Brock Family Christmas

We went to Tims Ford this weekend with my family. We had a great time. We sat around playing games, eating way too much, and entertaining KB. The kids were able to go outside and play some before the weather turned so cold. Lance even took the older ones, except for the smart one who stayed inside, on a hike around the lake in the rain. They had a blast! Brady said it was the best day ever!!
I'll have more holiday pictures to post after Christmas. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Who are you, and what have you done with Avery?

The boys have a two hour day today. I don't really get the point of even getting up and getting them ready for that amount of time, so I always just let them stay home. They had their parties yesterday, so there really isn't anything to do. They usually don't want to go, except for today. Well, one is still in bed, but Avery is at school. He was begging me last night to go to school. Really? Can this be my son? What a difference a year makes. Last year was a fight the entire year. I'm so thankful that he has friends(or should that be 'friends'), and looks forward to going, but I never expected him to want to go this bad!! Silly boy!

Chloe quote

We went to breakfast with Santa on Saturday. On the way, Chloe said, "Don't tell Santa I don't like him because then he won't bring me any presents." We didn't even try for a picture. It's just not worth it. She did get her picture taken with Santa at preschool, so at least we have that. She's standing with the preschool director, with her hand in her mouth, not smiling. It's great.

This is not our house!!

This house is on the end of our street, on the corner. Thankfully it's not right next to us. Keith got this video for me, but there were people standing outside, so he wasn't able to get close enough to hear the music. The lights are blinking to the music. I like Christmas lights, but this is a little crazy. It's one of several reasons we call this the crazy house.

Can you even tell that he got a haircut?!

beforeafter
This boy is mad that he had to get his hair trimmed yesterday. You can't even really tell. That's what he gets for being a faker, and acting like he needed to stay home. I think we nipped that in the bud!!

Granny and Granddaddy

Here are a few more pictures from Thanksgiving. Chloe really enjoyed seeing GG and Granddaddy. (The kids call Granny 'GG' so they don't get confused with Keith's mom, who is Granny to them.) We always stay until Sat. to have an extra day to visit with them. Chloe isn't a big fan of crowds, so Thanksgiving day really isn't her thing. She definitely enjoyed the next day though. She stayed with GG and Granddaddy for a few hours while Keith and I went shopping. We were planning on taking her with us, because usually she's always ready to go shopping, but not that day. She cried to stay with them! So, we left her there. We heard some of the funniest stories when we got home. Chloe had a blast having them to herself, and I think they had a good time too! :) Here of some of the stories:

• Chloe loves to brush people's hair. Well, Aunt Lacey let her brush her hair, but she had to go home. So, GG let Chloe brush her hair. So Chloe said, "GG, sit on the floor so I can brush your hair!" She has no concept of age.
• Chloe asked GG to make biscuits for lunch, and of course she got them. GG's biscuits are a favorite of all of us, but it hurts her hands to make them, so she doesn't do it as often. I think Keith was a little jealous! :)
• When they sat down to eat lunch, Chloe and GG were sitting on the couch using a tray, but Granddaddy sat down in his recliner. Chloe told him he needed to come sit with her and GG on the couch. He asked her why, and she said, "Because I love you." So, the three of them sat side-by-side on the couch to eat lunch! I love picturing that!!
  
• Granddaddy likes to eat his biscuits with syrup, but Chloe decided to dip hers in milk. She told him that he didn't know what was good! She kept saying it too, even on the way home the next day. She couldn't believe someone would eat their biscuits like that!
• Chloe and Granddaddy had a game where they would throw little stuffed toys back and forth. Chloe would laugh so hard she couldn't breathe.
  
• Chloe asked if GG would go sit and play with the toys with her!
• She also asked her to run with her.
• GG was letting Chloe play doctor when Chloe told her she had boogers in her nose. GG wiped her nose and asked if that was better. Chloe said, "No, you still have some."

Thanksgiving in Georgia

This first picture is actually the serious one.

We had to promise to take a silly one to get the first one. Some of them got into it a little more than others!

Chloe found a buddy! He's so cute!!

The kids love to go to Granny and Granddaddy's house. The boys play outside the whole time, only coming in the eat and sleep. I'm pretty sure they would live there if we let them. Another reason they love it is all the boys. When they're all inside, it seems like there's 20 or 30 of them, but really there are about nine or ten, not including the older ones. (I think I counted correctly, but you never know.) Chloe has quite a few girls to play with also, but she's just as comfortable around all the boys. They're really sweet with her too. She wouldn't call them by name, but she would describe which one she was talking about by the color of their shirt.
I regret not getting a picture of all the kids, but I was too busy eating, talking, and pretty much doing nothing! These pictures are the day after Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoyed seeing everyone!
I promise the stories about Chloe are still coming. I had to post something about the boys first though. It can't always be about Chloe!! (I don't think anyone has ever told her that though!)

Here's ....something.

I have not had any time lately to blog. I have some pictures from Thanksgiving to put on here, but by the time I have a few minutes, I'm too tired. So, here's a picture of Chloe. This is how she wanted to wear her hair to preschool yesterday. She wanted two braids, so I put one side up like this, just to get it out of the way. That's when she decided it was the look she wanted. The funniest thing about it is she did it to be funny. When I picked her up in the afternoon, she said, "No one laughed at me." And she was disappointed. I would not have expected her to want everyone to laugh at her.
Coming soon...stories about Chloe and the things she said to her Great Granny and Granddaddy.

Chloe is thankful for...

This is what Chloe made yesterday in Sunday school. That girl just cracks me up!

Preds game

We got to go to a Predators game on Monday. It wasn't really for Avery's birthday, it just happened that way. It was military appreciation night, so we got to go for free! You can't get much better than that. Plus, the seats were good, not in the nose bleed section. We really enjoyed watching the game, even though we didn't always know what was going on. It's definitely fun to watch though because it's so fast paced. Brady is now a Preds fan, specifically a TooToo fan. I think it's because he hit the hardest and was in the penalty box the most! Thankfully, my mom was able to come watch Chloe. We enjoyed getting to hang out with just the boys, and I know Mom and Chloe had fun. I don't think Chloe would have liked how loud it was at the game. We had to leave before it was over because it was a school night, but we got hot chocolate on the way home, so that made it better.

Happy Birthday Avery!!

Today is Avery's birthday, and I now have an eleven year old! I can't believe it! We've been celebrating for a week now, and we'll finish it off tonight with dinner and a Preds game. He doesn't even know about the hockey game yet. I just wanted to put a few pictures of Avery from the past few years. He's changed so much! He's getting so big, and I know we're going to be looking eye to eye pretty soon. He's an awesome kid, and I'm so proud of him!
I think we're all adjusted here finally, and he's having a good year at school. He has good friends at school and church, and he even looks forward to going to school. I'm so thankful that he's happy this year.

Happy Birthday Avery! I hope you have a great day!! I love you!

This is what I've been doing.

I've been neglecting my blog lately, all because of Facebook. I'm really quite annoyed with myself, but I just can't stop! I need help.

I should have known she was too quiet!!

Chloe proudly showed me her pink toenails, while they were still wet! Notice the little spot on the carpet also. That's awesome.
Earlier today, Chloe asked me to paint her nails, so I did. I told her we weren't doing toes today. She asked if she could paint mine, and then asked if she could paint her own. I thought we were in agreement on the answer, but apparently not. The second picture is after I took her nail polish out of her room. She got it in a makeup set, and it has never occurred to me that it shouldn't stay in her room. I never thought she would attempt painting her nails on her own. I had to smile about the whole thing, but where she couldn't see me. It was really cute, but at the same time, I had to make sure she understood that she can't do it again. Parenting is such a balance.

Fall colors

This is how Chloe hiked the whole time!









We spent the day at Renee and Chuck's yesterday. The drive was beautiful! We have some pretty trees around here, but nothing like they have there. I couldn't stop taking pictures! Believe or not, I didn't put them all on here. We enjoyed getting to spend some time with them, and we even went on a hike. It was a much needed break from school.

Halloween

I've been tagged

My friend Kelli tagged me to come up with six random things about myself. Random should really be my middle name!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random Things about me in no particular order:

1. I'm entirely too dependent on the computer (internet, email, blogging, facebook, etc.). I should really find a hobby.
2. I'm not sure what I'm going to do once Chloe goes to school, but I don't think I can go back to working and not being my own boss. I know the next few years will go by quickly, so I'm already trying to figure it out!
3. I can punt a football. I was outside playing with the boys, and discovered it was really fun to try.
4. I'm equally terrified of stomach bugs and flying.
5. I'm addicted to seeing how much money I can save at the grocery store. It is very difficult for me to buy something not on sale or without a coupon.
   
6. I played fantasy football for three years. I won our league the first year, came in second the next, and then lost miserably last year. I'm done playing because it's not fun anymore.

Now I'm tagging Renee, Carrie B., Carrie Mc., Jennifer, Julie Beth and Wendy.

I hate coming up with titles, so I'm not going to.

The boys have been really enjoying their bikes lately. They discovered skidding the other day, and that occupied them for a while. (it also drove the dogs in the neighborhood crazy!) Then Keith showed them how to jump on the curb. He even took a turn himself, and on Avery's bike! I don't think he'll be doing that again, if the huge bruise on his calf hurts half as bad as it looks!! You have to look closely in the picture to see that Avery's off the ground. That's about all the air they caught, and that's just fine with me. I didn't get a good picture of Brady but I'm sure they'll be back out there soon enough.

I think we need to get a bed rail!

Chloe recently got a new bed. It's a big bed too, meaning high off the floor. (I have a whole post about her new bedroom suit, but I want to get her room ready first.) Anyway, we've been meaning to get a bed rail for it so she doesn't fall out, but we just haven't done it yet. We check on her every night just to make sure she's in the middle of the bed. We also put a pillow beside her. Well, a couple of nights ago, this is what we found. I'm pretty sure we should make getting a bed rail top on the priority list!! And yes, we moved her back on the bed!

Pinkalicious

The boys recently had a book fair at school, so we let the kids all pick out a book. I showed Chloe a couple of books, but she found what she wanted. Pinkalicious. Once she found it, she wouldn't even look at anything else. That was just over a week ago, and it's still the only book she wants to read at night, or any other time, for that matter. She has pretty much memorized it by now. When she's resting in her bed during the day, I can hear her in there reading it. Some of the pages she remembers exactly what it says. It's so cute. She's never really had a favorite anything. You know, something that she doesn't want to go anywhere without. The boys were the same way. None of mine have ever had loveys, not that I didn't try, and it's always bothered me. I've wondered why some kids cling to a certain comfort item, and others don't. I guess this is just a phase she's in right now, because she now has a favorite stuffed animal too! Actually she has two favorites, a doggy and a kitty. Whether it's a phase or not, I'm happy. I'll be reading Pinkalicious every night until she doesn't want me to read to her anymore!!

You want WHAT for Christmas?!

Today at lunch, I was asking the kids what they want for Christmas. They named some stuff, like cell phones and more video game stuff, neither of which are going to happen. Then Avery said something that totally took me by surprise. He said he wanted a baby sister. WHAT?! Is this some kind of joke? Brady added that he wanted a baby brother. Then they argued about which one would be better to have. Meanwhile I'm still just sitting there stunned. Finally I manage to tell them that they're not going to get either. Seriously, I don't know where all that came from today. They never talk about stuff like that. Maybe it's all the babies joining our extended family lately. Whatever the reason, I hope they forget about that request before Christmas.

Crazy hair

Chloe took this picture of the boys, which is why they're being so goofy. Okay, so they're always goofy.


I put the boys' hair up in a ponytail on the top of their heads, but they wouldn't let me take a picture. I even promised I wouldn't blog about it. (that would have been a hard promise to keep!) I asked Chloe if she wanted a ponytail on the top of her head, and she was all for it. Then I figured I should join in the fun. Chloe got a kick out it that. All five of us were in our bathroom tonight goofing off. It's funny how those are the moments I think are the most fun, and memorable. The boys were mostly looking at their muscles in the mirror!
Chloe loves to brush my hair. She thinks it's hilarious how big it gets. I tried to get a better picture of it afterward, but it was too hard to see.