I think I paid too much for the chicken wings

I gave Chase a quick itinerary for our errands as we ran out the door,

"Blah blah blah, and blah blah blah, and we need to run to Walmart to get chicken wings for Dad who wants them for dinner."

Sounds easy enough for a 5 year old. He did not, however, see the shopping list in my purse for the very needed groceries and such I would be purchasing while at Walmart.

One and a half hours and $200 later (unfortunately, that is not a typo. Nope, no stuck zero on the keyboard, just the insane price we pay for not going to the store for several weeks) we were finally pulling out of Walmart, one of my least favorite places to go. I am unfortunately held hostage by the fact that they are the only ones that carry the chicken wings that we like. In facilitating my need to only have to go to one grocery store today, Walmart won. Sheesh. Anyway, as we were pulling out of the parking lot after our marathon shopping trip, I swiped my fingers across my forehead and said,

"Whew! We made it! That was one LONG shopping trip, wasn't it?! "

To which Chase replied,

"Yeah, I know! And we just went in for chicken wings!"

If it's any consolation, we loved our $2oo chicken wings for dinner tonight. We have a killer recipe if any of you get a craving.

The Art of the Compromise

Yesterday, I sent Chase to his room to get dressed. Chase looked out the window and saw sun, a cold winter sun, but a sun nonetheless. He came into my bathroom wearing sport shorts and a short-sleeved Harley Davidson shirt. I, being the overprotective mother, wanted him to wear something a little warmer. I sent him back to his room to try again, and this is what he came up with:



Did I make him go change again...Heck No! This outfit symbolizes a lot!

Show Me The Money!

We started a mission jar for Chase to save his money in after my mom had shared an experience she had with a childhood friend. I loved the idea and all of the good that it represented. At the end of the year, we have gather all of the change from his jar and from all over the house. After three years of rolling change, we have ended up with a substantial amount for his mission account. We went to the bank on Friday to officially open his account. It was really fun! The lady made a big to-do about it for him. She had him sign his name on all of the documents, which was so stinkin' cute. While the lady was away from her desk processing information, I mentioned to Chase the amount that we were depositing and talked to him about how awesome this was and what a blessing it was for his mission, which I am sure will come way toooooo fast. On the way out to the car afterwards, Chase, while holding my hand and skipping, exclaimed,

"Oh, I am so glad that I am not poor anymore! I used to be poor, but now I'm not! I'm so glad!"

Really, if life were this simple, we would be a happier people!

A Child's Prayer

Ah, to have the simple faith and logic of a five-year old. Life would be so much easier if we could all think like a little kid.

Chase has overly developed his fear of the dark. At bedtime, we go through the sad routine of reminding him that he is safe, that we are near, that everything is okay. He had a few nights last week where he would wake up screaming about a bad dream. Now he was really scared to sleep! One night, I did the obvious...I said a prayer with him. He's been hooked ever since. Last night, he called me back, reminding me that I had forgotten to say our "special" prayer. After kneeling by his bed and saying our special prayer, he asked if he could have a turn also. His prayer was one that I wish I could have written down. It was beautiful. But, my favorite part was:

"I am thankful for everything that I have, except for bad dreams."

I am so thankful for faith promoting experiences for small children!

Little Drummer Boys

Chase received the cutest drum set I have ever seen for Christmas. He has been showing an interest in the drums for some time now. I have had several people tell me that I am insane for letting a 5 year old have a set of drums. I think it's the music teacher in me that loves it. I will admit to all of you who think I really am crazy...they have been moved to the basement. BUT! I am still loving the great noise that is getting more and more rhythmic as we go.

Chase has said that his goal is to "learn the drums SOOOO good that I can get a real sized set and then I can give this set to DI". It's good to have goals...even ones so specific.

The first video was Chase's debut on the drums. Funny note...watch Clark in the background. The second video is of a more seasoned drummer. We enjoyed hearing Gpa on the drums. It's been a while. Jeff had never heard him play before and was literally in awe. In due time, we will have our own professional drummer banging away on his own set of full-sized drums. We will just hear him a little less. We will have some hearing loss.

Christmas Blues

Yes, I am one of "those" people. I whimper and lament the entire time I take Christmas down. Did I get to enjoy Christmas...did I even look at the tree...did we play enough music...did we get all of the use out of our decorations? If it weren't completely wrong, I would probably leave our stuff out until February.

Chase just happened to be spending the night with cousins in Ogden last night, so I woke up this morning and bit the bullet...I put away Christmas, with all of the post Christmas lamentations. But, it's down.

We have a tradition of taking Chase's picture in front of the tree in his "too fancy and chinzy to wear anywhere or anytime other than Christmas Sunday" outfit. This year was no exception. This year, we took his picture on the Sunday before Christmas. Now, Chase is going through a phase where he wants to be just like Mom...unfortunately, bad crap and all. From the time I was a little girl, I have worn my Sunday clothes all day on Sunday. Chase wants to do that, too. With little boys, you try to get them out of nice clothes as fast as possible, especially nice white shirts. Chase has decided it is important to be careful in his Sunday clothes so he gets to keep them on, all Sunday. These pictures represent what he looked like as I was taking his traditional picture in front of the tree, and making a compromise to save the white shirt, while still keeping the integrity of getting to wear Sunday clothes all Sunday long.

Man, do I love this boy!!

Our Christmas

I figure one week after Christmas is a great time to finally get my hiney in gear to post about Christmas, right

We had a great one this year. We went up to my parents in Washington and had a great time. The ride up there was a little hairy. A ten hour trip turned into FIFTEEN because of the roads and delays with accidents. Chase was an absolute champion. We were pretty glad to get there...to say the least. it was just a sisters Christmas this year, with the exception of little brother Clark. We filled out time with great traditions...gingerbread house making, a reading of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by my dad, movies, football, food-food-food, games, and days of literally not changing out of pjays. It was a great time. Chase burst into tears when he realized that we were actually serious about coming home on Sunday. He loves Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Chase has been asking Santa for a remote control speedboat for quite some time. Wno knows where he got the idea about such a toy, but he was delirious with excitement at the prostpect of getting one. He was thrilled to find one waiting for him by the piano on Christmas morning. It 's going to end up being a summer time activity, however. It's a short trip for that boat in the tub.

There were some perks and some downfalls about being the only kid there for Christmas. But one thing did not change. It doesn't matter how old you are, you wait your turn to open presents. Chase did a great job waiting...a tough thing for a kid on Christmas! Chase disappeared a few times durning the present opening festivities to eat a snack...a growing 5 year old still gets hungry, even on Christmas morning! Anywho...here are some picutres. Enjoy!