Christmas Fun Continues

We are enjoying our family time together and playing with every new toy.  Today, we are making homemade cotton candy.  It was pretty interesting to learn how cotton candy is made and watch the hard candy turn into thin strings.  It was very easy to find a few cute taste testers.

The bickering brothers discovered a new "punishment" today.  Hug it out timeout!  Ha!

Ridley wore herself out playing with all her new dolls.  Tonight she chose to sleep with Elena.  Such a sweet cuddler.

Texarkana Thanksgiving

We are making the rounds for Thanksgiving fun.  Our first stop was Texarkana to see Nana and Papaw.  We also got to visit with our nieces and nephews, and I just love watching the kids play together.

Awards at Practice

Ryland was given a few awards at practice today for his awesome performance at Saturday's game.  The top prize was Pokemon cards.  These cards are super popular, so he was swarmed by his teammates to see what he received. I was so proud of him, and he was so excited to be recognized.

Girls Day in Dallas

Ridley and I headed to Dallas for a bit of errands.  I had a doctor's appointment and needed to drop off my bracelet, and we decided to make a day out of it.  After my seeing my doctor, I took Ridley on an elevator ride.  The building is 16 stories, and the elevator is glass.  We didn't need to ride it, since my doctor was on the ground floor, but who can say no to a glass elevator.  Up and down.  Up and down.  Ridley was loving every trip.  We made six trips up and down while we giggled.

We headed to Northpark to drop off my bracelet, and Ridley had a blast playing on the planters.  I think every child in Dallas has climbed on these things, and Ridley finally had her turn.  We looked at the art sculptures and counted turtles under the bridge.  We had so much fun.

Gold Dragon Team are Champions!

Ryland finished up the season with a first place finish.  The Gold Dragons fought hard to beat the bully team and an undefeated team.  This has been a great experience for Ryland and for our family.  We have been blown away by the coaches.  They always focused on fun and the love of the game.  Ryland grew so much on the field, but so much more off the field.  He made lots of new friends and learned to be proud of not running in his Old Union pack.

Black Dragon Team finish 3rd!

Reed finished up the season with a playoff tournament.  His team was played hard and almost beat the top ranked team.  They have improved so much over the past few months.  Reed started this season with tears at practice, and he is now proud and excited to play ball.  He has really grown in focus and determination.

Afternoon

It was a beautiful afternoon, so we had to get out and enjoy some sunshine!  We headed down to the neighborhood park to play.  I love these precious smiles!

Afternoon at the Park

It was a beautiful afternoon, so we just had to get out to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Reed and Ridley loved running and sliding at the neighborhood park.  My little ones are getting so big!

         

Baseball Season Begins

It is baseball time!  Ryland had his first game of the season since "leaguing up".  It was a great game that really made us realize this is getting more serious.  Even though they lost the game, Ryland was given the game ball for playing hard.  It made his day!

Ryland wants in the mix, and he likes to play infield.  He did great at shortstop.

Ridley found a perfect flowerbed to dig.  We tried to keep her out of the dirt, but she eventually won.

WCUMC Sports Day & Super Scientist

Reed had an awesome day at preschool.  It was sports day, so he played a little of every sport with his class.  I volunteered in the tee ball area, and I was excited for his class to rotate in to play.  He had so much fun.

Reed came home with the Super Scientist award.  When I asked him what he had done to get the award, he informed me that it was his turn. 

Christmas Day

We continued the tradition of Christmas Day with the Brashers.  After dinner, our children opened gifts, and the dads took over their Legos.

Benton, Reed, and Ryland dressed up in their new hunting gear and played hunting for hours.  I love how these three play so well together.  

Play Buddies

Since we are taking it easy this week as Ryland heals, we are finding new things to play with at home.  This afternoon Reed and Ridley played on a "ship" in my bedroom.  It was cute how they were playing so sweetly.  I did notice that Reed started putting pillows on Ridley, and I quickly figured out that it was to keep her stationary.  That boy!

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!

Reed's Blastball Season Ends

Today was Reed's last day of blastball.  He has loved every Saturday, and it has been awesome to watch his excitement.  He loves the wearing the uniform, talking about baseball, practicing baseball, and anything else baseball related.  John Chris has done a great job at coaching this team of misfits, and they all have had a blast this season.  Reed was thrilled to get his very own trophy.

Official team photo

Reed's first official baseball picture

Reed and his favorite Coach

My sweeties

Wouldn't you know that the coolest toy in our house is Ridley's new play mat.  She was in my office playing when her big brothers wanted to get in on the fun.  They were giggling and acting silly, and Ridley loved it.  She is lucky to have such wonderful big brothers that love to entertain.

T Ball

After a crazy day of birthday party fun, it was time for Ryland to play some T ball.  He was very excited to play on the real fields in his new uniform.  

He loves baseball!

Blastball

Today couldn't have come soon enough!  It was finally time for Reed to enjoy playing ball.  He has been so excited this week, and it was obvious that he was having the best time.  He ran the bases like a man on a mission for home plate.

Part of the Dragon Green Team

Walker, Nash, Travis, Reed, and Luke

"Baseball ready" 

Reed's first chance to bat off the tee. 

Leaves

We have a few older trees along the front side of our house and a few smaller trees in the front yard.  They have been holding on to their leaves until we had some crazy wind last night.  We woke up this morning to a yard covered in leaves.  The boys had this amazing idea to rake the leaves into one pile and jump in them.  John Chris and I thought this was cute, because they thought this idea was just the best thing ever.  

Ryland and Reed started working on the pile, when they got a huge help.  John Chris cranked up the blower and blew all the leaves into a large pile.  The boys went crazy!  They played and laughed for hours.  It was wonderful to watch them enjoy the simple joys of life.  

Sledding

Another day of ice and a little bit warmer temperature made today the perfect time to do some major sledding and snow ball fighting.  We all headed to the popular hill in the neighborhood to enjoy the winter fun.  Once again we had a blast enjoying the outdoors. 

Ice/Snow Day

We knew the winter weather was coming, but we could not prepare ourselves for the excitement of actually seeing the yard covered in ice and snow.  This was the first time Reed was actually interested and old enough to know what was going on.  He beamed with excitement from the minute he peeped out the window.

Ryland was ready to go out in it before breakfast or changing into clothes.  

After bundling up in all the warm winter clothes we had, we headed outside to do a little sledding.  John Chris immediately had an awesome idea of pulling the boys on the sleds behind the four wheeler.  Both boys loved it!

After playing out in the freezing cold for a while, we came inside to warm up and do some crafting.  We decided it was the perfect day to paint some wooden boats.  

It was time for another round of outdoor fun, but Reed was more interested in cuddling with me on the sofa by the fire.  It wasn't difficult to twist my arm, and I was happy to stay inside with my cuddle bug.  

It was such a great day of fun times full of laughter and sweet moments.