Blessings

I wanted to write this post today because this picture shows two of my greatest blessings. We have bad days like Saturday (see previous post) but we have tons of really great days too. These two kids have taught me more about myself than anything/anyone else ever has. It has stretched me and matured me and humbled me. I thank God for them daily and today I am reminded to be ever more thankful as this sweet little boy fights for his life www.mycharmingkids.net.

I have followed this blog for quite some time but never posted hers to mine. My heart is so heavy for what she and her family are facing right now. This woman has blessed me with her honesty and humor about parenting. It's good to know I'm not alone with my struggles. I love her photos too.

And because her little Stellan is fighting for his life I cannot help but hurt with her, my sister in Christ, and pray for the whole family; and give thanks for what I have been blessed with.

Saturday Morning Surprise

I was up off and on last night with a very congested and yucky feeling little boy. The last time I remember waking up was 5am to help him blow his nose. We'd both had a rough night and I figured I would let us all sleep until 8am because we could all use the sleep. Howard had to work this morning so he was already gone by the last time I got up with Chase.

Chase woke me up crying right before 8am so I got up to tend to him. When I opened our door I smelled the very distinct smell of mint. Not something you usually smell that strong in our hous! I looked in on Chase, who was hiding in his room, and found sprinkle stains around his mouth. I know enough to be very worried at this point! I raced downstairs and almost passed out. I hit our family room first, followed by the kitchen and living room. Oh my word! There was sugar, flour and sprinkles on every possible floor surface and the furniture!!!

I think the towel means he tried to clean up a little?


My baking cabinet was open and there was baking soda, flour, sugar, sprinkles, vanilla extract and peppermint extract(the source of the smell) poured out all over the floor. Thank goodness he wasn't able to open some of the extract bottles or it would have been worse! And my food dies were buried in the flour so he didn't mess with them!

The pictures don't even do justice for how much sugar and sprinkles was spread across the floor.

You can't see it in the pictures below but the entire floor was covered in little, white sprinkle balls.

It took me an hour to get everything vacuumed off. I needed that time to calm down because I could barely contain myself. It gave me time to think and pray and come up with a punishment that would (hopefully!) have impact. It also gave me time to gain perspective. Someday, not yet, I will look back on this and laugh and be grateful I took pictures. Just not yet...

Peek-A-Boo

Our little cutie-patootie is up and cruising all over the place. It won't be long before she's tearing after that brother of hers!

Phillies

You are all probably wondering what happened to us...Well, the Phillies were playing for a playoff position through October and so rather than blog we watched. Since the Phillies got all the way to the World Series we're still watching...and hoping... I'll be back soon with new stories and pictures. Tonight the Phillies play with a 3-2 deficit facing them. We'll be cheering and holding our breath and hoping for something incredible. ;-)

This is love & life...

Howard and I celebrated 5 years of marriage last Friday. So crazy to think that we are at that first milestone number already. It's been so good and, thank the Lord, it keeps getting better!

We don't exchange gifts and we had no plans for Friday (Saturday was our date day). I opened the pantry to get out the breakfast food for me and the kids and there was this wooden box with a note inside...:-) (Yes, I still smile just thinking about it!) Howard looked up the "traditional" gifts for the anniversary milestones; 5 years was wood. He found a wooden box at a dollar store and filled it with the soap roses you see here. The letter accompanying the box was better than any gift, but I'm not sharing the details of that! It was such a sweet start to the day.

Our Saturday plans were to drop the kids off at my parents and play some tennis together. (Something we rarely get to do anymore and miss) We were then going to head out for a casual dinner before picking the kids up. Did I mention we have children? Well, Chase got sick Thursday night, by Friday night Alexa and I were down and come Saturday morning we were ALL sick! Our plans were canceled and we spent a weekend trying to get well.

It wasn't what we planned but it was still good and special in a very different way. We talked and laughed and loved on our sick ones. What it all comes down to is that we were together and that was enough.

Twos

If only he stayed this happy all the time! We love our little guy to pieces but he has been putting us through the paces lately.

Here's just a snapshot of the last few days:

Chase: "Mommy, mommy! The kitties biting my toes! He's biting my toes!"
Me: "What? Why!"
Chase: "I'm pulling his tail!"
Oh, my poor Smokey-boy! I came to his rescue don't worry!

We get home today and I tell Chase to wash his hands since he just slid them down the side of the car and they are black. I head upstairs to put Alexa down for a nap when I hear Chase start shrieking with delight. By the time I get back downstairs our powder room is covered floor to ceiling with droplets of water. I have no idea how he could splash so hard with running water! Rrrr!

To top things off, while I was switching loads of laundry, Chase found the dish soap apparently within his reach and proceeded to start squirting it all over the kitchen floor. He was trying to hide behind our island and squeeze it out so I know he knew it probably wasn't a good idea!

These are only a few examples of everyday life with our overly active little boy. We won't begin to mention the sibling rivalry that has evolved or the fact that I have to supervise his time with Alexa like a hawk. When that girl is big enough to use her fists Chase is going to deserve the comeback she gives him! Life with kids is definitely proving that there is never a dull moment!

Labor Day 2009

We spent Labor Day at a local zoo. It's a small zoo in our area that's a great starting place for young kids. The picture above is our little guy excitedly running from one exhibit to the next. He LOVED our day at the zoo.

Despite being really scared of the Lorikeets, Chase did give them some nectar from a cup. He absolutely loved being in with the birds and was so proud of himself for feeding them.

Chase was imitating the sounds and movements of the animals which was hysterical! This is Chase with the ostrich.

At the emu exhibit he made the same sounds the emus were making and freaked a girl out who was in front of us and thought something was behind her!

Making friends with an African Tortoise. He followed Chase from one side to the other.

The African penguins were quite a hit with our little man.

This guy was laying in the shade right up near the road of the game preserve that is tied into the zoo. His rack was awesome so we tried to get a pick through the fence. It was a great end to a fun day. Chase had a blast and so did we.