December Pictures

I just thought I would post some pictures from our holiday activities. Hope you enjoy!

Christmas and the New Year

Well, Christmas is over and it is back to the daily grind, or whatever you want to call it. We had a very good holiday season. We went to a friend's house for Christmas Eve and had a wonderful meal and also got to know some knew people. We came home and read the Night Before Christmas and then put out Cookies and Milk for Santa. The kids went to bed pretty quickly and Matt and I had a pretty laid back evening. Matt was the first one up on Christmas morning since he couldn't wait to see if the Cowboys had won or not. Christmas morning flew by as usual and the kids were very happy it had finally come. Colin didn't even want to open his presents after the first one. Everytime we tried to get him to open something he hit it away and went back to playing with his truck. Ryan opened his own presents and then the ones that Colin didn't want to open. We invited our friends and neighbors over for a Christmas brunch and that was really enjoyable as well. The food was great. Our family took a nap in the afternoon and then we went to another friend's house for Christams dinner. Again we stuffed ourselves and the food was great.

Ryan was a real brat on Christmas day and was very unappreciative of his toys and the things people do for him. So we went through his toys the other day and he picked out toys to go to the orphanage in town. Ryan is also still riding his bike with no training wheels and seems to have that skill pretty well down now. Of all the toys he got for Christmas his favorite seems to be his Spiderman games and the Army guys that I got him for a dollar. He also is really enjoying some swimming bath toys that he got. Colin is scared of them though so he has to use them when they are not taking a bath together.

Colin loves one of the trucks that he got and pulls it out everyday to play. He is saying a few more words now like "go" and "help". He is really enjoying having a dog and is even a little protective of her. Whenever we go outside our dog and the neighbors dog play and whenever Colin sees them rolling around and barking he comes over and yells no at the neighbors dog and tries to hit their dog to keep her away from Tasha.

Matt went back to work yesterday after having 11days off. He enjoyed his vacation, but was happy to get back in the swing of things. I started a workout plan with my neighbor on Monday and have been trying to put some efftort into that. Matt and I got a baby sitter on New Year's Eve and went to a party. We had a lot of fun eating, drinking, and dancing. New Year's Day ended up being a really warm day so I took the kids out to the park for several hours and then I took Ryan to the beach for awhile.

Well, I will be posting pictures up here soon, but for now I am just going to post this up. I will try to have the pictures up by the end of the week. Happy New Year everyone!

Almost Christmas

Well, It has been more than a month since I have updated so I will see if I can get it all in. If you notice above we have a new addition to our family, Tasha, but let me start with Thanksgiving...

We had our neighbors with thier two kids and our good friends who also have one child over for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyhting turned out great and I think everyone had a good time. Thanksgiving has to be the worst holiday for kids though...to them all it amounts to is another day where you force them to eat and there aren't many other highlights. Of course Matt missed being able to watch the game on Thanksgiving. He had to get up very early in the morning the next day to catch the game.

Matt and I both had very busy weeks the first two weeks of December as we tried to get ready for the holidays as well as finals. In addition we are both still working on our online class. I got my grade back for my class already and it seems that I got an 89%. It sure does stink to be that close to an A and not get it. Matt is still waiting for his grade in History, but I'll bet he got an A.

I stopped doing the daycare and turned all of the extra toys and other stuff back into the office. I feel like a huge load is lifted off my shoulders and I am so happy that they will not be coming to inspect my house anymore! I am still watching the infant (Aidan). His mom doesn't care if I do it through the family child care people or not and now I can split the time between her home and mine.

Colin has been talking a lot more and now frequently uses the word "no" as well as several others. He is also pretty fiesty lately and certainly knows when he wants to do things such as eat or sleep. Of course he is still cute as can be and has aspirations of becoming the Future President (If you read the shirt in the picture above).

Ryan is now an old pro at tying his shoes and so he has moved on to riding his bike with no training wheels. He can actually make it all the way around the parking lot now without falling. Now all he needs is a bigger bike, but there is a birthday around the corner so I will probably wait until then. He is enjoying his break from school although I think he might be a little bored. We did make Christmas cookies though and he rolled, cut, and decorated his own. He did a great job.

Matt has to work this week and then he will have next week, the week after Christmas off. Hopefully, we can go a few places as a family while he has that time off. He also has a pretty long break from school (unitl the end of January) so he is ready to relax a bit. His history class was very difficult and I know he isn't looking forward to the second half of it next term.

Matt's Squadron had a Christmas party last Friday that we got to go to. We didn't drive there and had someone watching the kids, so we both got to have some fun. We even won the game of Pictionary in the drawing for prizes.

We have quite a few places to go and people to see over Christmas weekend, so I am sure we will be busy. Despite everything, we sure do miss being around family for the Holidays. I will update again after Christmas with pictures of the kids and us. Until next time...

Pictures

We got our family pictures done the other day and they turned out pretty good. The more people you get together though the harder it is to get everyone to look and not blink. The first two pictures are just pictures that my friend also took that I think turned out particularly well. The second picture is next to where we did the actually photo shoot. Hopefully, I will get some chrismas cards together soon and send them out with the pictures.

Ryan had a parent teacher conference the other day and it was mostly good. She said that he is at a kindergarten level for most things and even at a 1st grade level for some. She did say that he needs to work on his behavior when it comes to getting along with the other kids. Hopefully, he will get better as the year goes on. She also said that because he is ahead in so many areas that she is going to set him up with a few long term projects to work on.

Colin says bye-bye now. We had him evaluated by the early intervention people and they said that he is not delayed but rather slightly behind the curve. So, they just want to make sure that he adds a few words from time to time.

Matt and I have been busy with school. Matt got an A on his first test in history and so he is happy about that. I have been busy with the daycare this week as well. Next week will be a short week for all of us due to Thanksgiving. We hare having Thanksgiving dinner here and we invited a couple of people to come over.

Well, I have kids coming so I better go. Love you all.

Halloween

Well, I am not going to make this very long but I wanted to update after Halloween so that everyone could look at the boys' costumes. Ryan did a lot of trick-or-treating and Colin went to a few houses as well. They both looked great and got enough candy to last the year as usual.

Also a bit of new news on Ryan...he can spell three words now four if you count his name. He can spell and therefore read the words "yes", "no", and "mom". He is always coming home with the new things that he has learned that day.

Anyway, I better go, I have homework to do!

Holiday

This will be the second time I have updated the journal although after I typed the last one Colin reached up and pushed a button to delete it, so here it goes again. Today is Columbus Day so we are all off of work and school. I got to sleep in today because Matt got up at 5am to watch the Cowboys play. Actually, I think that he watched the two am game as well and just stayed up all night. He is in bed now and wants me to wake him up at about 4pm. Colin is asleep as well and so Ryan and I are being very lazy!

Ryan loves school and is ahead of his class in most ways as far as counting and writing his name. He is very impressed by one girl who can tie her own shoes though and even calls her his girlfriend. He loves his teacher and that is a big plus as well. He is also still loving football and will often times ask to watch it on TV when Matt isn't even here. There goes any TV time I had left! Ryan has been sick the past two weeks and I had to take him to the emergency room. It turns out he had a very bad ear infection and his eardrum burst. He is feeling much better now.

Colin is doing well and is a pretty good listener. He lays down when I tell him it is time to change his diaper and gets his shoes out when it is time to go. This is quite the opposite from Ryan who I used to have to force to the ground for a diaper change. He also says "Uh-Oh" all the time now. It is very cute. Colin has been sick as well and went to the doctor on Friday only to find out that he as well has a very bad ear infection. He is beginning to get better already. You gottta love those antibiotics.

Matt just finished up his government class and now has a two week break until the next term starts. He is still playing flag football and really enjoying it. Right now his team is undefeated and so we are excited about that. Work has been slow and boring for him lately, so nothing much is new there. Matt has also been playing basketball every saturday which is also a lot of fun for him.

I am sick as well and have been for the past 2 weeks or so. I started getting sick on our Anniversary so we ended up not going snorkling and playing very little tennis. I also had a birthday this weekend and so I went out for a sort of girls night on saturday. I had fun but I am sure I got sicker in the process. I am also getting ready to sign up for next term of classes, I am still not sure if I am making the right decision, but I guess I will only know in hindsight.

Anyway, Happy birthday to all of you who just had a birthday in september and the beginning of October. I hope this finds all of you well and that you enjoy the pictures above. The pictures of Ryan are from his first day of school.

Sunday News

Well, I haven't updated lately, but mostly due to a lack of anything interesting happening. We have been busy, but it has just been much of the same. However, here it goes...

Ryan starts school tomorrow and is very excited. I hope he stays as enthusiastic and then I will be happy as well. His teacher came here to our house for a home visit and he really seems to like her. On that same note and even better, she really seems to like him. That sounds a little silly since she is a teacher, but there are many adults who, by no fault of their own just don't like Ryan. I can pick those people out almost as soon as we meet them. Ryan has also been really into football lately. He runs around the house throwing it up at himself and being his own commentator.

Colin has been saying quite a few more words now. Although he says them only from time to time instead of constantly. He is getting so hefty with his big belly that a lot of his clothes are starting not to fit. I guess it is about time to move up a size. He still loves water. We went to a birthday party yesterday where they had a pool and sprinkler and he wouldn't hardly get out of the water, not even for cake! I wish now that I would have taken my camera over there.

Matt is finishing up his this term of school an dso he is happy aboput that. If we can find a babysitter we are going to be taking a class together this next term. It will be a Spanish class, this way we can practice together. Matt has been taking plenty of days off of work lately, mostly due to his frustration with everything and everyone there. He gets mad and he takes leave so he won't have to be there. Matt is playing flag football and has his first scrimmage today. Then we are going out to eat a day early for his birthday. He has his birthday off, so he will be going golfing and also taking Ryan to school for his first day.

I have been busy taking care of too many kids and trying to do other things as well. I got up early yesterday and went to tent sale they had for all kinds of toys. I have finished shopping for Ryan and now just need to get him a couple of small things. I got Colin a couple of things too, but even though he doesn't have much I probably won't get him too much more. We have so many toys already. After the tent sale I went to a yard sale they had on base and got tons of clothes for Colin. Matt and I have an anniversary coming up, so we have a babysitter for half of the day. We are going to go play tennis, so snorkling, go out to eat, and then go to the movies. I am very excited and I just hope the weather is nice.

Anyway, I have to head to grocery store for my weekly visit. I hope all is well with all of you and I hope to hear from you soon.

Note: Believe it or not Ryan loves tacos now and actually ate most of what was on his plate in that picture above.