Top 21??

I've seen a few of my fellow bloggers posting cool New Year's posts ... top ten stories or highlights or whatnot of 2011.  I thought it'd been fun to post my top ten favorite pictures from 2011.  Except that I originally had twenty-eight.  I narrowed it down a little, but then decided it's my blog and who says I have to limit myself to ten??  So here's the Chase family top twenty-one for 2011 ... [in no particular order, well it actually kind of, sort of uploaded chronologically, but not totally].

Love the joy and innocence in this one! [thanks to cousin Teri for the photo]

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!! I was so happy to get a great picture! A lot of bribes [usually M&Ms], deleted pictures, and begging from mommy occur in order to bring you these photos :)

 

Ryan got a new bike in the spring and loves going for rides!

 

Abby's parent/ child dedication at Watermarke church. Certainly a special day!

 

Abby turned one in April!

 

and Mommy turned 30, yikes! But thanks to great family and friends and a super fun party, it wasn't so bad. Love these ladies!

 

Awww, we's so cute :)

 

All dressed up for Easter brunch

 

We love the beach!! And seeing as this photo is hanging on the living room wall and still the background on my computer, I think it's one of the top pictures of the whole year...

 

Classic. Still can't believe I got this shot! Weeeee!

 

Ring around the rosy! This just says summertime in America to me. Love these kids!

 

One of our many crazy adventures. Yumm, free Chick fil a!

 

The beach again! This time in Nags Head with the Crouse side.

 

What a good lookin' family we are :) Hanging out on top of Stone Mountain.

 

Goo Georgia Bulldawgs!!

 

Loved the halloween costumes this year. Ryan the fireman and his dalmation puppy-dog Abby.

 

Silly Monkeys!! An awesome day hiking Sawnee Mountain.

 

Ryan feeding a cow through the car window. What more can you say to that??

 

 

Daddy and his little Donkey. I love being a preschool mommy. The Christmas programs, while crazy and chaotic, still get me all emotional :)

 

Not one of the best photos of the year, but certainly one of the best moments. Rolling in the grass on a beautiful fall day under the Washington Monument.

 

My sweet babies! hugs!

 

We hope you had a wonderful 2011 and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year!!

how does your garden grow?

Ryan's been working on his garden for about two weeks now and it's coming along quite well.  He painted the rocks and mushrooms to go in it [all green!].  After assembling it and planting the seeds, he's been patiently checking on it every morning.  And it's certainly growing!  The grasses and beans are very large and it's been fun seeing the progress.  Good job Buddy; you didn't get your green thumb from Mommy that's for sure :)   

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas!!  We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  We enjoyed lots of time with family, going back and forth between Nana & Pop-Pop's and Grandma & Grandpa's.  The kids had a great time and loved all the attention and of course all the presents too.  Santa brought Ryan the "magic train that goes all by itself" that he had been hoping for.  And Abby loves the new stroller and baby that she got.  It was a special Christmas, what with Ryan understanding so much this year and being so excited.  And it helped that everyone was feeling good just in time for all the festivities thanks to some much needed antibiotics :)  Now to do something about the house; it looks like a bomb went off in a toy store ...



We wish you a Merry Christmas!!

We's has the cutest kids ever :)

Notes

Ryan came up with this idea all by himself ... he wanted to write notes to his friends and put them in the mailbox.  So he wrote them all, stuffed them in the envelopes, and put them in the mailbox.  Mommy helped just a little with some spelling and then addressing the envelopes.  But the rest, even the thought, was all him.  If you're chosen next for a letter, I hope you enjoy it!

Merry early Christmas

Ryan and Abby received an early Christmas present from Grandpa and Grandma: a playhouse for the backyard!  Unfortunately, it's been rainy and nasty, so they haven't had many chances to play in it yet, but it's going to be great fun.  Thanks to Sean and James for helping get it in the backyard [and of course Daddy and Grandpa too].  It was pretty heavy and wider than the gate, but they made it work and even made it look easy :)  Here's hoping for drier, warm weather soon!

Ryan the Donkey

Last Thursday was Ryan's preschool Christmas program and party.  It's chaos, but I love it!  Ryan did so well this year.  He sang his songs and did all the moves and was one good looking donkey.  Then we went back to the classroom to decorate cookies and eat some Christmas snacks. 

Abby was really squirmy, but once she saw Ryan walk in with his class she got super excited!

Catch up

- Visiting Auntie Sarah, cousin Maxim, and Uncle Christian last weekend.  We went to the children's museum and a farm where we saw lots of beautiful Christmas lights & fed a cow right out of the car window.

- I hosted a baby shower for one of the ladies in my new small group.  She's having twins!  Two birthday parties too.  Happy Birthday to baby Alex and another Asher!

- Dinner at Mom and Dad's with her cousins.  They are all great, especially Steve and Jan who extra love my babies :)  And some super yummy chili too.

- Date night with my hubby!  The kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while we did some shopping [I think we passed our first big test as parents; we'll find out Christmas morning ...] and finally saw the new Twilight movie.

- Lunch dates with Ms. Rachel at Wendy's and Ms. Alicia at Chick-fil-a. 

- A Domino's date last night while the kids went to a Live Nativity with the grandparents.  We sat on the couch and ate pizza and watched our show.  It was really bizarre and completely threw of my sense of time.  It felt like 10pm instead of only 7:30 by the time we were done!

Cool, there ya go, we're all caught up now, and I can move forward as normal without feeling all behind and stuff.

O Christmas Tree

Last Saturday we went to Warbington Farms [same place the kids and I picked strawberries over the summer] to pick out our Christmas tree.  We were joined by some awesome friends who we don't get to see nearly as much as we'd like to!  We fed goats, rode a hayride, slid down a bouncy slide, drank hot chocolate, picked our tree, and had lots of fun catching up on life.  We followed up with Five Guys for lunch.  It was great fun; love you guys!

Christmas in Atlanta

A couple of Fridays ago [I'm way behind due to the overwhelm-ed-ness of blogging about our roadtrip], Grandma took the day off and we headed down to the big city to see the sights.  It started because we wanted to see the Tuba Christmas concert and evolved into well-while-we're-down-here-already-let's-check-that-out-too kind of day.

So we started our adventure at the Macy's Pink Pig, which was a first for all of us.  I'm glad to say I did it, but it wasn't really all that impressive!  A long line for a three minute ride in a pink train.  Oh well!  We got the pictures, stickers, and even a stuffed pig thanks to Grandma and we can check that off our list!

Next we went to the Tuba Christmas concert.  It was decent, but certainly not what it was in its hayday.  Coleson and I both played in it three or four years about ten years ago and it was huge and awesome.  There were waayy less people this year and the location wasn't nearly as nice.  Guess I'm getting old.  You know, back in my day...

We also visited the new Christmas on Peachtree.  The kids loved riding the train over and over and over again.  There was also a model train, a rock wall, scooter thingys to sit on, Santa, and snow. 

It was a long and tiring day, but lots of fun!!  Merry Christmas season!

Turkey Day Roadtrip 2011

2,500 miles.
Nine days.
Two kids in tow.
Four different sleeping spots.
A dozen or so family and friends visited.
Georgia to Massachusetts, Philly and DC too. 
Don't forget the Carolinas.
Uno with Great- Grandma.
A photoshoot with one very uncooperative one year old.
Rolling in the grass by the Washington Monument.
Crazy amounts of tolls paid.
Virginia is one really long state.
The Holyoke Children's Museum all to ourselves.
High school friends and brand new babies.

More Words

Abby's saying so many words now that I can hardly keep up!  Here's a few more to add to the previous list:

bite, Ryan, water, drink, cake, cookie, thank you, you're welcome, Jed, mine, Elmo, Grandma, Grandpa, shoe, sock, hi, moan [phone], pocket, jacket, on, wipe-y, diap-y, all done, sit, hand, banana, apple, potty, whoa, light, buy, trade

notes:
-I can't convince her that "phone" doesn't start with a "m" but she certainly knows what she's talking about.
-Anything and everything is "mine!" oh what fun...
-She busted me on our roadtrip when I was trying to sneak a snack.  "cookie" loud and clear from the backseat :) 
-"thank you" tends to sound more like f*** you.  That one's gotten a few interesting looks!

Words, words, words

I cannot believe how fast Abby is picking up new words.  And how well she is saying them; she almost over enunciates which I think is awesome!  Today she's already said four new words: "ready" as she and Ryan were racing school buses, "buckle" as I set her in the carseat, "strawberry" as I pulled them out of the grocery bag [all by herself, not parroting], and "table."  We've started a list that we add to every time she says a new word and it's getting quite long!  And I'm only counting the words that she says correctly and in context all by herself.  She will mimic almost anything we say, but I'm not considering it a new word until I hear her say it later on her own.  So here's what the list consists of so far [and I've tried to keep it somewhat in chronological order]:

uh-oh, no, ball, Mommy, Daddy, block, monkey, book, cup, bad guy, Nana, dog, moo, Abby, cup, bye-bye, hi, nose, baby, go, hug, belly, milk, cheese, bless you, Nellie, walk, rock, cat, Pop-Pop, out, cow, chip, truck, fork, night-night, car, Riley, bike, buckle, hat, ready, strawberry, table, love you

I've probably missed or forgotten a few words, but these are the biggies!

a few notes:
-"bad guy" is what Ryan's super man action figure says [let's round up some bad guys] so now when she sees Spiderman she says "bad guy." 
-Yes, she has said "bless you" several times now in response to our sneezes! 
-"Rock" can mean a literal rock [she was going crazy over them on the trail to Sawnee Mountain last week] or when she rocks her booster seat at the dinner table [although Mommy bungee cord-ed it a couple of days ago, take that!]. 
-And yes, as we were all saying our final good-nights the other day, she hollered out "love you" as we left Ryan's room, awesome!

UPDATE:  Can't believe I forget "UP!"  She says that one a lot!  Also forgot "boat" and "duck" for her bathtub toys.

Sawnee Mountain

     

In honor of election day [no preschool], I told Ryan I would think up something fun to do.  And until I was ready to tell Ryan what we were doing, I simply told him we were going on a surprise.  He was so cute asking if we were going outside, was it far away, have we been there before.  So yesterday at breakfast I told him we were going to a moutain for a hike, playground, etc.  He was very excited! 

As we got closer, we could see the mountain [hill really] from a distance and I told Ryan we were climbing that mountain.  And as we were driving towards the parking lot, we went through some beautiful fall trees.  Ryan loved the mountain and then the forest.  As we parked, Ryan exclaimed: "You picked the goodest surprise Mommy!"  What a wonderful feeling!

We began by hiking to the top of the mountain and yes, we made it all the way!  Ryan said later something along the lines of: "we tripped a couple of times, but we still had fun."  Ryan did great walking and Abby spent most of the hike on my shoulders or hip.  When I'd let her down she had no interest in walking; she loved looking at the rocks and leaves on the trail.  At one point I realized she was very intently watching an ant!  love it!  We enjoyed exploring the Indian Seats [huge rocks] at the top, even though the place was swarming with elementary schoolers on a field trip.  So much for a peaceful walk in nature :)  

When we made it back down, we ate a picnic lunch [Ryan ate every bite of food I gave him; hiking makes him hungry apparently!] and then played on the playground.  We enjoyed a short game of hide-and-seek, even though Ryan's hiding spots weren't always so hidden and Abby kept peaking [I was too, but c'mon I'm not really going to close my eyes while my kids run around a public park!].  We also checked out the visitor's center, which wasn't all that exciting, although it was totally worth it to get the picture of Ryan with the antlers!  The only two fun things were a touch table with the antlers, bones, turtle shells, teeth, birdnests, etc and then a bee hive inside a glass viewing thingy. 

It was such a wonderful day and I had a really great time!  I'm so blessed to have the two best, most amazing kids ever :)  I loved watching Ryan and Abby take everything in and enjoy the beautiful day!

Help!!

At the ripe ole' age of 18months, Abby thinks she's too big for naps!!  Her first missed nap was Halloween; I laid her down just like every other day, only unlike every other day she never went to sleep.  The next day she napped again and I thought it was just some weird fluke.  Unfortunately that nap [Tuesday after Halloween] was the last nap she's had in a week.  Not even on Friday after Catch Air, Pizza Hut, and a half hour car ride.  Yesterday she finally slept again, hallelujah!  So far no luck today, although I haven't heard her since I started typing this so maybe she gave in ....  Hopefully it was just a week-long strike and we're over it!

PS: Yes, she's asleep!!!  Woo-hoo!

the weekend in review

humm, it's already Wednesday morning, I seem to be getting behind this week :)  We enjoyed a great weekend, especially now that everyone appears to be healthy! 

*Friday we met Alicia and her kids for a Catch Air playdate and of course the Pizza Hut buffet.  Love that place, they are so nice to us which amazes me since all the kids eat free; I guarantee they lose money on us :) 

*Ryan and Abby spent Friday night at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We enjoyed a nice date night: Mexican food and then shopping.  We got an amazing deal on new lamps for our nightstands.  That's right, we're exciting people. 

*Eleven hours of sleep Friday night.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for having the kids over! 

*Cooking out Saturday night with our new small group.  It was lots of fun hanging out in a purely social setting and it was the first time all the kids have been together too.  We are excited to get to know such a great group of people and we look forward to new friendships!

*Abby had a makeup music class Sunday and the guys went to a playground.

*Happy Birthday Asher!  We celebrated with one of Ryan's bestest buddies at Catch Air Monday evening.

Fall always seems to be full of lots of fun and exciting things to do!  While I feel like we haven't had a down day in months, I do love it and wouldn't trade it.  Well, maybe I'd trade all the sicknesses we seem to get!  Poor Abby has had periorbital cellulitis [an eye infection from the scratches she got on her forehead riding a tricycle into the wooden fence], croup, an ear infection, and hand foot & mouth.  All within five weeks.  But she's such a tough cookie, none of it has really fazed her.  The doctor was amazed she got over the periorbital cellulitis so fast; she said if she hadn't seen her on the first day, she wouldn't have believed it.  And when we were diagnosed with hand foot & mouth, I was warned to expect fevers and Abby to quit eating.  None of that happened.  She just doesn't slow down, doesn't miss a beat!  While she seems to catch everything, she has this amazing tolerance to get over it super quick and to not get the worse symptoms.

for Great-Aunt Barb, Grandpa, & Uncle Brian

Halloween!

  

Happy Halloween!

The kids and I enjoyed a fun-filled Halloween evening yesterday; unfortunately Coleson was sick as a dog and home in bed :( 

We had wanted to go this festival we've gone to in the past, but I decided that would take too much time and get stressful.  So we went to the trick or treating festival at Publix instead and had a really good time.  I wasn't sure what to expect when we got there.  We started at Publix and wandered the store playing five or six bean bag toss type games and collecting candy and cookies.  Then all stores in the strip mall were also giving out candy.  And the best part ... the firemen were there too, perfect for our little fireman and his dalmatian firedog!  We love seeing the firetrucks around town and they are always so nice, letting us look at the trucks, giving out hats, and yesterday we even posed with them for a picture!

Grandma met up with us for trick or treating through the strip mall and then we went to her neighborhood to see Grandpa and trick or treat to a couple of her neighbors' houses.  And a quick stop by our friend Jake's house to say hi too.

We then returned home to trick or treat our neighborhood with Nana.  The kids did great with the trick or treating!  Ryan had done well last year, so he was a seasoned pro.  And Abby really got into it too.  She walked right up to a couple of Grandma's neighbors' house, although when we got home I kept her in the wagon.  But if there was someone on a driveway she'd reach out to them.  And at one house with a really long driveway, Ryan got all the way up there and I heard him asking if he could have a piece of candy for Abby too, what an awesome big brother!! 

Abby loved the lollipops.  She'd never had one before yesterday and then she had three!  She got the first one trick or treating at Publix.  A nice store owner handed it to her and silly me thought, this will entertain her for a minute while she crinkles the wrapper.  Nope, about ten seconds later she was handing me the wrapper and putting the lollipop in her mouth. 

After we came home from trick or treating, we turned on the porch light and took our turn handing out candy.  Ryan enjoyed this just as much as collecting the candy.  He sat in the front playroom, err I mean dining room, watching for trick or treaters and then getting his candy ready to hand them as they rang the doorbell.  Such a great helper!

It was a little rough managing all the fun without Daddy [including a really late dinner and baths to remove facepaint and clean sticky hands & mouths], but we did it.  We really missed having him around to experience all the fun and excitement though!  It wasn't quite the same without him!