My baby is sick

Poor Chase. After he got home from school today, he came to sit on my lap and I knew immediately he had a fever. Poor thing feels pretty bad right now. He's so sad he can't go to school tomorrow. I'm just hoping it's not swine flu!!!

The Okdapoos, Fis & alegalr (Translation: The Octopus, Fish & Alligator)

Chase came home from school the other day with a picture he had drawn. The cutest thing about it is that he actually tried to write a story that went with the picture. At first it looked like just a bunch of letters, but then he started to explain what he had written and I got it! He wrote about an octopus, a fish and an alligator. It was so cute that I decided to post it. I'm going to have to interpret it, so if you're patient with me, I think you'll enjoy it...

At the top it says, "Hi. How are you? My name is Fish" (HA H R U MI NAM ISS FIS) "What is your name?" (WT ISS YOR NAM) "Mine is Octopus" (MIN OKDOPOOS)

(The rest of the line after "okdopoos" is unintelligle so we'll move on to the next line.)

"And he helped him all to feel better." (ADT HEA HELPT HIM ALL T FIL BEDR)

More unintelligible..."The alligator so he played with him." (THE ALEGALR SOL HE PLAD WE HIM) Notice that he ran out of room for the word "him" so he wrote it above the alligator.

If you notice to the left of the alligator he wrote, "He said he was hurt." (HE SED HE WZ HRT). And then he wrote "The End" up below the 2nd line because there wasn't any room at the end. :)

He has been doing so well in school. He has such a wonderful teacher and she says he is learning very well. We're extremely proud of him.

Another Chase funny: This morning at breakfast he guzzled his whole glass of water and then said to me, "Mommy, I had to drink so much water because my neck was dry." (I had to assume he meant his throat.) ha ha! Gotta love that boy!

Bailey's Feet

I think it's the cutest thing to see how Bailey sits on her legs and her little feet just barely stick out from under her little bottom (everything on the child is little!). I just had to take a picture. Here she is at the kitchen table doing her homework.

She really is limber!

No "laboring" here!

Yay for Labor Day! Since Betsy was off of work, she and the kids came over for a visit. We grilled hamburgers and chicken and had a delicious lunch! After we cleaned up we all went to the pool for the afternoon. The water was FREEZING! But it didn't matter to the kids – they jumped right in. Even Eli had a great time – even though his little chin would quiver when he got cold! Needless to say, we all slept well last night!

Tracey and Eli - ready to go!

Sydney & Emily

Betsy & Eli

Sydney & Emily being silly.

Chase, Betsy, Eli, Emily & Bailey

I'm so blessed to have family close by. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

How a boy does homework...

With his matchbox cars all lined up in front of him... Oh - I love this boy!

Chase begins soccer

Chase is starting to play soccer this year. The girls have been playing for a few years with Upward at Ridgedale Baptist. And we finally decided it was time for Chase. He's been so excited. He got some cleats and has wanted to wear them ALL the time.

His first day of practice was last Saturday. He found out that his good friend, Chandler would be on his team. Talk about exciting! Then we realized that he and Chandler were the only boys on the team!! The other 3 players are girls. Too funny!

His team has had 2 practices now and Chase has turned out to be quite a good soccer player. He has a great strong kick and he can pass like a pro! (But I might be a little biased.) It ought to make for a great soccer season. :)

The bus

I never dreamed I would even consider putting my children on a school bus. Then again, I never dreamed I'd be sending my kids to public school. But as it turns out, God has led us down this path and here we are.

One of the hardest things about getting used to the new schools was CAR LINES!! I wish someone would have prepared me. I wish I would have had some sort of heads up that I would be spending hours in my car dropping off and picking up kids. And to top it off, it sucked up a ton of gas.

One day I went to Bailey and Chase's school to eat lunch with them. Right outside the office I noticed a bus schedule. Out of curiosity I checked to see if the bus ran near our house. Well, it practically came right past our house. And the kids right down the street were listed as the last ones picked up and the first ones dropped off. So - I arranged for the bus to make a stop right at the corner - just one house away. I had prepared Bailey and Chase that we might be doing this. Chase was SO excited! But Bailey was very hesitant. I made Chase know that I needed his help with Bailey. He needed to watch out for her in case she got afraid.

So the big day came. We waited out in the rain and sure enough here it came - with it's yellow lights flashing. With no problems at all, Bailey and Chase boarded the bus. I was so proud of them. Just to be safe, I followed the bus to school to make sure the kids got there ok and weren't traumatized! They were fine!

I walked into Chase's classroom and he came running to me telling me that the bus felt like he was riding a train. He said he was even as high as a big rig truck and he could see the driver inside. Chase was so excited about this, that he actually got a warning later in the day - he just couldn't contain himself!

Then at the end of the day, just as nice as could be, they were brought back to me with big smiles on their faces.

Ahhhhh! What a relief! Bye Bye car lines! And a good lesson learned - never say never!