Happy Birthday, Chase!

We celebrated Chase's 11th birthday this week. It hardly seems possible. I sent Greg out to get a card. He came back with a Hoops and YoYo talking card. Now, I was rolling my eyes at how ridiculous this card was, and he was making excuses about how there were no good cards. We both thought it was pretty bad.

Boy, were we wrong! The kids LOVED it. Chase said when they were doing a series called Spy Chase at church, she was Sgt. YoYo and Sarah (her best friend) was Sgt. Hoops. The kids all loved this card and listened to it over and over again.



Even Landon thought it was funny.


Carys would hardly let Chase open her gifts by herself.


Chase's main gift is a trip to Build-a-Bear. She's never been there and would really like to go. There isn't a store very near us, however, so we asked her to wait until a weekend when we need to take Landon to some CAP training. She was willing to do this. I still wanted some stuff for her to open, though. So, I went to my trusty "gift" box. I gave her a water bottle that came with an ipod Nano cover that Greg had picked up on clearance somewhere.

I had purchased these Samantha (American Girl) puzzles on clearance at Target a couple of years ago. So, they seemed like a good idea. Chase is involved with an American Girl book club that some moms from our homeschool group are hosting this year. She's really enjoying it!


When I bought her Gotz doll (Liberty from Vision Forum), I also bought all the historical outfits they had with it as it was much cheaper to do it that way. I'm still giving these as gifts. I think I have one more in the box.


The last thing she had to open was a gift bag filled with a few guitar goodies: a capo, a hook-type thingy to hang her electric guitar on the wall, and an amp/headphone plug that she can plug her electric guitar into and hear herself play. I think it was called a Pocket Rocket. Greg found it on a website we often order from.


After opening gifts, we headed out to pick up her best friend, Sarah. She went with us to haircuts then home for awhile. The boys had CAP that evening, so we headed out to dinner rather early. We always eat Mexican food on Chase's birthday which falls on Cinco de Mayo. Greg had to go give the invocation at our homeschool group's graduation ceremony. Then he picked up canolis on the way home, always Chase's dessert of choice for her birthday.



Sarah spent the night and we met up with her mom on Wednesday when we were back in Ocala. I think the girls had a great time!

My Nutty Kids!

About the 3rd week in April, Chase checked the pool temperature and found the water to be 79°. She was ready to get in. Since then, these nutty kids have been swimming almost every day. I personally won't get in until the water is 90°.

By the time they get out, they're shivering and their lips are blue. So, of course, they have to take a "hot bath". This is what I found in the tub in my bathroom one night. This was Chase's creation made from her soap, face wash, shampoo, etc. The only problem is that Carys has eczema and is not supposed to use all that soap. Chase forgot about that. Carys paid for it for many days. They had a good time in the tub, though!

Braces!

Gerren and Chase took the plunge today and had braces put on. Chase only has top braces at this time and not on all her teeth. She still has some baby teeth, but we are trying to make room for some of the permanent teeth to come in. The two upper teeth that replace the molars she had pulled last week are twisted 90°, which is why we got started early with her. The whole procedure will be more complicated and multi-stepped for her.


Gerren's care will be much more straightforward. He has all his braces on now and will be in them for 18-24 months.


They're both thrilled--NOT! And of course, we are thrilled to pay for two sets of braces at once. Sigh!

Promised Pictures

Finally some pictures! Chase's ballet costumes have made great dress-up clothes for Carys. Here she is "dancing".



In September, Chase's friend, Sarah, stayed with us for a few days while her parents were out of town. She and Chase had a good time dressing up their live doll!



You can see that reading comes naturally in our family. Carys is actually reading out loud in these pictures. She says, "Our Lord, our Savior, Jesus [babble, babble, babble]." Those are the only words we can actually figure out. We're studying the history of the church this year in school. I guess that's obvious! LOL!

Ouch!

Chase went to bed Monday night with a slightly sunburned face and arms.  It really didn't look that bad.  She had failed to put on sunscreen Sunday (as did the boys) but put it on Monday a few times.  I guess the damage was already done then.  The boys have an olive complexion like their dad, but Chase is more fair-skinned like me.  Well, she woke up this morning with her face so swollen that her eyes are just slits.  I guess she'll be inside for several days!  

What a picture, huh?

Chase's Birthday Continued

We finally managed to pick up Chase's last birthday gift, this new quilt set. Her old one was falling apart and fading.


After Chase got her bed made, Carys wanted to try it out.


Chase took these pictures, and I also found this one of her animal friends. Look closely. Not only is there a parrot in the bird house, there are monkeys in the trees. LOL!


Here is Liberty playing her new guitar.

Cookies

A few days ago, Chase asked me if she could make cookies. She wanted to do it all by herself. I agreed, and she set to work. The only involvement I had was when she asked questions like, "This all-purpose flour is what I use, right?" and "For 1 cup of butter, do I use the whole stick?" I think those were the only two questions. Anyway, I stayed out of the kitchen, and she did a fabulous job! We were so impressed!

She took this picture of the finished product, including the decaf coffee she had with her cookies. :)

Happy Birthday, Chase!

It is hard to believe that my "baby" is 10! Well, she was my baby for a long time--7-1/2 years--until Carys came along. She is turning into a beautiful young lady.

Chase's love language is gift giving (like her mom!), and she would rather have lots of small gifts than one or two big gifts. So, we tried to oblige.

Of course, money is always nice. This cash is from her Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kay.


Her brothers gave her a DVD on doing your doll's hair as well as a pick to use. They picked these up at the American Girl store in Dallas. I think they were the only males in the store! :)


Carys picked out this cute card for Chase. (Ok, mom picked it out!) She also gave her knee-high panty hose and a hair nut for a bun. (Yes, Chase actually asked for these things. I don't mind giving her lots of presents when they cost less than a dollar each!)


We are getting Chase a new quilt set for her bed but didn't have the chance to pick it up yet. Her other main gift from us was a guitar for Liberty (her Vision Forum/Gotz doll). Now, they can both play guitar.


We tried to get a picture of Carys playing the guitar. It is so funny! She puts her little hand under her arm and wiggles her fingers. However, she moves too fast for me and the camera.


For the personal family record (meaning you can skip this if you're not interested), we also gave her a pink ipod case, a compass, a flashlight, and a whistle/compass combination thingy. Grandma Epie and Papa JoJo gave her $500 for her college fund, as usual.

Chase's birthday is on May 5, which is Cinco de Mayo. So, we always choose a Mexican restaurant to eat out. Her favorite is El Ranchito, a locally-owned restaurant in our little town. We don't always get to eat there, depending on our schedule for the rest of the day. However, we did get there this year, even though it was a hurried supper between Chase's girl's choir rehearsal and Landon's Civil Air Patrol meeting.

Then, I always make a dessert of their choice for later at home. Gerren and Chase made it easy on me this year. He wanted ice cream sandwiches, and she wanted canolis. Now, I could probably make canolis, but I never have. Anyway, the ones Publix sells are so good that I'm happy just buying them!

Doesn't that look yummy?


Carys thought so, too.


Happy Birthday, Chase! You are so precious to us and to God. We love you!

Day 17: Vicksburg

We spent most of the day in Vicksburg. The Vicksburg National Military Park was awesome. If you've ever been to a large Civil War battlefield, you know that all of the states with soldiers who fought there will put up a large monument as well as many smaller ones at the spot of any major action during that battle. The large monuments are incredible. The Illinois monument was the largest at this site and was modeled after the Parthenon. It was beautiful. You could actually go inside, and this seal was on the floor. I took this picture since I am originally from Illinois.




The state of Kentucky dedicated its monument in 2001. It is pretty neat. Both Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln were born in Kentucky. So statues of both of them are part of the monument (along with a few other people???).


The cemetery in the park contains the gravesites of the Union soldiers who died at Vicksburg. Interestingly, the Confederate soldiers were buried at a private cemetery in the town. There are both flat and tall markers. The flat stones mark the graves of unknown soldiers.



This picture was taken from Fort Hill, which was such a formidable Confederate stronghold, that the Union forces never attacked it. The scenery throughout the park--hills and valleys and trees--was so beautiful!


The park also contains the U.S.S. Cairo Museum. The U.S.S. Cairo was a Union ironclad ship which was the first ship ever sunk by an explosive mine. It was resurrected from its watery grave exactly 102 years, to the day, from when it was sunk. You can walk right onto this ship. It is incredible!




There were some nice picnic tables outside this museum where we ate lunch.


Before leaving Vicksburg, we drove a mile or two to the Beidenharn Coke Museum (I hope I spelled that correctly). This was the first place ever to bottle Coke. Yes, it was first made in Atlanta, but Mr. Beidenharn, a candy shop owner, had the idea of bottling it. When he asked for permission, the Coke company gave it to him thinking that it was a hairbrained idea. Before too long, they realized their mistake. However, it took them a long time and a LOT of money to buy the bottling rights back! Ah, the power of a good idea!

Gerren and Chase look at the machine that bottled the Coke.


The boys pose in front of a 1902 soda fountain.


Carys "smiles" in front of the high chair.


There wasn't much to this museum, but it was a fun diversion. After leaving Vicksburg, we drove 4 hours to Daphne, AL, right outside of Mobile. We had dinner at a great place called Baumhower's Wings. There are 7 of these restaurants all over Alabama, and it was wonderful!

Well, it is hard to believe, but we are headed home tomorrow. We have a 6-hour drive ahead of us, not including stops. We also lose an hour going from Central to Eastern Time, but we hope to get back in time for Landon to go to Civil Air Patrol at 6:30pm. This blog will be awfully silent when I get home and have to catch up on everything! LOL!

Day 16: A Day of Dreary Driving

I had hoped to leave Dallas around 9:00 am this morning, but it is tough getting the kids away from a place they love. They had a blast with Carson and the doggies at the Taylor's house and really enjoyed everything else we did and everyone else we saw in the area.

We managed to leave by 10:30. It was warm and just slightly overcast in Dallas. It became more overcast as we drove along, and we rain through ran off an on. We arrived in Vicksburg at 4:30 pm, too late to visit the Vicksburg Military Park. This turned out to be okay, though, as we have some time just to relax, read e-mail and blogs (me), watch Survivor Man on the Discovery Channel (the boys), and get a head start on bedtime showers (the girls). We plan on heading to a local family restaurant for supper. I have been craving pie since we saw a reproduction of Pensacola in the 50's at the Naval Aviation Museum which included a diner window full of homemade pie! :-)

Day 15: Dallas - Frontiers of Flight & The Bureau of Engraving and Printing

We tried to get an earlier start today. Carys was up at 7:30am, but she was so crabby. She is wearing down. The lack of a regular routine and enough sleep are getting to her. Anyway, we headed to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth. You aren't allowed to take any electronic equipment in, so I don't have any pictures. It was a really cool place to visit, though.

After lunch, we headed to the Frontiers of Flight museum at Love Field in Dallas. The docents at the museum are all veterans. We had the privilege of having the undivided attention of Charles Mohrle, who was a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot in WWII. He was an awesome guide and really gave us a unique experience.



He taught Landon how to "fly" this PT-22.


Gerren and Chase got a birds-eye view.


Carys looks at the plane display.


There were tons of other planes there, too, including this Beech Staggerwing.


The actual Apollo 7 capsule was also in the museum.


After leaving the museum, we headed to Cedar Hill to meet up with my cousin Jennie, whom I haven't seen in 8 years! Kids really slow you down. We then headed for Babe's Chicken in Burleson to meet Julie and Carson Taylor, our hosts for our stay in Dallas (Mike, the dad of this family, was out of town on business). Anyway, the restaurant was awesome! Really, really neat. If you live in this area and have never been there, you must check it out. We had a fun waitress who did a few "tricks" for us. Gerren snapped a picture of one.



We had such a great time here, but we didn't get to do half of what we would have liked. We must come back soon!