THE GARDOCKI FAMILY

Blowing Bubbles

2011-12-31T22:51:00.005-05:00

Today we blew bubbles in the kitchen.
It took Chase some time but he finally got the hang of it.

1st Family Membership Visit To The Zoo

2011-12-30T21:12:00.005-05:00

Jay got the family a year’s membership to the Philadelphia Zoo for Christmas. Today the weather was supposed to be great, so we went for the first time. We also asked Mee-Maw if she wanted to come and she was excited to join us.
We only stayed for about 2 hours, but we did see a lot of animals.

Chase’s favorite part of the zoo were the diggers at the construction site.

We can’t wait to go back again many more times in the coming year!

CARS, CARS, CARS!

2011-12-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

Chase and his many Cars characters watching the movie, Cars.

Addison's Birthday Party

2011-12-29T23:33:00.007-05:00

Tonight we celebrated Addison’s birthday and Scott and Gwen’s house. The meal was tasty and so was the cake.
After eating, it was time to open the presents.
Our favorite part of the evening was when the family joined in a marathon race around the house.

Jay's Parent's Christmas With The Myers Family

2011-12-28T23:10:00.013-05:00

This evening we went to Jay’s parent’s house for dinner and to finally celebrate Christmas with the Myers family. After eating, it was time for Missy, Tyler, Kayla and Emily to open their presents. Grump and Mee-Maw also got to open a few presents.
Chase was very excited because the Myers’ gave him 2 packs of Disney Cars toys. We had a good laugh at first because Grump told Chase that the cars stayed in the container. He tried rolling them a few times, but we then let him off the hook and opened them so he could play.

One other funny part of the evening was when Mee-Maw got out her dancing snowman. Chase and Kayla have some really good moves.

Trent And Amber's Christmas

2011-12-26T20:43:00.002-05:00

Today we went to Griff and Barb’s house to celebrate Christmas with Amber and Trent. All eyes were on Trent as he opened up several gifts from the family. Her really enjoyed the new wooden baseball bat.
Chase also got a present.

Thanks Amber and Trent for the present and the bow!

Family Christmas

2011-12-25T10:04:00.038-05:00

We were very excited to celebrate Christmas this year with Chase. Last year he had only been with us for about 2 months and we were unsure what he liked. This year was very different…Chase liked anything from the movie, Cars. When we woke up Christmas morning, we took chase, downstairs but did not show him the presents by the tree.
Instead, we had him open small stocking stuffer presents by his little tree.

We then had him walk into the other room where we had Lego Cars set up for him to play with.

We did have one more character from the movie, Mack hidden from him under the couch. He had been asking for Mack for months now and when he saw that he got Mack, his reaction was priceless.

While Chase played, we opened up our presents.

The big family present from Jay was a year’s membership to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Thank you to Dan, Elizabeth and Ethan Rosenfeld for donating the used Lego Disney Cars toys. Chase loves them a lot!

Grump And Mee-Maw Visit Christmas Day

2011-12-25T09:00:00.008-05:00

When we finished opening up our presents, we got a call that Mee-Maw and Grump were on their way over to our house. They came in with a lot of presents, including ones from Josh, Wendy and the girls.

Mee-Maw and Grump stayed for about an hour, but then we had to leave to go to Griff and Barb’s house. Thanks Mee-Maw, Grump, Josh, Wendy, Madalyn and Bailey. Merry Christmas!

Foulke Christmas

2011-12-25T08:01:00.011-05:00

After opening gifts at our house and with Mee-Maw and grump, we headed over to Griff and Barb’s house where we spent the rest of the day. When we finished eating, the kids were put to bed and then the adults opened the Pollyanna presents.

When the kids woke up from their naps, the real fun began.

Rosanna even got to join in on the fun.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T23:53:00.004-05:00

This year for Christmas Eve, we invited Jesse, Dave and Carol to our house. They arrived around 3:00pm and we ate dinner before going the Christmas Eve service at Calvary Chapel of Quakertown. When we got back from church, we opened up the presents.
We hung out a little bit more, but soon it was time to say goodbye. We had to get some sleep as we were going to have a very busy Christmas Day.

Doing Work

2011-12-21T22:09:00.007-05:00

Tonight we decided that we would take the arms off of Chase’s high chair so that he could sit with us while eating and use the table top instead of the tray. Jay grabbed his tools and Chase went into the toy box and pulled out his tools.

They both worked together and in no time, the arms were removed.

Present From Great Grandma Kay

2011-12-19T21:03:00.002-05:00

Today a package arrived for Chase from Great Grandma Kay.

Thanks for the AWESOME Drum!

Jesse, Amy and Chase Birthday Celebration

2011-12-11T23:00:00.013-05:00

Today we went to Griff and Barb’s house to celebrate Jesse, Amy and Chase’s birthday. After Chinese food, it was time for the presents.Amy then got her present from Jay and Chase. Jay spent over 2 hours working with Chase and another 2 hours to put together an audio file that played in a digital photo frame that displayed family photos. To make the audio file, he first wrote sentences that he wanted Chase to say. He then had Chase stand next to him at the computer while he first said each word and then Chase would repeat. Next, he used an audio program to isolate each word. Once each word was isolated, he put them together to form the sentences for Amy’s present. Here is the final result.

Chase's 2nd Year B-Day Party

2011-12-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

Chase will be 2 years old on December 12th. Last year we had a large birthday party, so this year we wanted to have a small party with just his small group friends.

We ordered pizza from La Cantina and it tasted delicious.

It was then time to open up the presents. Chase’s friends did a great job helping him rip them open.

We had ordered a Disney Cars cake for Chase. It is his favorite movie and he is obsessed with playing with his Cars toys all day long.

He did a GREAT job blowing out the candles…

and it tasted yummy too!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, CHASE!

Christmas Carols With Emily And Chase

2011-12-09T23:25:00.003-05:00

Tonight we went to Barnes and Noble in Center Valley to see Emily sing with her chorus class.

Earlier at snack this morning, Amy told Chase that we were going to hear Emily sing Christmas carols. He then gave us his own concert while he helped Amy sing “Little Drummer Boy” and “Praise Ye The Lord, Hallelujah!”

Mail Delivery

2011-12-02T18:05:00.001-05:00

Jay comes home from work and usually asks if the mail was gotten. If not, Jay carries Chase out to the mailbox. Jay opens the mailbox and gets the mail. Chase closes the mailbox and then Jay gives the mail to Chase. When they come back in the house, Chase consistently will spike the mail all over the floor. Take a look!

Visiting With Grandpa And Grandma

2011-11-26T23:40:00.005-05:00

This morning, Amy and Chase made cookies to take to Dave and Carol’s house this evening.

Chase especially did a great job adding the cinnamon sugar to the cookies.

We had to test the cookies to see how they tasted…they were delicious!

A few hours later, we went to Grandpa and Grandma’s house with Uncle Jesse.

After dinner, Amy, Jesse, Dave and Carol reminisced over some of Poppy’s personal items while Jay fixed the bathroom sink.
Chase enjoyed sitting in the oversized chair while watching cats on Animal Planet.

Setting Up The Christmas Tree

2011-11-25T19:32:00.003-05:00

We set up our Christmas tree this afternoon. At first Chase wanted and was very eager to help.

However, after only a few rows of branches, Chase got bored. We then had to set up the tree by ourselves…

while Chase played with his toys in the living room by his own already set up tree.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

2011-11-24T23:30:00.004-05:00

Last year for Thanksgiving morning, we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade with Chase. We decided that we would make it a family tradition so after breakfast, we turned on the television and enjoyed all the music, performances, floats and balloons.

Chase especially loved the Sesame Street float.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011.

Pancake Helper

2011-11-12T13:22:00.002-05:00

Jay had off from work today so we decided to make pancakes for breakfast. Chase wanted to help and he turned out to be a very good helper.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T23:20:00.003-04:00

Last year we did not do Halloween with Chase because he had only been with us for a few days. This year, we had the perfect costume for him to wear.

Even baby joined in on the fun of dressing up.

We only went to a few houses, but Chase still ended up with a lot of candy.

After visiting Mee-maw and Grump, we got home just in time to give out some candy to other children in the neighborhood.

October Snow?

2011-10-29T16:52:00.002-04:00

We got snow in October! Pretty crazy, but Quakertown and the surrounding areas got hit with 9+ inches of snow Saturday into Sunday. We played outside in the snow on Saturday when the snow was not very deep.

Then on Sunday, we took Chase outside again.

This time because the snow was so deep, Chase had a little hard time getting around.

The Toy Magazines Have Arrived

2011-10-24T13:31:00.004-04:00

The mail arrived this morning and as usual, Chase looked through the Walmart and Toys R Us ads to see if he could find photos of toys from the movie, Cars.

At one point, Chase kept obsessively pointing to a photo of a little blond girl.

Jay was a little bit worried, but then relieved when Chase then asked for his best friend, Avery. Thank goodness we did not have to have “the talk” with our 22 month old son.

Pocono Weekend With The Derstein Family

2011-10-23T23:08:00.016-04:00

This past weekend we went with Nate, Kara and Avery Derstein to their family house in the Poconos. On Saturday morning we celebrated Chase’s Gotcha Day as it has almost been one year since he arrived…how the time flies!

After playing with his present for a bit, Chase and Avery enjoyed painting at the table.

We then visited a local pumpkin patch to take photos and also picked a few pumpkins to take home with us.

Later that afternoon, we went into the town of Jim Thorpe and walked the trails down to the river. Chase and Avery really enjoyed skipping rocks.

We then hiked to an abandoned train tunnel and admired the view.

Chase and Avery had a fun time yelling and hearing the echoes inside the tunnel.

On Sunday, we again went into Jim Thorpe and had breakfast in one of the shops. We then walked around to all of the stores and window shopped taking a photo every now and then.

Sadly the weekend was over and we had to head home. Thanks Nate, Kara and Avery for a very fun mini vacation.

Farm Festival With Grandpa And Grandma

2011-10-15T23:43:00.005-04:00

Today we visited Grandpa And Grandma. They invited us to their house so that we could go with them to a local farm festival. Before breakfast, Chase looked at the many birds that Dave and Carol have in multiple cages throughout the house With our bellies full, we headed to the farm festival. There were animals to look at…

and many play areas for Chase to play.

What a perfect day!

A Package Has Arrived

2011-10-13T18:09:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Amy opened a pack of diapers for Chase. The box was left in the kitchen and this morning, Chase decided to climb in. What a flexible boy.

Changing Oil With Daddy

2011-10-10T18:27:00.003-04:00

Chase loves to help Jay when he is working on things around the house…this includes when Jay is changing the oil in the car. Today, he brought out his own tool box (shown in the photo) and tried to help Jay anyway he could.

What's That?

2011-10-08T14:52:00.000-04:00

This morning, Jay played a prank on Chase.

Fire Truck

2011-10-08T14:40:00.007-04:00

This morning while shopping at WalMart in Pennsburg, the East Greenville fire truck was set up for viewing. We were the only people looking at the truck, so the firefighter let us have free reign.

Calvary Chapel Of Quakertown Block Party

2011-10-08T13:05:00.000-04:00

After Shopping at Walmart and visiting the fire truck, we went to Calvary Chapel of Quakertown’s block party. In the church parking lot there was free food, games, inflatable’s and hay rides. The first thing that Chase wanted was a balloon.

After having a hot dog, Chase played on the inflatable obstacle course.

Amy then played a musical mats game with Chase.

And they WON!

We had a great free day of fun!

Going Down The Steps...Fast!

2011-10-05T22:59:00.007-04:00

When we taught Chase how to use the stairs, we wanted to make sure that he was safe. To make sure that he did not hurt himself when he went down the steps, we had him go down on his belly. Well, being a boy he figured out a way to make the "safe" way, fun, fast and not safe at all!

Here is another video showing Chase's excitement.

And finally, here is another video ending with Chase saying that he wants to do it more.

Making A Withdraw

2011-10-03T20:28:00.005-04:00

Chase loves going to the bank because he knows that he will most likely get a lollipop from the teller. This afternoon Jay gave Chase a withdraw slip to draw on while he waited for Jay to fill out his banking slips. When Jay looked up, he snapped this photo of Chase.

Jay had Chase give the teller his “filled out” withdraw slip. She jokingly said that she could not give him any money, but instead gave him a lollipop, which he happily accepted and enjoyed.

Dedication Of Chase

2011-10-02T19:01:00.003-04:00

This morning, Chase was dedicated at Calvary Chapel in Quakertown during the 9:00am service. We had been looking forward to this as we wanted to publicly express before our family, friends and church body our intent before the Lord that we will raise Chase according to His word and ways.

After the service, we invited friends and family members back to our house for lunch and dessert to celebrate Chase.

We ask that you please pray for our family and that God will continue to bless Chase and that one day he will accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.

New Back Pack

2011-09-17T21:21:00.003-04:00

Amy got Chase a back pack so that he can carry around a few of his toys when we leave the house. Jay loves this photo of him “putting out the vibe” when we were at Old Navy this evening.

2011 Family Vacation - Sandbridge, Virginia Beach

2011-09-10T23:18:00.026-04:00

We had a great time on our summer vacation at Sandbridge, Virginia Beach with Griff and Barb, Justin and the Godfrey’s. The house was AWESOME!

We spent many hours chilling inside of the house and also on the enormous back deck where we enjoyed the beautiful beachfront view. Sadly, Jay spent the first 4 days of the vacation in bed as he developed strep throat on the first night of vacation. We went to a local urgent care center 2 times before getting the proper medicine to help him get better. He did come out and socialize a few times the first 4 days, but by Thursday, he felt better and was ready for his vacation to begin.
We also spent many hours on the beach while the children played with the sand.

One day, Jay caught Griff dancing on the beach...not a pretty sight!

Another day, we made a Hershey Kiss sand castle with the children.

Once built, we tour down the sand castle and then buried Jay in the sand, turning him into a butterfly.

Chase wanted to be like daddy and also be buried in the sand. He did not like it very much.

Sunset photo of our family.

Several of the days, Barb and Griff went into the ocean to swim or boogie board.
Jay is not very fond of all the animals hidden in the ocean, so we played with Chase by the shore and just got a little wet.

We spent our time swimming in the outside pool...

and in heated indoor pool. Chase became quite a good swimmer on this vacation.

On Thursday, Griff, Scott, Braydon, Jay and Chase went to the Military Aviation Museum to see the old war planes and equipment.

Towards the end of the tour, Chase got pretty bored and occupied his time by walking back and forth on an extension cord.

On Friday, Justin left the vacation one day early. We were sad to see him go as we knew that our vacation was also coming to an end very soon.

Our vacation ended on Saturday as we packed up the car and headed out the door for the 7 hour drive home back to Pennsylvania.

Thanks Barb and Griff for another AWESOME vacation!

Spaghetti Head

2011-09-02T20:18:00.003-04:00

After dinner schedule…tubby time!

Getting Some Outside Play Time

2011-08-27T18:11:00.005-04:00

The past few months have been the wettest Pennsylvania has seen in a very long time. Today it was not raining, so Amy let Chase and Baby spend a lot of day outside playing in the front yard.

Visit With Davis Family In NC

2011-08-21T14:24:00.015-04:00

This past weekend, we visited the Davis family for the first time since they moved to North Carolina. We drove down Wednesday evening and arrived after 1:00 am. Shann had to work on Thursday, so we spent the day with Sarah, Caden and Alyssa. After breakfast, we went to a local thrift store to see if we could find any good bargains. Chase really liked the boxing headgear that the kids found buried in the toy section.
Alyssa liked it too.

After the thrift store, we took the kids to the park.

The kids, including Jay really like the one piece of playground equipment that spun around while you hung on it with your hands. They decided to try it while sitting on it. Boy did they have a fun time.

This photo of Chase, Caden and Alyssa is just adorable.

Before Shann arrived home from work, we went swimming in the neighborhood pool.

Shann got home just in time to watch Chase do a jumping into the pool countdown.

Later that evening, we went to Shann’s sister’s house. We had dinner and hung out with Shann’s dad and mom who were babysitting Shann’s sister’s kids.
The motorized cars were a lot of fun.

The next day, Shann got us free tickets to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham. They had so many things for the kids to see and do. They played music.

We walked a dinosaur trail that ended at a place where the kids could dig for dinosaur fossils.

Inside one of the buildings was a room that bred and released butterflies.

We also got to see many farm animals. Jay got freaked out when this cow got a little too close.

We then went inside the larger building where there were many hands on things for the kids to play with…including an indoor playground.

On the way home, we ate dinner and then went to a place that had go karts,
bumper boats,
and a ton of arcades.
The last day of our visit we went to Shann’s Merck employee picnic.
They had games set up for the kids to play and win prizes.
This video explains how Chase ended up with the stuffed animal in the photo above. She “tried” helping Chase throw a straw hat into a basket.

The best part of the picnic for Chase was that he got to play on the inflatables.

Sadly, Sunday morning went left to go home. We cannot wait to get together with the Davis’ again. We love you guys!

Iron Pigs Game

2011-07-31T22:47:00.010-04:00

We had been looking forward to going to an Iron Pigs game for some time now. Tonight we finally were able to go.

We met Jesse, Dave and Carol at our seats in the right field stands.

About the 5th inning, we took Chase to get his first ice cream helmet.

On the way out of the stadium, the ball girls were throwing soft Iron Pigs balls out into the stands. Jay was determined to get Chase a ball so he ran down the stands to get closer to the ball girls. When he came back, he had a ball in his hand and immediately gave it to Chase.

Chase held onto the ball the entire ride home.

Thanks Jesse, Dave and Carol for a fun Sunday afternoon of baseball.

Perkasie Wading Pool

2011-07-29T21:21:00.003-04:00

To cool off from the summer heat, Amy took Chase to the Perkasie wading pool. Barb, Gwen, Addison and Braydon also came to enjoy some fun in the water.

Freddy Hill Fun

2011-07-28T22:13:00.001-04:00

This afternoon, Amy and Chase went with Barb, Gwen, Addison and Braydon to Freddy Hills Farm to play a round of mini golf.

Halfway through the course, the children had to take a break to look at the ducks in the water.

It seemed like no one explained the rules of golf to the children as they all had their own way of playing.

Chase simply enjoyed putting the ball in the hole…and even that seemed hard to do.

At one point in the game, Chase found another hole to put the ball through. Thank goodness for Barb who came to the rescue to save the day.

After the round of golf, the children had some delicious ice cream.

Chase really loves ice cream.

Calvary Chapel Of Quakertown Picnic

2011-07-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

Today we went to the Molasses Creek Park for the Calvary Chapel of Quakertown picnic. It seemed like the entire church showed up to eat, play games and socialize.

Chase especially loved playing in the baby pool.

When it was time to clean up, Chase found the ice that was dumped and had himself an afternoon snack.

What a fun afternoon!

Chase's Adoption Finalization

2011-07-22T19:43:00.000-04:00

Today is a big day…Chase will finally be a Gardocki! Chase arrived on October 26, 2010 and immediately became part of our family. However, as mandated by the South Korean government, we were required to wait 6+ months before the adoption became final. Today is the day!

This morning, we woke up, had breakfast and got Chase slightly dressed for the ride to the Bucks County Court House for our 9:45 am hearing.
When we arrived, we got Chase completely dressed and walked to the court house.
Inside the court house, we met other friends and family members and had to wait until our hearing began.

Chase was very excited because he got a new toy car from Luke.

We were not allowed to have cameras inside the court room, but after the hearing we were able to get a photo of the Gardocki family with the judge.

We are please to introduce you to Chase Il-Wu Gardocki.

We then celebrated the day by having brunch at the Duck Deli.

As you can see, Chase really enjoyed his meal.

He also enjoyed the ice cream treat.

Outside, Chase got to open a few gifts…he loves toy cars and trucks!

Ecstatic, we drove home and had some family photos taken.

WE LOVE YOU, CHASE!!!

Chase Adoption Tribute

2011-07-22T13:48:00.000-04:00

Jay made a video that is posted on Youtube as a tribute to our son, Chase. Feel free to check it out. If you do watch the video, please be sure to leave a comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4h3elS6yx0

Golf Anyone?

2011-07-21T20:32:00.001-04:00

Chase loves to play with any kind of ball. Recently he got a toy golf set that he plays with all the time. He has a pretty good swing and it should not be long before something gets broken in the house.

Swimming At Grump And Mee-Maw's House

2011-07-11T20:42:00.007-04:00

It has been pretty hot that past few days, so this afternoon Jay came home from work and we decided that were going swimming at his parent’s house. After dinner, we packed up our swim stuff and headed over to Grump and Mee-Maws house. Jay’s sister and nieces are visiting from Georgia so we all jumped in the pool. Chase loves the pool and we think that in no time, he will be swimming all by himself.

After swimming around with Chase for some time, Jay got in a water battle with his nieces.

We are still not sure who won the battle, but after that, Jay told Madalyn and Baleigh that he could throw them high up in the sky. Baleigh went first and requested not to go too high.Madalyn is much braver and wanted to be thrown up as high as Jay could get her. He did not disappoint and Madalyn was full of excitement when she came up from under the water.

Once Chase saw what was going on, he too wanted Daddy to throw him up in the air.

We are not sure how it is possible, but every day Chase seems to be more and more like his Daddy…now he is also a daredevil.

Chase's First Braves Game

2011-07-09T20:02:00.005-04:00

This afternoon, Chase went to his first Atlanta Braves baseball game at Citizen’s Bank Park. That’s right, Jay says that as long as Chase does not care which team to cheer for, there will be no Phillies merchandise in our house.

We knew that Chase would not make it through the entire game, so we arrived at the stadium at the third inning.

When we got to our seats, Chase kept saying, “baseball.” He was also very excited and throughout the game would randomly look up and point to the Direct TV blimp that was flying overhead.

For some of the game, no one was seated in the seats in front of us so Jay and Chase were able to talk baseball strategy in the first row of upper deck.

We left at the end of the bottom of the 8th inning and even though we did not stay to see the Atlanta Braves pull out the 4-1 victory, we had a great time at our first of many baseball games.

Tractors, Tractors, Tractors

2011-07-02T22:16:00.007-04:00

Chase loves balls. In our house he has baseballs, footballs, golf balls, ping pong balls, soccer balls, and a basketball. He loves balls so much that “ball” was one of the first words that Chase ever said. Now that it is summer time, we are finding out that Chase also loves tractors. Whenever he sees a tractor, he gets excited. If we go to Lowes or Home Depot and Chase sees the tractors on display, he wants to ride them. Whenever Jay is out mowing the yard, Chase watches out the window yelling “tractor!” Tonight when Chase saw our riding mower out of the garage, he wanted to go outside and sit on it. Baby also came outside so Amy put them both on the tractor.

Sports Jamboree 2011

2011-06-26T22:46:00.005-04:00

This year, Jay went to the Sports Jamboree all by himself as Amy stayed home with Chase (too young), and Shann had just moved to North Carolina a few weeks prior. He was sad that he had to go alone, but once he got to the Fort Indian Town Gap, he had an awesome weekend clowning and reconnecting with all the kids and their family members.
As with past years, Jay performed a skit, "The Candy Store" at the Saturday evening talent show with another friend, Brian Adler.

Laundry Helper

2011-06-22T21:14:00.002-04:00

Today Chase “helped” Amy with laundry.

It was turned into a teachable moment for Chase to learn clothing identification and also how to repair the inside of a dryer. Check out the video.

Fish Family

2011-06-19T22:00:00.004-04:00

Since Chase loves the gold fish that he won at the Lacher And Associates summer carnival picnic and Jay did not want to have to flush a dead fish, we went to the pet store tonight and bought a five gallon fish tank. While at the pet store, we also bought five other fish that have now become part of the Gardocki family.

The fish do not have any names as of yet, but Chase sure does love looking at them each night before going to bed.

ADOPTION UPDATE - WE HAVE A FINALIZATION DATE

2011-06-18T23:59:00.001-04:00

Chase's adoption finalization hearing is on July 22, 2011 at 9:45am. We cannot wait to show the world our son. Only a few more days and Chase will officially be a Gardocki.

Lacher & Associates Summer Carnival Picnic

2011-06-17T22:09:00.008-04:00

Tonight was Amy’s company work picnic at Franconia Park. They had a carnival themed party and along with a catered meal, there are always a lot of other fun things going on.

One of the biggest highlights of the evening was a pie eating contest. There were initially four main competitors.

Then Amy joined the contest with her small pie.

The pie eating contest was tough to judge. See for yourself.

Ultimately a winner was crowned.

After the pie eating contest, we played our traditional wiffle ball game, said our goodbyes and then headed home with Chase and………………………………………….A FISH?????

Yes, we said fish. All evening, Chase wanted to look at the fish that were the main center pieces of each table. As a parting gift, all of the children got to take home one gold fish. We now have another family member and by the looks of how things are going, Chase seems to love the fish, so more may be on their way.

Father's Day Photos

2011-06-16T13:19:00.001-04:00

Amy took Chase to Portrait Innovations to have Father’s Day photos taken. Isn’t he adorable?

Davis Goodbye Party

2011-06-04T21:20:00.006-04:00

Tonight we had a party to say goodbye to our best friends. Shann and Sarah are moving to North Carolina as Shann has accepted a job transfer to be closer to family. We met at the Schreier’s house and enjoyed a grilled meal prepared by John.

After dinner, guys decided to play a few rounds of bocce ball.

Chase even decided to give it a try, but the balls were a bit too heavy.

After we came inside, the adults met to give some going away gifts and to also pray for the Davis family…what an emotional time!

Even though we acted like we were happy Shann and Sarah, the cake that we got for them said it all.

Before leaving, we gave Shann and Sarah a DVD slideshow of our many years of friendship.

GOOD LUCK DAVIS FAMILY...WE LOVE YOU!

Slide Time

2011-06-03T21:12:00.002-04:00

At small group this evening, the Derstein’s had a slide on their deck. Jay took this photo of Chase after his first nervous attempt. When he hit the bottom of the slide, he smiled and bravely climbed up the slide to do it again and again and again.

Special Visitors From Georgia

2011-05-27T21:05:00.001-04:00

Today we had a special visit from Jay’s aunt and uncle from Atlanta Georgia. Aunt Linda and Uncle Ray came to our house with Grammy and Chase entertained them for an hour or so.

It was a short visit and we were sad to see them go…but we can’t until Christmas when we will see them again.

Swimming Pool

2011-05-26T21:00:00.001-04:00

Today it was hot enough for Amy to break out the swimming pool in the garage. It only took us a few minutes to realize that Chase loves to swim.

Harleysville Carnival

2011-05-25T22:21:00.008-04:00

The Harleysville Carnival is in town and our small group minus the Derstein’s decided to go.

When we first got to the carnival, Maya and Luke went on a few rides.

We had no intention for Chase to go on any rides, but after watching Luke and Maya, Chase wanted to go on a ride. He had a great time on the car ride with Luke.

All of the children then went on a duck ride and they were able to fit in the same car allowing us to get plenty of photos.

Jay then took Chase for a ride on the merry-go-round.

Before leaving, Jay saw a carnival game that was giving away small basketballs for prizes. Since Chase loves all kinds of balls, Jay tried to win Chase a basketball prize.

Thankfully Jay only had to spend $4.00 to win the ball which Chase held onto as tight as possible for the rest of the evening.

Merry Mead Farm

2011-05-25T21:29:00.008-04:00

This afternoon, Amy and Chase went to Merry Mead Farms with Barb, Gwen, Braydon and Addison.

There were many animals on the farm to see and touch.

Look at how big Chase is.

After looking at the animals, it was time for some lunch in the shade.

What would a trip to Merry Mead Farm be without getting some ice cream? YUM!

Amy sure does love her days off that she can enjoy with our son.

Easter

2011-05-24T22:29:00.002-04:00

This year was Chase’s first Easter. When he awoke, he was greeted with his very own Easter basket.

At first, he loved the stuffed Easter bunny…until he saw the toy car.

After playing with the car for the next hour, we headed to Griff and Barb’s house to celebrate with Braydon and Addison. After lunch, Barb set up Eater eggs in the living room for the kids to find.

The plastic eggs were each filled with a special treat.
Chase especially loved the eggs filled with a pretzel.

Thanks Barb for making Easter fun for the kids this year!

Three Hot Air Balloons In One Night

2011-05-21T22:05:00.011-04:00

While walking in our neighborhood tonight, Jay saw a hot air balloon that looked like it was going to land. Since Chase loves party balloons and had never seen a hot air balloon, we quickly got in our car and headed about a mile away where it landed in a field near the Quakertown turnpike.
About 50 people; including Chase and Amy helped hold the hot air balloon while the crew packed it up.

We were about to leave when we looked up and saw a blue hot air balloon flying overhead. We decided that since it was still early, we would follow the balloon and maybe get to see it land. We were right as it landed about a quarter mile away in the parking lot of Molasses Creek Park.

The pilot was very friendly and even let Chase sit on the basket.

It was getting late and we were ready to leave for home when Jay looked in the rear view mirror and said, “How about one more hot air balloon?” Sure enough, a Remax balloon was getting ready to land near the turnpike. We followed the balloon to where it landed and again, this pilot was very, very friendly. They also allowed us to get close to the balloon as they were packing it up.

Since they landed in a secluded area and the chase van could not find them, the pilot asked Jay to help pack up the balloon. He loves hot air balloons so he excitedly agreed. Check out the video.

On the way home, we were all full of smiles as a night of no plans turned into something very special!

Big Boy Chair

2011-05-20T19:03:00.003-04:00

This afternoon for snack, we decided to let Chase sit on a dining room chair instead of his high chair. He did very well and was SO proud of himself.

Elmwood Zoo

2011-05-13T23:35:00.006-04:00

This afternoon, Amy and Chase went with Barb and the Godfrey family to the Elmwood Zoo.

For a small zoo, the kids had a great time looking at all of the different animals.

There was also time for the kids to play on the playground before they left to go home.

Hopefully next time Jay can go.

Planting A Chase

2011-05-13T17:47:00.000-04:00

Tonight Chase helped plant a bush in our front flower bed. Jay dug the hole and then Chase removed the loose dirt and stones.

What a big helper!

Camden Aquarium

2011-04-27T23:14:00.008-04:00

Today Amy and Chase went with the Davis family to the Camden Aquarium in New Jersey.

They saw a lot of animals in the aquarium.

This day was special as it was the hippopotamus’ birthday.

Chase even got eaten by a shark.

Thank goodness he was spit back out so that they could leave to head home.

Sticker On Chase's Nose Prank

2011-04-25T20:30:00.005-04:00

Anyone who knows Jay knows that he loves to play pranks and scare people. Well today, Jay got Chase with his first of many more to come pranks. While coloring at the table, Jay pretended to put a monkey sticker on Chase’s nose.

Chase tried to get it off, but could not figure out why the sticker was not on his nose. Take a look as Jay got it on video.

Gel Time

2011-04-17T22:22:00.005-04:00

This afternoon, Amy decided to have some fun with Chase. His hair was getting a little long so she thought that it would be fun to spike his hair. She added gel to make it stay.

We think that it is safe to say that Chase likes his hair short and easy to manage …just like daddy.

Toy Box

2011-04-15T22:14:00.001-04:00

We have a toy box that we bought for Chase that we usually only put his belongings in. However this morning Chase found something else that he could put inside of his toy box.

Next thing you know he will be climbing on the roof of our house!

Dancing Chase

2011-04-02T22:02:00.004-04:00

Chase loves to dance, especially in circles.

Usually he dances until he loses his balance and falls over.

Outdoor Expo

2011-03-26T23:20:00.004-04:00

This afternoon, we went to the annual Outdoor Expo at Calvary Church of Souderton. There was everything that you ever wanted to see when it comes to the outdoors. We really wanted to go so that Chase could see all of the stuffed and live animals that were on display.

Before leaving, we went outside and Chase got to test drive all of the tractors that were on display.

Pocono Weekend

2011-03-20T23:54:00.006-04:00

This past weekend we went to the Poconos with our very good friends, the Davis’. We arrived Friday evening and immediately went swimming in the indoor pool.
On Saturday, we visited the Pocono Snake and Animal Farm where you could feed the animals from a bottle.

After swimming again on Sunday, we started to head home. Before we could officially leave, we had to get a family photo by a beautiful river.

Thanks Davis family for an AWESOME weekend!

Petting Zoo

2011-03-11T23:05:00.003-05:00

This evening, our small group went to a petting zoo at Calvary Church of Souderton. There were several animals on site that the kids could touch. Chase really liked the bunny rabbit and the turtle…

but he did not like the snake.

What a fun and free eveing with our friends.

Batter Up?

2011-03-08T20:14:00.001-05:00

Today Chase helped Amy make cookies. By helping, we mean that he helped clean the batter off the beaters.

What To Do With A Ladder?

2011-03-06T21:22:00.002-05:00

Jay has been doing some work inside the closet on the main floor of our house. After painting tonight, the step ladder was left out and Chase decided to try and figure out how to use it. First he thought to push or pull it around the house...but that was too heavy. Next he tried to climb up the ladder but because of his size, he could not reach the second rung.

Finally he decided to use the ladder as a frame for a perfect photo opportunity.

Apple Before Reading Time

2011-03-03T20:10:00.003-05:00

After dinner, we gave Chase an apple to eat. He usually does not like fruits, but tonight he nibbled all over the apple until it looked like it had been shot with a shotgun. After “eating” the apple, we went upstairs to read. At first Chase read with each of us. But he soon figured out that mommy and daddy are slow readers so he decided to read the books on his own.

White Elephant And Birthday Celebration

2011-02-27T21:51:00.008-05:00

Tonight we had our annual white elephant gift swap. We were also celebrating a few of our friend’s birthday. Really it was just another reason for us to get together to eat, have the kids play and to have a lot of fun.
As usual, when the kids went to bed, we opened many ridiculous white elephant gifts.

Andrea went home with the troll this year.

We took a few family photos and this one is our favorite.

Bigfoot

2011-02-26T23:50:00.002-05:00

Today we asked Chase if he wanted to go outside. He ran to the front door, but instead of grabbing his own shoes, he decided that that he wanted to put on Jay’s shoes. With no help, Chase slipped his feet into his daddy’s shoes. Once he had on his own shoes, Chase went outside to play with his friend, Baby.

Break Out?

2011-02-25T23:50:00.002-05:00

Chase loves looking out the front door. Today he grabbed the car keys and decided that he was going to try and open the door. He has the proper technique for holding and twisting the keys, but instead of the lock, he kept sticking the keys in the strike plate of the door jam. Ooh, we also forgot to mention that he was using the cars keys…but we’ll let Chase figure that out on his own.

We Can See The Ground

2011-02-17T23:19:00.004-05:00

Amy watches Braydon and Addison on Thursdays and Fridays and it has been a long winter trapped inside of the house. Well, the snow has finally started to melt and today the kids went outside to play in the yard. They got a little wet, but it was still nice to get outside and enjoy some fresh almost spring air.

Davis' Ducks

2011-02-16T15:11:00.002-05:00

Today Chase and Amy went to see the ducks that had hatched at the Davis’ house. While driving, there, Chase decided to take a quick cat nap. Amy wanted to keep the sun out of his eyes so she came up with a great idea. At Shann and Sarah’s house, the ducks were ready to be played with.

The kids sat in a circle and enjoyed playing with the ducks for next half hour.

Our Son

2011-02-13T22:02:00.002-05:00

Tonight while Chase was playing, we got a few cut cute photos of him. It has been four months since Chase has arrived, but we thank God every day that Chase is our son!

Neighborhood Watch

2011-02-13T14:59:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, we put a stool near the front window to help Chase look out…and boy does he use it. If he hears a noise and the front door is not open, he runs and peeks outside.

Thanks Chase for keeping our home and neighborhood safe.

Telephones

2011-02-06T14:42:00.003-05:00

Chase loves telephones. When Jay is on his telephone, Chase plays with his. Sometimes Chase tricks Jay and gets to play with the Iphone.

Lately Chase has been making a lot of calls on his telephone.

We even have to remind Chase that he needs to pay attention and to use his headset when he is driving his car around the house.

Cabinet Play

2011-02-04T14:37:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we put child safety locks on the cabinets because Chase loved to open them up and pull out the things inside. We left the pots and pans cabinet open and of course that has been one of his favorite thing to play with when he is in the kitchen. He pulls out all the pots and pans and sometimes sits inside the cabinet to admire his work. One day, Amy got a video of Chase in action protecting his cabinet from his cousin Addison.

Ice Storm

2011-02-02T13:08:00.003-05:00

There was an ice storm over night and when we woke up, there was ¼ inch of ice. Chase was very excited to go outside so we dressed him up and he was ready to go... Well almost. This was the first time that he wore boots and as you can see, it was very difficult for him to learn how to walk in them.

Chase played out in the yard for bit and even had a fun time sliding down the ice. The ice looked pretty cool on many on the trees and shrubs.

Once inside, Chase enjoyed a cookie for a midmorning snack.

Snow

2011-01-27T13:08:00.001-05:00

This morning we work up to 14 inches of snow. We were hoping that Jay would have a snow day but because the snow had stopped before dawn, he got out of bed and shoveled the snow. It took Jay about 2 hours to shovel all of the snow before he headed off to work.Amy stayed inside the warm house with Chase checking on Jay periodically throughout the morning.

Vacuuming At The Grandparents

2011-01-23T22:43:00.002-05:00

Sunday afternoon we went to Griff and Barb’s house to celebrate Gwen birthday. Chase has a lot of toys to choose from when he is at their house. Today’s favorite toy was the play vacuum cleaner. He vacuumed the living room, the hallway and the front room before crashing to the floor by the sliding glass doors.

If only we could get Chase to use our real Rainbow vacuum cleaner. Someday that day will come, and we cannot wait!

Modeling After His Peers

2011-01-22T21:49:00.004-05:00

Saturday night we had several of our friends over. While the adults were talking, the kids had a lot of time to play together. First they played with the toys on the carpet.
Caden and Luke then moved into the kitchen where they proceeded to race the cars on the floor. Chase quickly picked up on how much fun that was and he started to model them.

Amy had to get a video of Chase learning the best way to race cars.

Reading Time

2011-01-20T22:23:00.002-05:00

The past several days, Chase has shown some interest in reading. He loves his chair and every now and then he will grab a book, hop up into the chair and read...
for a few seconds. Then he has to find something else to explore.

Sometimes he grabs a book and sits in the next best place, the Lego table.

Sometimes he doesn’t even grab a book, but instead gets up to date with current events by reading the newspaper.

And still other times he just sits with daddy while they read about current events on the World Wide Web...Daddy on the computer and Chase on his "Smart Phone", I mean Leapfrog Learning Phone.

Eating With A Fork

2011-01-15T21:36:00.003-05:00

This morning Chase enjoyed some play time in the cabinet. If you have not tried it, clanging pots and pans sounds awesome early in the morning.
For breakfast, Chase was eating some toast and we have been working on his fork skills. Today he finally understood how to work the fork.

We are not sure what to make of the grunting sounds heard at the 30 second mark, but if you have any suggestions, please be sure to let us know.

Chase has the spoon down and now the fork, but we think that we will wait a few years before we introduce the knife.

BOO BOO

2011-01-12T20:54:00.001-05:00

Today Chase got his first really big boo boo. Thankfully he was not in our care at the time or we would have felt really bad. After work, Jay went to pick up Chase at a friend’s house. When he walked in to the house, he found out that Chase had fell a half an hour earlier and that he had quite a big bump on his forehead. It turns out that Chase was very unlucky because he hit a coffee table and the only part of the coffee table that was not padded were the corners. This is exactly where Chase hit.

Being that Chase is an active boy, we think that there may be many more bump and bruises along the way. Hopefully Chase will NOT be like Jay and we will be able to keep him out of the emergency room getting stitches.

Feeding Time

2011-01-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

Tonight Jay was eating his dinner, and as usual Chase was begging for some of his food. We put some Cheerios on Jay’s plate and when Chase begged, Jay gave him some. Baby saw that Chase was successful in begging, so he then decided to beg Chase for some Cheerios. Chase gave in but felt the need to feed Baby by hand. Baby took the food and Chase laughed and laughed and laughed.
Check out the video. So funny!

Amy Goes Back To Work

2011-01-03T21:23:00.001-05:00

We tried to figure out a way for Amy to stay home with Chase, but right now is not the best time for that. Although Amy was extremely sad to leave Chase and go back to work, he will be in great hands. Amy’s sister, Gwen will be watching Chase when we are at work and we knew that he would have a lot of fun playing with his cousins, Braydon and Addison. We were right.

Hopefully he does not get too accustomed to Braydon and Addison and start asking for a brother or sister.

Super Hero New Years

2011-01-01T23:50:00.002-05:00

This year marked our 10th annual costumed New Year’s Party. The theme for the party was "Super Heroes".
Jay used this photo to show all the traits of a super hero. Throughout the evening, we played several games that utilized these traits. The goal was to find out who was the greatest superhero of all time.

The turnout this year was a bit on the low side, but we still had a great time. The guests included:

The Davis’

The Derstein's

The Defazio's

The Michalak's

The Shank's

The Schreier's

Mike Burn and Shannon Kearney

(No photo)

And Us.

The kids also got dressed up and played in rooms throughout the house.

While we waited for evertone to arrive, we enjoyed some super hero food.Before the games started, the guests enjoyed some social time.

The first game was called Toddler Theater and it tested the traits: Intelligent/Earns Respect. Jay recorded his nieces and nephew saying 20 lines from super hero movies. These recordings were played and the guests had to guess the name of the movie.

The next game was called “Ice Toes Challenge” and it tested the traits: Athletic/Has a Weakness. Jay filled a baby pool with several bags of ice, 100 marbles and water. Each guest was given 1 minute to remove as many marbles as possible from the tub, using only their toes.

Check out Amy's record time.

The kids even had an opportunity to play.

The next game tested the traits: Determined/Uses gadgets/Has a goal. The guests were broken into groups. The goal of this game was to remove a cork from a wine bottle using the items: Popsicle sticks, tape, paperclips, scissors, rope, clothespin, cup filled with a small amount of H2O, screwdriver, straws, and toothpicks. The only rule was that they could not break the bottle or damage the cork in any way. They were given 15 minutes to complete the task.

This was the moment that the first group successfully removed the cork.

The next game was played using the game Lightning Reaction Revenge and it tested the traits: Strong/Brave/Special Powers. Jay had purchased this game several months ago and was looking forward to seeing it in action. A bracket was filled out and each super hero went head to head. To start each round, the center button of the game was pressed. The game made an eerie sound which continued until the sound stopped and the light turned from red to green. The last player to press the button received an electric shock. Also, if they pressed the button too early, they also received a shock.

Congratulation to the winner, Dave Defazio!

The last game tested the trait: Role Model. The guests were given 15 minutes using only Playdoh to create a model of anything Superhero-ish. The results were pretty cool.

Everyone voted and the best model was created by Pete Shank.

The last voting of the evening was to find out who were Super King and Super Queen. After the votes were tallied, the winners were Sarah Davis as “Mange” and Shann Davis as “Absorbo”.

Finally, after all of the tokens from all of the games were counted, the winner, and the greatest superhero of all time was discovered. Congratulations to Shann Davis.

The only thing left to do was to wait until midnight so that we could welcome in the New Year.

We are not sure how she did it, but Avery Derstein even managed to stay up to see the ball drop.

The party was once again another success and we cannot wait to do it again next year.

Happy 2011!

Spoon Feeding

2010-12-27T23:45:00.003-05:00

A few days ago we started giving Chase a spoon to use when he is eating. For lunch this afternoon, Chase had a grilled cheese sandwich and also some yogurt.
It did not take very long, but we think that he is starting to figure out how to use the spoon.

What a smart boy!