Nana & Papaw Visit

We celebrated Christmas with Nana & Papaw, and they came with tons of gifts.  Since Uncle Clint had to work, he sent his gifts with Nana.  The boys loved the combat toys, and I am wondering who will cry first.

Our neighborhood goes all out decorating for Christmas.  One house did a Whooville scene, complete with a cute photo board.  The kiddos and grandparents braved the freezing temperatures to take a quick picture. 

Ridley loved the craziness of all the gift opening and paper going everywhere.  Her favorite gift was Sophie the Giraffe.  

Fun with Grandparents

Nana and Papaw came out to visit for the weekend, and the kiddos had a great time playing and visiting.  John Chris and I had an opportunity to get some time out of the house without little ones.  It was great!

More Family Christmas

We celebrated more Christmas with my mom and her husband this weekend.  It was a laid back celebration, and the boys loved all the toys.  They were thrilled to play with all their new goodies!

Front page

We spent the morning on the back porch talking, relaxing, and browsing through the paper.  I looked all through the promotional pages, when John Chris handed me the front page.  There was my mom with her hands up and yelling for beads.  What!  Crazy!

Haircut

Ryland's hair grows so quickly, and he has needed a haircut for the past few weeks.  I asked him if he wanted to get a haircut, and he told me he wanted me to cut it at home.  I have cut his hair before, but I am always at a loss for what to do with his sideburns.  I asked Nana while she was in town, and she said she agreed to give it a shot.  We decided to go ahead and trim them short with hopes of training them to go back more.  Ryland was very happy with the haircut, and he was all smiles.

It's Christmas

We celebrated Christmas again, and the boys were absolutely thrilled to open more gifts.  Nanna and Papaw came to visit for the weekend, so we were back in the holiday spirit. 

 

 

Ryland was beyond words when he opened the rescue set. He just screamed with joy!

We all led Reed out to the garage for his last gift.  He knew what it was the moment he saw the track.  The grin is precious.

 

The new toys gave the adults several moments of quietness.  I hadn't heard anything out of Ryland for a while, so I wanted to see what he was up to.  I found him in the dining room playing. I just love this age.  He is getting so imaginative and exploring new things.

Matching shirts

The boys returned home with lots of cool new clothes.  Out of all of the shirts, Ryland loves the "Nana" and "superheroes" shirts.  I let him choose his clothes, and he selected the "Nana" shirt today.  When Reed realized that he could match Ryland, it was all over.  Both boys were a perfect match.  When Ryland put on a cap, Reed wanted a cap.  They are little twinkies.

Thanks for the new clothes, Nana!

Joe T's

After lunch at Joe T Garcia's, we wondered around the back gardens for some pictures.  Ryland and mommy pose by the fountain.

Ryland asked if he could get in.

Ryland and Nana

Fort Worth Stockyards

Ryland and I played tourists in the Fort Worth Stockyards today in celebration of Nana's birthday.  We had planned to ride the train from Grapevine, but when we arrived at the station we learned all the seats were sold.  I couldn't believe that they were sold out!  We decided to drive on down and have some fun anyway.

Ryland was a little unsure of this tough looking bunch of cowboys, but he warmed up to them quickly as they chatted with him a bit.  It was rather amusing to see them snap back into character for the photo.  Doesn't Ryland fit right in with his plaid shorts and Polo?  Don't let him fool you, he is ruthless.

We had been in Fort Worth for a while, when we heard the train come into the station.  It was an hour late!  Oh my, we lucked out and didn't get a ticket.  That would have been one hot ride!  We will try again in the fall.

Ryland posed with a tractor as we discussed what was so smelly stinky.  Cow s**t.  Whoops!

Ryland is about done with all the site seeing.  We had a great day full of fun.  We look forward to coming back when it is a little cooler.

Going to Nana's house

Our suitcase from the trip to meet Ally has been sitting in the floor for the past few days. I finally got around to emptying it out and putting it up today. Ryland helped me empty it pretty quickly by throwing all the stuff on the floor and jumping inside. After seeing this fun, Reed wanted in on the fun too. Both of them laughed hysterically while sitting in the empty suitcase.
I told them I was going to zip them up - Where do you want to go?
Ryland answered - Nana's house.
I thought this was so cute. We spent the next hour playing in the bedroom floor and talking about all the places we could go.

Ryland once again got in on the picture taking, by snapping this shot of Reed.

Yummy sucker

Nana sent a treat for Ryland, and boy did he love it. He was a bit puzzled at first and wanted to talk about all the shapes, but he soon decided to go for it.

I know I will pay for this sugar high in a few minutes, but I captured the pure joy before the craziness started.

Fun at Nana's house

Ryland and Reed spent a few days at Nana's house, and from the pictures I can tell they had a great time.

Outside fun at Nana's

Ride 'em cowboys! Ryland rode this horse to town and back and back again. He loves this old stallion. It was a bit funny to watch him slide around. He just wasn't dressed in his cowboy best. Nana knows who to call if the horse ever comes up missing.
Drinking from the sprinkler.

Loving every minute of playing in the water.

Visiting family

While in Texarkana, I wanted to take the boys out to see the Great Grandparents. They had never met Reed, and it had been awhile since they had seen Ryland. Grandmother Sue enjoyed holding and playing with Reed.
Ryland heard a few train whistles while we were visiting, and Poppy would take him outside to watch the trains go by. Poppy also knew where some new baby birds were. He showed Ryland the nest with the new babies, and Ryland thought they were cute.

Nana and Ryland "cheesing" for the camera.

We had a great visit, and I am glad my grandparents were able to see the boys. It was very difficult to get out of town with 2 little ones, but it was worth the ordeal. I now need to get both of them to Ruston to visit with their other great grandmother, GiGi.

Robot

Nana brought Ryland a new toy robot. He was a little unsure about it when they turned him on. The robot started moving his feet and making noises.

Ryland walked around the robot to check it out before he got too close. After a few short moments, he decided he would get a little closer.

Ryland and Nana sat down to check out the robot up close and personal. The robot started spinning around and shooting. I am pretty sure the robot is not for 2 year olds, but as long as we keep an eye on him it will be OK. The guns have been removed for safety and kiddo morale.