Family Pics

We went out to Spring Mountain Ranch for our family pictures this year. I try to time the photos around both Claire and Miles' birthdays so we have annual pics. For those of you who have only seen the area where they have the plays, there are some really cools spots in the back of the ranch. There were a ton of great photo spots we didn't get to because we were losing the light. Sort of picture overload but there were a lot of cute ones.

Claire's Artwork

Claire caught me throwing away some of her coloring book pictures that she has given me, so I decided to start scanning in some of her drawings so I don't have to feel bad about taking them off the fridge. Claire likes to draw flowers and rainbows mostly -her flowers are somewhat reminiscent of eyeballs, but I really like them.


Flowers






Rainbow

Good Things Come in Two

Now that this kid is two, he seems to like everything to come in twos :)

Balloon Launch

This looked so fun! Balloon launcher at Jen and Aaron's house.




Leah and her "puppies"

Claire - Fourth Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color? Purple

What is your favorite activity? Decorating cookies

Who is your favorite singer? Ryan

What is your favorite song? I am a Child of God

What is your favorite movie? Alice in Wonderland

What is your favorite TV show? Cat in the Hat

What is your favorite book? The Perfect Dress (Step Into Reading Book about princesses)

What is your favorite food? Spaghetti

What don't you like to eat? Olives

What are you scared of? Ghosts

What is your favorite sport? Playing soccer

Who are your friends? Genevieve, Ryan, Reagan, Easton, Halle, McKinley, and Lily

What is your favorite restaurant? Cafe Rio

What does your mom do all day? Work, at work

What does dad do all day? Stays with us and goes to school

What do you like about preschool? Doing Show and Tell

What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor

What is your favorite thing to wear? Jessie costume

Where Hello Kitty, Barbie and Jessie Hang Out...

... at Claire's fourth birthday party!

This kid loves her some Hello Kitty! All of a sudden, she is more popular than the princesses, though she is barely holding the lead with Barbie (I am silently protesting Barbie over here...) and Jessie.


Claire is at that magic age where everything is amazing and worth shouting for joy about! She makes you feel like your gift was the very best she received, and that her birthday was perfect. I love, love it! Arms up in the air over her cake (though the cupcakes tasted a bit... pink), cheers for Jessie and screams over the Barbie and Ken "Made for Each Other" set from Toy Story.




Claire kept asking me, "Am I really four now?" I told her yes, she could now officially say - I am four! She was in the car with me on her birthday and she was looking at a preschool workbook she has had for awhile - tracing letters, pre-writing skills, etc. She had this sad, thoughtful look on her face and I asked her what was wrong. She said, "I did this book when I was little, a long time ago..." you could almost hear the sigh in her voice. Oh, old age! It comes so quickly, doesn't it?

Claire got some birthday money from my mom and my grandpa, so we decided to go to the Sanrio store at Town Square, which is all Hello Kitty stuff. Wall to wall Hello Kitty backpacks, stuffed animals, jewelry, cookies cutters, dishes, pretty much anything. After much debate, Claire decided on two notebooks, one locked diary, a sparkly ink pen, and a purple Hello Kitty charm bracelet. I asked her if she was sure she wanted all the notebooks and the diary, and she said, "Yes! I need them for school!"

Happy Birthday Claire! We love you!

Miles Quotes!

He is saying more words, and I can now actually include a quote from the Miles. He loves grapes, and when he finds a very small grape in the bunch he holds it up and yells out, "A baby!" The other day he found a baby grape, and then he held up a really big grape and said, "A Daddy!"

Halloween Preview

This is actually part of Matt's costume, but Miles is giving it a test run. We get pretty excited about Halloween around here.

How to Pick a Husband and Other Thoughts by Claire

According to Claire, you get to pick your husband from a line up. I told her we are going to lunch with a friend, Jessi. She asked what color is Jessi's hair, her eye color, and if she is married. The three important factors. I told her no, Jessi isn't married yet and she wanted to know why Jessi didn't have children. Well, because she isn't married yet, of course.

Claire said - "Well, you got married, right? You picked out Dad." I said, yes, I picked dad. She said - "Where? From where all the other dads were together?" Yep, a big group of dads just waiting to get chosen by yours truly. :)


Then the other day we were driving home after work and Claire said, "Mom, how come I don't have any powers?" I asked her what she meant by powers. She said, "Like powers where you can walk up to the sky, or build a house really fast, or you help people." I don't know why we don't have those powers Claire - I could use a few house cleaning or super brain powers these days.

Three days into preschool, and Claire already came home with a story about one of the kids saying something to her that made me upset. But instead of calling up the parents and being crazy overprotective like I want to be, I just asked her, "Well, what did you say back?" And she said, "I didn't say anything..." and just shrugged her shoulders, like, what else would I do?

Indoor Trampoline

We have actually had a bit of rain lately, and so when we are stuck inside for the whole 30 minutes that it is pouring, the kids like to build forts or big piles of cushions and pillows to jump on. Looks pretty fun!