Dec. 2009

One of our wonderful MOPS mentor moms, Nita, brought the boys a project to do...decorating gift bags for Christmas presents. She brought 2 bags, markers and stamps and it kept the boys busy for an hour!! They had a great time...thank you, Nita!

Daddy relaxing with his boys.

We had an entire week between Brock getting out of school and Christmas. The boys asked to go to a park one day. Luckily I remembered to take my camera and got quite a few good shots of them.

Ryan on the playground...I love this picture!

Rock climbing.

Every time we walk over this bridge, Brock & Ryan have to stop and see if there are any tadpoles. This time there were quite a few and some tiny fish, too. I bet they spent 45 minutes laying on this bridge looking at and playing with the tadpoles. I had to drag them away kicking and screaming! I love how the smallest of things is the biggest of wonders for kids.

The last day of Community Bible Study before the Christmas break, the kids came in and sang some of the songs they learned that semester. Here is one sung by Ryan and the rest of the CBS kiddoes.

Christmas 2009

Polar Express
About 2 1/2 hours from here, in Palestine, the Texas State Railroad has a Polar Express around Christmastime. We'd never been, but heard it was a lot of fun for the kids. We decided to take Brock and Ryan this year and it was as good as we'd heard. The boys had a great time and it was so much fun getting in that Christmas spirit.

The train arriving at the depot.

On the Polar Express.

Brock with his hot chocolate.

Ryan with his hot chocolate...all over his face!

Brock and Ryan with Santa.

Christmas Tree

Putting up the Christmas tree this year was fun because, for the first time, both of the boys were old enough to really get into it and have fun. We give the boys an ornament every year. This year Brock got Star Wars: Clone Wars and Ryan got Batman (imagine that!).

Brock and Daddy putting the angel on top of the tree.

Cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

Steve's family came to celebrate with us.

The entire O'Neal family except for our sweet nephew, Logan.

Santa brought a Wii for our family. Here's Brock golfing.

Ryan with his "Yoda stuffed animal." He wanted this Yoda so badly. For about 2 months before Christmas, almost every night when I would ask Ryan what he wanted to thank God for, he would say, "Thank you God for the Yoda stuffed animal that Santa is going to bring me!" Thank goodness Santa knew just where to find it!!

The aftermath.

Nov. 2009

Fire Station
Ryan and I went to a playdate at a fire station. He had a great time and looked so cute in the fire truck!

Thanksgiving

The Brockman's had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Everyone was able to come, exept Don and Kelley (we missed you!!). We were able to get a couple pretty good pictures of everyone. This is the whole Brockman/O'Neal crew sans Don & Kelley.

All the Brockman/O'Neal kids.

Our wonderful family.

Walter, Greg, Carmen, Paul

Ryan's Soccer ~ Sept. - Nov. 2009

Ryan played Hot Shots soccer this year. He did pretty good and seemed to like it. He enjoys running around and being outside, so this was perfect!

One Sunday, the kids were invited to an A&M women's soccer game and got to do a little half-time show. They got to make a tunnel for the A&M players and give them five as they ran out onto the field.

Here's Ryan's half-time show. He's in the orange shirt. I don't know what was going on with him, but it's pretty funny to watch.

Ryan and My Conversation

About a week ago, Brock and Ryan were riding in the car with me. Steve and I had previously mentioned that birds don't get shocked on a high wire because they are only touching one wire. So here is the conversation that day in the car:

Ryan: One time I touched a wire and got shocked (pronounced "shock ded").
Me: You did?
Ryan: Yep and I went to the hospital and the doctor broke my leg.
Me: He did?!?! Well, that's not a very good doctor then.
Brock: Ryan broke his leg?
Me: No, he's just pretending.
Ryan: Yes, I did!!!!!!
Me: No, you didn't.
Ryan: Yes, I did!!! A long time ago!
Me: No, you didn't. A long time ago, you were just a baby.
Brock: Ryan broke his leg when he was a baby?
Me: No.
Ryan: YES, I DID!!!!!
Me: No, you've never broken a leg.
Ryan: YES, I DID!!!!!!
Me: O.K., Ryan...whatever.

Oh, out of the mouths of babes. I think I was laughing the rest of the day.

Antiquities Pictures

My Mother's of Preschoolers (MOPS) group had a fundraiser with Antiquities Photography. I knew I'd love the pictures, but I didn't know I would love ALL of the pictures!! These are the best pictures of Brock and Ryan that we've eve had made.

Birthdays and Parties

Brock's Birthday ~ Oct. 28 Ryan's Birthday ~ Oct. 30This year, we decided to have their birthday party on Halloween and ask their friends to dress up. It was a lot of fun and we hope everyone had a great time. After the party, we all went trick-or-treating together.
They couldn't even wait to get in the house to eat their candy!!!

Halloween

The boys got these great jack-o-lantern kits last year for their birthday. They had fun putting them together this year, too! Brock is saying "Ya Har!!!" with his pirate jack-o-lantern.

Ryan and Daddy with their monster jack-o-lantern.

Captain Rex (Brock) and Batman (Ryan).

Brock ~ Flag Football

Brock played flag football again this year and really had fun. He also seemed to learn a lot, too.Brock as the center. I think he liked playing defense more. He got quite a few flags throughout the season.A couple parents made this banner for the kids to run through. Brock is in the middle and Steve on the left.Brock and Coach Daddy with his trophy.Brock scoring his only touchdown of the season.