Mr. Toad (the 2nd)

The first week we moved in back in January, the boys found a frog and named it Mr. Toad. How original. They kept him in the sprinkler box and would catch crickets and toss them in for him. Not a bad life for a frog until the cousins got a hold of him. Cousins came over and slid Mr. Toad down the water slide, tossed him in the pool and just played with him like he was any other pet. Well long story short, Mr. Toad did not recover. A few days after this Wyatt & Jesse came running to Dane with a very stiff and cold Mr. Toad demanding some answers. Since that time the boys have been looking for Mr. Toad’s replacement with not much luck. They can hear the frogs but have had no luck seeing and catching them. Well last week Jesse came running inside, he was so excited he could barely speak. Jesse is difficult to understand at times and with the excitement level deciphering his speech was especially difficult this time. He was trying to say Mr. Toad is back. When we finally got things translated we made our way out to the back porch where sure enough there was Mr. Toad #2. The kids hopped around following this little guy everywhere. What a fun night we had, but this time we let him go home instead of putting him in the sprinkler box where he could be subject to cousins once more.

Happy Birthday to our little Princess!

Two years ago today I woke up with mild contractions. I had seen our wonderful Dr. Beck earlier in the week and was told that I was progressing and that things could happen any day. Dane went off to work and I checked in every few hours but no real changes. Dane was so excited, maybe even more than I was. For those of you who knew Dane, you are very aware of how very much he longed for and wanted a little girl. He loves his boys, but there is something special about a dad and his little girl. As the day went on things seemed to slow down and cool off. Since nothing was happening, I pushed Dane out the door to mutual. The priests were learning to “give proper respect to women, girls, and children” and were babysitting for anyone in the ward. Dane took the boys and I went to the mall with some of my girlfriends. We got to the mall shortly after 7:00 pm and with no kids we were looking forward to a fun girl’s night out. Well at 7:36 pm while walking around the food court, my water broke. I was so embarrassed, but my fabulous girls Michelle and Paula helped me call Dane and off to the church we went. Dane and I got to the hospital at 8:34 pm checked in and Gracie Kate Chaffee arrived at 9:02 pm just 28 minuets after check in. There was not even enough time to get an epidural, that’s right it was all natural. Since that time two years ago our life has changed. How we ever operated with out our little girl is beyond all of us. The get ready to go time has changed from a quick last minuet comb through the boy’s hair to a carefully planned and coordinated process involving bows and clippies. She has truly changed our lives forever. Her brothers and dad adore and tote over everything that is Gracie. She is and always will be our own little princess, Gracie we love you happy birthday.

“I like to look for Rainbows”

Wyatt came running in the other day shouting and making a big fuss over something. It had been raining for about an hour and was just starting to clear up. We finally walked outside to find a huge rainbow that filled the entire sky. The kids were so excited to see a real live rainbow. Jesse is at the question stage so of course the questions started to flow. Where did it come from, why is it here, and where does it live. Wyatt thinking he is so smart now that he is in school started to try and answered Jesse’s questions. He tells Jesse that it comes from Heavenly Father and Jesus and it means the earth was just baptized. Dane asked Wyatt what he meant, and he said, “You know it’s like the song says.” One of his favorite songs in primary is “When I am Baptized” here are the lyrics. Once again I was humbled by how much our children understand and comprehend.

I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain
and ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away,
and I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

Bridge to Irabithia

We stayed home and avoided all the traffic for the long holiday weekend. Actually we had irrigation and the boys decided that we just could not miss it. Since we moved in 9 months ago, we have only had irrigation during the day once. The kids think it is the best thing in the world to play in the irrigation so when we informed them that it was coming during the day the got so excited. It was indeed a party; I think every toy we own was out in the yard by the time the irrigation was finished. Its amazing how something as simple as a little water can create so much fun. After about an hour, Dane started to call the irrigation Lake Chaffee. Wyatt decided he did not like that name and insisted on coming up with something more creative than what dad had thought up. One of the boy’s favorite movies right now is The Bridge to Terabithia, so Wyatt decided that the irrigation would be called Irabithia. Wyatt’s logic was that when the water ports open it is like opening the bridge to his new kingdom, hence the name Irabithia. It is so amazing how these little minds work and what they comprehend. The new kingdom started a new game for the kids as they ran around with swords fighting off all of their magical make-believe creatures. While we missed out on the cool weather and the calmness of the north country, we definitely made our own memories.

We have 12 citrus trees that we planted when we moved in. The boys have named each and every tree. Here is Jesse with his favorite tree "Skinny" Wyatt could not decide which tree was his favorite, so he picked 2, "Fruity" has more fruit than any other tree, and "Miracle" who Dane ran over with the lawn mowers and it lucky to be living.

The kids playing in Irabithia

Wyatt sneaking up on something?

Jesse showing he is strong enough to fight the monsters.

Gracie with her sword.

Before Irabithia

Irabithia

More Irabithia

More Irabithia

Digging up those HOLES!

When we decided to move to the QC a major factor was the space and yard for the kids to play. You see we came from a nice little home in Mesa that had well a modest back yard. Here is our fun filled backyard before the move, and yes that is all of it. Our new back yard is 1.4 acres for the kids to run and play and do whatever they want. Here is the problem, they have all this space, but all they want to do is dig holes. Anywhere they can find a spot they are digging holes. In the flower bed, holes, on the irrigation berms, holes, on the side yard, holes, spots where the grass has died and you can see dirt, you guessed it HOLES. Some of the holes are large, but for the most part we just have small little holes all over our yard. We got holes everywhere! To this point they have left the grass alone but everywhere else they got holes. On the side of the house there is a small 20X5 foot section that separates the rock from the grass. Dane just has not gotten around to filling in the rock there. This is their favorite place to dig their holes. The boys have one hole there that they have been working on for some time now. They say they are trying to make it big enough to put Dad in it? I just don’t get it?

This is our first yard, Yes those are houses on both sides

This is our new yard.

This is the hole they want to put Dane in, eventually.

By the back fence.

In the berms.

And last but not least my flower beds!

Cinnamon Rolls

At the request of Dane, I made cinnamon rolls this weekend. Because our family can not handle an entire batch of cinnamon rolls, we decided that we were going to take some to a few individuals in our ward as a thank you for lots of support and love the past few weeks. The boys also decided they wanted to help mom make the yummy treats, so they pulled up their chairs and got dirty. They absolutely loved “helping”, from smearing the butter, to spreading the middle, the boys were in heaven. I don’t know if they really actually helped much but we sure had fun and made lots of memories. Oh yeh and boy were they good!

Spreading the Butter

The brown sugar

Lets Play Music

We have Wyatt in a music program called Lets Play Music. This is his second year he is officially a green turtle shell. Last year he learned a little harmony and note recognition while banging away on some bells. Well luckily he gets to start learning the keyboard this year. YEPEEEEE! He is so excited and really we are to. But this whole keyboard thing will be a bit of a noise challenge. Here is some info on Lets Play Music.

http://www.letsplaymusicsite.com/home.php


Green turtlt shells.

Let’s Play Music believes that all children are musically talented, and that talent is developed through fun, interactive play. FUN, FUN, FUN! Children learn most effectively when they are playing! If you were to peek in on a Let’s Play Music class, you would see jumping, singing, skipping, storytelling, and laughing! Music educators have long taught that the young child learns best through play, experience and discovery. As musical concepts and skills are presented in a playful, joyful setting, children absorb knowledge and ability.

Brother & Sister love to get involved.

High School Musical 2

Last Friday we had a High School Musical 2 world premier party. I am still so baffled as to why Dane likes this so much and just holding out hope that it has more to do with how our kids love it and not the movie itself. Regardless, we had a great time; the boys had been counting down the days all week and could hardly wait for Dane to get home so we could start the party. We had pizza, friends, and a movie, what a great recipe for FUN. Dane kept commenting on how mean Sharpe was and insisted it was not as good as the first, but we have watched the movie almost 10 times now, Wyatt DVR the movie. I am sure others watched, which was better, 1 or 2?

Music Fireside

When I was 12 or 14 I had a young men’s leader who gave a fireside on music. It was one of the only firesides I really ever remember having much of an impact on me. Well a few years ago I called and asked if he would come and give that same fireside to our youth. He politely turned me down and insisted that it was time I started giving that fireside. Well I have now done this fireside three different times for three different wards and am working on my fourth ward in a few weeks. Each time I do this the songs and content gets a little worse. It is unbelievable what is on the radio, and even more unbelievable that we don’t process what we are listening to. The fireside consists of a survey given to the wards youth and youth leaders in advance and then we talk about their musical content without singling out bands or songs. The most interesting part of this is that in every ward I have done this for so far, the difference between the most popular music the youth listen to and the most popular music the adults listen to is almost identical. As I went through this wards content I found a very popular song that in fact I have on my play list at work. I was totally shocked when I looked up the lyrics of that song, needless to say that song is no longer part of the play list. I guess the moral of the story is we must be aware of the world around us. Here are some of the findings for this upcoming fireside. These are the slides I will use, sorry if it is hard to understand. This is what our youth and youth leaders are listening to and probably most of us, WOW!

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Transformation

A few nights after we brought Gracie home from the hospital I walked into her room to find Dane standing over the crib talking to his “sweet” little girl. He had wanted a girl so bad and was so excited to finally have her here. It wasn’t that he didn’t just adore his boys, but there is just something about dads and their little girls. With tears in his eyes he smiled, gave me a hug, and mumbled something about his sweet little girl. She was indeed special and had brought a spirit into our home that my rough little boys had lacked. That was then, and o how times have changed. Daddy’s sweet little girl has transformed into something our family has previously not experienced. Diva does not do her any justice at all. We have always tried to teach our boys that girls are special and Gracie has caught on to the fact that she may be able to use that to her advantage. Her latest terror tactic is biting. If things are not going just the way that she would like she will show her brothers her teeth. This morning I walked in to an argument between Jesse and Gracie and found our little princess grab Jesse’s head with both hands and with an open mouth move in for the kill. Wyatt and Jesse were not biters, but this has become a very regular activity for Gracie. It is almost like she thinks it is a game and she will never loose. Any advice on how to fix this lovely little problem would be greatly appreciated.

Showing off her "Chompers"

Here she is just after tasting one of her victims