Sneaky "Steve".....

Check out the mischief that "Steve" the Elf has been into since he arrived at our house!

Snow angels on the counters....

                                    A snowball fight with Barbie....



And his latest escapade (I am almost too embarrassed to share)......

           He painted Daddy's fingernails while he was sleeping!!!

Chase loves getting up every morning to see what "Steve" has done. And I am so glad that "Santa" made that special late delivery last week! =)



Meet "Steve" ....

(Because when you think of elf names, of course, the first one that comes to mind is "Steve"......right?)

Well, for Chase, that was true. So......

Meet "Steve" the Elf !!!

Last week, on his own, Chase went to NorthPole.com and "ordered" an elf from Santa without telling anyone. That is, until yesterday, when he looked at me with that pitiful little face and said "I guess my elf won't come this year."

Well...I bet you'll never guess what happened!

 Miraculously, our doorbell rang tonight and I bet you can't guess what was on the doorstep? Yep....Steve the elf!

Chase is Super-Duper excited.....

We can't wait to see what kind of mischevious stuff "Steve" will get into while we sleep!

Merry Christmas!

A Bittersweet Thanksgiving....

This year we had a low-key Thanksgiving. Life has been a little hectic lately, for all of our families. We have had several changes and a few sad times, so we didn't much feel like a big celebration. Don't get me wrong...I still feel like I have so much to be thankful for and we actually did end up having a pretty good weekend. It was just a little bittersweet.

Our week started with some bad news. My Great-Granny Hyatt passed away on Tuesday. She was 92 years old but was still completely independent. She lived on her own, was still driving, loved to sing with her singing group, and was a fiery little lady. She had a few minor health problems but nothing major. So, it was kind of a shock when she just died in her sleep. We had visitation on the Friday after Thanksgiving and the funeral on Saturday. She was a sweet lady and will definitely be missed by all....

Another big change that has happened recently is that my parents have recently decided to down-size and have put thier house on the market. Since my Dad has been working from home a lot lately, they decided to be snowbirds and stay at thier condo at the beach while it sells. It has been a little strange but we are getting used to it. Especially because my Dad got all of us kids web-cams and set us up with Skype. It's still not the same but at least we can look at each other while we talk.

Since they were at the beach, they made the long journey home on Thansgiving day so we had a late Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother's house. I didn't take any pictures but I did steal this one of us girls from my sister's blog....

(We had Thanksgiving lunch earlier that day with Mark's parents but, like I said, I didn't take any pictures.)

It was overall a pretty good day but all of our hearts were heavy with the loss of Granny Hyatt. This was really the only time of year that we saw her and it felt really strange to not spend Thanksgiving with her.

I decided to try to have some fun over the weekend so the next day, my sister and I decided to participate in the Black Friday madness! We got up at 4:00am and headed to K-mart to try and grab some of those great deals. Here is what we saw when we pulled up.....

YIKES!!!

The line was SO LONG and it was RAINING and FREEZING!!! We sat in our car for a few minutes but then decided to tough it out in line....



We ended up getting a few good deals there and went to several other places that day. It was fun and we actually got a lot of shopping done. Thank goodness because Santa is a little busy these days....if you know what I mean!  ;)

Like I said before, it was a bitterswet holiday weekend for us but we managed to make the best out of it. It really makes you think about all that we have to be thankful for when you lose a loved one. I am especially thankful to have a great family, healthy children, great friends and a wonderful husband!

Birthday Boy!!!

 Here we are 8 years ago....

 

November 3, 2002, was the second happiest day of my life (the first being the day our sweet Kayli was born, of course), the day our little bundle of energy joy was born! Chase came into the world a tiny little thing without making a sound (scared us to death, actually). However, it didn't take long for us to realize just what we were in for. He has been at full speed ever since and is always looking for what comes next. He was, and still is, exhausting but we have loved every minute of the last eight years and can't wait for 100 more!

This year Chase's birthday fell on a Wednesday so we just had family over to grill and eat cake. We decided not to do a traditional birthday party and instead took Chase and two friends to a Hockey game on Friday. A good blogger would now share pictures of what a great time we had at the hockey game....but, of course, I left my camera at home. We did have a great time, though, and the boys really enjoyed it. We will definitely be going again!

Anyway, back to Wednesday....

After Chase blew out the candles it was time for presents!

And for his BIG surprise.....

Yep....a gun.

(FYI....Mom was not too thrilled about this one but I gave in to the pressure and went along with it. Rest assured, it is locked up tight and hidden away. And we have had some SERIOUS talks about safety and the rules once or twice...or maybe a few hundred times-just to be on the safe side.)

I put my fears to the side, though, and was happy that Chase was very excited and will actually get good use of this when he and Mark are hunting this year.

It was a great night and Chase had a great birthday.

Once again, I am left wondering where the time has gone. Our tiny little boy is growing up into a little man. We are so grateful that God has given us the joy of raising a little boy (trying as it may be). There is never a dull moment around our house and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy Birthday, Chase! We love you!

(Just a quick side note....after looking back at this blog, I just had to laugh. Chase got a toy wrestler and a rifle for his birthday....Can you say "You might be a redneck if.....")

Halloween 2010....

First of all...I realize it has been over a month since I have updated our blog. I am SO behind and I have SO much to catch up on! I have recently started working (more on that later) so most of my time has been consumed by getting up SUPER early, to get kids to school and get to work by 8am, and driving because my job is in Huntsville. Needless to say, my weekends are spent catching up with kids and housework and homework and......sorry.....let's just say I'm busy!

So anyway, let's get on with the first update...HALLOWEEN!!!

This year for Halloween, Kayli was a nerd and Chase was Jason from Friday the 13th. Aren't they cute! This picture was taken on Saturday night (10/30) before we went to our friends annual Halloween party!

And so was this picture....

Hahahaha!!!

The party was a costume party, so I also dressed as a nerd and Mark and our friend, Jamey, dressed up as the Geico cavemen!!

Aren't they hilarious!!!

On Sunday night, we went trick-or-treating and the kids got a TON of candy! We usually go to Point Mallard, where my parents live, to trick-or-treat, but since it was on Sunday this year, we decided to stay around our neighborhood. So many people go to Point Mallard and it is always very crowded, stressful and the kids don't get very good candy or very much candy. But this year.....

They were pretty happy with their goodies!!!

It was a fun Halloween weekend! We had a great time at the Brown's costume party and the kids, of course, had fun counting all of that candy....and eating it, too!!!

My Promise To My Children...

We are going through the "almost a teenager" phase with Kayli and, needless to say, there have been quite a few arguments and even some eye-rolling and slamming doors. I am sure we will go through it with Chase in a few years, but right now, Kayli and I are butting heads ALOT and sometimes I wonder if I am doing the right thing or being to hard on her. However, I saw this on FaceBook today and it reminded me that my job as a mother IS to be all of those things....because I love them.

So, this is my PROMISE TO MY CHILDREN:

 I will stalk you, freak out on you, lecture you, drive you crazy, be your worst nightmare, embarrass you in front of your friends, hunt you down like a bloodhound til the day you understand why I do it. All because I LOVE YOU. You will never find someone who loves you & cares about you more than your mom! I love you more than life itself !

Love,

~ Mom



Boys.....

This is just a few of the 50 or so pictures I found on my camera today....Chase posing in the mirror with his belt tied around his head like Rambo and socks on his wrists like sweatbands.

One mischievous, bored little boy + camera= hilarious pictures and an overloaded memory card!

This was almost as funny as the time we overheard him giving himself a pep-talk before a baseball game in the mirror...."Chase, you are awesome. You are awesome." Mark and I laughed until we cried.

What can I say...Chase YOU ARE awesome!