Baking with Brady

I love baking with my Brady! He is a great helper in the kitchen! This Christmas, we made Oreo Truffles, cake balls, chocolate peanut butter pinwheels, and chocolate peppermints. Fun, fun!

 Brady with his beautiful Oreo Truffles.

Montgomery Zoo Lights

In Texas, we went to the Christmas Train every year.  There is nothing like that anywhere around here, so we took the boys to ride the train at the Montgomery Zoo and to look at the lights there.  Major was really excited.  He loves trains, and this was his first train ride that he could remember.

 We also let the boys ride the sky lift to see the zoo lights from above.  They said it was really cool.

 Keeping Major entertained while trying to wait for a train was a full time job.  This first picture is of Major saying, "cheese" with Bill.  Then we have Bill trying to distract him.  He kept asking "train now? Train now?" Waiting is not one of his strong points.

 Finally!  It's train time!

 The animal lights after the train were pretty cool, too.  It was a great family night!

I wasn't able to get any pictures of this, but the next night we took the boys to go see Christmas lights on houses and got some Sonic holiday chocolate peppermint milkshakes.  Yum!

Visiting Santa Claus - Take 2

On the 17th, we took the boys to Bass Pro to see Santa there, this time, with Daddy.  Major ran right up to him waving and yelling, "Hi, Santa! Hi, Santa!" I guess this Santa wasn't quite as scary as the other one.

 Here's little Major telling Santa what he'd like for Christmas.  We have no idea what he said.

 Brady tried to help this elf out of the snow.

 Bass Pro had some games set up around Santa, so the boys took some time playing the games.  Here is Brady shooting some ducks.

 Here is Eli shooting down some birds.

 Major didn't play games, he was too worried about the elf stuck in this gift box.

 Brady would now like a 4-wheeler for Christmas.  I believe Santa is fresh out of those.

Visiting Santa Claus - Take 1

Since we are new to Montgomery, and would not be able to go to the Christmas Train this year, we weren't sure where to take the boys to see Santa.  I received a letter from our mortgage company that Santa would be visiting their office, so I took the boys there one day after school to see the big guy.  It went pretty well, but we weren't able to get a good picture with Major because he was scared of Santa.  Also, Bill was unable to join us, so about a week later, we took the boys to another Santa. 
That post will be later.  :-)

Here are Brady and Eli individually with Santa.  Brady asked for 2 cats, and Eli said he'd be happy with whatever Santa brings him.  Sorry, Brady, I don't believe Santa will be bringing any cats this year.

 Here's the picture I did get with the 3 boys...Eli (8), Brady (5), and Major (2)

 The mortgage company served hot chocolate and cookies afterwards.  This was Major's first taste of hot chocolate.  If chocolate all over his face and shirt is any indicator, I would say he was a fan.

Super Major

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's SUPER MAJOR!!  Recently, he has been carrying around this bandana, asking us to put it in as a cape, and running around yelling, "SUPER MAJOR"! He "flies" and "saves the day" (his words).  It is so precious, and I'm not even sure where he got it.  His older brothers aren't into super heroes all that much, and he doesn't watch much TV. He tells me all the time that he is Super Major and he asks for crackers and juice for Super Major. I love it!

 In this second one he said, "take picture mommy and Super Major". So I did. :-)

Eli's Christmas Performance

The 1st and 2nd grade and Alabama Christian Academy put on a Christmas show called "A Bear-y Merry Holiday".  Eli's class were grizzly bears, hence the brown shirts and brown bear ears.  You can see Eli in the back, that is his friend Landon Nelson in front of him.  Behind Eli in the red shirt and dark hair is his teacher, Mrs. Rachel Hatcher.  She has been wonderful this year.  We are so thankful he has her as his teacher!

 Every child who wanted to have one got a speaking part, and Eli got to speak first. :-)

 A Bear-y Merry Holiday to you!

Eli's 8th Birthday Party - Saturday, December 7th

For his 8th birthday, Eli decided to have a football party.  Basically, he had 5 boys over from his class and they played football for 2 hours.  Sounds like a great party to me!

Brady Sutton arrived first.  Here is my Brady, Brady Sutton, and Eli making NFL logos waiting for other guests to arrive.

 Major was also excited for guests to come!

 The following are a few pictures of what happened in those two hours.  These boys played all out tackle football in 40 degree weather.  These are some tough dudes!  This first one is Eli running by while Brady is being tackled by Jonah Kohring.

 Then we have your basic tackle dog-pile.  Tyson Summers on the far left, then Brady being tackled by Jonah and Eli on the ground with Micah Kohring under him (in the yellow sweatshirt).

Brady, Tyson Summers, and Micah Kohring get ready to make a play while Brady Sutton, Eli, and Jonah Kohring play defense. 

 Kick-off time: Eli, Brady Sutton, and Jonah

 More offensive genius of Brady Moore, Tyson, and Micah running the ball with Eli, Brady Sutton, and Jonah Kohring playing defense.

 In the far lower left corner of this one, you can see the edge of Eli's green shirt, at the top of the photo you can see the football, and at the very back, you can see Jonah getting ready to jump.  Jonah caught this ball for an amazing touchdown by Eli's team!

 Captain Eli (in the middle in green) gets his team in a huddle to call the next play.

 Another pass from Eli to Jonah that was caught and resulted in a touchdown!

 Desperate for a comeback, Miach, Brady Moore, and Tyson try some offensive strategy of their own.

 Eli is tackled by Tyson Summers.

 Brady Sutton kicks off.

 The proud football players: (Levi Summers on the far left got in the picture, too.) Jonah Kohring, Eli Moore, Tyson Summers are standing.  Micah Kohring, Brady Moore, and Brady Sutton are kneeling.  Eli, Jonah, and Brady Sutton won the game 114-107 on a last second touchdown pass from Eli to Jonah.  It was close!

 One more photo with the babies included: Levi Summers, Jonah Kohring, Eli Moore, Tyson Summers, then Major Moore and Ryder Summers in the middle, and Micah Kohring, Brady Moore, and Brady Sutton kneeling.

 Lunchtime consisted of hamburgers and hot dogs.  They all sat on blankets in the guestroom floor.  Starting from the bottom left corner and going around the picture: Brady Moore, Brady Sutton, Levi Summers, Ryder Summers, Tyson Summers, Jonah Kohring, Landon Nelson (He showed up late and didn't get to play much football), and Eli Moore.  I wasn't able to get Major and Micah Kohring in the picture.

 Present Time!  Landon Nelson looks at the presents while Eli is ready to dive in!

 First: a nerf water gun from Tyson, Levi, and Ryder Summers

 Second: an Alabama shirt from Brady Sutton

 Third: a toy bow and arrow from Jonah and Micah Kohring

 Fourth: a new football from Landon Nelson

 I made a cookie cake this time for Eli.  Here are Levi and Tyson Summers, Jonah, Rachel, and Eli around the cake while I light the candles.

 Brady Sutton had to go home early, so he wasn't in this photo.  Levi Summers, Jonah Kohring, Tyson Summers, Eli, Landon Nelson, Micah Kohring, and Brady Moore

 This last picture cracks me up.  They celebrated when he blew out all 8 candles at once.

Happy 8th birthday, Eli!