Christmas decorating

Ryley

Just wanted to put a little shout out for Ryley-this past week at school he broke the school record for the pacer test in gym, he did 70 laps in the pacer test and the last record was 69, he decided to quit as soon as he knew he broke it, but he was very excited for his accomplishment! Also this weekend he had a soccer tournament-they played 5 games in 2 days. His team came out on top and won the whole thing! The last game was a tough game, they even had to postpone for about 15 minutes because it was pouring down rain and it started lightening but they all played great and scored the winning goal with 2 minutes left in the game. So now they will represent Frisco in the Tournament of Champions with teams coming from all over Texas-we are very proud of him!

This is for you Callie

Rory loves his Aunt Callie! :)

Finally......Halloween

Rory with his candy stash, he was Snake Eyes from GI Joe
Little Liam was a monkey
Poor Ryley was sick, this is how he spent Halloween! I set aside some candy for him until he felt better.
Brian and Callie and Hunter, so funny!
All the neighborhood kids!
Elliott was a werewolf-I really had fun putting his costume together! Poor Hunter was scared to death of him though!

I'm finally getting my pictures up for Halloween, mom came for a visit right after and I just didn't have enough time to get them posted, we had a great time with Brian and Callie and of course baby Hunter too!

Liam Lately

Here's some recent pictures of Liam, he's such a little chunky monkey!

Oh Boy!

Ryley gave himself a black eye-how is that possible you ask? Well, the boys have gotten into watching wrestling on tv lately and he thinks my bed makes a great wrestling ring. I told him many times not to jump on my bed, but this day he chose to do what he wanted. He attempted to do a back flip and somehow his knee hit his face when he landed. It immediately got swollen and the next day it was a beautiful shade of purple, and remained that way for over a week, it faded to green then yellow and now it's just a little line of pink... And thats my life with boys, at least I got the satisfaction of him saying that I was right, he shouldn't jump on my bed-guess he learned his lesson!

Elliott's Eighth Birthday

All of the boys
Looking for a clue
One of their secret messages
Revealing their clue

We had so much fun at his party, we pretended that the boys were secret agents. We took their fingerprints when they first arrived and then sent them on a "secret mission". I wrote different clues with white crayon on white paper and they had to color over it with a marker to reveal the message, they has so much fun running all over the house looking for the next clue! When they got to the last clue it led them to their goody bags filled with all kind of supplies that a secret agent needs, magnifying glass, spy sunglasses, toy guns, walkie talkies and a few pieces of candy.

Elliott has such sweet friends and they all got along so well together, after presents and cake they all just played upstairs with all their stuff until their parents came to get them-it was a great day!

First day of Preschool

His expression cracks me up!

Rory had his first day on Tuesday and was so excited! We got his lunch all packed and his backpack ready-he couldn't wait for 9:30 to come. Then we got there and I think he was a little overwhelmed, but he didn't cry or cling to me, he just got really quiet and kind of stood behind me. We got him all settled and I gave him a hug and he sat down at his table to color. I have been really ready for him to start school, but as I left him there I was a little sad. Once they start school time seems to fly by even faster and they grow up so quickly! I did get the whole house cleaned up though and even got a yoga class in at the YMCA-so that's a good thing!

Yum of the week

So Wednesday and weekends are the only time I can make a real dinner because all the other days the boys have practice, so I never have the time to make something really yummy. Last night was Caribbean jerk chicken, sauteed fresh pineapple and brown rice. It was really good, even Rory ate all of his chicken (which he rarely does) so I know it was good! :) I was going to grill the chicken and pineapple, but when I went out to start the grill we were out of propane, so I just put the chicken in the oven and sauteed the pineapple. Here's what I did:

Chicken:

Put in freezer bag and pound until desired thinness (this makes it really moist)

Marinade in jerk sauce (I cheated and just bought a bottled marinade)

Cook at 350 for 20 min. or grill

Pineapple:

I used fresh, it's much better than canned!

Melt 2 tbls. butter with

3 tbls. brown sugar

slice pineapple and sautee over medium heat

(coconut oil would have been really good to use instead of the butter, I will try that next time!)

you all know how to cook brown rice, I always boil mine with chicken stock instead of water, it gives it a really yummy flavor and I don't have to add butter and salt!

Enjoy! Ok, girls now it's your turn. :)

(Not so) Little Liam

Look at those legs!


We went to Liam's 4 month appt. and he weighed 17 lbs. and was 25 1/4 in. long! He is getting so big and doing new things everyday-his newest trick is when he is laying down he uses his stomach muscles to try and sit up, it's so funny to watch him do it! He is such a happy baby, and I can't imagine life without him. Hope you enjoy the pictures, I have a funny video that I will try and post later......

YUM of the week

I thought it would be fun to post a different recipe each week, so we could get some new ideas from each other (wink, wink, nudge, nudge-Anne and Callie ;) I made this yummy dip this week, that is so versatile. You can use as much as you want of each ingredient and it will still turn out yummy. Also, I use it as a dip, but you could also use it on top of tacos, throw it in with some scrambled eggs-whatever your little heart desires! This is what I used to make it:

2 avocados, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

little less than 1/4 cup of ranch dressing

salt, pepper, cumin

squeeze of lime

First Day of School

I'm a little late getting this picture up, but they had a really good first day of school. Rory actually starts preschool in 2 weeks, but he wanted to get in there with the big boys! Ryley was a little nervous for his first day because they go to a different class for math and language, but he did just fine once he got there and of course Elliott just couldn't wait! My boys are getting so big!

Last day of Summer Vacation

Rory playing at the indoor pool
Elliott underneath the waterfall

Trying out the waterslide
All the boys!

We wanted to do something special with the boys before the first day of school tomorrow, so we headed to Frisco Athletic Center. It's a huge facility here that has a huge workout center, all kinds of classes and a huge indoor and outdoor swimming area. We have never been so we decided this would be a good time to try it out! The boys loved going down all the waterslides and swimming down the lazy river, we even got Liam in the water for the first time-he didn't cry, so we think he liked it!

Late nights in the Driveway

Tony, Sterling, and Kim
Rory, Haven and Alyssa

Terry and Darcy
Can you tell we really liked that watermelon?
Jen, Matt, and Brandon

Our last night to hang out before the busy schedule of school, sports and everything else that fills our everyday lives to start. I just took some random pictures throughout the night, I wish I had some better group pictures, but it was a fun night! The kids played with waterguns and ran through the yards and later played an old time favorite of ours, ghost in the graveyard! The adults just hung out and and enjoyed some watermelon soaked in lime vodka-yum and other tasty beverages! :)

Last days of Summer

Ryley finally getting wet!



Rory and his BFF Carson

We are trying to think of some fun things to do to cram in this last week before school starts, so today we tried out a new splash park that just opened up at one of the playgrounds here in Frisco. The younger ones loved it, but Ryley thought he was too big to join in the fun, he eventually got hot though and ran through a couple of times!