School Pizza

Chase only purchases a lunch at school when they serve pizza. Cheese pizza! Other days, we send a packed lunch, which is cheaper and I can be sure he's getting a nice variety. Sadie and I visited Chase at school today for his first cheese pizza lunch day of the school year. Sadie had the best time. She sat on the bench like a big girl, called the kids her "FWENDS", and loved eating at "cool" (school). We love visiting our big guy! Until next square pizza day... 

A smile! Contagiousness, I tell ya!

Chase was born with a smile. A contagious smile. Once he learned to laugh, he never stopped! Every bone in his body is silly. If around him, you will most likely begin belly laughing and have no clue why he is laughing in the first place. It's that infectious. Several weeks ago we visited the pet store to purchase our pup some food. He wanted to look around at the animals in the store. He stumbled upon the mice. He got so tickled over watching them run on the wheel, dig in the cages, run amongst the other mice, climb the cage and fall, and whatever else mini mice do. He could not get his belly laughing out fast enough. A stranger and child approached us and said they heard him laughing a few aisles over and wanted to check out what was so funny! As I mentioned, he has always been silly and so joyous to be around! He rarely has moody days and oftentimes, you can barely tell when he is truly sick. Below is a picture from the pet store visit. I posted a video to my Facebook page. I also attached other photos of his contagious smile over the years! 

The squinted eyes and tight-skinned cheeks show you the pure joy these tiny mice brought to him that day! I truly believe experiences with your children are so much more vital in their development than pricey toys and materials. This trip only cost me the price of dog food, but I will not forget the memories or the sound of his laugh.

My sweet child just {7 WEEKS} old! YES, He really did smile like this ALL the time! He was literally the Happiest Baby on the Block!

His 3 month photo, still smiling!

Love this picture. I captured it during his bath that night.

Meal time was always a beautiful mess but he graced us with this smile every time! 

Could you be any cuter, Chase? 

Big grins!

One of my all time favorite photos of him! 

He can make the simplest smile, but it goes a long way!

This kid is all cheesy for costumes!!

This candid photo makes me laugh just by looking at it. I snapped this on the railroad tracks where I was taking his pictures for our Christmas cards. The ones I captured in between are the funniest ones of all.

One last BIG grin and squinty eyes picture! 

I hope you've enjoyed his smile as much as we have. 

Melbourne Beach, FL

On Thursday, August 1, 2013 the kids and I followed Uncle Vince + family to Melbourne to visit Rich's family at the beach. Unfortunately, Rich went returned back to work this day, so he was unable to travel with us. The kids and I had a great time visiting. The beach was less crowded than Clearwater Beach, which is located on the Gulf. Melbourne Beach is on the east coast. The water was frigid!  We were spoiled by the water temps at CWB two days prior as well as the calm current. Melbourne was more rough. The saying is, "the cooler the ocean water on the east, the further away the hurricanes will be". After hearing that, I'm okay with the cold water. Frankly, I will just stay put on the sand. Here are some pictures that I captured during our visit! 

Be.Still.My.Heart.

Chase loves the ocean. He enjoys jumping the waves and running around. He's not much on swimming in it, but neither is his momma.

Back and Forth.

100 times. Maybe more!

These guys paid us a visit! 

You know, just napping face-down on the sand. No biggie!

This face. This sand-covered face. I think she tasted it hence the mouth and look of disgust! {insert: natural consequence}

I don't think I'm covered enough, mom.

{throws up more sand}

NICE! She had a shower, using body wash, at the beach before we loaded up, another shower at Aunt Kimmie's, another one the next day and still found sand on the 3rd day in her ear! Whoa!

Having a turkey SAND-wich. Yum. Crunch. Yum.

Such a wonderful big brother filling up his sister's water bucket. 

Rocking to her own beat! She was attempting to snap her fingers.

So long, Melbourne! We will meet again!

Whip Cream Treat

Starbucks. Just another reason we love Target. The kids love Target because they enjoy popcorn from the cafe and a free cookie from the bakery! Makes grocery shopping for this momma a lot less stressful. I love grabbing a Starbucks when we leave. {I enjoy it during nap time}. Here lately the kids have been getting a whip cream treat from the barista. Chase doesn't care for it, but that doesn't surprise me. Sadie lucks out and gets two. She calls it, "I Kem" for ice cream. A few pictures to showcase their treats!

She was ecstatic! 

He enjoyed the smell, but never tasted it. He knows what he likes and doesn't cave with peer pressure! Thankful for his firm stance on so many things!! Hoping he continues being this way for a long time! Love that about him!

Silly String

The kids and I created a list of the things we wanted to do this summer while Chase was put of school. We have tried to accomplish the list as best as we can. However, I have a feeling some items may be unchecked. One particular activity, was a silly string fight! The kids and I had an incredible amount of fun chasing one another & blasting with the silly string! Afterwards we enjoyed some yummy Popsicles. 

Pictures from our fun afternoon:

THAT.Tired?

Ha, if my children only knew what THAT.tired really felt like. Apparently, Sadie did experience the tired feeling the afternoon we returned home from the weekend at the resort. 

If only I could fall asleep when I pleased. Does anyone know if that happens later in life? I'm afraid my "older" instincts are kicking in faster than I desire, meaning earlier bedtimes and earlier mornings. 

Here are a few pictures of Sadie the day she was, THAT.tired!

Fell asleep watching a movie beside her brother.

This may actually define the term, "sleeping like a baby".

Booted Brother out of the way. "Sleeping Beauty" was in full effect.

Until next post.... ZZZZzzzzz!!

Clearwater Beach, Florida

While Rich's Uncle Vince + Family were here visiting, we decided to go back to Clearwater Beach. My favorite beach, hands down! The sand is fine in texture, white in color, and soft to walk and lie down on. It is a family-friendly beach. With a playground, jump house area, volleyball nets and Pier 60 close by, you will find lots of activities to keep your little people active. 

My kiddos love the water. The Gulf is much more calm than the East Coast beaches. So, Chase will adventure in the ocean a bit more than usual. The water is clear and doesn't look murky when the current rolls. Just.One.More reason to love this place. 

A few pictures to sum up our trip:

She didn't come close to the ocean with this boogie board. Just pulled it along the sand. 

The seagulls are wild here. And that sentence was me stating it politely. You cannot eat without them snatching the food from your space, hand, or mouth! Yes, I said, "mouth"!!!! Oh my gosh, they're insane birds. During our lunch, one person was the designated bird "shoo-er". (I made that up). Chase gets a kick out of them and their antics to take your food.

There's a diva on the beach!

The girl loves the sand!

We take a bar of soap or bottle of body wash to the beach each trip to use at the showers before we leave. This particular trip, we forgot the soap! She was a sand-covered mess, so is Daddy's Tahoe now. 

My boy around 6:00pm. Six hours of fun in the sun! His little friend just left the beach, so he had time for the camera.

Enjoying a quick junk food snack.

Getting every towel we brought dirty...Mommy was not a fan! I would rather use our picnic blanket and dry off with the clean towels. Oh well. Just another parenting learning curve.