My baby girl turned 4 today!! She is growing so fast. I can’t believe that it was already 4 years ago that she came into our lives. A little angel to complete our family…and little she was, only 5 lbs 4 oz. Tiny little thing, but perfect! She has amazed us from day one and continues to everyday. We love you Chayse!!
Anxiety anyone?
August 7, 2008 at 10:23 am (Chayse, House, Tyler)
That is how I have been feeling for the past week for two reasons. The first and most importantly Chayse started preschool on Tuesday! She will be going 3 days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays. Tuesday went GREAT!! She walked right in, sat down for circle time and was ready to go. Yesterday and today, not so great. She cried both times when I dropped her off….clinging to my leg and NOT wanting me to leave. Needless to say my heart was breaking!!! I know Tuesday was easy because the idea of school was new and exciting, but after the first day she understood the process….ie. mom not being there for the WHOLE day. So, now we enter the seperation anxiety stage (for both mom and daughter) and begin the journey of letting go. I remember this process with Ty and it took at least a month before he started to become comfortable. AND, I know Chayse needs to go through the same thing, but it is really bothering me more this time. WHY? I really think it has to do with Chayse being my baby. This is the last time I will go through this process. Both of my kids are growing up and becoming indepentent from mom. Chayse starting preschool just drives that home AND it doesn’t help that Ty will be starting kindergarten on the 25th. So, in a few more weeks it will just be me, home alone, 3 days a week!!! I am excited for this and dreading it at the same time. What am I going to do? My whole life for the past 5 years has been the kids and now I will have all this time on my hands. THEN, come next year (I know it’s a whole year away, but it will be here sooner than later) both kids will be in school full time; Ty in 1st grade and Chayse in kindergarten. Then what? Get a job? Try and continue working from home? Plus, I don’t want to miss out on helping out at the school, PTA, extra. Can you tell my brain has been racing???
Anyway, the second thing that has me stressing is the cabinets. As I mentioned before, we are having the kitchen and all the bathroom cabinets stained. The stain is up and now we are trying to figure out the top coat. The problem? The top coats are SO shiny!!! I don’t remember the cabinets being that shiny. I do have to say that Frank, the guy doing the work, has been really patient and is trying all different products to find the best one to use. BUT, the process is still stressful….especially since I have my entire kichen in my livingroom!! I just want my house back to normal so I can actually prepare a meal or should I say a HEALTHY meal for my family. I am the type of person who cooks dinner almost every night, we rarely go out, and not being able to for almost the past month has been KILLING me!!! I know the end is in sight, but it can’t get her soon enough for me!!!
Still here….It’s just summer time in Vegas!
August 5, 2008 at 5:02 pm (Chayse, Tyler, holiday)
Okay, so it looks like I will be posting only once a month at the rate I have been going!! I really do have an excuse….and that would be it is summer time in Vegas and the only thing I want to do is NOTHING!! It’s even to hot to think! July and August are the months that are worst for me. I hate this time of year. As most of you know I do not get alone with the sun and have been avoiding it as much as possible. But, the down side to that is cooped up kids!! Not fun either. So, needless to say it has been an interesting summer so far.
Well lets see, Tyler was done with preschool on June 30th so I had both kids home all of July. We of course had the 4th of July right off the bat, which was quite fun. We hung out with our neighbors and had a mini block party. All the kids played, swam, ate, and later shot off fireworks. It was a really nice time. We also had our other neighbor, Jorie, give the kids swimming lessons. They both did an amazing job! Chayse has no problem putting her face in the water anymore and does a great job of climbing out the side of the pool. She still doesn’t try that hard to actually swim, but is doing much better. Tyler on the other hand is all out swimming!!! I can’t believe how much he has improved in such a short amount of time. The only other thing that has gotten us out of the house was free movies at the Rave Movie Theatre. Every Tuesday and Wednesday they offered a free movie at 10:00am. We went to all of the ones I thougt the kids would sit throught. It was definitely a nice break from our extremely busy schedule of hanging out at home!!
So, now we enter August….another month of way to hot temperatures well over 100!! Every day I think, “Is it October yet?????”
Busy, Busy….
May 22, 2008 at 6:32 pm (Chayse, Mark, holiday, randomness)
Long time no post! When I started this blog I thought it would be so much easier for me to keep in touch with everyone on a more regular basis. I had the hardest time typing all these emails to each individual person saying the same thing over and over again. I would usually only get a few done and then stop; hence the main reason for this blog. Well, I am finding out I am just as bad about writing as I always was!!! Sorry! I will say I will try and get better, but please don’t hold me to that! 
Okay, getting back to it. Let’s see….it has been what, like two weeks since I have posted. What has been going on these past two weeks? Well, my last post was right before Mother’s Day weekend. That Saturday was quite crazy. I had so many things to do I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep it straight. Let me see if I can recap the day….Chayse had her dance recital rehearsal at 10:00, Tyler had a birthday party to go to from 11:00 to 12:00 and then a soccer game at 12:30. PLUS, I was asked to make the birthday cake for the party. It was Connor’s 6th birthday and Lisa asked me to make him a Scooby Doo cake. I made the cake on Friday. Then Saturday morning I had to drop the cake and Ty off at Lisa’s house so Lisa could take Ty with her to the party, take Chayse to her rehearsal, then to the party, where we met up with Mark who had been at a conference that morning. We were there for only about 15 minutes and then had to leave to make it to Ty’s soccer game. By the time the game was over I was done! We grabbed some lunch with one of Ty’s team mates (Jake) and then Mark and the kids headed to Jake’s house to hang out and swim. I stayed home and caught up on my transcribing, watched some TV, and just chilled.
Mother’s Day was no relaxing day for me. I spend pretty much the whole day trying to finish painting Chayse’s bedroom. The good news is I finished it, but wow is it PINK! I still don’t think I am used to it, but Chayse loves it. I also want to thank Katie again for the most beautiful flowers she sent me for Mother’s Day!!
That next week Mark had to go out of town for work and wouldn’t you know it….the kids and I got sick. It ALWAYS happens! I should just start stocking the house with soup, Gatorade, crackers, etc. when Mark is getting ready to go out of town so I am ready! So, last week kind of sucked, but we are all good now. Actually, the timing could not have been better. We were better just in time for Chayse’s dance recital. I was so nerves, my stomach was all a mess, you would have thought I was the one in the show. She wanted nothing to do with the dance rehearsal, so I was SURE she was going to do the same thing at the show. But, I have to say she totally blew me away. She was GREAT!!! I am SO proud of her. She danced beautifully. She brought tears to my eyes! With that, I will leave you with a picture of my little girl!
Another weekend here again
April 27, 2008 at 6:15 pm (Chayse, House, Tyler)
Man, this week has gone by so fast!! Before I knew it it was time for soccer games again and weekend projects. Tyler’s soccer game on Saturday was great!! Ty finally got his first goal this season!! YEAH! I have to say it was an amazing shot. The kids were about 25 ft from the other teams goal and Ty was able to steal the ball away from the other team, turn it around, and start towards the goal. No one really even noticed that he had done it. He dribbled just for a very short distance then haled off and kicked as hard as he could. The ball went screaming past the goalie slamming into the net. The goalie didn’t even have time to react. It was brilliant! Ty started jumping up and down and ran over to the sidelines and high-fived his dad. I have to say all the kids on our team were on their game. We ended up winning 7-1! Chayse’s game was not as exciting. Again, all she did was cry. I know this is probably not the best thing to do, but Mark finally had enough. Chayse has had at least 7 practises and 4 games now and she still HATES to play. We were hoping she would start to warm up to it, but I actually think she dislikes it more now then when the season started. So, Mark has pulled her. No more playing! We even gave away her shin guards and cleats to another little girl on the team who did not have any. Mark is done with her crying and distracting the team. We gave it a try and she just does not like it. So, needless to say we don’t have to worry about two kids playing soccer anymore and can now concentrate on Tyler. Chayse is still in her dance class and loves it, so we will stick with that for now.
Today I made some cupcakes for Jorie next door. Her son Tyler Allen is turing 6 and she asked me to make some soccer themed cupcakes for her to take to TA’s class tomorrow. Then, my next project sheduled was to start painting Chayse’s room. I am using the same pink paint color that her friend Perri has in her room; Be Mine from Home Depot. I was only able to get on coat done today since I was not able to even start until very late in the afternoon. Mark was playing golf this morning and it’s just to difficult to try and paint and watch the kids. No biggy; I have one coat done and will hopefully get the second one done tomorrow. Chayse is SO excited to finally be getting her pink room!!! Take a look:
She wanted to help so badly…she came running up with her little paint brush from their arts and crafts drawer; how could I say no. Here she is “painting her room”.
I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Our weekend
April 22, 2008 at 9:02 pm (Chayse, Friends, Tyler)
Happy Tuesday everyone….or should I say happy Wednesday since it is so late in the day already. We had a few things going on this past weekend. As always, we had soccer practise for the kids on Friday night, which really works out well since their games are on Saturdays. This way the kids don’t have time to forget what they just went over in practise and the games usually go better. This week was no exception. Tyler played great!! He almost scored a goal, but the other teams goalie was on his game!! Ugh. But, the cool thing about the shot was that Ty kicked the ball from center field and it made it all the way to the goal were the goalie stopped it. But I have to say it was a way cool kick!!! Go Ty!!!! This was a really really good game. We unfortunately ended up loosing 4-3, but his games are finally getting to be very exciting and fast passed. All the kids are getting better, trying harder, and are pushing themselves more which makes for a great game. Chayse’s game on the other hand was quite different. Now, you have to remember (and I tell myself this all the time) that the kids are only 3. There are a few kids on her team that really try hard and have fun playing. Chayse on the other hand does NOT like playing. Before the season started we asked both kids if they wanted to play, they both said yes. Well, Tyler meant it and we thought Chayse did too, but we are finding out she does not like playing soccer. She does love her dance class, but not soccer. All she does every game is stand on the field and cry. Mark and I don’t want her to think it is okay to quit, so we make her stay out there. But, she has no intention of playing, helping out her team, or anything of the sort. She simply stands there and cries. So how many more games do we have to put up with????? I don’t know, but it cannot end soon enough….for us and her.
Okay, I totally got off track. All the soccer stuff was from Saturday. Now, going back to Friday. After soccer practise we loaded up the kids and went to the UNLV Spring football game. Our friend is the strengthening coordinator for the football team. He and his wife invited us to the game. We unfortunately missed most of the game since we arrived so late because of practise. However, we did get to see a little bit. I guess what they did is have the 1st string play against the 2nd string and they were not taking to many chances since they don’t want anyone getting hurt before the season begins. After the game we went down to the field to see John and let the kids run around. Nicholas took Tyler around to introduce him to some of the players that he knows and then the boys were throwing the football around and trying to get it through the goal posts. The girls were also having a great time running around the field and chasing each other. After that we headed up to the club level were they had Memphis BBQ catering the event. Great food!! We hung out, had some dinner, and were introduced to a lot of the UNLV football staff. We had a great time and want to say thank you to John and Jamie for inviting us and the kids!
The rest of the weekend was pretty basic. Mark worked in the garage and is getting ready to redo the sandbox and make it bigger…since the kids are out growing it already. I also had him buy some pink paint for Chayse’s room. I am planning on painting that next weekend. I will take pictures once her room is done and post them. That is pretty much it for now. Oh, I am going to leave you with a picture of a guest we found in our backyard on Sunday. Goodnight!
MIA Post 1….Happy B-lated Easter!
April 1, 2008 at 4:55 pm (Chayse, Friends, Tyler, holiday)
Okay, so I have been kind of missing in action lately. Sorry!! We have had a lot going on and I just have not had the time to sit down and write. Or, whenever I do try and sit down to write someone needs something and blogging just gets put aside. Well, I have the chance now since Mark and the kids are off on an adventure right now. So, to back track Happy Easter!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We started off the holiday weekend with coloring Easter eggs on Saturday with our good friends Lee, Amanda, and Tyler David (oh, and we can’t forget about baby Noah!!) This was the first time EVER that the kids colored eggs! They has so much fun!!! But, I do have to say that understanding the concept of trying not to drop them took some time to sink in. Now worries though, they had a blast!
Easter day was a full one for us. First off, baskets from the Easter Bunny! Yeah!! Not over filled like most years since I was tring to keep down the candy content. Then came the egg hunt in the back yard. BUT, before we can get started the kids needed shoes and I went out to make sure everything was set to go. HOLD UP….one thing we completely forgot about was the dog. She had been outside while the kids were going through their baskets. She was having a field day “hunting eggs” herself….AND, tyring to bury them in the sand box!!! GROSS! So, I had to “find” all the eggs the dog had gotten to before the kids could start. Okay, that done the egg hunt begins. Now, remember this was the first time the kids had colored eggs so it was the first time they were hunting “real” eggs. We had half and half real eggs and plastic filled eggs. Well, every egg that they picked up they just tossed into their basket…..real ones…CRACK. Oh, and then here are the filled eggs….these are the ones we like! So, the separation began. If it didn’t shake it went back on the ground!!! Through this whole ordeal Mark and I were cracking up!! It was probably one of the funniest egg hunts I have seen.
Next up for the day: Easter Service in the park, egg hunt after, and then we had our friends coming over for a BBQ. I will got into those on the next post.
Chayse’s new booster seat.
March 4, 2008 at 2:55 pm (Chayse, randomness)
Not too much has been happening around here this past week. Ty is missing soccer since we have a few weeks off before the next season starts and Chayse had a week off from dance class. Last week was pretty day to day busy for me since Mark was out of town on a business trip. Like always, something HAS to happen while he is gone. This time it was Chayse getting a UTI and not being able to control/stop herself when it was time to go. I think we had more accidents in two days then we have had in months! I have to say thank you to Jamie for helping me keep my sanity through this whole ordeal; I don’t know what I would have done without you!! Chayse is well on her way to recovery thanks to the antibiotics.
We all have colds/allergies that we are dealing with right now, but nothing to bad. I am inclined to think it’s allergies since everything is in bloom right now. The trees look so beautiful right now; I just love how Vegas looks in the spring time.
The only exciting thing to happen this past weekend was that we moved Chayse from her car-seat to her new booster seat. She is such a big girl now! She goes around talking about her “big girl seat” all the time. Very cute. Here she is:
Not to girly looking, but it has the pink flowers which are a must!
Just another day….
February 21, 2008 at 12:43 pm (Chayse, Friends, Tyler)
I want to say thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes; they mean so much, especially to an old woman such as me! Having gone out for my birthday last weekend with Mark, Tuesday was a pretty quiet, simple day. The kids and I did some shopping and just hung out at home. When Mark got home from work we went to Bahama Breeze for dinner. AND, much to my surprise, Katie showed up! I guess the two of them had the whole thing planned. It was so great to see her since I hadn’t seen or even talked to Katie since Christmas. You look great sis!! And thank you for spending the evening with us; it means more to me then you know!
This Saturday will be Tyler’s last soccer game of this season. After the game the team will be meeting at one of the parents houses; our neighbors Bret and Jorie. We will have a little pizza party for the kids and give out their trophies. I am in charge of making the cupcakes. I will try and post some pictures on Sunday. The next soccer season will begin sometime in mid-March. This time we have Ty and Chayse signed up. It will be interesting to see how the schedules fall for both their teams. I am also looking forward to seeing how Chayse likes playing. I already know that she loves her dance class, but we will see how she does with playing a sport. We figured that we would try and expose her, and Ty, to as many different activities as possible in hopes that they will find what they really love. So, we’ll see. But, for now my main focus is the party coming up this weekend.
I also want to wish Perri good luck in her season opening softball game this Saturday. Go Perri!!!
Our neighborhood
February 12, 2008 at 5:54 pm (Chayse, Friends, Tyler, neighborhood)
I just have to make a quick post saying that I LOVE our neighborhood! Right now as I type this and for the past 1/2 hour there has been at least 7 kids (including our two) outside playing together. All live on our street and all are wonderful kids. I can hear their laughter coming in through the open window……I can hear them driving around in the power jeep……I can hear them zipping by on their bikes and scooters……I LOVE this!!!!
