Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Living with a teenager!

Our sweet little man has been fairly interesting to live with lately. I promise you the day he turned 13 something in him snapped and he has been in FINE FORM. He truly is, for the most part, precious. Kind, thoughtful, respectful, funny, a great big brother and all around happy child. He has also always been one to drop a few funny lines on me over the years and he is still catching me off gaurd from time to time  and making me laugh so hard that I nearly wet my pants. And, even though I "think" that I will remember all these silly little stories, I know that one day they will slip my mind, so I wanted to write them down for my memories sake. Here are a few of the things that he has said in the past few weeks that have both infuriated us, left at as a loss for words, or made us laugh out loud.

*We were having a simply normal afternoon. He and I were standing across the bar from one another in  the kitchen talking about our day and what needed to be done that evening. I simply said, "Hey, when you are done with your snack, could you please switch the laundry over?" He then dropped his snack, threw his arms in the air, and attacked,"WHY DO WE HAVE TO DO LAUNDRY? LAUNDRY IS STUPID. I HATE LAUNDRY. STUPID LAUNDRY. WHY DON'T WE HAVE A ROBAOT TO DO THAT? STUPID LAUNDRY!!!!!" First of all, we don't even say the word "stupid" in our house, but, that was the least of the issues.  I calmly said "Ok. Clearly we have laundry because we like to wear clean clothes. If you would like to wear dirty ones, go right ahead, but for now you need to get your happy hiney in there and switch the laundry. And furthermore, we DO have a robot that does the laundry. It is called the 'Washing Machine' Now hush up."  I am telling you it was like he was from another planet! He did the laundry and hasn't said another word about helping with the laundry or the robot.

*Randy has TERRIBLE hearing. Chandler is REALLY soft spoken. This is generally cause for arguments around here. Randy is CONSTANTLY saying "What? Speak up son." And usually Chandler says something like "You are deaf." rolls his eyes a little bit and then repeats himself. One afternoon, it went something like this.... Randy- "What did you say?" Chandler- "I said it loud enough for this whole house to hear me and I am NOT repeating myself!" I thought Randy's head was going to spin around. I COULDN'T believe that he said it. It is SO not like him. That boy is testing his parents like crazy. It is funny now, but at the moment-it was NOT pretty!

*And finally.... there is a sweet family that lives across the street from us. They have a young boy and then two teenage daughters (who by the way, are BEAUTIFUL). Little brother thinks that Chandler is great and wants to play with his ALL the time! And Chandler will always say yes and happily goes over to their house and plays. He has NEVER once mentioned the girls (or the tons of super cute friends that are over there all the time too). Well... the other night I was over there too, and on our way back across the street, I said "Dude. Are you telling me that you have NEVER noticed how cute those girls are? I mean, it's fine if you have, I would think it was weird if you hadn't." He looked over his shoulder at me with a HUGE grin and  said "Mom, c'mon. I am weak. I AM a man!" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! I laughed so hard.

He is really so entertaining. We are blessed every day (even the ones that we want to ring his neck and throw him in the dryer) by him and the young man that he is growing up to be.  I am not sure what other "teenage" moments are around the corner, I am positive there will be some doosies, but I am going to treasure each one!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

THE NORRIS FAMILY

This is a special family to us. Really they are like family.
We love them so very much. They are the people that you call
when you need a piece of furniture moved, a quick bite to eat,
your hair fixed (thank you amber), help fixing something around the house
(thanks scott), or someone to run to your side when your family is in crisis.
It was a joy to FINALLY get to 
have a session with them!
i LOVE this picture of scott & amber. love it!
this is kaylyn.
 she is a MESS. and so darn cute. she defiantly has a mind of her own!

this is big sister mikayleigh.
 she is truly one of the most
precious children EVER! and just look at those eyes of hers! 
so BEAUTIFUL!!!



this is the "family" picture. it is SO them.
amber looks great. scott is trying to get kaylyn to cooperate.
mikayleigh is rolling her eyes at her sister.
and kaylyn is in her own world and is NOT interested in the "family" picture
thank you norris family! 
i love yall so much!

Monday, June 08, 2009

Sterling and Chandler




These two adore each other! I love watching them. Sterling looks at Chandler in a way that she doesn't look at ANY ONE else. As an only child, it really is fascinating to see the relationship that they have with one another. Precious. 


Sterling is 6 months old!

We can't believe that our girl is 6 months old! We had some family pictures taken again. She WAS NOT HAPPY!!! This sweet little girl is always smiley and happy and Miss Personality...except for on the day of these pictures. She was a CRAB! We finally stuck her in the bath tub (her favorite pass time). Even though she wasn't super happy, I do love that we have these photos of her in the tub. She really does LOVE it and I love all those rolls and I love when her eye lashes are wet and stick together. So cute. Enjoy our little lady bug! (pictures are by Kate Mefford- she is fab)


Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Sterling @ 6 months
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Chandler Garrett is 13!!!!


13. 
I can barely wrap my brain around it. 
13!
Every year, I am sure like every other mother, I can't believe that my baby is another year older. Another year further from the tiny little baby that scared and thrilled me all at the same time. And another year closer to leaving me to be on his own, in his own world. Also, every year, I have another thought that maybe not all moms have. Every year, with out fail, I sit in amazement, that we are BOTH still alive. Not just alive, but THRIVING, and HAPPY. Since I was such a baby when I had him, I just prayed and prayed that I somehow wouldn't hurt him or lose him, or screw him up beyond repair (I am also amazed at  the same for me). I have done my fair share of messing up, no doubt, but with the sheer grace of God, we are here. We are blessed. We are healthy-mentally, physically, and emotionally (relatively speaking). 
13.
I am so so proud to be this kids mom. He is funny. He is kind. He has a tender heart. He is smart. He is ornery. He has a great laugh. He is inquisitive. He loves to read.  He is creative. He is an amazing big brother. He loves Jesus. He is loyal. He loves his family. He is talented. He is a pure JOY. 

This year for his birthday, he chose to not have a "party" with the bounce house and all that mess (first sign of a teenager). He picked to go to a birthday lunch at Los Vaqueros (he loves mexican food) then we wandered the Stockyards, rode the mechanical bull, and went through the human maze (so fun). We also had "family" birthday at our house. He requested mom's famous hamburgers and a peanut-butter cup cake. And of course, no party at our house is complete with out the "Birthday Sombrero" 

He's a teenager now. A whole new world is before us. I can't wait to enjoy this part of his life and share it with you!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

So this is my attempt to "catch up" We have had SO much going on and I will never truly be on top of things, so here are a few quick points and pictures so you can see what we've been up to!


This was Easter morning before church...so so cute!
Our sweet friend Elizabeth got to marry her best friend in April... 
no picture of her, but here we are after the wedding. We are SO happy for her...
(Jaclyn Hatcher, Me, Kim Kaercher, Linsey Bellows)
Our girl LOVES a bath! Look at those rolls! So precious!
Sterling @ 5 months!
....and @ 6 months.


She is teething, and this is her LOVING a cold piece of watermelon!
She chewed on this for a long time and was a happy happy girl!

We bought a camper (we are officially trailer trash) In April, we took our very first camping trip to Glen Rose, TX. We had a great time! 
This is us at the MOD. We walked 3 miles and raised $2450!!!
We are thrilled with our success and are already looking forward to next year!
In May, we went to Sea World. We camped out and celebrated birthdays with dear friends!
This was Sterlings first time in the pool! She was super happy about it!
Us at a show at Sea World show. So Fun!

There have been some other important events too that I will give their own posts.
So, look for mothers day, Chandler's 13th birthday and Sterling is 6 months old coming soon!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Just wanted to say that "Yes, we are still alive" We have been crazy, nuts, busy, and I can't seem to get long enough to blog about my darling little family. Randy has brought it to my attention that the "tiny girl" is not at the top of our blog and "he just doesn't like that" So, I guess that now that she's 6 months old I should include her in our blog header like good mommy would. I promise that I will try to get better about updating so that those who actually look at this can see what we are up to. AND....since ALL posts are better with a picture, here is one from our quick trip to Sea World a couple of weeks ago. Have a great day! Blog ya later!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Quick Post....

We had an Awesome morning at the MOD walk! So many thing to share! Here is a quick look...I will follow up with more later!

ENJOY!!!! (we sure did!)

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Friday, April 03, 2009

I LOVE MY 12 YEAR OLD!!!! 

So, we are in the car tonight. Chandler has NOT STOPPED talking for the last 3 or 4 hours....litterally. (wonder where he gets that from?) When he is like this there is NO stopping him, he just goes on and on. But, I never want to tell him to "Hush" because I know there will be a day that he won't want to talk to us at all, so we try to not discourage it. Also, when he is like this, he tends to say some VERY funny things. Tonight was no exception. We were discussing "dating" and all that and here is what was said....

Chandler- "Isn't the person you date supposed to be your best friend? Like, aren't you supposed to want to spend alot of time together?"

Me- "Well, no not really. You should each have your own friends and your own lives outside of your 'girlfriend' " (this is my attempt to teach him not to let some cute little chicky-poo dominate all of his time when he starts dating-a mom can try can't she?"

Randy- "Alot of times you date people who aren't anything like you. You know, opposites attract"

Chandler- "Hmmm... you mean like you and Mom? She's "artsy" and you're "fartsy"

I nearly wet my pants. The kid speaks the truth I tell ya! That couldn't be more on the money, of our relationship. :)

I love that kid! 

Hi Everyone!!!!

Just wanted to give a little update on our March of Dimes walk. We are so amazed and really blessed by those who have been able to donate to "Team Sweet Cheeks"  As of this morning we are at $2185!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!?! SO EXCITING!!!! Not only that, we are up to 30 walkers!!! Quick shout out to our team....

*Carolyn Bussey *Scott Norris
*Jaclyn Hatcher *Amber Norris
*Hunter Hatcher *Mikayleigh Norris
*Chad Kaercher *Kaylyn Norris
*Kim Kaercher *Ken Norris
*Blake Kaercher *Sharon Norris
*Callie Kaercher *Richard Sharpton
*Keri Vaughan *Sharon Sharpton
*Trinity Vaughan  *Jesse Sutton
*Thomas Vaughan *Keren Sutton
*Kristie Ezell *Sharon King
*Levi Black *Randy Cheeks
*Heather Black *Tomi Cheeks
*Neeley Black *Chandler Patterson
*Will Black *Teresa Blackmon

We are thrilled! As you can see we have several families and sweet little ones joining us! It is not too late for you to be a part of our team OR to donate! To be on the team, just let me know (asap) that you want to walk and also give me your size t-shirt. Those HAVE to be ordered by Tuesday, so if you would like one, I need to know soon. :) To donate, click here. Please feel free to forward our link to those you work with, family, and friends. The site will give them Sterling's story and picture, why we are walking, and  how to donate or even join our team. We are still planning on a small breakfast that morning and picnic lunch afterwards (with a cake too!). This is going to be so great and we are so happy that you are all taking this journey with us, if  it is financially, walking, or  sending your sweet thoughts and prayers our way! 

Hope to hear from some more of you soon! :)

And...Just because a post is better with a picture....
Here is the reason we are walking! Pretty sweet, Huh?!?!