A day at the park with Ryleigh

Friday was a beautiful sunny, 68 degree, January day!  Just what the doctor ordered for this pregnant mom!  Ryleigh and I had fun just swinging and feeding the ducks.  Lucky for me, I ran into a friend who was playing with her camera that day.  She took these shots.  Such beautiful shots of Ryleigh and I believe one of the very few pictures taken of me pregnant.  Thanks Sandy!

Red Ninjas

 

Go Red Ninjas!

This was Connor's first season of basketball.  

As his coach put it, "this age group is good for a few giggles and laughs."

I have to agree!  But the first basket Connor made was the very best.

His grin was ear to ear!  I love to watch his many triumphs!

 

This is my favorite picture!  Connor giving himself bunny ears for the Silly Face!  

I was just happy to see him smile for a picture.  

He is going through a phase where he doesn't smile for his picture.  

He is more the tough guy pose!

Four loaf clever?

I can always count on Connor for a good laugh!  Today, I thought I would share this one.  Connor has been in search of a four leaf clover for quite some time.  Unfortunately, the words seem to garble his mouth!  He excitedly claimed to have found "a four loaf clever!"  To his dismay, it was a "(three) free loaf clever!"
When Brennan got in the car we told him the story of the mixed up words.  Brennan laughed and Connor's reply was a very proud,' Brennan, I made you laugh!"  Brennan said no you made me chuckle! 

Random thoughts

A friend of mine uses her blog to journal all her thoughts.  I love reading about the special things her kids did or said each day.  So, I thought I would try it!

Yesterday, Connor came home telling me about "Arthur Luther King and how he had a dream to change the world." They had watched a movie about Martin Luther King in reference to his upcoming birthday. I love how excited and enthralled Connor was.  I tried to at first to help him say the name correctly and then quickly realized that the little mix up was my favorite part!  The discussion about Martin Luther King lead to many others who stood up for the things they believed in.  Brennan remembered the story of Rosa Parks.  I interjected Joseph Smith and then Ryleigh surprised me and said Jesus.  "Jesus stood up to the bad men that killed him" she said.  I loved the teaching moment that all of my kids gave to me.  Thanks for being so wonderful Brennan, Connor and Ryleigh!

Lately, Ryleigh has been especially tight with her Daddy!  Yesterday it was all about Daddy!  When Daddy came in from work, she was busy coloring at the kitchen table. She saw Daddy come in and said, "Where's my kiss?"  Daddy quickly obeyed.  At dinner time she wanted to sit by Daddy, so I moved over for her.  But I had to draw the line at bedtime when she told me she was sleeping with Daddy.  What a Daddy's girl!  She is excited about the new baby sister coming but I wonder if she will have a hard time sharing her Daddy with another little girl?

Brennan is growing up.  He has been working on his next Pinewood Derby design.  He loves to make and tinker with things.  I see a lot of Kyle in him.  The two of them spend time building model airplanes and researching car designs, and lots of Star Wars and Star Trek.  Is my little boy growing up or my big boy (Kyle) regressing?  I don't care I love their connection.  Brennan is also memorizing his multiplication facts, much to his dismay.  I remember that time in my life.  I shared the story with him when I too saw not enjoying this task.  I went on a job with my Dad and he taught me, 8x8 fell on the floor picked it up and it was 64.  A memory I will never forget.  I'm not positive but I think Grandmother taught that to Dad.  Brennan liked it too.  He keeps asking for more tips!

Connor's Taekwondo Tournament

This weekend we took a family trip to Tuscaloosa AL for Connor's Taekwondo tournament.  He was so excited and it gave him that extra chance to feel special and build his confidence.  Connor did awesome!  He was energetic, loud and knew all his positions, punches, strikes and stranger danger info.  He has worked hard! 

Focused

This is a Taewondo buddy!  We were glad that they both got to go to competition together.  They had a great time afterwards showing each other their special moves while we waited for the opening ceremonies.

Here is the proud champion!  He wore the medal all weekend!  Don't let Connor's new "smile" fool you, he was one proud guy!

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year lasted forever!  It was a whole week affair.  We had a blast but boy was I ready for it to be over!
First we had Brennan's Fall festival.  No pictures because I didn't know we should dress up.
Next, Connor's Fall festival.

Connor and Ryleigh struck a pose for me!

Connor also had his Drug Free Parade this week.  Connor's class were ghosts.

Friday, we had the ward party complete with trunk or treat!

Finally, Saturday (still not technically, Halloween!)  We had a block party that afternoon and trick or treating that evening.  We were all done being dressed up until next year!

Now if you are wondering who my children are... not just ordinary Jedi and Princess.  Brennan was Obi One, Connor was Anakin, Ryleigh was Sleeping Beauty here and Snow White the first night.  We MUST be specific!

Pumpkin Patch

We love visiting pumpkin patches!  Over the years we have seen many, in many different states.  This year we went to Applin' Farms for our pumpkin plucking.  We had fun visiting their farm animals and even had a little boy tell us the names of a few of his animals.  Brennan of course was not impressed with the "farm smells".  We took a hayride out to the patch and the kids dispursed to find the perfect pumpkin.  Ryleigh found herself waist high in pumpkin leaves and vines and had to have Daddy rescue her.  She was also still sporting a rather big bandage from the previous thumb smashing incident.  Connor surprised us all by picking out the biggest pumpkin.  Brennan went for the unique look.  His was a "brown" pumpkin.  It looked a little off to me.  Ryleigh somehow ended up with two.  One she picked out and a little one I showed her.  both were just too cute and perfect to pass up. 

Carving the pumpkins was lots of fun.  The week was way too busy so we found ourselves carving them a little here and there on Halloween night.  We finished them up after trick or treating and enjoyed lighting them up!

Thanks Applin Farms for making our pumpkin experience so enjoyable!