Owen's First Hoops Game

Saturday was Owen's first basketball game and it was entertaining to say the least!  I actually have to say that I was impressed that they could do as much as they could.  Our little blue team ended up scoring 8 points...on 8 ft. goals...but still!  Owen did a great job dribbling and holding his hands up on defense, but still has some work to get the ball to the rim!  Best part of all...he was smiling the entire time!

On the Road with the Pokes

We were able to score some tickets to the Cotton Bowl from my Uncle to cheer on our Cowboys!  I don't think we cheered quite loud enough...but we still had a wonderful time in the Big D!
We began our trip with a visit to the American Girl store.  Harper used her gift cards to get the Girl of the Year 2014, Isabelle!  She is a dancer, which makes it even more special for Harper.
Then of course, we had to follow that up with a visit to the Lego Store!

We shopped around, ate yummy food and hung out the first day.  The morning of the game, we took the kids to Dave & Buster's.  They had an absolute blast and it wasn't very crowded!

Then we headed to the game.  Our seats were AMAZING!!  Right in the action!  The game was a long one, but the kids had a great time cheering on the Pokes!

Ringing in the New Year

We debated on doing several things for New Year's Eve, but when it came down to it...we decided to just have an "at home" celebration.  We actually went over to our friends' house to celebrate.  Of course, we had to celebrate in Grand Kid Style!  (Thank you Pinterest!)
I blew up 5 balloons and placed an activity inside each one.  Each kid got to pop a balloon when we were ready for the next activity. 
Activity #1: Decorate a Party Hat!

After this we ate a super yummy dinner of Chuy's Elvis Fried Chicken!
Next up...Activity #2:  Bobbing for Donuts
The kids ended up using their hands, but they were laughing too hard to take many bites!

Then on to Activity #3:  Marshmallow Dodgeball
I underestimated the intensity of 5 little kids and their ability to hurl a marshmallow.  Let me just tell you...they kind of sting when they hit!

Activity #4: Glow in the Dark Silly String
I couldn't actually find the glow in the dark kind, but we had glow sticks that the kids wore and went outside with silly string.  Fun, but cold!
Last but not least...the last activity of the evening...Activity #5: Rescue the Sour Patch Kids
What could be better than whipped cream and sour patch kids, right?  Gross!  But they had a ton of fun getting messy!

By the time we played and finished our activities, it was time to ring in the New Year at 11:00pm.  Thank goodness we live in the Central Time Zone.  Thank you New York for allowing us to go to bed early!

The Firebirds Thunder Up!

Harper's Basketball team got to enjoy an Thunder Event in the December just like Owen's team.  However, Harper and her fellow Firebirds got to scrimmage in the Court of Dreams event before the Thunder took the court.  All of those girls were so excited to get on the big court...when Harper got down there, she said..."It really isn't that BIG!"  But the crowd wasn't there yet!  I even got to run the scoreboard and make announcements during her scrimmage!!!  They had an absolute blast playing on the court, but were even more excited to get to stand on the sidelines while the players were introduced.  High Fives from Tall Guys...what could be better!!!

At this game, Owen got his hat signed by Nick Collison.  He was so pumped and cannot get enough of wearing his newly autographed cap!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning is always my favorite time with the kids!  Well...unless it is 5:40 am and you have an 8-year old tapping you on the shoulder when you are sound asleep.  She was ready to get up!  However, I convinced her that we needed to wait until 6:15, so at 6:15 sharp she was back tapping me on the shoulder.  I went to wake Owen up and we the madness began!  They were so excited about the fun gifts that Santa had left for them.  Owen's favorite was his Nerf guns and Harper's was her Kindle reader.  We all checked our stockings and I was pleased to find the perfume I had been wanting.  Richard told me that Harper had written a note to Sneaky (our elf) asking him to bring it to me for Christmas...and he did!!  Thank you Santa!

After we played with our toys and waited for the sun to come up, we headed over to Grandma and Boppy's for Christmas Morning breakfast.  It has to be our yummiest tradition!

We ate and ate and ate...and then we opened presents!  Again, so fun to watch everyone open the presents that the kids picked out for them.  Harper is way better at giving appropriate (non-amusing gifts) now, but Owen is at the best stage.  Owen gave Grandma a cute dip spreader and dish, he gave Boppy a #1 Grandpa money clip, Cole got two gifts...a Thunder Sticker and a Coffee Mug with a beautiful Christmas scene on it.  Hazen was the proud recipient of a really cool light up centipede and a bottle of $1 pink baby lotion.  But the best gift of all was for Aunt Melanie...a beautiful bracelet, engraved with #1 Grandma that Owen purchased at the Santa Shop at school.  Priceless!!!!

We spent ALL of Christmas Day at my parents with all of our family...even Cindy and Tony, along with Grandma Marks and Janet stopped by.  It was a very relaxing, just the way I like it, Christmas!!!