Trying out my Halloween Costume

We ventured out to Party City Friday night to take a peek at their costumes this year. I really, really, really wanted Chase to dress up as DJ Lance from Yo Gabba Gabba and was excited to find it on Party City's website; however, they didn't carry it in the store. Oh well, he has many other characters that he loves just as much, but to our dismay not that many character costumes at Party City...what? I do believe that Target, Walmart and other stores carry more character selection than they do. Last year, Chase was the perfect little monkey (from Old Navy) and I LOVED that costume because it covered him head-to-toe. This year, I wanted something similar. Well we found this Elmo costume at Party City and it was furry and head-to-toe and not to mention we had a $10 off coupon, which made the costume more appealing :) He loves Elmo and all the other Sesame Street characters, so we decided to bring it home for a trial run (He didn't want to try it on in the store). Last night before bed, I told him to try it on so he could say "boo" to Daddy when he came up the stairs....he was all for that idea. Once he got it on, he grabbed his Elmo CD player and started dancing around and checking himself out in the mirror. Too precious. After Daddy saw how much fun Chase was having, he wanted to participate, so he dressed up in his old Tigger costume. What a perfect pair of boys!

Coloring my Pumpkin

Chase picked out his first pumpkin at the grocery store over the weekend. It's just the perfect size, too! I cannot wait to take him to the pumpkin patch very soon!!

Greensboro Fair

Tuesday, September 15th we met my family at the local Greensboro Fair. It's not a big fair at all, just quaint with some animals, rides, games and fried food :o) Chase had a blast, of course. He was impressed by the animals, although exhibited some hesitation if they walked near him. haha! He did, however, pet one animal...we were surprised. He loves animals so much, but if they are much larger than he is, he would rather observe than to participate! Chase is going to be an amusement park junkie, just like his 2 parents. He wanted to ride everything, but his height limited him to about 8 things. He even pointed to the 'ring of fire' ride and indicated he wanted to ride that, haha! We will wait several years before attempting that ride. Overall, we had a great time and it wasn't crowded at all, which made the time there even better.

I think I scared Chase on the jumbo slide. Poor baby boy! I went down by myself the first time while Rich and Chase cheered me on. Once I exited the slide, Chase was eager to have a turn...until we got to the tippy top. He sat on my lap and was doing great until I 'screeched' with laughter and then he lost it. Next time I will keep my mouth shut. :)

Weekend at the Flowers' Residence

This past weekend we visited the Flowers Family (Fonzie, Cindy, Lil' Fonzie and Graycen). We arrived Friday and left on Sunday. We had a great time and its always nice to catch up with one another. Chase immediately fell head over heels for little Graycen. It kept calling her his, "baby." He would ask me, "Mommy, where did my baby go?" It was so stinking cute. She is just 6 months younger than he is, but he swore she was *his* baby. They got along great the entire weekend....until Sunday morning. Chase was still pooped from playing and going all weekend long. He asked me 4 different times on Saturday if he could go take a nap (after his normal nap). Poor kid. I tried to get him down each time, but he couldn't get settled. I think this caught up with him by Sunday and he was ready to be home bound. He slept the latter part of the trip home and lounged the remainder of the day. He was out cold that night. We really enjoyed watching Lil Fonzie's soccer game and hanging out with everyone Saturday night for Fonzie's birthday.

Chase and his cousin, Haylie.

Chase and his baby, Graycen. Look at her, she's wearing his crocs....how cute!

He is taking her for a spin in the jeep..... then she took him.

So long to our fun weekend.....until next time!

Cookout and S'mores at our House

We enjoyed doing a Cookout and S'mores so much at my Mom's, that the next night we hosted the Peele family at our house for more!

YUM-YUM

What a pair!?

Swimming/Cookout/S'mores!!!!

Labor Day weekend we went to my Mom's one evening to swim, have a cookout and make S'mores for the first time with the boys! We had a fantastic time! Chase swam for 2 hours, barely consumed any food, made S'mores and took a couple of bites and then ran and ran and ran with his cousins and silly goose Granny.

Bryson and Chase love the pool so much.....I know they will miss it once it closes soon.

Even though they ran and ran, they took approximately 10 minutes to rest and use sidewalk chalk.

Behind the house is a huge screened porch and layered deck, but we kept it simple and by the pool this time. We used the charcoal grill instead of the gas grill, which by the way, was a nice surprise and tasted SO delicious!!!! (it also served as our firepit for the S'mores later).

They weren't too interested in eating.....just playing

I love this picture of Chase. He is running from my Mom, who is squirting him with a water bottle.

Bryson and Chase thought getting chased with the water bottle was soooooo funny! My mom isn't much bigger than they are and she loves playing on their level (silly willy)!

After dinner we headed to the playground in the backyard before we made the S'mores.

Chase and Mommy!

I just love his expression in this picture!!!!! I forgot to zoom and crop it before I uploaded it to blogger, so just *squint* to check'em out! He's a cutie patoodie!!

School Photo Collage

I made Chase another photo collage for his new classroom. I was very pleased how cute it turned out to be. I think it's important that he has pictures of himself, Mommy and Daddy and his animals while away from home. The one below is the very first one I made for him when he started Co-op.

Lawn Mowing with my Daddy!

I have mentioned before that Chase enjoys doing chores around the house..... here is just another example of how much he likes helping his Mommy and Daddy!

NEW SCHOOL

New school, new year, new friends, new routine.... working VERY WELL thus far!

Rich and I enrolled Chase at the local community college school a couple of months back, with the intent he would start in August. However, I don't think I was 100% sold that's where he should be. Overall, the program, curriculum, extra activities, staff and children were great, but just a couple of things seem to really bother me. I wasn't fond of the classroom size. The physical space was much smaller than what Chase was used to having at Co-op and there would be approximately 16 kids in that smaller space verses the 9 kids at Co-op. Big difference!!! Also, we were informed that Chase could not have his beloved "blankie" at that school. Well that particular statement alone, didn't mesh well with me. My thought was, "my child will be here 5-7 hours a day without a sense of security." "What if he fell and got a boo-boo, what if he was feeling sad and missing his parents, what if he got really sick and needed to snuggle with his blankie?" All of these things bothered me in some way. Long story short, I started back to work part-time in July (very part-time) and visited one of my children at their "new" school (they switched from the time I had my car accident). I interacted with the child some on the playground (low and behold the teacher was a former employee of the company I work for) and then her class was heading inside ......I couldn't believe my eyes.....a BIG classroom with awesome appeal. I immediately started inquiring :)

The assistant Director spoke to the Teacher and Assistant Teacher and felt they could have another student in their class. I was ecstatic! A bigger classroom and a maximum of 12 students. Now that's news that settles well. I informed them that Chase wouldn't be available to start until late August/beginning September. Well during that waiting time, we potty trained Chase. I didn't think about it at the time, but no one in that class is potty trained. YIKES! Did I just screw up his chances of that class. NO, I didn't. I told the teachers it was "their" choice, their classroom and schedule and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if they didn't have time to continue his potty time. I know what its like to have one 2 year old, so I would completely understand if they said no. His new teachers were willing to work "potty breaks" in for Chase throughout the day! I'm so blessed this opportunity presented itself.

I LOVE the peaceful classroom environment, I LOVE the teacher and teacher assistant, I LOVE the fact that Chase enjoys going to school and sometimes wants to stay when I come to get him, I LOVE the fact that Montessori philosophy is being slightly integrated, and I LOVE that we can become involved at the school, but not feel so overwhelmed.

Last Wednesday, Chase and I visited for a bit over a hour. Thursday we stayed 2.5 hours and he had lunch with his friends. On Friday, I let Chase stay without me for 3 hours and he left just before naptime. This Monday, August 31st was his first *official* start day. He did fabulous (from what I heard)!