Birthday Boy

1. Awesome sense of humor
2. Beautiful smile
3. Gorgeous eyes
4. Good listener
5. Leader of our family
6. Hard Worker
7. Back rubber
8. Wyatt Rocker
9. Heart of Gold
10. Caring friend
11. Laughs at my jokes
12. Tickles us (literally)
13. Dances in the den with me
14. Takes the boys to breakfast
15. Bill payer
16. Mouse trapper
17. stress reliever
18. Winks at his family
19. Calls me at work
20. Stays up late with me
21. Always drives
22. Feeds the dogs
23. Puts together toys for the boys
24. Cleans the house
25. Irons
26. Holds my hand at the movies
27. Makes me CDs
28. Pumps gas
29. Thanks me for dinner ( if it's good or not)
30. Gave me three beautiful sons
31. Taught me to budget (I try)
32. Sits on the beach with me even though he really doesn't want to
33. Gives the best hugs
34. Shares his dreams with me


Those are just a few things I love about Ashley (in no particular order).
Happy 34th, New Year's Baby!

Christmas 09

We started our celebration on the 18th in Gastonia visiting with my dad, step-mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and niece as well as some of David's dear friends. Thankfully my step mom took some pictures because we somehow managed to let Christmas come and go without taking very many pictures (and none posed!). Note to self: don't let that happen next year.

We had a great time celebrating with both of our families and of course, Santa paid a visit to the boys. I was convinced more than once that they had landed on the naughty list, but Santa took pity on them at the last minute. (I would have never done that!) :)

Andrew and John got new bikes...big boy bikes that look like motorcycles. Wyatt got a blue plasma car. So far the bikes haven't gotten much use, but the plasma car has gone round and round the downstairs of the house over and over and over and over...

As soon as it warms up a bit, the boys will get to enjoy their bikes more.

Two other big hits were stomp rockets from Granny Meg and Pop (one is already stuck on the neighbor's roof) and fishing poles (play ones with magnetic bait and minnows that allow the boys to catch a bass) compliments of Nana and Papa!!

Next birthday celebration on the horizon: Ashley turns 34 in less than a week.

Breakfast with Daddy

When the big boys were somewhere between 18 months and two, Ashley began a tradition of taking them to breakfast once a week. Every Friday from then on, the boys have taken turns going to breakfast with their Dad. It is the topic of MANY conversations and almost as many fights at our house. The boys always want to discuss whose turn it is that week and Ashley and I have gotten to the point where we really need to start keeping a calendar to make sure that each boy gets their proper turn. Apparantly raising children and memory loss are correlated!

This week our baby bear got his first turn at going to breakfast with his dad! They went to Krispy Kreme naturally, since P adores doughnuts.

I can not believe that my baby is old enough to enter the rotation, but I am also happy about his most recent rite of passage. I'm most happy that I am married to such a wonderful father who takes the time to bond with his boys in such a special way!

Check out the hat!

Thanksgiving 2009

It's so hard for me to believe that Thanksgiving 2009 has already come and gone. Our family had a great holiday that started on Tuesday night at church. The boys were all set to perform at the FBC Thanksgiving dinner. We practiced, talked about walking on stage, had the cheering section in attendance (Ashley, Nana, Papa, Granny, me). The only thing missing was the singing. When the preschool choir was called up on stage, John immediately started crying. I had to stay on stage with he and Andrew. I'll be sure to look nice for our next performance- just in case.

Wednesday my brother and his family arrived in Columbia (at my mom's house) and that night we had some family and friends over for an oyster roast. There were 11 kids under 6 here. You can imagine the noise level. It was a great way to kick off the holiday and spend time with our loved ones.

Thursday morning we all (my mom and step-dad, brother's family and of course the 5 G's) headed to Nana and Papa's house for Thanksgiving dinner. This was the second annual Chapin Thanksgiving with my mom, step-dad and brother and his family there; it was wonderful. Ashley and I are so fortunate that our families all get along so well and enjoy being together. It certainly makes holidays much less stressful for he and I and it allows the boys to spend holidays surrounded by everyone who loves them (at once). Thanks for a wonderful day, Sandra and Will! You are awesome.

Seated at the kid's table- Wyatt, Thomas, Lucy, Isaac

Friday morning I got up at 3:30 AM to go shopping. That is something I have never done before, but it might be the start of a new tradition. Who knew there would be a line wrapped around Belk's at 3:45 AM?? I got Ashley and I each a goodie and the rest of my shopping was focused on the boys.

Later that day (actually still relatively early but it felt like late in the day to me since I had been up for hours) we met at the zoo. Visiting the zoo the day after Thanksgiving is another holiday tradition that we all love. The kids enjoy the zoo so much and it's nice to walk off a few calories.

The boys (minus P) all posed on the baby elephant.

(L to R) Andrew, Thomas, Lucy, Wyatt, John and Isaac

Today we finished out the holiday weekend with a huge win over Clemson! Go Gamecocks. I rarely wish I was at a football game, but I truly hated that I did not get to see this one in person. Ashley was so happy!!

Tomorrow is our last day of rest before it's back to the grind. I have a sneaking suspicion that "Elfie" (from Elf on the Shelf) may show up tonight! The boys are at the PERFECT age for all of the holiday excitement. It makes me feel like a kid again! More pics-

John and Isaac coloring

Wiffle Ball game
Sweet P playing piano

i heart iphone apps

Ashley is actually the one who hearts iphone apps! I heart cool pictures of my bears taken by the man i heart the most!!!

Funny Boys

I do not want to forget some of the funny (sometimes demanding) things that my boys say.
Here are couple of chuckles I got from them this week:

Driving in the car:
Andrew: "Mom, I want to watch Care Bears."
Me: "Well Andy I can not put it in right now because I am driving."
Andrew: "But Mom, I WANNA WATCH CARE BEARS!"
Me: "Andy, yelling is not the way to get you want, but I can't put a video in right now anyway because I am driving."
Andrew: "Yes, you can. Just pull over up here."

I tried not to let him see me smile. Seriously? Did my three year old just tell me to pull over to put in his video???

Upstairs in the playroom:
I was tired of the constant bickering but also trying to keep things in perspective after a day of being referee.
John and Wyatt were fighting over matchbox cars (again).

Me: "Boys, if you can not share then (me thinking of something I am going to follow through on and not wanting to make a big ordeal out of it)...I don't even know what to say."
John: "I know what to say! Wyatt, you need to go to bed!"

Good one, John. He caught me smiling over that comment. Very funny!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Having three boys less than two years apart means that there is a LOT of copying going on at our house. If one jumps off the couch, two are sure to follow. If one want to be held, they all want to be held. Wyatt is particularly famous for copying everything that his big brothers do.

Last week while I was making dinner, I busted Andrew sneaking chips. (Notice the batman mask and Cookie Monster undies!!)

Less than five minutes later, another little monkey was in the chip bag too!