Ryan's Party

We had a family party at Mark and Kirsten's (thanks!). Ryan picked out the birthday supplies.
I made the cake. Thanks to Grandma June for helping with the icing. I had a little trouble getting Mickey off the wax paper. I'd love some advice if you've ever done it before.
Ryan got lots of great gifts but the first one he opened was this one below. He hugged the box!
Thank you to all of you who made Ryan's birthday special.

Quading

The boys went quading while the girls did wedding dress shopping. Ryan found a stick and turned it into a gun. Notice the baby on the large quad and Alex on the little one. Hmm, safety first!

Ryan's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Ryan! We have a tradition that when you wake up there is a present waiting for you on your bed. This puppy records a saying. The first was me saying, "Happy Birthday."
Ryan and Alex painted for the morning activity. We had lunch at McDonalds. The one we went to has a huge playground. Then that night we had a small cake.
We only got Ryan one gift (Alex gave him the dog). We are planning to take him to SeaWorld this year as part of a joint birthday gift for both boys. But he wasn't disappointed...

What is Dad bringing in? Just so you know, it takes 1.5 hours for one mom to build a fire truck in the middle of the night.


No, two kids do not fit in here. Ryan has half a cheek sitting. Alex was just as happy as Ryan!

Christmas at home

Santa came! We had a nice Christmas morning. They boys had more toys than necessary. Mom and Dad kept their exchange simple. Santa left a note saying thanks for the cookies and told the boys they had been good. Since the first question asked of all kids is "What did Santa bring you?" I thought I'd make a little list.
Dad: Les Mis soundtrack, juggling balls, and magic cards. They boys made him a valet tray.
Mom: Flannel jammies, Harry Potter 5 movie, and candy.
Alex: Optimus Prime big rig blaster, Mack (Pixar) with car hauler, and the Express (train coaches). He also got Lego helicopter, books and a tabletop pinball machine.
Ryan: Easel, motorcycle, and bubbles. His extras were paints, Starscream blaster, and a pop up book.

Christmas Eve with the Frassas

Christmas Eve we went to Dan's grandparents in Mesa, AZ. We had a delicious meal, a Nativity reenactment, and present opening. We had a wonderful time. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful evening.

Grandpa was the reindeer dog. The boys had him by the leash and were taking him for a walk. Grandpa said no to going for a walk outside!

The Frassas gave us cash for Christmas to do with as we wished. We brought the dinner and got the boys some toys for them to open at their house.

How many boys does it take to open a box of chocolates?!

Ryan was so excited to get this m'ycle. He kept saying, "vroom, vroom."

Alex was in desperate need for a decepticon. If you don't know what that is, be glad!

Alex's Bike

Alex went to the bank and withdrew money from his savings account and went to Target and purchased this Hot Wheels bike. He desperately needed a bigger bike. Hopefully he will be able to ride "two wheel" as Alex says soon.

Beauty and the Beast

Do you remember when Beast knocks on Bell's door and invites her down to dinner? She says, "no" and then he asks again and she says something like, "I'm never coming out of here." And then he blows his top and says, "Fine. If she doesn't eat with me she doesn't eat." I have those episodes nearly everyday. In our entry I have 'Love is Spoken Here'. Mostly that is just what I'd like to be spoken. Today I really had an outburst and have vowed to make it so Ryan will never remember me being mean and using 'ugly' words as Alex and I call them. There is no hope for Alex; he'll remember. So, if you have time to spare, say a prayer for me (more than one may be needed!) that I do as Beast was admonished, "But above all, you must control your temper!".

Reading

I've been teaching Alex to read. We use 'Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons' by Siegfried Engelmann. The lessons last 10-20 minutes. It has been very interesting watching his mind work. He does have an imagination. He'll start a sentence and start thinking quickly what the ending is and will say what he is thinking instead of reading. He likes to guess too. Sometimes he substitutes words he uses more often for words in the story. It has been rewarding and hard. I was not given the virtue of patience and when he starts whining I give up easily. We are on lesson 71 and are close to moving on to Dr Seuss and other beginner books. If you are ready for the challenge, start anytime. They don't need to know their ABC's because it is taught in the book. Also, I would suggest making time for Super Why! on PBS. It is a great supplement. One last thing, if your child isn't ready, don't fret. They learn to read in kindergarten for Pete's sake!

Santa Photo

We had our picture taken with Santa when we went for our train ride. Here is the link if you are interested in seeing a better copy. Our boys had been sleeping for 3 hours in the car just before this picture was taken, so they have bed head!

Polar Express

Dan thinks I say too much when blogging, so I'll keep this short. Friday we packed our bags and went to the north pole on the Polar Express. It was sleeting in Williams, AZ where we boarded the train, so there was a wintry feel as we headed off to see Santa. Ryan was not afraid of Santa when we went for our snap shot. We took the picture at the depot before we left. Ryan climbed up on his lap and waited. Alex was cautious and didn't want to tell Santa what was on his list. Dan asked Alex if he was going to tell Santa on the train what he wanted, 'No, Dad you just told him what I wanted.' Oh, right. When we got to the north pole Santa boarded the train and handed out Christmas bells. Ryan enjoyed the whole ride just as much as Alex, if not more. To those of you who think this might be fun for 2008, buy your tickets now! www.thetrain.com

Thanks

I have not felt full of holiday cheer this year. It is hot and green. Mostly I was disgruntled that we are celebrating a holiday in a completely fake way (aka snowmen, snowflakes, holly and ivy, etc.). But I've had my Scroogeness pushed out by a fun weekend in the north. Sara, you have saved me again from the heat of the desert. She let us stay with her after the trip to the north pole. It was clear and snow free when we woke up, but Jack Frost came by lunch time.
Alex and Ryan played outside for about 10 minutes. Ryan hated the snow. Alex had a fun time playing with his friend Luke. We are lucky to have such a nice family in our circle of friends.


I also received the Rays Christmas letter, which got me ready to type my C-mas letter! I'm not ready to change my blog to flakes and fir trees; I can accept that for another Christmas we have to dream of a white Christmas. Thank you Sara for the trip and Karen for the letter!

Vroom

To finish off these holiday posts (and to start your reading in an entertaining way) I give you Vroom. If you were at the Black residence this last week, chances are Ryan took your hand and said, "Come on." You were led to Grandpa's motorcycle. Grandpa let him ride on it with Dad on one occasion. On another, Grandpa started it and let Ryan sit on it alone and rev the engine. This brought great joy in the moment and great sorrow at the end. Parting is bitter sorrow! D and C broke down and bought him his own motorcycle (which is 'mikel' in Ryaneze).
This also brings the great ups and downs of emotion. But with our enormous yard, he should be able to get his fill of 'mikel' anytime.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful holiday vacation. The boys handled the 2 hour ride down just perfectly. They have never been so good! D, C and R slept at the neighbors overflow house. On T-day morning we had family pictures with the Frassa legacy. Thanks to Zach, Chuck and Bob for great pictures.
A and R played with the aunts, uncles, and cousins (and C had a break!) A fine meal was served (enough for a small army) and the best homemade cheesecake ever made was served. Props to Kirsten for her baking!
Zach Baily is Emily's sweetheart; this was his first Thanksgiving with this crazy bunch. It was also his 22nd birthday. (Tip: Click on Thanksgiving Day title and a video will load to your computer and play) At the end of our day we had some delicious cake (thanks to the Frassas) and some fun games. If you haven't played Hilarium yet, you must go out and buy it for your next family get together. This way you can see the couch potatoes act like opera singers and javelin throwers.
We made a 'thankful turkey' with each of us writing 3 things we were thankful for on his feathers. I echo the sentiment on every set of three, I'm thankful for this family!

Family Pictures

Here we go!

Friends, This holiday has raked in some great pics and stories that must be shared. As this is the first to be typed and the last to be read, I hope you enjoyed the quantity and content! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving yourself and are looking forward to a fantastic Christmas season. -CDB

Dan out of town

Dan left Tuesday and is coming home tomorrow night. It has actually gone well being dad-less. Except that (as most of you know) Dan does the dishes; so every night I look at my kitchen sink full of sippy cups and plates and think, 'Oh, I forgot. Maybe tomorrow I'll do that.'
Ok, it isn't up to the ceiling and there aren't fruit flies, but I sure miss having my dishwasher home.
This trip was bad timing. Yesterday we had 8am t-ball and 10am primary practice. Today we had our first Sunday in the new building (hooray!) and the Primary program. Alex is a Sunbeam and the class sang 'I am a Child of God.' Tomorrow is Thanksgiving breakfast at preschool (Turkey at 10am, yummy!)
I'm thinking that I deserve a little pampering when Dad gets back. A pedicure followed by a meal devoid of microwavable meat products.
We miss you Dad! Hugs and kisses to you!

Why we go to the Zoo.

1.Tree house 2.Carousel 3.Train (not on every visit) 4.Food 5.Gift shop 6.To look at the pictures mom has taken on the camera 7.To pet the sting rays 8.Animals

Alex is a tree house kind of kid. With bribery we can see animals. Ryan is a carousel kind of kid. He can wait as long as he knows he'll get to ride the carousel. Alex likes to check off animals,

"There he is mom, behind the rock under the tree. Let's go."

Ryan likes to watch the animals. This trip he was enthralled with the burrowing owl, the prairie dogs, and the orangutans (there was a baby one). Troublesome Ryan does not care for the tree house. He prefers to run and sit on the lion massage chair near the bathrooms.

I'm just glad we have season passes or else I'd run out of things to bribe with before we saw all the animals.

Trip to Phoenix Zoo

Swimming in November

Ryan was playing with the hose and asked if he could fill up the pool. How could I object? It's in the nineties still and the water is actually cool, so go for it. Some of you have heard that Ryan later took this swim diaper off and commenced to clean him self up, all over my house. That was super fun, let me tell ya. It may get in the high seventies later this weekend. I wish!

the library on halloween

Friends, the library on Halloween is lonely. I went in to return an overdue movie (you know that is expensive) and pick up a book on hold. I can't leave the library without perusing so it came to me, I'll read the new McCall-Smith book. So I hunt down the series (without reading the blurb on it) and go to check-out. Well, it wouldn't let me check this book out because it wasn't 'in'. So I go to the desk and tell my story. She scans it and says, 'Oh this book is missing.' Ha, it was right there, not missing at all. She says I'm the Halloween hero and we laugh because this same thing has happened to us. So, I head to What-a-Burger for dinner (I was too busy at the trunk-or-treat to eat chili) and had a long wait. If the library is slow, What-a-Burger is slower! Here I pilfer through my stacks of books and look at the McCall-Smith book. Lo and Behold, I have read this book already. I'm not surprised by that. I'm surprised that I got home with it. If I had read the cover at all, I would have put it back on the shelf. But as a true Halloween Hero I was able to listen to some small voice that said, 'You must get this book,' and saved someone from having to buy a book for the Litchfield Park Library. Props to me and 'your welcome' to whoever you are!

Candy Corn Party

We had a party today. Alex invited 4 friends which added up to 15 persons with moms and babies! The kids came in costumes (which I forgot to get a group picture; drats!), I told the story of 'The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything' and we had a candy corn hunt. It was a lot of sugar and fun. However, it was so hot that the kids had to strip off their costumes to play. Alex was cooking in his Buzz suit. He said, 'Mom, I just want to be a candy corn again.' Ryan did not wear his costume, but did get into my make-up today. Thanks to you friends who came. Watch out for your invitations for next year.

Happy Halloween!

Look at these cute boys! I made the Potato Head costume and Buzz was our first purchased Halloween costume ever. I couldn't top it, so I bought it! We are getting ready to celebrate our first 'National Candy Corn' day on Oct 30th.

Homerun

Alex hit a 'home run' at t-ball today. He hit far enough out to entice all the fielders to chase it and fight over it. Hence, he got to run all the bases before it made it back to the coach. I spent most of the 3 innings chasing Ryan. I think I'll stay home next week!

Henry and James

Henry and James are our beloved pet gerbils.

Pictured is only Henry because James is very shy. As you can see from the blurry images, they are very fast. We keep them in the office and Alex sleeps on the futon so he can be close to them. They are not up all night, but do wake up around 4am. I'm not sure how Alex can stand it; but he never complains.

Welcome!

I have been persuaded by some of you to start a blog; here we are!

October is a busy month for our family. I'm on the activities committee at church and we had a luau on the 13th. It was a success! We had a little pit bbq (which had to be grilled following the pit to ensure doneness). There was a large crowd and great entertainment.

Enjoy this 'beach' scene now. The count down to an actual Hawaiian vacation is 4 years, 2 months, and 5 days. I'll be celebrating 10 years of marital bliss on a beach.

October is also the beginning of T-ball for Dad and Alex. Dan signed up to be coach but it didn't work out, so for now we are just supportive parents. The coach has a dedicated wife that does way more than I would have done. I guess I just keep thinking, "He is only 4 years old." I want to be supportive but I could think of better ways to spend extra money on than a special team hat he'll only wear 8 times. But he does look cute!

Alex is a Gator this season.

Alex is in preschool this fall at the Buckeye Baptist Church. It is a bit of a drive and very Baptist but I'm happy with it. Alex doesn't come home as excited as last year, but he is getting a lot of social interaction with more kids and more activities. I think it comes down to his learning. He thrives on learning; Karen Ray enriched his days more. However, I'm taking up the slack. We are on lesson 18 of 100 towards teaching Alex to read. He loves his lessons and makes quick progress. By Christmas he'll be reading short stories!

Of course, our lives and home would be incomplete without Ryan. It would be quieter and safer, but what is the point of that! This is Ryan on the Quad (4-wheeler for us rednecks). The weather is nice enough for outside activities again. Mark and Trey took my 3 boys on a quading trip. Alex, the safe one, doesn't care for it but apparently Ryan has found a new, better form of transportation. Dan said he cried and cried when they had to get off and leave. Santa, we could use a small one for our backyard (power wheels style).