Chase is 12!

It's different when your second child turns 12. The first time you are thinking, "He is so old! One more year and he will be 13...a TEEN!" Now, Chase has arrived and I still think he is younger than he really is because Blake is the "old one." But, I can see the sense of humor get richer, the attitude thicker, and the independence initiated. But, one of the things that pulls on my heartstrings is his moving away from "little brother" and "little boys." He is making that separation, it's subtle, but I notice. He and Blake used to be the buddies....running around in their underwear showing off their muscles. Then Blake got too old (he still shows off his muscles though:) and Coop and Chase have been the buddies...still running around in their underwear. They still do things like WWE fight night, ninja, pillow jumping, and stair sledding. We are always hearing gut laughing, pounding, slapping, bouncing, crying and smashing coming from their general direction. They are brothers and have a love/hate relationship, but I sense Chase pulling away from the "littleness."

Here are my two, cute "little" boys.....We had a date at Wingers, Chases favorite place. I can't wait to take him to Buffalo Wild Wings, it just opened:)

Garbage Sack!

Billy and Blake

I have been thinking about these two a lot lately. Maybe because they will be seniors next year and the very thought makes me ball my eyes out! So happy and proud, but hard to process at times. Its a weird feeling and you will experience it too....mark my words and be prepared! I think to myself "did i soak up, enjoy, and take advantage of every opportunity?" Dont do that! You will kill yourself:)! Im trying to make sure I take those moments and be present for them....regardless of other things i have going on, or have on my mind, or other stressors and doubt I may have.... so I know that he got the best of me..... However crappy that is to start with:) Ha! Not saying i do everytime, because having and communicating with a teenager is like carrying around a garbage sack everywhere you go. We carry their burdens, we worry, we try to keep up, try to listen, offer whatever advice you can (at the right time of course)....You just wanna dump the sack..... Its already full! But you gotta sift through the trash and pull out those valuable items that may have been hidden. Deciding what those are and when to pull them out is difficult. Sometimes it makes a mess! But each time you do, your sack gets a little lighter and now you have that teenager throwing out the trash on their own. Also, If anyone else asks you to help carry something, you can say, "sorry, got this sack..." :):)

Top 11's......?

Top 11 moments of 2011
- Blake playing at the 4A state tourney
-Coop and Chase baptism
-Me, Blake and Curt going to San Francisco
-Chase getting student of the year
-Seattle trip to visit Liz
-Blake Homecoming
-Boys coming to school at Willow Canyon with me
-Trips to St. George and Bear Lake
-Watching Coops first REAL baseball game....cutest catcher ever!
-Snowboarding, for the first time, with my boys....even though I fractured my wrist! But, they loved it!
-Curt and I anniversary.....

Top 11 "things" of 2011
-my iphone...I friggin LOVE it!!!
-pinterest
-instagram
-Sushi Night
-redbox
-movies/tv-bridesmaids, horrible bosses, hangover 2, happy endings
-my itunes playlist
-etsy...just a little something I bought from etsy that is going up on my pictur wall

-almond joy coffee creamer
-chill pipe
-boots

Hate Holloween. LOVE Carving Pumpkins!

Carving pumpkins, with good friends, is a perk of this "holiday." The kids did an awesome job with their pumpkins. We helped....but not much....they wouldn't let us! They turned out pretty good!

Live!

Hearing two of your favorite songs by two of your fave bands.....LIVE.....is awesome!

The Airborne Toxic Event.....Sometime Around Midnight:):):)


Switchfoot....."Dare you to Move"


Both bands were so good! Next time, I hope to see just them so I can hear all their other songs I love.

This little boy!

*This little boy has had a ball in his hands since he could walk
*This little boy would snuggle on the couch watching basketball games with his Daddy
*This little boy held nightly basketball games and tournaments in our little apartment
*This little boy wrote about basketball games, players, and teams in his writer's workshop since Kinder
*This little boy learned how to count by 2's, 3's and do math by keeping score
*This little boy and his buddy Jace would dress up in Gary Payton and John Stockton jerseys and "do work" in the driveway
*This little boy's fave player is Chase Buddinger, he even wrote to Arizona's coach Kevin O'Neill...and got a response!
*This little boy (and his Dad) would be in tears after basketball games while discussing it in the car (still do)
*This little boy cheated on his March Madness bracket when his mom was beating him
*This little boy has spend hours upon hours in the gym, at camps, tournaments, training, workouts
*This little boy knows how to play the game inside and out.
*This little boy will beat you at trivia. He could hold a legitimate sports conversation at 5.
*This little boy is 6'3....just taller than his Daddy
*This little boy will only wear Nike/Jordan apparel
*This little boy can dunk a basketball
*This little boy is a Jr. at a 5A high school, playing V
*This little boy will be graduating next year
*This little boy is my baby, I will never get over what an amazing person he is.

This brings me to tears......This is how I will always picture my boy, Blake

Perfict!

Seriously, this kid is the bomb! I love how he thinks. I have a easel in my classroom that I put quotes on. The other morning Cooper asks, "Hey Mom, can I put something on your board?" I'm thinking, between he and Chase, it will be something to do with butts, wieners, farts, burps, jerkfaces....etc. So I said, "absolutely not" He reassures, "No, Mom, it has to do with school." Maybe something his teacher said stuck...who knows. Go for it, why not? So this is what he said.....

"You don't need to do stuf perfict you just nee to do it good?"


Come to find out, that night while tucking him in, he told me he has stayed in for recess 4 times. He said it's because, "everytime I do my best work, I don't finish in time and even the 'not good workers' get done before me." Being a parent and a teacher allows me to see both sides here....so we had a little talk to figure out his predicament. I love this boy! He's like, screw you all... I know my limits!

Everything I need to know....I learned on YouTube!

Seriously, who needs a teacher? The boys come running up, all sweaty, in ninja garb, asking if they can make ninja stars (I seem to be missing some chopsticks that were used to make nunchucks). They had been making their own ninja costumes earlier with t-shirts, belts and football pants.

Just a few of their ventures.....

**Ninja stars...

**Duct tape wallets...

**Bracelets

**How to do a 360 on a scooter...

**How to do a kick flip on a skateboard...

**How to remove and bury a dead body (the size of your older brother) without anyone noticing or suspecting anything...you know, the usual. Cooper has been asking how many days until Blake gets to move out? You can just feel the love around here.

Now, if I can just get them to youtube, "how to do your own laundry, make dinner, clean up, and give your mom a massage." Yes, I would like all of that in one video please.

A Brother's Advice.....

Coop told me in the car today, "Blake said If I think I'm good at baseball, then I'll be good at baseball. If I think I'm bad at baseball, then I'll be bad at baseball...... He's wrong because I think I'm good at baseball, but I'm really not..."

I told Blake this and he said when he was picking him up from practice the other day, Coopers morale was down. Cooper was telling Blake how he's doing great at catching, but he can't make contact hitting the baseball....hence, Blake giving the Coopster some brotherly advice. SO CUTE! I can totally see them both in the car having this conversation. What a precious moment between brothers....even if he was wrong!

I am grateful for these bonding moments between brothers. I hear Chase and Cooper laughing, playing, and screwing off all the time. That will never get old. I will always hear that in my head. They are so lucky to have each other. And, I am so lucky to witness it.

Some Time.....

Some time to think...some time to rest.....some time alone.......some time to catch up with the best friend......some time to laugh......some time to enjoy......some time for a hot stone massage......some time to EAT great food!

Me and the Lizzard....Starbucks run!

I <3 Seattle!

Alki beach.....I spent the whole morning on the beach reading, watching, walking...it was nice.

"Eat like you give a damn".....That's pretty much our motto everytime we are together. This place had the best.breakfast.ever! I had king crab eggs benedict with baby spinach and roasted potatoes. So good!

That would be a coconut chocolate cupcake.....awesomeness!

Sushi at Wasabi Bistro....See! Its all about the food.

Homecoming

I wish I was Blakes date in high school.....He set this up in the Rod Works warehouse! It was the coolest. I love this guy. He had help though......
Dinner at the warehouse......
Scott helped the boy, he is so awesome! They set up the platform, rods, lights etc.. We (and by we, I mean Costco) prepared Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice/gravy, caesar salad, rolls, and red velvet cake for their dinner.


They planned a day date at the park.....

Pictures before dinner.....

Blake and Shelby

Are they not the cutest?!?!

Blake, Collin, and Peck

Are they not the dorkiest?!?!

Peck, Bailey, Shelby, and Blake

Bailey and Blake

The Group

Then, games and rootbeer floats at our house after the dance.

Crawdad....ON!

Coop and I went crawdad fishing at Strawberry Lake. We LOVE this! We tagged along with Kristen and Mark, the cousins, and another family whom we just met from Oregon....awesome! Chase had a tourny this weekend so Curt and Blake were doing the baseball thing and since I am all baseballed out (so is Coop getting dragged to ALL his bro's games), me and the boy had some "enjoy the day off" time:) I did miss the Chaser play'in some good ball, but he has his Daddy. I'm so grateful he is always there to support and coach the boys.

*The best part of my day was Cooper saying "MOM! I'm soooo glad you're my mom and not someone else because you see all the big ones...you have such a good eye....you're the best!" It's a gift Coop, what can I say? Some got it, some don't:) I'm the lucky one though, I love this boy so much I can't sleep at night.

Baptism Day!

The little boys made a choice to get baptized. I am so proud of these guys! They heard about it in children's church and asked Curt and I if they could get baptized. We told them that they need to learn and pray a little more about and then decide if they want to make that choice. So, our friend Jared came and talked with the boys. The questions and answers from these two melts my heart. They actually have been an example for me and they have no constraints in getting to know Jesus. I have two wonderful boys.....I love you guys! Curtis was able to baptize his boys along with Jared and Bryan. The boys also had Grandpa Brackett, Justin, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Connie, Kyle and Angela, Aunt Kristen, Uncle Mark, Bailey, Bradley, and Maria, Uncle Aaron, Aunt Heather, Caden, Porter, and Sis come and support them. LUCKY BOYS!




A Cooper Story: The night before, Cooper told Steph, "Hey Steph, I can do a flip off this couch.....buuut I'm gonna wait until after I get baptized tomorrow, so God is with me." This kid cracks me up.

My boys.....with ME!

In my attempts to "simplify" things in my life (it's amazing where you can make cutbacks...:), I have decided to bring the boys to school with me! I love our neighborhood school and the teachers. Chase was selected "Student of the Year" from his entire school last year. So proud. But, I can't keep up with the boys, me, Curt and Blakes different school schedules. I felt like I wasn't involved, I didn't know what was going on, or how they were keeping up, and could never make it to their school functions. It was so awesome seeing them throughout the first day of school today. They both have amazing teachers. I've taught with Michelle for 3 years and it will be fun to have Chase in 6th grade with me. Nancy, Coop's teacher, takes classes with Michelle and I. She makes sure we have healthy/yummy treats for class and always looks out for us. I told her, "I won't believe everything he says, if you don't".....Ha! Seriously, he comes up with the craziest things.
There are downsides......I no longer have that 25 minute drive before and after school by myself. I truly loved that down time to listen to my music and clear my head. Also, managing them in my classroom after school will be a pain. Although, it's a great time for them to read or get homework done, so we will work on a good routine. I also have school Wednesday nights so I'll have to get them home somehow. Whatevs, I get to be with my boys at school....I'm a happy momma.

Sundance

LOVE going up into the mountains and watching the Sundance Theatre outdoors. On our honeymoon, we stayed in Park City and went to South Pacific at Sundance. We haven't been back since, I don't know why, it's so awesome! 16 years later, we celebrated our anniversary by going to dinner, seeing Sound of Music and stayed overnight at an awesome lodge near Jordanelle. A much needed time for us!