Chemily and the wild things

Catch up

2012-01-20T19:23:00.001-05:00

So obviously, it's been a while since I posted anything. So here's a quick catch up on what's been going on since, GASP....OCtober.

October was a busy month. The day Chance got back from Alaska was also his big 30th birthday! We went to the state fair and out to dinner! We also went to a pumpkin patch.

HALLOWEEN was great! The boys REALLY got into this year. They made a really scary, but oh so cute skeleton and mummy. We had a halloween party at our house, and all the kids went trick or treating! Sawyer also won the BEST costume award at the trunk or treat at church....pretty sweet!

Noah and Sawyer STILL LOVE all things halloween....they can't wait until next year!

THANKSGIVING was nice and fairly relaxing. Lot's of food and time with family! Noah was pretty dang excited about the giant turkey! All he kept saying was that he wanted to eat the turkey leg.....so by gosh we let him. haha.

Noah also turned 5!!! He has gotten really into Star Wars....so of course we had a star wars party. He had been wanting a jedi robe, so I MADE him one. Yea, I know, I'm crafty like that. We did "jedi training" and at the end defeated darth vader! It was a pretty awesome birthday!

In December, Noah and Sawyer also went to see Santa! They have known what they wanted for Christmas since August when they saw "IT" at the store. Paralax....the monster from the Green Lantern movie. It has a claw that comes out of it's stomach to grab his enemies and retract them back into it's belly. (Interesting). I for sure thought they would forget about it before christmas....NOPE, that's all they talked about until they fINALLY got it on christmas morning. It was pretty awesome to see their faces!!! I mean....they waited 5 MONTHS for this thing......IT WAS EPIC!

FINLEY JOSEPH POWELL was born on December 19th at 10:48am. He was 7lbs 10oz and 21 inches long.

The boys were in DISNEY WORLD at the time with my family....they look like they miss us don't they....not a chance.

They were excited to meet Finn when they got back though....

CHRISTMAS was GREAT.....a little hectic and crazy, but really fun! Noah and Sawyer really enjoyed making, and eating the "cookies for santa", and playing with their cousin Savannah. They pretty much got to run a muck around grammy's house for an entire week, after spending the whole week before that at the happiest place on earth. I'd say they had a pretty awesome Christmas.

We had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, especially with our new super cute addition to the Powell family. We are now a family of 5!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I think I'm pretty much caught up and can start blogging about the new year!

baby names?

2011-10-18T22:21:00.000-04:00

So....I'm almost 32 weeks!
I'm feeling good, and this pregnancy has flown by pretty quickly! All and all everything has been great- BUT- I'm having the hardest time coming up with BOY NAMES this time around!

I MEAN REALLY-I've already named TWO boys, CAN'T A GIRL GET A BREAK!! I need some serious help--

The problem is: I LIKE lots of names, but none of them really feel like the RIGHT ONE, or one that I would actually consider naming my child! I have a few that I've narrowed it down to, but again, I'm not set on any of them!

I've found that I don't really spend a lot of time thinking about names for baby number 3--
probably because... it's BABY NUMBER 3 and I don't have the time to spend thinking about names!!

What to do!?

Suggestions are welcome, but remember....I'm drawn toward unusual names, NOTHING traditional :)
(fyi: I don't know how to change it to where people can leave comments? If you click on the time at the bottom of the post it will give you the option to leave a comment, I think--does anyone know how to fix this? of course you would actually have to be able to leave a comment in order to tell me how to fix this. hah.)

In other news: Chance is gone AGAIN! (only for a few days though).
He's on his first of many pediatric dental residency interviews.....YAAAY! I'm so excited for him AND about finding out where we'll be for the next few years. January can't come soon enough. (that's when match day is)

The next few months will probably be crazy and hectic, what with interviews, holidays, birthdays, and preparing for our nameless baby --- but then again....what else is new?

P.S. I can't stop EATING :O

SUPER NOAH.....to the rescue!

2011-09-30T18:02:00.000-04:00

It was Super HEro week in NOah's class at preschool! Today they finished their super hero costumes, dressed up, and had a parade!

Noah was really excited when we got home because:
"I can fly like a real super hero on the trampoline!"

"Saving the day, and helping Sawyer!"

NOah is one RaD super hero!!!!

Primary Program

2011-09-23T17:35:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again.....the primary presentation at church was last Sunday.

What a difference a year can make!
(Noah's first time was last year, and while we practiced every night until the big day, when his turn came, he still managed to get stage fright, and started saying some sort of jibberish---it was still pretty cute though).

This year was totally different!

He gave me a big thumbs up and a huge smile before he got to the microphone....walked right up there and said his part---without help I might add!!! The rest of the program, I got about 20 more thumbs ups, and a ton of big cheesy smiles :) Noah is such a shy guy, so this was a very big deal for him and I am SO PROUD of our little Noah!

Sawyer was pretty cute too. He isn't old enough to participate yet, so he sat in the row and said REPEATEDLY and very LOUDLY: "I see Noah, LOOK, IT'S NOAH!" He was so proud of his big brother.

It was soon after this, however, that Sawyer realized how much HE wanted to go up and say a part in the program. For the rest of the program, I mainly heard: "I want to do it." "It's my turn now." "I want to be a SUNBEAN." (aka sunbeam). There was also some crying and whining in there as well when I told him he would have to wait until next year :(

At the end of sacrament, I took Sawyer into the primary room, so he could use the microphone to say "his part"....but he decided he didn't want to...

Instead he said: " I don't want to do it, there aren't any people! I want to say it for the people!" Then there was more crying because he wanted to go back into the big chapel. When I told him we were leaving, he then started to say a prayer in the microphone for "his part."

Overall---Job well done! Way to go Noah and good luck to Sawyer's teachers next year :)

Slip n Slide and a Corey visit

2011-09-12T20:21:00.000-04:00

Aren't slip n slides just the greatest!!?! We spent a lot of time this summer on the slip n slide, at the pool, tubing on the lake, and playing in the hose! I don't know how much longer we'll be able to do this-- it might be time to say goodbye to summer in the next few weeks :( (but that's ok, because I'm super excited for FALL!)

This summer our friend Corey came to visit! We love Corey :) He mainly spent his time sleeping, working on his computer, and counting down the hours until Chance came home everyday! I think the boys were scared of his beard-- but then again, who ISN'T scared of his beard!?

Preschool, Birthday, Car wreck...

2011-09-12T19:33:00.000-04:00

Noah and Sawyer started preschool last week! This is Noah's last year before KINDERGARDEN-- I can't believe it! They go in the mornings 3 days a week....they have great teachers and both of them are LOVING it so far! (Sawyer is so excited that he gets to stay at school to eat his lunch...he carried around his lunch box all morning saying "let's go, let's go!)

I think it's going to be a great school year!

Savannah turned 4:

After all the excitement from our trip to Disney World this summer, Savannah decided she wanted to have a "Mickey and Minnie" party....She even let me do her hair just like minnie :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH-PANTS!

It was on the way home from this awesome birthday party in Tennessee that my mom, Noah, Sawyer, and I managed to get into a pretty bad car accident. It started pouring down rain and we hydroplaned, causing us to spin 3 times before hitting on oncoming car in the other lane. Let's just say it was pretty traumatic and scary for everyone. The ambulance took us to some ridiculous hospital in the middle of po-dunk Tennessee where they don't deliever babies or even have an ultrasound machine. WHAT!!?! I know. (not ideal for a pregnant woman). After an hour of waiting on a backboard in the ER they finally decided to life-flight me to UT medical center...(don't even get me started on the stupid doctor they have working there).

Anyway, everyone ended up being just fine!! I was having contractions and they monitored me for 24 hours before they sent me home, but other than that the baby was fine, Noah and Sawyer were fine, and my mom (even though her bruises are STILL gross looking) was fine! I am so grateful that everyone ended being Ok and that we were so blessed in such a terrible situation.

The boys talk about this EVERYDAY! "I don't want to spin around, I don't want to go fast". Those poor little boys! (I hope they aren't too traumatized). Chance was in Utah at the time-- poor Chance had to hear about everything over the phone. He came home early and helped everybody get back to normal--such a sweetie!

Anyway, I don't think we'll be visiting Tennessee for a while :)

DISNEY WORLD!

2011-09-12T17:25:00.007-04:00

We also went to SEA WORLD:

Noah and Sawyer talk about this Disney world trip everyday -- we had such a blast! (The Buzz Lightyear ride was definetly their favorite). The family is going back in December and the boys CAN'T WAIT!!!

Craaazzy Summer!

2011-08-27T15:44:00.003-04:00

Don't get too excited! This is just a pre-post of lots of other posts to come :)

This summer has been a little CRAZY lately--my blog has suffered from serious neglect! But no more.....I'm back :)

A sneak peak of what's to come : Disney world, quilt making, random pics, car accidents......etc.-- YA KNOW-- the norm :)

The 4th

2011-07-12T09:48:00.008-04:00

So for the long 4th of July weekend.....we went to see my brother Craig, his wife Jackie, and their sweet little girl Savannah in TENNESSEE!

(of course we have NO pictures from the weekend, because well, my camera is still getting fixed--and no one ever takes pictures except for me).

We had a great weekend though. Chance was gone doing a dental rotation in Cherokee for the week, so we picked him up in Asheville on the way up to TN.

We just PLAYED, PLAYED, PLAYED the entire weekend!--

went shopping at the local flea market.... (VERY INTERESTING-we stuck out like a sore thumb-seriously-i don't think I've ever seen as many mullets, or smokers, or heard as many southern accents I couldn't understand in ONE place! The fresh squeezed lemonade was delicious though....and we had a good time pretending to shop for guns, turkeys, and farm equipment :)

The girls also drove all the way to KNOXVILLE to reach civilization so we could go FOR REAL shopping and take momma out to lunch for her b-day!--crazy, they have to drive an hour and half to get to anything besides Walmart!

We also enjoyed going to church up there and seeing all 20 people sitting in sacrament meeting! (Just think you'd probably have to give the prayer or teach a lesson like every week! haha- I think there were alot of people out of town that day--)

We also had a "campout"--which included roasting marshmallows, making smores, and letting the kids play in the tent we set up -- no one actually slept in the tent--not because the kids didn't want to (oh because they did), but because neither craig nor chance wanted to sleep on the ground and wake up EARLY and be all sweaty and dewy in the morning--can we say PANSIES!!!!!!! :)

Overall, we played alot of horseshoes, ate great food, and did HUGE fireworks every night!!! The kids really enjoyed doing sparklers, and the throwing poppers-because THEY could actually do those themselves.

Oh yea, Savannah also managed to set her hair on fire--haha--no harm done--really, you couldn't even tell, still very funny though.

I hope everyone had a HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

UPDATE:

2011-06-24T13:50:00.005-04:00

* So Chance finally got back from Alaska!!! He's been home for about 3 weeks, and it's been GREAT!

* I turned 25 at the end of May!

* It's been crazy hot here, we've been doing a lot of swimming lately! The boys are getting really good at jumping in and
holding their breath under water. We are still working on the whole swimming concept though.

* There is something wrong with my camera.....thus the lack of blogging/picture posts! I am so bummed...I need to go
have it looked at ASAP!

* I think I may have strep throat.....IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER.....who does that??!?

* Noah is really enjoying his preschool summer camp!

* Chance and the boys spend just about every evening jumping on the trampoline together......Noah and Sawyer look forward to
this every day! It turns into a lot of CRAZY wrestling, running, jumping, and flipping ridiculousness. It's soooo funny to
watch. (It's amazing how much abuse the boys can take and actually really enjoy!)

* Chance is leaving AGAIN on Sunday for another week--BOO on you, stupid dental rotations-- what I meant to say was, it will
be a very rewarding experience for Chance and I know he's looking forward to it. (insert fake smile). AT LEAST it's only for a
week this time.

* Noah and Sawyer have been munching on cereal, cookies, and treats for most of the day today.....everywhere I hide it.....they
find it! I think I give up.

* I am obsessed with "So you think you can dance"--

* I am sooo looking forward to our Disney world trip in JULy!!!
(This is from our trip 2 years ago)

* Noah and Sawyer NEVER wear clothes!!! They are either shirtless, pantless, or naked at all times--I think it's a boy thing-

* OH YEA!!!!

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!

15 weeks down, 25 weeks to go :) I'm due December 16th.
(I know another december baby, poor kid, apparently Chance and I are really bad at "planning" pregnancies too)

This pregnancy has really affected me differently than my other two. I have been really sick the whole time. Ugg. Hopefully it lets up soon. I'll keep you posted on any new info--like whether it's a boy or a girl. We'll find out in just a few more weeks :)

Well I think that's all for now..........

late night sleepy heads

2011-05-16T22:13:00.000-04:00

So for the past couple nights, after I put the boys to bed, I go back to check on them---

and this is what I find...

one night I even found them SNUGGLING! It was too cute.

The only down side to this new slumber party happening every night, is that they end up staying up pretty late. It's really funny to hear them talking and reading and playing quietly together though.

I have tried to stop it, but really what am I gonna do!? -- They share a room, and are pretty much just gonna keep getting up until they just can't keep their eyes open anymore.

(It's funny, they are always in Sawyer's bed when I go to check on them. ) I guess his bed is the cool late night chill spot these days.

there's 18 hours of daylight in Alaska!

2011-05-13T15:20:00.000-04:00

Holy Bananas-- it's been a while since I posted anything.

Mainly it's just because I don't feel good, AND Chance is in Alaska for a MONTH, AND I'm here by myself feeling crappy (did I already mention that? yes I did--it's well deserved)

So, I guess I should start the official count down : it's been 6 days since he's been gone -- (6 of the longest days of my life) and ONLY 30 more days until he gets back!
except he was gone for 2 weeks prior to this last departure...he was home for a whole 3 days before he left AGAIN. GAG! Being a single mom is sooo overrated.....only I never thought being a single mom would be fun anyway.

So, while I am here living it up, Chancey is in Alaska hiking, and fishing, and going to dinner, and enjoying the great Alaskan air, oh and doing some dental treatments on some kids--life is hard isn't it :) He was out until 11pm hiking the other night, because well it's pretty much daylight there all the time....crazy!

I just hope he doesn't get eaten by a bear--that would be so NOT COOL! (He actually went on a trail last night and had to turn around because he saw bear tracks....I mean I know Chance could have EASILY taken the bear, but I'm glad he didn't risk it--I don't think it's right to hurt innocent little grizzly or black bears that can decapitate you with one swing of their paw :)

Pretty much I'm just jealous I can't be there--Anyone want to donate to the "send emily to Alaska fund"-- Chance already found a fairly cheap plane ticket for me! COME ON....i know you want to! Wouldn't that be the best birthday present??! YES, i thought so too. Only my dad and his wallet didn't really think my idea was that awesome. LAME!

Oh well....hopefully I'll start feeling better soon and then I can actually do some fun stuff that will actually make Chancey jealous! (actually, I already know he's jealous....being apart BLOWS!)

ok. I'm going to go try to have a happy, non-sick-feeling day now. wish me luck.

You did what??!!

2011-04-17T21:20:00.000-04:00

Tonight noah went to the bathroom................and decided to flush his underwear down the toliet!!!!!!!

Yep, thats right, those bad boys were no where to be found (i didnt think it was even possible to flush a pair of underwear down the toliet, but apparently it is).

Well no harm done, Chance was able to work his magic and got those suckers back out of the drain. (i married an incredibly talented man if you didnt know-- a regular plunge masta -- but seriously, he's got mad skills)

So why did noah flush his underwear down the toliet---because the sharks needed to eat them of course!!!

What??

haha--in order to get noah, who is obsessed with sharks to use the potty when he was potty training, I told him that the sharks were hungary and he could feed the sharks!! ( gross, I know) ....well he still remembers that, and assumed the sharks where super famished today, and thought he would give them a little something extra

NOAH!!! Really??? What would I do without you!!??? Probably die of boredom-

just a typical night...

2011-04-11T13:31:00.001-04:00

--with a couple of crazy boys--

--and a hostile takeover--

Lovely Ladies, a Lost Love, and a Ficus Tree

2011-03-28T10:24:00.000-04:00

(Emma, Me, Erica, Leah--at Erica's baby shower)

Isn't it sooo fun to visit with old friends!! These girls were some of my besties growing up.....girls camp was craaazzy with us around! (and sadly it will probably never be the same without us). It was great to see all of the girls again and realize that we are all grown up!? Well, I don't know about that.....but we are all married and either have kids, are about to have kids, or are trying to talk the last one of us into having kids!

GOOD TIMES! (one of the crew lives too far away and wasn't able to make it.....we miss you Amanda!!!)

Also on my mind: I am in such a cooking FUNK! I haven't felt like cooking at all lately....which is not me. I am in love with the idea of cooking, and yes I have been preoccupied with lots of other things this week, but I haven't even thought about it AT ALL! Chancey even made the comment the other day: "Emily, are you gonna make anything for dinner?? You know you haven't actually cooked anything in like a week!!!"

A WHOLE WEEK PEOPLE! That's crazy! I don't even know what we ate last week?? hah. Honestly I was trying to think about what we managed to scrounge up since my lack of cooking desire came about, and really I can't recall one meal I ate. WHAT??! I know. I mean that is completely and totally normal for me during the hours of 11 and 3 when I am supposed to be eating lunch, but just manage to stuff my face with some left over peanut butter, or a handful of cookies, maybe a diet coke, or if all else fails an entire tub of hummus and tortilla chips. OMG....hummus and tortilla chips......SOOOO GOOD!

HeLp! Maybe I just need some new fun recipes or something to revive me back to heath from my non-food coma!

Oh yea!!! I almost forgot. Just add it to the list.

Noah and Sawyer like to pee outside. And when I say like, I really mean when they tell me they need to go potty, and I tell them to go to the bathroom, they will most definitely open the back door and pee in the backyard instead.

So Saturday while we were trying to get out the door, a conversation went down and went something like this:

Chance: Sawyer where are your pants?
Sawyer: (stark naked from the waist down) Umm, I don't know. They're gone.
Chance: Did you go pee in the potty?
Sawyer: (very proudly) Ummmmm, no I pee in the grass. I mean I pee in the leaves!!

Chance checked the back door and it was locked.

Chance: Sawyer, what are you talking about? Where did you pee?

We watch Sawyer walk down the stairs and over to the living room....and then he exclaims:

Sawyer: RIGHT THERE! MY PANTS! I peed right HERE!

So where did Sawyer pee you ask????

IN THE FICUS TREE IN OUR LIVING ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was pretty funny, BUT HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU CLEAN THAT UP???

Noah's new obsession

2011-03-21T12:33:00.001-04:00

MUSTACHES!!!!!
hahahaha--how weird and funny is that!

He came out of the bathroom yesterday looking like this and said to me,

Noah: "look mom, I have a cool mustache just like daddy!"

He has been doing this all the time lately.....it is pretty freaking hilarious.

Maybe it's because I bought this super rad shirt awhile back and he thought he would try to impress me!?

Disney Princess 1/2 MARATHON!

2011-03-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

What an unbelievably, super-fantastic, ubber fun, totally rad, pretty pretty princessy weekend!!!!!!

"Fairytales do come true. One mile at a time.
Disney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend brings women of all ages together to participate in a magical event designed just for them. The Disney Princesses are the inspiration for the weekend's events and will focus on the attributes every princess possesses: commitment, courage, determination, fantasy, perseverance, and strength.
There comes a time in every woman's life when she must blaze her own trail. A time when she has to run, not from an evil stepmother, but to her moment of glory. A day when the true princess inside of her shines through.
So, dust off those glass running slippers and get set for an experience nothing short of happily ever after!"

GOSH.....DOESN'T THAT JUST MAKE YOU WANT TO RUN!!! It did me.....

How it all started:

To tell you the truth it is so crazy.....I DON'T EVEN LIKE RUNNING! hah! ( I just ran a 1/2 marathon and I don't even like running--in yo face!) It's weird, I have never been a runner-lover, but I had an overwhelming desire to this. I even talked my sister into doing it with me!!! YAY!

We didn't give ourselves much time to train.......haha, sorry I just had to laugh for a minute.....we gave ourselves like NO time to train! We had 5 weeks until the day of the race! (we are hardcore, so we figured we could handle it :))

Training:

We looked up several guides online and even had a friend of mine make one to go by. All of them required that you run at least 5 days a week, plus cross training, for 12 WEEKS!

riiight.

My training regimen consisted of running 3 days a week until I injured my foot. REST. then start running again. injure my butt. REST. continue to run.....FEEL LOTS OF PAIN. rest for a few days before the race and then hope that everything goes ok :) I am so awesome.

The weekend shananigans:

DROVE to florida!!!!! YES, my friends, we DROVE to florida! It wasn't too bad though. I'm so used to having to deal with screaming, food throwing, movie watching, stopping to pee and poop, hungry, crazy, adorable little boys.....that this seemed like a piece of cake :)

We went shopping. ate LOTS of food. went to the Disney sports complex for the 1/2 marathon expo. hung out by the pool. played ping pong. prepped for race day(I'll come back to that later). ran a 1/2 marathon! hung out at memom's house. drove home.

RACE DAY:

So we woke up at 2AM people!!! who does that? I couldn't sleep at all anyway, so I was ready to get up and go.

We got up, got princessified and headed over to disney!!! There were lights, music, dancing, just plain crazy fun going on. We headed to our corral....we were in corral C ....I think the corrals went all the way to F.

The race started at 5:45, but we didn't start until 6:00. which was great because it definately cut down on some of the congestion throughout the race. There were 17000 people in this race!!!!!!!!! that's alot of running princesses!

The 13.1 mile race started just outside of Epcot. We made our way to the magic kingdom and ran all throughout the park. We even ran through CINDERELLA'S CASTLE!!!! We made our way back to Epcot where we ran all through out that park as well. There were characters, music, entertainment, and people cheering throughout the entire race! It was so awesome :)

It's funny, we said that we weren't going to worry about time, but the minute your adrenaline kicks in and you get around all those people.....you CARE about your time!

Deanne and I ran the first 5 miles together.... her knees started giving out!! Noooo. I stopped at one point to wait for her because we were in the MAGIC KINGDOM, but with 17000 people running, I didn't find her. So the last 8 miles we ran apart.

FYI: Mile 11 was so hard!!!!!!!!! It seemed like the longest mile out of all of them. Once I made it to mile 12 though I had a crazy burst of energy.....only 1.1 MORE MILES!

I was pretty happy with my time with it being my first race ever! I reached my goal anyway...... I ran it in 2 hrs 15 minutes!!!! Placed in at 2440 overall and 365 in my age group.
(that was with some stops to take pictures and I stopped to wait for deanne for 5 minutes)
So I like to think my time could have been a little bit shorter, but then again I wasn't even supposed to care about time right?! hah.

Overall the whole race experience was AWESOME! .....PLUS we got the prettiest medals ever! LOVED IT!!!

Now back to race day prep:

Soooo, if you are thinking about running a 1/2 marathon.....and you want to be super awesome like us before YOU run YOUR next race....well then, all you have to do is watch this video and DO WHAT WE DO!

(Cut and paste the link.......CAUTION: only watch this video if you are ok with absolute ridiculousness.....FYI: there is also a curse word in the beginning of this song that we were not aware of and I can't edit it out---you were warned!)

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Ch_03dXnYWY8a-D9Gmr1NEUkPb2909QABHtLjVi7c-c?feat=directlink

Today was one of those days.

2011-02-13T10:02:00.000-05:00

It was Friday morning and we didn't have anywhere we needed to be!!

The boys and I snuggled for an extra 20 minutes in the bed until it turned into a jump/tickle fest!
We ate breakfast and stayed in our pajamas for most of the morning! Ahhh....there's nothing better.

I did a little bit of cleaning, but mainly JUST PLAYED with the kids.....this is really the best part of every day. I wish I didn't have anything else to do all day except to just play with them. THEY ARE HILARIOUS!

After lunch we went to the park and pretty much stayed there all afternoon....we were the only ones there, so that made it even more awesome! We have been having fabulous weather. The air was so crisp, but it was so sunny out--perfect!

We came home had a snack break and went back outside to jump on the trampoline----BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!! (they absolutely LOVE their trampoline :)

I made dinner and the boys got to watch a movie with daddy :)

Then it was the usual bath time/ bed time routine.....but even the normal routine has become so easy, its not even like work anymore.

Gosh, it was just one of those GREAT days--so fun and practically stress free. (I say practically because that morning Maggie left me a little suprise in the playroom that accidentally got smeared all over the carpet and I had to try to scrub our disgusting carpet clean.....uurgg.)

We've been having alot more of these great days lately.....I LOVE IT!

(What a great way to start the weekend).....YAY--I LOVE THE WEEKENDS!!!!

Generic Brand: you have FAILED me!

2011-02-04T09:22:00.000-05:00

When you are 4 years old, and eating cereal at the table.....I forgot IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOX!

So as I was preparing breakfast this morning, I asked Noah what he wanted

Noah: " hmmmm, cereal"

Me: "ok what kind do you want....cheerios?"

Noah: "YES!! the-BEE-makes-the-honey cheerios" (which of course means honey nut cheerios)

So I pour Noah a bowl of honey nut cheerios, and Sawyer a bowl of fruit loops.

Noah sits at the table and is just about to pick up the spoon, when he asks....."WHERE'S THE BOX???"

Oh yea, how could I forget!
So I bring him the box.

Noah: "Nooo, not THIS box, the box with the BEE on it"

(Sometimes we buy the "for real" honey nut cheerios and sometimes we buy the generic, I guess it depends how much money we are willing to spend that day. Seriously, they taste the same to me, but apparently the box doesn't have any sort of bee on it?!)

Me: "oh honey, those are all gone"
Noah: "but where's the box?"
Me: "umm, I think daddy threw it away" (FYI: blaming it on daddy is always a good copout)
Noah: "ok, well..... let me look in the trash" (this kid is relentless)

It's not there.

SOLUTION:
Pour Noah a new bowl of FROOTLOOPS with a side order of "THE BOX"!!!

Too bad the jokes on him, because those are NOT real frootloops my friend.
They are fruity O's!!!!
SUCKAAA!

But I guess he didn't really care! The generic box of fruity O's seemed to satisfy him just fine!

It was a happy morning in the end :)

dilemma of the day

2011-01-26T16:13:00.001-05:00

Cinnamon rolls or cereal...

this is not really a hard one. but cinnamon rolls take longer and I was pretty hungary-- I chose cinnamon rolls despite their length of baking time due to the fact that they are so darn delicious.

to shower or not to shower...

hmmm. Normally this question is not so difficult, however, today I found myself contemplating and teetering over it for far too long.

Well, when in doubt shower....right?

Except I didn't.

I decided not to because it was raining and I had several errands and appointments to go to today and I figured I was just going to be in the rain all day anyway. that's justifiable right? Let me answer that.

YES it is.

So why am I writing about whether or not I should shower.... I have no idea

I'm sure you are expecting some really fantastic story about how when I went to walmart today after I dropped Noah off at his appointmtent, this lady comes over and tells me that she can smell me from across the aisle and she points me in the direction of the body wash or something...and then I think to myself "dang it, I should've showered."

Nope. nothing like that.

But I did go to Walmart, which I rarely ever go to. Not that I don't like Walmart....I'm more of a Target girl myself, but that's only because it's closer to me :) Anyway, we are getting off topic.

So I am in the baking section looking for stuff to make cupcakes and a few other party things for Sawyer's b-day party at preschool tomorrow.

Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines....

I again contemplate over this for far too long. I decide to go with Betty Crocker. probably because I like the packaging better or something. I go looking for a few other items I need, but i'm interrupted by Sawyer's antics. I find him a few toys to keep him occupied. I again set out to look for the things I need.

I find myself in the women's clothing section.

Black or Pink workout jacket...

I justify to myself that I really do need one and that it is ridiculously cheap (that is one plus about walmart).

I get both. But realize that I again have spent way too long teetering over this decision.

I look at several more things. Same thing happens. Look at my phone.

SHOOT. I have to go pick up Noah. I dash to the checkout line. Sawyer drops his toy and starts franticly telling me that he dropped it and we NEED to back to get it. I try to tell him, we can get it later. He doesn't like this.

While I try to pay for everything (everything but what I needed to get....thus another trip to the store tonight) Sawyer tries to climb out of the basket to go get his beloved toy! More crying, wrestling, and running through the rain to the car.

GEEZ....can I get a break.

Pick up Noah. Head home. More fighting in the car.

Get home. try to decide what I'm going to make for dinner.

WAIT... I already decided what I was making yesterday....but do I really want that. (these life-changing decisions are killing me)

more thinking....YES, I guess I do want that....
it's easier to make that than to think of something new to make.

Laundry. White or dark load...

wait, SERIOUSLY?

After looking back over the day, I have come to the conclusion that I am extremely too indecisive.

Now that I have established that I am indecisive, I should probably make some grand notion to try to fix it. Like I should just make a decision and act on it instead of thinking about it for forever and asking everyone else's opinion.

for example. Paint colors! we are painting our house and Chance constantly tells me to just make a decision, but painting IS a big deal! You can't just pick a color without testing it and looking at it in every light possible :) and the fact that I don't ever really have an opinion about where we eat or what movie we watch, because that would actually require me to make a decision. But honestly it's just because I am such an easy going person :) am I right!?

Does anyone else feel like it's hard to make a decision?? Maybe since having kids my brain takes longer to process things :) Or maybe it's just me.

I did manage however to get one totally awesome, super rad shirt today for only $3.00

Come on, that is HILARIOUS!

bath time is the best!

2011-01-23T19:27:00.000-05:00

ESPECIALLY when Noah pours an entire bottle of soap into the tub, and mommy let's us play for an extra 45 minutes in order not to "waste" it. haha.

Our long awaited, thought we'd never make it-- CRUISE to the BAHAMAS!!!

2011-01-21T13:57:00.000-05:00

YES IT'S TRUE.....we FINALLY went on our cruise! (10 months later.... but at least we made it on the ship this time!)

We went the week before Christmas, so it was a NICE break before the start of all the holiday chaos.

We were planning on driving down to florida and staying the night in order to avoid the broken airplane situation we had previously encountered---I was fine with idea. YES, it would take us FOREVER to get to miami, but it would also just be the two of us, so I thought we could manage. Change of plans the day before we were suppose to leave!!!! We decided to FLY last minute....AHHH.....I was a little freaked out, I mean, if something crazy was gonna happen--like missing our cruise TWICE in a row--it would happen to US.... but I guess we were willing to risk it....WHAT!? I know. Anyway--

WE MADE IT TO FLORIDA and even made it outside the airport and onto the ship!!!!! YAY!!!

We ended up cruising to the BAHAMAS instead of MEXICO :(
and it was only 3 days instead of 5 :(
BUT that's ok, because we had AN AWESOME TIME!!!!

Everything was AMAZING! I loved it......especially because it was just ME AND CHANCE!
(Can I get a WOOO HOOOO!)

OH MY and the food--I mean, who says you can't order room service every day at 5:00 and then go eat dinner at 8:00. And then continue to order 2 of everything on the menu....EVERY NIGHT!! (Let's just say I ate VERY well for those few days).

BEST VACATION EVERRRRRR......... I can't wait for the next one :)

(We did end up thinking about the kids alot though....we were sooo excited to see their little faces when we got back!)

Did I mention...

2011-01-18T13:22:00.000-05:00

WE STARTED POTTY TRAINING SAWYER!?!!??!

It's been almost a month since we started....and WOW....I am sooooo proud of Sawyer.
He is pretty much fully potty trained--EVEN AT NIGHT!

WHAT!??!??!!

Did you say at night too???

YES I DID!!! (that was meant to be said with a LOUD, SLOW,southern draw, and lots of annoying in-your-face conviction! :) ) haha....just kidding--but not really!

Seriously, we have been accident free day and night for a good few weeks now....at home, church, preschool, and out doing errands.....no accidents EVER!!!! (Now watch, now that I said that it will be nothing but accidents from now on).

What a PLEASANT suprise. And when I say pleasant, I really mean THE BEST SUPRISE EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

.....totally worth the wait in this case!!

GO SAWYER......AND YAY FOR NO MORE DIAPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARRGG....It's your birthday!

2010-12-10T13:37:00.001-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE NOAH!
only your not really little anymore :(

I can't believe Noah is FOUR years old! I mean really....where did the time go??

Dear Noah,
We are so lucky to have you as part of our family. You are so much fun to hang out with, and you make us laugh everyday! You are the sweetest little boy EVER and we just love all of your crazy energy :)

YOU'RE THE BEST! We love you.....

love,
Mommy, Daddy, and Sawyer

Sawyer's Prayer:

2010-12-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

"Dear Heavenly Fauder, thankful for dis day.... Jingle bells Jingle bells, Jingle all da ways. Oh what fun it is to ride in a horse open sleigh. Name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

Blast from the Past

2010-12-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

I was looking through some of our pictures and saw these--Noah and Sawyer and Daddy are such good buddies. It cracks me up to watch them play together. I just LOVE it...

we just LOVE pancake morning...

aren't those pizza's so FUN! I thought so...

Thanksgiving...

2010-11-30T21:54:00.001-05:00

So grateful for all 3 of the super-awesome totally studly guys in my life!

I don't know about you, but I ate WAAAYY TOO MUCH this year. Seriously, I think I ate an entire batch of rolls myself and then some.........that's not gross or anything :)

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving.....I know we sure did!

Now just 25 days until Christmas!!!!

recent happenings...

2010-11-20T18:22:00.000-05:00

ONE: We FINALLY PAINTED our house! YAY! I am beyond excited about this! I have been wanting to paint ever since we moved in. First of all, it was that TERRIBLE flat paint that shows ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that happens to get on it. Also, while Noah and Sawyer do beautiful artwork, it doesn't however, make mommy very happy to see it on every wall in our house....and let me tell ya....it was on EVERY wall.

We only painted the bedrooms for right now. It took several days to do it, what with my mom and I both painting all while trying to watch 2 little boys. (My dad did help for a day or two.)

Anyway, I LOVE the way it all turned out!!! We will progressively finish painting the rest of the house soon :)

GET EXCITED....wait....I already am!

Now who wants to guess and see how long it takes for our walls to look like they use to look??!!?

TWO: Noah had his FIRST primary presentation last Sunday! We practiced his part for weeks before the program. He was so cute and knew exactly what to say when we would practice.

"The Savior will help me to love one another."

Seriously, he was adorable. I just knew he would do great when his turn came to say his part.

As we were sitting in the chapel watching Noah sitting on the stand, anxiously awaiting for his turn to come, he would see us and wave with delight. He was seriously precious.

Then it was his turn.

He walks up to the pulpit. Looks out to the crowd. Breaths a little heavy once or twice. Then he whispers....

"The Savior....pause...

(then with a normal voice he starts)....blid ehgek gtheke thek iblkes ienlaksjf dkjelkj."

WHAT??!
(it kind of reminded me of the teacher from charlie brown....no wait....JK...it wasn't that bad. To most people it might have even sounded like he was saying it right, but just mumbling :) ...maybe.)

It sounded like words, only you couldn't make out what he was saying. It sounded a lot like a made up Noah language....only it really was a made up Noah language. haha. He often does this when he doesn't know what to say or to fill in his sentences when he can't find the right words.

I have to admit....it's pretty cute. A little weird, but still cute. He did this another time when he was asked to give the prayer in front of the entire primary. So I had a feeling it MIGHT happen again.

AT LEAST he tried!!! and he seemed so proud when he was finished :)

He also did an awesome job singing "FOLLOW THE PROPHET" his favorite primary song! He knew all the words and did GREAT!

WAY TO GO NOAH!

1st PRIMARY PROGRAM = SUCCESS.

THREE: Did I mention Noah got a HAIRCUT!

This was not a trim or even a little cut....this was a MAJOR haircut! And get this...

I ACTUALLY LIKE IT!!!!

Amazing I know :)

What a stud...

(Noah also likes to use my headbands as ninja weapons. awesome.)

The NC state FAIR.

2010-11-03T13:52:00.000-04:00

(Yep, I think this picture pretty much sums it up)

So we went to the NC state FAIR a couple of weeks ago........and it just so happened to be Chancey's BIRTHDAY! My parents came down and we were all able to go together, which made it super fun!

The kids were really able to enjoy it this year. They loved feeding the animals, riding the rides, watching the pig races, eating the yummy food, and seeing the fireworks!!!

What kid doesn't LOVE a pony ride!

Roller coaster anyone? YES PLEASE!

Swings.....Sawyer's FAVORITE!
(This was while we were watching the PIG RACES, which are very entertaining by the way. Sawyer looks entertained, don't ya think? He actually got picked to represent one of the PIGS....too bad our pig didn't win).

OF COURSE, we did the turkey shoot

(Chance didn't do very well. Dad almost won. it was between him and another guy.....maybe next year!)

(The fireworks looked more like an atomic bomb).

Happy 29th Birthday Chancey-pants!

Halloween!

2010-11-01T14:11:00.001-04:00

Noah and Sawyer LOVED halloween this year.....which made it sooo fun! They were so excited about their costumes, YAY!!!

Noah changed his mind several times and just couldn't decide what he wanted to be. (He was torn between a monster or spider man. Then he didn't want to be either one). Sawyer on the other had, knew exactly what he wanted to be, (a crocodile) but i just couldn't find or make a costume that I like good enough for him.

Soooo, what did they end up being for halloween........

A SHARK (Noah is pretty much obsessed with Sharks right now, so this was perfect AND he loved wearing it, singing the jaws theme song, and eating anyone who got in his way).

and A PIRATE (Sawyer was a little hesitant at first, but then he realized he got to wear his "captain hook" and was completely sold on the idea! He was the coolest little pirate ever yelling ARRGGG, and telling everyone "I'm a pirate" as if they didn't already know. Plus, I didn't have to buy him anything...this was Noah's costume from last year!)

I went as Pippy Longstocking.

and Chance went as a LAME dude named Chance! (if he wasn't so cute, I would have made him dress up).

Carving PUmpkins...

Making Halloween Cookies with Grammy....

A few FUN things from our halloween feast....

"Eyeball salad"

"Ghostly mashed potatoes"

and a "monster sandwich" for lunch one day

Time for Treat or Treating!!!!!! We went 3 nights in a row. They were PROS by night 3.....needless to say, they racked up on candy, which Chance and I have already started devouring.

P-T-C

2010-10-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

So I had my FIRST parent-teacher phone conference(PTC) with Sawyer's preschool teacher a few days ago....

(keep in mind, I put on a movie for the kiddos to keep them entertained for a few minutes while I did the phone conference).

Sawyer is doing GREAT! I got some really good feedback from his teacher. He loves to use scissors, play with playdough, paint pictures, and read books. He apparently is "excellent" at puzzles and matching. He loves circle time too....he is always the first one to recognize his mat they use to sit on. He also knows all of his letters, colors, shapes and can count to 20. He knows everyone's names and has great vocabulary and is very good with using his words! OF COURSE he loves to climb, swing, and play in the sand on the playground. He also likes to pretend to be a dinosaur and occasionally growl at his teacher :)

What a proud mommy moment. I get off the phone, thinking about what a great little boy Sawyer is and how much fun he is to be around! Then I walk into the kitchen to find SAwyer...........

DOING THIS!!!!!!!!!!

Just another "proud" mommy moment!

(He told me there was a baby dinosaur inside one of the eggs. And he seems to be using great hand eye coordination with his favorite toy: the tongs).

Tweetsie!!!

2010-10-18T17:07:00.000-04:00

We took the boys up to the mountains this weekend to see the leaves, play with family, and go to TWEETSIE RAILROAD!

Yes, its true, we love Tweetsie. The boys had so much fun! It cracks me up, because this place is sooo OLD. I mean really it's been there forever, and I don't think they have EVER updated it.....but it is still so great! I don't know if it's the mountains, the games, or just the funnel cake, but we always have a blast!

Sawyer couldn't stop talking about the COWBOYS and the "aliens" aka indians. haha. (He tried so hard to say Indians, but it just came out like aliens).

I've also realized even more so now, that Sawyer is our fearless dare devil. I knew this before, but it is even more apparent now. He LOVES all the rides that make me want to vomit.....and all he says is FASTER, FASTER, I WANT TO GO FASTER. I WANT TO GO HIGHER! MOMMY, LET'S GO HIGHER as he laughs and laughs!

Seriously, he is not afraid of anything (except scary halloween masks....Chance scared the crap out of him the other day at the halloween store....there was crying and everything....poor Sawyer).

Sawyer was also a huge fan of the carnival games. He was actually really good at them too. I was shocked that he did so well!

Noah's favorite thing besides seeing/feeding the animals was probably the chair lift up the mountain! haha. It sounds lame, but it's actually pretty cool, and HE thought it was REALLY cool!
OH yea....and their awesome new pop guns were quite a hit too :)

And the train.....who doesn't love the train ride!!! So fun.

Until next year!

Camping Trip

2010-10-18T15:14:00.000-04:00

So a couple weeks ago we went on our FIRST family camping trip! We went with our ward at church. It was alot of fun. The kids really loved the camp fire, roasting marshmallows, and running around with all of their friends in the woods!

Now, when I first heard about the ward camp out, someone mentioned "cabins".....these were anything but "cabins".....more like shelters. In my mind, when I hear the word cabin, I think about electricity, running water, etc. Well, they should have just said tent camping, seriously! Needless to say......we weren't very prepared. I mean we have all kinds of camping gear, but emily-the-retard didn't think we would need it.

It was like 80 degrees that day, so why in the world would it be cold at night.....in OCTOBER. DUH.
Chance also asked me if we should grab the lantern. "No, there will be lights there". Again, I am retarded.

Anyway,
It was cold. I didn't bring enough blankets.
It was dark. I only brought ONE flashlight.
I was scared. Our initial campsite was like 2 miles away from everyone else. In the middle of the freaking woods. Where BEARS, WOLVES, and JASON the serial killer live!!!

Needless to say, I told Chance we were NOT staying unless we moved cabins! haha....I am normally not such a wimp. sometimes. maybe :)

Thank goodness some people decided not to come.....we high-jacked their cabins....they were closer to everyone else....i felt better.

Except it was still cold. and dark.

At least the kids slept the whole night, right!?

They did actually....Noah peed on himself, but he slept the whole night! haha.
(The kids both fell asleep while we were still sitting at the campfire. We tried to wake Noah up so he could use the bathroom before we put him in the bed......it didn't work :) Oh well. Maybe it kept him warm.....warmer than me anyway.

Did I mention it was cold! haha.

Next time I will be more prepared!

I'd say it was a pretty successful FIRST family camping trip!

Book Worm

2010-10-07T15:02:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned how much of a BOOK WORM Noah is turning into!!! He seriously LOVES books.... he carries his favorites around with him, and wants to read them ALL the time!

We went to Barnes and Noble today to pick out a Halloween book to read.

He got SOO EXCITED! ...I have to admit, I kind of LOVE it!

He picked out one about a witch...."Room on the Broom"....held the book all the way home, and couldn't wait to get inside so we could READ it AGAIN, and AGAIN!

BY THE WAY.....Have I also mentioned how excited I am that it FINALLY feels like FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the crisp autumn air.
pumpkin patches.
fairs.
birthdays.
Halloween.

YAY :)

I'm so glad its OCtoBer...

Can you believe it....

2010-09-13T18:45:00.001-04:00

Noah and Sawyer started preschool!

Oh my little cuties are getting so big.

D$'s wedding

2010-09-09T14:31:00.000-04:00

Deannie-pants decided to married. So we decided to go to it. it was nice. the end.

JUST KIDDING!

Seriously though, my sister got married in the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday Sept. 4th! It was one CRAZY weekend. We ended up cramming tons of stuff into just a couple of days. So pretty hectic and exhausting, but super fun and totally worth it!

Chance's brother and his family came to stay at our house and watch the kids for us while we went to Utah......SO NICE of them! They have 2 boys too....so there was lots of wrestling, playing outside, and just plain craziness for all of them to enjoy :)

So the madness of the weekend started EARLY friday morning! Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:00am. Chance and I didn't wake up until 4:50am. (I was pretty tired....only going on 2.5 hours of sleep). We rushed around and left our house at 5:20. Chance went about 90mph on the interstate, getting us to the airport about 5:40 by the time we parked and everything. We RAN through security and pretty much sprinted to the gate....BUT WE MADE IT!

The rest of the weekend pretty much stayed just as crazy. Going from wedding pictures, to BBQ's, to staying up to clean, steam, and arrange dresses, ties, shoes, etc. I got about 4 hours of sleep that night. YUCK!

The next day, the girls got their hair done, everyone went to a fabulous lunchean at "The Grand American" hotel, and then we were off to the sealing. The sealing was SO GOOD! It was just so nice to sit in the temple with Chance. The sealer also had lots of wonderful advice and good things to say too. After pictures, it was off to the reception which turned out really nice. They had it on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. After the reception, Chance and i headed over to see some friends of ours who had driven down from Idaho to see us. We hung out with them and their kids the next day too. Then it was time for some shooting with Corey! Oh my gosh....this was so FUN! I kind of miss it already. There's just something so empowering about shooting a gun :) We hung out with him and his family that night. We headed back to the airport EARLY the next morning and were on our way back to good ole NC.

Wheew. What a trip!

Just a few:

**addendum: Corey is the freaking man and we love him! Chance and Corey have a very disturbing but very sweet bromance that started pretty much the first day they met. If there were anyone that Chance would leave me for....it would be Corey :) We miss you!

H.H.I.

2010-08-26T14:25:00.000-04:00

Oh how I miss you already....

My day...

2010-07-15T20:07:00.000-04:00

My morning started out good. The boys played pirates. We found pirate treasure (money from their piggy bank). Counted it. Took our treasure to the movie theater. Let the kiddos pay. Enjoyed the movie, had lunch, the boys played together when we got home. It was nice.

My afternoon went something like this:

Me: "Mommy needs to go potty. Noah do you need to go too?"
Noah: "No"
Me: "ok. I'll be right back"

about a minute later....

Sawyer: "Ew YUCK, Noah don't do that....that's gross!!" (he talks really well by the way).

Me: "What's going on, in there?"
Sawyer: "Noah pooped"
Me: "WHAT!!"

I come out to find pooped smeared all over the place.

WHY???!??!?! (I swear, I can't get this kid to poop in the potty. It's SO GROSS.)

I clean it up.

While I clean it up, I notice Sawyer is being very quiet. I go in the kitchen to throw away some trash.

THERE HE IS....sitting on the kitchen floor playing with a box of cornstarch he poured ALL OVER THE FLOOR!

I clean it up.

While I clean it up, I look over. Sawyer has climbed on top of the piano and is crawling through the opening from our dining room into the kitchen.

I get him down.

Where's Noah?....

Playing in my bathroom. With the TOOTHPASTE! I caught him before it got out of control.

I clean it up.

While I clean it up, I start thinking about how frustrated I am.
When I'm frustrated I want to eat.

I decide to make COOKIES.

We're out of brown sugar. (Seriously? OF COURSE WE ARE!)

I borrow some from our wonderful neighbor, because I am not about to take the kids to the store.

We make cookies. LOTS and LOTS of cookies.

The boys help me make cookies.
They sit in front of the oven and watch them bake.
We sing a few songs.
The cookies are done.

We take some cookies to our wonderful neighbor who let us borrow the sugar.

We EAT the cookies!

I feel better.

THE END.

P.S. The best part about having a rough day is ending it with a little service! It always makes me feel better when I can help someone else!

Took a super yummy dinner and the cookies to a friend = Happy me!

Bonding

2010-07-14T19:16:00.000-04:00

We're so glad when daddy comes home...

He reads us stories...

Let's us run around naked...

and tries to steal our lunch money...

We love you daddy!
*Noah and Sawyer*

the pirate says.....ARGGG

2010-06-28T22:17:00.000-04:00

After a long day of music makers, errands, water hoses, popsicles, mess making, etc.

The boys decided they wanted to be PIRATES.

So I made them both a costume out of some old fabric around the house.....

.....

Gotcha! haha. I probably couldn't do that if my life depended on it.
(It just so happens that we have a pirate costume in the closet.)

Noah got the pirate hat and pants-- No shirt
Sawyer got the pirate shirt with NO pants--just a diaper :)

They were ready.....fully equipped with plastic sticks for their swords, and empty toliet paper rolls for there telescopes. They made very cute pirates.

So what do pirates do?? Look for treasure of course!
So we went looking for treasure.

We looked all throughout the house....when suddenly we found our treasure.....

in mommy and daddy's closet.....

MAGGIE VOMIT, all over the carpet!!!

GROSS.

Noah and Sawyer: (said very loudly, with HUGE smiles on their faces) "EWWWW, YUCK....MAGGIE POO POOED."

They found this game HILARIOUS. and wanted to play over and over again.

so what did we do.....

Got in our pirate ship, sang "Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho it's a pirates life for me....ARGGG", got out of the ship, circled the house into the deep, dark cave until we found...

"MAGGIE POO"...our beloved treasure. Then we ran away as quick as we could, walked the plank, and jumped into a sea of blankets and pillows.

only we did it 50 bazillion times. (Some things just never get old)

and every time we went into the deep, dark cave and found our "treasure" I thought....I should probably clean that up. But there it stayed, on the floor, just waiting for someone else to clean it up. But no one came, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it....

I even tried to weigh it out in my head: Which is grosser? Leaving the nastiness on my carpet to rot or having to bend down on my hands and knees to clean it up?!

Alas....it is still on my carpet. SICK.

Does anyone want to come clean it up for me???? PLEASE!!?

Eventually I think the thought of rotting vomit on my carpet will outweigh the thought of having to clean it up, but for now it's staying....

that is unless Chancey decides to clean it up instead :)

What a fun-filled day of pirating on the open seas! I certainly do love my 2 little buckaneers!

To Infinity and Beyond.....

2010-06-25T15:44:00.000-04:00

Ok, so Noah and Sawyer are obsessed with the movie Toy Story. They have been for some time now...do you recall the post about Noah's Toy Story themed Birthday Bash?!

Sooo, it was only appropriate that we take them to see the NEW

Toy Story 3!!!

And OF COURSE we went the weekend it opened, AND we were the first ones in line....YES, we are hardcore :)

It was FANTASTIC....probably my favorite out of the three. It even made me cry at the end. (I actually felt really dumb sitting in the theater tearing up at a cartoon kids movie, but WHATEVER).

I highly recommend it, and the kids LOVED it of course :)

Check it out:

Moving up, Moving out, Moving on....

2010-06-15T20:09:00.001-04:00

An update on the fam damily:

I think Congratulations are in order for my littlest of bros. He turned 18, graduated from high school, and got drafted in the 9th round of the MLB draft to the Boston Red Sox. He leaves tomorrow!!!

I still can't believe it...I guess someone should try to give him a quick demo on how to do laundry and make ramen noodles :)

Aww....little Tyler, I'm sure gonna miss my baby bro, but we are so proud!

Speaking of missing people: My other brother Craig, his wife Jackie, and sweet little Savvy have officially moved to Tennessee for DO school :( I know, SAD! But, I know they will be back to visit often.

Jordan, the other little brother of mine, is transferring to UNC Charlotte in fall, so that means he'll been gone too :(

In other news, my big sis Deanniepants is engaged and is planning on getting married in September. She is in Utah, which means the matron of honor is pretty much responsible for getting LOTS of stuff done without her. Oh yea, I AM THE MATRON OF HONOR!! YIKES. I better get on it then. Well, we couldn't be more excited for her!

Gosh, there are just so many new, exciting things happening to the Barnette crew lately....which also means my mommy is now an empty nester! CRAZINESS. Maybe that means she'll have more time to come visit me now!!!

Cross your fingers :)

My Birthday

2010-06-01T17:11:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's true.....I am now OFFICIALLY 24!!!!
If you were to tell me ten years ago that this is where I would be when I turned 24....I would have pointed and laughed in your face! I mean really....who would have thought.....NOT ME!!!!

I know there are many of you giggling out there (uh oh....24), and there are isn't a day that goes by that Chanceypants doesn't get teased for marrying someone who is almost 5 years younger than he is. BUT REALLY, WHAT IS 5 YEARS.....NOTHING!!!! Looking back on it, the fact that I was still in high school when we starting dating is a little bit werid. And looking forward, I don't know that I would recommend our courtship for everyone.....but I THINK it turned out to be a great match. I mean, I keep him young right?!
The only down fall I see to the age difference in our marriage is the whole growing old together thing. I mean, we have all seen those lonely old widows sitting by themselves or with their "best gal pal" who also happens to be a lonely old widow. I mean seriously, it's just a fact (in my experiences) MEN DIE BEFORE WOMEN! So, with that being said.....Chance is 5 years older than me....which means, I'll have an extra 5 years to be a lonely old widow. I know, SAD, but probably true! However, a valid fact to point out: Chance does takes better care of himself than I do. So maybe I won't be a lonely old widow after all. I guess Chancey might just have to be a dirty old man without me (except he's kind of a dirty old man right now :) haha.

Anyway, the BIG DAY happened to be on a Tuesday this year. While the day was approaching and another year about to pass....I started thinking....the more birthdays I have, the more I realize how unexcieting they are. I remember as a kid thinking about my birthday months in advance, just waiting for the day to arrive. It was so much fun planning the festivities, having slumber parties, and getting lots of presents, (that's the best part of course!!!) I am not one of those people who doesn't want to get older (its just a number) but I was just feeling a little bit BLAH about the whole thing. Like my birthday was just another day.

But ya know what......IT IS just another day!

Another day to be with my WONDERFUL family. No matter how crazy we are or how hard life gets. It's another day to experience new things, go new places, and enjoy each others company. It's another day to say "thank you", "I'm sorry", " I love you", or "I miss you" to the one's who are always there for me! It's another day to be grateful for who I am, to eat amazing food, and just have fun.....to actively live my life instead of sitting back and going through the motions. With all of this deep refection going on....it just makes me think about my amazing blessings, the great things I get to do everyday, and my everyday struggles.

I guess my biggest struggle right now is trying to raise my sweet, beautiful, rambuncious little boys! It is such a challenge and there are many days I feel quite inadequate....(I wish I knew the right way to handle every situation or I wish someone would just tell me....ya know). And expanding our family, well I think my little terrors are trying to kill that dream as we speak. hah. But don't worry. We will perservere. It's hard knowing that you may not being doing everything the right way. Because SOMETIMES..... I just want things to be perfect. And YES I know......things are NOT going to be perfect.

As far as the things I do everyday..... I guess my birthday WAS an exception to the rule. It's not everyday that I get a gorgeous bouquet of FLOWERS delievered to my door :) Thanks babe!

It's not everyday that I get to spend the week with my whole family, order pizza, go to the CRAWDAD'S baseball game AND RUN THE BASES after the game was over!!!! ( I know you're jealous. HA. The boys loved it)

And, NO it's not everyday that I get *by request* homemade ice cream sandwiches and chocolate covered strawberries! YAY for my birthday.

But that's NOT ALL....

My brother's b-day is just 3 days after mine, so to celebrate both of our birthdays we went out for SUSHI on Friday night! Chance drove down....so that made everything that much BETTER! It was DELICIOUS! We also got to go to CAROWINDS!!! YAY! It was really alot of fun. We rode rollercoasters, went to the water park, and watched the kiddos have a BLAST in sloopy land. The kids rode most of the rides by themselves, they were so excited, which was ADORABLE :)
I will however, warn anyone with a weak stomach about the "balloon race".....those kiddie rides make me want to vomit! That ride messed me up for a good half of the day....GEEZ....and the fact that some little girl puked up her guts on the ride right before we got on probably didn't help either.

GROSS.

All in all it was a succesful trip.

As far as my blessings go.....All I can say is, even though I can be somewhat of a brat at times, and want things to go "my way" ALL the time (but really, who doesn't want that).....I am a VERY blessed little girl. My 24th birthday helped remind me of the importance of my family, my friends, my two little monsters, and my sweetheart :)

YAY for me for turning the BIG 2-4!!!!!!!!!!

Rainy Day....

2010-05-17T16:29:00.000-04:00

So what do we like to do on rainy Mondays.......

Have a Painting PaRTy in our PAjaMAS

Take a swim in the tub

Play with toys to our hearts content

Sing and Dance to our favorite music

Make and EAT all the"dino chow" we want

Surf the internet for pictures of our favorite animals

Cuddle up and watch our favorite movies

Who said rainy days have to be boring???

Renewed

2010-05-15T22:37:00.000-04:00

Ok, so it feels SO GREAT... I finally finished all of my continuing education requirements (all 30 hours of them) and RENEWED my nursing license for another 2 years! YAY....it's feels good to have that weight lifted off my shoulders....for now anyway.

Now the hard part.....figuring out whether I want to go back to work right now or not.....hmmmmm. There are positives and negatives to both sides. WHAT TO DO!!!!??

OUCH!

2010-05-15T22:17:00.000-04:00

So, today I took a shower.....I know, BIG accomplishment :) But it gets better....

So, the boys were also in the shower with me. I was in the process of sudzing them up when all of a sudden I BROKE THE CERAMIC TILE SOAP HOLDER! WHAT! Who does that?? There were little sharp pieces of broken tile everywhere!

Oh yea, did I mention............I broke it with MY HEAD! (after bending down to wash the kiddos, on the way back up my head smacked the soap holder. (apparently I have a very strong and powerful head. good to know I guess. yea know, in case i'm ever in a fight, I'll just use my super strong head to knock you out!)

I HEART Charleston!

2010-05-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

Ok, so our VACA to Charleston was FABULOUS! We spent an entire week down there this time. It was very relaxing....we went to the pool, on bike rides, and to the beach (or "the big water" as Noah would say) EVERYDAY, and hung out and played games at night....ahhhh, just blissful. Chance spent a few full days with us until he started his "rotation" at MUSC. We picked up my sister and her beau from the airport and they spent several days with us down there as well. It was really SO MUCH FUN....probably because the boys seriously entertained themselves ALL DAY long at the beach. They LOVED playing in the sand, the waves, and of course......chasing sea gulls! We ate lots of yummy sea food ( Fleet Landing is AMAZING by the way....highly recommend it) and soaked up all the charm that Charleston has to offer! We also visited the SC Aquarium! It was very cool. The boys really enjoyed it, epecially the albino alligator.....thats all they could talk about for days! YAY for fun family vacations!!!

Once again...

2010-04-19T19:19:00.000-04:00

So, we got locked out of our house yesterday.....RIDICULOUSNESS.....it seems to be the reoccuring theme in our life lately.

Home Sweet Home

2010-04-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

Just a few things that we loved about going back home last week....

Baseball games
(Check out all the PRO scouts in the bleachers....YES, Tyler is just that good!)

Date Night: Spectacular Sushi + Sherlock Holmes = a GREAT date!

Ice cream cones

Sprinklers

Playing with Savannah (even if her bathing suit is jacked up..haha)

Puppy Lovin'

Pretty trees

Yay for Easter

2010-04-14T16:58:00.001-04:00

Easter Baskets

Easter Sunday!

Playing outside!

Easter wouldn't be complete without an Easter egg hunt!

Dinosaurs, Dragons, and Alligators....

2010-03-31T18:22:00.000-04:00

******* SPECIAL ALERT***********

There have been serveral spottings and "ATTACKS" reported around the area! But don't worry..... The N.S.P.S. (Noah and Sawyer Protective Services) have been on the case slaying those dragons and and fighting off those dinosaurs :) I feel so much safer now! If anyone is in need of the N.S.P.S. contact me immediately....I'm sure they would LOVE to help you out!

So the boys are pretty much obessed with anything and everything that is Dinosaur, Dragon, or Alligator......so basically they like BIG, scary animals with sharp teeth, breath fire, and could kill you in about 2.5 seconds!!! AWESOME!

The past few days Noah has been telling me he is "Dragon Warrior"........I know.....adorable yet "official" all at the same time!

Accomplishments of the Weekend...

2010-03-29T08:25:00.000-04:00

* Did my very first spinning class: one word....HARD!! WOW!

* Went through kids closets: packed up winter clothes...unpacked spring. (It amazes me how LONG this takes!)

* Cleaned the house

* Drove a stick-shift all the way to Hickory and did AMAZING! haha: This sounds weird, but I've never driven Chance's car for this reason....I can count on 1 hand how many times I've driven a stick. I mean I know HOW to do it, but experience doing it mainly consists of driving around the neighborhood with Chance in his old car about 4 years ago.

* Easter Egg Hunt with the kiddies

* Finally watched The Blind Side

* Went to Church: Noah finally had a good day in Primary. Being a sunbeam is a big change from nursery, so we are working on it. Sunday was fun, he did better than normal....it was a good day.

* Had Easter Dinner a week early. My brother and his wife won't be here for Easter, so we decided to have our Easter celebration 2 weeks in a row!

* Ate the best homemade Raspberry white-chocolate cheesecake ever!!

* Played an intense game of Cranium with the fam. Girls vs. Boys. I'm sure you can guess who won: The GIRLS of course!!! We won by ONE card....awesome!

* Drove home SAFELY with NO crazy stories to tell. There were no policemen, firemen, vomiting children, or flat tires! (That in itself is a big accomplishment for the Powell's)

Overall it was a GREAT weekend. Now back to life for a few days and then back to Hickory for more family fun :)

Hello Spring!

2010-03-19T20:56:00.001-04:00

Dear Spring,

We are sooo loving all of the BEAUTIFUL weather! We hope you are here to stay....

Your Friends,
the Powells

It finally happened...

2010-03-17T15:24:00.000-04:00

So today is the day it finally happened....

We were at the park, playing with all of our friends, enjoying the beautiful sunny weather! So I am sitting on a bench talking to to one of the other moms at the park, when all of a sudden I look over and see.......

Noah with his pants down .....PEEING outside!!!! hahaha! I ran over there as soon as I saw him.....he was so happy and proud that he had peed outside on the ground....WOW.....the joys of being a little boy :)

(Well, at least he didn't pee in his pants. And he did manage to walk away near the woods for some privacy!)

Listen up...

2010-03-10T19:58:00.001-05:00

So it just makes me wonder if the ability to listen "well" is genetic or maybe it's just a boy thing:

Yesterday I asked to Chance to pick up a jar of marinara sauce....He brought home a bottle of hawaian marinade!! REALLY?? I mean come on......ha!

The CRUISE

2010-03-05T21:24:00.001-05:00

WOW. So where do I begin.....This past week was Chance's SPRING BREAK! We had some airline tickets that needed to be used, SO after very little discussion we decided to take a much needed 6 day CRUISE to MEXICO!! (Can I just say, we were so flipping excited....our first real trip together since we've been married)!!!!!

But, a trip for LOU LOU and the HULK wouldn't be a trip unless there was some DRAMA!

So let me just give you the "plan" the way it was supposed to happen:

8:45: arrive at the Charlotte airport, and park.
9:00: check luggage at the front desk
9:15: go through security
9:45: arrive at the gate to board the plane
10:00: leave charlotte and head to miami on the smalllest plane ever!

12:00: arrive in miami
12:15: eat lunch and waste time in the miami airport while we wait for our flight to tampa
1:20 head to the gate to board the plane
1:40: in the air FLYING to tampa
2:40 arrive in tampa
3:00: get luggage and catch a cab to the port
3:45 boarding the ship
5:00: on our way to MEXICO to enjoy a WONDERFUL CRUISE with the BEST husband EVER!!

Monday morning: Things were looking good....we made it to the charlotte airport, checked our luggage (my bag was a little over the weight limit, so I had to get a little creative as to what to do with some of my stuff....HEY it's a cruise people, I NEED to bring alot....i don't know what I'm gonna wear! ha). Next stop: security. Chance actually had to throw away his "key chain tools"...WATCH OUT for those plyers...i guess they can hurt someone, but you would probably need 3 days and a hammer to really do the job. Anyway, after security, we even had time to get a cinnabon....seriously who can pass up a cinnabon! Off to the gate we go....flight to miami: ON TIME! It was probably one of the smallest planes ever, but we made it to Miami!

Monday afternoon: We arrived at about 12:30. We had about an hour before our next flight, so we grabbed some lunched and browsed the airport. We head over to the gate. PANICK MODE sets in. Our 1:40 flight has been delayed an HOUR. We start calculating....1:40...ok ok...now 2:40....that would put us in tampa at 3:40 and we HAVE to board the ship by 4:00!!!

AND SO IT BEGINS.......While Chance starts calling our travel agent, cruise line, anyone he can possibly call....I head over to the gate desk to talk to someone. Apparently, the plane we are suppose to board is NOT here yet! IT HASN'T EVEN LEFT where it's coming from! So I start asking some questions......do we know when it's leaving, when will it arrive, are there any other flights to tampa??????? And her reply: I don't know when it's leaving, when it arrives depends on when it leaves, and NO there are no other flights to tampa. WELL..........I wanted to to put that little lady in her place, BUT i refrained and simply told her the gravity of the situation. WE ARE GOING ON A CRUISE......we HAVE to get to tampa, we just HAVE TO!!! ..... She sent us to customer service!

While Chance is still on the phone, we go to the customer service desk. It's a pretty long wait. So WE WAIT! As far as the phone calls with the cruise line go,

OPTION 1: if we miss the the 5:00 departure time for the cruise, the airline could send us down the Costa Maya tonight, put us in a hotel until Wendesday where we could meet the ship at it's first port. I guess it's a pretty good option, ONLY it WON'T work. (See, loop cruises don't require passports because they leave and return to the same port in the U.S., but in order to fly directly into Mexico you need a passport.........GUESS WHO DOESN'T HAVE A PASSPORT......that's right.........ME!!!!!!)

OPTION2: We can call the passport beauro, get an emergency passport, and fly down the next day to meet the ship. ONLY, that won't work either. We call....the first appointment for an EMERGENCY passport is FRIDAY! Where can we get an emergency passport like today/tomorrow? NEW ORLEANS! The airline could fly us there, but we would be on our own to get to Mexico. See, in order to get a passport you have to show where you are going (plane tickets), but in order for the airline to buy us plane tickets I have to have a passport!) CRAZINESS.

So as we continue to "ride the merry-go-round" and go round and round in circles.....I head back to the gate to see if anything has changed, while Chancey-pants stays in line at customer service! I get to the gate, the plane IS HERE!!! BUT has been delayed ANOTHER HOUR!!!! FRANTIC and almost in tears at this point, I text Chance the news and hopelessly join the rest of the people sitting on the floor.

TIC TOC, TIC TOC.....(this is time, PRECIOUS time passing by and NOTHING is being done).

SUDDENLY, a voice over the loud speaker....could it be, is the plane ready!!!!!!.....................
NO, the flight has been completely canceled for MECHANICAL FAILURE!

Groans from the crowd, cussing and choice words were spoken by some, and large groups of people start scattering from the gate. I rush to meet Chance at the Customer Service desk. He is waiting for a supervisor to arrive!.....TIC TOC, TIC TOC

3:30 pm: We see her, meet her, tell her whats going on.......she asks us a few questions.......looks at her computer. Then she says "Let's go....NOW". We start RUNNING through the airport ( I swear it was just like "Home Alone"....HAHA). We get to another gate. There a plane leaving for tampa, like right NOW. There's a large group of people, most from the flight that just got cancelled, begging to get onto the plane. The supervisor types in some codes and motions us to follow her through the tunnel. Everyone starts following her. NO, she shouts....just Joseph and Emily Powell......more groans from the crowd as we push our way through. As we run through the tunnel she says: "Your gonna make your cruise, your luggage will catch up to you." Then she throws us on the plane and we leave for tampa!

So, on the plane as Chance and I got our barrings back, we realize that we definatly won't make our 4:00 boarding time, and we might not even make our 5:00 departure time, BUT we were SO POSITIVE and HOPEFUL while we made our "master plan" on the flight to tampa. We even got to fly first class....we were feeling pretty good!

Master plan: We would arrive to tampa around 4:20. We would call the cruise line as soon as all electronic devices could be used again on the plane, let them know we were there and see if we made it there before 5:00 if they would let us on. We would then forget about our luggage and RUN to catch a cab. Give the driver a HUGE FATTY tip to get us there before 5:00. Get to the port and jump on the ship! YAY.....it would work....RIGHT?

4:20: we arrive in tampa. check.
We call the cruise line while still in the plane: check.
Carry on's in hand, about to get off the plane to sprint to a cab.....STOP. (If you are Chance or Emily, please sit down).....the tunnel IS BROKEN!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE! We now have to be towed to another gate!!!
5:05: get off the plane completely miserable, heart broken, and crushed. check. check. check.

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY MISSED OUR CRUISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We walk to the front desk of american airlines and relay our story AGAIN! The lady was so nice, but there is really nothing they could do for us right then. Everything, has to be done through customer relations online. So, she gave us some meal vouchers for the airport, set up a hotel room for the night, and scheduled a flight back to N.C. for the next day. **TEARS **

So we go get our luggage and grab dinner at TGI FRIDAYS! It's was actually pretty good, but all we could think about was what we could be doing. Well at least we're together!! We catch a shuttle to our hotel. Around 8:30 we arrive at our hotel. The front desk tells us they'll "hook us up" since we've been through so much today. We get our keys and head to our room.

Chance tries to open the door. "It's stuck." He tries again. It WON'T open..... "BAM, BAM" (at this point the HULK is pretty much about to bang down the door.) I can't help but laugh.
Chance: I guess I'll go back down stairs, you stay here with the luggage.

So as I sit there on the floor of the hallway.....I start to notice.........I can hear the T.V. down the hallway. I can hear people talking across the hall. and then AACHOOO......I could hear someone sneeze!!! HAHAHAHA......AT THIS POINT IT IS JUST TOO MUCH.....it's either laugh or cry and it was just TOO FUNNY!

Chance comes back to see me dying on the floor: "So they told me to raise the handle up before we push"......
Me: Laughing even harder.....

We go inside. Only to find. 2 double beds instead on 1 king. I guess we'll have to sleep in seperate beds.... AGAIN.....it's just TOO MUCH.....hahahahahaha. What else could possibly happen!?

(We went to check out the pool=freezing. We went to check out the weight room=lame. So we ended up going back to the room only to cram ourselves into a little double bed and went to sleep!)

Tuesday Morning: We eat breakfast at the hotel, catch the shuttle to the airport, check our bags, go through security, and head to the gate. We make it back to miami. We have a huge 3 hour layover in miami, so we eat lunch and waste some more time at the miami airport giving each other magazine quizzes and walking around paying way too much for anything and everything there. We then go to the gate to catch the plane back to N.C........it's been DELAYED!! NOOOOOOO!!! Not again! There was a flight to Chaleston leaving shortly. We were so close to jumping on that plane and driving back to Charlotte, BUT we decided against it. Eventually we arrived back in Charlotte and drove back to Hickory arriving at about 8:30 that night.

So I guess you could say we had an "INTERESTING" 2 day vacation, filled with airports, planes, sadness, and alot of laughs!!! I LOVE CHANCEY-PANTS more than anything in the whole world, and as long as I get to spend some part of everyday with him either in the car, at the grocery store, or just doing "everyday" stuff, that will be good enough for me :) (Although a tropical get-a-way would have been NICE....maybe one day it will actually work out.) Hey, at least we got a good story out of it! LOVE YOU BABE!

*** In the end, the cruise line gave us a credit for 75% of the cruise and cash back for all of the taxes/fees/and excurstions we booked. We emailed the airline and are still waiting for a response from them. Hopefully we will hear back soon and get recompensated for our cruise, air travel, and baggage fees! We are possibly going to attempt to try this again in August for our 5 year Anniversary! We shall see.....

pint-size Picassos

2010-02-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the best part about coloring....is coloring YOURSELF!

Boys will be BOYS!

2010-02-18T14:55:00.000-05:00

So Sawyer learned a new skill today. Can you guess what it is????

Yes, that little stinker is quite the climber.
I couldn't help but laugh though (that probably means I'm a terrible parent), but he looked so proud....like he had just finished climbing Mt. Everest or defeated his nemesis enemy with his nerf canon.

Noah and Sawyer always seem to get into some kind of mischief AT LEAST once a day. They even managed to climb up to the top shelves in our pantry just to get the candy jar! (both of which are now broken. I suppose they haven't quite mastered how to actually get the jar down once they climb up there). I guess little boys will do just about anything for candy. Though I shouldn't be suprised.....I mean look at their momma. I would do just about anything for candy too :)

Even though those two can be mischievous little devils, they are so funny when they play together. Their favorite things to do together right now are playing with trains on their train tracks, playing dinosaurs, jumping on the bed, and fighting with pretend guns and swords. (we don't own any guns or swords, so they use whatever they can find. This includes but is not limited to: the spindles to our stairs and the metal thing from our fire place...I however, do not approve of this!!)

Some of my FAVORITE things they say to each other:

Noah:

Come on Sawyer let's get outta here...

Sawyer, I NEED to climb/jump/fall.

I Buzz, you Woody or I soldier, you robot or I alien, you sawyer

I LOVE YOU - he also says this when he is in trouble and about to get sent to "time out"-SO STINKIN' FUNNY....he thinks if he says it....he won't get in trouble! HA!

Sawyer:

Come on Noah, come on!

Noah, where are you? to which Noah replies.....I hiding!

With his finger pointed: "Noah Stop it.....1, 2,....Spankin' Time!" (This is quite hilarious to hear)

To Infinity, and Beyond (as he jumps off of anything he can possibly climb on!!!!)

I LOVE YOU

Those a just a few off the top of my head......You gotta love little boys!!

Love is in the air...

2010-02-17T14:21:00.001-05:00

Aren't they precious!

So as part of the festivities this weekend, the kids had a valentines party. They opened presents and had cupcakes! (Every time the boys see a candle, fire, or cake or any kind they start singing the "happy birthday" song and want to blow out candles. So, of course we had to make up a "happy valentine's day" song and blow out candles!!)

Yes, Savannah tried to eat the fire....

The kids in their NEW matching pjs they got for valentines day!

But I have to say the best part of the weekend was....BARNETTELLE'S! Let me explain. So for the past 5 years my mom has done a VERY ELABORATE Italian Valentine's dinner for everyone (kind of like her gift to the family). So of course this year was no exception. So every year we go to Barnettelle's and have a fabulous time. It's like going to a 5 star resturant right in your own home, except better because you can where you pajamas to dinner!! I can't even begin to explain how DELICIOUS everything was, but let me just say it is unbelievably DELICIOUS!! Get ready for this menu guys:

Beverages: Sparkling grape juice and S. Pellogrino (it's an aquired taste, which we have grown to love over the years)

Appetizers:
crab stuffed mushrooms
shrimp and chive crostinis
mozerella with picodillo

2nd course:
Arugala and pear salad

3rd course:
Four cheese linguini with prosciutto
Florentine Lasgna

4th course:
Italian salamis, kalamata olives, pepperoncini's, and grapes

5th course:
Filet mignon with parmesean butter and garlic green beans

Dessert Bar:
Chocolate covered strawberries
Pignoli cookies
Fudge crostata with raspberry sauce
Tiramisu

My amazing momma!

(I snuck a few pictures of the yummy food!)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! Until next year....

P.S. sometimes the kids like to play in my mom's ginormous shower, only because it is the best place for yelling at the top of your lungs of course!

and eat suckers the size of their heads!

Snow Day!

2010-02-03T12:38:00.001-05:00

So I LOVE snow...seriously, love it. Too bad the kiddos were sick the entire weekend. That didn't stop them from wanting to go play in it though. So we did manage to get out in the snow ONE day :)
FYI: Being stuck in the house for 5 days straight with 2 sick kids is NOT FUN!

We don't actually own a sled, so we attempted to make a trash can lid work....it failed miserably. But, we still had fun anyway.

These are a few from the last snow fall:

Yes, those are grocery bags on his feet :) You can also see our awesome skier-snowman in the background!

Sledding with uncle Tyler

DEUCES WILD!

2010-01-27T14:17:00.000-05:00

YAY! So it's official......SAWYER IS 2 YEARS OLD!! I still can't believe it. He has grown up so fast, and seriously he is probably without a doubt one of the cutest and smartest kids I know. First of all, he talks ALL THE TIME! He still amazes me with the things he says. He LOVES to sing songs. His favorites right now are twinkle twinkle little start, the monkey/alligator song, and the turtle song. He also LOVES to play with Dinosaurs!!! I seriously think he wants to be one. He loves Noah so much. They love to play with each other, and the first thing Sawyer asks for in the morning is Noah!! I know they are going to be great friends. Sawyer is so FUNNY and a quite the little charmer. He has a way of getting out of trouble just by looking at me ( I don't know what it is...he just grins and I just melt). This is not good by the way:) Seriously, there are no one words to describe how much I love this kid. Seriously, he's the BEST! I'm sure if you know Sawyer you know exactly how stinkin' cute he really is.

LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN:

So last week we went home for the long weekend. While we were there we had a family party for the birthday boy. We went to....CHUCK E. CHEESE! It ended up being PERFECT!!! The kids had SO much FUN! We ate pizza, played games, and had a blast. After that, we had homemade chocolate peanut butter cupcakes....REALLY REALLY GOOD! Sawyer was SO excited for everyone to sing him. (He LOVES being the center of attention). He was also super excited to blow out his candles. He actually blew them out SEVERAL times....because it's just so much fun of course! So I totally forgot my camera, I know LAME, so I have NO PICTURES to show for it. But let me just paint a little mental picture for you......

Sawyer with his super adorable smile. Rad fo-hawk. shirtless body. chocolate-covered face. Just laughing and singing with his awesome older brother, and fabulously girly cousin. PRICELESS!

So Wednesday was his actual birthday. Our playgroup is normally on Wednesdays, so I decided to host playgroup at our house. We had lots of friends come over and play, and of course there were cupcakes, cookies, and other yummy snacks! Everyone sang to him and he got to blow out his candles again! YAY! It was really fun! After the party we went to the park for a little bit.

Later, when daddy got home from school....guess what. We did it all over again!!! I'm sure Sawyer didn't mind :) He also got to open his presents which he (and Noah) LOVED!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....

He likes to POUND IT...
and then BLOW IT UP!!

Seriously, how can you resist this...
OR THAT...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAWYER!!!

Proud Mama!

2010-01-26T21:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, so today I took Noah to his first class at The Little Gym, and he absolutely LOVED it!!! He is in the preschool gymnastics class called "The Funny Bugs"...very fitting. This is a "kids-only" class, so I was really worried that Noah would freak out because I wouldn't be there with him, but he was the complete opposite. He was dying to go inside the gym and couldn't care less if I was there. He had SO much FUN...he was beaming the entire time. He also did an AWESOME job with all the new skills they were learning. I'm so excited that I found something that Noah really likes to do, plus it's an great way for him to utilize all that energy :)

Dental Report: Yet another successful day at the dentist! Yesterday I went for my return visit at the dental school. Chance filled my other 2 cavities (by the way....these were very SMALL cavities people. I don't want you thinking I have bad oral hygiene!!) Anyway, I'm all fixed. Well for the most part. There was one minor complication that I have to go back in for, but nothing to write home about!

That's right, Chancey-pants is the MAN :) haha. Seriously though, I wish all of you could see how yummy he looks all dolled up in his dental get-up. Mm Mm GOOD!

The WORST day

2010-01-23T22:31:00.000-05:00

There are no words to describe what I felt today... (sadness, betrayal, anger). None of them do it justice.

YES....it's true. Today Chance secretly took Noah to get.........

A HAIRCUT!!

I know, the thought of it still makes me cringe. Out of all the rotten things you could do to make your wife upset, and he picks the one thing that just breaks my heart. I don't know why I am so attached to Noah's beautiful, curly, golden locks. But I am!!!! I can't help it! And now....well it's just not the same.
If it wasn't for the amazing dinner with some friends at California Pizza Kitchen tonight, I would probably still be upset. (my goat cheese with roasted peppers pizza was absolutely divine. I highly recommend it).

If I get brave enough, I'll post some pictures soon. I know it's just hair, and it will grow, but....it was sooo PRETTY! So here's to LONG HAIR, because from now on I'm not letting Noah out of my sight. Especially when daddy's around ;)

TOP CHEF

2010-01-22T15:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm kind of obsessed with the show "TOP CHEF". If you watched last season, then you know about the brothers who competed against each other and made it all the way to the finale. Well, I think the POWELL brother's might just have to give those two a run for their money!
So, I highly doubt Noah or Sawyer will become famous chefs or anything (too bad), but Noah certainly loves to cook! He always wants to help me make something in the kitchen! Now, I'm not an expert, even though I like to think so, (my culinary skills pretty much consist of making/trying new dishes and that one of my favorite channels is foodnetwork). But don't get me wrong....I'm still pretty good :)

So speaking of my wonderful culinary skills. I asked Chance the other day what he wanted for dinner. Normally, he couldn't care less and never gives me an anwser. Or he'll say "make whatever YOU want because it always turns out delicious." .....RIGHT!! Anyway, so this time, I made him give me ONE suggestion...just ONE. And do you know what he wanted me to make........

MEATLOAF! Are you serious!!! Out of all the yummy deliciousness out there and he picks meatloaf! CRAZY, I know. Anyway, so I make it, and make it with love I did. And he starts laughing when he sees it come out of the oven. SERIOUSLY!!! No you didn't!! First you want me to make MEATLOAF and then you laugh at it......that's the last time I ask him for any suggestions! But then again, that's probably EXACTLY what he wanted!

On a sweeter note, don't these two look like the cutest little chefs ever!

P.S. The meatloaf actually turned out pretty good. I used a combination of Bobby Flay and Alton Brown's recipes!

He's a ROCK STAR.

2010-01-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

OK, so Sawyer was in desperate need of a haircut. I think the "before" and "after" pictures say it all. He looks so grown-up... he's not a baby any more.

Looks like a Super-Studly, Amazingly- Awesome Rock Star: CHECK!

BEFORE...

AFTER...

Wednesday

2010-01-06T17:20:00.000-05:00

I never thought getting a cavity filled would be so much fun! Way to go Dr. Powell :) Well I wouldn't say it was fun, but Chance did a GREAT job, PLUS he looks extra delicious in his clinical apparel. I got to stare into those beautiful eyes of his for 2 hours straight....it was a good day.
I actually think he was more nervous than I was...but that's probably because he knew if he messed up I would kill him later ;)

1 down....2 to go! (YIKES....I haven't been to the dentist in a while). No worries, now I live with one!!!

Today....

2010-01-05T13:49:00.000-05:00

Today Noah and Sawyer decided to pour Gasoline all over the garage....

Run in with the LAW

2010-01-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

Ok so Christmas break was good, except we found out our car was stolen out of our driveway while we were gone!!! Can you believe that craziness!! WHO does that? Anyway, so once we found out our car was missing, we called the police and reported our car as stolen. So the police were on the look out for it, however, it was a long shot that we would ever see the car again. We also realized that Chance had forgotten to put comprehensive insurance on our new Audi, therefore, the insurance company would not cover it!! It was a very sad and depressing few days. We also realized that the garage door opener was in the car too. We had Chance's brother and a police officer go over to our house and make sure no one was in the house and nothing had been taken. Thank goodness, everything was there.

Chance's first day back to class was this Monday. We decided to leave EARLY Monday morning instead of Sunday night like we normally do (probably not the best idea). So, as we were driving, we were about 20 minutes away from our house, and Sawyer decides to VOMIT all over the car and himself....GREAT! The plan was to go straight to UNC campus and drop Chance off at school. Well, due to the disgusting vomit all over the place, we opted to go home first. Chance also wanted to come with us just to make sure the house was "secure" of any crazy people (besides the ones who already live there :)).

So we finally reached our destination. Everything looked quiet and normal. We open the garage and go inside, only to be greeted by a VERY LOUD and super annoying alarm going off in our house. We were inside for about 30 seconds when Chance started to feel dizzy so he suspected maybe the carbon monoxide level was high (he was just hypertensive ☺) Anyway, so he called to fire department to come take a look. It was freezing outside, so the boys and I waited in the car. The fire truck came…..Noah was very excited! So they went in and measured the levels in the house, everything was fine. They told Chance it was the alarm system going off. After they left, Chance called to alarm system company to disable the alarm that is not even monitored in the first place!!!! Anyway, I finally go inside to see what the heck is going on. The alarm is still blaring. Chance and I both realized that EVERY smoke detector in our house is going off at the same time. I swear we have like 10 in our house. We took all the batteries out. The noise was finally gone! YAY. But can I just say…..what kind of retarded people do we have working at our fire department?? It was a volunteer fire department, but STILL….you shouldn’t be allowed to volunteer if you can’t even tell if the smoke detectors are going off!!! RIDICULOUS!

I also found a lovely piece of paper folded up on the floor near the door. Someone had slipped it through the door while we were gone. Apparently when Chance’s brother told us our car was missing and him and police officer went to check everything out, they assumed it was a piece of trash. They couldn’t be more wrong. As I’m reading this piece of paper, my heart starts to pound. Turns out our car wasn’t stolen….well not by a common car thief. Chance didn’t pay our car taxes for the Tahoe, so the sheriff took our Audi instead!!! ( I promise we are normally not negligent about paying our bills. I guess when we moved we didn’t get our notice in the mail about paying it). Anyway, so while I’m trying to hose down Sawyer, Chance is calling the sheriffs office. They still have the car and we can come pick it up now. So we jump in the car….AGAIN, drive over and pick it up.
So after we pick up the car we are driving down the road…Chance in the Audi and the boys and I following behind in the Tahoe. We get about 10 minutes down the road when a car cuts me off and merges in between our cars. I was about to get very upset, when I look closely and see a police hat and a light in the back of the car. I can see the man in the car looking at Chance’s car and back at something else in the car. He does this several times. I’m pretty sure he’s checking the license plate. I quickly call Chance ….

Me: Did you call the police and let them know your car wasn’t stolen?

Chance: Not yet.

Me: Well, I think there is a police man behind you. He keeps looking back and forth between your car and something else. I’m pretty sure he is going to pull you over.

Chance: Ok, we’ll see what happens. I’ll just let them know what happened if they try to pull me over.

Me: Ok.

So I’m turning right and Chance is getting on the interstate to head to school. As he does this, the police car's lights come on and he pulls him over. Suddenly 5 others police cars are there surrounding his car. They pull their guns and yell through Chance’s window…..”Get out of the car. Put your hands up.” They throw him on the car, handcuff him, and frisk him!!! When they find his wallet and check his ID they finally allow him to talk….Chance explained what had happened and everything was fine.
OH MAN!!!! I wish I could have taken a picture!!!!!!!!! HAHA
Anyway, I just want to say that our Police Force here is pretty AWESOME!

Noah's THREE!!!

2009-12-07T19:28:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that my little baby Noah is THREE years old! What a blessing he is in my life. I couldn't ask for anything better. He is not your average little boy, NO, he actually is quite a handful, but I LOVE him so much because of it. He makes me laugh everyday and I am so proud to be his mommy :) Right now he loves to sing songs. His favorites at the moment are Twinkle Twinkle little star, Once there was a snowman, and Happy Birthday. He also loves to play any kind of sport...football, soccer, baseball, basketball (he is very active if you haven't noticed). He also loves cars...he carries around as many as his little hands will let him. He loves them so much, he insists that he sleeps with them too! He loves to play with Sawyer and Maggie, and lately he has been asking to watch a movie right when he gets up in the morning. Quite the movie buff :)

So on Saturday, we threw him a big 3rd birthday bash! He is really into "Toy Story" right now, so of course it was a Toy Story themed birthday party! It went great! We played games, had pizza, cake, and ice cream. And of course, there was a pinata :)

Games:
The Mr. Potato Head Game (just like pin the tail on the donkey except with Mr. Potato Head pieces).

Pass the space rock...(bubbles wrapped in aluminum foil).

They got to open the space rocks when the game was over...YAY for bubbles! They also played Black Hole (Throw a ball in the bucket and get a prize).

Black Hole (Throw a ball in one of the buckets and win a prize)

Woody's round-up (Musical chairs with Toy Story Characters).

Noah and his party loot:

The Party wouldn't be complete without PIZZA from Pizza Planet!

Noah and his friends eating in "space" with Buzz Lightyear!

Noah's Buzz Lightyear Spaceship Cake...

Which he LOVED!

Blowing out the candles!!

Pinata Time:
Sawyer...of course he's a natural at hitting things!

Little Saavy gave it a try.

Look at the Fire in those eyes...He hit it so hard, I'm suprised it didn't break

Finally, uncle Tyler had to take a whack at it...

The Pinata and the whole party was a BIG hit!

Gearing up for the winter weather!

2009-12-01T23:58:00.001-05:00

A little Family Time...

2009-12-01T22:15:00.000-05:00

So Thanksgiving was great! We hung out with family, played games, watched movies, shopped, and ate ALOT of really yummy food!!! I didn't really take many pictures (very uncharacteristic of me), but here are a few of my favorites:

The kiddies making their very own pumpkin pies!

I just can't resist this face...seriously what a little stud. He actually got egg in his hair while making his pie. I tried to wash it out, thus the hair.

YES...Noah became quite the little "gamer" while we were there. Uncle Tyler taught him how to play baseball on the PS3!

The concentration is amazing!

A little LOVE!

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

2009-11-23T14:54:00.000-05:00

So last week, to get in the Thanksgiving spirit....we made TURKEYS!

Noah and Sawyer loved it! Sawyer especially loved giving the turkey kisses.

We also learned what the turkey says:

Potty Training Diaries

2009-11-23T14:02:00.000-05:00

The dreaded potty training has commenced! We actually started about 2 weeks ago, and so far its been better than I expected. I have always heard so many terrible stories about potty training, so I was expecting the worst. To my suprise, the first day we started we let Noah run around naked, and he did AWESOME!! By the end of the morning, he wouldn't even tell us he needed to go, he would just go to the bathroom and use the potty all by himself!!! Since then we have started to put clothes on him and see what happens. He still does great, we just have to remind him every 30 minutes or so to try to go. He still won't go #2 in the potty, but we are working on that!

So why am I so excited?? Because today he finally did it!!! YAY for Noah! I mean it took ALL MORNING and into the afternoon for him to do it, but he DID IT! Every time he would sneak off to be by himself, i made him sit on the potty. After a while of sitting there and not doing anything, he was ready to play again. This went on from about 9:00 this morning to about 1:50 this afternoon when it finally happened. The whole time he kept telling me "my butt hurts" or that he had "buggy bites in there" haha! But when he was done, he was so proud. He jumped off the potty and exclaimed....I DID IT! I am so proud of him!! When he gets up from his nap, we are off to the toy store to pick out a suprise!
Now the hard part: to get him to go again. Wish us luck!

Tough Little Guys

2009-11-21T15:17:00.000-05:00

This is actually from October, but I think it is so cute! The end is a little disturbing, but Sawyer is tough...I mean really tough. He recently went to the ER to get 5 staples in his head. He also currently has two bite marks...courtesy of little Inthius(one on the face and one on the leg...OUCH), a scratch, and a busted lip. Did I mention he was tough? He is quite the fearless little boy, and his battle wounds are merely the marks of a TRUE warrior.

I believe Corey said it best with re-guards to their infamous battles:
"I honor Inthius for his fighting skills, and Davis' ability to remain strong and stalwart in the face of adversity."

Don't worry, Noah will get his in due time...I'm sure Sawyer is already plotting his revenge as we speak!

First comes the Dentist, then comes the Treasure Chest!

2009-11-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

So Funny: So Thursday we took the boys for their first official trip to the dentist. They did GREAT! I mean there was some crying that took place during the actual procedure, but overall they did awesome. Sawyer roared like a dinosaur the entire time! (even mid-cry he managed to get a roar out while they were cleaning his teeth). He's such a cutie. So after it was all over, they got to pick out a toy from the treasure chest. Sawyer, like a "good" little boy chose an airplane. Noah, however, decided he wanted the sparkly rhinestone princess wand. Chance's face was priceless. He tried desperately to bribe Noah with cars, stickers, pencils, etc. But Noah wouldn't budge. He REALLY wanted it. Finally, Noah saw a car that he wanted even more, so he opted to give in and make the trade. CRISIS AVERTED!! When we got to the car, I picked Noah up to put him in the carseat....and wouldn't ya know....that little stinker smuggled the rhinestone princess wand out of the dentist office!!
In the end though, he told daddy it was his shovel for digging. So, I guess he's still "all boy" after all.

Results: NO cavities---YAY! We'll see what happens next time when we report back in 6months!

Get Excited!

2009-11-21T10:46:00.000-05:00

So it's official.....I am starting a blog. I've actually had this blog for a while now, but have yet to write anything on it. I am mainly starting it because I have come to the realization that physically writing in a journal is just too hard. This will serve as a way for our family to document some of those moments we don't want to forget. So congratulations everybody, you now get the special privilege of reading about our family's oh so interesting lives!