He's gone and I am blue....

MY CHASE-MAN
My nephew Chase is gone. He left for Florida yesterday with my mom. I am so sad.


Chase at Camp Geronimo

Most of you know that Chase has been staying with us since the beginning of May. My sister rented her house here in Arizona and moved in with my parents in Florida to go back to school.

Chase stayed behind for a few more months. He still had several weeks of school, a golf clinic in June, Scout Camp the first week of July, and getting his braces off last week.

My sisters house is only two miles away from ours so Chase was always over here anyhow...all the action is at Aunt Kimmy's! I am a better cook than his mom too. Sorry Court, it's true.


Chase doing a little self portrait at camp.

Well Scout Camp is over and Chase's Braces are off (a well spent 5 Grand) and my mom came down to bring him back to Florida.

Saturday night before bed we had some family time and prayer to say goodbye to Chase. Uncle Mark (Mr. Wresh) talked to him at length about what an amazing person he is and his responsibility to fill the measure of his creation. Then he asked me to say a few words to Chase.

I decided that I wanted to speak privately with Chase. I thought I would have something really inspirational to say to him. But I didn't. I just cried and told him I loved him, that he is an amazing boy, and that I am always here for him.

My sadness is purely selfish. This move is great for Chase. His dad lives in Florida, just a few miles from my parents house. His dad is great, loves Chase, and gets along great with my sister and our family. He will have his mom and dad, his grandparents, and all of our extended family.

My other sister Corinne is even a teacher at the school he will be attending. So all is well with Chase...but I will miss him...so so much.

I love you Chaseman...

SPEAKING OF SCOUT CAMP
Joel is notoriously bad at taking pictures when he is out and about in life. He even has a kick butt camera on his cell phone. I'm so serious. Whenever we get new phones he always gets the best one and then Mr. Wresh and I get the "get these free" phones (i.e. the crappy ones) that come with the more expensive phones.

You would think the kid would be willing to take some pictures right? Wrong.

When I sent the boys off to Scout Camp I went and purchased a disposable camera and made Chase the official photographer for their trip. While the pictures are not the best...he did take them all as requested and there are a reasonable number of them that I can use.

Here are a couple of shots of the boys at camp.


Going for a dip.


Chase and Joel outside their camp tent.

There were also some not so great shots. I will spare you the worst of them but I am going to post one. Mostly so Joel will always remember that I blog...and that he needs to behave!!!


Nice son. Real nice.

IDLE HANDS
I am one of those moms who makes her kids do chores. Lots of them. They need to be glad we don't live on a farm.

I can be a little OCD at times, I own it. When a say I am OCD I am talking about the fact that my mom is not allowed to fold clothes when she is at my house because she doesn't do it "the right way"

Towels have to be folded a certain way and put in the linen closet a certain way. Hangers all have to be the white plastic ones. If I find a wire hanger in our closet it gives me the creepy crawlies.

I have a romantic relationship with my Dyson vacuum. I really, really love my Dyson.

From time to time I will introduce new chores to my kids. One of Ryan and Matthews chores is to take the laundry out of the dryer and put it on my bed where I like to sit and fold it all.

I decided that Ryan was old enough to learn how to put the clothes in the washer into the dryer (not starting the washer or dryer...just moving the clothes). I showed him how to take out the step stool, lift the lid, and shake the clothes out before they go into the dryer.

I tell you this long and boring summary of my housecleaning habits just to show you this hysterical picture.



Ba ha ha ha!!! That is our Ry Guy in the Washing Machine!

Note: No five year olds were hurt in the shooting of this picture!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAMA'S AND GRANDMA'S
There are lots of differences between mama's and grandma's. I was able to catch a few of them on camera while my mom was in town.

1. Not only will Grandma's buy you oooey, gooey donuts for breakfast...they will not limit the number of them that you are allowed to eat.



On the infrequent occasions that we have donuts in the house Ryan knows good and darn well that he is only allowed to have one.

On this particular morning Ryan was eating donuts with his Grandma and decided he better come and find me. Apparently he had a guilty conscious.

Ryan: "Mom, there was an accident."

Me: "What? What happened?"

Ryan: "Well, I accidentally ate two donuts."

Gotta love him.

2. Grandma's will also not only rock you, even though you are so long she can barely get you on her lap, but she will hold you on her lap for a whole hour while you take a little cat nap. What a life.



CHUCK E. CHEESE PLEASE!
Ryan and Matty have been begging to go to Chuck E Cheese for a months now. This weekend he got to! My friend Rashidah's little girl Nya turned 4 and had a party at Chuck E Cheese. Party on dude!

Aren't they one of the best looking couples you have ever seen? Just for the record I totally set them up and here they are married with a little girl!


Singing Happy Birthday to Nya!


The birthday girl! Happy Birthday Nya!!


Craig and Mark getting ready for a basket ball tossing competition.


Mark whupped him!


The Wreshlings playing air hockey with dad.

JOEL'S BIRTHDAY
I cannot believe it. Really, I can't. Joel is going to be 15 this Wednesday. We tossed around several ideas for his birthday but in the end he decided he wanted a day at the mall going to lunch and the movies with his friends.

So Thursday (Wednesday is mutual night/church activities) I am taking Joel with his friend Dallin, Miss Hillary, and another young woman. I will make myself scarce in the mall while he takes his friends to lunch and the movies.

I know it sound suspiciously like a double date (Joel is not allowed to date until he is 16) but I think the fact that I am there at the mall with them makes it more of an outing ;)

Thursday night we are having the rest of his friends over for cake, ice cream, and games. I told Joel that Dad and I would stay upstairs so he could hang out with his friends but if he thought we were going to be able keep Ryan from all the excitement he was mistaken.

Thankfully he is an awesome big brother and said Ryan was welcome to hang out!

I know every mother says this but they grow up so fast. In just four years Joel will be off on his mission.

I cannot imagine our home without Joel here and I know that time is going to come so much faster than any of us will be ready for.

Here is the layout I did for a part of Joel's party information less the details!



I AM UNDER ATTACK
Ryan's friend Derick (AKA Bubba) has been over playing all afternoon. Watching how imaginative they are in their play is so entertaining. As with most days they are playing pirates.



They have a treasure chest that they keep hiding. Once they hide it they draw treasure maps and then head off on an adventure to find it.

At some point Matty wandered into where I was with pair of Ryan's underwear on his head. Of course this needed to be investigated so I called for Ryan. Both he and Derick had underwear on their heads too.





It begged the question.

Me: "Ryan, what are ya'll doing?"

Ryan: (in a tone like I am a little slow) "Um, Mama...we are playing underwear on our head"

Me: "Oh. OK. Just checking. Have fun."

GRAB BAG
Did you know I have a Grab Bag at TheDigiChick right now? This Wednesday is the last day to pick it up...run on over and pick it up. It is a $16.96 value for only $3.00!




BLOG TREAT
Well you hung tough to the very end...here is a little something for stopping by!



I guess I better go figure something out to make for dinner...later skaters...