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!