Turkey Hangover...

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

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

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

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

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

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

and a few of the progress.

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

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

Happy Holidays!!

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

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

Pictures in ICE!

 Kids on the snow hill

 Around the Gaylord

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

Colonial Day

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

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

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

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

Prayers needed

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

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

Family Pictures!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

FUN FUN FUN!

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Halloween!!!!

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!!

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

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!