Ryan's 5th Birthday ~ Oct. 30, 2010

Ryan is all Ironman, all the time.  So, on his birthdate he got a lot of Ironman stuff, but he was most excited about getting a fish tank.  He has wanted one for a long time, so we got him a small 2.5 gallon tank.  He has since filled it with decorations and two fish.  Ryan was really nice and let Brock pick out a fish, which he named Lila.  Ryan named his fish Lightening Force, in regards to Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine & Count Dooku who have lightening force powers.  He has done a very good job taking care of them and feeding them.  He is so sweet and tells them good morning and good night every day.

His Ironman cupcakes.

The aftermath of the Ironman cupcakes!

For his party, he wanted to have a Halloween party, but an Ironman cake.

And of course, his costume was none other than...Ironman!

All his friends in their costumes.



Brock's 7th Birthday ~ Oct. 28, 2010

Brock wanted his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  I didn't really want to have it there, but it was his birthday, so we said o.k.  I have to admit, it turned out great!  The people working there were great and it was so easy.  He also wanted a Star Wars cake.  Since he had one last year, too, we decided to do it a little different.  We had the cake made, then he put his own characters on the cake.  He positioned them exactly how he wanted them with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker fighting in the middle, Darth Maul fighting Obi Wan Kenobi, Han Solo fighting a battle droid w/Yoda using "the force" on it, Chewbaca was about to hit the Stormtrooper on the head with (another) Luke Skywalker fighting the Stormtrooper and R2-D2 & C3-PO were looking on.  I think he did a great job...it turned out really cute!

Ryan racing a car at Chuck E. Cheese

Brock playing a game at C.E.C.

The Birthday Boy with Chuck E.

Blowing out his 7 candles

On his birthdate, we celebrated at home with Gramma.

One of his new toys...a really big lightsaber nightlight.

His birthday cupcakes.

After spaghetti and cake, there's always time for goofiness!



Oct. 2010

Houston

We took a short weekend trip to Houston the first part of October.  It was a great weekend.  We started out going to the dog races where all of us, including the kids, picked a dog that won a race!  Then we went to Rainforest Cafe'.  Brock has wanted to go thre for a long time and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.  After eating we went to Galveston Beach.  We had swimming suits for the boys, but told them we were just going to get our feet wet.  It all started out good...

...then turned into jumping into the waves...

...then all out swimming.  They had a blast and wore their dry swimming suits in the car to the hotel!

Once back at the hotel, we went for a swim in the indoor pool...

...and hot tub.  (Not a word about my "Squiggy" hair!!)

After swimming, the boys were so exhausted they fell asleep quickly.  I thought this was such a sweet picture.

The following day, we went to the Johnson Space Center.  They had a big Lego display that Ryan and Brock loved.  Here is Brock next to a life-size knight made entirely of Legos...

...and Ryan next to a dragon made out of Legos...

...one more Lego knight.  The pictures don't even do them justice.  They were really cool. 

Brock in a shuttle lander simulator.  He was close to landing it without crashing, but never quite got there.

Astronaut Ryan

Pretending we were in a shuttle.  They had cameras and intercom so we could communicate with other people pretending they were at Houston's JSC command room.  I don't think this shuttle was made for people my height!

Mommy and her boys outside JSC.

October 2010

Steve got up one morning to find the boys lying on the couch together.  I thought it was so cute we just had to take a picture!

After bath

Steve caught a lizard for Ryan to hold and pet.  Ryan was so excited I thought he was going to squish it.

After their first YMCA camping trip this year, the boys arrived home with new hats.  They won them for carving the best jack-o-lantern.

Brock and Ryan with all their Star Wars toys (on windowsill) and Millenium Falcon we got at a garage sale.  I think their fingers are supposed to be guns.

Brock and Ryan decided they wanted to take Daddy roller skating since we had so much fun this summer.  They started to really get the hang of it.

Steve's mom came and visited for the boy's birthdays.  We all enjoyed her stay.

Flag Football

Brock and Ryan both played flag football this year.  They did a great job and really learned a lot.  We could really tell a difference in Brock's play.  He still likes defense more than offense, but also did a little quarterbacking (which he said he liked!).  Steve helped coach both teams this year, too.

This is Brock as quarterback.  It was one of the last plays of the season.  He passed to a teammate who then went in and scored a touchdown!   It was a great play and he was so excited!

Brock getting a flag in a scrimmage.

Brock scoring a touchdown.

Ryan wasn't sure he wanted to play football.  Brock usually beats him at everything, so he thought that his team was going to lose all the time.  After the first practice, he told me that he really liked it and was happy that he was playing.  By the way, both of them scored at least one touchdown and both of their teams went undefeated this year!

Ryan in practice.

This video isn't great because it was taken with a cell phone, but it was one of Ryan's longest runs.

Another good run by Ryan.

Sept. 2010

We had a great month and had some September Silliness at the O'Neal household.  After church one day, I heard Steve and the boys having a great time in our bedroom.  I joined in the fun and not too long afterward, Ryan got the Barbie he gave me as a present and put it by Steve's head (aren't they a cute couple?!?!)...

 ...then Steve kissed the Barbie (with help from the boys).

I tried to get a picture of Brock and I...and the silliness continued.

Ryan and I with Brock's bunny ears.

Our cozy family.

All the men of our family (including Max!)

A good friend and her kids came to visit.  We had a great time with them and miss them so much!

Brock's First Day of First Grade ~ Aug. 23

I am still amazed that I have a first grader.  He looks like such a big kid in this picture.  Brock was very excited to start school this year, but was also very nervous.  I know he's going to do great!

Showing off his new Star Wars backpack.  His Uncle Greg and Aunt Diane gave it to him as an early birthday gift.  It made starting school even better!

Brotherly love.  The first few days, Ryan enjoyed getting me, the TV, his toys, the Wii all to himself.  After that, he really missed Brock.

Mommy and her boys

Daddy and Brock riding their bikes to school.

Here he is outside of Mrs. Martindale's classroom.  He told me the night before that he was going to miss me while he was in school.  So, before he left the house, I gave him a reminder on his hand that he could look at any time during the day and remember that I love him.

Brock had a great first day of school.  He had two classmates from Kindergarten in his class and many others that he knew from playing on the playground.  He really likes his teacher, Mrs. Martindale, and has been doing really well.  Looks like it'll be a good year!