It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas–I think!

 

December started off with a little Christmas Decorating.  I put up a big tree downstairs.  Call me Janet (I love you mom), but I wanted to have my very own beautiful tree.  I put a smaller tree upstairs and let the kids decorate it.  They loved getting out all of the ornaments we have acquired and given and made throughout the years.  It just wouldn’t be the Christmas if the baby in the family didn’t put the star on the tree.  I know that Steve can reach it with no problem, but it was Noah’s turn this year.  He thought it was pretty cool too.

Of course as is usual for Noah, he then had to be goofy and entertain us all for awhile.  He couldn’t be more adorable! 

 

Brookie and Ty started playing the piano this year.  They take lessons from my beautiful friend Jenny.  She is a very talented teacher and I have been so impressed with how quickly both Brooklynn and Ty are progressing.  If I can convince Tyler that playing the piano is cool and he puts in the time, I think he could be a really good pianist.  Brooklynn is the same and has a great ability to quickly memorize her music. 

Jenny being the wonderful person she is decided that instead of having a Christmas Recital at the church, we would go to an Assisted Living Home and have the kids play there.  It was a great atmosphere and the kids did so well!  I was so impressed how well they played despite their nervousness and I can’t wait for them to continue to improve!

Two of my beautiful children they are so grown up!  I love them both so much!

Halloween!

Halloween came and went so quickly this year.  The original plan was for all the kids to be Cowboys players, but that fell apart and we found Brook a beautiful princess dress.  Tater went into the costume bucket and decided on Spiderman, Ty decided to be his very own self and thanks to my BFF Kendra - Noah was a monkey.  Noah LOVES candy and was so excited to go door to door.  He was adorable as he always is and we had a great evening! 

Football And Champions!

This year Ty was able to play his first year of Tackle Football!  He has been dying to play for a couple of years and was so excited to get started.  He was 'recruited' to the Colts and we soon found out that the Colts were a dynasty team in our league - in the five years of the team they had only lost 2 times, both in the Superbowl!  To say the very least everyone in the league wanted to beat us. We knew these guys were serious going in and so a few weeks before practice started Steve and Ty would go out early in the morning to get in some conditioning.  Tyler was more than ready when they started and soon had the bruises and soreness that go hand in hand with football. 

Although his hope was to play reciever or tightend, he was needed on the defense.  (besides they don't pass the ball too much around here) He started playing Defensive End, played a little D-Tackle and then went back to End.  The improvement he made throughout the season was AMAZING! 

As for the team they had a really challenging year.  Our team is one of the smallest in the league and despite that the boys fought hard and usually won.  The real shocker this year, especially for those who have played for this Colts team for years, was the 3 losses in the middle of the season.  It was a big shocker for the coaches and the boys and they had to dig deep to deal with it.  I think in the end it really helped get a little perspective and made the boys work harder.  For awhile we didn't even think the playoffs would be an option.  The boys pulled together after the losses and were able to rally and win out the rest of their games.  The playoffs were amazing and we won our first game!  The second game against the Gators, we expected to be tough and boy was it.  With only seconds left the Defense made a stand on the goal line to put the game into overtime!  It was such a great game and we pulled out the win in overtime to head to the superbowl!

The superbowl game was played in the city HighSchool stadium.  It was so much fun and I learned that I am totally that loud cheering, screaming, obnoxious football mom.  Although as a disclaimer I am not rude, just loud.  In fact I have to admit that most games Steve wouldn't sit by me because I was so loud!  Haha!  Anyway, the superbowl game was awesome and Tyler played an amazing game to help the team win.  Despite not really being excited to play on the defense he loved it in the end and in the superbowl game had 6 or 7 tackles!  It was so much fun to watch and to see him win after the hours and hours of practice and hard work was really cool. 

I love this picture because it gives you an idea about how big some
 of the boys were that we played. Tyler is behind that big guy in the middle!
 This team in particular was HUGE! Ty
isn't by no means short or small for his age, but he was so small compared to these guys!

Grandma came to visit for a couple of days and was able to come to a game.
Nana and Granddad came to 2 games, but I didn't get any pictures with them!

Getting ready for the Championship game!

Pine Cove

I had the great and fun experience of heading off to camp with Tyler!  I was not initially planning on going, but I decided that I should take advantage of spending time like this with Ty while he still wants me to.  Thankfully I have some amazing friends and a pretty awesome Husband who allowed me to go by helping with the kids and picking up the slack at home!  My kids always love to have the extra dad time when I am gone! Ty and I had a great time and he got to try all kinds of new things.  I have to say the best way to describe what camp was like is "Camp Rock"  from the buildings to the lake this place totally reminded me of the movie.  I was able to stay in a cabin with some of the other moms who had boys there.  Ty was put in a group with a bunch of his friends and a couple of the dad Chaperones.  Here is a brief run down of some of our fun!

• We got to ride a school bus to the camp near Tyler Texas.  I had the extreme pleasure of sitting on the wheel hump - it was a LONG ride!
• Tyler got to Canoe, Zip Line, Horseback ride, and a bunch of other activities. Some of the activites were more entertaining than others
• We both got to pet a 2 toed sloth and see a Lemur up close in the Critter Room, not to mention all the creepy snakes.
• We both enjoyed archery and I was totally awesome and hit the bullseye 3 times!
• We also got to see some Falcons and Hawks fly and in Bird Show. 
• I got to make a whole bunch of new friends and was able to meet a lot of the friends that Tyler hangs out with at school.

Overall we had a great time and I am so grateful for the chance I had to spend so much time with Tyler. I feel like a pretty lucky mom to have such a great oldest child!  He is so wonderful and helpful and kind and super funny!  Love you Ty!

After the zip line - he was one of the first to go and due to a
 Chaperone's meeting I missed seeing him, but go there at the end!

Can you tell he loved it!  I wanted to go, but there wasn't enough time
and there were too many kiddos!

Ty and his friend Grayson

His first time on a horse all by himself.  Actually the only other time he's been on
a horse was on a trail ride with Granddad when he was 2.

The sloth.  He was so Cool to see and feel! 

This is the Falcon we were able to pet! 

The Soccer Girl

Brooklynn had a great season playing soccer.  She was on a team named Enchanted and although the team was not a good fit for us, we were able to meet some wonderful friends and we found a great coach that she will play indoor soccer for going forward.  Coach Jason is really fantastic and with the few practices she has already had with him, we've seen some great improvement in her footwork.  Not only are we excited to play for Jason, but some of her friends from her 'Enchanted' team also play for him!

I think one of the highlights of the year was when Grandma came to visit and was able to watch Brookie play!

I'm Back

I finally have a computer that works!  Horray, so I will be getting back on track with all of my posts super soon! 

My first MLB game!

Thanks to my beautiful cousin Jeni and her fun Birthday Celebrations I was able to go to my first MLB game.  It was the perfect evening for a game at Rangers Stadium and even a little chilly!  Steve and I had a great time and ate way too many Nachos and hot dogs.  Did you know they have an all you can eat section? Now you do! 

Jeni and Brian - don't you think he looks like an athlete?  (that's for you Jeni)

 

ELEVEN

 My sweet, adorable, cute baby boy turned ELEVEN.  I look back at pictures and I just wonder how it went so fast.  I look at Josh going to Kindergarten and can't believe that Tyler isn't still there.  Tyler is amazing and like I told him the other day, I Love him just the way he is!



We attempted to get a cute picture of the boys in their Cowboys jersey's, but of course my 2 year old could not look at the camera or sit still. I think we took 50 pictures and these are the best ones.

 

My birthday boy! He is so grown up and so awesome!

Here are a few of my favorite things about Tyler

• his laugh, it is delicious and infectious and it makes me so happy
• he loves his baby brother and will do anything to help him and is so good with him
• he loves food as much or more than me and really appreciates when it is super yummy
• he is smart, smarter than he even knows
• he LOVES sports
• One of his favorite things is to play football on the PS3 with his kindred soul and cousin JB (they love th'reach other). He loves his cousins/family and wishes we lived closer (so do I)
• he is helpful at home and doesn't complain too much when there are chores to be done
• he enjoys reading and is so bummed when I don't let him read before bed
• he is taking piano lessons and is picking it up really fast, he may just have the piano skills that I never had (I am trying to help him be well rounded and keep telling him that someday when he is an awesome athlete and can play the piano the ladies will dig it)
• he has an amazing memory and often reminds me of funny things that I had forgotten
• he is learning and figuring out the value of really working hard when you want something.

I am so proud, happy, grateful and blessed to be T's mom!  I am one lucky lady!

Let the GAMES Begin!

As luck would have it, the weekend that Nana and Granddad came was the same weekend that Brooklynn and Ty started their Soccer/Football games. On this day we were extra specially lucky because both their games were in the morning, did not overlap, and would allow us to head to Austin for the BYU game that night.

Brooklynn's game was first up.  She did pretty well for her first game and assissted with a couple of goals, she also had a few great shots even though they didn't go in.  She also was able to play Keeper in the second half and although it took a few minutes for her to get her bearings and remember what she was doing - she did great and had a fun game.  Her team is called Enchanted and she plays with some great little ladies.  She put in such a great effort that she won the game ball and was able to bring it home and sign it so that it could be passed on the next week!

Ty's game was next on the agenda.  They were playing the Saints and they ended up having a good game and shutting the Saints out.  Ty played great and had fun.  He was even chosen as one of the Captains for the game.  He is playing Defensive Tackle or Defensive End so far this year.  It was so fun to watch him play and although I thought I would be super nervous, I wasn't too bad.  I will say though he looks just like a mini Steve all decked out in his pads/uniform!



All ready to go and he even chose to wear Steve's number!

After all the excitement of Opening Day - Nana, Granddad, Tyler, Steve and I got in the car to head to Austin for the Texas vs. BYU game.  This was part of Ty's birthday present because it was the day before his birthday.  He was so excited to go with us and see BYU play.  As far as we can remember this was his first BYU Game.  We were all wearing our new BYU gear (thanks Nana) and while we were at the BYU tailgate party I bought him a new hat for his birthday!

Look at that handsome boy!  Man I love him!

Nana and Granddad and Papa Greg is standing up, he met us at the game.

Even though BYU lost, we will ignore that part, we had a great time. We were close to melting it was so hot, but it was a great experience.  The stadium at Texas was HUGE, I have never seen a stadium so big!  It was crazy, hot, fun, and the perfect way to spend a Saturday! 

(It would not be right if I didn't mention Jeni and Brian who were the best and took my 3 other little monkey's for the afternoon/night!  Love you guys!! )