Steve, Carmen, Brock & Ryan O'Neal

Saturday, February 05, 2011

SNOW!!!!! ~ Feb. 4, 2011

We had snow for the third year in a row! Ever since the fall, they've been so excited for winter so they could play in the snow. I kept telling them that it doesn't snow here very often and we might not get snow this year. Now they are going to expect it every year! We didn't get much, as you can see, but that didn't stop them from playing outside in it for close to two hours! Ryan mainly liked to eat it, although I think he probably ate mostly dirt.

Brock liked trying to throw snowballs. It was so powdery that it didn't hold it's form very well, though. That didn't stop him from trying!

Brock ate some snow, too, but usually spit it out right after eating the dirt, er, I mean snow.

We went into the greenbelt behind our house and got some really nice pictures.

Brock and Steve on the old Hwy 6 bridge (in our greenbelt).

Ryan and Carmen by the creek.

The bridge in our backyard.

This is the front of the house. Nope, not much snow at all...but enough snow and ice to get school cancelled for the day! All the people in the North are going to start laughing!

Brock's (my) angel.

Ryan's (my) angel.

Jumping on the trampoline in the snow! What could be more fun for a kid?!?!

Jan. 2011

Happy New Year!!!! Steve and I rang in the new year at midnight. Brock and Ryan rang in the New Year at noon. They thought it was so special to drink out of "fancy glasses."

I got this great picture of my boys after jumping on the trampoline.

The local ice skating rink had a free skate day, so we went...along with half of College Station. Brock and Ryan didn't like it too much. I think that was mostly due to there being so many people there. They held onto Steve or the side of the rink the entire time.

The rock wall was the best part of the skating rink, though. They are some strong little guys! Ryan made it very close to the top and Brock made it up about 3/4 of the way.

We took turns taking pictures of each other. Brock and Ryan love to take pictures!! These were on Steve's 40th birthday. Happy Birthday, Baby!

Also for Steve's 40th birthday, he and I went to Fredericksburg and stayed at the Hangar Hotel. It was perfect for Steve...1940's airplane themed hotel. It was beautiful and so nice to have some time together. Thank you to Greg and Diane for the hotel and for Nickie for taking such good care of Ryan and Brock.

There's no doubt that when we're in Fredericksburg, and that close to Luckenbach, that we're going to go dancing in the most famous dance hall in America!!

Brock and Ryan both saved up their money from chores, birthdays & Christmas to buy a toy they really wanted. I was so proud of both of them! Ryan saved over $80 to buy this Indiana Jones Lego set. I thought that was a lot of money to spend on Legos, but he really wanted it bad and it was his money, so that's what he got!!

Brock bought a Nintendo DS (and 6 games!) that Steve found on craigslist. He wanted one for so long and has really loved having it!

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.