He went to bed at what time?

6:30!! We have had some trouble with Blake lately, and have not been able to find any way to get through to him. He dosen't mind being sent to his room, he dosen't care if you take away toys, privaleges, friends, outings...none of it matters to him one bit. He dosen't even mind getting spanked. So, we have now reincorporated the "accelerated bedime program." Here is how it works. For every time we call his name and he ignores us, his bedtime is pushed back 5 minutes. If he is willfully disobedient (does something that he has just been told not to do) it backs up 20-30 minutes. This is something Tony and I started several months ago and it worked like a charm. We hadn't used it in a while and I had forgotton about it until a friend mentioned it to me. So, we started it on Thursday and by 3:00 in the afternoon his bedtime was already moved back to 6:40 (from 9:00 mind you.) He popped off a few more times and it ended up at 6:30. Here is how the night went....
Mom: Hey Blake it is about 5:45 so if you want anything else to eat today you might want to go downstairs and get it because you will need to get in the shower soon.
Blake: What are you going to fix mom (as he is heading downstairs)
Mom: Nothing, we are going to eat when Dad gets home
Blake: That's OK, I will make a PBJ, I love PBJ you know, they are my FAVORITE
Mom: Great, I am glad you like them.
Blake: Know what else I love, 6:30 bedtime. It is my favorite too!
Mom: Super, this is going to be your night because you get your favorite dinner and your favorite bedtime!!
Blake: YEAH!!
He makes himself a PBJ and then heads upstairs to get in the shower. Time is 6:05
He gets undressed and in the shower .....time is now 6:15
At 6:23 I remind him that he has 7 minutes to get out and brush his teeth so he needs to get rinsed off. At this point he has taken the body wash and covered the walls with bubbles. He dosen't make it out of the shower until 6:29. Afraid to not be in bed by 6:30 he runs in his room and jumps on the bed (dripping wet.) I send him back into the bathroom to dry off, get dressed and brush his teeth. At 6:31 his bedtime automatically gets bumped up by 30 minutes and then each additional minute he is late to bed pushes it back by 5 minutes the next night. So by the time he was through clowning around, his bedtime was set for 8:05 the following night. At 7:15 Tony got home and our neighbor came over to "babysit" Blake while we all went to Chili's for dinner. I could hear him up walking around so I went upstairs. He told me that he didn't really like 6:30 bedtime anymore and he wanted to go play.
Mom: That's too bad because today you chose to move your bedtime all the way to 6:30. Maybe tomorrow you will make some different choices.
Blake: Where are you going?
Mom: We are going to Chilis, but don't worry Alexa is downstairs. (He has a fear of being left alone)
Blake: Can I go play with her?
Mom: Not this time, maybe next time. (He loves Alexa)

We left him with specific instructions to not get out of bed unless he had to go potty. He was asleep when we got home just over an hour later. Yesterday and today have gone much much better so we are hoping that Thursday night make an impression on him.

Fall Festival

Here are the pictures from the Fall Family Festival that our church has every year. For some strange reason Blogger uploaded them in reverse order, sorry. The first picture is of Ethan, Chase and one of Ethan's classmates on a little NASCAR ride. Chase was so excited to get on, but look at his face once the ride started!!

Here are Ethan and Blake earlier in the evening on a ride. I actually rode this last year with Ethan, he was obviously way too small last year but they let him on and he loved it.

Not sure what ride this is, but that is Blake's foot!!

Chase and Ethan dressed up for Pumpkin Patch Day at school.

Spider-Chase.

Daddy's little hunter

Daddy went duck hunting this morning and got five ducks. He got home with them around 8:30 to start cleaning them. Blake wouldn't even get out of bed to come see them, Ethan looked at them, and touched one very carefully with one finger and then wiped his hand on his pants and went back inside. Chasey on the other hand was VERY excited. He started stomping his feet, clapping his hands, and yelling "YEA, BOOM BOOM SPLASH!!" Tony held a duck for him to feel it and he grabbed it and started running around the front yard carrying the duck by the neck!!! Tony has said all along that he thinks that Chase will be the one getting up to go hunting with him. If today is any indication, I'd say he's right. To make matters worse, I showed him the pictures of himself holding the duck and he said, "I eat it!!" I think I have lost control of the little guy.

As a side note, once Blake did get up he went out to watch Tony clean the ducks. "Mom, you won't believe what Dad is doing to those ducks out there!!" Tony and Blake are headed out to 317 this evening to sit in the stands and see what they can see. There are a lot of hogs out there, so Blake may get an education on cleaning a hog.

It's been a CRAZY two weeks around here!!

I don't even know where to start!! Life has been a little crazy around here lately, so I figured that even though I have NO idea where my camera is to get you some new pics, I'd better at least get this all down.

We are very sad to say that we are now down to only 2 dogs. Biggirl died on October 22. Of course Tony was out of town, so I had to get a little help getting her loaded up in the back of the Suburban to go to the vet. She was the smallest of the 3, but 80 pounds is still a lot!! She was our adoptee from the Lufkin Humane Society (my sister adopted her 8 or 9 years ago.) We think she was 13 or 14 years old, so she lived much longer than most dogs of her breed and size. Blake and Tony burried her back behind his office, Blake picked the spot. We had considered taking her to 317 but since you don't really get to plan these things in advance, we weren't able to get her out there. Blake picked a spot "between the shady trees because she LOVED shady trees." Tony said that the first spot he picked was by a creek and it had been used as a concrete washout. So, he directed Blake to a new area and told him he could pick a spot. The ground is very sandy so Tony expected to have an easy time digging the hole (you know, since he was using the backhoe.) Tony said that about 6 inches down he hit bedrock!! The ground was so hard that it took him almost an hour to dig a hole for her...with a backhoe!! Blake was insistent on the spot and Tony said he wasn't going to argue with him. We are now really glad that we didn't take her to 317. He had a pretty tough week or so and has had a lot of questions about death and we don't want him to be constantly reminded every time we go to 317. Ethan on the other hand is very matter of fact about the who situation and tells just about everyone that he had a dog but now she is " Day-ud" He has such a Texas drawl sometimes, you can't help but laugh at him. The first few days Ethan would say, "Biggirl's at the doctor" and Blake would set him straight, "No she's not, she's dead. She is in heaven with her new body and she is so happy now."

Last week was full of preparations for our big race weekend. Tony and I are absolutely worn out. The boys absolutely love the races. Stay tuned for the NASCAR post.

Yesterday was Chase's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASE RYAN!!! Since things have been so crazy lately, we just went to McDonalds with a cake and had some friends meet us there. It wasn't anything fancy, but he was happy with it. It was definitely the easiest "party" we have ever had for one of the kids. No clean up, no big expensive party and there wasn't any major planning involved. He got a few presents that we just brought home for him to open after nap. I guess the more birthdays we have around here, the more obvious it becomes that the kids don't care if they have a big huge expensive party or not. They have a good time no matter what or where the party is. I forgot my camera, but should be able to get a few pics from others to post later.

Also be looking for a Halloween post, most likely to be combined with the NASCAR post since we were at the track Friday night for trick-or treating.

I think this is the messiest my house has ever been. Everywhere I turn there is more mess. It is so bad I don't even know where to begin. I am drowning in laundry, season changes are such a beating. Then when you add all of the laundry that comes from a weekend in the 5th wheel (bedding, towels, etc) and maternity clothes for the cooler weather (OK, it isn't exactly cool, but hopefully it will be soon) and the extra laundry generated by a 2 year old with diarrhea (that was SO much fun at the track this weekend) I don't think it is possible to ever get caught up on luandry. I have also had several people return baby items that I had loaned out and not needed back (or so I thought.) I actually have a pretty good collection of baby items right now. Of course I don't have any idea where to put all of this stuff until we are ready to use it, but at least I have it.

Hopefully I will locate the camera and get those pics on later this week.

And finally, the pictures

The crazy camera has released the pictures, but it scrambled them. So, I have tried to sort through them and find the current ones. First is an attempt to get all of the kids at the birthday party. As you can tell, that didn't really happen. And yes, this is the best one.

Levi, Chase, Ethan (charging the camera), Lexi, Gabriel, Blake and Brooke (who had just broken her arm and we didn't know it was actually broken!! Poor baby girl!!)

Our attempt at getting a picture of Chase holding Trinity. As you can tell, he has just let go of her and is making yet another one of his many faces.
Blake and Ethan in their Spiderman costumes.
Chasey in Blake's mask. He wants to be Spiderman just like his brothers. Anyone have a 2T Spiderman costume he can borrow? I can't find one anywhere.
OK, now this just cracks me up. First, Tony is playing Blake's Leapster. Blake is wearing Tony's hat and his headphones and is watching Tony. I am sitting at the computer (taking the picture) and Chase walks in and tells me " No Mommy, MY Daddy!" Apparently he dosen't want me in the same room with his Daddy. NICE!!
Ethan driving the Kubota. Notice, that Papa is holding onto the handle and not the kid.
Blake and Papa on the Kubota (not sure what they are looking at, but it isn't what's in front of them.) These two are just plain dangerous when they get together.
Adult game night=kid movie night.
Levi, Ethan, Kindle, Blake and Chase.
Anyone want to guess who was the first one to sleep...or the last.

Got this one today....nothing special, except that they are all sitting quietly. Chase is actually messing with a screwdriver and some batteries, but he was being quiet nonetheless.
My friend, Michelle, holding Chase. Somewhere I have a picture of her with Blake when he was about the same age in the same position.
"I am so glad my big brother can open the freezer and get me an ice cream sandwich." I left Chase eating lunch while I dried my hair (he slept through lunch...see picture above) when I came back a few minutes later this is what I found.
Chase decided to groom Zoe with the grill sponge, she dosen't seem to mind too much.
Last night Chase was having one of his MY DADDY monents and when Tony sat down to eat dinner, little Chasey got his feelings hurt and pouted off into the living room. It hadn't been 3 minutes and Blake came and told us Chase was already asleep. We looked at each other thinking, he can't be asleep. He was. Crashed out, fast asleep with Sunday Night Football blaring in his face.

Wish I had my camera out for this one, but I didn't. While I was cleaning the kitchen this morning, the boys were all playing. I could see Blake on the other side of the couch, but couldn't tell what exactly he was doing. He had asked me for 4 AA batteries, but we only had 2. I went on with my cleaning and when I was finished I found him sitting in the living room floor with one of Chase's ride on toys completely disassembled. Wheels, handle, seat, lights, everything laying in the floor. I calmly asked him what he was doing. He told me that the thing wasn't working, so he was fixing it. Great, I told him, but can you please but it all back together before your brothers start carrying off the screws and miscellanious parts. I assured him that new batteries would likely do the trick. About 10 minutes later he heads to the backyard, tells me he has it all put back together and hands me a lid (just like Dad when he has leftover parts) with 6 or 7 screws in it. What are these I asked him? They are just spare parts we don't need anymore!! And he is off to play in the backyard......and Chase is cruising the living room on his newly repaired rocket (that still dosen't have working lights or sound....or all of the screws it had earlier in the day.)

Best Friends

I thought I would do a post on our boys (the older two at least) and their best friends. Ethan's best friend is Kindle. They haven't always gotton along. She is 7 weeks older than him, not a huge gap at the age they are now, but when they were infants it was a big big gap. Kindle did everything early, she sat up early, she crawled early, and she walked early. This on top of the 7 week age difference and Ethan being a boy and a little slower made the gap seem much bigger. Kindle would try to pull Ethan up by the top of his head. She could not understand why he wouldn't just get up and walk. He was actually afraid of her and would start crying when she got anywhere near him. We were really worried that they never would get along. There was a year when the kids were 1.5-2.5 where they never saw each other because we lived in different states. We now live 10 minutes from each other and have for about a year and a half. Kindle and Ethan were in the same class at MDO last year and they have become best friends and they will each tell you or anyone else that they are each other's best friend. It is so sweet how they look out for each other, help each other, get really REALLY excited to see each other (even if it has only been a few days), and how they will tell each other that "you are my best friend." Who would have ever thought that they would be such good friends. They are not at all bothered by the fact that he is a boy and she is a girl. Blake has tried to tell him that he can't have a girl for abest friend and he gets fighting mad. The other day I picked Kindle up from school and she and Ethan were in the back seat talking about whatever 3 year olds talk about when I heard this.....
Ethan: I am a boy , becuz, becuz, becuz, becuz...
Kindle: You have a penis.
Ethan: Yeah, I have a penis....and you don't.
Kindle: Nope.
And that was the end of that. They were then onto the next topic.
When we got home, Kindle told Blake (just in case he had forgotton) that Ethan was her best friend (not in a mean way, just very matter of fact.) Blake never looked up at her, he just kept playing and said "yeah, I know....Gabriel is my best friend...we have been best friends since we were wearing diapers." Kindle told Blake in her proudest voice "me and Ethan don't wear diapers, we wear underwear" and she left the room. It took Blake a few seconds to process what had just happened. He came running out of his room, "Kindle we don't wear diapers anymore. I meant when we were babies!! We wore diapers when we were babies, now we don't....."

Top: Khindle and Ethan

Bottom: Gabriel and Blake

Blake and Gabriel have been best friends since, well, since they were in diapers. We used to live right next door to each other and Gabriel would stay with us 2 or 3 days a week while his mom worked. I think they were 9 and 10 months old. These two boys are the only two kids I have ever known that do not fight with each other, EVER. Even as infants and toddlers, they never fought. They would share anything with the other one, snacks, toys, whatever. It dosen't matter how many days they spend together they never have so much as a cross word between them. You can't really tell from the picture, but Blake is really small for his age and Gabe is big for his age. When they were one, there was a 10 pound difference between them. Now at age 6, it is almost a 20 pound gap. The funny thing is that they don't see it!! Gabriel knows that if he tries something on and it is too small that it goes to Blake, but he will still ask "am I almost as big as Blake?" It is so funny to watch them eat. Gabe is not a big eater and Blake is. We took them to McDonalds a few weeks ago. Gabe got a 4 piece nugget and Blake got 10. Blake finished his, but we told him that he had to wait for Gabriel (who still had 2 left) before they could go play....30 seconds later......Gabriel announces he is done. We look over to see Blake's cheeks puffed up with food!! We told them to go play and then we died laughing. I am sure they thought they had pulled a fast one on us. We haven't lived next to each other in almost 2 years, and sadly we don't get the boys together as often as we would like to but they will both tell you that they are each other's best friend. So many people told us that they were so young and that they wouldn't stay best friends when they didnt see each other every day. Well, they have deifinely proven everyone wrong.

Chase's best friend is...his Daddy......hands down, without a doubt. This kid would not care if the rest of us fell off the face of the planet as long as he had his daddy!! Yes, it is sweet but I think sometimes his Daddy wishes that he had a best bud to go hang with. Chase will scream and cry for his daddy. If daddy leaves the room unexpectedly, this poor kid falls to pieces (as in crying with no sound coming out). He has to have the first and last hug when Daddy leaves for work in the mornings and sometimes Daddy has to hold him while he tells the other two boys goodbye. He does not like for me to sit next to his Daddy and will try to push me over while telling me "MINE DADDY!!! NO NO MOMMY. MY DADDY!!!"

Birthday Boy

OK, I am not sure what is wrong with my camera, but this is the only picture that was not "corrupted." So here you go, Blake's birthday picture!!

Happy Birthday Blakey!!

WOW!! I can not believe that our little boy is 6 years old. He is an amazing kid (not that I am biased or anything like that.) Don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of frustrations with him but when it comes down to it he really is a good kid. He loves to make people laugh, although sometimes he is the only one laughing. Lately, Chase laughs at him regarless of whether it is funny or not. They have this "thing" where one of them starts "laughing" and then they all start laughing. While it does get to be pretty funny, there comes a time when it ceases to be funny and becomes annoying (to everyone else that is, not to them.) Blake loves homeschooling and says he wants to homeschool forever (we'll see how long the enthusism lasts.) He loves learning cursive and is actually very good at it, he calls it "secret code writing." He loves NASCAR and will sit and watch it for hours, time trials, qualifying, and the entire race. He absolutely loves it, wears out the DVR replaying crashes and "funny" stuff like that. The race at TMS is in two weeks and he can not wait. Not sure how we are going to work that out yet since the truck race (Blake's favorite) is on Firday night, October 31. We had a "small" party here at the house tonight. He got to invite a few friends and we had pizza and cake, nothing fancy but it was nice. He had the option of a big party or a small party and a camping trip at 317. He chose the latter. Daddy and Blake are going to spend the night out at 317 tomorrow night and do boy stuff. I am sure they will have a blast. I will post pics soon, for some reason this silly camera isn't uploading the pics from tonight.

A week in review

Sorry there aren't any pics (Amy) but we still had an exciting week and I want to write it down before I forget....

Ethan somehow got his finger wedged in a hinged drawer slide. Blake, being the helpful big brother he is, pulled it out before Tony and I could get in there. We really thought that it was broken at first because it was so swollen and seriously discolored, not to mention that the skin was gone from the knuckle to the nail on top and then in two strips on the underneath side. Ethan is a tough kid. He rarely cries or complains when he has an injury, so the fact that he cried all afternoon and refused to eat was a bit concerning. Chase was so sweet to him. He knew that something was bad wrong with his big brother. Every time Ethan would start to cry, Chase would go over to him and start crying. It became less "sweet' and more annoying as the day went on. One screaming kid is bad enough without any sympathy crying from little brother. Thankfully, Ethan is doing much better. (And no, Blake did not get in trouble for pulling his finger out, however his Daddy did teach him how to get something unstuck from a hinge.)

Blake lost another tooth (that makes 2.) on Thursday morning. On Friday, we got up and going early because Blake was going to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa (my parents.) I met mom halfway, which is about an hour drive. Ethan had gone to work with Tony, so Chase and I went and dropped Blake off. Well, apparently Chase didn't understand that he was going to come home with me. When we got back home he had a major meltdown. He was crying for Blake and Nana and Papa and ended up crying himself to sleep. I called Nana and let her know we had made it home and that Chase was MAD. Nana was heartbroken when she heard how unhappy Chase was so she told me to pack him a bag and call her when he woke up and we would meet halfway. (Yes, this is twice in one day.) I really thought that Chase would wake up and forget about it...WRONG!! He woke up screaming which is totally not like him at all. I asked him if he wanted to go to Nana and Papa's and he said "Ches." I asked him if he missed Blake, "Ches." So we loaded up and hit the road......again. Chase was so excited to see Nana, but he let her know that he was not happy with her for leaving him. (Yes, Nana is a SUCKA for the cuteness!!) So, Blake hung out with Papa and Chase hung out with Nana and all were happy.....especially Ethan. This sweet middle child was SUPPOSED to be an only child, I am quite certain. He loves his brothers, don't get me wrong, but he loved the alone time with Mom and Dad so much that he never missed them. Ethan is going to spend this weekend with Nana and Papa (and Chase, Nana isn't making the same mistake twice) and Blake gets to be the only child. Blake is already concerned about being the only one here with us for the weekend...."can't Chase stay, or maybe Ethan wants to stay here with us." Hmmm, you are probably right Blake, I think Ethan would love to stay here and send you and Chase back to Nana and Papa's!!!

Jim-Susie had a doctor's appointment today. This kid is definitely keeping everyone guessing. The hearbeat was 154 today (it has ranged from 137 up to 166 and all points in between.) And although last month's measurement was 10-12 days ahead, today it was right on. So now everyone who thought that this was another boy because it was so big is now second guessing. It will be so much fun to see what we get. No, I don't have a "feeling" either way. I have had dreams both ways. It is hard to imagine having anything but a little boy, that is all we know around here, but as Blake tells everyone...we'll just take what God gives us because only He knows (well, Him and the doctor.) Blake absolutely loves to feel the baby move, he thinks it is so funny that Jim-Susie already knows how to Kung Fu Fight. He hugs and kisses on my belly all the time. Chase and Ethan follow his lead, but don't show the belly any attention unless they see Blake loving on it.

What else?....Oh, this is Daddy's favorite....As I dropped Chase off at school this morning the other kids were at the table working puzzles and one little boy had a duck that he held up and said "quack-quack" Chase looked at me and said, "BOOM BOOM, SPLASH!!" I am hoping that no one else heard him or was able to understand him. How embarassing is that, the kid isn't even 2 yet!!

Until next time...........

Passy Free!!

Top: Chase at about 15 months

Bottom: Chase at Easter, around 17 months

Top: Chase (18-19 months)

Bottom: Chase at 22 months (I think this is the last pic of him with the passy)

That's right folks, Chase Ryan is free from the passy. Tony and I weren't planning on taking it away, in fact Daddy thought that he was too young to give it up. Here's what happened....Friday morning Chase came downstairs, passy in the mouth (as usual.) After breakfast, I told him to take it and put it on his bed (it is supposed to stay on his bed, but since he is on a big boy bed he gets in whenever he wants.) Anyway, he puts it in his mouth and goes upstairs and starts playing. Fast forward to nap time and the passy is nowhere to be found. I finally had to put him in bed and I told him that he was going to nap without a passy because he didn't put it back on his bed after breakfast. He started searching all over his bed..under the covers, under his pillow, but no passy. Again, I told him that his passy was lost and he needed to take a nap anyway. To my surprise he fell asleep without a fuss. We found one later that afternoon and decided that if he started sucking his thumb or chewing on his fingers we would give him the passy back, but he has done great. He has only asked for it once or twice since Friday and I have just told him that he didn't put it up and now it is lost. He hasn't cried for it at all. I am SHOCKED at how easy the transition has been and at how well he has done. Tony and I both thought that it was going to be a long hard battle because he was so attatched to his beloved passy. Hopefully we won't have any regressions this week. I think we tried 3 or 4 times to take Ethan's away and had to give it back because he was sucking his fingers at night and then he started biting (toys, furniture, people, whatever.) I can't remember how old he was but I know he was past the age of 2.

Our Little Mechanic

This weekend Tony was out working in the yard and the boys were playing. Blake pulled out the jacks and asked Tony to put the Diego Jeep up so he could work on it. I am not exactly sure what he was working on, but he did disconnect the battery and pull it out before he got started!!Chase was not too happy to be without wheels, but Blake explained to him that if he wanted it to run right then he had to get it worked on. Blake had it up and running in no time.

And here are the rest of them.....

OK, first off these are not in any kind of order. Blogger only allows you to upload 5 images at one time and then it puts them in reverse order. For some reason these first pics (taken in the evening) look really dark. It wasn't dark outside at all, so I have no idea why they look this way. (You might want to enlarge them to see them better) Tony took Grani (who is 80 years young) on her first 4 wheeler ride. They went down to Beaver Pond and took a look around.

Chase and Ethan were glad for their turn. They were not too happy about having to share their Daddy and the 4wheeler with Grani!!
Ethan is behind Tony (see the little leg)
Blake took Aunt Amy for a ride. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. He was flying around the corners and then locking it up to do a burnout!!! Have I mentioned that he loves NASCAR. He ran the Silver Streak so hard that day.
"The bookends" making a fashion statement. Blake walked off into Beaver Pond filling his boots with water, thus the knickers and crocs. Chase, well I am not sure where his pants are. (That is Uncle Randy behind them.)
Papa decided to give Ethan a turn driving the Silver Streak. Only one problem with that, he is great on the gas and not so great with the steering. Papa had to RUN behind them to remind Ethan to steer. Blake was helping (if that's what you call it) and Ethan was so proud of himself for driving.

I'm coming, Papa.
This picture just makes me laugh....

Papa and the boys armed with a BB gun.

Here are the pictures, as promised

Tony's "boyfriend" got him his own duck blind at the end of last season (aw, how sweet) so it has been in the box since it's arrival last spring. Early Teal season started last week so it was time to assemble the "thing." Daddy had so much help, it's a wonder he ever got it finished. (please keep in mind it was 10:00 at night and no I can't really remember why they were all still up. that was the week I fell, so Daddy was in charge...his philosophy is as long as you don't whine I don't care what time you go to bed!!)


Here are Chase and Ehtan on their first day of school. I love Chase's expression in the first pic. Tony calls it his,"Are you talkin to me?" face. He is our boy of many faces for sure.

Chasey snoozin in the high chair. He had just asked me for "sert" and before I could pull the top off of his yogurt he had already moved to the next activity...nap time!!

As we were awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Ike, we had all 3 kids and all 3 dogs in the front yard. Tony and I were trying to get everything into one of the garages and then we put the dogs in the big garage. We were anticipating more storm than we actually got. Anyway, Blake and Ethan were playing with remote control cars and Zac went bizerk. Zoe and Bigirl just got out of the way, but he was "attacking" the cars. I wish I'd had the camera out 10 minutes earlier, he couldn't get out of his own way. It was pretty funny. Wierd dog!!