Halloween 2009

We had a great time trick or treating with our lil "Woody" and our "Bakugan Battle Brawler". My kids prefer the old fashion door to door so we stayed in our neighborhood and went to many, many doors except for one....the one with every sign that points to "welcome" with the exception of the fake blood on the door! Patrick said, "nope, they can keep their candy, let's go." Gotta have one in the bunch, I guess. Our down the road neighbors Mr.and Mrs. Smith more than made up for the scary neighbors. They not only gave out candy but invited us in and made hot chocolate for the kids and even let them roast marshmallows over candlelight!! Now, that's what I'm talking about! We will see them again next year! Enjoy the pictures!

"Woody"

"Woody" and the "Bakugan Brawler" having a chat.

Roasting marshmallows by candlelight.

I held my breath as the sweet but clueless Mrs. Smith handed CHASE a flaming marshmallow!!

"Oh dear, please Lord, don't let him burn this nice lady's house down."

Check out the modified pumpkin...apparently he needed shades!

"See ya next year, partner!"

Where does the time go?

Oh my! It has been 3 months since I posted last. Seriously, where does the time go? Well, let's see...what have we done in the past quarter of the year?

I'll start in August and try to play catch up.

Patrick started first grade and is doing very well. He had all A's on his first report card and loves going to school. Just recently we were looking over his spelling test and he had missed one word. Initially, he was concerned and said "Oh man, I missed one!" Then in the very next breath he said, "Oh well, at least I'm alive." WHAT? Where did that come from? I have no idea but at least he has priorities, I suppose. :/

There is a girl in his class that has started calling our house, not to talk to him but to leave me messages...that go something like this. "Hello, Patrick's Mom? Uh, hey, uh I just want to tell you, uh, that, uh, ummm, I just want to tell you that I looovvvveee Patrick (giggles, giggles and more giggles). I also want to tell you that, uh, ummm, I am gonna um marry him and please, please whatever you do, please Patrick's Mom, please don't tell him I said that because then he may not like me, ok? Ok, Patrick's Mom, uh, ok, I'll talk to you later. Ok, I love Patrick, just remember that, ok? And don't forget, don't tell him. Ok? Ok, bye." I mean, for real! She leaves that message all the time and of course Patrick heard it the first time. I asked him if he liked her and he replied..."if I did, I don't now." Haha...my good boy!

Patrick's final inspection before leaving the house for his 1st day of 1st grade.





We finally bought a camper and I can truthfully say it's one of the best things we have ever done. We absolutely can not wait for the next opportunity to go camping. I grew up camping so naturally, I love it. Randy, on the other hand did not and only signed up because he loves me and I begged him. We did compromise...he had to approve the camper. I just need a tent and a fire, but oh no..Randy needs a comfortable bed and decent, convenient cooking appliances. So, the camper makes us both happy and actually, I do like it better than a tent when the rain comes! Randy has taken to this new hobby and seems to enjoy it as much as we do. We have been camping three times, twice to Windcreek and once to Guntersville. We have had so much fun skiing, tubing, fishing and making s'mores, of course. The boys have a blast every single time...rain or shine. The last time we went they stayed on their bikes daylight til dark We are waiting patiently for summer, if you can't find us...we'll be camping!

September was another busy month and we celebrated Chase's 3rd birthday while camping. Since we weren't having a planned party with invites and all, I took him to Winn Dixie and told him to pick out any cake he wanted and he picked Spongebob. UGH, I HATE SPONGEBOB. Seriously, I can't stand the lil character. But, I obliged. It turned out to be the cutest cake. It even had a whole built in pineapple house with all Spongebob's lil friends. It was by far his favorite toy and kept him entertained for days. We invited a few kids around the campsite to join us for cake and the pinata. It was simple and Chase loved his "pombob" party. Not long after he turned 3 he decided that he needed a haircut and gave himself a good one, two big chunks right in the front exactly where his cow lick resides. Boing! We had no other choice than to go short and spike it in the front, half of it was gonna spike regardless so...go with it, I said. I actually like it so much better, it suits his little spunky, sneaky nature. Recently, a lady at the grocery checkout greeted him with "Hey there, wild man." If she only knew....

Our baby turns 3!!!!!!

Which takes us into October.

I'll go ahead and tell you about Chase's next "stunt" since we are on the subject. I will make it short since this is quite a lengthy post. Zyrtec. Whole bottle. Just opened. He drank it. All of it. The WHOLE bottle. Yep, turned it up, gulped it down. Safety top, my butter! I shouldn't blame the top or him...I left it in his reach I guess? Honestly, I have no idea where he got it or how he got it or how he opened it or when he drank it...I don't have a clue. All I know is one morning I found the empty bottle on the toy box with the lid neatly next to it. Frozen in time, somehow I heard Chase say "mommy, my drank it all gone!" I said "huh, wha, why....di di did you spill this medicine, honey?" "Nope, my drank it all gone." Oh dear. Poison control. Must. Call. Poison control. Of course the first question stumped me...when? I don't know! Oh my goodness, he just woke up, he had to have drank it .....last night? The lady laughed at my new realization. She said extreme drowsiness or extreme hyperactivity would be the main concerns at the time of ingestion. Nope. Nada. Nothing. He drank a whole bottle of Zyrtec and it did not phase him. Oh, this child of mine. I will share one more Chase story just for the sake of recording it. We now have a lock on the back patio door that he can't reach...yet. The reason is because at 7:30 a.m. one morning I was awakened by the door bell. Randy had taken Patrick to school just 15 minutes earlier and I had dozed off again. I wondered if he had forgotten something as I went to the door and was SHOCKED to see my "across the street" neighbor holding Chase's hand who was wearing nothing but a pull up. I seriously thought I was dreaming, I must have looked so stunned. See, Chase woke up looking for his Daddy and when he couldn't find him in the house he unlocked the backdoor and went outside, through the back gate, around the house, down the driveway, and was standing at the end of the driveway looking down the road when Mr. Frank looked out his kitchen window. Mr.Frank said "I couldn't get to him fast enough, I knew it wasn't right." Oh, thank you Lord for good neighbors...and good locks! I promise ya'll, I watch my kids...most of the time. ) : These are "not funny at the time" stories that could have ended differently, so learn from my "stories" and keep scissors, medicine, and locks up HIGH!

Ahhh, the memories of our children ...being made now... as the time flies by.

Enjoy the pictures and Happy Fall!

Patrick loves to cast his line over and over.

Chase's new hairdo!

Our Two Boys...A Mama's View

The next two posts are all about our two boys, Patrick and Chase. These two kiddos are absolute opposites in every way possible and I love that about them. Because this blog serves as a scrapbook I wanted to talk about each of them separately as I have experienced them through the years thus far. Their ways are different but my love is the same. Hope you enjoy a glimpse into my view of our two boys.

Our first born, Patrick Randall

Patrick was born mid April just a few days before Easter and just three days after I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of my life. Oh, how different things would have been. What a blessing it was to bring a new life into this world under a whole new view based on a whole new set of priorities and values. Timing was perfect and I was ready to be a mama! Randy and I decided to not know the gender of our first born and we were both convinced we were having a girl!! HaHaHa. No, it was NOT funny when he came as a HE...not to me anyway. Randy was thrilled!! I, on the other hand, was mad at the world for about 24 hrs then of course I was forever in love.

Patrick aka "Patch" definitely has a first born nature. He is calm and laid back and has been since birth. He is independent and has a mind of his own...you will not change his mind...he knows all things! He is a sweet boy, very thoughtful and gets his feelings hurt easily. He is generous to a fault. Last Christmas after opening his three presents from Santa, he put one aside (a $45 power ranger helmet, by the way, that "Santa" had to go all over to find because every store was sold out and he just happened to find one on the very top shelf behind other toys at the last minute!) He had asked Santa to bring this gift for his cousin...not for him. We didn't have a clue because Patrick is also very secretive. He has inner thoughts he shares with no one until the time is right. This way no one can interfere with his plans until it is too late. See, we tried to explain to him that Santa spent a lot of money on that gift and he should keep it for himself. "Nope, I got it for Jayden and Santa doesn't care or he wouldn't have brought it." Oh, well...Jayden got a power ranger helmet!
Patrick is very giving. If someone brings him something...he has to also give something in return. This is OK until he starts going through my jewelry because he needs a gift for a girl. Yes, he has tried giving away my diamond earrings and my class ring! He is also very observant. He pays attention to detail and this is one trait I definitely want him to keep. This causes him to be a perfectionist but also he notices the small things, like when I get a pedicure or a new shirt. Seriously, he is genuinely happy when I get new stuff and comments on it. He is usually the one who picks out my nail color! He loves to color and draw. He is good at it because he is so detailed.

Patch also likes things to be clean, especially bathrooms. Sometime during our first t-ball game this year, Patrick went missing. We looked everywhere and finally I found him hiding ; his pants were wet. Yes, my 6 yr old peed in his pants. I was shocked because he never had accidents even at 3! I asked "Patch... baby...why did you pee in your pants?" His response.." Mommy, I looked and looked and looked and could not find a clean bathroom anywhere ...so...I had to pee in my pants." He was serious as a heart attack and could have cared less that he now had wet pants...nope...he walked right out to the field and finished the game. From then on, he used the bathroom before leaving home. And yes, I explained to him that he stands up, but that did not matter to him. "Those bathrooms are gross" he said.

On the other hand, he loves to dig in the dirt and pull bark off trees...he has done this for hours! He is fascinated with nature...bugs, worms, birds, frogs, lizards, flowers, rocks, stars, moon, sun, grass, etc., etc. He asks a thousand questions that I usually have to google to answer. He values all life! This child will pitch a fit ( I have seen this many times) if you even think about killing any living creature, even spiders and ants! We kill nothing! Well, when he is around, we kill nothing. I'll squish a spider in a split second and smile about it.

Patrick decided he wanted to try soccer, basketball, and t-ball this year and yes, we did all three. He wanted to quit all three after 2 wks in but we forced him to finish what he started. He hated all of it. We got our soccer sign up in the mail a few days ago and I asked.." Patrick, do you want to play soccer, basketball, or t-ball this year? You can pick just one if you want." He responded with " Uh, mommy, I don't want to play sports this year." I said " OK, well what do you want to do, want to take art or play piano?' He said "Uh, no mommy, I think I just want to be one of those people who don't do anything." Well then, OK...on to other things. He makes me laugh because he knows what he wants, he doesn't flinch! There is no talking this kid into anything.

Patrick is not a very affectionate child to anyone other than his mommy and daddy. His Nanny will offer money to get a hug! He doesn't give out hugs freely and I have never seen him kiss anyone but me and his daddy. He is very modest and doesn't like to bring attention to himself. He will not have anything to do with strangers or even people he somewhat knows. He is very cautious and if there is ever a fire...don't worry about Patrick...he will be the first outside! He takes no chances on safety and he watches his little brother better than I do. He doesn't have any favorite toys and never has really. He takes very good care of his things and keeps anything important to him in a safe place. He has a safe, a treasure box and a drawer full of special things. I have a mason jar full of things he has picked up for me in various places. The jar has rocks, feathers, a milk jug ring, pony tail holders, two nails twisted to form a cross, sequins, beads, single earrings, scraps of paper, marbles, etc., etc. He started bringing me "gifts" when he was 2, he would find these things throughout his day at daycare and for the first year I threw the "gifts" away. I know, I know, I should have kept them all but I didn't until one day. Patrick came home and as soon as we walked in he quickly took his shoes off and handed me the prettiest 2 pebbles. I said "why are they in your shoes?" I'll never forget it..he said " because the teacher said I couldn't put pebbles in my pockets anymore, so I put these in my shoes...for you." That sweet 3 yr old boy had walked around all day with two pebbles in his shoe that he had picked out for his mama. From that day on, I have saved everything he brings me but guess what? He rarely brings me things now but I love, love, love getting that mason jar out of the cabinet and looking at all my "gifts"!




This is our first born. This is Patrick. We couldn't possibly love him more!

Our second born, Joseph Chase

Chase arrived on the first day of Sept. two weeks early and almost 9 lbs! Right from the start we knew Chase would be different. He was born with red hair and a temper to go with it! I once again was convinced he would be a she even though the sonogram clearly showed boy parts. I was in denial, I had cried for a week after I found out we were having another boy. But this time I was prepared and fell in love instantly!

Chase is completely the opposite of his big brother. You could reverse everything about Patrick...and voila...have Chase! Chase looks a lot like Patrick and they can share most clothes now but their ways are, oh, so different. Chase is a sneaky, brave, mischievous, funny, 100% boy! He loves balls of any kind and is tough as nails, he is fearless. He gets hurt all the time doing crazy stuff. He jumps off the couch but forgets about the table that is in front of the couch. He climbs to the top of the monkey bars and lets go. He swings upside down on the swing and lets go. He loves strangers! This is scary but he will give almost anyone a hug or kiss without bribery. He fights like a 6 yr old and is not intimidated by a 12 yr old. I watched my 10 yr old nephew pick on him for about 5 seconds then I waited and watched as Chase picked up a bat and chased that 10 yr old all over the place. I let it go for about 5 minutes knowing the older one could out run the younger then I took the bat away. That nephew now completely respects Chase in a new way. Chase's first sentence was "HE HIT ME!" talking about Patrick and acting as if 'how dare he'.

Chase was a terrible baby, he had colic for 4 months! He cried almost every night from 9p-2a from the day after we brought him home until Dec.10....yes, I remember it clearly. Colic is not for the weak and no, your baby doesn't have colic if he is "fussy". Believe me, fussy is great...colic is horror!! I seriously could relate to moms that harm their children, thank God I didn't hurt him but it took all I had to keep from it and I had to break down and tell the doctor that before he would help me. He tried, but nothing took it away. It was BAD! So, from the beginning Chase was different.This child has a sense of humor and uses it often...to his advantage. He has so many different faces and voices he uses to match his mood. He picks things up easily and can imitate others well. After he spends the day with his friend, Cash, he talks just like him for days, on purpose! He says, "My talk like Cash!" He thinks it's funny and so do we.

We have to watch Chase like a hawk. I think he plans his next adventure before finishing the first. We were outside one day recently and I darted in to grab my cell phone and came right back out. He was behind me on the way in but apparently got side tracked in the laundry room. I came out and saw him walking towards our koi pond with something in his hand. As I got closer, he stopped on the bridge and held out his hand. OMG! He had a full scoop of Gain washing powders, slowly tilting his hand toward the pond. I screamed, "NO, NO, NO". Staring right at me with a look that says " you are there, I am here..whatcha gonna do?"..he dumped the WHOLE scoop in the pond and shyly smiled. I wore his butt out! I mean, I beat that child! We have 20 fish, some are 16 inches long! He cried, he did. Then said " mommy, it mells good." then he ran to play. Randy had to come home from work to drain 1200 gallons of water and wait to see if any fish were gonna die. They didn't. We had bubbles for days and the backyard did 'mell' good.


Chase destroys all things and eats all things. He rips pages out of books ( this causes Patrick to go ballistic) and he eats the eraser off every pencil he comes across. He breaks every crayon in half and says "see, we have two" and he doesn't like order...he destroys order! He can sniff out candy or gum within a mile radius. Doesn't matter where we hide it, Chase will eventually find it and eat it. This is a good thing at supper time, he will try anything and usually likes it.


Chase still doesn't sleep through the night. He is almost 3 and I can probably count on 2 hands how many times he has slept straight through the night. We have tried it all and will try anything else anyone suggests. He goes to sleep in his bed and does so easily but he always wakes up by 3 a.m. In the beginning, we would check on him, settle him back in and he would go back to sleep only for another hour or so then back awake screaming out. We would do this over and over. Then we ignored him...that lasted a total of one hour...no sleep for anyone! Now that he is in a toddler bed, when he screams out for us we simply say "come on". He crawls in the bed with us but he is back awake in less than an hour most nights. We pat him and say its OK...off to sleep we go. I have no idea why he does this and I really don't care at this point. Eventually he will grow out of it, we hope!


Chase is very independent and wants to do whatever it is you are doing. I have posted a picture I took of him imitating his Paw Paw smoking a cigar. He had found a piece of Lincoln logs and we were all outside, my Dad was smoking a cigar and the next thing we knew Chase was imitating him with the Lincoln log! This was less than one week before my Dad passed and I remember my Dad laughing and saying "I don't know if we should be laughing...I am proud he wants to be like me but I hope he doesn't pick up smoking from me". We laughed so hard watching Chase trying to be like Paw Paw and Chase was in his own world oblivious to anyone around him. He was concentrating so hard on holding his hands right and blowing smoke. I snapped a few pictures with my phone and I am so glad I did! Chase will most likely remember nothing about his Paw Paw but the picture is worth a thousand words!

This is our second born. This is Chase. We couldn't possibly love him more!

Put it off for as long as I could....

O.K...here goes...I am an official blogger! After reading many,many blogs and wondering how I could ever find the time to blog..I have given in to the temptation of opening up our private lives and to began journaling the lives of our children for no other reason than to keep precious memories at our fingertips. I must say I regret not doing it sooner. Yes, I am sure it will require some attention, but surely this blog will not end up in the drawer with all those pictures and funny stories of the past 8 years. It's really sad, I had good intentions of sorting, scrap booking and journaling...but who am I kidding? It will most likely never happen. Hopefully, this will be a more realistic way to share our lives with family and friends. Enjoy!