Christmas is getting SO fun! The boys are both so excited for Santa & presents, and we're sticking a little bit of the Christmas story in as well. They are also loving all the Christmas movies, and here they are watching the Grinch. They were engrossed, and we've been watching it before bed quite a bit these days.

A Pirate's Life

Grady is getting more and more into playing dress up...he really enjoys super heroes, but every once in a while he likes to explore his pirate side :)

Horsing Around

Leave it to Chase to use a church Christmas display as actual entertainment :)

...AND who says you can't have fun for 1 cent!!

Church Bells!

The boys played bells at church on Sunday, and this is their pre-performance picture! They were supposed to be festive, so we busted out the Christmas clothes!

Overall, they did great! Grady played everything he was supposed to...and Chase, well he just played EVERYTHING! He just rang those bells till he decided to scold the kids around him for being "too loud". It sent laughter through the crowd, and red cheeks to Nick & my faces :)

Trimming the Christmas Tree!

We managed to get moved into the new house, and we were ready to start the Christmas holiday! Thanksgiving was kind of a blur, so I'm definitely focused on a fun & entertaining Christmas!

 Both boys were REALLY excited to help decorate the tree (chaos!), so Nick helped Chase get the spots up high.

 Grady took his turn, and was excited to talk ALL about what he wanted from Santa :)

 Tree is complete! Can't believe we've gotten this far on housework!

Chase in the Rudolph headband...they both think it's HILARIOUS when I wear it. Someday I will put it on, and they will be mortified...so I'll take these cheap laughs now :)

Thanksgiving Feast!!

This year for Grady's school Thanksgiving celebration, Gram met Grady for his Thanksgiving feast! I had Chase, but I wanted someone to be there to mark the event with him, and he was glad to have her!

 Grady spreading a little Thanksgiving "peace"

 The "feast" consisted of pumpkin bread, goldfish & raisins. Of course, Grady only wanted the goldfish, and asked for seconds :)

Grady & his gal pal, Ella-they look SO cute!

Happy Birthday Davey!

We celebrated Davey's birthday at Donatos Pizza this year, and we treated him & his housemates to pizza & cake. Davey was most happy to open his gifts :)

 

 Loving Davey's new stylish glasses!

 Davey and his new house supervisor, Godfrey.

 Singing "happy birthday"!

 Chase has always been really good to Davey, and he was even more clingy when he saw Davey had CAKE!

Blowing out the candles!

Growth!

I bought a preschool workbook over the summer, and we try to do a page a day. One of things I've been working on with Grady is coloring a picture, and staying in the lines. I was pretty impressed when Grady finished this page without any instruction from me, AND the pics were colored the appropriate colors!

I've been so proud of the progress Grady has made this school year. Last year was more about him being comfortable at school, no crying, happy to go, etc. This year, he had no problems going to school, so I finally made the push to really work on the academics part. And it's paying off! At his parent/teacher conference his teachers said they were amazed at what he's accomplished in 26 days, and any Kindergarten teacher would be glad to have him. This was music to my ears!

Happy 3rd Birthday Chase!!!

3 years ago, Chase Davidson Hague came into this world 5 weeks before he was supposed to, and he's been doing things his way ever since! I love this little boy so much, and he will always be my firework!

 We started the morning with waffles & a candle! He loved being sang to, and loved blowing out his candle...I had to light it 3 times so he could keep blowing it out :)

Chase also started a class at the Y Thursday mornings, called Skillbuilders, which is a preschool-like atmosphere. I was shocked to peak in and see him so studious at the table quietly working a craft project. We also brought a birthday snack of mini oreos, so he loved being able to bring in the snack for everyone. This is his first experience away from mom, for 2 hours...and he did great!!! So proud!

CHASE'S 3rd BIRTHDAY VIDEO:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=117859353aa8f82ac33b8c6&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Chase's 3rd Birthday Party!

Chase's 3rd Birthday Party!!! Lots of friends & family came to celebrate Chase turning 3 yrs old, and Chase is definitely a man with his own mind, and I love him dearly!

 

Happy Halloween!!

What a COLD & RAINY Halloween! But Hurricane Sandy didn't bring these kids down!! They RAN the whole street, and LOVED every minute! These are memories we'll take to our new house!

 

 Chase was Lightning McQueen, and Grady was Spider-Man. Neighbors (& BFF's) Parker & Carson were Wolverine & Thor!

Parker & Grady loved running to each house together, BUT, Chase was the best at using his sweet voice to say "Trick-or-Treat" & "Thank you" while grabbing handfuls of candy from the neighbors before they could even stop him :)

Stonybrook Halloween Parade

Grady had his preschool Halloween parade, and he had a great day! He loved the party, and mostly loved that he got to wear his costume at school.

 What a difference a year makes...last year Grady cried & was TERRIFED of this parade. This year, he was 2nd in line, and smiled & waved to the crowd. Made me so proud!

 It was the year of superheros & princesses...

We also came to see Samantha at her parade, and she was SO surprised to see us!

Spider-man Meets Spider-man...

Grady was invited to a classmates house for a Halloween party, and Grady was SO excited to go to his friend's, Jeffery's, house. Up until this year, most of Grady's friends have been made through my friends and their kids, so it's really neat to meet a boy Grady has befriended completely on his own.  

 Grady has LOVED being Spider-Man this year. He has pretty much worn this costume the whole month of October :)

 Grady and Jeffery were BOTH Spider-Man, and I'm pretty sure their friendship blossomed from playing superheros on the playground.

They both were shooting us with their "webs" :)

Ahoy!

As part of Grady's swim lessons at the Y, they have a boat safety day, where they teach the kids how to be safe out on the water. I thought it was a great idea!

 

 Talking about always wearing lifejackets

 All aboard!

 Out in the "open water" (teaching them to keep all limbs in the boat)

And teaching them to make sure if they fall from a boat, or evacuate, always swim to safety.

Fall By Grady & Chase

What a great gift to have fall leaves & 80 degree weather! We were outside twice a day all week, and the boys LOVED playing in the leaves!

 

Stonybrook Fall Festival

I took Grady, cousin Samantha & Chase to the Stonybrook Preschool Fall Festival, and the kids had SO much fun! Grady & Samantha both go to school there, and I really enjoyed watching them run around together!

 

 Samantha & Grady! SO cute!

 They had a hay maze the kids loved (AFTER they all 3 agreed no one wanted to go through the haunted house), and they ran in there for a while.

 This was the FAVORITE activity-the corn box. There were a ton of kids playing in this, and all 3 were so good, and didn't get in any problems with anyone!

 

 They each got to pick out a pumpkin to decorate

 

 Here is Samantha decorating hers...

 ...Grady with his...

 ...and Chase checking out the candy bags they got. About right.

 Chase in the big chair. He wanted his picture taken :)

They also had a pig & tons of piglets!! The kids were fascinated!

Chase playing basketball. The only kid interested! He loved it!

Circle S Farms 2012!

We took our annual trip to Circle S Farms with the Hauser's, and we had great warm weather for a hayride! The kids had a really good time!

 

 Cousins!!!

 Grady is 3 1/2 ft! I have this same picture, and he was barely 2 ft tall!!

 Little Chase just edged past the 3 ft mark!

 Pumpkin picking!

 Grady found one!!!

 The Hauser's!

Our family! We just found out that morning we are having a baby boy! I couldn't stop smiling all day!