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!!

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.