Go Grizz!

We enjoyed a super fun night at the Grizzlies home opener with the Coles. It was the boys first game and they loved it!

Easy Bake Oven

Reed loves his easy bake oven! So far he has made chocolate chip cookies, red velvet cupcakes and brownies. It's so cute to see him love doing something that is all his own. And Alex loves the finished product, too!

Christmas 2011

Christmas keeps getting better and better. The boys are at the perfect ages this year to really enjoy everything about Christmas - the music, the magic, and the presents!

We kicked off the weekend with Christmas Eve mass followed by my favorite food night of the year - the annual Christmas Eve appetizer extravaganza. As we were leaving Grandma and Pops' house, we heard sleigh bells in the air. The boys could not get into be fast enough after that! We left cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Then they were out like a light!

Christmas morning was super exciting. Alex woke up first and had to wait a whole hour before we woke up Reed at 7. They were so excited to see what Santa left and loved everything! After the excitement of those toys wore off, they opened even more from Moz and Gramps. Then we enjoyed our traditional brunch and my favorite gifts of the year - the "fun" gifts that Alex and Reed pick out for the family. Finally, we headed over to Grandma and Pops' house for more gift giving and getting.

We are so lucky to enjoy such a fun time with family and friends. Merry Christmas!

Oden Christmas

We headed down to Hernando on Saturday night to kick off the family Christmas season. Linda had delicious food as always and the boys were thrilled to open their first Christmas presents. They loved their new jerseys (they even slept in them), activity books, slipper socks, nerf guns and squishy balls. And they got to do a little karaoke caroling. 

It was great see everyone and now it officially feels like Christmas!

Gingerbread

This weekend marks the official start of Christmas break. And Christmas is not complete without gingerbread men (and stars and Christmas trees). Reed had been begging to make these for a while and I'm so glad we did - yum!

Starry Nights

We ventured out to Starry Nights this week at Shelby Farms. I'm not sure what the boys loved more - the lights or riding in the car with no seat belts : )

Reed's Christmas Program

We enjoyed our 5th and final CTK Christmas Program this year. Reed did an amazing job - singing all the songs, doing the motions and smiling. They were so cute!

 All dressed up and ready to go-

This was before the program started. He was standing absolutely still and making funny faces!

A smile after the big show...

Hot chocolate

Alex and Reed were treated to a little hot chocolate "tea" party with Grandma and  Pops this week!

Student Teacher Basketball

Alex was selected to play in the students vs. teachers basketball game this year. He was so excited and stayed outside practicing after dark for the two nights leading up to the game. Since he's never played basketball before at all, I wasn't sure how he would do. But he got right in there and loved every minute of it.

The warmup before the game was a little chaotic, but Alex got to miss music to do the warmup, so he was happy.

The Cardinal mascot was there to cheer on the teams. I think he was rooting for the students.

Running hard!

Here's a quick video of Alex stealing the ball from his teacher (in the pink) and attempting a shot. It didn't go in, but it sure was funny!

In the Christmas spirit

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we headed to Corinth to see the same Santa we saw last year. Santa actually came up to Alex and Reed and they gave him a hug immediately. So much better than last year!!

I couldn't wait another minute to put up the tree, so we decked the halls as soon as we got home. And for the first time, the boys actually hung ornaments on the tree and had a blast!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving week at the lake. We actually arrived on Tuesday and stayed until Sunday with Grandma, Pops and Aunt Christie. We also had tons of family in and out throughout the weekend - Moz and Gramps, Uncle Craig, Duane and the whole Thompson family.

Of course, we ate tons of turkey, but we also played tons of sports, built a bonfire, did some gardening, played with guns (thanks Duane : )) and even saw Santa. We also got some great pictures on Thanksgiving day. We are truly thankful!

 Watching Muppets take Manhattan with Aunt Christie

Playing baseball...and soccer...and football with the grandfathers

Cowboys!!

Bonfire - my favorite

Cooking for the big meal













Setting the table - such a big boy













Let's eat!

 And tons of great pics!

Reading time

Just had to share this super cute photo. Alex loves reading to Reed, and Reed loves listening!

Fun weekend with Moz and Gramps

We've had so much going on that the boys haven't had a full, normal weekend with Moz and Gramps in a while. So this weekend they took full advantage of good weather and played hard all weekend long. They are really into throwing the tennis ball, riding four wheelers and playing baseball. Of course, Moz and Gramps even make playing in the dirt pile fun! They also enjoyed their first "night game" of baseball!

Zoo

We love the zoo! We haven't been in a while, so the boys really enjoyed seeing all the animals again. And this time we made it to a giraffe feeding and keeper chat, a grizzly bear feeding and the polar bear feeding.

And yes, Reed was there, just not in the mood for pictures!