magazines on the beach

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!!
We celebrated Chris's 29th birthday last week at the Cauthen's & here are a few pictures...

Last week I took some pictures for my friends, the Pays. I loved spending time with Bradley & Bennett - they were SOOO good & SOOO well behaved (with the help of some lollipops for bribery:). Here are a few of my favorites....

I thought this picture turned out so cool... as you can see Sarah has great taste - the nursery was amazing...

ahhhh.... reading a magazine on the beach...

is NOT an option at this stage in my life. I went to Charleston this weekend for an engagement party for my brother & his fiance, Emily. I stayed with my sister, Gregg, & their SIX kids.. whew! This morning we had decided to spend the morning on the beach. By 8:30 we were already getting kids in suits & packing our lunches. I glanced down at the table to see that my sister had bought a new magazine.
"What's this?" I asked in sheer wonder. Truthfully, I was suprised to find out they still printed magazines. I have not actually read one in years (2.5 to be exact).
"Oh, that's my magazine that I am going to read on the beach today."
"Oh, really?" I asked again utterly suprised.
"Yes, it is great on the beach now.. the big kids really help & I can actually read magazines.
"Oh"... I thought.. what a litte show-off, I would like to see this happen..
12:30 rolls around & we are JUST pulling up to the beach.. here is how this morning's events unraveled..

8:30 - start packing lunches, putting on bathing suits, sunscreening kids
9:00 - Ellison is eating dried up chicken & peas that are on the floor from the night before

9:30 - Ellison & Noah are screaming b/c they don't want to take naps
10:00 - the kids are running wild in the house so Gregg offers to take Hope & Grey to Wal-Mart to get them boogie boards like Chase.
10:30 - Chase unscrews the cap off of the pepper & pours it all over the floor then tells Kat-Kat what he has done
11:00 - we get in our cars head to the grocery store to get some chicken fingers, subs, & drinks for the day
11:30 - Kat gets a phone call on her cell phone that Gregg is in the Wal-Mart parking lot w/ the kids - ambulance has arrived b/c Gregg feels faint & weak & cannot even hold the phone up to his ear. WHAT????

12:00 - Gregg's parents get there - (ambulance leaves after checking him out) - & drive his car to their beach house where we meet up with him.

12:30 - kids are all screaming b/c they are hungry so we head down to the beach while Gregg rests inside
PS - it has now taken us 4 hours just to make it to the actual beach...:)

1:00 - Chase hits a stranger's little girl across the face so he has to go apologize to her b/c she is crying w/ her mommy right now
1:15 - Chase throws sand in Grey's eyes & he is screaming

1:25 - Ellison grabs a drumstick & starts crawling down the beach w/ it in her hand. She REFUSES to let it go. Drags it in the sand.. takes a bite..drags it in the water.. takes a bite. And then goes back & gets ANOTHER one! No wonder we call her "Ella-pig" :)

1:30 - Ellison unties my bikini top & it falls down

1:35 - Ellison unties the side of my bikini & that almost falls down too
1:45 - Chase says "I need to go poo-poo" so we decided to pack up & go back to the house.
2:00 - I drop my camera & break the lens for the second time that day..
2:20 - We are finally in the car on the way back to Charlotte.. as soon as we get over the IOP connector Chase says " I need to go t-t, I need to go t-t! (even though he just went). SO.... as the big storm is headed our way (the sky is literally black) I pull over on the side of the IOP connector, let my son out, & make him t-t on the side of the highway. For all of you Charlestonians, yes... this is right next to the watermelon stand - yeah, you know exactly where I am talking about.. :)

3:20- back on the road again.. ellison has been asleep for one hour now.. "mommy, I need to go t-t!" So.. we pull over again on an exit & Ellison of course wakes up.
"Chase, you need to t-t in these woods"
"where, mommy?
"In the woods. "By this time I had figured that if I let him t-t on the side of the road that he would probably get himself wet so I made him stand up on the guard rail & t-t off of it. He spent most of time aiming for the gross 1/2 of a piece of Sonic trash that was lying on the ground.
"look mommy, can we take that trash with us?"
"no, Chase, you just t-t'd on it"
"oh, well can we go in those woods?"
"no Chase"
"why not?"

"because there are snakes & lions in there"
"oh, okay mommy"

Back in the car...

3:30 - since ellison is up she wants to be entertained so I begin by handing her toys. She is getting bored.. ok.. food...bored again.. ok.. CD's.. bored again...ok.. juice.. ok... Nothing is working & she starts crying & crying, & crying... for the next HOUR & A HALF she screams her eyes out, which wakes up Chase who has finally fallen asleep...
4:00 - "stupid girl!" Chase says to me when I won't get off the phone. Unfortunately this is his new word. I think he heard it from his mommy saying "stupid dog" too many times:)
"what did you say to me??

"Stupid girl..."

"Chase, we do NOT say the word stupid!"

"But mommy, can I say "stupid car?"
"AHHHHH!!!!"
5:00 - my neighbor calls to see if we will be on time for dinner but she cannot hear me b/c by now I have blasted the music so that I can drown out the "stupid girl" comments & Ellison screaming her head off. So.. NO... there will be no magazines on the beach for a LONG time, Katherine,.....nice try though....