Chace’s Bday

Fifteen years ago, my firstborn entered this world and immediately made it a better place.  No baby could have been more loved and doted on than this child.  He had (and still does!) many, many, many adoring grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who have helped mold and shape his life in so many ways.  I am very thankful for each and every one.  They all have helped to ensure that he is turning out to be a most wonderful teenage boy!  This is one of the milestone years.  There is 13, of course when he became a teenager, that was HUGE!  But it wasn’t huge because of the usual reasons when kids turn into teenagers.  I have heard horror stories of kids turning into monsters, but not our Chace.  This year the milestone is driving!  Todd took off fromwork  a 1/2 day Friday to take him for the test.  Chace had been practicing all morning, and had scored well on all of the online practice tests.  They got to the DMV office and there were 18 people ahead of them in line.  So, we are going to try again Monday morning, and will plan on being there when they open. 

Chace got his present from us a tad bit early (like a month or so), lol.  He wanted sunglasses, not just any sunglasses, but a specific pair of Oakleys.  He made a good case for them, playing baseball, on the pier at the lake, riding in the boat etc………Anyway, so on his actual birthday he just had a card, but Todd found some play money and stuck it in there to give him a jolt.  It was a stack of million dollar bills, HA!   

Another cool thing is that on Friday we got notice from the University of Alabama that our number finally came up in Tide Pride for season tickets.  We’ve been on the list since 2006, when Shula was still coaching there.  So, yay!  That is seriously exciting news!!!!  I knew Chace would be excited about it, so we printed out a seating chart for Bryant Denny and Todd circled the section where our seats are and we stuck that in his card also.  Of course the seats are not really a birthday present for Chace, but I thought it was cool that we found out on his birthday. 

Chace is 14!

hard to believe!! 14 short years ago I became a Mom for the first time. In some ways it does seem like just yesterday I was holding that sweet bald baby in my arms and other times it seems like a lifetime away. Well, technically it was a lifetime, Chace’s!! Anyway, I am so proud of the young man that Chace has become. He is really a great kid. He mentioned the other day that he is now a freshman – 9th grade next year!! He will still be at Liberty, but a Freshman, he now has a title, not just 7th grader or 8th grader! eeeeekkk!
Todd had Field Boss Duty at Palmer Park on Chace’s birthday so we decided to celebrate with his birthday dinner Friday night. He did ask for a special dinner on his birthday, one like MiMi makes. Uh-oh – he wants hamburger steak with grilled onions and mashed potatoes. I am on the spot, I don’t want to mess it up, I mean it is his birthday after all! So, I make it and he says it is good, of course, he is always sweet about anything I make, but he does admit that there is something special about the food that grandmothers cook. Nena had her specialties that nobody could duplicate, Grandmother did also. LaLa has some delicious dishes and MiMi too. Maybe one day I will rank up there with ‘the masters’, automatically when you become a grandmother your cooking gets elevated.
Friday night after Caeden’s game we went out, Chace wanted Dylan to go, of course. He had chosen Sakura to eat. Chace missed out when we went there a few months ago, but he loves Japanese food, especially when they cook it on the hibachi right in front of you. Our chef tonight was really really good. He put on a great show and the food was absolutely delicious. If you are in Madison or Huntsville, you should really check them out!!

Eagle Rehab

First day of rehab therapy for Chace today. The therapist was great – he explained everything really well and showed us how Chace’s hip is out of alignment. He said it has probably been like that for years, but is easily fixed with some exercises. Chace was asking all kinds of questions and really seemed interested in the guys job, so I asked him where he went to school and how he like being a physical therapist. He told us all about it and Chace hung on every word. It was cool to me to see Chace interested in something – he has previously not expressed an interest in anything beyond sleep, food, hanging with friends and baseball. We’ve tried to tell him he needs to be thinking about what he wants to be when he grows up, but that is such a far-off concept for a almost 14 yr old he can’t wrap his brain around it. I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that he has 4 years left of school – then off to college! eeeeeeekkkkk!

Chace Injured

Chace had a baseball game today, actually they had a couple of games, but in the first one he got injured. He hit the ball beautifully – deep into center field, and takes off around the bases. He said after he rounded 1st that he felt something pop – he made it to 2nd, and should have taken 3rd – but I could tell he was hurting bad. They got another runner in for him and he managed to hobble off the field with the help of one of the coaches. I figured it was his back, because he already pulled a muscle in batting practice a few weeks ago, but it was actually his hip that was hurting. He got some ice, but it was not helping. The game was almost over, so Todd took him to Urgent Care straight from the field. They took x-rays and checked him out. They said that he had torn/separated the muscle from the growth plate in his hip. We got him some crutches and had an appointment at Sports Medicine. They recommended 3-4 weeks of physical therapy, so that should be fun fitting into our schedule.

Baseball Banquet

Last night was the Baseball Banquet.  Chace was not thrilled with the idea of having the twins present.  I was on the fence about it.  It was a sit-down dinner and there would not be any other children near their age.  I didn’t realize that Todd and I were that much younger than most parents of 13 yr. olds until we started going to events at the middle school level.  At the baseball games, there are not really any other children for the twins to play with.  Lucky they have each other, I suppose, even though they are arguing over whose turn it is to race along the bleachers.  Anyway, given a choice, Chace would rather the twins did not attend the banquet.  So, I talked it over with Aimee, and she agreed and then also agreed to watch the twins, gotta love friends who give advice and offer babysitting services as well!  When we dropped the twins off I asked Aimee if she could get a picture of us and Chace.  However, as soon as she got the camera ready, Lael leaps into the picture.  Ok, that’s fine – then Caeden has to get into it.  Finally, I get her to snap one of just us with Chace.  By this time, Chace has had enough – it is also the first time Chris had seen Chace since he got about 3 lbs of hair cut off, so he had to be ready for some comments about that.  That was just the start though.  At the Banquet, the coach always does what he calls the Losers Club.  It works like the “You might be a Redneck” jokes.  He would flash pictures of kids doing goofy things and then say they might be a loser if……..All in fun and games, of course.  When he started, Todd said that he was sure to get Chace for his hair.  Sure enough, coach says, You might be a loser if you ever get confused with a poodle.  Then they flash a picture of a poodle next to one of Chace with all of his curly/scary hair glory.  It was hysterical!  Then they made him come up and stand next to the screen to see the vast difference a haircut makes.

Chace – the Dragon

Most of you who read my blog know this already, but I want it posted here for posterity.  Chace did something incredibly dumb this weekend.  We thought he was mature enough to stay with friends this weekend while we went to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.  We were wrong.  Friday night he spent the night with Dylan.  They were hanging out in the garage throwing darts and stuff, but got bored after Dylan’s parents went to bed.  One or both of them had the bright idea to try to be a flamethrower by putting gasoline in their mouths, spitting it out and then lighting it.  Dylan tried it first and it worked fine.  Chace did it next, and it didn’t work out so well.  He said it spurted out the side of his mouth, and caught his face on fire.  He started slapping at it, Dylan tackled him, then some got on Dylan’s face so he caught on fire then.  They were both rolling around the garage trying to get the flames out, and knocked over the can of gasoline in the process.  Luckily, the fire went out and didn’t ignite anything else, like their clothes, or the garage or the house.  The boys cleaned up the spilled gasoline, went inside, took a shower, and then went to bed.  The next day, of course they had to tell Dylan’s parents.  So, we got a call Saturday morning.  Todd was so mad, he wanted to drive up and get Chace immediately.  But, it was Chace’s other friend, Raymond’s birthday.  I hated to ruin Raymond’s birthday, they have been so good to Chace.  Plus, it was probably better to give us some time to cool off and think about the punishment.  Sunday night we sat down with Chace and lectured him on the danger and what could have happened etc.  We also laid out his punishment and were met with no objections, at least he was smart enough not to vocally object!!  He is on house arrest until December 1st.  Television is off limits, along with video games, and computer use unless he is working on homework and needs it, or researching the report, which is the other part of his punishment.  We assigned him a 4 page report titled “The Dangers of Playing with Fire”  He must cover 4 topics in detail, and include supporting pictures.  The topics are:  Death caused by burns/fire, Death caused by toxic fumes/smoke, Fire destroys houses, Lifetime disfigurement.  Todd took him to the doctor Monday.  He said that Chace has 2nd degree burns and gave him a prescription for Silverdine.  He also said that there was no evidence that the gasoline reached Chace’s lungs, which was good.  But, he said that the nose hairs were all burned away which would allow possible infections through.  All in all, he and Dylan both were very lucky.

Back to Tuscaloosa

Traci and Mayson are home from their vacation and they stopped in Tuscaloosa to pick up Rex and to vist.  So, we decided to go down and visit as well.  Todd was supposed to go as well, but at the last minute he got called upon to go on a business trip next week.  The twins had a soccer game on Saturday morning at 8:30, we decided to be packed up and ready to hit the road when it was over.  However, somehow we got our wires crossed and the other team didn’t have their full team there.  I still am not sure what happened.  But, we did not have enough to play so we took off for Ttown.  Todd stayed behind to fly out tomorrow.

When Chace found out we were headed to Tuscaloosa, he was excited because that meant that he could see his friends there again.  He made plans to go hang out at Ashley’s house for a bit Saturday.  Actually he was planning on watching the game with them.  But, apparently they could not wait to see him, and started texting him as soon as we were on the road asking where we were, how long til we arrived, when he was coming etc.  So, I ended up taking him over there at 2:00.  He stayed until just before the UA game started.  Of course, they wanted him to stay and watch the game with them too.  But, I insisted that he come back and spend some time with the family.

We had a wonderful time.  Mayson is so adorable and fun!  She is at the age where everything is just the coolest, most awesome, new thing she has seen yet!  Traci was the hero and had bought some toys to entertain the kids with, bubbles and sidewalk chalk and stuff.  Good thing she was thinking – because all I brought were the kids!  Of course they did have their Big Wheel cycles that we left there to ride down Lynda’s basement driveway.  That is always fun!

Our visit was much too short, as usual.  I want to go back soon though for a UA game.  Tickets are a bit harder to come by these days though!!  Now that Saban is there and UA is winning again the prices are outrageous!

Chace Reconnects with Ttown friends

This is strange.  We got a phone call last night.  The number is a 205 area code, so I know it is not someone from around here.  I answered and I hear this girls voice.  She asks if there is a Chace living here, a Ramsay Chace Lindley.  I said Ummmmm…….(wondering the whole time is this a stranger/stalker who somehow found Chace on Myspace or something?!?!)  She then asks if he went to TMS last year?  Then I realize that it is one of his girl<insert space>friends from TMS.  So, I say yes.  Her voice immediately goes up an octave and she asks if he is there.  I said he is, hold on a minute.  By this time Chace is clued in to the fact that someone is asking for him, and he is slowly backing away from the phone.  I told him it is a girl from TMS, so he takes the phone.  He talks for about an hour!  Finally, he gets off and we get the scoop.  It was Ashley, and she got his address from Mrs. Little, a teacher at TMS.  I didn’t think they would just give out that info, but whatever.  She then spent a good chunk of time apparently looking us up online.  Anyway, he chats with her, then she passes his phone number around to a couple of more people.  So, the hour was spent catching up with 3 friends from TMS.  Now, he has more friends on Myspace,  and more people to text.  Now, they are all dying for him to come visit.

Chace ~ Myspace

He’s finally done it – jumped on the Myspace bandwagon!  I told him months ago that I would help him design his page so that it totally rocks…..he was noncommital, but today he decided to do it.  So, I drew upon my vast stores of website design expertise , and now he’s there!
Chace at Myspace

Chace Texting

This is Chace’s ever present phone, or I should probably say Texting Device, since he never actually talks to anyone on it!  It is very very rare that he carries on a conversation in real time with his friends.  But, he more than makes up for by texting.  These are his stats for last month:

Texts Rec’d – 1,631 / Texts Sent – 1,478

He has gotten really good too.  When he first started texting, he was sooooo slow, plucking out letters on the keypad, now his fingers zoom over the keys.  Also, If you happen to catch a glimpse of the screen, it’s all basically Greek to me.  Texting language is a bit different from spoken language.  <<UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR<<