Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Disney on Ice

We took the kids to see Disney on Ice on Saturday. Kamdyn has been looking forward to this since January when we bought our tickets. She asked me all the time if it was April yet and could she flip the calendar. I think she would say that it was worth the wait!

Here are the kids outside Alltel Arena. We were waiting to meet Jodie, the girls, and some coworkers of hers.
This might be the funniest thing I've seen all year long. I know I've written about Cooper's obsession with letters before. While we were waiting for Jodie and the girls, Mom looked down and noticed that Cooper had stuck letters in his little shirt pocket to carry in with him (along with his matchbox car) that he insisted on bringing in. Can you say "pocket protector?".....
Kamryn and Kamdyn ran to each other like long lost lovers!! LOL!

Here are the kids with their Ariel wands and swords. We ended up getting Cooper a sword, which I'm not sure was a good idea. He's since whacked Kamdyn on the head a couple of times already. Braxton and his $10 lemonade.... is this stuff not ridiculous?
We had front row rinkside seats (at least the kids did) and we sat directly behind them. In all my years, I've never had seats this good to any event I've ever gone to. My kids just sat mesmerized....
Flounder was adorable...and so close to us!
When Ursula came out, Mom joked that was her!
Kamdyn asked me for months if Prince Eric would be at the show and I always told her that I didn't think so because I didn't want her to be disappointed if he wasn't. So when Eric came out, she turned around to me and said, "Mommy, I told you Eric would be here!"

Kamdyn loved "The Little Mermaid".... she sat in awe the whole time they performed.
When this guy from "Lilo and Stitch" came out Mom then commented, "Pop's here!" (aka my dad).
I mentioned earlier that Cooper was mesmerized....that is until this rocket flew threw the sky during "Lilo and Stitch" and he went ballistic! It scared him so much that I had to take him out (which nearly caused a cardiac event carrying him up those stairs).

We took him back in after intermission for Peter Pan, but he didn't want any part of it. The pirates scared him to death! So Mom took him out for the rest of the show....

This is part of the finale when all of the characters came out...we love Sebastain!

Kamdyn and Kamryn afterwards. I never can get a shot of them together with them both looking at the camera!
We went to America Pie Pizza Co. afterwards. They had a little arcade room which was perfect for the kids.
My kids were pooped by the time we got home (and so was I!) but a good time was had by all!!!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Birthday Cookout

See this sweet face? Just a few days ago I told Mark that I was so in love with this little boy lately... he does and says the sweetest, cutest things...that all changed last night. We grilled steaks for Brian's birthday. The kids drove their little truck over to their house. Cooper poured water out and made a mud puddle and then proceeded to take all his clothes off....

Then he decided to check under the hood of Kam's truck. Can you say white trash?
Braxton and Cooper in the truck... they were having so much fun that food was the last thing on their mind.
Cooper can go all day long without eating because he eats such a large breakfast (it is the most important meal of the day!)... but then he's ready to eat dinner when we get home. So we finally get inside and Cooper just goes wild... it started out with him shoving our neighbor, Mackenzie. Then he picked up a mailbox toy and threw it at Kamdyn... then he took the little bat and wacked Braxton in the head... then he threw a football at Sophie, the dog... I could go on and on. There wasn't a little person left standing who hadn't been hit or thrown at by him. I took him in the other room and spanked him numerous times.... it didn't work.

After he hit Braxton with the bat, I just grabbed him and we went home. I was so embarrassed. He screamed the whole walk home and then 10 minutes after we were inside. Finally, I got him to eat a hot dog (two actually) and some carrots and then he was as happy as could be. Low blood sugar is not becoming to him!!! We changed our clothes and he was asleep before Mark and Kam even made it home.... but I don't think I can even look our neighbors in the eye right now after his behavior.

This is Bubby holding the picture that Kam drew him for his birthday. Notice that she wrote his name on it... we are making progress!!!!!
NAME UPDATE: She told me the other day that she wanted her name to be "Kam" now... I think that was so she didn't have to write her whole name out. But she has since gone back to Kamdyn..."just Kamdyn."

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Randomness...

Here are some random pictures that I never posted. This is Kam getting her hair cut... this was a major victory for me because she has cried for the past 6 months if we even mentioned a hair cut. I bribed her with treats and then Mom did the same so she had a lot to gain. She got about 2-3 inches cut off, which kind of made me sad, but she needed it. Cooper also got a haircut and he did great! We never know with him, but he's been good the last two times. I didn't even have to sit with him this time. I've wrestled with him on the floor before while someone tried to cut it once and after that, I made Mark take him for haircuts (Mistake #1). I cried last summer when he buzzed his hair but after a few weeks it grew on me and was actually cute all spikey. So right before Halloween (this always happens at holidays) I met Mark at WM to get his hair cut (Mistake #2)... I went in and told the lady not to cut it short and then I went and did some shopping (Mistake #3). I met Mark in the aisle about 10 minutes later with Cooper and the most jacked-up haircut I've ever seen.... I was ready to go tell the girl off when Mark admitted that he told her to buzz it. I made him take him back to get it evened up but the damage was done. I think we actually argued right there in the bread aisle at WM... I didn't care who saw us.

Over and over, I tried to tell myself that there were parents who had kids going through cancer treatments who had lost their hair who would be thrilled to have hair like Cooper's...but it never made me feel any better! We got several comments about Cooper cutting his own hair but, sadly, we paid a "professional" to do that. Now I take Cooper for haircuts.

How did I get off on that story?????? I digress...

Kamdyn after her haircut with her candy that she got from one of the other hairdressers...
This is Cooper just hanging out checking out the new Toys R' Us sale catalog.
Derek brought the kids over to play after Avery's birthday party a few weeks ago and I snapped these shots of the kids outside. You gotta love Kam and Kenzie's get-up!!!!
Avery... I forgot my camera at her party so I didn't get any pictures of birthday season, round 29.
Braxton having a "senior moment" on the porch of the playhouse. This picture cracks me up!
That's all, folks!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Monday, Monday...

Monday's are usually very tiring days for us. Mostly because we play so hard on the weekends and Monday is our recovery day...I don't cook big meals, etc.... You get the picture. Yesterday, the weather was gorgeous when we got home so the kids never even made it in the door.

Mark greeted us on the mower as we drove up, which is a very common sight around our house in the spring. I absolutely love the spring but I hate that Mark has to mow once a week. It is a major ordeal it seems like ... I have offered to mow before because, I'll be honest, I would love to ride around in the warm sun (as long as it's below 85 degrees) working on my tan with only my thoughts to entertain me. But I'm always told that our yard is complicated and that there is a certain way it has to be mowed. My dad told me the same thing growing up... not sure I believe either one of them!
So the kids and I decided to play with some sidewalk chalk for a while. Whether it's a Doodle Pro, dry erase board, or sidewalk chalk, they have always liked for me to draw pictures for them. Not sure what Kamdyn is drawing here but she is very intense about it. Notice the death grip she has on the chalk...
Now you might wonder what the significance of this cracked driveway picture is... If you look closely, you may be able to tell that these letters spell K-A-M-D-Y-N. I have never been able to get Kam to write her name for me. She can spell every kid in her class's name and loves to draw, but she absolutely refuses to write letters for me. I worried about it for a while, but finally decided she would do it eventually. I knew she probably could, but was just being stubborn about it. Imagine that! So I was really excited yesterday when she wrote her name on the driveway.
Kam also informed me again yesterday that she now wants to be Kamdyn Nivens instead of Kamdyn Chastain. We went through this about 6 months ago when she discovered that Mimi, Pop, and Uncle Bubby had a different last name than her. They are studying the letter N at school this week and I mentioned that Nivens started with N and this quickly prompted this discussion again.

A Chastain family portrait:
Cooper is drawing circles around himself in between running around spelling every letter and word we've written on the sidewalk.
I went to the car to get something and next thing I know both kids are inside pretending to drive and having a ball. I heard Kam asked Cooper if he wanted her to turn the music on ... this usually makes me nervous b/c although I don't remember it, I've been told that Jodie, Brett, and I took a trip down Mom's driveway and across Hwy 84 one time while we were "pretending" to drive.
Once inside, Cooper found his big wall letters and toted those around for a while. I took them off his wall to paint and now he plays with them all the time. You will always see him with one of these big letters or the little magnetic letters in his hands at all times.
Monday's are also my favorite TV night because I am a huge "Dancing with the Stars" fan. Kam loves it too and she always puts on her dress up clothes so she can dance with the TV. Here she is asking Mark, "Can I may I have this dance, Daddy?" I think Mark just about melted the first time she asked him that... then we laughed at her double usage of "Can I may I?"... she says it every time.
By the way, "Happy Birthday" to Uncle Bubby!!! We love you!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Weekend in Heber

Mark took the kids to Heber Springs this weekend to see his dad so I had the weekend to myself! I hesitated for a while when he offered, but finally decided that I could get a lot of things done with everyone gone.

I sent the camera with Mark to take pictures but; of course, he didn't take any. I had visions of posting pictures of the kids with Papaw Sonny and Nannie along with the weekend activities.... not to happen this time. The kids told me they had fun and Mark shared a few stories...

Apparently, Cooper and Kam were sword fighting with some old race track they found in the toy box... I'm not quite sure of the details but I do know that Cooper whacked Papaw Sonny in the head with it... that's pretty typical for Cooper but I don't think Papaw Sonny was too amused.

I guess later they found a bouncy ball that was the dogs and Cooper nailed Kamdyn between the eyes with it ... and we had just been talking about whether Cooper would have any athletic ability or not!

They had a great visit with Nannie, who always has Starbursts waiting for them. I think Mark said Kam ate about 20 and then I found 2 large ziplock bags full of them when they came home. I'm sure Kam will be asking for them soon.

Kam talked to me on the phone on Saturday night crying, "but Mommy, I need you." I was trying to explain that I would see her the next day when she handed the phone to Mark and said, "here" and ran off. Mark laughed and assured me she was over it... I think she was just trying to make me feel good.... which is exactly what Cooper did when he got on the phone and said, "hi, Mommy" (pronounced Ma-hi) in his cute little voice. My heart melted...

I did have to go meet Mark in Greenbrier to deliver Kam's breathing machine. She woke up with an asthma flare-up that we couldn't take any chances with. It did give me the chance to stop and shop in Conway before coming back to meet Mom and JJ for some more late afternoon shopping. Who says I can't make lemonade out of lemons?

Although I missed the kids (and Mark too!), it was a fabulous weekend to relax and do whatever I wanted without feeling guilty about it! Poor Cooper was pooped when he got home and crawled up in my lap and went to sleep instantly!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Easter Buckets

I made these Easter buckets and filled them with treats for Kam's class at school. I thought they turned out pretty cute! They were definitely more work than I thought they would be. I worked feverishly Thursday night during the tornado scare... I told Mark that if a tornado did come for him to grab the kids because I was grabbing my buckets!
Now when I first started this one, Mark told me it looked like I was painting chicken turds on it...can I say that on here?! Anyway, I hope you can tell they are footballs now!
My plan was to do a princess for the girls, but my princess didn't look like a princess... so what 4-year old doesn't like Hello Kitty?

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter weekend full of family activities. Saturday was Avery's 2nd birthday party. The kids hunted eggs there, which turned out to be a very good thing since Sunday was so cold and rainy.

About 9:45 that night, we decided to quickly dye some Easter eggs.
The kids choir at church sang two songs that were so awesome! It brings tears to my eyes to watch Kamdyn up there singing sometimes. Here she is before the boys moved in front of her and blocked my view. This is also probably the only full length shot I got of her all day long.
After church at Mimi's... she really looked grown up to me this day!
The men in my life...
We always take pictures on Easter after church but it just wasn't meant to be this day. Someone was always pouting or crying... and what is up with that stray comb over on my forehead????Here are the "greats" at Mamaw's after church... Madison, Gavin, Braxton, Kylie, and Kamryn were missing. It is impossible to get a picture where everyone is looking the same direction.
This is Papaw and his Easter hat, which won first place at the Senior Center. The bunny sings and hops with the press of a button and there is an Easter basket on the back that you can't see.
We had a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny, who came loaded with treat buckets for all the kids.Mimi and the Easter Bunny....
Cooper was unsure about the Easter Bunny at first. He actually hid behind the table and did his scared face at first, but he finally decided the bunny was harmless (and she had treats that he had to claim!). Kamdyn, on the other hand, stayed in the living room the entire time the bunny was there.
I am so thankful for what Easter really means... we had a wonderful day celebrating the Risen Savior!