More photography from Chase

At Aunt Mary's birthday party, Chase grabbed the camera again! (That kid just loves to take pictures!) And, here is what he managed to capture...

Brother!














Mommy!














Daddy!















Big Granddad aka "Biggie"!














And then....we just had to grab the camera back and take a pic of this silly guy! Meet the photographer himself!

Halloween Artwork!

Here is some recent artwork the boys did for Halloween!

Chase's Monster.














Chase's Haunted House.

















Cole's spooky pic!

Camping with the Cub Scouts!

Cole and Daddy went camping with the cub scouts this weekend! They packed up the old truck with their tent, sleeping bags and gear and headed down to City Lake! They had a good time...although not much sleep! Turns out, the camping area had a few flaws: (1) their tent was positioned under a huge street light!, (2) trains run by the area a few times each hour, and (3) it is near a wildlife preserve so they received a 5:30am wake-up call from the monkeys and gorillas at feeding time!!! With this first trip under their belts, they will be more prepared next time! (Or at least bring ear plugs!!!)


Here are a few pictures from the campout!

Report Card -- 1st Quarter, 2nd Grade

This afternoon was a parent-teacher conference at Cole's school. All in all, he is doing well in school. All A's and B's on his report card!

An "A" in math? Can't figure that one out. He can't possibly be related to his parents with a grade like that. :)















Cole is still struggling with focus/attention issues. However, that is to be expected for him. Not much we can do, really. If we adjust medication to help with attention, then we will take away from the progress he has made with his behavior. And, honestly, I'd much rather he behave at school (and do more homework each night) than try to adjust anything at this point.

I'm proud of his grades so far! And, we'll continue on into 2nd quarter!

Practice

Why would a post entitled "Practice" have a picture of Cole in front of a tent? Good question!

Cole recently joined the cub scouts. And, next week, he will be going on his first official camp out with the pack. Camping. As in, sleeping outside, no running water, peeing in the woods, coyotes howling in the distance, you get the idea. A very different experience for a little boy with Asperger's Syndrome who doesn't handle change very well.

So, tonight after dinner out and spending the evening at a cruise night, Daddy got the bright idea that maybe tonight should be a practice run with camping. So, at 9:00pm, Daddy and Cole were outside trying to set up a brand-new tent, reading the directions with a flashlight. Of course, Chase didn't want to miss a single second of the action, so he had to stand by the window and watch!

About an hour later when the tent was up, the new sleeping bags rolled into it, and all the equipment gathered for our impromptu campout, we finally got the boys settled down and to bed. Cole thought brushing his teeth outside and positioning himself in the tent where he could see the full moon were both awesome!

There were no meltdowns and the practice camping experience was a success! (Well...except for the fact that the ground was a little harder to sleep on than Daddy had remembered!) Cole handled the entire experience like a trooper! And, he was even more amazed at the nature he had never noticed before. He was up several times throughout the night....

"Dad -- Can you see that MOON???"

"Dad -- Can you hear that coyote howling?"

"DAD -- DID YOU KNOW THE SUNRISE HAS PURPLE AND HOT PINK IN IT?!?!?"

Yes....he was up at dawn....as were the rest of us. There was no sleep for anyone when he came bounding in the door at dawn, running through the house in his hiking boots, yelling, "MOM, CHASE -- You should see the sky!!!"

Ah...yeah, buddy. Its great! *yawn* (Naps were definitely in order the next day!)

A Great Way to Spend the Day... A Fall Festival and a Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Today was a perfect fall day! A little crisp in the morning, turning into a fantastic and warm afternoon. We spend the day outside and enjoying it!The day started with Daddy driving his 1928 Model A truck to Harrisonville. That city was holding its fall festival, called "Burn District Days." Mommy and the boys arrived a little later. We walked around the town square, visited all the booths, ate lunch on the sidewalk, and even got to catch a science show that the boys just loved! The boys watching the show. Cole was even hollering out the answers at times!

Homecoming

Homecoming in our small town in a big deal--a VERY big deal! The entire town is either in the parade or watching the parade. School lets out early, and not just the high school. The entire district is out at 12:30 and everyone heads to the parade.

Chase and Mommy picked Cole up from school today, dropped him off at the Cub Scout float, and then headed downtown to stake out our spot for the parade. I guess we must have planned it just right as we parked on the parade route and literally got to sit in our lawn chairs by the car and watch the entire parade in front of us! Best seats in the house!

Since we knew would be waiting well over an hour for the parade to reach us (we were at the end of the route!), we packed our lunch and ate while we waited. Chase loved sitting in his lawn chair in the STREET of all places with a lunch box full of treats to eat while we waited.

Here he is....using his banana as a telephone and making a few calls!

Here comes Cole's float! Unfortunately, Cole was on the other side (grrrr!) so I didn't get a picture of him actually riding the float!

The high school marching band! Chase was in awe watching the band come by. He LOVED the drums...especially the quads!

Chase -- dressed for the football game (in his Roosters shirt!) and doing his best rooster imitation! :)

Marching band hitting the field. Chase LOVED this!

Dixie Stampede, Round 2

Chase spent the morning reenacting the Dixie Stampede! (Told you the boys were very impressed by that show!) Who knew a long Swiffer duster pole with a cowboy boot attached would make such an awesome horse?

Ride 'em cowboy!

A couple more pics from the Branson trip

Look at these two adorable little guys!!! Our Branson tradition has been to eat Krispy Kreme on Saturday mornings when we are in town. And, since that is about the only time we let these guys anywhere near a donut shop, they go crazy!
















On the way home from Branson, we stopped in Springfield at Bass Pro Shops. The boys loved the store (since it way WAY bigger than the one we have in KC). And, their favorite part was sitting on all the 4-wheelers!

Dixie Stampede

This weekend, we took a short trip to Branson!  We have been wanting to go back to Silver Dollar City for sometime.  But also, we wanted to take the boys to The Dixie Stampede.  While we thought they might enjoy the show, little did we know that they would actually be asked to participate in the show! 

Their job?  Chasing chickens!  The premise of the show is the North vs. South during the Civil War.  And, audience participation is required for the competition at the show's finale to see which side wins the war. We were on the South's side, and the boys were paired against 2 other children to chase chickens from one end of the arena to the other, with the goal of being the first team to get their side's chicken to cross the finish line first.  Unfortunately, the South did not prevail during that competition, but the boys sure had fun!  Cole chased that chicken as fast as he could!  And, Chase?  Well, he chased Cole! (Unfortunately, I don't have a single picture of them since photography was not allowed.  Sigh...)

All in all, the boys loved Dixie Stampede!  Cole was completely mesmerized by the entire show.  And, when the horse riders were doing stunts, including jumping through a ring of fire, Cole's mouth was literally hanging open! 

Aside from the show, we also had dinner there.  And, that was quite the experience as there is no silverware.  Dinner consisted of soup, a whole chicken, sliced pork, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and apple turnovers.  And, we ate everything with our hands! I thought for a minute that Cole might have a meltdown....Only, I wasn't sure if would be over the fact that a waitress plopped an entire chicken on his plate or the fact that he was going to get his hands dirty eating it. Fortunately, he got over it quickly since the show distracted him. And, even though he had greasy hands and shoes full of sand from chasing chickens, he didn't mind a bit. And, walking to the car afterward, the boys were already asking to go back again!

As a prize and "thank you" gift for participating in the show, the boys each received a medal, an autographed post card from Dolly Parton and a book! It was truly an evening they won't soon forget!

Meet the newest Cub Scout!