The Chase Family

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Very Late Easter Pictures

Our Easter was great...came a little too early for us but it was wonderful & fun filled. We started it off with going to my sister's soon to be in-laws the day before. They have a huge lot with horses, chickens, dogs & turtles. We had an egg hunt followed by another one at my parent's house. The next day Church, Easter day at our place with my mom & then Easter baskets for the kids at the Chase Grandparents.

Kaden had a much better understanding this year about that Jesus died on the cross, that the tomb is empty & that He rose from the dead. In fact, I got corrected one night when Kaden was scared of the dark & I told him Jesus was with him. He yelled out "No He's not He's in heaven!".

The kids loved feeding the tortoises.

Do you think Kaden's excited?

Picking fresh eggs from the hens.

Easter egg hunting took forever in that huge backyard.

Ashlyn wanting to open candy.

Kaden helping Ashlyn with her basket.

At the Grandparents, more eggs & more candy.

What I came down to on Easter morning.

I know it's kind of a big Easter gift but we couldn't wait till their birthdays.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Shamrock cookies in the making, with the help of my eighth to a quarter Irish Leprechauns.

Kaden wanted to decorate with rainbow sprinkles & Ashlyn dumped about 3 tablespoons of green sprinkles on hers.

The best part...showing all of us while eating them.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Big Friday

Friday was a big day for Ashlyn & Charlie...

Ashlyn had her first swim lesson which was rather successful considering she cried "mama" during most of the lesson. She was so mad at me when the lesson was done that she held her hand over her face & wouldn't look at me. Later when I asked her if she went swimming all she said was "ya".

We got Charlie "fixed", microchipped and her dewclaws removed all in one shot. She hates the cone & runs into everything. It's going to be a long two weeks for this girl.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Failure as a single parent

So Vaughn was out of town leaving us to fend for ourselves once again. Apparently I don't have this parenting thing down because if I could tell you the mini disasters that happened while he was gone you would wonder what on earth I was doing & who was watching the kids. I only wish I took pictures of everything because it would be much more entertaining than listening to my stories.

We dropped Vaughn off at the airport & then went home to play outside. They look pretty innocent so far but they are plotting against me in their minds.

When we came inside I went upstairs for maybe 3 - 5 minutes at most. I could hear Kaden & Ashlyn playing and laughing but nothing out of the ordinary. Kaden said "mommy I can't open this can you help me?", so I came down. When I walked down the stairs I found Kaden sitting on the staircase & Ashlyn handing him items out of my makeup bag. Fortunately what he couldn't open was my nail polish. He used my eye liner, mascara, eye shadow, concealer & lip gloss.

Tuesday Kaden had a preschool field trip at Centennial Farm. It was a lot of fun but when 60+ kids are wearing the same colored shirt it's hard to keep track of which one's yours. Plus it was hot (which I never do well in the heat) & they placed the picnic benches next to mud filled grass. The kids pants, the stroller & all of our shoes were caked with mud. Lots of fun for me when we got home.

Ashlyn completely passed out on the way home. She looks like I felt. Notice her upside down glasses?

Kaden didn't nap & when Ashlyn got up she was full of it. I decided I needed a treat so I got to making some banana bread. Apparently it doesn't help to have your child sitting at your feet if you're not paying attention to what they are doing down there! I thought she was just playing with measuring cups but didn't know that she snatched the flour off of the island behind me.

I decided to get the bread into the oven before cleaning up the mess. Big mistake! Charlie came in and started licking the flour up. Between her and the kids it got everywhere!

Kaden thought it was so funny to watch Charlie that he started licking up the flour too. He doesn't normally do those types of things...that's Ashlyn's job!

The sad thing is that the day before I actually cleaned the floor under my stove by pulling out the drawer, sweeping, washing...I don't know why I even try sometimes. That evening Ashlyn decided to pull a full box of Capellini off the counter...right before my very eyes. Little pieces of broken pasta everywhere. I was so exhausted it wasn't even funny.

By the time today came around I thought I would be free & clear. Didn't go anywhere, didn't try to do anything, just tried to repair the damage to the house before we picked Vaughn up.

While Ashlyn was napping Kaden & I went outside to throw the ball for Charlie. We have a strict leash law in our complex so I keep Charlie on a 50ft makeshift leash even while playing with her. I misjudged and threw the ball past the leash length only to get yanked off my feet and drug across the grass by a 60 pound dog. I bruised my elbow, got a grass stain on my jeans & worst of all the incident was witnessed by a neighbor.

That's not all...several minutes later Kaden got wrapped up in her leash & has a rope burn from the friction & huge bruises from where it synched around his ankles. It looks awful but surprisingly he didn't complain after I was able to untie him.

Bottom line..............I don't think Vaughn should leave anymore. Apparently I'm not capable.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

On Saturday we went to the California Speedway in Fontana to watch Vaughn's brother ride in a real racecar. Kaden was really into the scene for about 15 minutes then decided it was more fun to play with his Nevada cousins.

Kaden posing in front of the track.

Ammon getting ready for his big ride. This was such a cool gift Katie...I think Vaughn was jealous.

And the highlight for the kids was the tailgate party in the back of Vaughn's truck. They had so much fun hanging out together. Can you tell which kid belongs to me?...Hmmm

Friday, February 29, 2008

Fabulous February

Slow to post but I'm getting these on here eventually. Besides still recovering from that nasty January flu, we had a wonderful month filled with lots of events.

On one of our hot February days we went to the beach.

Surfer girl Ashlyn looking like a natural.

My valentine sweeties enjoying sticky but yummy suckers.

Kaden's smiling during swim lessons. We start Ashlyn in March so we'll see how that goes!

A visit from the Lechuga Grandparents landed Grandpa in the ball house.

Rainy days make great puddles. Where else could you possibly live where you can drive to the snow, the beach & play in the rain all within a 4 week period? We've got all the best right here in So Cal.

Ashlyn's newest hobby. Do I see future makeup artist?

Benihana's for Grandpa Stephen's Birthday. Kaden loved watching them cook the food.

He actually got the hang of the chopsticks too with a little help from some rubber bands.

For career day at school Kaden wanted to wear a work shirt like Daddy. I must say this was his 2nd choice since I wouldn't let him go dressed up as Spiderman. Ashlyn heard "let me take a picture" & insisted on being part of the backdrop.

Another half birthday. One thing I've learned is you can't do something for one kid and not for the other...at least when you have a 3 1/2 year old around. They catch you on everything. Ashlyn tried so hard to blow out her 1 1/2 candles but she had to get help from big brother.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Not Another Birthday

So you're probably thinking...how many birthdays can they have in a row? Today Kaden turned 3 1/2 which really doesn't mark much except he was so freakin excited. For about a month now Kaden's been talking about how he's going to be 3 1/2 and then he'll be 4. So on that note we let him have a little fun today with dinner at Rubys on the pier & a cake with 3 and a half candles...we called it "3 1/2 day".

Kaden insisted that there were 4 candles and not 3 1/2...apparently he's got his mom's personality and didn't see the humor in it.

Past their bedtime we let him blow out candles but we didn't sing because it's not his birthday!

In case you're ever wondering these are called Kaden's "Handsome Pajamas". We told him one time that he looked handsome in them & ever since he won't call them anything else. Sometimes they are in the wash & it takes a lot of work to get him into other Pj's.

Such a ham!!!

They have matching Pj's and they are so cute. If one's wearing them the other has to too. Isn't it funny what kids find important? If the only thing I had to worry about is what I wear to bed.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Alice's 30th Birthday

So I joined the 30's club. I can only imagine what the next decade has in store for me. The 20's flew by so fast and were filled with so many BIG events. To celebrate we went to Big Bear for a weekend with our family, my mom, my sister & her fiancé, my soon to be nephew (at least officially), & my uncle (who was really raised more like a brother to me). And besides the kids and I recovering from a terrible flu, we had a blast.

My real birthday (Tuesday) followed with Vaughn leaving town at 6:45am that morning for 4 days; going to Crystal Court at South Coast Plaza with Patience & all her girls; my son throwing a tantrum in Ruby's; Ashlyn getting lost in H&M; and then my sister coming down that night for a take out dinner at one of my favorite restaurants Basilico's.

The following day (Wednesday) we had a playdate at my friend's house where my car battery died. Later that night Ashlyn got her finger crushed in the hinge side of a door.

So by the time Thursday came around I was happy to send Kaden off to school only to take Ashlyn to have x-rays done on her finger. Fortunately Uncle Dan came down to help with the chaos (he's really good at bringing candy for bribery). Nothing's broken just a nasty looking nail. That night I went out to dinner with Vaughn's parents for my birthday only to have Kaden throw another tantrum on the bathroom floor of Souplantation & in the restaurant (he hasn't been quite right since the flu).

Friday I took Kaden to swim & he kept complaining that he was cold and had water in his eyes. After washing his swim trunks I realized that they were completely bleached from the chlorine in the water. Poor guy just didn't use the right words to tell me that he was stinging. I made him go all the way through Costco on fire.

Vaughn came home that night and boy were we glad to see him. The kids are now back to "normal" & life is great. While Vaughn was bathing the kids Kaden out of the blue said that he wanted to be a good boy & that he's not going to cry anymore...Thank God!!! So far he's keeping his side of the bargain as much as can be expected.

So after my long sob story of my birthday week (which really wasn't as bad as it sounded), here's some pictures to lighten things up a bit...