March for Babies

In prepping for the upcoming March for Babies event that I host each year, I am amazed at how things have changed over the years and how big my babies are now. Each year, I host an Un-baby Shower...notice the un part...there is no baby, I am NOT having a baby. So now that that's out of the way, the Un-baby shower is a fun event I host to raise money for my family team.

So to add to the changes with this year's event, I went ahead and changed the team name. CaseyHaleBoys had expanded to more friends who didn't have one of those last names. So to include everyone, we've changed the name to PC4HB. Love the acronym! It stands for Petite Crew for Healthy Babies!  The Petite is not only becuase we are all pretty much petite in stature, but because we have the support of our local La Petite Academy! We have 4 members of the team who work at the school and have graciously asked the director (who's also on the team) if we could use the school to host our annual Un-baby Shower!

It's pretty amazing to me that this little event that started in my family room with 6 people, has grown into an event being held at the local day care that will bring in about 80 people! Wow! I am so blessed to have friends who support this cause that is near and dear to my heart!

If you would like to learn more about our team, visit http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/pc4hb and stay tuned team updates and Un-baby Shower news!

A caterpillar adventure

In the words of Nolan, this was the best weekend ever! Sunday morning we decided to go on a little adventure. So we got out the bikes and rode over to one of the parts in our new community. Well, the park was a little young for the boys so they decided they wanted to ride to the bigger park about ½ a mile away and they assured me that they could make the entire trip with no problem!

We get to the park and they are more interested in riding their bikes instead of playing, so they ride. After a while (maybe 10 mins) they say they want to go back. On the way back we had to stop 4 times because Nolan was just too tired and couldn’t go on. He had to rest. After much coaxing, I finally got the boys moving. It’s funny how by rest they get off their bikes and start running. Needless to say it took twice as long to get back than it did to get there. Thank goodness for the distraction of a caterpillar!

Dylan stopped suddenly, jumped off his bike and started screaming….caterpillar! He wanted to keep it, get a shoe box and some leaves and watch it grow into a Monarch butterfly. I told him that we should keep nature in nature and that she (as he told me it was a girl) might not survive in a box in our house. But alas, they cried and I caved. So we fought on the way home about who would carry the caterpillar home.

I gave Dylan a shoebox to make a home for the caterpillar. He assured me that since they were learning about caterpillars at school that he knew what he needed to put in the box. He even put decorations in for the caterpillar….Star Wars action figures, a key and some beads just in case the caterpillar wanted to play. I thought it was sweet. Once the whole box was ready, Nolan asked if he could give her a tour of the house.

He walked around the house with the box describing each room to the caterpillar. I heard him say, “this is my Mom’s room…sometimes I get to sleep in here with her.” I thought it was so sweet. I saw him later with her on the carpet and he said, ”Mom, we need to get her a Halloween costume!”. I tried to explain that she wouldn’t be a caterpillar forever and that by Halloween; hopefully she’d be a butterfly.

This morning, we couldn’t find her. I had told them that we needed to put her outside so she would survive. She was under a leaf not moving very well. Dylan proclaimed her dead and Nolan looked sad. I hope they learn a lesson here that there are a lot of fun things in nature, but they have to stay in nature in order to survive. So tonight when we get home from work, I’m sure we are going to have a memorial service for the caterpillar and I’m sure Nolan will say a few words. Dylan will just keep looking for another one. 

Baseball time!

Nolan is now an official member of the T-ball Little League Team, The Grasshoppers! Ohhhhh! He is so excited! His Dad got him a baseball bag and a bat to put in it, so he wants to carry that around with him every where we go, even into the grocery store. I have to tell him no, the bag is so big he could knock down something. But still he is stoked to be playing.

Our first practice was fun. He had a smile on his face the whole time! He worked so hard to please his coaches and of course wouldn't say anything to them until we were leaving when he rolled down his window and screamed, "bye coach!".

The next day my parents bought Nolan a T to practice with at their house in between games. (We live in an apartment so there is no room to play.) He was so excited that he started playing with it right away. He wanted me to "catch" the balls for him and stay out there and watch him play. I don't mind, but after catching 20 balls, I'm ready to go back inside.

I love how determined he is and how much he enjoys this sport and pretty much every other sport. He listens to what the coaches and I tell him and demonstrates it in how he catches and hits the ball. I'm so excited for the games to start! He may not be the star player, but he is going to have the time of his life! It's going to be awesome! 

Always a lot of laughs...

I have had the pleasure of having my guys for the past 3 weeks!  Their dad hurt his hand and couldn't take them. His loss, my gain! We've had so much fun! 

One of their favorite things to do is have a dance party. Now, the dance party consists of having their friends over for pizza or spaghetti, turning on the music running around the house. Sometimes, they don't even dance...well, most of the time.  I think they just like the term dance party. 

On another note, the weeks have been fun, but they are exhausting. My oldest son has ADD and he can wear you out.  He takes his medicine to focus at school, but by the time I pick him up, they have worn off. I'm not complaining because I wouldn't want him to be on medication all day long...that would be too much.  It's just hard coming home from a long day at work, tired to a boy that is wound up.  Dylan has to eat right away, he's usually crying in the car because he's so hungry and according to him "going to die if I don't get him food asap".  He's never died by the way. Not even passed out. His flare for the dramatic seems to increase at the end of the day. 

So I make sure to have food with me when I pick him up. Lucky for me, he likes anything and everything, so it doesn't make it too difficult. If it were the little one, that would be a challenge. All he wants is meat. A plate of meat. I don't eat meat. I would not want a plate of meat. He doesn't understand. Just wants me to get him more meat. Ugh. 

Now you know why we have dance parties. You can always have a plate of meat at any party, and you can always dance crazy if you want.  It works for both of them.  One gets his meat and the other can blow off steam! Love it! 

 Oh, and this picture just proves you can wear whatever you want to a dance party! :)

Christmas

Christmas is one of those holidays that I either love or hate. I love it when I have my boys and I hate it when I don't. This year I didn't have them and had to wait the whole day of  Christmas to pick them up at 9 am the day after. It really felt like Christmas that morning when I rushed to pick them up. They were so excited that Santa had visited my house as well as Daddy's.

The boys loved their gifts...a Wii, lots of Star Wars stuff and the Justin Bieber doll, oops, it's not a doll. Nolan says it's just a toy. Well, Nolan slept with Justin Bieber the first night and had taken his shoes, bow tie, sunglasses and microphone off so Justin was comfortable.

So the next morning, I wake up to Nolan and Justin in my bed. Before I could get the words out..."good morning", Nolan was rushing to his room shouting..."I have to get Justin dressed!".

It's so funny how Nolan takes to "dolls" and stuffed animals. He's not like most kids who want to play with cars only. He likes everything and often only for a little while. Last night he made a deal with his brother that he would "let Dylan have Justin for 4 days" only. Dylan didn't care for the deal so we are headed to Wal Mart this weekend with his Christmas money to get one of his own.

American Idol here we come!

The boys found the guitar that I had hid in the garage because it has a broken string. I keep meaning to take it in to get fixed, but it's one of those things that always seem to be your lowest priority. This morning I heard Nolan playing it and Dylan was singing along. (It reminded me of when my sister were little. She would play the piano and I would dance like I knew the song.)

About half way through Nolan's third rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", he yells for Dylan to come and change the station. I stepped out of the bathroom and asked him what he said. He merely said, Dylan can change the station on the guitar for me. I smiled and laughed inside because all Dylan did was turn the tuning buttons for the guitar strings, but Nolan thought he was really doing something special.

Santa's Coming!

In the midst of the holiday season and black Friday, the boys and I laid low. Went to the movies and ran errands. Every toy we saw, Dylan said he was getting that for Christmas. I told him we had to write a letter to Santa so that he knows what he wants. He thought about it an informed me that we didn't need to write a letter to Santa because Santa is always watching (that's what I tell him so he will behave) and he can hear him when he says "that's what I want for Christmas". Pretty clever of him, I thought...now I have to pay attention.