The Busy Brays

okay, some of you are probably not my friend anymore b/c you feel like i have totally abandoned this blog. Not true at all. I have not totally abandoned it, I just took a little hiatus to focus on my photography & my kids. Ladies & gentlemen.. I am back in business! I must admit that it is a little bit intimidating starting to write on this blog again b/c I feel the pressure to come up with a really funny story. Oh, let me see.. that took all of about 2 seconds... got one! So... I was out at bible study tonight & a sitter was here with the kids. Poor thing she had only been here one other time in her life. I figured that chase must have been on his best behavior the last time she was here b/c she actually said "yes" when I called her today. I am pretty sure though that after today she will never say "yes" to me again. I went to bible study & when I got home chris was already here with the kids.

"how did it go, Chase?"

"not good." 

"what, why not?"

"it just didn't go good."

Oh, I thought... oh well. She was probably a really good sitter & really strict on him.. I like it! Then I went into my laundry room & things just did not look quite right in there. When I was walking around, I felt something really sticky on my feet. I also noticed that the laundry room doors were off their hinges. Hmm.....

"chase, were you in here?"

"yes, mom." 

"what were you doing in here?"

"ellison & I were hiding from the babyitter."

"oh, why were you doing that??"

" b/c we wanted to & when she came around the corner to find us we sprayed her with Oxy Clean!"

"OH MY GOSH, CHASE, you did not!"

"Um hum, we did!"

Sure enough.. the evidence was there & it all made sense to me then. Darn, I thought.. I really liked that one!

FAVORITE QUOTES OF THE MONTH(S):

"but, God said I needed chex mix...:)

2. "mommy, I am getting old like you."

"what Chase? why do you think I am getting old?"

"mom, come on, you KNOW you are getting old!"

3. "when I grow up I am gonna be a daddy & I am gonna get some beer & tea & coffee & OJ."

4. "mom, god said I need to eat cocoa puffs cereal!"

5. "mom, I need some chocolate b/c chocolate gives you energy & I really need energy right now!"

6. "mom, my girlfriends in my school are just SOOO beautiful!"

7. "mom, I colored your wall red b/c I did not like the color you had it at all..."

8. "Chase, are you my sweet boy?? 

"Yes, mom, but ellison is not. She is bad."

"Chase, ellison is not bad - she is sweet too! "

"But mom, I am a lover."  HUH????

9. "mom, was I born in a mall?" (Ut oh.. I guess that one might be my fault:)

10. someone stopped by our house the other night who we did not know well but I think chase felt pretty comfortable with him b/c this is what he told him...

"I like to pick & eat my buggers"

Oh great...it is fine when chris is late & I know he is going to be late but there is something really awful about him telling me he will be home early & then calling to say he is going to be late - it is the worst! Anyhow, after I got that phone call I knew that I was just going to have to push through the rest of the night. Dinner went pretty well, bath decent....it was what happened after the bath that really sent me over the edge. Everyone was bathed & ready for bed so we did our nightly ritual of reading books together in ellison's room. Right when I finished I told the kids to hang tight b/c I had to run downstairs to grab ellison's medicine. I came downstairs & tried to listen in on what they were doing upstairs. Silence. Oh no, that is never good. More silence. Then I heard it..."ellison, your hair looks so nice like this, it really does! Mom, I am just fixing ellison's hair!" chase yelled down the stairs.

"okay chase" I called back as I was measuring out her medicine. 

"oh ellison, this really looks great!" How cute I thought... he is probably brushing her hair or putting a bow in it. I started up the stairs when I saw him rubbing some kind of substance into her hair. "What is that?" I thought. AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! When I came closer I spied a can of chris's hair gel in one of his hands. Ellison was putting her head down while chase sprayed her with hair gel & was liberally rubbing it all around. 

"Go to your room - you just lost your other book for the night!"

So as I proceeded to the bathroom to give ellison ANOTHER bath, I noticed that it was considerably quiet again. When I was done bathing her for a second time, I went in his room to check on the all-too-quiet Chase. LOTION... EVERYWHERE!!! He had now taken the bottle of squirt lotion & pumped about 1/2 of the bottle out all over his bed & floor. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

After  3 wooden spoon pops we had a talk about good behavior & forgiveness. I asked chase why he did it & he said that ellison's hair did not look good at all & that he needed to clean the floor with the lotion. Hmm... I guess I will still forgive him:) At least he does give me a good laugh..:)

this is really embarassing that is has taken me this long to update my blog... 2 months to be exact. I guess christmas & then the launch of Hope Bray Photography (http://www.hopebrayphotography.com) had me a little bit backed up over the last few weeks. Or could it me the fact that this next story was SOOOO terrible that it has taken me this long to write about it? Hmm... I think the last one for sure. Well, here it goes...

so I was brave enough to take both of the kids into Harris Teeter & was not going to let it be a flop. I had planned it just right... written down my grocery list instead of winging it, fed the kids before we left, taken Chase to the potty, & made sure that it was the perfect time of day to go to the grocery store. What could go wrong?? Well.... bad question with my kids. Right when I walked into the door I saw one of our dear friends, Peggy Scannell. We LOVE the Scannells - all of them! Thanks goodness we know them well enough that they can tolerate a little bit of Bray humor. We chatted for a while but I knew we needed to move on quickly so we didn't lose our "window" of opportunity to get in & out of the grocery store before we faced some meltdowns. I was doing great... flying through the store aisle by aisle & the kids were being wonderful with Dora gummies & free dinosaur cookies in hand. When it was time to check out I went over to the line that looked the shortest & waited. After I had wrestled chocolate bars & skittles out of Chase's hands, I finally got him to stand by the cart patiently - or so I thought.... We looked up & Peggy was getting ready to check out & so she decided to stand behind us in line. "Oh good, I told her... I had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen." After this incident I became a total believer in a mother's intuition b/c I was absolutely correct. As Peggy & I were chatting away I turned around to make sure my little angel was still there. As I turned around & looked down to find him I saw that his pants were around his ankles & he was holding his t-t & aiming it at the floor.  "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I shouted (probably loud enough for everyone in the store to hear). I grabbed Chase, threw him in the cart, & ran out the door.. never stopping to look back & see if he actually t-t'd in the Teeter & never saying good-bye to Peggy. Peggy, if you are reading this, I am so sorry & for your sake I hope you never run into us in the T-T Teeter again!

2. Chris & I have a bad habit of 

a) not listening to our VM messages

b) never erasing them until our mailbox is full

The other day Chase was doing a puzzle on the floor & I was erasing the mailbox b/c it was full. I would listen to about 2 sec. of everyone's messages & then hit erase (don't worry.. I do listen to them.. I had already heard them). Chase looked up at me when I was done & said..

"mom, why you not want to call anybody??" I just laughed...:) He is too funny!

3. "mom, I am gonna spank the fools out of you" 

(hmmm... I wonder where he heard this from:)

4. "mommy, I don't tink (think) we need a baby anymore b/c babies t-t on the floor. okay, mom?"

5. "hallie, get your stinky breaf (breath) off my puzzle!"

6. "mom, I am not gonna eat my carrots tonight."

"why not?"

"because I am nervous..."   (huh????)

7. Chase from the back seat.... "mom, I made a runny nose pie for you!"

8. When my niece, MC, was in town this week I overheard Chase talking to her...

"Mary Catherine, why is your room so messy? It looks like a jungle in here!" 

9. " hey guys, look! I put some runny nose sauce on my cracker..." GROSS!!!

10. after chase cut me with his "safety" scissors... "but mom, I thought you were paper!" Yeah right...:)

yep. Here they are in all their glory. Yes, this is what we do on a typical holiday.. go out to the farm & ride on tractors, shoot deer, swim in the creek, climb trees & let the kids play "shipwreck" on the car trailer. Yes, very redneck, but we love it:) Here are some of our pictures from Thanksgiving.. these will make you feel better about your family holiday:)

my brother & his new bride, Emily

we start them at an early age:) - boy they loved this!

the wrecked "pirate ship" trailer

the princess wears bows at the farm too:)

not sure who was in charge here but I see a faint sign of Chris in the background  - typical...:)

the kissing cousins - (they are only 4 months apart & I don't know who is chunkier!)

singing koudoulaukas - (don't ask, it's Greek:)

the young buck

my little thanksgiving cuties

having fun yet?

yes, the title says everything. Last saturday night there was poop EVERYWHERE!!!  We were in greenville & it was bathtime. Chris offered to get into his parents jacuzzi tub with the kids & bathe them so I of course agreed. I went in to offer some assistance & I saw "it." You know.. the face that babies make when they are pooping. I saw "it" all over ellison's face. "Is she pooping?" I asked Chris? Just as the words came out of my mouth Chris looked down.... 

"OH NO!!" Take her... 

I couldn't help it... I started dying laughing & couldn't stop. I was laughing so hard that I was running around the bathroom going " oh no, oh no," but never really did anything to help. I looked over at Chris & with his hands in the air he says to me.. 

"Hope, I have s*** in my hands. Can you please come & help me?"

I was still laughing histerically. 

So.. I move the kids upstairs to the other bathroom & wouldn't you know it... ellison christens that one too!!! My mother-in-law said she had not pooped all day but did she have to wait until now???? Whew... I thought I was just getting over this stage with Chase...:)

"Oh, I thought she was a soccer ball..."

2. "mom, it is okay if ellison messes up my tower, I will just pop her."

3. "mom, ellison put my beach ball in hallie's water bowl so I am not going to be her big brother anymore"

4. "chase, we should teach ellison to use the potty soon." 

"okay... let's put her in & flush her down." 

"what?????"

5. "jesus, will you come into my heart & wive (live) in my heart & walk in my heart?"

6. "mom, don't take ellison out of the tub. She is my best friend & I will miss her!"

7. "mom, what do you want from santa?" 

"hmmmm..... I think I want some stuff for my camera."

"well, Santa doesn't have anything for your camera. He just has boy stuff"

(way to burst my bubble, Chase....:)

so.. we have a lot of 2nd cousins here in Charlotte.. a few of whom we have never even met. We have LOVED every single one of them & wish that we got together with them more often. The last one of my 2nd cousins that I met was in a doctor's office waiting room when we first moved to Charlotte. After Chase hit her son on the head (HARD) & he was screaming I felt like the kind thing to do was to make friends with her. As we were talking we figured out that yes, we were 2nd cousins. In fact, I knew all about her & had just not met her yet b/c I had just moved to Charlotte... OH.. embarassing! Tonight was another episode of an embarassing cousin meeting. Chris, the kids, & I were meeting some of my 2nd cousins (that I had not met yet) at their country club for dinner. It was a VERY nice club & we had a wonderful time! They had a "family room" where the kids could eat & run around & be crazy. But really.. this club was nice & FANCY! Right as dinner was wrapping up & the kids were running around in circles around the table their daughter started screaming & pointing to the fire. "Truck, truck," she was screaming. Huh? we thought. Then I saw it - smoke coming from the beautifully lit gas fire place. Not normal.. after all, it was a GAS fire place! Oh no, I thought.... Immediately I knew it was one of my children. Their daughter kept pointing to the fireplace until we saw it. Ellison (no, this is not a typo - it really was Ellison & not Chase - boy am I in for it) had thrown a plastic truck into the gas fireplace & it was now smoking. Not only was it smoking but smoke was filling up the room & FAST! Oh no... not again I thought..!! The room immediately filled with waiters & waitresses fanning out the place & opening doors. Really, it was a spectacle. Finally, a chef came out from the back & with some pots & pans he grabbed the burning plastic truck & ran it back into the kitchen where he somehow put the fire out. Whew.. I feel like I was actually lucky tonight b/c the fire department did NOT show up. Can you imagine if that had happened? It really would not have shocked me though.. really nothing does these days..:)

1. "mom, will you get me an iPhone? I want a spiderman one."