SNOW!!!!!

We got snow in Houston today and it was actually enough to play in. The kids were very excited. We had been talking about taking them somewhere this winter up north to see snow since we thought our chances were pretty slim down here so we were very surprised to get this much! It was a nice way to start off the Christmas season. We are looking forward to getting our Christmas tree and decorations up this weekend.

Exploring Houston

We have been having a great time exploring all there is to do in Houston this last month. We took the kids to the Museum of Natural Science and to Hermann Park one day. They were excited for Ryan to ride the train with them this time. It was a nice day. The kids and I also went on a field trip to Dewberry Farms with a group we are in. The kids had fun swinging off the hay bales! They have made some friends already which is nice for them and me.

We went to Disney On Ice, which Mia LOVED! She was so excited to see all the princesses and characters. She would love to go to Disney World this year! Just need to talk Ryan into it! Bryce thought he was too old for it, but I think he still enjoyed parts of it. So the next weekend we let him pick and he wanted to go to a Civil War reenactment. We were all pretty disappointed, but got some good pics! He wasn't impressed with the low tech weapons! I think he expected tanks.

We also tried out the Children's Museum down here which is awesome and huge. The kids had a blast. Unfortunately, we went the week my all day "morning" sickness kicked in so we didn't stay too long, but plan to go back soon.

We had a good Thanksgiving and have been back to Rockwall a few times already to see some family and friends. Now we are ready for people to come down here and visit!

Our News!

Bryce and Mia are excited to have a new little brother or sister arriving next summer! Keller Ryan or Elliott "Elli" Bryn(n?) should make his or her appearance towards the beginning of July back in Dallas. We are using the dr that we used with Mia and want to be back home so we have family to help with the older kids.

Finally settled

We are finally completely done unpacking and are settled into our new home in Houston (well, really about 30 miles NE of Houston). Ryan is really enjoying his job and the shop. The kids and I are having fun exploring all there is to do in Houston. We miss Dallas because of our friends and family, but there is so much to do here with kids! We have been to the zoo, pumpkin patch, the Movie Tavern to see Astro Boy, some playgroups and parks and have even more planned.

We are taking the kids to see Disney on Ice in a few weeks and to a Civil War day and reenactment at a plantation. Bryce is very excited to see the army camps and get to talk to the "soldiers". Should be interesting!

He is also starting flag football next month. The YMCA has football and basketball in the winter and he chose football. I was okay with it because they aren't crazy at this Y and start tackle football so young like in Rockwall :) It is flag football all the way up. I wish he could do basketball, also since he really enjoyed that last year. I am hoping they offer it again, later. Then baseball and soccer run in the spring and I am sure he will choose baseball. He had decided he wanted to try soccer one more time but I don't know if he has to choose between the two! Mia wants to play basketball, soccer, baseball, football- you name it! And she will be old enough to start in the spring. I was going to sign her up for dance classes, but she is adamant she will not go in the classroom without me so I guess we will wait a little bit. Really fall would be best because she could start in 3-4 yr old combo class. She loves wearing her tap shoes at home. We joined the Y so I am hoping that leaving her in the child watch area while I work out will get her more comfortable being without me. We'll see!

We plan to come back to Rockwall for Christmas and hopefully, a day or two at Thanksgiving to catch up with family and friends.

After the Party

Here are a few pics of Mia after her party. My mom bought her a fashion show runway since she loves playing dress up. It got to Houston before all of her dress up clothes arrived, but she had fun playing with it anyway! Then there are the pics of her with the cake. I walked in the living room the day after her party and she had the rest of her cake down and was digging in! And then I had to include a pic of her with Ryan wearing her cute "Wild about Daddy" shirt that my cousin bought her.

Dinos

The dinosuars are back at the Heard Museum in McKinney and here are some pics of Bryce with them before we moved. Mia didn't like to get too close.

Houston Zoo

We found one thing that Houston definitely beats Dallas on- the zoo! It is really nice and the animals seem better taken care of. There are shows and zookeeper talks all through the day. It is located in Hermann Park where there is a train to ride and paddle boats and playgrounds. It was really nice, we have already been twice. Once by ourselves and once with a playgroup we joined.

Halloween

We had a fun, but very busy Halloween weekend. Ryan's birthday is Halloween so we went to his favorite Chinese restaurant back in Rockwall with my family. We also went to see his grandma the next day in Mineola. The kids love playing outside there. We had an appt in Rockwall on Fri, so we drove down Thurs night. Houston was having flash floods so the drive was looong. We went to the Harbor on Friday night for the carnival, but it was packed, cold and really not that great. The next morning we went to Owen's 4th birthday party and the kids loved seeing their cousins. Then we went to the trick or treat event on the square and rode a hayride, which was fun. Last, we went to our old church's carnival and trunk or treat where the kids got a ton of candy. It was fun, but very tiring! Bryce was Wolverine and Mia was a fairy princess who would not wear her tiara. The Wolverine costume came with a couple cheap claws that Ryan told Bryce weren't very good and we would buy better ones. So, we had to buy the electronic claws!