Our First Mizzou Game!

The kids all ready for the game in their new shirts.
We went to our first Mizzou game and we had lots of fun!Jodie's favorite part of the night was playing in the grass. She even threw grass at the kid that was passed out in front of her (like I said wow! you never know what you are going to see!).
Mason was in heaven! Unfortunatly we left at half time because the girls were tired, and the rain was coming quickly.
game.

Sports, sports, and more sports!

Sports and activities have now taken over our lives. Ryley is now doing gymnastics and soccer, and Mason is playing football (which is two nights a weeks and games on Sunday). Ryley's first soccer game was very interesting. Some of the kids on her team (including her) have never played soccer so the games are funny. She says she is having lots of fun, so really that is the only thing that matters!

Plus, she looks super cute in her soccer uniform.
Mason's first football game. He was so excited! His team won 12-0, but of course we don't keep score. Mason is the quarter back again this year and doing a great job not only with his job, but also being a good role model/leader for the whole team. He was able to score one of the touchdowns on a fake. Very cool!

Ryley was able to go and perform at the Holiday Inn Expo Center the other day. She had lots of fun "showing" off.
Ryley stretching for gymnastics.

The Zoo

A couple weeks ago we went on a field trip to the zoo. We are learning all about animals and their habitats. Ryan took the day off of work and Erin came too. We all had a wonderful time and I think the kids even learned a few things.

Here is Jodie in the kids petting area, driving a boat.

Mason has always loved the hippo. I think it is just because you crawl through his mouth and come out his butt.
One of the best parts of the day was visiting the stingrays. They were amazing and fun to pet. The kids all fed them and no one fell in.

After a long day we rode the train all around the zoo. Of course the kids all wanted to ride with Aunt Erin.

School has started.

School has started and is going quite well! We are enjoying the time together (most of it anyways), and the kids seem to be adjusting very well. Once in awhile I hear "I want to go back to Public School", or "I miss my friends", but that is short lived. Since Mason sees friends on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sundays and Ryley sees some of her friends on Mondays, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Plus we play with the neighbors every chance we get.

Here are a couple of the things we have been doing. These pictures are our Shel Silverstein pictures. We are doing an author study on him and tried to imitate his drawings. The first set is Ryley's.The tree is mine.
This set is Mason's and they come from the book The Missing Piece (one of our favorites!).
This is music class. Last week we decided to use our drums to keep a steady beat. The kids did great with this activity and loved playing their drums very very loud!!!!
After drumming the kids wanted to play all the instruments that we have. Jodie loved playing her little piano (I think it is about time for a big one.).

So overall school is going great. I am learning as I go along and hopefully the kids are learning and enjoying this journey!!!!!

Ryley is growing up!

Cute new earrings!Getting so big!
Yeah Ryley. Her new earrings are pink sparkly flowers and they are perfect for her!

Where did the summer go???

So again my pictures are out of order. Oh well. This is the picture of the kids on the first day of school. We were all very excited! Luckily the first week went great. Of course we had a few bumps in the road, but overall the kids are loving it. Lets just say Mason is a lot like Ryan and really doesn't like to write!!!!This is Mason (in the gray shirt 4th in from the right.) at the pass, punt, and kick competition. He had a fun time, but didn't place.
Here he is running.
Jodie looking cute.
Ryley really wants to play soccer this year so we went out and bought her all the soccer stuff she will need. However, we missed the sign up deadline so we are hoping that she will be able to sign up late, but we won't know for sure until later this week. Mason had to have new cleats and socks for football. We are really looking forward to a great season!
The end of vacation bible school! A fun time was had by all and we are already looking forward to next year.
Ryan helped with games one night. Boy was it hot!!!!!
Mason building his pyramid at VBS.
Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Life just keeps getting in the way (ha ha ha)!!!!

The Ocean

On Thursday we went to the beach. The first place we went was Chick's beach. The waves were calm, and the beach was not busy at all. We saw lots of fish, a couple crabs, some coral, and lots of jelly fish. Ryley loved scooping up the dead jelly fish in her bucket and then taking them back to the ocean. Jodie loved the water and threw a fit when we decided to leave.






This was the second place we went to. Our room was right on the beach. The waves were much bigger here. Jodie didn't like the bigger waves. Mason and Ansley however, loved it! Reagan, Ryley, and Jodie played in the sand and stayed right on the edge of the water.

I love this picture. Notice Ansley's arms...she was so funny!





This was the view from our balcony.
Waiting for dinner. The kids were great, the food was good, and the company was wonderful!
Walking on the beach after dinner. The kids loved it because there wasn't a lot of people.

We walked around the beach right before we left. I told the kids not to get to close to the water because I didn't want them to get wet. Well.....of course they didn't listen and everyone (except me) had to change clothes when we made it back to our hotel room.




We had a blast at the beach and we can't wait to go back!