It is always aomething.....

**UPDATE**

I started this post days ago. I apologize for its length and wordiness, but if I don't write this stuff down I will forget. I will add pictures soon. Also, you can vote on whether you think the boys will be getting a brother or sister.

Whew!! What a crazy week we have had.....I'll tell you, it is always something around here. There is honestly never a dull moment, if there is you can bet there is trouble around the corner. Let me start by saying that Tony and I LOVED Cozumel. It was our first vacation without kids and although we missed them, we did have a good time. I think it had been about 10 years since we had traveled through an airport without at least one kid and all of the gear that goes with them. The weather was great, Gustav brought a stray shower or two but nothing that kept us off the beach. Tony got to go on 3 dives while we were there and I got to lay on the beach without worrying about any kids!!! We got home on Sunday and went and picked the kids up from Tony's parents and got everyone home and in bed. Monday was crazy trying to get everything umpacked and washed and put away, get the week's lesson plans done, and get everything ready for the week. Chase and Ethan had their first day of school while Tony and I were gone. Ethan loved it, Chase hated it. So Tuesday, we were off to try school for the second day. Both boys screamed when I dropped them off, but I didn't have time to hang around and check on them. Blake and I had to get downtown for my doctor's appointment. "Jim-Susie" (thanks Bret and Jenny for the name) is growing like a weed. I measured a week and a half ahead and they moved my due date up to January 30th. Much to Daddy's disappointment, Blakey and I did not find out whether Jim-Susie is a brother or a sister (hence the name Jim-Susie.) Blake and I headed back into Rockwall for lunch and to kill an hour before picking the little boys up from school. As we were leaving the restaurant it started pouring. Blake wanted us to run to the Suburban, so he was pulling on my arm. I am not really sure what happened or how it happened, but I ended up falling and knocking myself silly. I am hoping that no one saw what happened, because I laid in the parking lot for a while trying to get my bearings and figure out where and who I was. Blake was freaked out because when I hit the back of my head, it shattered my hair clip and my shoes came off and were going to go down the drainage ditch. I managed to get to the car and then go get the boys from school. Chase had another horrible day. Luckily Ethan had gotton happy and was having a great day. My OB didn't want to see me since I didn't fall on my stomach and I wasn't bleeding. So, Tony came home early and got me to the chiropractor. My vision was really messed up (even more than usual) and I could hardly walk. Everything from Tuesday through about Friday is a blur. I made several trips to the chiropractor and by Friday was doing much better. My head is still a little "off" in more ways than one. On Thursday, Chase moved to a different class. He was not doing well in the younger class and Tony and I just knew it wasn't a good fit for him. He has older brothers and is always around older kids. It just wasn't like him to be sad all day. Let's face it he isn't our first, it isn't his first time to be left, and it is definitely not his first time at the church. I was so relieved that he walked right in and never looked back. When we picked him up, they said he had had a great day, never cried once!! Both of the teachers knew him and said that "he was his normal happy little self." Friday was spent glued to the TV. The weather channel kept changing Ike's projected path. We went from getting a direct hit at a category 1 hurricane to an inland tropical storm warning. Luckily for us, Ike hit farther north and we got a little wind and about 2.5 inches of much needed rain on Saturday. At one point, Blake came downstairs with a sponge and spray bottle, he said that Chase's fingerprints were all over the TV and he couldn't get them off. Strange....so I went upstairs and as Chase greeted me I noticed he looked a little greasy. He had gotton in the bathroom (which is usually closed) and gotton in the Aquaphor It was EVERYWHERE, all over him, the walls, the bathroom. What a mess. That stuff is not easy to clean up. I bathed him in Dawn, twice...and he still looked greasy. It eventually wore off. On Sunday we headed out to 317. We really expected to see more evidence of Ike out there than we did. The rain gauge reported 4 inches of rain, but it was apparently a slow soaking rain because there wasn't any standing water. It was so nice out there. We had a nice breeze all day and temp around 80. The boys had a blast riding the Silver Streak, shooting the BB guns, playing in the dirt, and riding 4 wheelers. Hopefully we will get to go out there more now that the weathere is getting cooler.

Honey where is Chase??

Mommy: I don't know, he isn't upstairs?

Daddy: No, I don't see him anywhere.

Mommy: Start checking the bathrooms.

Daddy: He isn't up here..

Blake (laughing hysterically): I FOUND HIM!!!! HURRY MOM CHASE CHANGED HIS SKIN TO GREEN!!

(And yes, it did all come off...there are just a few places where he colored on the wall that I haven't attempted to clean yet but the doors and trim all wiped down without a problem.)

317 continued

Here are some more pics of our afternoon at 317. It was SO hot (100+) but the kids didn't seem to mind. Our friends Wayne and Melanie came out with their kiddos for the afternoon. The Daddys set up feeders while the Mommys tried to keep 6 little kiddos cool.

Chase and Ali playing in Papa's "pile of dirt" And no, that is not sweat. We were pouring water on the kids heads to keep them cooled off!

Justin is on top, Blake is on the right side and then Ali, Chase and Ethan are at the bottom. This is one of the rare times when no one was throwing or kicking dirt.

317

A few weeks ago we went out to 317 to let the boys run around and be boys. Daddy had some deer feeders to set up as well as some game cameras. Look at these boys, ready to go. (nevermind the gun behind their heads!! NICE!!)

Strap it down tight boys!! The 4 wheeler made it just fine, the feeder did not. It didn't even make it 2 miles. It was so light that it flew off the trailer. Tony and I managed to pick up all the pieces and it was reassembled later on in the afternoon. Blake was pleased that Daddy was able to get it put together so the deer didn't have to get hungry. He told me that he knows why Dad has to keep going and checking on the feeders every week...."those deers are Papa's pets and Papa is old so Dad has to go give them corn so they are healthy!" Of course I had to tell him that he was right, what was I supposed to tell him, "No baby Daddy is tricking those poor deer so he can shoot them when they least ecpect it."

OK, can you say REDNECK!!?? We had been trying to figure out a way to take all 3 of the boys riding with us on the 4 wheelers. Our neighbor offered this suggestion and it was a lifesaver. Tony had that carseat strapped down with 2 ratchet straps and the top teather.

Wha-la!! Chase LOVED it. He does not like riding without being in the seat. I think he feels more secure in it. I am too short and the belly is too big for anyone to ride in front of me, so this was perfect. There is only one little problem with this. Chase kicks me in the back if we stop for any reason!! "Go Mommy! Go!" And, as you can see, there is a ton of red dirt and mommy wore a white shirt (um, yeah that was smart.)

Tony got this "contraption" for his 4 wheeler so that Blake can ride behind him and then Ethan rides in fromt of him. As you can imagine, it is a sight to behold.

Here is the August Post!!

I still haven't gotton the weekly posting down yet, so this is basically 3 posts in one!! First we have the Olive Garden Adventure. Daddy LOVES Olive Garden and the boys always eat well there. So, a few weeks ago we found ourselves out and about way past dinner time and decided that we would go ahead and give it a try. It was about 8:30, but we figured there was no way there were going to make it home without falling asleep and we had to eat. So off we went. Chase fell asleep shortly after our food arrived. Blake and Ethan thought that this was HILARIOUS and could not stop laughing at him. At first he was putting his head down and rolling it back and forth making humming noises. We just thought he was being funny because he would look up every once in a while to see just how much attention he was getting. Once the food arrived, big brothers stopped paying him any attention. So without an audience, he was off to dreamland!!

Next we have our big bowling adventure. I took the boys bowling with some friends (Tony was home sick.) Normally, I would not attempt this on my own, but it was a Monday night and it was in the middle of our record 30 days at or well above 100 degrees, so the boys had been inside for days. They put the bumpers up and brought us a ramp so the little kids could just roll the ball. Ethan LOVED the bowling shoes and the pink bowling ball. Blake had a blast bowling without the ramp. Chase was perfectly content playing with everyone's shoes!! The kid has a major shoe fetish!! They only lasted through one game, but it was SO much fun. The boys can't wait to go back.

Ethan with some help from the other Angela.

Blakey bowling like the big kids.

MINE shoes!!

And finally, we have Chase hitting the jackpot. I made blueberry muffins. Chase and Ethan finished theirs. Blake ate one, got down for something, got sidetracked, and ultimately lost his breadfast.

Oh, one more. The picture isn't too good here. That is because it was taken at midnight. That's right, Tony is working on his truck and that is Ethan on the tricycle...at midnight. The story behind the photo....Tony's truck wouldn't start one Friday morning. He HAD to get to work, so he left the truck and took the Suburban. We had plans that evening, so once we got home the plan was for me to get the boys in bed while he ran up to Walmart and got 2 new batteries for the truck (it was around 11:00) It had been 105 that day and was expected to be 107 the next so Tony decided that working in the dark was better than working in the heat. Ethan had been especially Daddy clingy and was the only one who was still awake when we got home at 11:00. He had been listening to our conversation and had pretty well decided that Daddy was going to need some help. So he offered his services. The Walmart trip took about 45 minutes, but Ethan never faded. He stayed outside with his Daddy until almost 1:00AM when they finally got the truck running again. And just in case you were wondering, he came in and got showered and in bed but was still up at 7:30...ready for some breakfast!! And the best part is, he is wearing one of Blake's old shirts that reads, "What's not to Love?"

Catching Up

Thought I would go ahead and downloand the pictures off my camera from 4th of July!! I know, I have been a bad blogger, bad bad blogger. Hopefully I will do a better job at keeping it updated now that I am past the yucky first trimester. I am not sick all the time, just really really tired. I can deal with tired as long as I am not sick. I can not believe that there are only 2 weeks left of our summer. Well, let me clarify....there are only 2 weeks left of our summer break. Texas summers stretch all the way into October, sometimes November. We finally got the trampoline put back together from last springs storms and it is so hot that we cant send the boys out to jump until 8:00 or later. The first night Tony put it up, they were jumping at 11:00 at night!! Nice1! I attempted to start getting them into a better bed time routine last night, Tony was gone and I thought it would be the perfect time since Daddy and early bed times don't mix. The boys were all bathed and ready for bed before 9:00, I told them they had only 10 minutes until "lights out." Ethan had skipped nap time yesterday and since he is the one who will get out of bed repeatedly I just knew this was going to work to my advantage since he was worn out. And then.......Daddy pulls in the driveway at 8:58. There goes that idea. The boys all heard him pull in (the diesel is sort of hard to ignore) and instantly I had 3 little boys racing downstairs hootin' and hollerin.' Let's just say that an hour later, "mean mommy" made Daddy come downstairs so some little boys could go to sleep. Anyway, the pictures are ready, so here you go.....

Papa and Nana delivered the dirt bike so Blakey could ride it more. Blake was very excited that Papa rode the Goldwing and brought his bike on the little trailer. He did note however that HIS bike dosen't have a hitch...yet.

Chase's first time on the Wing. Poor mistreated 3rd child. Blake has ridden on the Wing more times than I can remember, starting at 6months of age. Ethan tood his first ride when he was 3 months old. Chase man is almost 2 and he is just now getting to sit on the thing!! Sorry buddy, we promise to take you on a real ride soon.

Ethan trying out the dirt bike. He was afraid to go near it earlier, but as soon as no one was looking at him, he hopped up and was all smiles. (Don't start shopping for another one just yet Papa, I still have to get those training wheels off my bike first....but it won't be long.

Here is video of Blake's fist ride on the dirt bike on the 4th of July. He has come so far since then. He was a little shy about getting on the throttle at first (ignore my yelling in the video clip) but he has gotton over that now. We have some friends with several acres that are sodded, so he as a nice level debris free place to learn how to ride.

Playing Favorites

Several of you have oh so kindly brought it to my attention that I am playing favorites. I assure you it has not been intentional. Just to clear things up. we are expecting baby #4 next January. I am 11.5 weeks along. I look much farther along than I am (guess that is what happens by the fourth kiddo.) Yes I have been sick. No I was not sick with the boys (at least not this sick.) Yes I have been to the doctor (twice now) and no it is not twins (man do I get that question a lot, I did with Ethan as well) No I do not want to find out the gender, but Tony said too bad this kid has used up its surprise and that he will be finding out the gender. (party pooper) The heartbeat is really fast (much faster than any of the boys). This supposedly means it is a girl. It really dosen't matter to us as long as it is healthy (cliche', huh) Ethan is hoping for a sister, Blake had said he wanted another brother but today he informed me that he dosen't care what it is, he will love it anyway. (I guess this is his way of coping with the fact that it might be a sister, not sure) Chase is blissfully unaware that his days as the baby are numbered. He did however move himself out of the crib last week (thanks...that worked out well.) We un-bunked the bunk beds and he and Ethan are now roommates. Blake has his own room now and is anxious to get it decorated. The baby will have his/her own room as well. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised at how well the little boys are doing at the room sharing. Ethan loves sharing a room with Chase and Chase thinks he is a real big boy. So far we haven't had any problems getting them to sleep. The only problem we have is that if Ethan does wake up in the middle of the night (which he does about every other night) and leaves the door open, Chase will get out of bed and come downstairs in the wee hours of the morning. I have had to take him back to bed at 5;00 and 6:30 on two separate occasions this week. The good thing is that he goes right back to sleep until 7;30 or 8:00. Sorry, no pics to accompany this post. I will try to get some on this week.

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Ethan's turn

Ethan hiding from Chase.

Happy Father's Day pics. What a happy crew! (The neck tie has Ethan's picture on it and Blake made the crown for him.)
Look Mom, I got dressed all by myself. (those are Diego pajama shorts he has on)
Yum, I love pancakes!! Our neighbor (and the boys favorite babysitter) came over this morning and made them pancakes. Ethan was the only one awake early enough to help make them.

Blake is ready to go

I took Blake to get a helmet today. He was so excited. We got him the smallest one made and it is a little big, but not much. He wore it tonight while riding his bike so he can get used to the feel of it. He loved it, said it felt great!! I am sure the neighbors think it is overkill!! He got some strange looks from a few evening walkers, not that he paid them any attention.

He is also very excited to have helmet head...just like his Papa does.

The Many Faces of Chase

Can Zoe come swimming with us?

Giddyup!
What are those two in the back so excited about...naptime?

Yesterday morning, Chase and Ethan were eating breakfast and Ethan was making Chase laugh. Chase tried to make Ethan laugh, but it wasn't really working out....so, he put his cereal bowl half full of milk and little rice krispies upside down on his head. Ethan died laughing and so did Chase. I still have not found the humor in the situation, maybe once I stop finding little rice krispies all over the place it will be funny.

Chase LOVES apples and he is so funny when he eats them.

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Monday Night Football

I took these the week we moved. Blake (and Zac) were playing football with the neighbors.

This is a little blurry, but hilarious looking!!

Look at that crazy dog, he would chase the ball and usually beat Blake to it, but then just stand there because he couldn't get his mouth around it.
And here is sister, she is worn out just watching them. She always stayed close when the boys were outside. She dosen't want anything to happen to them on her watch.