Our latest addition

Since painting our living room green a month or so ago, we have slowly been adding things back up on the walls. This framed wreath is our latest. I've been wanting to do it for awhile, so it feels nice to finally get it done. It's not exactly what I pictured, and I may still tweak a couple things, but I still like it. It all came together when we scored a framed picture during a White Elephant party. The wreath was ready and waiting, so after a quick trip to JoAnn's for some ribbon and spray paint, and we were done. I love being done.

Ellie saw a picture of someone on the tea cups at Disneyland.

Ellie: "Can we go there mom?"
Me: "I don't know?"

Ellie: "Maybe after breakfast?"
Me: "I don't know? Go ask Dad."

Ellie (upon coming back from talking to Danny): "He said I don't think so."
Me: "Oh, ok."

Ellie (straight faced and in all seriousness): "That means yes."

It was a very Merry Christmas.

I think we did a pretty good job of keeping things simple this year. Of course it's easy when the only thing Ellie wanted was princess band aids (and a Christmas tree). We did get her a few other things, but the band aids were still at the top of her list of favorites (probably second to lots of gum and candy). I was pretty excited about her new play kitchen, but I think it's going to take a friend or two coming over to play with her to get her really excited.

Chase was happy with his horse, dog, cars and dad's new shaver.

Just a very nice Christmas.

The Chasey man

July 2010

I don't realize how fast my kids are growing up until I find old pictures, that aren't even very old. This shot was less than 6 months ago. A big difference from the little man we've got today.

Our sweet, timid Mary

Ellie was the first girl to arrive at the Preschool Christmas program, (I had the wrong time, which made us quite early- I should do this more often) so she got first pick of her costume. A good choice.

Toys

Danny's new toy
(thanks to a boss who likes to give the latest fun, new gadgets)

Ellie: "Hey dad, do you got any games on this?"
And now refers to it as Daddy's "Big Touch"

My new toy

I'm usually against opening presents early, but I've gone far too long without a camera already. Now I just need to learn how to use it.

Can you guess what Ellie is?

Ellie had a Thanksgiving program today at preschool. They preformed a play about the first Thanksgiving, sang some silly turkey songs, and served their special guests cornbread that they helped make before we arrived.

yes, a costume change and all

Ellie is one cute turkey

Chase was happy to see Ellie's special guests too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Time for costumes.

Cowboy Chase

my little butterfly

We've been without a camera for awhile now, but I figured Ellie's very first preschool Halloween party was a good occasion to borrow one. She is loving preschool and learning all kinds of things. She can write her name, sing lots of new songs and cut with scissors. I'm not sure how I feel about that last one, but I suppose she has to learn some time.

I also realized today that she can recite almost the entire first chapter of Sideways Stories from Wayside School. I've been reading it to her for a few weeks now, but had never heard her join in before. I thought maybe it was just the first few lines, then maybe just the first few paragraphs, but she either finished my sentences or recited it all the way to the end of the chapter. It made me laugh every time she'd chime in. She's definitely been holding out on me.

Preschool has begun.

Ellie decided she'd sit.

Yesterday was Ellie's very first day of preschool. She likes it. I'm glad about that. Everything else about the day was a disaster. I'm crossing my fingers that a spot in another class time will open up that won't leave me with a tired and grouchy girl who says she's not tired and won't take a nap.

At least it can only go up from here.

Our very own

double rainbow.

I love thunder and lightning.
And I love when it rains when the sun it out.
Yesterday's monsoon storm was perfect.

Chase loves water dropping from the sky.

a picture and a story

I have had a lot of Chase pictures lately, but this one comes with a story.

It was time for Ellie's nap so I put Chase in his bouncer with his blanket and bottle. It's much safer when he's "contained", otherwise there's no telling what he'll get into, or get stuck on, or climb up on and fall off of. It's a great routine. After Ellie had fallen asleep, Chase wasn't complaining, so I went in my room for a little me time. Maybe 10 minutes later I hear the pitter-patter of a baby crawling across the kitchen floor.

Huh, that's not possible. Chase is in the bouncer. Moments later, huh, Chase is in my room.

I realize nothing should surprise me at this point. (Like how another mom at the gym this morning told me she saw Chase through the netting up in the second level of the big kid play place and didn't think someone so little could make it up there. I didn't either. Apparently he likes to climb backward up the slide.) I just don't get how I didn't even hear a crash or a bonk or anything. Ellie wasn't much into climbing, so I thought Chase's obvious love for it was just a boy thing. But now I'm pretty sure it's a Chase thing.

I still don't know how he got out of that thing.

All aboard

The Chasey Train

He won't be sitting for long.

I think we're days away from walking instead crawling. He's taken a few good strings of steps, but mostly, Chase is content climbing. Into boxes, bathtubs, up on chairs, steps, stools, couches, beds. Anything that gets him up higher or into a bit of trouble. He may look innocent, but that's all part of his plan. Luckily he's also pretty noisy, so it doesn't take long to track him down.

A souvenir.

Any guesses where we got the bib?


Oh, and we now play peek-a-boo.

A little chat.

Last night night while I was putting Ellie to bed I decided to stay and rest with her for awhile. I usually just rush out and leave the finishing up duties to Danny. As we were laying there we got talking about lot of random topics: how Ellie is afraid of dinosaurs (I had no idea, but told her she was in luck because they are extinct), how she got pushed by Sophie, who didn't say sorry (likely not the whole story) and how the Holy Ghost helps us. As I talked with her about each of the random topics that she would bring up, I realized that I was having a very real and grown up conversation with my little girl. She is so grown up. When did that happen?

Truck, truck to Boston

There's no such thing as too many pictures, right? I'm pretty sure I'm way past that point anyway. So here's the final round up.

Day 7 The train, the subway & another date
On Thursday we rode the train to Boston and then took the Subway to the Boston Common for lunch, sight seeing and shopping. Ellie even got a free book from Brattle's Bookstore. The worker called it the "young reader's discount". Then we were back on the train and home to our cottage just in time to drop of the kids for date night number two. This time pizza (Joe's) and ice cream cones (jumbo ones), after getting lost and aimlessly driving around Maine. Nothing like surfing, but still a nice getaway.

Funniest parking payment system I've ever seen.
But we folded up our dollar bills and pushed them down our numbered parking spot, as instructed. Apparently there were getting a brand new system, (a debit machine) the next day.

It's hard to find a good flock of pigeons to chase in Arizona.

Leave it to me to notice a yogurt shop, that of course we had to try out.
No complaints from Ellie.

Day 8 The museum
We looked at fish, picked up star fish, colored pictures and played at the playground.

Anytime we see some sort of sea creature, we can't help but relate it back to it's Finding Nemo character. This would be Flow.

Day 9
One last stop at Granddad's and aunt Pam's, and then off to the airport. We had a layover in Minneapolis. The flight there, very long and squirmy. At one point Chase got a hand full of the lady's hair in front of us. I made a mental note to laugh it off if the baby in the seat behind me ever gets a hold of my hair, because this lady definitely did not. And it's always best to just be friendly. She was lucky enough to get on our next flight as well, but not seated anywhere near us. Her and her mane would have been safe though, because Chase slept the rest of the way home.

What a great trip. So many fun memories. I just didn't think I could do it justice with out going through all it. And now when my memory fails me, I'll have this to look back on.

Thanks Nana and Grandpa. And Granddad, don't be surprised if you see us again soon.

The fun continues

The home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence

Day 5: Toys, candy and dates

On Tuesday we went into Portsmouth for a run to a toy store and lunch. The adults enjoyed subs from Moe's, while enjoyed sandwich's with her second family.

Can you tell who doesn't belong?

After lunch we headed to Maine (about a 5 min drive) to shop at a deliciously dreamy candy store. I'm pretty sure Danny enjoyed himself the most and out bought the rest of the clan.

Ellie's candy of choice: Jelly Bellies

Danny's candy of choice: salt water taffy,cinnamon bears, gummy coke bottles and liquid filled wax bottles to name a few

As if that wasn't fun enough, come 5 o'clock we were off on our date. I know, who goes on dates on vacation? Well, thanks to Abbie's brilliant idea of swapping babysitting nights, we all did. I'm pretty sure this was my all-time favorite date, because it was spent surfing! I have always wanted to go surfing, and it did not disappoint. The only problem is now I want to be a surfer, but we definitely live in the wrong state for that.





Day 6: Breakfast, slides and a reunion

Wednesday we went to breakfast with Mike & Steph at a place called The Friendly Toast. We noticied quite a few restaurants and shops that went with "friendly" somewhere in the title. I guess it has an inviting ring to it. Anyway, after a little souvenir shopping for the kids we were on the road in search of a laundry mat. It wasn't long before Ellie took a turn for the worse. It may have had something to do with the fact that playing with Stella was more fun than eating her breakfast. Mickey pancakes no less, which says a lot about how much fun those girls have together. So we got some food in her tummy and let her slide to her heart's content, while Danny did the laundry. Not sure if that sounds like a fair trade.































Later that evening, reunion #2.There was lots of good company, a yummy dinner and lots of birthday cake and ice cream for Grandpa. I was quickly referred to as Chase's mom. He sure is a crowd pleaser, that Chase.