Snow Ball Forts and Fights

You can tell they had a snowball fight by all the marks on the side of the house.

They kind of cheated and used the sled to make part of the fort . . . you have to improvise with Oklahoma snow, there just isn't enough of it.

Christmas Morning 2009

(keep in mind, the kids decorated the tree this year, all by themselves. Didn't they do a great job =)
Yes, it was still dark out when they got up and started to open their stockings . . . okay it was 7am, but that's because we told them the night before they couldn't come down before then.

Yea! Ryan got an MP3 Player just like Amber's (and like his best friends too)
Speakers for her MP3 Player. Thanks O'ma and O'pa (they light up really cool too).
I think Mike was genuinely surprised to get a GPS system. Black Friday special, the only thing I waited in line for =)

The theme this year was sharing. We got a lot of gifts that the kids will be sharing; things for their train set, rock tumbler, crystal growing set, etc. They did a good job sharing as they opened the gifts . . . let's hope they do as good a job sharing the gifts as well.
Ryan got new Heeley's from O'ma and O'pa (YEA - his old ones were beyond torn up, and he was still trying to wear them)

Dad was very excited to get this book . . . I'm still not sure why, but he assures me it has the answer to any question anyone could possibly have. I guess it is a good thing to have around with Ryan and all his questions (hee hee).

Amber had asked for the new Tinker Bell Movie, Thank you O'ma and O'pa =)
PJ's from O'ma and O'pa =) He had been asking for some as I threatened to throw away his old ones which are way to tight. I said I would wait until he got some new ones to replace them. They are finally in the trash (thank you O'ma and O'pa).

Amber can't wait to make jewelry, but I'm not sure if it will be for me or her. Thanks so much Randy and Pam =)

Ryan loves his new helicopter from Randy and Pam =)


Amber got some awesome outfits she had been asking for from her O'ma and O'pa =)

Wow - the house was a bit of a mess, but it was fun as always =)

Ryan bought a Myth Busters set and new school shoes - NIKE - with the Christmas money from G'ma & G'pa and Aunt Gretchen.
Amber loved the two outfits she got from O'ma and O'pa so she used her money to buy two more. They are all different in colors etc. but are similar in style, stretch pants under a matching long top. She also had leftover birthday money so she got some mini Barbie mermaids and a water cooler for her bedroom (she likes to drink water at night). We really had a wonderful, white Christmas!

Christmas Day Snow =)

Does it look like a steep hill? It's not, but they still had fun =)

Christmas Eve . . . and Santa's cookies

We had a great Christmas Eve =) We spent all day baking cookies, making soup and playing with friends (guess who baked and who played - hee hee). We watched all day as the weather slowly turned colder and rain turned into snow until we had a some definite snow coming down (YEA! A WHITE CHRISTMAS). The power went off and on several times through the day into late evening. It never stayed off long, but it was quite interesting when it went out while Amber was taking a shower. Every time the power went out things wuold go quiet . . . except that one time, we all heard some very loud screams from a very dark bathroom (hee hee) We had friends over for soup and cookies and the kids had fun going out into the snow. Our church Candlelight Communion was cancelled and the other family who was supposed to join us couldn't make it because of the bad roads, but it was stlil a great Christmas Eve!

We put cookies out for Santa and as I tucked the kids in bed I tried to get them to focus on the real meaning of Christmas, not Santa and the gifts they couldn't wait to open. Amber still insisted she had a question before we said prayers. I was getting a little impatient as she asked if I ate the cookies, if Dad ate them or did Santa really eat them. I tried yet again to get her back on track telling her that we were not going to talk about any of that but focus on the real meaning of Christmas, that Christ gave us the best gift of all, His Son, and salvation . . . and as I was talking I could hear a little commotion going on downstairs so I caved in and said "and as for your question about who really eats the cookies I would have to say the answer would be Shelby because I hear Daddy yelling at her right now so I think we should get back to saying our prayers and we can add a prayer for Shelby too because from what I can hear Daddy just caught her sneaking the cookies we left for Santa." At that she tried to jump out of bed so she could put out more cookies but I told her I would take care of it and got her to stay put.

Amber Giving Ryan a Piggyback ride

The new favorite thing to do . . . give each other a piggy back ride. A definite good example of my "I do it" Amber. Keep in mind Ryan weighs 68 lbs and Amber only weights 56lbs, yet they have a lot more fun letting Amber give Ryan the ride.

Trains =)

Mike is helping the kids work on their train set. Last year the both chipped in their Christmas money and bought some great trains and track. But, the tracks got damaged over the months. So, Mike put together this huge platform, and the kids helped paint it with primer.


Then they painted it green.
This Christmas they both got more pieces to add.

Ryanism's

In the middle of the night Ryan woke me up. He said that he thought he got bit by a spider because it made him hungry. This made no sense to me at the time but I convinced him to go back to bed. The next morning I asked him "did you wake me up last night and say that you thought you got bit by a spider because it made you hungry?" He said yes, he figured the poison from a spider bite would probably make him hungry so he was sure that he had been bitten by a poisonous spider.

Ryan came in from being out in the snow after a very short time. I asked him why he was back so soon and he said "my feet are getting cold and I dont want to get frostbite". I told him he would be fine and could go play until he was really cold because it would take much longer to get frostbite. He wouldn't leave until I convinced him it would take at least an hour.

Scout's Christmas Party

Ryan was not to happy about getting this board game . . . but I was thrilled. I had wanted to get a game this year and hadn't yet.
They played it at the party and we have played it several times since. It is a great game. I think he learned a good lesson.

Yes, Amber had to go too, but she had fun of course, even is she was the only girl =)