Playing in the Snow

Well today we had a surprise--SNOW!! No one forecasted it. Chris was heading back to work after having lunch with us and called to say it was snowing. About 30 min. later it was snowing at our house. It was coming down hard for about 3 hours. I think we got about 2-3 inches. And it's the good snow. Good for packing and making a snowman- not like the dry stuff from last year.

Here's a couple of pictures of the kids playing in it. And of course Chloe tasting it and making Snow angels.

Christmas

The kids got to open presents 3 times. Once with Chris and I, once with his parents and siblings, and once with my parents. So I keep getting asked daily if they get to open more presents and have to remind them that Christmas is over, there are no more presents. Oh and we went to Fred Meyer today. Caleb saw some stuff he likes and says "Hey mom I want one of those". Well before Christmas I would've said "that's nice put it on your Christmas list". So not knowing what to say, I just said well that's nice but Christmas is over and it's a long time until your birthday. He didn't know what to say after that!!

We enjoyed this Christmas being able to spend time with almost all of our family. We missed my sister Michelle and her fiance Brandon, but hope to see them at least once before their wedding this July. But did get to see Shannon and Jason. I don't think I have seen my brother-in-law in about 2 years. Chloe and I missed the Bartlett side of things with her coming down with a horrible cough and fever. But things are on the mend and she's back to picking on Caleb.

Hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas. And have a Happy and Safe New Year.

Santa

We finally made it to see Santa. The line has been long the last couple days--then I remembered oh yeah the Cedar Hills Mall. I love the Santa there, and they actually let you use your own camera to take the picture. Gotta love that!! :- )So Caleb smiled really good for the pictures, but I think Chloe was distracted by the Hello Kitty store across the way. I listened in close so I could hear what they wanted. Caleb was so cute he asked Santa what was in all the presents (the ones decorating the area around Santa). Santa told him they were magic wishing presents that got filled with kids wishes and the elves help him deliver on Christmas Eve.

Chloe's Big School Performance

So she's been singing the songs at home and in the car for the last month or so, and this week she finally got to perform them. Chloe's school had the 4's classes Music Performace thise week. It was so cute watching all of them sing and do the motions they had been taught. They got to invite family members to come as well. Chloe had a good turn out--Grandma Patti, Papa Klus, Grandma Klus, Grandma Mary, Uncle David and Caleb and I were all there to watch her big performance. I videotaped it so Chris could watch it, which Chloe loved. She got to watch herself and see all of her friends too.
(oh- a side note--Chloe's friend Ezekiel said to his mom that Chloe looked like a "princess, a princess Ballerina" with her pretty purple dress on. He is very smitten by Chloe.

Chloe all dressed up for her big performance.

Walking out with her class.

All of the 4's classes together.

Zoo Lights

We went to Zoo lights last week with Grandma Patti and Papa Mark. We walked it this year, as I think we get to see more lights that way. I'm glad we went when we did because I think it was only like 30 degrees outside-- instead of the 20 degree temps we have had all week this week. The pics I chose are the best ones, but really the lights are so much cooler in person. They are so bright. This year they added some new animals and some brighter LED lights. The kids kept warm running and chasing after Chris. I stayed pretty warm too--except my toes. They were numb half way thru.
I almost forgot the other fun part of Zoo Lights- riding the Max train to and from the Zoo.

Wreath at the entrance to Zoo lights.


Wizard of Oz Characters in lights.


Zebras, Elephants and Hippos in the big grass area. (this is where we watch the bird shows in the summer)

Chris & Caleb playing drums to keep warm

Chloe playing drum

Chris, Caleb and Chloe by the hummingbird lights

All 4 of us

Chloe checking out the Hippos

Happy Halloween

Chloe's Birthday

Well she is now 5 years old. It's like all of a sudden she thinks she's an adult. We went bowling on Sunday night and the game they were playing wasn't working so she's like "I will go tell the guy it's not working." Then last night for her birthday we went to Red Robin for dinner. We had just sat down and the waiter came over. She says "can you guys come sing the Happy Birthday song to me 'cuz it's my birthday today." Very assertive!!

She's also getting very creative. She is making pictures to put in everyone's thank you cards. So each of you gets your own unique Chloe original.

Here's some pictures from her parties. We went to Pizza Caboose with family on Sunday, and Pump It Up on Monday with some of her friends. (oh, side note- her friend Fergus from Preschool was there and she lead him around to all of the adults and introduced him. It was so cute, especially when he went up to shake Chris's hand. The first boy to meet the parents. :- )

CareBear Cake

Well it is hard to believe but my little girl is going to be 5 years old tomorrow. I think time goes by much more quickly when you have kids. I barely remember what she was like as a baby. She now truly fits her name: Chloe: "vibrant one full of life".

Since I made a special cake for Caleb for his birthday I decided to do one for Chloe too. I decided on a Care Bear, and she got to choose which one of the pink or purple ones for me to do. She chose Love A Lot Bear. We even put pink dye in the cake mix to make it a pink/vanilla cake.

Now off to work on the cupcakes for her other party tomorrow. I love frosting so this really is no sacrifice for me :- )

So a little update on the cake. I put the cake in the oven to keep it from little hands, forgot it was in there and turned the oven on. 5 min later when it chimed it was ready I opened the oven door to see the soupy mess of frosting all over the pan and none on the cake!! Well after tasting it and finding out it tasted just fine, Chloe and I headed to the store for more icing. This time we decided on a purple CareBear- Share Bear. I think it turned out pretty good. And Chloe loves it--which is all that matters since it is her birthday.

Chloe's Haircut

So I had just gotten done giving Caleb a haircut last night and was rinsing the hair off of him in the bathtub when Chloe came over and said "I cut my hair". I said a bit loud "WHAT?" She said "I made my hair look good".

So if you know my Chloe I am not surprised by her cutting her hair, actually I am surprised it did not happen sooner. The pictures don't do it justice. And I guess it could be worse. Just something to look back at and laugh about. (Especially since there will be lots of pictures of her with it- considering her birthday is on Monday!!!)


This is what the left side looks like--she now has bangs that hit about a 1/2 in to an inch below her eyebrow. At least I can clip them back. Mind you she has no bangs on the right side :- )

On the right side of her head is a big chunk only about 1 inch long. That's gonna take a while to grow out!!

She still thinks that she just made her hair look good. We did tell her only mommy's and daddy's cut hair..

Carving Pumpkins

So we always buy pumpkins, but we never get around to carving them. Last night Chris got home a little early so we decided it was a good night to carve pumpkins. I did mine the old fashioned way- with the carving tools and a knife. Chris decided to make a really nice face on his and didn't want to mess it up so he went and got his little saw from the garage to help him.

The kids loved watching...not really helping. Chloe tried to touch the guts and seeds but was like.."they're slimey I don't like it." Caleb on the other hand would not touch any of it. I scooped some of the guts out and they brushed his wrist and he freaked out. The pictures of his yuck face do not even do it justice!!

Hope you all are having a great start to the fall.

Caleb's ewwww face.

Mommy trying to get Caleb to touch the pumpkin guts. He said yuck, no way.

Getting ready for the saw.

Chris sawing his pumpkin with Chloe looking on.

Caleb and Mommy's pumpkin.

Caleb adding a few personal touches to the pumpkin.