Why We Don't Have Girls

Try as he might, A is not interested in the Buzz Lightyear or any of the Thomas trains that Gavin has brought over to entertain her...

Girls are SO complicated.  Bah.

Humidity

Can you tell it is almost summer here?

Fail TWICE

So...remember when I forgot to paint the big rock outside the school for Ian's birthday?  And I promised that I would put his name on it when it was Chase's birthday, so that they could share the birthday-rock wishes?

I had it on my calendar.  I knew it had to be done.  Time just ran away and we got super busy with Easter and company and making Grandma Maddex's coffee cakes.

And I forgot.

Chase is FOUR!

Happy birthday to my wild man, Chase!

You surprise us every day with good things (you recognize the written names of your classmates!!!  YIPPEE!) and crazy things (PLEASE stop acting out the part in Toy Story 3 when Woody runs on the toilet paper roll and unravels the whole thing...!).

You are sweet, sensitive, and kind.  You are stubborn, independent, and determined.

You love dirt and mulch, water play, Toy Story, and jumping on the beds.  You are Guy's best friend.  You are famous at school.

You make us laugh, sigh, and shake our heads.

We love you so much!

We all scream...

Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate.  ~Sandra Boynton

 Ice cream is happiness condensed.  ~Jessi Lane Adams

 My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate.  That's my philosophy.  ~Thornton Wilder

 Ice cream cravings are not to be taken lightly.  ~Betsy Cañas Garmon,

 Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.  ~Don Kardong

 We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spring Break: Day 3

I spent the morning watching the kids on the patio in the baby pool as I finished up some bits and pieces of our dossier.  We had a few items to fax in to be checked before getting them apostilled, which I had, but just needed to get Bryan to sign and have notarized.  I also wrote letters to our Congressional reps and downloaded all the release forms so that we can *possibly* get our immigration forms expedited before Danil's country changes the adoption process in June.  Praying, praying, praying, that someone can help us out...otherwise we won't get that form back for another 70 days or so :(

We took a field trip to Bryan's office and then back again for naps.

Ian and the Larsens and Samantha (other next door neighbor) played in the sprinkler, while Chase decided not to nap.  He eventually convinced me to let him out of his room and out to play with the bigs.  I love sprinkler photos, so I took a thousand, even sacrificing my dry clothes to get them:

 Awwww :)  Look!  A flower...!

 STOMP THE FLOWER GAME!!!  (boys.  sheesh.)

 I love the history of this post- the same kids sharing the same fun, but 3 years ago.  We're going on 5 years of sprinkler memories here.  Awesome :)

OK- time to get the kids in dry clothes and make a run to the $1 ice cream cone stand :)

Spring Break: Day 2

Our favorite babysitter Kelsey came to watch the kids this morning while I took Chase to his first gymnastics class.  One of the moms in our DSAC group gives a free class at her gym for kids with disabilities every week.  We're going to try to make it regularly, even pulling Chase from school on Tuesday mornings so that he can go.  At our IEP meeting, the teachers/therapists recommended starting him in a structured class to work on behavior/attention while playing up his strengths (gross motor).  So we'll see.

He was undecided at the class on whether or not he liked it.  Things he enjoyed:
*Swinging from the rings
*Jumping on the trampoline
*Walking the beam
*Jumping into the foam pit

Things he hated:
*Um, following directions of any kind

Yeah.  This is gonna be a lot of work on my part, I can tell now.

Later, we packed our lunches and headed to the playground at the kids' school with the Larsens.  They monkeyed around, made each other sick on the tire swings, and perhaps got a little sunburned.  Chase and Gavin spread popcorn and grapes all over the ground.  Thanks, guys.

We went from there to Target (with 4 boys who have not had naps- livin' on the WILD SIDE, baby!!) and then straight to the pediatrician's for Ian's 6 year well check.

Stats:
Ht: 45 1/4 (50%)
Wt: 45.6 (25-50%)
BP: 98/70
BMI: 16

Didn't know that they did BMI stats regularly for kids.  Interesting.

We met Bryan at home, who took over dinner while I got ready for Corey's baby shower.  A perfect end to the day- sitting outside on the patio with a Yueng-ling in a sundress with my friends- sooo relaxing.

Spring Break: Day 1

Day one started with a bike/walk to the playground up the street, where Weston, Guy, Chase, and Landon dug a hole to China (no pics, sorry!).  That led into bike races home between Ian and Andey...Andey won, I think mostly because her bike is twice the size of Ian's.  

Next was a picnic in the shade for the two besties, with Porter dropping in and out occasionally.

...and Guy passing out in the chair:

Finished out the day with soccer practice and playground time...and also cow-watching (not tipping!).  There is a giant cow pasture bordering the soccer fields, and Gavin and Chase love moo-ing at them.  Well, Chase moos.  Gavin barks and sometimes moos.  It could even be considered a growl.  

Funnies From All Three

Ian (complaining about Chase sitting in the back seat with him): Mom, Chase really isn't understandable enough to sit in the back with me.

Ian (whining about a chore or something else equally devestating):  This is the worst thing EVER in the WHOLE universe!!

Chase: I'm making grilled cheese for dinner, and before I can put the sandwich on the grill pan, he runs up and snatches it off the counter, and runs away before I can catch him- like he lives in a house where he has to steal food to survive.

Chase (at gymnastics today): About 1/2 way through the class, he started repeating the word home over and over.  He was tired and generally upset that he couldn't do whatever he pleased at the gym.  BUT when it was time to play in the foam pit, I couldn't get him out!  I told him it was time to go home (yay!  yippee!  It's what you've been asking for for the last 1/2 hour!!) and he looks straight at me and says- loud and clear- NO HOME!

Gavin: I told him that we were going to take a bath when we got home...and while I was unpacking the van (diaper bag, other kids, etc) he took himself upstairs, put himself in the tub (clothes and shoes and all) and started the water.

Morrow Mountain

We spent the day with my parents at Morrow Mountain.  Now, it's not the Rockies (Bryan considers all mountains small hills when compared to his beloved Rockies) but it is definitely a mountain, and better yet, it is only an hour-ish away from us!

So the plan was to go to the early worship experience at church, then meet my parents at their house and go picnicking and trail-walking together.

Which was a great plan, in theory.

What really happened, though, was that Bryan woke up sick, and I slept in too late to get everyone showered and dressed and fed and packed and in the car with enough time to get to church by myself.  I did eventually get all that done, but left the driveway at 9:19, with church starting at 9:30, and a 25 minute travel time from door to door.  Oops.

Soooo.  For the first time EVER, we got to my parents' house early, and I made promises to myself about catching the 6pm service.

We pulled up to their townhouse with cheers from the backseat ringing out- "PapaGagaPapaGagaPapaGaga!!!!!!!" The boys SO love their Papa and Gaga.  They always look forward to spending time with them, and that's not just because there is always candy waiting in the candy dish on the coffee table.

I got to sit with a cup of coffee (heaven!) while they ran up and down the stairs about 37 times, jumped on the beds, and unrolled all the toilet paper in all 3 bathrooms.  Then we packed everyone up before they wore out their welcome and made it to the mountain.

The pictures best describe our day...but in short, the weather was Carolina-spring-gorgeous, the boys were inquisitive and happy, and Gaga and Papa rock.

 Pinecones!  So- the pine cone story.  Gavin picked up a pine branch with a cone attached to it and would NOT put it down (of course, my camera had died by this point, so I don't have a photo of him with it).  Anyway, he loved this branch.  And at one point, he and Chase were standing on a little foot bridge, throwing sticks into the water...and Chase just leans over, breaks Guy's precious branch, and tosses it into the water!  Gavin doesn't argue, he just gets really, really sad.  He even had tears running down his face- and that silent, pathetic cry.  He hung his head and kind of wandered down the path without his stick.  It was the.saddest.thing.evAR.  Don't worry, though.  We found another stick and it was just as good, if not better.

 Picnicking:

 Chase chose to kick leaves around the trees instead of eating.

 Mouth full of orange:

 Leaf-kicking (Ian joins in on Chase's game):

 Duck-beak with Pringles (yes, I taught him how to do this):

 Papa's lil' Guy:

 Yes, I am fully aware that he needs a haircut and he looks like a shaggy dog.  But he's so close to being able to tuck it behind his ears, and it really is awesome when it is combed and clean and his little ringlets are bouncing all over the place!

 I swear, these glasses don't look as huge in person as they do on camera:

 Isn't this a gem?  Chase doesn't want a diaper change, and is determined NOT to let me do anything about it.  Look at my face.  Doesn't that scream "compassionate mother"?  No?  Huh.  (Thanks to Ian for capturing this magical moment!)

How about this?  You go ahead and be potty trained now, and we won't have to do this little song and dance number 10 times a day!?  Mmm-kay?

 Box turtle!  This was moments before Chase almost stepped on the poor thing. 

 Ian speaks fluent tortoise.

 Love these shots of my parents holding hands with the boys :)

 Going across the many foot bridges was one of the best parts- Papa showed Chase and Guy how to stomp all the way over them with really fast feet.  Love the giggles that that produced.

Oh- and look!  Guy has his pinecone branch in his hand!!

 Don't worry.  Chase didn't hit Gaga with this giant branch.

 Friends again:

 Throwing stuff into the wah-warghrghrgh.  (Chase and Gavin have adopted a German accent when they say 'water'- it's hard to type.)

 Ooh!  A wild turkey feather!

Sadly, there are no pictures of the giant swarm of termites we found devouring a tree (cool!)

Awesome day.  We need to do this, like all the time.  I love that the boys are big enough to walk and explore on their own (well, with minimal redirection onto the trail).  Next time maybe Bryan can join us, instead of being selfishly barfy at home.  (love you, honey!  missed you!)