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!