Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

December with the Schroeders

December has kept us super busy...Christmas parties, basketball, visiting our favorite winter place in Ohio and of course preparing for Christmas! It is a Christmas Tradition in Ohio to visit Clifton Mills! They put up over 3 million Christmas lights and we love it...year after year!

Ryan has started basketball. He is playing for the Beavercreek Future Stars! He has games on Friday evenings! So far his team is 1-1. Ryan loves it!

On the morning of December 6th, St. Nicholas' Day, Ryan woke up to find a present by his shoes (which he left by the front door). Every year he receives a new game. This year it was "You Gotta Be Kidding!" It is the funniest game and every time we play, we are busting up laughing!

The Fun in November

Yes, I am a little behind in updating our blog! This past November we had a great time! We had a ton of leaves to rake in the backyard...but we took a break for Ryan to play on the swing! He had just a little bit of fun out there! :)

Our November was very mild, so we enjoyed a few fires in our firepit in the backyard! It was so nice and relaxing!!

We are blessed...

This is the view from our backyard porch on Sunday evening! We are very thankful for everything we have in our lives! We are fortunate to be in an area where we all enjoy!

Fall Fun!

Ryan wanted to rake up the leaves in the front yard! He did an awesome job raking this year! He loved the reward of playing in the leaves after we raked them up! Although it looks like a lot of leaves, we still have most of our leaves still on the trees in the front yard! It's a great time being outdoors on a beautiful day, enjoying each others company!

Happy Halloween!

We went to Katie's Pumpkin Farm, a local farm around the corner from us, to pick out Ryan's pumpkin! I love all the local farms in this area!

Halloween Night - we went to our old next door neighbors house for pizza before Trick or Treating! Ryan likes to pick out the scariest costumes! Ryan's skeleton bones were bleeding! Our friends, the Carmers came over and the kids went trick or treating together! Everyone seemed exhausted by the time they came back around the block! What a fun time!!

Ryan's 7th Birthday

Ryan had his 7th Birthday on Wednesday! We went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Ryan loves their homemade rolls! He enjoyed all his gifts which include Legos, Nerf Guns, Laser Guns, a basketball, a football, a footbal goal post wrestling toys, football cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, a Dayton Gems Hockey jersey and gift cards to Toys R Us! He can't wait to go shopping! He played football with Caden before he had hockey skating lessons that night!

Ryan's 7th Birthday Party

Ryan had a Fear Factor Birthday Party! He had 10 friends over to bob for eyeballs, dig for cockroaches, eat fish brains, flies, dirty worms, and dog food. Ryan chose to bob for eyeballs! It was harder than he thought! After we had pizza, opened presents and ate cupcakes, the kids watched Alvin and the Chipmunks! He had a great time and I think all his friends did too!

Nice Gifts

My mom sent these pillows to us as a wonderful gift and reminder of our lives in the different states we have lived in! We love them so much! It was cool for Ryan to see and remember the different parts of Utah that we went to and the parts of Ohio that he is experinecing now! Thank you so much!!!

New Fish Tank

We decided to give our Beta Fish, Buckeye, more room in a larger tank. While we were at the Pet Store, we asked if there were any fish that would swim nicely in the same tank (without Buckeye eating them for lunch)! They guided us on which fish would be good neighbors with Buckeye! Buckeye loves his new tank and especially Spongebob's house! After a week and a half, we still have all 5 fish! YEAH!!

Football Season Has Ended...

Ryan's football team - The Batam Black Smack Pack - played their last game on Saturday, October 24th. They lost the first round of the tournament. Ryan was extremely disappointed!

He is looking forward to starting hockey skating lessons tomorrow and basketball in November!

Football Update

On Sept. 22nd, Ryan's football team practiced with the University of Dayton's football team! It was so cool to see the college football players take time and get to know the kids and show them the way they do warm ups! It was so much fun!

Ryan had a game on Oct. 3rd against Mad River, they won that game! On Oct. 10th, Ryan's team played Huber Heights. On Oct. 17th, Ryan's team played their last regular season game against Kettering. Unfortunately, they lost the last two games.

On Saturday, August 24th, Ryan plays his first tournament game against Lebanon. Look for an update soon!

Football Sept. 26th

Ryan's team played against West Carrollton. This was their first lost. Ryan had one of the best games he ever had! He carried the ball a couple different times for some gains. Then they put him in on defense and the first play he tackled the ball carrier near the line of scrimmage! It was so very exciting to see! The coach said that was the best tackle of the game and Ryan will be playing defense a little more. We'll see tomorrow!

Football Sept. 19th

On Saturday, September 17th, the Batam Black Smack Pack played Mad River. This game ended in a tie. We think the team was still asleep from being at the Beavercreek High School game the night before. They formed a tunnel for the high school football players. It was cool to watch a high school game!

September 13th

Football Update:

Ryan played against Centerville on Sunday, September 13th. He scored a TOUCHDOWN! It was a 6 yard run! He was very excited and proud of his hardwork! We are so happy he is enjoying football!

Ryan's Football Pictures from Aug.23

I finally went through and cropped the football pictures from Aug.23rd. We will have a higher power lens for the next game on Sept 13th. We had this weekend off of football and it seems like we have so much time on our hands! We miss watching Ryan and are looking forward to playing Centerville Black!

King's Island

On Saturday, we decided to go to King's Island! We were all wondering how it would be since it was our first time - of course, we have heard of the monster rollercoasters they have there. We were pleasantly surprised on the variety of rides they have there! Ryan started on some of the smaller rollercoasters that were in the kid area! He went on two kid ones (that you need to be 48" tall to ride). He was scared at first and then loved it! He went on the Fairly Odd Parents 4 times and the hanging ride 2 times! Then we went on the Stunt Car Ride. It was listed as a 5 (5 being the highest level of rollercoaster), but we couldn't figure out why that is a 5!
We had a great time and are looking forward to being able to go again!


FOOTBALL UPDATE!!!
Last week, The Batam Black Smack Pack played Game 1 in their season against Centerville
Won 27-0
Ryan ran the ball for the first time, which included a First Down and an Extra Point

Week 2 - Against Wilmington
Won 12-0
Ryan ran a few plays but no luck this week on extra yards.

He has definitely learned a lot in the last month and has improved tremendously! We are always excited to see him play and practice!

He has Labor Day weekend off. His next game is Sept.13th.

First Day of School

Ryan is officially a First Grader!! (According to Ryan he wasn't a First Grader until his first day of school.) We received an email from his teacher, Mrs. Kidd, last week. She introduced herself and it was a perfect teacher for Ryan from the start - she's an Ohio State Grad and loves animals! Ryan has two classroom pets - a rabbit and a water turtle! On Monday, we met his teacher and saw his classroom! He was very excited to see some friends from his Kindergarten class!

Today he had a great day!! He enjoyed eating lunch and went to Art Class for the first time!! Ryan is looking forward to Gym class tomorrow!