance for well over a year now. Recently Adam and I decided that while he was learning a valuable lesson that he had to work to earn money, we thought we needed to change up what he did with his money, (previously he would just deposit into his bank - and never see it again). So about a month ago he started taking his allowance and breaking it up as follows, 10% to the church, 50% of what left into his bank. The remaining money went into his wallet to put toward a special something he previously picked out. This week he hit his goal, and we set out for him to purchase a new DS game. He has been so excited to purchase this game. I think the facet that he saved his own money to purchase the game has made it that much more special. He has been playing as much as we let him too.

He is now saving for a new Ninjago Lego Set. I think the lesson we wanted to teach is working! :)

February 1st is just around the corner, which will mark 22 years since we lost my mom. That just seems crazy. When I really try to remember her, it's hard. I was just 7 years old when she passed, and it's hard to admit, but I don't truly have many memories of her. I have things that seem like memories, but most of them are just stories I've heard from others, or pictures I've seen. The few real memories I have I hold very dear.... I don't really know why I shared all of that........ but Aiden had asked me several times over the past few months if I'd take him to see her grave site. And with his seventh birthday just around the corner I decided it was probably a good time. So we headed out there today. Um, it had been a long time since I had been out there... we searched for her headstone for about 20 minutes, (I realize how sad that is). We finally found it. I don't really have much to share about our day, other than the ridiculous amount of time it took to find her. It's just a day I'd rather not forget. It saddens me to think if something were to happen to me Aiden may not have many memories of me later in life- that sucks, but encourages me to make each day I do have with him the best it can be. And, I pray God gives us a more time together than I got with my mom.

Anyways.......... That's all we've got for now. We hope you have a lovely week. Until next time..........

Opera Seria....

2012-01-25T20:16:00.003-06:00

Aiden came home a few months ago, (around the end of October) and asked me what my favorite opera was...... Um, yeah; I know NOTHING about opera. Nothing. So he asked me if I preferred opera seria over opera buffa? Yeah, again I know nothing. So Aiden totally schooled me. Opera seria are the more serious operas, and opera buffa are comedies... Cool... I did not know that. Which took us back to his first question. What was HIS favorite opera? He said he really liked Mozart's the Magic Flute. Knowing nothing about opera I assumed it was a comedy. Nope. It's serious. So we set out to find it on Youtube. Do you know how many videos are out there under "the magic flute"? TONS. Aiden liked all of them. But, he like this version by Diana Damrau the best. So, now we're curious - what is YOUR favorite opera? Did you know the difference between opera seria and buffa? Did you totally just get schooled by a six year old?! No worries, this kid has a thing for classical music and the history surrounding it, and the composers. Last year he learned where all the 17th and 18th century big name, (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky) composers were born and could point them all out looking at a map/globe.

Here is a clip of Aiden's favorite part of the opera.... Seriously watch it. She is AMAZING! (if you subscribe to the blog, the video won't show up in your email... you're going to have to go to our blog)

Amazing, right?! Aiden loves this so much we often listen to it in the car, (my car has Microsoft sync so we're able to play it over the car's speakers) on the way to soccer games. He is a total nerd when it comes to this.... I love it.

PS- He also totally loves "Moves like Jagger". His taste in music is quite broad. LOL!!

Here we are...

2012-01-23T10:13:00.005-06:00

*Edited to add photos!!*

I’ve kept meaning to sit down and do a real update on this thing, but there always seems to be something else that HAS to be done, and so this keeps getting pushed to the back burner. Not to mention, I am making it a priority to include pictures with all of our posts this year…. Uploading pictures really adds to the amount of time it takes to update this thing. (For some reason I couldn’t post pictures on this post… I’ll try to edit it later and add some)!!

This month has been a busy one. I made the decision to redecorate the master bedroom. I painted the walls the most beautiful shade of grey. It took me two full days to get it done – which meant the house was turned upside down. I had to move all of our bedroom furniture into the living room. I never realized how BIG our furniture is. Or how heavy…. Anyways the walls look absolutely gorgeous!! I realize dark walls aren’t for everyone – but Adam and I LOVE them. Gray is one of the most comfortable colors to me, so the color is just perfect for us! We used Benjamin Moore’s Kendal Charcoal paint. All the trim is bright white – and it looks absolutely beautiful. All our old furniture is DARK brown – so that is slowly all going. I moved the old dresser, (that thing is HUGE and heavy 100% solid mahogany) to the play room, (yay more storage!!!). And bought some pre-owned pieces for our room. They are really pretty. They’re solid wood, and in need of some TLC. I’m going to be refinishing them and painting them bright white. However, they are in the room as is for now…. They’ll get their face lift when I have more time. So the bedroom redo is slowly underway – but we’re already so much happier with the way it looks. I’ll post pictures when it’s all done, because it is defiantly a work in progress.

Aiden joined running club at school.

They meet every Friday after school. He is only 2 weeks in but has already impressed me! The first week he ran 2.5 miles, and last week he ran 3.75 miles!! I’m really glad he wanted to join the team, and I especially happy it’s something he enjoys and looks forward to each week. Hopefully he’ll continue to enjoy it as the temps go up…. Speaking of, dude what is up with this weather??! I really am surprised none of us have gotten sick, (knock on wood) the weather can not make up its mind. We had 2 days last week where the temp got up into the high 70’s then at night they dipped down into the 20’s, then back up to the 40’s. It’s been crazy. I’m beginning to be a bit fearful of the weather we’re going to have to deal with this summer.

Aiden is still playing soccer. He has a few more games left of this indoor season, and then they’ll move back outside. And I can NOT wait. Indoor is so stressful, (for me – it’s all just fun for Aiden). He is still quite the little soccer star. He is also still doing awesome in school. He got all Ms on his last report card. And OMG! Can you believe he is going to be SEVEN in just under a month?!!! I just can NOT believe it!!! He has decided not to have a party this year. Instead he wants one really high priced gift.... more on that after his birthday. So, please do not let it hurt your feelings if you don't receive an invitation - because there will not be a big party this year. Just dinner with family.
Ryann isn’t currently involved in any extra curricular activates, but she is also doing awesome in school! She is growing like crazy. We get her again NEXT weekend, just in time for the Daddy Daughter dance... we took her dress shopping the last time she was here. Her dress choice alone will prove how much she has grown... no more princess-y dresses for her... :(
I’ve been busy with PTA stuff. I’ve found myself regretting being on the board again this year…. I’m doing the yearbook again, and I’m just so ready to be done with it. I said this last year – but I mean it this time…. I will not do this again next year. I’ll be happy to volunteer, but I’m not going to serve on the board again. (Please show me this in May when I’m thinking about signing up again.)

We have been back at church this month too. I didn’t realize how much I missed it, or how much the kids have missed it. (The current series is awesome! I love how Brandon takes scripture and shows how it's still relevent in today's world!) http://www.keystonechurch.com/

So, I realize this post is just a hodgepodge, and probably a little hard to follow. Sorry, that tends to happen when I go a while with out posting a real update…. I’ll try to do better!

Bye bye braces!!

2012-01-16T09:53:00.000-06:00

Ryann just finished up at the orthodontist. Just over a year and the braces are OFF! I know she was very much looking forward to this appointment. This was her the day she got them put on...

This morning,

and NOW!

Getting them off was a bit uncomfortable, and getting the mold made for her retainer was horrible. But, they're off. We go back this afternoon to get her retainer. Adam, Ryann and Aiden plan on spending this afternoon eating all the yummy foods/candy Ryann has missed this past year. Starting with tortilla chips, then moving on to gummy bears!

I'll have more to update you all on very soon. In the mean time, we hope you have an awesome week!

Heavenly Drummer

2012-01-15T00:31:00.005-06:00

http://randycourtneytripproth.blogspot.com/2012/01/heavens-little-drummer-boy.html

I've shared this family's story a few times before. Please lift Courtney up in your prayers tonight, and the months ahead. I can't begin to imagine what she must be going through.

The smart one.....

2012-01-09T10:25:00.002-06:00

Adam the kids and I ran to Target over the weekend. Each of the kids had a gift card from Christmas, and I had a couple household items I needed to get. So, Adam took the kids to the toy isles and I headed to pick up the few items I needed. When we got back home Adam told me that they ran into Jacob and his mom at Target. Jacob is in Aiden’s class at school. The boys said “hi” to each other and talked for a few minutes and Adam introduced himself to Jacob’s mom. At some point in their conversation Jacob’s mom referred to Aiden as the “smart one”. Apparently she had gone to the school Friday to have lunch with her son, and Jacob was pointing out everyone in his class. He pointed to Aiden and said, “That’s Aiden Nabors. He is the smart one”. There is no point to this story. I just thought it was cute, and wanted to share – and also make sure it’s written down some place so I won’t forget.
We didn’t do a whole lot this weekend, and that sure was nice. I’ve had a very hard time getting back to our normal schedule since the holidays. So time at home with the family is fine with me!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

2012-01-04T14:14:00.002-06:00

I’m a little late posting this… sorry! We had a wonderful Christmas, and New Years; and we hope you did too!! Christmas Eve Adam, Aiden and I went to church for our candlelight service.

After church we headed for our traditionally Christmas Eve meal at Kobe Hibachi grill. During the 10 minute drive Aiden lost his other loose tooth!

After dinner we drove around a looked at Christmas lights. When we got home Aiden got to open one gift – PJs of course!

Afterward we snuggled up to watch Prep and Landing. We love those movies! Read “Twas the Night Before Christmas”,

Put out milk cookies and carrots.

Placed Aiden’s tooth under his pillow and hit the hay. Adam and I woke up before Aiden… again. The weeks leading up to Christmas Aiden was SO EXCITED about Santa coming and finally getting to open all his gifts. Would you believe that when he woke up Christmas morning he completely forgot about it being Christmas at all! He also totally forgot about the tooth fairy coming. He told us, “I slept so good I forgot all about them”. LOL!!!! Once it sunk it that is was finally Christmas he ran out to see what Santa left, and to open the other gifts.

We stayed in our PJs, and went to Gamma and Papa’s house to visit and eat some lunch. After lunch Adam went to pick up Ryann. When they got back we opened gifts again. We were all beyond spoiled. We stayed and visited some more, ate dinner then headed home so Ryann could see what Santa brought and open the gifts from the rest of us. It was a late night – but a ton of fun!!

Did I forget to mention- Santa brought a TRAMPOLINE?!!

Adam was off the entire week following Christmas. He and the kids hung out around the house, ran lots of errands. We also took them rock climbing and to the new trampoline park in Southlake.
Friday Aunt Jamie and Uncle Brent were finally home from their Christmas cruise so we all met back up at Gamma and Papa’s house to have Christmas with them. It was a lot of fun, and we were really excited to have them back safe and sound.

The kids spent the night with their Grandparents’ New Years Eve, and Adam and I got all dolled up and went to the Gaylord Texans NYE Gala. It was so much fun!! We don’t get many nights out, and even fewer that we get to get all dressed up for, so it was defiantly a nice treat!

Sunday we took Ryann back to her Mom. And Monday I spent the ENTIRE DAY cleaning. Yesterday everyone was back to school and work. Boy, was it hard getting up and motivated, but we all made it though ok.

Again, we hope you all had a wonderful Holiday! 2011 was such a wonderful year, I can not wait to see what 2012 will bring!!

Rock Climbing!!

2011-12-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

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

2011-12-20T17:09:00.001-06:00

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

2011-12-02T10:39:00.001-06:00

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...

2011-11-28T16:41:00.004-06:00

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!!

2011-11-23T08:20:00.001-06:00

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

2011-11-18T08:12:00.001-06:00

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

2011-11-16T12:41:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2011-11-14T10:15:00.001-06:00

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!

2011-11-08T20:44:00.001-06:00

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!

Happy Halloween!!!!

2011-10-31T07:50:00.003-05:00

WHOA! It's already Halloween! This year is flying by!! Before we know it we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and then ringing in the new year!! But, for now we'll just focus on this past weekd. We had another great week! School and work kind of felt like they could have drug on forever last week. But then the evenings seemed to disappear in an instant....

Adam visited the orthopedic doctor on Friday. After a few blood test and x-rays he feels confident that his elbows and one knee are just suffering from Tendonitis. He said people can suffer for two years with tendonitis before feeling any relief - boo! The other knee he wasn't so sure about so he referred Adam to a Rheumatologist. Apparently Rheumatologist keep very busy, Adam got the first open appointment, but it's over a month away. So in the mean time he is to treat the symptoms.

I picked up Ryann Friday afternoon. We were all so excited to have her for the weekend! She didn't really have much new to share... when I asked her how student council was going she said she didn't really know. She was afraid she had missed a few meetings... so I told her to talk with the teacher that was over STUCO and see if that had happened. So hopefully she'll stop in this week and put her fears to rest. School is still going good. And she is VERY much looking forward to getting out and doing some trick or treating tonight! I can not get over how grown up this kid is getting! Check her out at Aiden's Saturday game...

SO GROWN UP!

Aiden had a great week. He is also VERY EXCITED about getting out and trick or treating tonight! I'm willing to bet he'll put on his costume as soon as we get home today. He had two great games over the weekend. He played keeper the first half of his game on Saturday. The boys won 3 to 0. On Sunday his team didn't win, which was a bit of a bummer because they really out played the other team. The final score was 5 to 2. Aiden had some really great plays during his Sunday game. Oh, and I had to share - because I thought this was hysterical! Over the weekend we went to Pei Wei, after Aiden opened his fortune cookie, read his fortune to himself and then said, "I got a fact!"

Ha! Well, at least he has a great deal of confidence.... LOL!!

That's about all for us now. We hope you have a great week, and a Happy Halloween. I'll post with pictures from tonight soon.

Crazy weekend!!

2011-10-24T08:44:00.002-05:00

Friday wrapped up Aiden’s first fundraiser for this school year. He participated in his first ever fun run. Thanks for all the support from you guys that were able to pledge/donate. Luckily for all our wallets the fun run team caps the kids at 36 laps. Adam and I both HAD to be at work on Friday, and were not able to be at the school during the actual run, but I got several text from friends that said Aiden was a wild man, he ran more laps than anyone- and had to be forced to come off the track for a water break. He ended up running 46 laps, (3 miles)! Good job buddy!!

Aiden's class - Ries' Rockstars! (he is in the back row - far left)

Coleman and Aiden before the run

Friday after school Aiden helped me and the rest of the PTA ladies get the school ready for our fall festival. We worked very hard, then Saturday I headed back up to the school around 1 to help finish up all the set up for our 4:00 start time. In the mean time Adam and Aiden headed to Aiden’s soccer game. From what I’ve heard this was a tough game, (Aiden’s team started the game with just 4 player) the other team was rough, and the ref was making a lot of questionable calls. In the end our boys were able to pull of a 3 to 1 win. They had to overcome a lot for this win – so Aiden was very happy. He actually got to play keeper, the second half of the game. From what I heard he did a really great job, and more importantly he LOVED doing it! After the game the boys came to the fall festival. Aiden had a blast! He had been really excited about the festival, and was excited to show all his friends his costume. I was busy volunteering, and didn’t get to spend to much time with my little man. I worked the festival for 7 hours so by the time we got home I was worn out and ready for bed.

Daddy and Aiden getting to the festival

Playing in the silly string corral

Will, Nate and Aiden

More silly string fun!

Saturday night we had a crazy storm so Aiden’s Sunday game was cancelled. We enjoyed our morning off and that afternoon headed to Drew's birthday party. It was at an ice skating rink. Aiden was really excited and nervous because he had never been ice skating before. However, he did awesome! He fell a few times, but all in all he did great. I was a little shocked by how well he caught on. He and one other little boy from the party were able to skate all over with no help. The rest of the boys were a sight to see! They were all over the place – it was great entertainment for the parents that’s for sure!

Yesterday Aiden visited the dentist. He is just over 4 feet tall and 55lbs. His teeth are looking great, the dentist was happy with his adult teeth that have come in and currently his two front teeth on top are both loose! Sounds like the tooth fairy will know the route to our house very well over the next few months.

Aiden spent all of last week working on a special school project. He had to research the Polar Regions and then present his findings to his class on Friday. He did the research on his own, and wrote what he called a script all by himself, and then he created his visual aide. It is SO hard not to jump in and correct the misspelled words, or straighten the pictures – but it was also really exciting to watch him figure it all out. The only help he had was getting him to safe websites to do the research and I had to show him how to use my di-cut machine to make the title for his poster. The rest was all him!!

On a totally different note, Adam and I believe Aiden has developed a lactose sensitivity. So we’ll be doing more in the next few weeks to examine the possibility of that……… more to come on that I’m sure.

I don’t have any news on Ryann, but we get her this weekend so hopefully I’ll have some news and pictures to share soon! Adam and I are still doing well. Adam FINALLY made an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor about his knees and elbows. He has been in pretty much constant pain for over a year now. Originally his doctor told him he was just getting older, and it would take longer to heal. I’ve been pestering him to go for a 2nd opinion, so I’m THRILLED that he finally is! Hopefully he’ll get some real answers. Other than that it’s just work, and being Aiden’s personal assistant. (LOL)

We hope you’re all doing great, and enjoying this wonderful fall like weather we’ve been blessed with!

Pumpkin patch/ Soccer game

2011-10-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

We were totally bummed to learn the pumpkin patch we normal visit would not be open this year. So Adam and I set out to find another great pumpkin patch. We decided on Mainstay Farm, about 45 minutes south of our house. It has a bounce pillow, three story fort, lots of slides, peddle go carts, mazes, hay rides, swings, kid sized spider "web" and tons of other things to play on, and lets not forget pumpkins! We were all very excited to check out the "new" pumpkin patch. It's important you understand that going to the pumpkin patch is one of Ryann's favorite traditions - so this place really needed to FUN. It sounded great. One of the reasons we opted to drive nearly an hour is because this patch has an admission fee - this was important to us, because Adam and I hate crowds, and the kids hate standing in line, so a free place was out of the question.

We arrived, parked and headed for the entrance. The place had JUST opened, so we did have to stand in line :( But it moved quickly - so the kids were happy.

See, happy kids!

The bounce pillow was our first stop, this thing was FUN!!!!!

After that we went through the first maze. The boys were the first ones out. Then we grabbed some lunch, and head for the hay ride. There was a long line - and it didn't move nearly as fast as the one at the entrance, so the kids were less than happy about that. The hayride drops you off on anther area that included the 3 story fort, swings, mazes, spider web, peddle go carts and slides. We hung out in this area for several hours.

Ryann and Adam racing

Aiden and I racing

Below, the kids coming out of the slide.

both kiddos with their baby pumpkins.

This pumpkin patch had a ton to offer, and after food and drinks cost about 3x what our normal pumpkin patch cost us. On the way home we asked the kids what they thought about Mainstay, and both said they had fun. Aiden said he likes the "old" pumpkin patch better, because they have a train. And Ryann wasn't sure which one she liked better. This was very shocking to Adam and I because this place had way more to offer playing wise than the other place..and we figured they would both want Mainstay to be the place we return year after year - but I don't think that's the case. Hopefully they did enjoy their day - but I guess we'll be going back to our "old" pumpkin patch next year.

Last week we took a week off from soccer. We didn't go to one practice, and didn't do any extra practice at home. I think we all needed a little break. Aiden had a game Sunday, and he couldn't wait to get out on the pitch! His team had to play a man down the entire game... but they managed an impressive 7-0 win! Aiden had a great game, and scored two goals!!!

Below is a picture of him scoring one of his goals.. really wished I would have captured the ball in the picture....

The rest of our week was pretty uneventful. Aiden is in the middle of a school fundraiser. He is collecting pledges for a fun run, and he is super excited! The run is on Friday. Saturday we have the Fall Festival at school, Sunday his best bud Drew is having a birthday party, he'll also have two soccer games squeezed in there somewhere too. I had several other things I wanted to update on here, but for the life of me I can't remember any of them right now, so I guess that's if for us right now. I'll post more pictures again soon!

WE GOT RAIN!!!!

2011-10-10T10:21:00.003-05:00

Let me start by saying, Thank you Lord for this rain!! I loved how everything seemed slow down, not just for our little family, but everyone I’ve talked to. It seemed as though the whole city just took a step back, and enjoyed our rainy gift.

Friday was a half day of school for Aiden, and report card day! Academically Aiden did wonderfully. He isn’t old enough to receive number grades yet. But, he scored all M’s (mastery) in the academic areas, although this is what we expected. However, he scored S’s (satisfactory) in all areas concerning conduct. I’ve mentioned this before, and his teacher and I have talked about it. We all believe this problem is stemming from not being challenged in his school work. He is finishing his work so fast, and has an exuberate amount of time to get in trouble. His teacher has told me she is actually finding it challenging to find work to keep him busy. We know she can’t completely change her lesson plans for him – but she is committed to trying her hardest to alter what she can for him. I also believe he has learned that he doesn’t really have to listen during instruction time to be able to complete his work correctly, and this is causing problems else where – like at home, (although that is another topic for another day). He and I have been talking everyday about his conduct – so hopefully he can get his mouth- and ears under control very soon. Because regardless of the amount of time he has to sit at his desk and be quite, he needs to be able to do that…. Hopefully this will be the last time I have this type of update concerning Aiden.

Ryann also received her Report card Friday, and I read on her Mom’s blog this morning she received all A’s!! I’m pretty positive she also got great marks for her conduct, because she always has. I also read that Ryann started horse back riding lessons over the weekend. I just know she was beside herself with excitement!! Her mother could not have picked a better time to start these lessons, because the last time we had her she told me she wanted to learn how to ride a horse – but she had no idea how to do that! I can NOT wait to get her this weekend and hear all about her horse riding adventure!!

I mentioned in my last post that I was having some issues with my camera’s memory card. I don’t know HOW it happened, but somehow all my pictures stored on the stupid thing disappeared. Therefore I don’t have any of the pictures that I was hoping to share *sad face*. So, I’ll be heading to the store before the weekend to pick up a new memory card, and hopefully have some pictures to share at the end of the week.

I’ll update again soon. Until then we hope you’re all doing wonderfully!

Tripp

2011-10-03T21:02:00.001-05:00

One day a few weeks back I was reading one of my favorite blogs. The lady was blogging about many things, one of which was that she was nomitated on Babble.com for "The Moms who are changing the world" poll they were doing at the time. I hoped on over to see what the heck Babble was, and to cast my vote. When I landed on Babble I started reading about all these amazing mothers, each being nominated for one reason or another. Then I happened upon Courtney Roth, she was being nominated in the inspiration category. I read her story, and it became very clear to me why she had so many votes. Since then, the polls have closed, and Courtney ended up winning the vote, $5,000 to the charity of her choice. I've been following Courtney's blog ever since that day, and praying for her and her little man Tripp. I encourage each of you to click on over and read a little bit about Courtney and Tripp, and remember them in your prayers.

Courtney's blog is about her son Tripp, and his daily struggle to live. Tripp was born on May 14, 2009. He was diagnosed with a rare genetic skin disease called Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa or "EB." Any type of friction on his skin or mucous membranes causes blisters. Courtney was told he would not live to be a year old. Tripp is now two, and truly fights to live every day. There isn't a day he goes without horrible pain. I must warn you the pictures are heart breaking, and if you head over to do some reading be sure to have a box of Kleenex handy. Before reading Courtney and Tripp's story I never knew this horrible disease existed. If you can't stomach to read Courtney's blog, please remember them in your prayers tonight, and pass their story on to all your friends and family. This little family needs our prayers.

The last week.........

2011-10-03T08:23:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday was our seven year wedding anniversary! Aiden hung out with Papa and Gamma, and Adam and I got a hotel in Frisco for the weekend. Adam and I rarely get more than a few hours alone together, so our anniversary trip is something we look forward to all year. Saturday we headed out to Pizza Hut Park to watch FC Dallas take on the Houston Dynamo. Sadly FC couldn’t pull off the win, but it was a great game. The rest of the weekend we spent doing pretty much what ever we wanted – a nice change from our usually “scheduled down the second” weekends. While Adam and I were enjoying some time away Aiden had a soccer game in Grand Prairie. I don’t know if was due to the long drive to the fields, or prior commitments but not all of our boys showed up, and they only had 2 subs – and with the much larger field they had to play on, our boys tired quickly, and just could not keep up with the other team. So, sadly they lost.

This past week seemed to drag on forever. I don’t know if it was because we were coming off such an awesome weekend, or what but Friday couldn’t get here soon enough! Aiden got his folder signed TWICE last week. If you know Aiden at all you’ll understand just how out of character this is. I don’t know if he is acting out due to boredom, or if he is just testing his limits but we’re hoping with consistency from us, and the punishments put in place that he has learned his lesson and he won’t have another week like this. We have a parent teacher conference tomorrow, not because of his behavior; it’s just that time of year for all the teachers to meet one on one with the parents. We’re really looking forward to this meeting; we’ve got to get more challenging work coming home with Aiden.

Friday Aiden’s school hosted a Grandparent’s breakfast. Papa drove up and took Aiden to school, where they enjoyed breakfast together. Hopefully I’ll have a picture to share soon! Friday Aiden’s class also hosted FRIday, FRIday stands for:

Family and Friends

Read together at

Independence Elementary

Aiden was really excited this FRIday fell on Adam’s off Friday, and he was able to come read to his class. Adam brought his childhood favorite, “Are You My Mother” to read to his group. Adam said he was shocked by the kids attentiveness. Here are just a few pictures Mrs. Ries was able to snap of Adam and the kids.

Ryann was here this weekend. She is still doing great! We needed some help with a student council project so she and I spent some time working on a suggestion box. It’s so fun working with her on projects like this. She seems to be really enjoying being part of the student council and has lots of ideas she wants to share. I just can NOT get over how big she is getting! I took some pictures of her I was hoping to share, but I’m fearful that something is wrong with my memory card. Every time I try to upload pictures from it my computer freezes up. I’m going to see what I can do about that, and hopefully have pictures to share of Ryann soon!

I was also hoping to share a few pictures from Aiden’s soccer games from this weekend. Saturday his Barcelona team had two games. They tied one, and won the other. Then yesterday his Odyssey team had a game, which they won! Pretty good weekend in soccer for our little guy.

The first six weeks of school is now OVER, (it flew by)! I’ll be posting grade soon. But until then, we hope you are all doing fantastic!

YAY!!!

2011-09-26T07:47:00.000-05:00

We talked to Ryann, and she DID win her election and is now a part of Student Council!! She was up against 9 other students, and WON! She is very excited, not only because she won, but also because she felt like she had the best platform. She told Adam that one of the other kids thought they should get ice cream every Friday, and she thought that was silly - considering her platform was Recycling. We're so proud of our little girl!! I'll update more soon, just wanted to make sure this monumental step made it to the blog - it defiantly deserves it's own post.

Happy Anniversary!!!

2011-09-25T00:00:00.008-05:00

It's been an amazing 2,556 days since we said, "I do"!!

2011-09-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

We’ve had another really great week here at the Nabors’ house. Aiden started bringing home homework about 2 weeks ago. So, we’ve been working on getting him in a good routine with that, soccer practice and home chores. His teacher has slowly been adding more and more…now he has so much homework to get done that he really doesn’t have much, if any extra time to just play. So we really look forward to our weekends now, although not even weekends are homework free. Aiden doesn’t mind, though- at least not yet. We’ve got a parent teacher conference coming up in just over a week, and I’m really looking forward to talking with his teacher. I truly believe he ended up with the best teacher for him this year. However, I’m really ready to be further into the school year, when she can spend more time with him and truly understand where he is academically. Right now she is still trying to figure all of that out, so Adam and I feel like he has a ton of busy work coming home, rather than work that is actually challenging him. His teacher has already moved his math work, spelling words and reading up a few levels, but he is still not being challenged. GT cluster time starts next week, we are all really looking forward to that! We’re very blessed to have a teacher that sees he is ahead, and is willing to put in the extra work to learn where he is, modify her curriculum, and spend extra one on one time with him. Teachers and so overworked now days, and I really can’t say enough good things about his! Here are few pictures of Aiden in class that his teacher shared from this week.

I don’t have any new news on Ryann. She should have given her student council speech on Tuesday, and the voting results should come home today!! I really hope she won a spot on the council; she was SO excited to be running. We’ll check in with her this evening, and I’ll update as soon as I can afterwards.

Adam and I will be celebrating our SEVEN year anniversary on Sunday!! In so many ways it feels like our wedding was just yesterday. We’re celebrating with a weekend to ourselves. Aiden is going to spend the weekend with Gamma and Papa, we’re all looking forward to it!
I’ll update again soon.

Found this old movie...

2011-09-21T20:36:00.001-05:00

It was taken on my OLD cell phone, but it's just too cute! Aiden was just 17 months here. Aiden needed some "old" pictures of himself for a school project so I was checking out what I had on the blog that could easily be downloaded and sent to his teacher. I was so excited when I found the old post that had this movie in it. I know a while after I posted this clip IE made some changes and it was no longer supported. We now have IE9, and I was thrilled to see that it supports the movie!!! Gosh, it seems like this was taken SO LONG ago :( Anyways, I hope you're internet service supports the clip... it's so cute, and really makes me miss my BABY!

Weekly update!

2011-09-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

We made it through another week, and what a nice relaxing week it was! Due to a few different reasons Aiden only had 3 practices this week – that gave us TWO week nights that we got to do pretty much what ever we wanted. Granted, one of those evenings Adam and Aiden made the choice to go out and practice soccer – but I really wouldn’t expect any thing different.
I wasn’t feeling too well last week, and ended up taking Monday and Thursday off, because I just couldn’t force myself out of bed. The two days of rest really helped, and I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. Friday I picked up Ryann at 4:30, and we started our incredibly long journey back to Keller. Traffic was crazy – even for a Friday evening in DFW. We didn’t get into Keller until well after 6:00. But, we enjoyed visiting and singing to the radio during our long haul.

We FINALLY got a good bit of rain Friday evening/ early Saturday morning. Saturday’s soccer game was cancelled due to the rain, which actually turned out to be a blessing. Ryann has decided she wants to run for Student Council and needed some help writing her speech and making a few posters, and Aiden had homework that he and Daddy didn’t get done Friday after school. I sat back for a moment Saturday morning and watched in amazement; we had one child on the computer doing homework, and the other sitting at the desk working on her speech – when did these kids get so big?! After all the school work was done we had a ton of errands to run, and then we headed out to Jennifer and John’s for their annual shrimp boil. We had a wonderful time!! I really hope we can get together with them again very soon!!

Sunday Aiden had a soccer game, so we all headed out to the Odyssey fields to watch them fight for a win! Afterwards Adam had to get Ryann back to her Mom, and Aiden and I headed to his end of season soccer party. Below are a few pictures from our weekend.

Weekend Games!

2011-09-13T08:28:00.000-05:00

Aiden had his first outdoor game, for both teams this weekend. Barcelona played Saturday evening. They played great, and won their game. I can't remember the score off the top of my head... think it was something like 8 to 2. Adam and I are less than happy with the independent league this team is playing in this season. But, Aiden is having a great time playing with the team, so we are willing to over look the field conditions and refs - at least for this season. If the coach decides to stick with this league next season we may have to reevaluate our commitment to the team.... more to come on that in a few weeks.

As I said before I signed up to be the photographer for the Odyssey club team, so I took about 150 pictures at Sunday's game. Which the boys WON!!!!!!!!! These boys really deserved a win; the final score was 5-2. Here are a few of my favs of Aiden from the game.

I love how he is standnign this kid up! That's the way to defend the ball!!

He can defy gravity too... LOL!

We hope you are all doing well! We're very much looking forward to this weekend. Ryann will be back! (YAY!!) Aiden will have games, and probably my favorite thing... we'll be headed out to Jennifer and John's for their annual shrimp boil! I love my cousin, and am so happy she lives close enough that we can get together, just wish life would slow down a bit so we could do it more often. I'll have more pictures to share after this weekend!

Labor Day recap, and Summer II soccer standings

2011-09-08T07:18:00.001-05:00

I guess when I said I’d update on Tuesday I meant Thursday… We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. It was wonderfully lazy! Saturday and Sunday we stayed close to home. Aiden was scheduled to have an outdoor game on Saturday, but it got rescheduled so we were able to enjoy three full days of quality time together as a family! Monday we headed over to Gamma and Papa’s house. That was a nice treat. With Aiden’s soccer schedule we see them most weekends, but I can’t remember the last time we were able to go out to their house. We enjoyed a nice lunch, and time out by the pool. We were blessed with much cooler temps… we were actually a bit chilly out by the pool – and that was such a blessing. Here are just a few pictures of our Labor Day.

Playing cars with Papa

Adam and Courtney being lazy

Adam and the kids playig sea saw in the pool

Daddy and Aiden flipping over!

Gamma and the kids working on an art project.

On Tuesday Aiden played his last games for both teams, for the indoor season. His Barcelona team won! Actually they didn’t loose a game this season, they tied one – so they finished up this season in first place. The Odyssey team didn’t do quite as well. This season was very hard for this team. First all the boys are 6 years old, playing in a league with 8 year olds, (because last season they played against 7 year olds, and won every game). Second, their coach was changed mid season – and the two coaches have VERY different coaching styles. SO- they actually only won one game- and finished the season in last place. Both teams move outdoor, with their first games being this weekend. I’ve signed up to be the team photographer for the Odyssey team – so expect lots of soccer pictures very soon.

We did have the opportunity to talk with Ryann about her school year so far. She says she likes both her teachers, and her classmates. So far all her school work has pretty much been a review of what she learned last year, and she likes that. Ryann moved to a new building this year, and before school started she was concerned that she would get lost, but was excited to report that on the second day of school she knew exactly where to go! Right now Ryann is not involved in any extra curricular activities, but she has told her mom that she wants to play soccer – so HOPEFULLY I’ll have some soccer pictures/stories to share from her soon!

Two weeks down!!!!

2011-09-02T17:00:00.005-05:00

The kids finshed up week two of school!! Here are a few pictures of Aiden taken by his teacher... I LOVE that she takes photos and shares!!! It's a tiny peak into his school life... Hope you enjoy!!

Aiden and Marisa working in their poetry notebooks

Aiden and Trevor. These boys spend a LOT of time together. They're in the same class and Trevor also plays on Aiden's two soccer teams.

Hard at work!

Just Aiden.

We are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend! I'll update more on that on Tuesday.

Fall Odyssey Schedule

2011-09-01T12:56:00.002-05:00

Below is the schedule for Aiden's Odyssey team. All of the games are on Sunday, which some weeks is going to make life dificult for us - but we'll manage. The location of the games change, and I do not want to post the date and times where we'll be on the web... so if you are interested in coming to a game just let me know and I'll send you the address!

9/11/11, 2:00pm VS Quest United Strikers
9/18/11, 3:00pm VS Solar '05
9/25/11, 2:00pm VS Dallas Kicks SC
10/2/11, 1:00pm VS GSSC Thunder
10/9/11, 1:00pm VS Fever United
10/16/11, 3:00pm VS Raiders
10/23/11, 4:00pm VS Dallas Texans Red South
10/30/11, 3:00pm VS Dallas Texans South

Rain out phone # 972-355-3788 ext 411

SEPTEMBER?!?!

2011-09-01T07:30:00.001-05:00

Is anyone else sitting in amazement that it's already September?! This year is flying by!!! I’ve got my fingers crossed that this means we’ll have some cooler weather coming our way. This summer has been ridiculously HOT. When it’s too hot to enjoy the pool – it’s just too hot!

I don’t really have an update, just wanted to see if anyone else woke up today wondering where this year has gone?!

Adam and I attended the first grade curriculum night on Tuesday. I can easily see why Aiden loves his teacher. Mrs. Ries is so sweet! I love that she refers to her class as a family. She explained how her class room will work, and things to expect through the year… I feel confident that Aiden is going to have a wonderful first grade year!

More updates to come soon!
Happy September!!!!

School, Soccer, Bed - Rinse and Repeat.

2011-08-29T07:32:00.002-05:00

We all survived the first week of school! It was a super busy one, but honestly they all are these days. Luckily for all of us, we all stay on pretty much the same schedule year round. So we didn’t have to worry about getting Aiden used to an earlier bed time, or getting up early – he wakes up at 6am year round. Aiden is still very happy with his teacher he says, “She is the sweetest 1st grade teacher in the school.” I’m really happy he feels that way. I have to say I LOVE how informed she keeps us parents. We’re 1 week into school and we’ve already received at least 5 emails from her with information to help keep the parents plugged into district and school wide news as well as things that are important to all 1st graders and things that only pertain to her class room. She even has a blog that she is going to update weekly. This blog will only be viewable by our class, but I will share as much of it with you as possible.

Aiden had soccer practice after school Mon and Tues, Wed he actually had practice for both teams, Thurs and Sunday he had games. Friday the PTA hosted our first event; Dinner and a Movie. We had a phenomenal turn out!! I haven’t heard the exact amounts, but I’m guessing we profited at least $800. I’m really hopeful I will enjoy being apart of our PTA this year. Due to rezoning we lost our president from last year, and the new one and I don’t exactly see eye to eye on a lot of school issues. I seriously was ready to quit the PTA after our first meeting, but I decided to stick it out....... wish me luck!

Adam and I have been beyond busy with work. Adam had to work late almost every night the past two weeks. In case you didn’t hear on the news his company had a rather large lay off targeting engineers. Luckily Adam was not given his “walking papers” but his group did lose a lot of folks, and therefore his work load has grown exponentially. My group at work has been short handed for months, due to illnesses; and it there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight… However, we both feel so blessed to actually have jobs – given the current job market, so enough complaining about that!

We’re all very much looking forward to the upcoming long weekend. We’ll have Ryann, and hopefully I’ll be able to update you on her first two weeks of the forth grade! Until next time!!!

Picture update

2011-08-23T11:43:00.003-05:00

Our photo hosting site went out of business, so I obviously haven't added any pictures in some time. I'm still searching for a good site - so if you know of one, send me the link.

I figured a picture post would be a good way to share some of our recent memories with you!

A few weeks ago Adam and Aiden headed out to Cowboy's stadium to watch FC Barcelona play Club America - talk about a dream come true for both my boys!!

Daddy and Ryann, just being cute this past Sunday,

My little Jaxie boy- all shaved for this crazy 100+ temps we've been dealing with all summer,

Daddy and Aiden being silly - LOVE this photo!

On Saturday Ryann and Aiden were invited to the most over the top birthday party I've ever seen! We all had a wonderful time. This party was carnival themed, it had face painting, fortune telling, hair coloring, balloon artist, dance contest, petting zoo, pony rides, and about a dozen carnival games, not to mention a true carnival food selection that included, cotton candy, snow cones, corn dogs, funnel cakes, BBQ sandwiches, popcorn, candy and so much more! Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying all the festivities!

Also, here are the two pictures from Ryann's first day of forth grade that I was able to get from her mom. If you would like to read a little more about her first day you can read it on her blog at http://melk8879.blogspot.com/

Our first graders, first day!!!

2011-08-23T07:24:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our little first grader, on his first day of school!

Daddy and Aiden walking to class....

Already hard at work :)

Aiden said his first day was good. He really likes his teacher, and class mates. He loved that he got to have lunch with is best bud, Drew... the only thing he didn't like, they had to skip recess- due to the heat. I think he is going to enjoy being a first grader! For me this year was even harder than last. Our little guy is growing up too fast!! I hope to have some pictures to share soon from Ryann's first day of school - just waiting for her Mom to share.

We hope you are all having a wonderful week!!!

Meet the Teacher!

2011-08-20T07:13:00.002-05:00

Meet the teacher was a success! After getting into the school Aiden started to show some real excitement about the upcoming year. He was THRILLED to see that our school did end up with a GT specialist, but was a little bummed that she wasn’t at the school for him to meet. Even though he understands he will not be pulled out of class for GT, it really seemed to calm his nerves just to know that he would have an actual specialist on campus to meet with. While Aiden did not get the teacher I was hoping for, he did get the teacher I expected, Mrs. Ries. From what I've heard, she generally ends up with the majority of the GT kids, and with the homeroom teacher now having to offer the extra GT work in class; it just made more sense for him to be placed with her. Since the GT kids are clustered, Aiden knows nearly all his classmates and he is really excited about that! We made sure to swing by and see Mrs. Whitsell, Aiden’s teacher from last year – we’re all really going to miss her! However, I’m sure we’re going to grow to love Mrs. Ries too. I’ll update again soon. I’ve got to get off this computer – we’ve got a BUSY weekend ahead of us!

Little update........

2011-08-16T09:57:00.002-05:00

I guess it’s time for an update, but honestly we don’t have much to update on. Our lives still consist of family time, work and soccer. Aiden practices Mon/Wed with one team and Tues/Thurs with the other and has at least one game a week for each team. So the soccer fields have started to feel like our second home. For a while I really worried he would get burned out, and we would have daily talks about how much he is playing… but the truth is when he isn’t at practice or a game he is at home – playing soccer. He plays soccer every chance he gets a day care, and it was the same way at recess at school last year. The boy just LOVES soccer! His req. team is still doing great, we’ve had a few tough games, but the boys are doing incredibly well. Aiden’s academy team is struggling a little this season. I think the 2 main contributing factors are 1) they are playing a year up and 2) the boys original coach was released from the club, and they are now having to deal with getting to know a new coach, and his style of coaching. Tonight Aiden’s two teams face each other! This has already happened once this season. Aiden has made the choice to play for his req. team again. I’ll try to get some pictures.

Speaking of soccer, Adam and Aiden got to go watch FC Barcelona play Club America at Jerry world a few weeks ago. Both of my boys had a wonderful time! Adam took my camera and got some pictures. I’ll try to remember to post a few of those soon.

School starts on Monday. Aiden is less than excited. Our district, (just like so many others) lost a lot of money from the government, and one of the programs that faced huge hits was the GT program. Our school will no longer have their own GT coordinator, instead the GT students will be “clustered” and do extra work in school and home…So Aiden is majorly bummed he won’t get to spend as much time with the older GT students. Last year a huge portion of his class time was spent with 1st and 2nd graders, and he really liked that. We’re hoping and praying Aiden ends up with a teacher that will challenge him……… fingers crossed! Meet the teacher night is later this week, and we’re really looking forward to seeing who he is placed with. I’ve got my fingers crossed for one teacher in particular.

Ryann also starts school Monday. I think she is a little more excited than Aiden, but for social reasons. She has missed her friends so much this summer. Her one wish this summer was to have a few sleepovers, and while she did get to do that with her friends here, she did not get to see her school friends – which was a big disappointment for her. She has an orthodontist appointment Thursday afternoon, and we’re hoping for good news. Last we heard she was 1 to 2 months ahead of schedule!!

I guess that’s pretty much it for us right now – I warned you there wasn’t much updating to be done.
I’ll try to update again before school starts.
We hope you all had an amazing summer, I know we sure did!!

Good Morning!

2011-07-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

Ryann and Aiden had another sleep over with their good friends again last night. Adam and I are so happy that they've found such good friends in Melissa and Drew, and the fact that they are siblings- and both of our kids can spend the night together helps with the anxiety I would feel letting them sleep at a friends house alone. I received this picture form Melissa and Drew's mom this morning w/ a text that read, "Good Morning from the kids!"

Wish I was hanging out with them. Looks like a great breakfast!!

Last weeks soccer games were so intense! The Odyssey team is new to the U7 division - and the team they played was TOUGH! Our boys didn't win the game, but they didn't go down with out a fight either. Aiden scored the first goal. It was AMAZING, I really wish I had video to share with you - or just audio of the crowd. The cheers were so loud and lasted for what felt like forever. Seriously an amazing goal, the final score 5-7! His rec. team had a really great game too! They did win, 4-3. It was a close game - neither team ever gave up. Our boys had several shots on goal - the other keeper was REALLY good! Aiden scored during this game too with another rather impressive goal.

This is our last week with our little Princess before she heads back to her mom's. We're all going to miss her more than words can say. Before she heads back though she has another dance class, 2 more track practices, a trip to the circus and another sleep over planned!

Sunday before taking Ryann back to her Mom, we'll be cheering on Aiden. His two teams are playing each other - should be interesting and FUN. Aiden's made the choice to play for his rec. team, FC Barcelona. If you get a chance to come out and cheer him on, this game should be rather interesting!!

I guess it's time to start our count down for school - 28 days - and other than new school shoes we're all set!!!

Until next time, we hope you are all doing great!

Coming down from our Sugar high...

2011-07-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

I think we’re all suffering from birthday cake withdrawals. We all had a wonderful time celebrating Ryann’s birthday!! The word for that weekend was “amazing”, except she said it “A – mazing”. The hotel was A – mazing, the Cheesecake factory was A – mazing, her gifts were A – mazing, and Hurricane Harbor was A – mazing! Adam and I were so happy she had such a wonderful time! I took July 13th, (Ryann’s actual birthday) off. Both kids had a friend spend the night the night before, and we spent the 13th doing whatever the kids wanted. It was a great day!

Ryann and Aiden at the hotel

the "amazing" Hotel

Opening Gifts at dinner

Reading her new book back at the hotel - she looks SO grown up!

Kids leaving Hurricane Harbor

All the kids watching a movie in the living room, the night before Ryann's bday.

The kids spent the night of the 13th and 14th with Gamma and Papa, Ryann then spent the 15th – 17th with her mom. More birthday celebrating for her. While she was gone Aiden attended two friends’ birthday parties. Maybe now you understand why we’re all suffering from cake withdrawals!

My birthday, (which means MORE cake!) was this past Wednesday, I’ve entered the last year of my twenties – and fully plan to make the most of it. I’m starting this year off with a new car. We’re really happy with our purchase, although honestly a car was not something we were looking to purchase anytime soon. The A/C in my old car went out, and the cost to repair that, on top of few other high dollar maintenance repairs, we were looking at sinking WAY too much money in car a that had nearly 100,000 miles on it. I decided I wanted something smaller – with both kids now big enough to sit in boosters, I don’t need such a big back seat. I also wasn’t looking for a car with all the bells and whistles my old car had. It had the top trim line – and that stuff while really nice, isn’t all that important to me. I wanted something almost brand new, (since Adam will not let me get something brand new – he doesn’t want to pay that 1st year of depreciation- SMART) with little to no miles. I opted for a 2011 Ford Fiesta Hatchback with about 4k miles. It’s so CUTE, and actually has a lot of really cool features- a lot of which I still haven’t learned to use! Ryann and Aiden LOVE the new car, and Adam and I are really happy with our purchase too. The dealership gave us over Kelley Blue book on my old car, and came down a good bit on the price of this one – really making it a no brainer.

Switching gears, here are a few pictures of Ryann at track practie, I think I promised some a few weeks ago:

See, she is a natural!

Sorry they aren't closer up, they practice on the oposite side of the field.

Aiden is still playing soccer - I don't expect that to change any time soon. Summer II season starts this weekend. Below are the schedules for both teams:

If you look closely you'll notice that his teams are playing against each other TWO times. Our goal is to have him play for each team once - we just need to talk to the coaches and get all of that figured out. We hope you can come cheer him on!

Any who, I think that gets you pretty caught up on us. We hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!

Let the Birthday Count Down Begin!

2011-07-08T08:32:00.001-05:00

I don’t know if Ryann got much sleep last night. She cracks me up with how excited she gets about upcoming events. She is so excited to start celebrating her birthday tonight. Because Ryann spends so little time here we opted not to throw a traditional birthday party again this year. Our thought was, only family would be invited, so there is really no need to spend $300-$400 on a party; so instead we’re staying in a hotel this weekend, meeting up with the fam and taking Ryann to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and gifts tonight, (she thinks it’s like the fanciest restaurant – LOL!) and spending the entire day tomorrow at Hurricane Harbor! We’re all going to have so much fun celebrating our little princess’ birthday!!

Although this weekend will be busy, and a ton of fun I’m hoping we can squeeze a little bit of time in for a little R&R too. We have been going almost non-stop this week! The kids didn’t get home from their sleep over until late Tuesday afternoon. They both had a really great time, and really were not really excited about coming home, safe to say their first sleep over w/ friends was a HUGE success. Tuesday evening Ryann started her dance class. She had a lot of fun, and really did a great job. She caught onto the choreography really quickly! I mentioned before Ryann was going to get to play soccer, however, that turned out to be a bust. Since she’ll only be here for one month we couldn’t put her on a team, because she wouldn’t have been here for even half the season – so I was really excited to find that our subdivision puts together pick-up games every Tuesday night. However, with these high temps we’ve been having, and the games scheduled to start at 5:30 no one showed. So, instead she started track Tuesday night. I didn’t get to go, (I had to take Aiden to his soccer practice) but Adam said Ryann did a really terrific job. Other parents were even asking him if she had had any formal training before now. She is definitely a natural runner. I think she is really excited to be involved in something that she is naturally great at. I know it’s already been a tough transition for her- staying this active, but I also know she is LOVING it! Track practice is 3 days a week, dance is once. Put that on top of Aiden’s minimum of 2 soccer practices and the 3 field trips a week they take with the daycare – these kids are most defiantly making the most of their summer!

I don’t have any pictures from track practice, but I hope to get some next week. Here are a few that I got at dance class. Sorry the quality is so bad – I only had my phone.

We hope you are all doing great! I’ll post again soon :)

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T08:35:00.000-05:00

We hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend – we sure did!! I picked up Ryann Friday afternoon, and we haven’t stopped since. Saturday mid morning I took Ryann and her friend Melissa to see Monte Carlo, it was really cute, and the girls had a wonderful time. While we were at the movies Adam and Aiden spent some time together. Aiden had a Toys R Us gift card that was burning a whole in his pocket, so Adam took him there, and then they came home and played. Afterward we headed to Dallas to help Gamma celebrate her birthday. Followed by an evening of playing at Gamma and Papa’s house. Sunday we headed out to the pool, then shoe shopping for Ryann, finally landing in Southlake for their Independence Day festivities and fireworks. We always enjoy the show they put on out there! The McOmber family joined us again this year – we all had a wonderful time!

Yesterday Adam and the kids went back out to Gamma and Papa’s house for lunch, and swimming. I stayed home and slept. I guess the extra full weekend had taken its toll on me; I didn’t wake up until 2pm! When Adam and the kids got home we headed over to the Mata’s house for dinner and swimming. We just adore this family! The dad is one of Aiden’s coaches. The son is one of Aiden’s good friends from school. The daughter and Ryann have become very close – this family is just the sweetest! Ryann and Aiden were both invited to stay for their first sleep over,(with someone outside our family), Adam will pick them up today- I can’t wait to hear all about it!

This month is going to prove to be extremely busy! Ryann is participating in Dance, Soccer and track- and Aiden is continuing to play soccer for both teams… Ryann is BEYOND excited to get to participate in so many activities, and we’re thrilled to see her so happy. She has dance and soccer today. I’ll try to remember to bring my camera along and snap some pictures, (remember when I use to be so good at that?!) I’ll post Aiden’s soccer schedule once it’s released.

I guess that’s about it for us now. We hope your summer is going as good as ours!!

Summer I, final standings

2011-06-30T08:38:00.003-05:00

Last night Aiden has his final game of the Summer I season. He had the opportunity to play with two amazing teams this season. Aiden certainly did his part to land the teams in 1st and 2nd place. We are so proud of our little soccer star!!

These are the final standings for Aiden's Odyssey team, this team is an Academy team, and will be moving up a division, in hopes for a bit more competition. The boys really did an outstanding job!

These are the final results for Aiden Tigers FC team; this team is a req. team that is already playing "up" in the U7 division. They were only beaten by one team. They had to play that one team twice- the second time they played them; our boys REALLY wanted a win, unfortunately that didn't happen. It was so sad to see a few of them in tears after the game - it's so easy to forget these boys are only 6 years old.

So, Aiden ended this season feeling pretty good about his coaches, team mates, and his own skills.

Summer II season will start in a few weeks.

Tomorrow we pick up Ryann to start our 4 week summer break!!! We are all SOOOOOOO excited!! I'll be sure to update as much as possible.

Until next time!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

These two kids really lucked out getting Adam as their Daddy. He really is one of the best I know!!!!

Checking in

2011-06-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

I'm really trying to better at this whole blogging thing! I don't have much to report, just wanted to do a quick little check in.

Other than work our lives have consisted of mostly family time and soccer. If we're not at practice, then we're at a game - and I don't think any of us would change it; especially Aiden.

This weekend we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with Aunt Kim, Joe and all the kids :) They made a quick trip into town, and we were lucky enough to be one of their pit stops! We were all so excited to see all of them. Colton is nearly as tall as me!! These kids are growing up TOO FAST!

Ryann was here this weekend too. She was SUPER excited to get to spend some time with Aunt Kim and the kids. I can not put into words how excited she is for July to get here. She can not wait for our summer visitation- and neither can we!

Aiden had two soccer games this weekend, and won both. He even scored a goal for his Odyssey team, while playing defense! That kid is such a natural when it comes to soccer. Below are both teams standings.

Odyssey is in first place!

Tigers FC is in second!

We hope you are all doing wonderful! Until next time.........

Moving on to FIRST grade!!!!!!!!

2011-06-03T07:13:00.000-05:00

Today is Aiden’s last day of kindergarten. He is EXCITED! Graduation was Wednesday morning. I know it’s silly, but I couldn’t help but tear up during the graduation ceremony. Before we know it we’ll be sitting at his high school graduation. I think its unfair how quickly time passes when you’ve got little ones. After the ceremony we went to Aiden’s classroom for a little reception. Mrs. Whitsell got up to give a speech and started bawling, which started the water works for me again too. Aiden was so lucky to have such an amazing kindergarten teacher. We’re all really going to miss her next year. Below are some pictures from graduation.

Adam and I with the Graduate before school.

Waiting to walk -- Shaking Mrs. Whitsell's hand

Singing

Yesterday the kindergarten class had their play day. I took the morning off to attend. Aiden had a wonderful time! Here are a few photos from that.

Also, here are a few pictures from Aiden’s first game with Odyssey, this game was May 23.

Ryann and Aiden before the game.

I'll post again soon.

Hope you all have an awesome summer!!

Moving on to the 4th grade!!!!!!!

2011-05-31T08:05:00.000-05:00

Ryann's last day of third grade was Friday. Check out the pictures below to see just a few of her accomplishments!

Ryann received the "Awesome Teamwork" award from her Teacher!

She was the only kiddo in her class to recieve the "Team Player" award from the PE teacher!

Ryann took her first round of the TAKS test this year. No matter your opinion of these test, you have to be totally proud of our baby girl for getting commended on the reading AND math tests!!! This means she missed no more than 3 out of 40 questions on each section. We're so proud of her!!!!!

She is offically ready for the 4th grade!!! <- That is just CRAZY!

Ryann is VERY excited about summer! She already misses her friends, but is very much looking forward to having a great summer. She asked several times if she could spend all summer with us, and as much as we would LOVE to make that happen - it's just not possible. So, she'll be her the month of July - so we are all anxiously awaiting the end of June!!

Aiden has one more week of school - graduation is tomorrow so I'll post again soon.

Below are links to Aiden's soccer schedules, he is now playing on two teams- if you're in the area and want to watch our little soccer star, we'd love to have you.

This is the schedule for the Odyssey team, (this team is an academy team-U6)http://stampede-arena.ezleagues.ezfacility.com/teams/821113/Odyssey-05.aspx

This is the schedule for the Tigers FC team, (this team is a rec. team, but is in the U7 leauge) http://stampede-arena.ezleagues.ezfacility.com/teams/817625/Tigers-FC.aspx

We hope you are all doing great!!!

More report card news

2011-03-11T13:48:00.000-06:00

We got a copy of Ryann's report card today:

She is still doing good!! So happy to see that B in math come up those few points!!! And as you can see the rest are A's! We did notice that some of her grades dropped a little from last six weeks, we're pretty sure that was due to the fact that most of this past 6 weeks was used for preparing for the TAKS test. We feel confident they'll come back up by the end of this grading period! - Ryann our smart little princess!!!!

We also got Aiden's GT report card. I don't have a picture to show you, it's at home- but all of his marks went up! If you remember, he can receive 1,2,3,4, or 5 on his GT report. 3 basically means they have had continuous growth and 5 would mean they are above the teachers expectations. Aiden earned mostly 5s, with the exception of a few 4+'s. He only had one area where he stayed the same, still earning a 4+. I'll try to remember to scan in his report cards, so you'll better understand. Anyways, we are just so proud of both our little smarties!!!!!!

Strange Encounters with my cold hand…….

2011-03-10T08:01:00.000-06:00

Last night Aiden had soccer practice. It was a chilly 65* and windy. If you know me at ALL you know I can not handle the cold. I despise winter, I'd much rather have 90* weather any day of the week. I was chilly even under my ski coat and blanket... but even I was a bit concerned when I started to lose feeling in my pointer finger on my right hand. I looked down and saw this:

I tried rubbing my hands together, sitting on them, I even tried putting it in my mouth to warm it up but nothing worked.
(please excuse my nails, I'm in need of a manicure)
Practice ended and I high tailed it to the car to get my hand in front of the heater. It took about 5 minutes and I finally noticed a change.

5 more minutes and it was just about back to normal.

It took at total of about 15 minutes and my hand was back to normal color. It still felt a little "funny". So, all of that to say I'm making an appointment to see my doctor. I've always had cold hands and feet, and feel certain this has something to do with poor blood circulation and maybe even be Raynauds, but we'll let the doctor make that diagnosis. Really just wanted to share because it was so strange. LOL!!

Geez!

2011-03-08T12:02:00.000-06:00

I logged onto to update this thing, and saw that my post from February 18th never actually posted for you all to read....... I did it from my phone, so maybe that has something to do with it - I'm not real sure. But, I just released it and you can read it below.

Thankfully that crazy winter weather has not returned, and we've all managed to stay healthy- so things are starting to look up in 2011.

In my last post I said Ryann was heading to the orthodontist for a broken bracket and wire. Total she has had to have 2 brackets fixed, the wire, and we had a permanent retainer put in - she accidentally threw the first one away at school. She has also had 2 dentist appointments. The first appointment was her normal 6 mo check-up. The dentist didn't find any cavities which was good, but she did find that Ryann's teeth, especially the bottom ones were stained, so she got a good cleaning, (and a good talking to about brushing her teeth every morning and night EVREY day) the dentist also noticed her gums were very red and swollen, so she prescribed an antibiotic mouth wash. Ryann used it for two weeks, and went back yesterday. The mouth wash worked, so we are VERY HOPEFUL that the dentist/orthodontist appointments will not be so frequent - it seemed like she was at one or the other every Monday and Friday. We loved it because that meant a lot of extra time with her, but it also meant a lot of missed school for her and missed work for Adam.

Mr. Aiden turned SIX years old on February 21st. I still can not believe my baby is so big! We celebrated the Friday before his birthday with a dinner at Rainforest with Gamma and Papa. Then had his soccer birthday party the Saturday following. Both were a lot of fun. I'll work on getting pictures from all the birthday celebrations posted.... maybe this week.

We've decided to keep Aiden with Odyssey, the soccer team mentioned in my last post. The coach is AMAZING! Aiden already knows several of the boys on the team, and the parents are great -so we feel it's going to be a good fit for Aiden. The team is just practicing right now, but they'll start playing sometime next month. I'll share the schedule when it comes out.

Oh, I almost forgot. DI comp.... it went really well. The first part of the challenge is called "instant challenge" the parent's are not allowed to watch this section, and the kids are not allowed to tell us what they did - the use the same challenge nation wide, and don't want anyone to get the unfair advantage of knowing what they will be asked to do. The other section was good. The kids were given 5 key elements from the areas they studied that they had to work into a play - the whole thing is impromptu, they don't learn the 5 elements until 5 minutes before they have to perform. I felt like they did a good job, but you could tell Aiden was nervous. After the play the judges get to fire questions at the contestants about the countries and mythological creatures they had to learn about in preparation. This was the area Aiden really shined. He was always the first one with a correct answer, and he was the one his teamed turned to when they were unsure. <-- Which is saying a lot considering he was competing with kids in 2,3 and 4th grade. Adam and I were really proud of him!

Report cards came home Friday. Aiden had another awesome 6 weeks! He did earn an "S" in social studies this go around. His teacher told me that it was because during his evaluation he couldn't name Abe Lincoln. Apparently the M they use for mastery really means just that. If the kids miss even 1 question during evaluation they are dropped a letter grade.... I hate that his grade dropped over one missed question, BUT at the same time I'm amazed that until this point he has received all M's!! We requested a copy of Ryann's report card from her Mom, but that was just yesterday, and we haven't heard back from her yet. I'm sure she did good. I know a lot of this past 6 weeks she was busy preparing for the TAKS test, so I'm sure she is happy all of that is over.

I'm sure this post reads like a crazy person wrote it - I'm kind of all over the place... sorry!

I'll TRY and do better at updating this thing.
Until next time.....

Our crazy month so far...

2011-02-18T13:11:00.000-06:00

We have been a busy little family the last month, and boy am I ready for a break! The weather turned wacky shortly after my last post… First, Aiden was diagnosed with strep on Monday, January 31st. Of course he missed school that day, and was scheduled to be out most, if not all of the week due to his strep. However, a big ice storm hit Monday night and school was closed the remainder of the week. So, luckily he only missed one day of school! It didn’t take him long to start feeling better, and by Friday, after the ice was covered by about 7” of snow he and Adam, (I was at work) were able to get out and play – even SKI in the snow.(check out our photo album to see the video).

During the crazy weather, and being stuck at home with strep, Aiden lost tooth #2. He was really excited!!

By Saturday, (the day after Adam was able to ski down our driveway) there was no trace of snow left in Keller, (crazy!). Adam and Ryann got all dolled up and headed to the Daddy Daughter Dance. They had a wonderful time. I’m so happy that this is something special they get to do each year. And, oh my word; you have to go check out the pictures to see how grown up she is!!!!

The following week we had another crazy sleet storm that closed the school mid week. We are so very blessed that if need be Adam has the option to work from home – otherwise we would have used up a huge chunk of our PTO/vacation time on all these silly ice/snow days. But, everyone was back to school/work the next day. Then on Friday Aiden’s class went on a field trip to the Fort Worth science museum. I took the day off and tagged along. It was a lot of fun! That afternoon I helped get the school ready for the family Valentines Dance. Adam, Aiden and I attended, Ryann was with her mom; we all had a really great time. Aiden REALLY wants to learn how to break dance, (Lord help us!). And boy is Mr. Popularity! We couldn’t take 5 steps with out some little boy/girl running up to tell him “hi”. It amazes me that so many of the older kids know who he is. I’m really glad he able to make friends so easily.

Aiden's class had been “interviewed” for a special in the paper for Valentine’s Day. He is too sweet! - I'll post that later. Wednesday he was at school for a few hours before the nurse called to let me know he was complaining of being nauseous and was clammy, and running a low grade fever. Kay picked him up and he spent the day laying on her couch. By that evening he seemed to be feeling fine, but since he did have a low grade fever we opted to keep him home again Thursday. By the time I got home he seemed to be back to his old self, and we headed out to “test drive” a new soccer team/coach. We all really liked this coach, and a lot of the parents, so I think we may stick with them, unless Aiden decides he wants to take a break – Lord knows I’d love one….. but, if not we’ll be looking at 2 practices a week, and 1 game…. We’re all back at school and work for this fine Friday. I am SO ready for the weekend! It’s been a tough couple of weeks.

Adam is picking up Ryann today, and she’ll head to the orthodontist office. It’s time for her braces to be tightened, but she’ll also be getting a bracket replaced, that was broken off while eating a raw carrot. She’ll also have to get the wire fixed that she popped off and get fitted for a new retainer- she lost hers at school.

Tonight we’re headed to the Rainforest Café to celebrate Aiden’s birthday with Gamma and Papa, his birthday is Monday, and his party is next Saturday but Gamma and Papa will be on a cruise ship soaking up the sun, so we’re going to have fun with them tonight!

Tomorrow Aiden will participate at the local DI competition. He has really enjoyed working with his team, and has had a lot of fun preparing. I’m hopeful the team will do well at tomorrows tournament!

Monday is Aiden’s SIXTH birthday!!! I’m a little heartbroken. I just can’t believe how fast these six years have gone.

Check back for pictures of our little princess, and birthday boy soon.

We hope you all have the most amazing weekend!

The latest

2011-01-26T15:23:00.000-06:00

I haven’t updated this thing in a while….. We really don’t have much new going on. We got both the kids report cards this week. Ryann had A’s and 1 B. The B being in her math class, again. Adam has already contacted her teacher to see what we can do to help pull that grade up. We’re confident with a little bit of hard work she can pull all A’s. Aiden got all M’s again, so he is still mastering all his subjects still. He also had a report card sent home from his GT teacher. The kids in GT can receive 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. 3 basically means they have had continuous growth and 5 would mean they are above the teachers expectations. Aiden had all 4’s and 4+. He still has perfect attendance too!

Ryann has had a few orthodontist appointments, and things seem to progressing in that area. She now has a removable retainer on bottom, which makes eating MUCH easier. And I don’t know if it’s just wishful thinking on our part, but I swear her teeth have already started to move! She has another orthodontist appointment next month, followed by a visit to the dentist. Poor child has to spend a lot of time letting people dig in her mouth. She is still taking tumbling, and having a lot of fun with it. I really hope it’s something she decides she wants to stick with; she seems to be picking up on things at a remarkable pace. Last Friday Adam, Aiden and I drove to the high school in her town to watch her TOT (Teams of Tomorrow) performance. She did a wonderful job, and looked like she had a lot of fun! Next time we get her it’ll be time for the Daddy daughter dance, she is so very excited!!!

Aiden has had a lot less excitement. He has a dentist appointment Monday. He is excited to show the dentist he lost that first tooth, and now has a new loose onet! He has been busy with soccer, one practice and one game each week. Aiden has also been busy preparing for the Destination Imagination competition coming up in February. His school didn’t have enough kids interested to form two teams, (one team made up of K&1st grade students, and another of 2nd, 3rd and 4th) like in the past so this year they combined the two teams and created one team of 7 kids. Which means Aiden will be competing in the older kids division. I haven’t been to a meeting yet, Adam has been taking him, but from what I can tell it’s a LOT of work for the kids, since the parents are not allowed to help. So other than that, and looking forward to his SIXTH, (boo!) birthday he has been spending a lot of time playing.

Adam and I haven’t been too busy, just working mostly. Adam has been spending a lot of his extra time at the gym with a personal trainer, (using up one of his Christmas gifts) trying to get his core muscles stronger, which will help is back too.

Like I said, not too much going on with us, but it had been a while since my last update. We hope you are all doing great!
I’m getting busy adding new pictures to our photo site, so check back there later.

First snowfall of the year....

2011-01-10T09:34:00.000-06:00

Granted it wasn't the 13" + we got last year, but it was plenty for us to play in!

Bye bye 2010!!

2011-01-03T10:47:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

We’ve been incredibly busy since my last post. I doubt I can recall everything, so we’ll just hit the high points.

The Tooth Fairy visited Aiden the night of my last post.

He was so excited, I was sure he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep. He finally nodded off and the Tooth Fairy left him $5.00, floss, toothpaste and a note. He was SO excited when he woke up the following morning to find all of his goodies.

He can not wait to lose another tooth, he checks them daily. His permanent tooth just started peaking through his gums last week, he is so eager to see how big it will be!

The visit from the Tooth Fairy rounded out November for us. The month of December was such a whirl wind, which I’m sure is true for everyone. We started the month off with the Fuson Christmas.

Adam and I hosted again this year; we had 19 people show up! I LOVE hosting the Fuson get together! We always have such a great time. It’s always so nice to see everyone. This year Aunt Brenda and Uncle Frank were able to come, and it just made the day that much more special! The kids love getting to spend time with their cousins, aunts and uncles. I wish it was something we could do more often. Kim and her brood really need to move back to the metroplex – we miss them!

The PTA hosted breakfast with Santa. I had to “work” the event, but Adam brought Aiden, and they had a really great time. This is the first year Aiden has ever shown any apprehension about visiting with the big guy. So, he learned that this was not really Santa, but one of his very special helpers. For whatever reason, that eased his fears.

He was very excited to learn that this Santa was an Aggie. Whoop!

December 17th was the kids last day of school for 2010. Both had class parties. Unfortunately we didn’t get to attend Ryann’s, but she said she had a really great time. Here are a few pictures from Aiden's party.

I'll work on getting you a few pictures from Ryann's party.

The 17th was also Ryann’s cheer party, again it was an event Adam and I had to miss – but here is a picture of Ryann and her sister, Kamri at the party.

We picked up Ryann the morning of the 18th, and she was with us until Christmas afternoon. Adam was off the kids’ entire Christmas break, and they spent the week leading up to Christmas spending time together, and doing lots of playing. In the evenings after I got off work we squeezed in our Christmas traditions, starting with a trip to the Gaylord Texan to visit ICE! Although this is something we’ve been doing for the past several years, it was Ryann’s first time to go. We all had a wonderful time walking through Charlie Brown’s Christmas. It was a chilly 9* in there, but we were very well prepared, and were able to take our time, and really enjoy it!

New this year were the snow hills. We bought the kids unlimited tickets and they spent about an hour going down the slides. It was so much fun watching them have such a wonderful time. I really hope they bring these slides back next year!

We went with Gamma and Papa out to Prairie Lights, and drove through the beautiful Christmas lights display. They have over 4 million lights, and we enjoyed seeing every one of them!

We also had to make Santa’s cookies. This is probably one of my favorite things to do with the kids. They always have so much fun. This year rather than just using white icing and sprinkles, we used royal icing. I think we all enjoyed this much more. I’ll tell you what, Adam and Aiden both shocked me with their icing skills!! I defiantly think we’ll be doing our cookies this way in the future. Each of us picked our favorite cookie, that we had iced, and that is what we left out for Santa.

Every year Keller holds a Christmas decorating contest, so after we made our cookies, and picked out the ones Santa would get we packed up the rest, headed to Starbucks to grab some hot chocolate then drove around and looked at the winning subdivisions, streets and houses. It’s always so much fun, and this year Jax joined in the fun!!

That brings us to Christmas Eve.

We had a wonderful lunch with Kay. Then headed to her house to exchange gifts, (we were all spoiled as usual). We spent some time visiting with her, then rushed home and got ready for church. I always love our church’s candle light service! After church we headed to Kobeya, for our traditional hibachi Christmas Eve dinner, (I think next to the gifts this is the kids favorite Christmas Eve tradition!). After dinner we headed home and the kids got the last gift out of the advent calendar. They also each opened one gift – new Christmas PJ’s. We watched Polar Express, read Twas the Night Before Christmas, tracked Santa, put out milk, cookies and carrots and crawled into bed. Both kids were beside themselves with excitement. I think Ryann probably only got an hour of sleep the whole night. Santa had to be EXTREAMLY sneaky, but he finally got all the gifts under the tree, and stockings stuffed…….

Ryann was the fist one up; she came in and woke up Adam and I. It took a good 15 minutes to coax Aiden out of his nice warm bed, but I think he was glad he got up when he walked into the living room and saw all those gifts. We spent about 2 hours opening gifts, and then another few playing with them. Ryann used her new sewing machine and made a pillow.. and then we were off to Gamma and Papa’s house.

Gamma prepared a wonderful Christmas lunch, we visited, and opened gifts, and watched movies, and visited some more. Then Adam took Ryann to her mom, while Aiden and I stayed behind and played some more. It was a late night, but we really did have the most terrific Christmas! I just love getting to spend all that time with family – just enjoying each others company!

On the 29th Ryann got her braces.

I had to work, and couldn’t be there for her appointment, but Adam took my camera and got some pictures. From what I understand she did really good, cried a few times, ended up with a split lip (OUCH!), but in the end it all turned out just fine. She has braces on the top, and an apparatus of some sort behind her bottom teeth to correct her under-bite. For now, her back teeth don’t touch – which is making eating, and cooking for her a bit of a chore- but in the end it’s all going to work out, and be worth the inconveniences she is experiencing for now.

Adam, Aiden and I spent ringing in the New Year at Jennifer and John’s family friendly New Years Eve party. We had a wonderful time! Adam and I were both shocked Aiden was able to stay up till midnight! We’re ready for another amazing year! I hope to do a much better job keeping this blog, and our photo albums up to date! I spent a good chunk of the last several days adding pictures to our photo site, so check them out when you have a chance, - (Click the box)They go back as far as November!

We’re back to work and school today. We were all dreading it, but so far it’s been a wonderful day!!

We hope you have a wonderful Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T22:22:00.000-06:00

We have been busy busy since my last post. I'll update again soon, but until then- Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

God bless,
Adam, Courtney, Ryann, Aiden and Jax

The most Wonderful time of the year!!

2010-11-29T07:17:00.000-06:00

We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving break! NONE of us were ready to get up and go to school/work today, blah! But, we really enjoyed our time off. Thanksgiving was wonderful, great food and company, and awesome football (Whoop!), what more could we ask for?

We’ve started getting the house ready for Christmas. Both trees are up and decorated. I’m still working on getting the rest of the house done, and once Adam’s back is feeling a bit better we’ll get busy on the outside. Presents are wrapped and under the tree….. so we’re getting there. We’ve already gotten to listen to Aiden sing “Mary did you know” a few times, so it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year!

I had just got to work this morning, when I got a text from Adam, Aiden lost his first tooth. I’m so bummed I missed it. I just can’t believe we’re already here. He’s not a baby anymore. Boo!

I'll post pictures soon!!

Also, the winter soccer schedule was released today. Aiden will be playing on an U7 team. Although, this team is not a club team, they play in the club division. Aiden will have more competition than ever before. I’m really excited for this season to start! If you care to come watch a game, below is his schedule. He’ll be playing at Stampede in Southlake.

December 5 Blue Devils VS Quest Fire, 2:45
December 15 Solar White VS Blue Devils 6:10
December 29 Blue Devils VS Odyssey White 6:05
January 11 Crickets VS Blue Devils 6:05
January 23 Blue Devils VS Phoenix 2:15
January 30 Quest Fire VS Blue Devils 4:30
February 4 Blue Devils VS Solar White 6:10
February 12 Odyssey White VS Blue Devils 7:25

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T10:51:00.000-06:00

Just a quick little update. The kids started their Thanksgiving break on Friday. Adam, Aiden and I started the break off with a trip down to College Station. We visited old friends and some of our favorite spots in BCS and watched the Ag’s beat the hell out of Nebraska! It was a great trip!

The kids got their report cards on Friday. Aiden got all M’s again, meaning he is still mastering all his subjects, and he still has perfect attendance! Ryann made 1 B in math, and the rest were A’s, (actually other than the math grade all her grades were higher this 6 weeks than last), we’re very proud of both our little smarties!

Ryann went in for an orthodontic consultation yesterday. Her dentist originally thought her under bite was a jaw problem, but the orthodontist confirmed that it is a tooth problem, and braces should take care of it, so no need for the chin strap we were all worried about her needing to have. Instead the orthodontist is suggesting top braces and a bottom plate to help with her bite now, (for about 1 year), and then braces again after all her permanent teeth grow in. Basically breaking it up this way is better because the first set will prepare her mouth to make room for the permanent teeth that will come later. There is even a slight, (very slight) chance that she may not need the second set of braces. If we wait, it will be much more complicated, and she would need the braces for a much longer period of time, and probably need teeth pulled. We have to discuss all of this with Ryann’s mom, but it looks like she could have braces as early as December.

My Thanksgiving break starts today when I get off work, and I CAN NOT wait! We are all so excited to get the next few days for family time! The kids are so excited about taking down all the fall decorations, and putting up the Christmas ones. We took them to pick out their new ornaments, which is always an adventure. It took Aiden about 10 minutes to pick his ornament, he decided on a snowflake. His selection almost always shocks me. I just knew he was going to pick as soccer ball, but he is very happy with is ornament, and that is all that counts. Ryann, my dear dear Ryann, whew…. That child is so much like her father that it hurts sometimes. She took over 45 minutes to pick her ornament. I’m not kidding Adam and I finally just sat down on the floor of the store and let her have at it. FINALLY she decided on a little ballerina girl. This is surprising, because she picked a ballerina last year or the year before. But, the important thing is she is happy with her decision, and it’ll look stunning on their tree. This yearly tradition is always so much fun, and a great way to see each child’s personality, it’s like a glimpse into the future.

We’re headed to see Tangle this afternoon, and then preparing for a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving too!

The latest and Greatest

2010-11-19T10:01:00.001-06:00

We haven't posted pictures on here in so long, so I decided to add lots of pictures this time!
Here are our pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch and Aiden's school fall festival.

Aiden and his friend Coleman trick or treating

Ryann's Thanksgiving program at school. Sorry the pictures aren't better, she was on the back row and the girl infront of her was taller... But she is an awesome model and would stick her head out and smile directly
at the camera! She is standing under the cornucopia.

Aiden's Thanksgiving feast! First the kids sang a few Thanksgiving songs and then we moved onto the feast. It is so much fun watching him interacting with his friends! He is getting to big!


That pretty much gets you caught up on pictures since my last post. Last night Aiden started a new indoor soccer team for the winter season. He is sooooo excited. This team is in the U7 division, so he'll be playing with older kids. I think it'll be a better fit for his skills. Adam is not coaching this team, and while we believe it's good for him to have a few different coaches, I can tell you it is going to be hard in Adam.

At dinner last night Aiden realized he has his first loose tooth! He is excited to get some money from the tooth fairy. I however am not looking forward to that tooth coming out- it's like the end of the baby days.... I'm so sad ;(

Both kids are still doing good in school. Ryann has been busy preparing for the UIL ready writing competition. Aiden's teacher pulled ne aside yesterday to let me know she has been very impressed with Aiden's writing too. Not only is his handwriting improving, but his use of punctuation and his ability to get a clear, complete thought down on paper has been incredible! We are so proud of both of our amazing kiddos! Report cards come home today, and I just know we'll see more great marks from these two!! Thanksgiving break also starts today. Adam, Aiden and I are going down to College Station fir the weekend. I'm so excited!!
Ryann will be home Tuesday, and the first order of business will be taking her to the orthodontist for a consultation.... More on that later.

We hope you are all doing great!
Until next time. Oh, please excuse any typos you came across in this post, I did the whole thing on my phone....

Proud Mom and Dad!

2010-10-26T07:54:00.000-05:00

It’s almost time for Halloween! The kids are getting so excited!! Aiden is going to be a red ninja this year. He watched the movie “Little Ninjas”, and LOVED it. So it was a no brainer for him when it came time to pick his costume. Ryann won’t be with us this year for trick or treating, last I talked to her she didn’t know what she was going to be. She requested to be a werewolf princess, (I wouldn’t even know how you would pull that off) but her mom told her no scary costumes, so she was still thinking.

Both kids are doing WONDERFUL in school. Report cards came home three weeks ago, and both kids got awesome marks. Ryann is finally to the point of receiving a number grade, and she made all A’s! We are super proud of her!! Aiden received all M’s, which means he has mastered everything they have covered so far! (We’re also extremely proud of him!) Both kids also received good marks in conduct. During the first six weeks Aiden also took the TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory), it’s a test given to Kindergarten students at the beginning, middle and end of the year to first assess where they are in there reading and reading comprehension skills, and then to make sure they are learning what they need to know to proceed to the first grade. Generally students will take the first test, and the teacher can then see what they need to work on to get them where they need to be. However, Aiden mastered the entire test, didn’t get even one question wrong! In addition to his regular class work Aiden has also been participating in Maverick Math, a 12 week program, sponsored by the PTA that builds math skills aligned with the curriculum at his school and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). So far he has done extremely well, and gotten every question right. If he continues to participate he can receive awards in the Spring. This is right up his alley, he LOVES to work on math, and has really enjoyed seeing his name on the Maverick Math wall each week. Aiden’s GT teacher is encouraging him to join the Destination Imagination team, (an educational program in which student teams solve open-ended Challenges and present their solutions at Tournaments. Teams are tested to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the Challenges), so we’re looking into that. Ryann received some great news too. Please excuse me for not knowing all the details…. Adam was the one who got this information from her mom, but he didn’t ask/ remember the details….. Ryann was chosen by her teacher to compete for her school at UIL, in the writing portion of the competition. She is really excited! She was also chosen, to be on some type of float during a parade, (this is where details would be nice- which I plan to learn; and share). So as you can tell school is going great for the kids so far this year! We get progress reports today, and I’m sure they’ll have more good news!

Aiden is still playing soccer. Adam is coaching his team. They’ve had a tough couple of games the past few weeks. But, Adam has done a great job with his team. The boys actually work AS a TEAM. I think they are the only team in this division/age group that does. We’ve got two games left of the season, then I think we’ll all be ready to take some time off for a while. Maybe even try a new sport for the fall/winter months……..

Ryann is still enrolled in tumble/cheer. She is still currently going one day a week, but Adam and I have been in contact with her mom to get her going another day. She is really enjoying going, and can NOT wait to start learning some cheers!

Last Friday was the PTA Fall Festival at Aiden’s school. It was a busy day for us PTA mom’s, and a blast for all the families that attended! I’ve added a few photos and videos to our site. I’ll upload more, hopefully tonight! Aiden really enjoyed the festival. And Adam and I loved watching him have a good time, and we really take pleasure in watching him interact with all of his friends. That boy is such a social butterfly!!

Adam and I have been busy with work, running our house, the soccer team and doing PTA stuff. Tonight Adam and Aiden will go to the Just for Boys book club meeting at the school, and I plan to work on the schools yearbook- I know, I live a dangerous life! LOL!

The Latest

2010-10-07T13:31:00.000-05:00

I guess we’re do for an update on here. No matter how hard I try to make this thing a priority, it always gets pushed to the back burner.

Adam and I celebrated our six year wedding anniversary on September 25. It’s hard to believe it’s really been SIX years. We had a wonderful stay at the Gaylord Texan. It’s so nice to get away and spend some quiet quality time, just the two of us.

Aiden has been a busy little dude! He is still doing amazing in school; he LOVES his regular teacher, and his GT teacher, (I think he loves being in class with the 1st grade students more than anything.) We’ve had a meeting with his teacher, and she had only great things to say about Aiden. The first six weeks just wrapped up, and report cards will be sent home Friday. We’re certain he’ll have only good marks. Aiden is also involved in the schools, “Just for boys book club”, they meet once a month after school and read books and play games. This is something he and Adam attend together; Aiden has really enjoyed this club a great deal, and is looking forward to the next meeting. He is still playing soccer. It amazes me just how much he still enjoys practicing and playing, and being on a team!

Ryann was home with us the last two weekends. Gosh, it was nice to have her here again! She is still enjoying school, mostly for the social side of it, but academically she is still doing well. After a LONG wait Ryann finally got to start cheer/tumbling last week. Right now she is just going once a week, but she is supposed to start going two days a week soon. After her first class she was surprised how much work it is going to take to be good at it, I guess she figured she would just be able to go out and be a pro off the bat. Adam and I have encouraged her to stay with it, and it will get easier.

I guess that’s about it for now. I’ll update our photo site tonight, you’ll be able to see pictures from our trip to the skating rink and the pumpkin patch, among others.

Until next time!

GT Results!!!

2010-09-16T13:28:00.000-05:00

Just a quick little update…. We got the results from Aiden’s GT(Gifted and Talented) test yesterday, and he did score high enough to be placed in the GT class. He’ll go to GT a few hours a week, during that time he’ll be in class with the first grade GT students, since the school does not normally have the kindergarteners tested/placed. We are so very proud of our little guy, and even better is how proud he is of himself. It was so fun getting to tell him, and watch/listen to his reaction. Aiden is very excited to get started!

Keller Galaxy had another game, and won, the score was 16 to 8. This time Aiden scored 7 of our goals. He is having a great time playing; and Adam and I are having a blast watching him play.

So I guess that’s it for now, more updates to come. Also, I’m planning on getting our photo site updated tonight, I’ve dropped the ball on that – sorry!

School/soccer update

2010-09-13T06:48:00.000-05:00

The latest run down.

Ryann was suppose to come home this weekend, but ended up catching an awful little bug. We thought it best for her to stay where she was, and rest. She went to church yesterday, so hopefully that means the bug is behind her, and she is back to her old self again! So far school is going really well for her. She has the same teacher she had last year, and a lot of the same classmates. Adam met with Mrs. Priest, Ryann’s teacher, and she just ADORES Ryann- and only had positive things to say about her academically too. I think this will probably be a pattern for Ryann’s school career; she just has that type personality. We CAN NOT wait to get her next weekend, it’s been TOO long!!

Aiden is doing great in school too. He cracks me up, everyday when I pick him up I ask him about his day, and everyday I hear, “… and we learned.” “What did you learn Aiden.” “Mommy, it’s a really long day, I can’t remember it all.” I know he is retaining the information, because it comes up in random conversations, but it’s so easy to see those “male traits” coming out, the details are just not that important to him, (which is TOTALLY opposite from his big sister). We have our first meeting of the year with his teacher next Monday. We’ll meet one on one with her each quarter to hear how he is doing. We also have a meeting with the GT teacher coming up, either this week or next. Typically they don’t test the kindergarten students this early in the year, but Aiden’s teacher really pushed for it, so he could possible be placed in GT after our meeting. The GT teacher already told us he did remarkably well on the test, so more news on that later.

Friday morning Aiden’s school hosted a breakfast honoring Grandparent’s. Papa was such a sweet guy and rearranged his morning to drive all the way out to Aiden’s school and have breakfast with him. Aiden was so excited! He really enjoyed that special one on one time he got with one of his favorite guys!

Saturday Adam and Aiden had their fist game of the season. We had the minimum number of kids show up to the game, (we’ve got one kid that’s been out of the country and another who is recovering from surgery), so the boys that did show up to had to play the entire game. Turns out that was all we needed the since Galaxy won the game, 19 to 3! (Aiden scored 14 of those goals!!) We’re looking forward to another great season. The boys have another game coming up this Tuesday, and again on Saturday.

Adam and I are getting ready to celebrate or six year wedding anniversary! We’re celebrating a week early by going this weekend. It hardly feels like six years. Let’s hope that feeling continues.

I’ll update pictures tonight.

Until next time!

Fall soccer schedule

2010-08-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

Please see below for Adam/Aiden’s fall soccer schedule. We’d love to have you come out and cheer on Keller Galaxy at any of the games!

9/7/10 VS Knights, 6:00 pm

9/11/10 VS Matadors, 11:00 am

9/18/10 VS Screaming Fleas, 11:00 am

9/25/10 VS Transformers, 11:00 am

10/2/10 VS Defeaters, 12:00 pm

10/9/10 VS Hot Wheels 10:00 am

10/16/10 VS Sidewinders, 12:00 pm

10/23/10 VS Earthquake, 9:00 am

10/30/10 VS Knights, 10:00 am

11/6/10 VS Matadors, 9:00 am

* Games are held at the North Park fields, same as the Spring season*

Aiden is loving school! He really likes his teacher, he has said several times that she is very sweet. He also likes the kids in his class!

My little Kindergartener

2010-08-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

Today our baby started kindergarten! I still can't beleive we have already reached this milestone. This morning went great. Aiden slept like a champ, and even though he got to sleep in about 30 min. later than normal he wasn't quite ready to get up this morning, (you can watch the video by going to our photo site) he is just not a morning person. Once he was up and out of bed, the morning went very smooth. Aiden is SO excited to be going to his "big school"! He has a teacher I think we're all going to like very much, she seems really sweet.
He ended up with two kids in his class that he knows. Remember the little girl that named her cat AidenNabors? Well she is in his class, LOL. After getting him all settled in his class Adam and I went to the boo hoo breakfast. We got to meet a few other parents, and also meet the PTA ladies I'll be spending a great deal of this school year with. I joined PTA, and am on the board as the yearbook chair. So, if you ever feel the need to help, just let me know- I'm sure I can put you to work!!!
I think this year is going to be a wonderful one for Aiden! I can't wait until 3:00 to go pick him up!!!

Pictures

2010-08-21T17:51:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY got around to uploading the HUNDREDS of pictures I had sitting on my cameras. They range for snapshots around the house to birthday picutres, to meet the teacher night. I hope to keep up better with our photo site in the months that follow.

Take a look and check out how much the kids have changed in the last few months.

Bye bye Summer

2010-08-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

We’ve got just a few days of summer left! Ryann and Aiden are both really excited for the new school year. They had a great, fun filled summer, but Ryann is ready to get back and see all her friends, and she is very excited about going into the THIRD grade (gah!) Aiden is super excited to finally go to his “BIG” school. He is also eager to get to show off his new Chelsea backpack. LOL! Meet the teacher is tomorrow night. Both kids can’t wait to see their new teacher, and classmates! I promise to do more updating on the school front over the next few days!

With fall rapidly approaching that means the Nabors’ house is preparing for the upcoming soccer season. Adam has the teams first practice of the season scheduled for tonight. I can’t put into words how ready Aiden is to be back out of the field. We thought it was a good idea to give him the summer off, but I think we may have been wrong. It’s almost been like Aiden has felt like a piece of his identity was missing. He has been asking us pretty regularly when he get involved with a club too. So I guess after this seasons done we’ll start looking at the local soccer clubs!

Little has happened since my last post. Ryann and I both had birthdays in July. Ryann turned EIGHT! She decided to forgo our usual party, and instead asked for a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge. This was our second trip there for the summer, both trips where equally FUN!!

Adam and I have been up to the usual, work. Last weekend we took a trip down to College Station for a photo shoot. It felt really good to be behind the camera again! However, we’ve been so busy since we got home that I have yet to have a chance to pull the images up and start editing. So I don’t see me filling my weekends with photo shoots anytime soon!

With school and soccer starting so quickly maybe I’ll have a bit more to post about, and hopefully I wont’ go months with out an update. I guess that’s just proof that our little family is growing up.

Until next time!!

The Latest...(I'm trying!)

2010-06-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday Ryann participated in a tennis quick start tournament. This type of tournament is specifically for kids who are just getting started playing tennis. She did a really great job!! She played 4 matches, two against girls who are on a tennis team, and have been more exposed to the game. She ended up winning one of the matches, beating the only boy she played! It was a long, HOT morning, but Ryann did a really great job despite the heat and how tired she was. (I’ll have the pictures up ASAP)

Sunday the kids were very excited to celebrate Father’s day w/ Adam! Before Adam woke up they were busy bees creating cards of all shapes and sizes, crowns – just about anything you can think of made of paper; they probably made it. Then they snuck all his gifts and cards in and let him open them in bed. We spent the day doing what Daddy wanted – it was a great day! (I totally dropped the ball and didn’t get ONE picture of Adam with the kids, OOPS!!)

This week we’re just doing our normal routine, with as much bike riding, swimming and playing as we can fit in! The kids are working on reading, and writing in their journals everyday as well as doing math worksheets. We are trying to keep them actively working on those school essentials, but making it as fun as we can. Aiden has completed 7 books and Ryann 2 so far! Adam and I extremely proud of the two of them! Not to mention the pride they feel themselves. I wish you could have heard Ryann when she completed her first book. She can not wait to tell her Mom! Once they reach a reading goal they get a reward, which has REALLY help to motivate Ryann. She has been a little reading machine since she met first goal! Aiden enjoys reading, but he seems to be more interested in math. He ask for more math worksheets almost every day.

Ryann is on another field trip today. She has really enjoyed getting to go so many places this summer w/ the day care. We’ve had a few playdates with Aiden’s friends, and both kids have had fun doing that. It’s so fun to watch them interact with their little friends! It’s also been a HOOT to listen to Ryann talk about all her little girl friends….. girls are just too funny at this age. She hasn’t had any problems with the girls being catty, but BOY are they different from the boys. Boys have it so easy! The girls seem to think to be friends they have to play together all day everyday, and if you don’t then your friendship is over, (well, at least for a few minutes). Boys are so much more laid back! But regardless, Ryann has made several friends that she talks about daily, and looks forward to seeing everyday. It’s so nice to see her reaching out and really trying to make friends. She has always been so shy in that area, so it’s great to see this side of her growing!

Well, that’s it for us right now. We hope you’re having a wonderful summer!!

Two Months Later....

2010-06-17T08:14:00.000-05:00

OOPS! Sorry I let this thing get away from me again!!

Where did we leave off???!!

Keller Galaxy won EVERY single game! Adam had a wonderful time coaching the boys, and is looking forward to doing it again in the fall. Aiden loved his team, and really seemed to love having his Daddy coach. We ended the season with a great party at a local park.

We took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for a weekend in May. I don’t think I will be able to convey to you just how much fun they had! Ryann said multiple times during our time there, that “This is the greatest day of my life!!” We spent 3 days and 2 nights at the lodge. It was a wonderful, “stay-cation”. So much fun, Ryann’s asked that instead of having a birthday party we take her back………. So we’ll be heading back mid July for that.

Ryann and Aiden both wrapped up the school year the beginning of June. Aiden had 2 graduation ceremonies. One with his day care, it was just too cute for words! They asked each child before the event, what they liked most about their time at the day care, what they were looking forward to the most in Kindergarten, and what they want to be when they grow up? Aiden answered, playing soccer, doing homework (bet that’ll change pretty quick) and apparently he wants to be Iron Man when he grows up! LOL!!!

He also had graduation an Wild About Learning. This graduation had a bit more meaning. He had been in class with some of these other students since he was 2, and started taking reading classes on Saturdays way back then. It’s just crazy to believe he is getting so big!

Ryann had an awards assembly the morning of her last day of school. Sadly Adam and I didn’t find this out until the program was almost over, so I don’t have any pictures to show you. But I do know she had a great school year, and her teacher is really going to miss her!

We picked up Ryann on Friday to being her 6 week summer stay with us. We are looking forward to having LOTS of fun! Aiden finally learned how to ride his bike Saturday with out any assistance, and we are all so proud of him! Saturday night he ended up getting sick, so we really haven’t been doing too much except try to nurse him back to health. He lost almost 4lbs. He seems to be doing good today, so hopefully he’ll be 100% soon and we can really begin our summer fun! Ryann has been going to day care, (didn’t want her to catch Aiden’s nasty bug) she has already gone on one field trip, today she gets to go swimming, and tomorrow she’ll go on another field trip. She is already having a blast, and has made a few friends that she talks about non-stop. She also started her tennis lessons, which she is really enjoying!

I think that’s it for us right now. I’m going to TRY to do better with this thing! As always check out our photo album to see more pictures!

Learning the Layout

2010-04-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

Adam, Aiden and I all took an hour out of our day and took a tour of the Elementary school Aiden is enrolled in for next school year. It’s an awesome school! It’s huge, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me to think of my little man in that big school all day with out me. (I’m going to be an absolute mess come August 23rd) I have no doubt he is going to be a wonderful student. He was already right at home there. He was perfectly fine walking through the tour with out Adam and I. He even turned around at one point and told me, “I’m okay Mommy, I don’t need you right with me.” Talk about breaking mommy’s heart! As much as I would love for him to make me feel more needed, I’m even more grateful and proud that he is so independent. He is really helping ME to look forward to this next big step. I am completely confident in the school. I love the way the school is laid out, and the courses they teach. On top of the academic classes he’ll also have gym, PE, music and library as well as a counselor led class. I’ve never even heard of that before! I don’t know everything they will cover during there counseling class. I do remember the counselor saying they would discuss bulling, and how to handle it, – which is great considering the headlines we’ve been reading. Half way thorough the tour Aiden asked exactly how many days until school starts. He said, “I know it starts in 4 months, but how many days is that?” I told him we would work it out on paper this evening so he would better understand. Needless to say, he is very excited to be starting school!

We did our tour with about 20 other kids and parents. Several of the children attend Aiden’s day care. One of the girls’ mom asked, (pointing to Aiden) “Is that Aiden?” We said yes. She asked, “Aiden Nabors?” I think it’s important that you understand that none of Aiden’s friends call him Aiden. They ALL call him Aiden Nabors, as if it’s all one word…….. Adam and I say yes. The girl’s mother then says, “I’ve never met Aiden, or even seen him, but Morgan, (her daughter) is crazy about Aiden. He is a bit of an icon in our house. Morgan got a new kitten a while back and named him AidenNabors”. Adam and I laughed so hard. Apparently this little girl is quite smitten by Aiden. Seriously how funny is that?! I thought it was so cute!! So, now I’m not the only one who has a little Aiden Nabors running around my house.

Keller Galaxy has another game tonight, so look for pictures from that soon. Until next time!

Learning lots of big kid stuff!

2010-04-12T17:22:00.000-05:00

Aiden and I survived our time with out Adam around. We missed him, but I think we both also enjoyed our evenings together. We'll get to do it again next week, since Adam will be gone for the entire week. Our mornings are a lot tougher with out Adam here. He is the one who gets Aiden up and ready each morning, and then drops him of a school on his way to work. I really REALLY missed that while he was away - and it's not something I'm looking forward to doing next week. Not that I don't love getting that little bit of extra time in with Aiden, but lets face it, we are not morning people- and I think we just work each others nerves, LOL!

Our Easter was awesome! We went to church, and listened to a great message. The kids were beyond spoiled by the Easter Bunny, Gamma and Papa! We spent most of our afternoon with the grandparents and Aunt Jamie and Uncle Brent before taking Ryann to her mom.

Ryann learned to ride her bike several weeks ago, which has pushed Aiden to learn. He is doing great! They've both had a few small falls, but nothing too serious..... yet. It'll be great when Aiden is comfortable enough to ride alone and then we can take family rides around the neighborhood. Aiden went to a birthday party yesterday. It was at the skating rink, and he learned to skate - which was great because he got his own pair of blades for Christmas. Now he is a skating champ! LOL!!

Keller Galaxy had another game Saturday. The boys won again! 7 to2 this time. They are still undefeated, and Aiden thinks that is the coolest thing ever!

I'll leave you with these last few pictures. I turned around and Aiden was sitting on the floor doing this......

I had NO idea he learned. Adam and I each showed him once several days ago. Apparently he was soaking those two mini sessions in and then he taught himself - taking a little bit from how I had shown him a little from what Adam showed him, (Adam and I tie two TOTALLY different ways). He is SO excited, and we are so proud of him!! I'm left missing my baby, but super excited for my big kid!

I think thats pretty much it for us right now. I've updated our photo albums, you can check there to see our Easter photos and so many more. Until next time!!

School, ready or not here Aiden comes!

2010-03-29T17:58:00.000-05:00

Well, We got Aiden all registered for school this morning. He was very excited to see where he’ll be attending school next year. He thought the size of the building was rather impressive. It was bitter sweet for me. I still can’t believe he is actually old enough to start school so soon. It’s amazing how fast how fast the last 5 years flew by! We set up an appointment to tour his school in a few weeks. Aiden is SUPER excited about that. He already knows a few kids who go to Independence. You can tell he really feels like big stuff knowing he gets to go there soon. He asked when school started, when I told him August his response was, “WOW! That’s only 4 months away, that’s not long at all!!”

The boys had two soccer games since my last post. They have out played every team they’ve played so far. By the game they had on Thursday you couldn’t help but feel bad for the other team. The final score was 23 to 2. Saturday’s game was a bit better at 16 to 3. The boys are all having a great time! Adam has already really made a difference for some of these boys. One of the boys’ dad has already said he doesn’t want his son playing for anyone else! I’m uploading pictures from the last two games, so check those out when you get the opportunity.

Adam leaves tomorrow afternoon for a 3 day business trip. Aiden and I are going to miss him, but we’re also looking forward to some time alone together. Then it’s Easter weekend! We’ll be getting Ryann, and we’re all super excited to see our little princess!!!

I guess that’s it for us right now. I promise to get some non-soccer pictures up soon!

This and That

2010-03-24T16:26:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe an entire month has passed since my last post, Ooops!
Really there hasn’t been any one thing that has occured that would warrent it's own post, so this will be a hodgepodge of this and that…..

Galaxy has had one game since my last post. They won, 15 to 5. They’ve had weekly practice, and it’s been so cute watching this group of boys that all started out pretty much strangers, form friendships. This age is too cute!

Adam took Aiden for his 5 year well check at the beginning of the month. He still doing great, 45” tall and 44lbs. His eyes are about 20/30, and his hearing is great!

Spring Break was last week. Adam took most of the week off, and stayed home with the kids. I think they all enjoyed the break. It was nice to let them sleep in for a change. Aiden is usually up around 6am, so I know he loved getting the extra rest. Ryann learned how to ride her bike with out training wheels, so the kids and Adam took daily rides around the neighborhood. One afternoon we all rode out to the frozen yogurt place near the house. It was a lot of fun, and something I hope we can do more often.

Adam turned 32 over the break. He said he had a great birthday – and was totally spoiled. We ate like kings this last week with all the different birthday meals, so really we were all spoiled J.

Ryann welcomed a new member to her family. Her Mom and boyfriend welcomed their little boy on the 16th. Ryann is super excited to be a big sister again. She was really looking forward to getting back to her Mom's and meeting him.

We rounded out last week with what I hope will be the last snow of the year. We got about an inch, not even enough to cover the roads – but enough to wake up to a white yard. Please let winter end! I’m ready for Spring already!!!!

I made the call to Keller ISD, and Adam and I have an appointment on Monday to register Aiden for school next year. I couldn’t help but get teary eyed after that phone call. – Lord help us on the first day of school, I’m going to be an emotional wreck!! Luckily we have several months to prepare.

I guess that's pretty much it for us for now. Adam and Aiden have a game tomorrow night, so look for pictures of that soon!!

Go Galaxy!

2010-02-27T22:01:00.000-06:00

The boys had their fist game today, and they did AWESOME! Adam can defiantly be proud of this team! They won the game 17 to 2!!!!! The boys were all SO excited! Aiden is even more excited about this season after today's game, (I honestly didn't even THINK that was possible!) Aiden played a great game, scoring the first 3 goals with in the first several minutes of the game. He scored several more through out the game, but I honestly lost count... Here are a few pictures, but there are MANY, many more in our albums.

Half a decade!

2010-02-25T17:00:00.000-06:00

I’m a few days late posting this, but that is just how things go these days. Aiden turned FIVE on Sunday! I can’t believe he is already five; the years are passing much too quickly for me. He is the most wonderful little boy. Yes, I might be a tiny bit biased, but it’s true. I’ve never met a child with a kinder heart. He is always willing to put himself last……. I would love to say he gets that from me, but to be honest I’m not sure where that quality comes from – maybe his dad, or his Papa……. He is so sweet, caring…. just amazing! We are truly blessed to be apart of his life. There are no words to describe how proud I am to get to be his Mommy!

We had Aiden’s party last Saturday. This party was absolutely a blast! It was science themed. As the guest arrived they were given a lap coat and a white experiment bag. We broke them down into 5 groups consisting of 5 kids each. Each group rotated through 5 experiment tables. Each child got to do each experiment, and take home their creation. They made Lava Lamps, snow, slime, quick sand, and color changing milk. After they were finished they got to sit at food table where they enjoyed a petri dish filled with jello and a gummy worm. Then we cut the beaker shaped cake and everyone enjoyed some! We had the chocolate fountain flowing with green chocolate, (white chocolate colored green) and everything to dip in it from pretzel sticks to strawberries. We also set up a drink experiment table. The guest got their choice of about 6 sodas and they got to add flavors like orange, vanilla, coconut to them. After that Aiden opened his gifts. I think this has been my favorite party so far. Unfortunately I was so busy with the party that I didn’t get any pictures of the kids actually doing the experiments. I have uploaded the pictures that were taken – thanks for being my photographer Kay! And a special thanks to Joan, David and Kim for helping us run the experiment tables! We really couldn’t have pulled this party off with out your help!

Sunday we wanted to do something special for Aiden’s actual birthday. We had intended on riding the train from Ft. Worth to the Dallas World Aquarium. But, the train doesn’t run on Sunday so we drove instead. We enjoyed a yummy lunch down town, and then headed to the Aquarium. The kids and I have been once before, but Aiden was still in his infant carrier at the time. So this seemed like a first to them. We had a wonderful time! It was a great way to spend the day together, and make Aiden feel special.

Monday Ryann visited the dentist. Somehow two of the sealants she had put in/on a few short months back came out, so they had to put on new ones. Luckily she did not have any cavities this go around, and that is wonderful news!

So, I’m sure you’ve gathered that both kids are doing great! I believe Ryann is still taking gymnastics at a gym near her mom’s house. Aiden and Adam have their first game this weekend, (Aiden is so very excited)! Adam is working like a mad man these days. He has a lot on his plate at work, and now with coaching Aiden’s team he has very little free time, but I think he is enjoying staying so busy. I’m busy with work and trying to keep the rest of the family organized. I’m hoping to get back into running once the doctor can figure out exactly what is going on with my hip, and hopefully get the pain under control.

That’s pretty much us in a nutshell right now….Check out the photo albums to see pictures from Aiden’s birthday weekend, and the rest of our February.

Also, feel free to come cheer on Keller Galaxy this Saturday at 11:00 at the North Park fields!

Soccer update!

2010-02-15T17:05:00.000-06:00

I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of myself; I’ve been doing a rather good job of keeping this thing updated this month….. 4 post in 15 days? Not bad!

We’re getting back to some somewhat normal weather around here……. Living in Texas I use the word normal very loosely! The snow was BEAUTIFUL! We received right at 14 inches – WHOA! We all loved looking at it, and playing in it. I don’t think I could live someplace where it snowed all the time, but every once in a while is nice.

If weather permits Adam and Aiden will have their first soccer game next Saturday. Adam’s planning on beginning practice this week. He was able to get the team’s name changed from Hippopotamus Hipsters, (UGH!) to Keller Galaxy. He and Aiden decided on the name together. I’m excited to meet the rest of the team. We know one of the kids; he is one of Aiden’s friends from school. I’m hoping we have another good group of kids/parents. We really enjoyed his team/team parents on his indoor team, so I’m looking forward to this first practice.
If you get the chance you should totally come out and cheer on the team. Below is the team schedule.

2/27/10 11:00 am Keller Galaxy VS Thunder

3/6/10 10:00 am Sidewinders VS Keller Galaxy

3/25/10 7:00 pm Screaming Fleas VS Keller Galaxy

3/27/10 11:00 am Keller Galaxy VS Transformers

4/10/10 1:00 pm Speed racers VS Keller Galaxy

4/15/10 6:00 pm Keller Galaxy VS Soccer Ninjas

4/17/10 12:00 pm Paladins VS Keller Galaxy

4/24/10 9:00 am Keller Galaxy VS Earthquake

5/1/10 10:00 am Thunder VS Keller Galaxy

5/8/10 9:00 am Keller Galaxy VS Knights

Aiden will be turning five in six days!!! We’re having his party on Saturday. It’s going to be a lot of fun for Aiden and his friends! I still can’t believe he is going to be five, where does the time go??

We don’t really have much else to update on right now. I uploaded a TON of pictures from our snow days into our online album – worth a look.

Until next time!

Crazy Texas Weather!

2010-02-11T21:30:00.000-06:00

It's crazy to believe we still live in Texas when weather like this rolls through town! We have gotten over NINE inches, and it's still falling fast!

Aiden went to school this morning, and I went into work - but we both ended our day early. When we came home Adam had to come out and shovel the drive way, so that I could get my car in the garage! Well actually it took him and two of our neighbors to get the job done! It's absolutely beautiful, and we are enjoying it, but are hopeful it doesn't decide to stick around too long. School and work have already been canceled for tomorrow, so at least we get a 3 day weekend! I'm sure I'll have more pictures to share tomorrow, as it's rumored we're going to get another 10 inches!!

If you're getting half the snow we are, please be careful!!
Lots of love!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2010!

2010-02-07T21:17:00.001-06:00

2010-02-01T17:31:00.000-06:00

January went by SO quickly! I sure hope this isn't a glimpse of the upcoming year. We ended the month with a weekend trip to College Station. The reason for the trip was Chandler's 5th birthday party. Adam and I were really looking forward to going. We miss College Station. We had a wonderful trip. We got to visit with Jenny and her kiddos, Jayme and I was even able to reconnect with another good friend from school. We had plans to get some pictures done of Adam and Aiden on campus, but it was WAY too cold. I was able to snap a few of Adam outside former Student building. And we were finally able to visit the Bonfire memorial, which is amazing by the way. The weekend went by too quickly, and we returned to work and school today. Even Aiden liked College Station, he wanted to know when we can move there........ I guess if he ends up an Aggie he'll get his wish!

Aiden is making the move to outdoor soccer later this month, and Adam was asked to be his team's coach. Aiden is going to be SO excited!! I think Adam is really looking forward to it. The team has a name, but it's awful, and we're hoping to change it! I'll update more on that as things begin to unfold.

Ryann and Adam are looking forward to the annual Daddy Daughter Dance this weekend. Ryann can harldy stand it. She started asking about it back in October. They always have such a great tim! I hope she realizes how awesome her Daddy to do this with her every year. She picked out her dress about a month ago, and I know she'll look absolutely beautiful - so check back for pictures of that soon.

2009-12-31T16:36:00.000-06:00

I’ve neglected this thing for far too long, I mean seriously, it has starting mocking me!…. I had good intentions of updating it months ago, but kept putting it off for one reason or another. Then after getting a few months behind, it became a daunting task – ugh, how do I update after MONTHS???! SOOOOO, rather than trying to remember everything that has happened, I would just give you a quick run-down on the kids……..

Aiden is still playing soccer. He absolutely LOVES the game. He spends most of his free time playing at home. Most afternoons he can’t wait for Adam to get home to play soccer with him, (Mommies are just no fun to play soccer with) seriously when he hears the garage open, cueing him that Daddy is home, I have to keep him from running out to ask Adam if he is ready to play. He loves soccer so much, Adam and I spent the last few weeks of this year redecorating his room, (it was about time, all his nursery décor was still up).

I have to say I LOVE the way his room turned out (I painted that crest on the wall! -- I’m so proud of it!), and more importantly Aiden is in love with it! We painted the stripes, the crest, and the lockers. I’m still hunting for some Chelsea curtains and flags and what not, but for now his room is done. Aiden is also doing great with his school work. It’s hard to believe we’ll be able to enroll him in KISD NEXT school year. I spend most nights tucking him in wondering where my baby went. He is growing up WAY to quickly!!

Ryann is now in the second (OMG!) grade and doing great! She doesn’t really talk about school much, but we know she likes her teacher, classmates, and her grades are good. She is growing way to fast too, not just in size, but mind. It’s so crazy to talk to her these days, because while in some ways she is still a little girl, in others she is quickly turning into a little lady, ( I’m not sure if that makes any sense to you, but I don’t know how else to word it). Ryann is quickly learning who she is, and the things she likes. Her taste is beginning to come out in her choice of music, clothes, the way she wears her hair…..She is no longer the little girl wearing the clothes her parents picked out. It’s wonderful and nerve wracking all at the same time! Oh, and she is now making some serious cash off the tooth-fairy…. I think the total so far is 6 teeth lost!

Adam and I are pretty much the same. Life for us pretty much consists of work, and our family- and we wouldn’t have it any other way! We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in September…. Man, time flies – it hardly seems like we married 5 years ago!

We had an awesome Christmas. We woke up Christmas Eve to snow falling. It snowed the whole day, I think the final report was 4”…….

It was beautiful! Adam, Aiden and I spent most of the day at home. That evening we went to church and dinner. When we came home we watched Polar Express, read “The Night before Christmas”, put out cookies and milk for Santa, and celery and carrots for the reindeer.

Aiden didn’t wake up until well after 8, Christmas morning. He was so very excited to see all the goodies Santa brought! We spent the next hour and a half opening gifts, and the following hour playing with our new gifts, and then it was time to get dress and head to Gamma and Papa’s. We had lunch there; afterwards we picked up Ryann and headed back to Papa and Gamma’s. The kids were spoiled (as always) by their loving Grandparents. We spent most of the day playing and visiting with Papa, Gamma, Uncle Brent and Aunt Jamie before heading back home so Ryann could open gifts at our house, and see what Santa left for her there. Both kids had a wonderful time, and were truly grateful for all of their gifts, and time with family. It was a late night of playing and enjoying some family time.

Adam and the kids are still out of school and work, they’ve been home since December 18th and won’t return until January 4th – lucky! I’m already back at work. We’re looking forward to ringing in the new year. We’ve loved ’09, but can not wait to see what 2010 will bring! We hope you and your family are all doing well. We can’t wait to hear from you!

As bad as I’ve been at updating the blog, I have been keeping up with pictures – so please feel free to check out our photo albums!

Until next time!!

WOW, I really stink at keeping this thing updated

2009-08-12T20:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been so long........ again!

This summer has been CRAZY busy!! I'm so ready for school to start, so our schedules can slow down!

Aiden's had a few soccer games since my last post. He loves the game, and is really quite good. He scored a whopping TEN goals in ONE game.... 8 in the first half, then he sat out most of the second. He really loves playing, and has decided to keep going after this summer season is up. He made the choice to quit gymnastics, his last class is the 25th of this month......which also happens to be his first day of school. We're all excited about school starting.

Ryann starts a new school on the 24th. She wasn't too excited about school until her Mom started buying all her supplies. Seeing all the supplies she'll get to use over the next 9 months was just what she needed to get her motivated for the upcoming school year.

The kids both visited the dentist a few weeks ago. Both getting good reports. Ryann went back Monday to have sealant put on her 6 year molars. She did great!

Adam took his last test as a collage student today..... Graduation is on Saturday. We're all very excited that he is DONE. I'm so proud of him! I don't know how he managed to juggle school, work and a very demanding family. But he did, and did great at all three!

I guess that's if for us for now. Check out our photo albums to see current pix. Until next time......

Birthdays, blood, and a hat trick.....

2009-07-20T21:47:00.000-05:00

Birthdays.. July is FULL of them for our little family!

Ryann had her SEVENTH (OMG!) birthday on the 13th. We celebrated on the 11th with a water park party at The Pointe. It was a really fun party, she had a great time! As always she was spoiled when it came to the gifts!!

The day following her party she used one of her gift cards, and treated herself to a day of beauty at Sweet and Sassy. She got a full spa mani and pedi as well as getting her hair done. She really is turning into such a big girl!!

This past Sunday we helped Ashelynn, Mckenna and Tanner all celebrate their birthdays. Ashelynn's ELEVENTH! Mckenna's 5th, and sweet baby Tanner's first. It was a fun party too!

Yesterday we celebrated my 27th birthday. Adam spoiled me - like always. He Aiden and I headed to Trulucks for dinner - YUMMY!

Now, onto the blood portion of the title... Aiden had a ruff soccer game on the 11th. He was hurt TWICE within 15 minutes. The first time he "slipped" over the ball falling head first to the ground, then had another child fall right on the side of his head, OUCH! He cried for a while, but once we got him settled he was ready to head out and play again. About 5 minutes on the field and the front of his face met with he back of some else’s. This resulted in a bloody nose, a fat upper lip and a cut on the bottom one. He came off the field crying - saying, "Not again!" Once he saw the blood coming out of his nose he began to scream bloody murder, and was quite sure he never wanted to play soccer again. It took a bit longer go get him calmed down that time, and a few minutes later he decided soccer wasn't so bad - and maybe he would give it a shot the following week at his game.

More blood on Thursday, after practice he and one of his friends were giving each other a good bye hug, and I guess their feet got tangled, because down they both went - this time Aiden ended up w/ a bit cut on his bottom lip that ended up bruising.

Even more blood Friday. Apparently Aiden was climbing up the latter at school to the slide. His foot slipped and down he went - hitting his chin on the last step. By the looks of his clothes and his teachers when I got there to pick him up, there was a LOT of blood. I took him to the doctor, where it was decided he didn't need stitches. Instead they used the derma bond (super glue for the skin) to close the cut up and sent us on our way. That night he bumped his chin, and all the blood that the derma bond was holding back was unleashed, (EWW). We got him cleaned up and a band aid on, but by Sunday morning the derma bond had already fallen off. I took him back to the doctor today, again no stitches needed (Yay!) and we finally seem to have the drippy blood problem taken care of. He'll probably have a nice little scar - and a cool story to tell when he gets older. I hope, but doubt that's the last bloody week we have w/ that crazy boy!

The Hot Wheels had their third soccer game Saturday, and all the kids played GREAT! I think they are starting to really understand what the heck their coach is telling them when he says they need to work together as a team. They won this game. I believe the final score was 7 to 2. Aiden scored 3 (thus the "hat trick") of the 7!

I've updated both the July album and Aiden's first soccer season album on our photo site so take a look when you get the chance.

We hope you are all doing great!

Gallary is up!

2009-07-06T21:46:00.001-05:00

Just got the email from Captures by Erin, and our gallery is up! Here is a little taste of the good stuff,

Honestly, I love all of the above images, (and so many more that I did not share) but this one is my absolute FAVORITE!! I know you can't see his face - and most moms would probably not go nuts about it, but I can just SEE a huge print of this hanging on the wall in our house....... seriously it's beautiful!!

If you would like the password to be able to view the complete gallary, just shoot me an email, or leave a comment on this post - and I'll be happy to share!

Happy 4th!!

2009-07-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

We hope you all had a great 4th! Ours was awesome!

The rest of our long weekend was spent around the house, reading, watching movies.... Adam studying for his mid-term and lots of family time - a well deserved restful weekend!

We have lots to look forward to next week! Aiden will be staying home with Mommy tomorrow, he started feeling bad this evening, and we're hoping keeping him home tomorrow will help it blow over quickly, because Tuesday he has gymnastics, Wednesday he and Ryann have reading school, Thursday is soccer practice, then on Saturday Aiden has his second soccer game, and that afternoon we'll be celebrating at Ryann's SEVENTH (OMG!) birthday party. Then sadly on Sunday our extended summer time ends with Ryann, as she returns to her mom's. We're all going to miss her very much, but we are going to enjoy every second of our time with her until then.

We had our pictures taken with Erin again, check out this link http://www.capturesbyerin.com/blog/ to see a tiny preview - I'm so excited to see the rest - she is so amazingly talented, I know it's going to be so hard to choose which prints to buy!

What we've been up to......

2009-06-28T20:54:00.000-05:00

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I have kept my promise.... our photo site has been kept current! Yay me!

I'm not sure who coined the phrase, "summer break" but I'm pretty sure it was someone who didn't have kids. We have been SO busy! Ryann completed her swim class. She learned in the ballpark of 6 strokes. She did really great, and enjoyed the class, but I think she was relieved when it was over. The class was Mon- Thurs for two weeks. That on top of Aiden's classes, we had zero free time. But she gained a lot from attending, and like I said, she had a good time - and that is most important! Speaking of swimming, my gosh; we have two little fishes on our hands these days. Both kids are 100% independent swimmers. Both can swim from one end of the pool to the other. Both can also dive to the bottom of the pool and get rings, and diving sticks - needless to say we take almost daily trips out to cool off these days!

Fathers Day came and went. I think Adam really enjoyed his day - I mean look how blessed he is; he does have the two cutest kids EVER!

We took the kids out to Cabellas for their kids day and both kids caught their first fish, Ryann caught 3 or 4. Lucky little Aiden caught somewhere around 14, (I quit counting after 9 or so)!

Aiden's soccer season started this past week. He had his first practice on Thursday, followed by his first game Saturday. Sadly the Hot Wheels (team name) lost, but Aiden sure did his part to help out. How many goals did he make you ask?? I'll let him answer that for you.

Yep, TWO goals at his very first game...... His teams only goals as a matter of fact! Aiden had a great support system for his first game, and I wanted to take this time to thank all how came to support him. I hope you know how much you being there meant to him and Adam and I, again; thank you! Here are a few pictures of the game followed by the schedule for the rest of the season. We hope are all doing wonderful!! LOTS of new pictures up!

6.27.09 09:00 AM vs Storm
7.11.09 11:15 AM vs Stars
7.18.09 12:45 PM vs Stingers
7.25.09 11:15 AM vs House Team 5
8.01.09 10:30 AM vs Blue Hornets
8.15.09 12:00 PM vs Chaos
8.22.09 10:30 AM vs Storm
8.29.09 11:15 AM vs Stars

Love notes..

2009-06-01T20:58:00.001-05:00

Aiden is really into writing "list" and "notes" these days. He doesn't ask how to spell one word, he tries his very best to sound out the word and write it down, all by himself. Below is my favorite........

Sorry for the horrible picture. In case you can't read 4 year old; the letter reads, I luv (love) Mommy Fu (from) Aiden.

Seriously, how cute is that??! LOVE IT!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game.....

2009-05-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

We took Aiden out to watch the Ranger's game Wednesday night. Sadly theydidn't win, but we still had a great time. I absolutly love baseball,and getting to watch it live is even better! I Remember going as achild; Sitting in the old stadium, eating hotdogs, watching Nolan Ryan in alll his greatness...... It's so amazing to think we're making memories like that with our kids. Aiden had so much fun! He doesn't completely understand how the game works just yet, so every time thecrowd would yell he would ask, "Who won?!" And that got to be pretty comical. He got a new Ranger's baseball, and a chance to play a few games before the game started. We all had a lot of fun and we're really looking forward to going again later this summer.

Aiden and I took our first dip in the pool for the summer yesterday. The water was a bit cooler than I like, but Aiden didn't seem to mind it one bit. His swimming was a bit rusty starting off, but I by the time we left he was doing much better. We plan on getting lots of time in at the pool this summer, so I'm not too worried about it, I'm sure he'll be all over the pool again in a few short weeks.

That's it for us today....... hope you all enjoy your weekend!

**New pictures in our album**

Gearing up for Summer!

2009-05-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

Wow! Can you believe it's been well over a month since we updated this thing last?? Oops!! I promise to try and do better - I'll at least keep the pictures updated. Deal?? Deal.

As the title reads, we're gearing up for summer. The school year wraps up next week. Both kiddos have done great this year. Adam wrapped up his semester almost two weeks ago. He did fantastic, but come on -is anyone surprised??? He got A's in both classes. BIG pat on the back for a job well done :)

With the school year winding down, that means the count down for summer break has officially begun! Ryann will be coming home the day after school ends and will be herw for 5 weeks! We're all looking forward to that!! She has decided to take a swimming course as her summer activity. Aiden decided on soccer! Both kids are very much looking forward to starting their chosen activity. We spent last weekend getting them outfitted. Aiden and Adam had a great time picking out all the first timers essentials. Then the search began for two swim suits we could all agree on............ it was so much easier to dress them when they didn't have an opinion (LOL). In the end I think everyone was happy, and no tears were shed - so a pretty good shopping trip.

I had tons more I planned on sharing, but it's been a LONG day, and I'm pretty sure I hear the couch calling my name....... Until next time, and I promise it won't be another month...

*new pics up*

Blah, blah, blah…….

2009-04-17T22:16:00.000-05:00

It’s been SOOOOOOO long since a real update; and I’m sorry, but we are so beyond busy these days!! So much has been going on; I doubt I can remember it all. And; even if I could, I highly doubt you would want to read every detail. If you’re anything like us the time you get to sit (away from work), much less get on the computer, is a luxury. But, here are a few of the ‘high’ points.

Adam turned 31 in March! I love my old man (he he!) Okay, so he isn’t really old, but it’s still fun to tease him. He had to have steroid shots in his back for some disk issues. He’ll have another set next week. I think the first set helped a little, but not enough. He’s pretty much in at least mild pain ALL the time – poor guy.

Grandma Jane came for a visit. It sure was nice to see her! Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend much time with her. Adam, Aiden and I all ended up sick and stuck at home for most of the week she was here. We really hope we’ll get to spend more time with her before next year.

Ryann lost her second tooth. It’s just crazy to think she is the same little girl pictured here in 2004

WOW! They really do grow up too fast! She is doing well. Sweetest little girl you’ll ever meet. I’ve never met a more loving child. She’d hug you all day if you let her.

Nothing new to report on Aiden, he’s still growing like a weed. He can sweet talk just about any one into any thing……. We’re going to have our hands full when that boy discovers girls….. (Lord help us!)

We had a wonderful Easter this year. It was just the boys and I. Ryann was with her mom. Aiden was very excited for the Easter bunny to come and visit. He left some carrots and lettuce out for him… or her, Aiden hasn’t decided if the Easter bunny is male or female. He seemed pretty pleased with his basket of goodies. He is a real pro at hunting for eggs. He got to participate in 3 egg hunts this year, one a school, one with his cousins and one at Gamma and Papa’s house. All I can say is thank the Lord for sugar free candy! I’ll leave you with a few pictures of our Easter. As always check out our photo albums to view more.

Must see!

2009-04-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

I've shared a few videos in the past of church messages, and I truly hope you watched them. Here is another one .... a MUST see. This was the message we heard Easter morning - really, you must watch!

If you like what you see, please join us this coming Sunday as this is the first part of this POWERFUL series. I know we have a lot of "readers" who aren't sure about the whole "God thing" so I'm urging you to come visit Keystone - I promise it'll be worth it.

Losing My Religion - Part 1 - Nicodemus (Easter) from Keystone Church on Vimeo.

I know we've been kinda MIA, and I promise to update you guys all real soon on what we've been up to, but until then watch the video above!!! (If you are a subscriber to the blog, and you got this in your email you might have to venture out to our actual blog to see the video. www.naborsfamily.blogspot.com )

We hope you all had an AWESOME Easter!

Big boy!

2009-02-25T16:57:00.000-06:00

It’s official, he’s four; I don’t know how it happened. I swear I was holding him in the hospital....blinked and here he is FOUR years old!! Aiden had a really terrific birthday. It was so nice to have his party on his actual birthday. He woke up to find a gift from Daddy and Mommy waiting for him:

He LOVED it. The first thing he said was, “I’m going to have to be very careful, ‘cause that is huge!” He and Ryann took it out for a ride and the whole time Aiden was yelling, “THIS IS SO COOL, IT’S AWESOME!!!!!”. Both kids had a blast riding around the neighborhood.

Aiden is SO into Star Wars, and asked that his party have a Star Wars theme. Here is the cake:

Seriously how cool is that?!! The party was at ASI Gymnastics at Aiden’s request. The party was a lot of fun for the kids. I was a little bored, because they did EVERYTHING. I didn’t even have to unload my car……. Which was nice, but I like to do and be in control so I was going a little crazy! After the party we went home and Aiden opened his gifts. That kid so spoiled, he got everything he could ever want!! Thanks to everyone who came to the party, sent birthday wishes and gifts. Aiden really appreciates it all!

Sunday we headed to Benbrook to have breakfast and visit with Uncle Frank, Aunt Brenda, John and Jennifer. We all had such a wonderful time!! We don’t get to visit with any of them often enough, so this was defiantly the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning. As we were climbing in the car headed to lunch both kids were already asking when we could come back and play some more!

Monday afternoon I took Aiden in for his well check. He's doing great!! He weighed in at 39.4lbs and 42" tall, both just above the 75th percentile. He had to get four shots :( He did SO great though! The first two were in his arm. He watched the nurse administer those. He didn't even flinch - I was impressed! The second two were in his leg. Those made him cry and he asked the nurse, "Please stop". The tears stopped almost as soon as she was finished. He told me, "I didn't know they were going to be pointy". He had his first hearing and vision test and passed both. So I guess he is well on his way to turning five.

Happy Birthday Precious Boy!!!!

2009-02-21T00:18:00.000-06:00

Just typing this seems surreal. You can’t REALLY be four already…. Can you?? Didn’t we JUST bring this sweet baby home from the hospital??

The past four years have been an amazing journey, that I thank God for every night. You are my pride and joy. I am so very blessed to be your mommy!

Take a little walk with me down memory lane..........

@6months: I can hardly remember you being this small.

@ 1 year: How cute is that little stinker?!

@ 2 years: And I thought you were a big boy then!

@ 3 years: Growing WAY too fast!

@ 4 years: You amaze me everyday!!!

My Dad is MY Rock Star!

2009-02-10T15:06:00.000-06:00

Well, that was the theme for this years Daddy Daughter sweetheart ball any ways. Mr and Miss Nabors had a wonderful time! Ryann was so excited about this years dance, she started asking about it just after Thanksgiving!!

I'm so happy they have this special event to look forward to, a night just for the two of them! They are so lucky to have each other!!

To see more pictures check out our albums.

Learning to build/write compound words...

2009-02-06T07:38:00.001-06:00

Hello, hello!

2009-02-04T17:11:00.000-06:00

My boys and I took a trip to College Station for Chandler’s, (Jenny and Emrick’s son) forth birthday!

Chandler is a whole 20 days older than Aiden and one of my best friend’s sons. The boys have only had the chance to spend time with each other a handful of times in the past four years, although you would never guess it! The second we walked in the door the boys were in the play room, acting like life long friends. We got into town Friday night, and Chan-man’s party was Saturday. Before and after the party we visited some of our favorite places in College Station, and then Saturday night we headed to Magnolia to visit with Jayme, (another bestie!) and Patrick.

Sunday we headed back to College Station did a little more shopping and eating before heading home. We had a wonderful time, but were happy to return home. We were also ready to pick up Jax from Aunt Kim’s…. we really missed the little guy!

Life has not calmed down around here. It feels like we are on the go ALL the time. Our home has become the place where we sleep and that’s about it. There are days were that wears on us a bit, but we’re all handling it quite well. Work keeps Adam and I super busy these days…. Adam may not even get this weekend off. Saturday, he’ll get home just in time to whisk his little princess off to the annual Daddy Daughter Dance; and they are both very much looking forward to that! I’m still trying to figure out something special for me and the boy to do that night, he is so jealous he can’t go to the dance.

The kids had a dentist appointment almost two weeks ago, and unfortunately Ryann has her first cavity. We’ll be getting that taken care of next week we hope. Daddy’s on a mission to get all that scheduled.

Aiden’s birthday is coming up in less than three weeks! Can you believe he is going to be FOUR?!! Boy, time sure has flown!! We’re very excited; his party will actually be ON his birthday this year. And if you’re wondering, no I haven’t forgotten about you – I still haven’t sent out the invites yet, (YIKES!!!!) I hope to have that done by the end of the week, (if you know me at ALL, this is a pretty big indication of how busy we are...) He’ll have his first school field trip the week following his birthday. I’m hoping to take the day off to tag along.

School is going really well for all three of my scholars. Ryann took the SARR test again last week, and we should be receiving the results soon; I can’t wait to see how much her skills have improved since the beginning of the year. Her last report card was great, pulled her one B up and now has all A’s! Aiden is doing really great. I believe his evaluation should be done soon too. Adam hasn’t been back from the holidays that long, but I think things are pretty good there too.

Well, I better get going; I need to help Aiden pack his bag for his trip to the moon tomorrow, (they are focusing on the solar system this month at school) he is SO excited!

**blogger is being a real pain, and won't let me add any pictures to this post, so check out the photo albums....**

He has a name....

2009-01-26T19:56:00.001-06:00

After MUCH family discussion, our newest boy has a name....

JAX! We settled on Jax after names such as Darth Vader, and Shaggy were vetoed. We're still working on picking a middle name so we can get his paper work in order, bu isn't he just the cutest?!!

Now our family is complete!

2009-01-25T21:37:00.001-06:00

Welcome, no name boy Nabors......

we're working on the no name part.

The little guy is almost 4 months old, and TOO cute! The kids and I are SOOOOOOOOOO excited to add a dog to our family, Adam will come around! He is a Yorkie, just what I always wanted!!! He's still trying to get use to us and the house, but I think he is going to love his new home.

Headed to School,

2009-01-21T19:49:00.000-06:00

and looking absolutely adorable!

Jekyll & Hyde

2009-01-19T18:09:00.000-06:00

If you've got time, and if you dont, you should find it to watch these services. They are GREAT! These were last week, and the week before church services..... really awesome!

"Even before Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, people have wrestled with the inner battle between good and evil. This is still true today. Love vs. Lust, Peace vs. Anger, Self-Control vs. Lack of Control, Trust vs. Jealousy, Truth vs. Lies. Is it possible to win this battle? It is not only possible...it is guaranteed. In the coming weeks, Keystone Church will discover how God provides us a way to experience true change that will last. "

Jekyll & Hyde - Part 1 - What's Your Problem? from Keystone Church on Vimeo.

Jekyll & Hyde - Part 2 - Self-Help Won't Cut It from Keystone Church on Vimeo.

Overwhelmed in '09??

2009-01-08T16:26:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are eight days into the New Year. If you do resolutions, I hope you've already made great strides in achieving them! 2009 is already proving to be a busy year for us. I don't know that I'll ever get caught up at work. One of the things I love about my job is the fact that I stay busy, every day I have something new and challenging to work on, it really keeps me on my toes! However, with the economy plunging and people loosing their jobs at a record rate; I am BEYOND busy!! For those of you who don't know, I work in insurance. My specific job is converting and continuing life insurance policies for people after they leave their employer. It seems like every day I leave work, I have more untouched applications than I did when I got there. You may call it job security; I call it a pain in my back side! LOL!!

The house is another job that will keep me very busy this year. When we bought our house, not quite 3 years ago; we bought it thinking we had plenty of growing room. Ha! We have accumulated so much "stuff" over the past 3 years, I'm just sick of it. If you know me, you know I'm not a pack rat. I despise clutter and a mess. However, with all the "stuff" we've managed to amass, it seems impossible to have a clean, clutter free home. Even with my ritual purge cleanings that happen every few months. So, over the next month (yes, I'm giving myself a month -- I'm a working woman these days!) I will be purging like never before! Shhh, don't tell Adam.... I don't know where he picked up his hoarding from, but I've got to put an end to it!

Adam is going to be SUPER busy this year too. Work is going to being consuming much of Adam's time. He currently is working in SAP, if you don't know what that is; don't ask.... if you would be interested in it, you'd already know (lol!). They will be wrapping up the big changes, and going live this summer, we've already been told to expect 6 day work weeks the months leading up to and following "going live". He'll also be finishing up that Systems Engineering degree. He has done such an amazing job thus far keeping work, school and home life from conflicting; and I'm confident he'll continue to do a great job! Although, we are all looking forward to more family time once the diploma is in hand!

I remember being younger, and wishing to be older....... WHAT was I thinking??!! Ahhh, to be back in high school, when I didn't have a care in the world.....

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-31T16:35:00.000-06:00

Bye bye ’08, you were a good year; we enjoyed our time with you. But, we’re SO excited to see what ’09 has in store for us!

2008 really was a great year; it was full of amazing blessings for our little family. My favorite being, (or at lease one of my top 5)….. my return to the working world! I know; I had some reservations about it in the beginning. But, now I couldn’t be happier with my decision to return to work! Not to mention the job, which I was truly blessed with, is amazing. I work for an awesome corporation and with a great group of people… so for me this was one of my favorite things about ’08.

2008 brought some new and exciting things for the rest of the family too…. Ryann is now in the FIRST grade, kinda crazy huh? She started learning the violin and ballet, lost her fist tooth! Scored her first goal in soccer!!! What an exciting year for our princess!

We found out what a little smarty Aiden is in ‘08! At just 3 years old he finishes up this year working on a combination of kindergarten and first grade school work!! He started 2 new schools, and moved up another level in gymnastics!

Adam changed jobs within Lockheed this year, started playing indoor soccer, got his little body in great physical shape, all while working on his masters in systems engineering, (which he’ll finish up in August!)

Like I said it was a good year! We’re so excited to see what new adventures are in store for our family and yours in 2009!

Please have a wonderful and SAFE New Years Eve!

I’ve updated our photo albums, instead of seeing an individual album for each month of ’08 on the main page, you’ll see albums for each year; there is an album for each month within each yearly album… Enjoy!

Happy New Year,
Adam, Courtney, Ryann and Aiden

Sound it out - the video take 2!!

2008-12-30T10:03:00.001-06:00