Steve, Carmen, Brock & Ryan O'Neal

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Ryan Can Ride His Bike Without Training Wheels!!!

On Jan. 2, 2011, Ryan decided that he wanted to learn how to ride his bike without training wheels. We told him that if he learned how to ride really well, we would take him to Maggie Moo's (a favorite local ice cream shop) and he could get anything he wanted. We went out into our street and tried it. It didn't start out too good...lots and lots of falls...most of them just like this (or worse):

But we worked really hard throughout the week and he actually started doing pretty good. He was able to go straight fairly far...and learned how to make big, wide turns. So, we took him back to Steve's work parking lot today (01/08/11) and gave him the test. In order to get Maggie Moo's, he had to be able to start off by himself, ride straight and make turns. He did awesome!!!!!

So, we held up our end of the bargain...anything he wanted at Maggie Moo's. He got a LARGE "Cotton Candy Ski Jump" which included cotton candy ice cream, marshmallows, marshmallow cream and M&M's. It was so huge we had to put it in a cup. He deserved it, though (and he told us so several times!!!).

We told Brock that if he said good, sweet, encouraging words to Ryan, then he could get anything he wanted at Maggie Moo's, too. He got a LARGE double dip of Raspberry Sorbet and Chocolate Better Batter with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

They both thoroughly enjoyed their ice cream...and they still have half of it left for tomorrow!

Christmas at Our House

Since we were going to Amarillo for Christmas, we decided to open our gifts to each other before we left, ask Santa to leave one gift in Amarillo and the rest at our house for when we got home. We were just about to start opening our gifts and the boys grabbed one and tried to "peek" inside it.

Ryan gave Brock a Star Wars science lightsaber to learn about electronics. As you can see, he was very happy!

We found these great Star Wars space ships at a garage sale. They were really cute and still in the box. Ryan has loved playing with them.

Brock got a very cool Boba Fett helmet. It is electronic as well and speaks like Boba Fett.

Steve got a new bike helmet and a new book, written by a friend of ours, Mike Lamke.

I got some new boots!!

Ryan and Brock made their godparents, grandparents and Great Aunt Harriett and Great Uncle Dick some handprint ornaments.

The rest of the pictures are from when we got home from Amarillo and Santa had come. One of their gifts was an R2-D2. It is the coolest thing! You can talk to it and it will "talk" back to you and obey commands. See the videos below to see it working.

Here are the boys trying to learn some of what R2 can do.

Here is more of what they learned. It is a really cool toy. It does so much more than this, too. Good job, Santa!!! (...and thank you craigslist!)

Ryan wanted these Buzz Lightyear wings so bad. He kept telling me that he wanted to use his own money to buy them. I kept telling him to wait and see if Santa brought them. Good thing he waited....!

Ryan with his Buzz Lightyear costume and Brock with his Razor Scooter.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Christmas in Amarillo

The Brockman/O'Neal Family ~ Christmas 2010

The Big Kids

(from top) Jackie, Ashley, Connor, Nickie, Joe & Garrett

The Little Kids

(from top) Ryan, Maggie, Jake, Brock, Kenzie, Jack & Ben

When we arrived in Amarillo, we saw that Walter didn't have a tree. Well...he had a tree, in a shoe, standing in the corner. So, several of us bought him a tree and then we had Ryan...

...Brock...

Jake (and help from Nickie) decorate it.

Here are the boys after they finished. They did a great job and it looked really pretty. Walter was in Dallas for the weekend, so when he returned, he had a beautiful tree waiting for him.