AT HOME WITH THE HAMMONDS

valentine

2012-02-14T05:48:00.001-08:00

Hug And Kisses Valentine's Card

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2012 valentine's day roundup

2012-02-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here is a roundup of all the valentine's projects we made this year....

Valentine Love Bugs...Tutorial found HERE

Photo Strip Hearts...Tutorial found HERE

Love how this heart garland turned out with sweet pictures of my little girl!

Valentine and Peanut Butter M&M Cookies recipe found HERE

These were SUPER Yummy!!!

Sweet Heart Pops found HERE

And I also made one of THESE SUPER cute Valentine's Day Necklaces for my little C!

Simple Things Sunday - Sweet Heart Pops

2012-02-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

We loved these Sweet Heart Pops that we made last year! They turned out so cute that we just had to make them again this year! Chloe will be taking them to preschool to share at her Valentine Party tomorrow. This year we had friends, Sydney and Addie come over and make the heart pops with us. The two little girls had so much fun, especially with the sprinkles! Us moms had fun too;)

Groundhog Day.

2012-02-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

At preschool this week Chloe made this cute little groundhog project in which you can move the straw up and down to make the groundhog go in his "hole" or peak out! I stuck the little guy in my hibiscus that I'm attempting to grow with him peaking out in hopes that spring is on the way. Groundhog Phil saw his shadow this year so if the folklore is correct we still have 6 more weeks of winter - boo:(.

I'm linking up here...

January Open Dance

2012-02-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

The last Thursday in January the parents were invited to come watch their little dancers. It's hard to stop smiling when watching because you can tell that Chloe along with all the other girls just love dance and are having so much fun! Chloe especially likes parents night because they get to wear whatever they want on these nights. She was so excited to wear her new blue tutu dress! In fact at one point she couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror so Miss Kelly just told her to twirl and twirl. HAHA!

January

2012-02-04T22:04:00.001-08:00

I have been slacking on posting lately! We had a busy month and it went way too fast! Let's hope we can slow down a little bit now that it's February! I am starting this month in photos project....

A month in photos...January 2012

January 2012
Chloe got to meet the triplets - Opal, Scarlett and Issac.
We played outside in weather that definately did not feel like it was January.
We finished painting and decorating Chloe's big girl room.
We made love bugs.
We had a girls day with Angela, Izzy and Kenzie at Mobius and also saw "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D.
We brought snow inside the house to play because it was too cold to play with it outside.
We started building a shop.
We played outside in the snow while it was snowing.
Ariel went to the "village" so we got a new kitty - Megs.
Daddy and Mommy watched Chloe at dance practice.
We went to Mobius to celebrate dance friend, Arianna's 5th birthday.
We enjoyed a girls day with Grandma and saw "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway.
We had our living room and kitchen repainted.
We went to Wilbur for dinner at Grammie's to celebrate Auntie D's birthday.
We had to say goodbye to our Coleboy:(

Cole

2012-01-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

This week has been a really hard one here at the Hammond house. Our Coleboy died on Wednesday night. Clay and I brought Cole home to join our family before we got married 7 1/2 years ago and since he has been the best dog we could have ever asked for. We took him everywhere with us and even now that it's been 4 days since he passed, Clay and I still keep thinking we hear him barking. It is definately not the same when we come home from work anymore with him running down the driveway to greet us. Surprisingly our little C has been taking it ok, she says that Coleboy went to heaven to be with G-MA. Clay and I however just plain MISS him! We can't even imagine getting another dog at this point - it would just be too difficult to replace our Coleboy. RIP Cole. We will never forget you!

I'm linking up one of my favorite photos of little C and Cole (#1 photo) for Simple Things Sunday.

Simple Things Sunday

2012-01-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

I am joining the Simple things Sunday project over here... http://rebeccacooper.blogspot.com/2010/10/simple-things.html

Here is my first Simple things photo...Chloe and her friend Izzy with their glasses on ready to watch "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D! Makes me smile everytime I see this funny photo!

You can join too...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2012-01-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

We finally got some snow this week! Too bad it was snowing, blowing and only 19 degrees outside! Chloe was very excited about the snow and really wanted to be out playing in it. Since it was soooo cold I brought the snow inside for her like I did last year! She again loved it and had fun playing with her animals in it.

Mobius and Movie

2012-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, January 14th, Chloe and I met up with friends, Angela, Izzy and Kenzie for a girls day! We went to Mobius, lunch and then to the movie "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D! It was a very fun day, especially for the girls! By the time we finally got in our car to drive home around 4pm Chloe was out in a matter of seconds. She was so wore out from running and playing all day. The girls loved the movie in 3D and to my surprise wore the glasses pretty much the whole time! Here are a couple photos from our day...

Playing in the water with the boats at Mobius.

Rowing in a canoe.

Pedaling another boat.

Sliding down the slide. I couldn't even tell you how many times they went up and down this!

Playing with the air ball machine.

Of course loving the dress up area...here she is dancing.

This was the favorite - riding these bikes with the virtual monitor.

They did this for probably 20 mins straight.

Water and sand fun.

Ice cream!!

Ready for the movie in their 3D glasses!

Luv Bugs

2012-01-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

Chloe and I are in LOVE...with our Luv Bugs that is! We love Valentine's Day - the decorating and creating of fun crafts that go along with the holiday! So one weeknight this week we made luv bugs to add to our Valentine's decorations. Here is how you can create your own...

Paint the toilet paper roll your desired color. (Chloe painted hers pink and purple!) While the roll dries, cut out the luv bug wings using a piece of construction paper. Fold the paper in half and be sure the bottom of the heart connects to the fold. Glue the wings to the back of the tp roll. Tape small colored paper hearts to the end of each pipe cleaner. We wrapped the pipe cleaners around our fingers to make them curl. Glue google eyes to the front and decorate wings!

And yes Chloe is wearing a princess dress, necklace and crown...she IS a princess you know;)

Our LUV BUGS!

We LOVE babies!

2012-01-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

On Saturday (1/07/12) grandma, Chloe and I went SHOPPING! We had too much fun and spent too much money! My little Chloe is quite the shopper - yes I realize she is ONLY 3 but she knows what she likes! I am thinking this may not be that neat when she becomes a teenager! Mom and I bought new winter coats and Miss Chloe bought new shoes, a purple tutu skirt and a blue dress that you can see a glimpse in the below pictures! After we did our shopping we drove out to Natalie's to hold the triplets! Chloe was excited as she hadn't met the babies yet! She LOVED holding baby Opal. So much in fact that she got mad when I took Opal to have my turn holding her. The babies are sooo sweet it's hard NOT to fall in love with them!! When we read our books that night we were talking about brothers and sisters and how Chloe doesn't have any. Her response to me was..."well Cole can be my brother." HAHA! Silly girl!

Chloe holding Scarlett and Opal

So in love with baby Opal.

Preschool Art for 2012

2012-01-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

This year I have decided to not post Chloe's preschool art on my blog. Instead I am going to take pictures of each piece of art and print them all in a book titled "Chloe's Preschool Art 2012." Don't worry; I will still from time to time post some of my favorites!

This is what she did on Friday - wrote her name!! Well traced the letters anyways! You can't see since I turned this photo black and white but her name is written by Mrs. Joan in highlighter ink. Then Chloe traced the letters. Putting it in black and white really shows how well she traced! The bottom one she traced twice. Mommy and daddy are once again amazed and proud!

20 Questions...

2012-01-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

To end this year and create my blog book I asked Chloe 20 questions...

1. What is your favorite color? PINK
2. What is your favorite toy? Nala and Simba
3. What is your favorite fruit? Blueberries
4. What is your favorite tv show/movie? Dora and The Lion King
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Turkey sandwich with MAYO!
6. What is your favorite outfit? Tangled shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Hide and Seek
8. What is your favorite snack? Chex Mix
9. What is your favorite animal? Kitties
10. What is your favorite song? "Can you feel the love tonight" Lion King
11. What is your favorite book? "If you give a cat a cupcake"
12. Who are your best friends? Vanessa, Izzy, Chloe Barta, Selah, Kariya and Samantha
13. What is your favorite cereal? Golden Grahams
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Run and play
15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk and Water
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Rudolph, Simba and Nala
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Daddy's eggs
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Mommy

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas was SO FUN this year! At 3 1/2 Chloe was really into opening presents and got so excited about Santa coming. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma's and Santa had left her some presents there. Grandma rang some jingle bells as we walked up her stairs so she thought she had just missed him. It was cute seeing the look on her face when she heard those bells. After she opened presents there we went back to our house and had everyone over for cheese fondue. Chloe sang to us on her new microphone all night! Christmas morning she was up and ready to open more presents! She got so many things that she loved this year...a makeup vanity, hair dryer and curling iron set, a boombox/microphone, HUGE simba and nala animals, nerf guns, and a pink gun from daddy of course;) Santa also brought her what she asked him for - the princess castle, BUT it was SO cheap and all plastic so we talked her into taking it back to the store. She probably played with it a whole 5 minutes on Christmas. She already has a dollhouse that she got from Santa last year and it is all wood so it's much nicer. A few days after Christmas Chloe got a package on the front door. I told her that Santa heard she was returning her castle and sent her something else in return. It was a chest full of princess dress up dresses, jewlrey, shoes and crowns. She LOVED it!! And was so happy about the trade. "Santa" did good;) She has been playing with the dresses since they arrived! Everyone came to our house for Christmas dinner as well and we did a non-traditional taco feed! It was the best Christmas so far! Until next year anyways!

Best Friends!

2012-01-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

I think I posted before about how Chloe's best friend Vanessa moved about a month ago and how Chloe has been missing her! Well she came to visit before Christmas and her mommy, Michelle, who I ironically graduated high school with called me and said Vanessa had a Christmas present for Chloe. So Vanessa came over to exchange Christmas presents with Chloe and the girls were having so much fun that I said she could stay and play for awhile! They only were able to play about an hour that night but all I heard were giggles the whole time. Chloe is already looking forward to Vanessa coming back to visit and play again! It was SO cute when Vanessa was leaving they gave eachother big hugs and said "I LOVE YOU!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

Mini Christmas session

2011-12-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

We went and had pictures taken with Angie at Joyful Photography Studio for a mini Christmas session. I love how they turned out! Here is the link to a preview! (www.joyfulcaptures.com/?p=8284) And below I have posted just a few of my favorites!

Christmas Preschool Program

2011-12-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

On Monday December 19 we went and enjoyed Chloe's preschool program! All of the kids did so great and I was able to capture some really cute moments and songs on video! There were a lot of proud moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas! Chloe's teacher is so wonderful with the kids and I can't say enough good things about her! Thank you Joan! After the performance, Joan provided us all lunch as well. It was such a great time! Now it's Christmas break so no preschool for 2 weeks! Chloe will sure miss Joan and her preschool friends but January will be here before we know it!

Dancin' at the Nursing Home

2011-12-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

On Sunday December 19th the Davenport Dance Academy performed at the Nursing Home. The teacher let it be an option if you wanted to perform or not. Of course we wouldn't have missed it for the world because we know how much G-MA would have LOVED seeing her little Chloe dance! Made me very sad going up there and G-MA not being there:( I hope she was watching down on her favorite little girl as she danced her heart out! I was so impressed that out of the 12 girls in Chloe's age group 9 came to dance! All of the elderly people had smiles on their faces when they watched the girls and one lady was even singing right along to the songs! It was great!

The whole group!

Preschool Projects..

2011-12-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

Here are the last couple preschool projects that Chloe made before she went onto Christmas break...

Mitten!

Reindeer candy holder - love her little hands as the antlers!

And a Christmas bear!

My BIG girl..

2011-12-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here is my little, "BIG" girl. Makes me sad even typing this because she has in fact become quite the big girl lately! On Wednesday December 7th I think she woke up as a BIG girl! That day she went to the dentist and had 2 cavities filled! She lay there on the dentist chair like such a big girl as the dentist asked her which princess she wanted painted on her teeth. She proudly responded with "ARIEL!" And that is what they did - painted Ariel on those two teeth and away we went! Took 10 minutes to do both teeth and my big girl did sooo good! She acted like it was just another cleaning and made her mommy so proud! The dentist even double asked me how old she was because she couldn't believe my 3 year old did SO GOOD! Afterwards they rewarded her with a popsicle, which she thought was pretty cool! Now this isn't the only reason my little girl turned into a big girl that day....On the way home she informed me that she was going to sleep in her OWN room that night. HA! As we all know she has had this thing about only sleeping an arms length away from mommy at night since a baby and has for months slept on her crib mattress on the floor next to mommys and daddys bed. BUT since I have never heard her mutter these words before I got excited for her and told her we would go home and turn the crib into the toddler bed for in her big girl room. Yes we have tried this before, a couple times in fact but it never worked. I think since we painted her room purple on Thanksgiving that is what has been getting her excited about her own room! When we got home and told daddy he of course a non-believer just laughed but once my little girl, oops I mean BIG girl gets something in her head that she is going to do she DOES IT! That night we read books, I tucked her in and she blew us kisses from her own bedroom. She in fact did sleep in her own room that night, very much to our surprise and has every night since! Looks like we will be converting the crib/toddler bed into the full size bed that it can be as soon as I buy her a mattress! Love you big girl - you make us proud every single day!

Playdate!

2011-12-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

On Monday December 12th after preschool, Chloe had her friend, Addie over to play for the afternoon. The two girls had lots of fun! Addie brought Christmas cookies for the girls to decorate so here they are with their cookies...

And of course playing dress-up!
Two little cute princesses!

Smitten x3!

2011-12-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

I am SMITTEN times 3! Today was the first time I was able to meet my best friend, Natalie's triplets! All three came home together a week ago today after being in the NICU for 10+ weeks. I am already soooo in love with the babies after spending just 3 short hours with them! Meet Scarlett, Opal and Issac.

All three sweetpeas!

Opal

Scarlett

Issac

Already looking forward to my next visit!

Gingerbread House

2011-12-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

On Monday after preschool Chloe and I made our Gingerbread House! This year I bought a gingerbread house at Costco and I highly recommend it because the house comes pre-assembled! It was great because then we didn't have to worry about it collapsing while we decorated it all up! We had fun doing it together and it turned out so cute! Chloe's favorite part was eating all of the icing!

Preschool Projects

2011-12-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

Catching up from a couple weeks of preschool projects!
We love them all and are SO proud!

Christmas Recital!

2011-12-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

Chloe had her first dance recital this weekend!! It was "A little taste of Christmas" at the Harrington Opera House featuring the Davenport Dance Academy on Saturday at 5:30pm. Friday night they had a full dress rehearsal with pictures so I got to watch her and all of the other little girls in her group perform two nights. They did so great! And with only 7 practices under their belts might I add! I am SO thrilled that I came across their dance teacher when I was searching for someone to bring dance back to Davenport. She has been wonderful with the girls and they put on a fabulous performance! Here are pictures of Chloe and her group of 3-5 year olds. They performed "Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer" in their tap shoes and "Away in the Manger" in their ballet slippers. It was so ADORABLE! I thought Chloe might be a bit shy up on stage with everyone watching (it was a packed house) but she wasn't! During one of the big girl performances she ran out on the side and started waving at us! It was hilarious! GREAT JOB GIRLS!!

Last Soccertots.

2011-12-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Chloe's last soccertots for the season. She was sad that it was her last one and is already asking me to sign her up again! Here are some pictures from her last and very fun day!

Countdown to Christmas...

2011-12-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

This year we started a new countdown to Christmas tradition that I hope we can continue through the years. I wrapped up 24 books, new and old, all winter or Christmas themed. Chloe gets to open 1 book a day and we read it. So far it's been a whole lot of fun! I got the idea off of the website - pinterest. http://pinterest.com/pin/23714335507508842/

Chloe also brought home this other tree countdown from preschool where we paste a circle on each day!

Only 19 days left!!!

Christmas Card Photos...

2011-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

This weekend I attempted to get a picture of Chloe and her furry friends, Cole, Ariel and Frankie for our annual Christmas card. As I said "attempted!" Didn't quite turn out how I had imagined. Guess I should have taken into account that the animals wouldn't appreciate us dressing them up! I did actually get a few cute shots but decided to go a different route for the cards.

Chloe and her favorite kitty, Ariel.

Chloe and all of her furry friends - HAHA!

A Little Turkey Day Painting

2011-11-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

Since we were celebrating Thanksgiving the day after this year we did a little painting the day of! We are making Chloe's room a "big girl" room so she got to pick what color she wanted for the walls. She picked PURPLE! So we are updating from pink to purple. It turned out really fun and she LOVES it! That's all that counts right?! She loved painting and was a trooper. I didn't think she would last too long but she kept on painting right along with us almost until we finished! Before and after pictures coming soon!

Thanksgiving WEEK!

2011-11-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

This week at preschool was Thanksgiving week! The kids made very fun projects and even had a Thanksgiving "dinner" on Wednesday. They each were to bring a healthy snack. Chloe picked string cheese to take as her snack and from what we hear it was a huge hit! Friday there was no school with the Thanksgiving holiday so it was a short week but actually Mrs. Joan called that day for Chloe to come play with her granddaughter Vanessa. Vanessa started preschool with Chloe and quickly has become her bff, but sadly a couple of weeks ago they moved to another town. Chloe has really been missing Vanessa so when she was asked to come play she was SOOOO excited! Sounds like they had such a fun time playing together, and when I picked Chloe up they gave eachother the biggest hug goodbye:(

Turkey Toes!

Gooble, Gooble, Gooble!

Chloe's Book of Thanks!

Cornucopias! So funny when she says this!

This is a drawing of mommy...

and here is daddy;)

Santa Saturday!

2011-11-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday after soccertots we boogied downtown to meet up with Angela and her girls, Izzy and Kenzie to sit on Santa's lap! I asked Chloe if she was excited to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Her response was "NO! I just want him to bring me something!" GREAT! At this point I am wondering how this is all going to go down. When we get there and see Angela, we see Izzy who runs towards us and gives Chloe a big hug. So cute! Then Izzy shouts "YEAH SANTA!" I think Chloe is feeling the peer pressure now because she seems to get excited. Izzy's excitement was surely rubbing off on her and I was glad about that! It was great - we only had to wait in line about 5 minutes which was much better than last year's 1 1/2 hour line! I think from now on I will take her to sit on Santa's lap BEFORE Thanksgiving! Then I don't have to deal with the crowds, and I get to enjoy her Santa picture that much longer!
Here are the girls waiting...they sure love eachother!

When it was our turn Izzy and Chloe climbed up on Santa's lap together and we got this SUPER CUTE shot...
Then Izzy got off so I could get one taken of just Chloe and Santa. While the photographer was getting my email address and doing some other things Chloe had a FROZEN smile on her face. The girl that was helping was telling Chloe "you can relax you face for a few" but she never stopped smiling between shots with her little fake smile. HAHA so funny, fake but still adorable in our eyes!

PS...Chloe told Santa that she wants "the PRINCESS CASTLE!!" for Christmas. Now the searching begins...

G...H...&...I WEEKS!

2011-11-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

Don't know what happened to G and H weeks but I took pictures of this weeks "I" projects...ENJOY!

Turkey!

Thankful Wreath!

Tracing the lines! GOOD JOB!

Letter "I" paper bag puppet!

Love them all!

Goodbye G-Ma

2011-11-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

This week we sadly said goodbye to G-ma. She started having some troubles about a month or so ago and quickly went downhill from there. We trick-or-treated her at the nursing home on Halloween and then a day later she was sent up to Sacred Heart where she stayed and never made it back home. She is in a much better place now and no longer in pain so for that I am grateful! Plus she is with Grandpa again which I am sure she is so happy about! On Sunday, mom, Clay, Chloe and I all went and visited with her and I'm glad we all did that and got to see her before she passed on Tuesday. Chloe was the joy in her life and whenever she saw her she lit up! Chloe loved her G-ma too. Mom and I held her hand as she passed on Tuesday which was hard for both of us, but I am glad we were there for her.
We will hold the memories close and never forget you, G-ma!

Love this picture...with Chloe and her hand on G-ma's shoulder.

2011 First SNOW!

2011-11-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon it started snowing....and it continued snowing! It wasn't a very fun drive home from Spokane as we were in a line of cars going about 40. Most of the wind blew the snow away in the night but we still had about an inch to play in this morning! Guess it's time to get the girl some snow boots!

Chloe and her buddy Coleboy

stompin' through the snow!

FUN da-middles

2011-11-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen these in the store??? FUN da-middles? WOW they really are FUN! AND SUPER YUMMY!!
Who doesn't love a chocolate cupcake with creamy vanilla filling??!!

With Sprinkles TOO!

Happy 4th Birthday!

2011-11-07T18:19:00.000-08:00

Chloe's friend Izabella celebrated her 4th birthday this last weekend at KidsSports. Chloe and Izzy had SO much fun together bouncing! They always have so much fun when we get them together!
Happy 4th Birthday Izzy!

Sliding together.

WEEEEE!

Friends!

Happy Birthday to Izzy!

Birthday girl blowing out the candles!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2011...Chloe loves the movie "The Lion King." If she could she would watch it every single day - I'm pretty sure she has seen it a hundred times! It was one of her first movies and ever since she has just LOVED it! Anyways this year she really wanted to be Nala. All I could find in Spokane was Simba so I had to order this costume online since she had it in her head that Nala was what she was going to be. Trust me you can't change a 3 year olds mind once they have their heart set on something! I tried talking her into being all the different princesses which I thought would be an easy fix but nope Nala it had to be! So Nala it was and even though I thought the costume looked super DORKY online I thought Chloe was the most ADORABLE Nala EVER! We added the flower which turned out to be a cute little addition to the costume as well! We went to Auntie D's and Uncle Luke's first and they got her glow in the dark playdoh. It was a mistake going to their house first because after just a couple of houses of trick or treating she kept saying "can we go home and play playdoh now?" We stayed out about half an hour and then visited Gma in the nursing home. Chloe had a great time going house to house saying "Trick or Treat" and then had fun at home with her new glow in the dark playdoh;)

Cutest Nala EVER!

Trick or Treat!

F WEEK!

2011-11-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

So I am a little behind on posting Chloe's preschool artwork...here is F Week!
And yes I did skip the letter E - OOPS!

F is for Fish and FISHLIPS!

F is for Fire Truck!

Dance Halloween Style

2011-10-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

This week at dance the girls got to wear their Halloween costumes! Chloe thought that was so fun and loved it as did all of the girls! It was the last Thursday of the month so the parents got to come watch! The girls were all so adorable in their costumes and they were all having a great time!

Here they all are Miss Kelly and the crew!

Too Cute!

We Love FALL!

2011-10-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday after preschool Chloe and I went out to Grandma Sherry's house to play in the leaves! I was hoping to get some good fall photos taken as well - and I did! Not only did we play in the leaves and take pictures we also got to enjoy lunch with Grandma Sherry! We have really missed her, especially Chloe since she doesn't come to to her house weekly anymore. Chloe had to make sure all of her toys were still there and when we left she said "I want to go there tomorrow for all day mommy!"

Lil' Soccer Star!

2011-10-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

Chloe is REALLY enjoying soccer again this year! She gets right out there and participates in everything they do. I have noticed she sticks closely by her coach the whole time, which I think is pretty cute! They run a bunch and have races, which she loves to do! She is the fastest in her class OR I might just be saying that because I am her mom! No really she is pretty darn fast though! I am so amazed and proud of her everyweek...she is my lil' soccer STAR!

Red Light, Green Light game.

Nice Soccer Stance!

Love this one of all the kids and Coach Shereen!

Goalie!

Ready, Set, KICK!

Hammonds 2 Deer 0

2011-10-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend rifle hunting commenced. I have done black powder every year in the past and wanted to switch it up this year so decided to take on the rifle! Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights Clay and I went out with Luke and Mark to a piece of land that Clay has a lease on for hunting. Nothing...but on Wednesday I went with Clay and Luke and sat in a different spot on the same piece of land and ended my 2011 hunt! Here is how it went...Clay and I were sitting behind a hay-bale blind and Clay was my spotter. So far there was just a doe and her two fawn in our view. All of the sudden Clay nudges me "get up-there is a buck!" I slowly got up on my knees and get my gun all ready - I was shaking! The buck was about 150 yards away, and I could hear Clay whispering over and over "take the shot, take the shot!" Finally I shot...they ran off. Clay says to me "I think you missed." DANG! Luke walks up over the hill at that point since he heard the shot and I am pretty bummed out. Clay tells us to go walk over the hill and see if we see anything while he is going to walk down to where those deer were at just to check it out. A few minutes later we hear Clay calling us - BLOOD! Yes! I did hit him! We start following the blood trail but it soon ends..we can still see the path across the field that leads over the side and down into the canyon. At this point we are thinking that we might lose this one. We walk the side of the canyon for only about 2 minutes and Clay is ready to give up. I turn my head back up towards the field and not 20 feet away the deer lifts his head - he is laying down beside a tree. WAHOOOOO!! I got him! WHOOP WHOOP! And Clay thought I missed! Now we are wondering how we are going to get him out of there since it is off a winter wheat field and the truck is about 1/2 mile away! You won't believe this but neither Luke nor Clay had a knife with them! We called Mark to bring out a wheelbarrow and we walked back to the truck to get the knife. Mark, Clay, Luke and I walked back out and since no one had a flashlight we were gutting this deer by the light of two cell phones! It was ridiculous and now looking back somewhat funny! I am going to be way more prepared next year with a knife and a flashlight! No more thinking the guys got me covered! It wasn't much fun but we pushed and pulled that deer 1/2 mile through the field in that wheelbarrow back to the truck. I really didn't help much and I was still pooped! Check him out - my lil 4x4! Not bad for my first buck if I do say so myself!

My first BUCK!

My Helpers! Couldn't have done it without you guys!

Check out his twisted horn on the left side!

Greenbluff!

2011-10-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from our annual roadtrip to Greenbluff last Friday. It was cold when we left our house, but when we got up there it turned out to be not too bad! We went to the Harvest House first so I could get my yearly "How Tall this Fall" picture, which I already posted. After that we got little C a hot chocolate and we drove a little further down the road to the place we always pick our pumpkins - Knapp's! We enjoy watching the punkin' chuckin' every year and Chloe likes to see the mini horses, ducks, billy goats and other various animals they have there. It was a great family afternoon of pumpkin picking! Now it's time to paint, carve and roast some seeds! Chloe has been adamant about wanting to roast pumpkin seeds and eat them! I have no idea where she came up with this since we have never roasted seeds before and none of us said a word to her about it! We will surely be roasting this year!

How Tall this Fall??

2011-10-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Look how much Chloe has grown in one year!

FIRE SAFETY WEEK!

2011-10-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

Last week at preschool was fire saftety week and they learned about what to do if there is a fire. They even did a practice fire drill. Here is Chloe with her Jr. Helper Badge! She was being a goof so you think she would give a good smile - NOPE! This week I didn't do too good with taking pictures of Chloe and her artwork so stay tuned and I will do better next week!

Tickle Ghost

2011-10-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Chloe and I were going to do this project but we ran out of time because Clay and I got to making homemade salsa! It by the way was super delicious! I think between the two of us we ate pretty much a whole bag of chips! So anyways we made our "sunday project" on Monday! I just got it all hung up today! Isn't it the cutest ghost you have ever seen???!!! I think it would be fun to do this yearly and watch her foot, I mean ghost, grow! Or you could even make a whole ghost family with all the feet in your household!

D WEEK!

2011-10-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

This week at preschool Chloe learned the letter D! D is for Duck like on the paper bag puppet she made! D is for Dalmation like on the stick she made and named Felicity! Monday when I picked her up from preshool I couldn't get anything out of her about what she learned, she was having somewhat of a meltdown! She had gotten scolded for opening her sucker that wasn't supposed to be opened until they got home. I could tell she was a tired little girl but unfortunately I had to go back to work that day and left her to be with Nana. Nana put her down for a nap at noon and she slept until 3! I think she must be having a growing spurt because on Wednesday she also took almost a 3 hour nap! Such a tired girl! On Wednesday Chloe told me how she was the flag holder and then Friday she told me she was the calendar person. Not sure what the calendar person does but either way I'm proud! Every day after school I ask her what they had for snack and she can never remember or just tells me toast. I think this is hilarious because when she went to preschool earlier this year that is what she would ALWAYS tell me about-what they ate! Things change so quickly I'm learning when you have a little one. This is why I continue to try and cherish and enjoy every moment!

Leaf Art!

Dalmation - Felicity!

And D is for Duck - puppet!

JAR-O'-LANTERNS

2011-10-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got a little crafty on our Sunday morning. We made Jar-o'-lanterns! I found this activity out of one of my FamilyFun magazines and it was a big hit!
You can check it out online at http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/jar-o-lanterns-1024695/
Chloe loved painting the jars and then putting the candles in them when they were dry to see them all lit up! Here is how you create them..
Cut masking tape into simple jack-o'-lantern face shapes, such as triangles and squares. Create a face on the side of a clean, dry jar. Brush the outside with orange (or any color - Chloe liked pink) acrylic paint - I just used crayola paint that I had on hand. After the paint dries, carefully remove the tape shapes. Light your jar-o'-lantern with a battery-operated tea light. (OR a regular tea light would work just fine!)

C WEEK!

2011-10-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Last week at preschool Mrs. Joan was teaching the kids about the letter C! They got to make a bunch of fun activites with the letter C this week and even got to make one of Chloe's favorite things - COOKIES! They made a fun little cat book which I didn't post but it is very cute as well as another book all about Chloe and what she has learned so far. I only posted some of my favorite pictures out of it! Check out all the rest of her fun projects below!

Chloe and her CHLOEASAURUS!

Another Dino for learning dino-math!

Another shot of the Chloeasaurus

C is for Cat!

Cat Puppet

Chloe's book!

The first page if you can't see says "here is a picture of me" and she drew herself! Love it!
And A is for almonds because she LOVES them!

3 is for 3 dinosaurs and her red handprint!

Check out her circle!

SOCCERTOTS

2011-09-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

Chloe started Soccertots on Saturday! She had so much fun last fall doing it and wanted to do it again this year! I was worried how it would go down when we got there because last year it was a mommy and me type of thing for her age group where I was out there with her. This year it would be just her on her own with the other kids. She kept saying on the way up that I would have to show her how to kick the ball and didn't like the idea of me just watching. I went in with her at first before class started and got her a ball. Then the coach, (who is amazing - we had her last year) called all of the parents over for a pre-session chat, so I stepped out. Chloe continued to kick the ball around and when the chat was over her coach said "come on kids" and off Chloe went without a word about wanting me. It was great! A couple of the kids had to have their mommies with them, and I was almost in a way SAD that C didn't need me too just because she is becoming such a big girl!! She had a fun time and her favorite part was when she had the flag in her shirt and she was SO fast that none of the kids could catch her to get the flag! She is our little "soccerstar!"

STRETCHING!

PRACTICING THE SOCCER STANCE!

KICKING THE CONES!

PICKING THEM BACK UP WITH FEET ONLY!

NO HANDS AND IN THE SOCCER STANCE!

YOU CAN'T CATCH ME OR MY FLAG!!

GOAL!!

COOL DOWN STRETCHING!

B WEEK!

2011-09-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

This week at preschool they learned the letter B! On Monday they made another "puffit" for this week's letter. Wednesday they walked to the library to check out books for the letter b and also went to the bakery, since it also starts with the letter b! Chloe told me she held hands and shared doughnuts with her friends. Yesterday my little C started running a fever so she missed out on school today. Here are her projects from Monday and Wednesday! I didn't get any pictures of her because I was hoping to do that today but since she is sick that didn't happen.

Letter B brown paper bag puppet.

Bookmark!

Necklace!

Bow Hunting

2011-09-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Hammond got himself quite the buck this year - a 5X5! The night he went out, it's terrible to say but I thought it was going to be a waste of time. Chloe and I are in bed reading books when Clay comes in and says "Chloe come here I have something to show you." I couldn't believe it, he got the big one! Chloe had soooo many questions it was funny! "Are we going to eat the leg?" "Are we going to eat the eyeballs?" "How do we eat it?" I told her that we are going to grind it up like hamburger and her response to that was "oh I like that!"
WAY TO GO DADDY! Looks like so far this year it's....
Hammonds=1 Deer=0.

NEW Momma!!

2011-09-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

My BFF, Natalie gave birth to her triplets this morning!! I am beyond excited to be an auntie to her three little bundles of joy! The twin girls, Baby A and Baby B arrived at 7:57 and the boy, Baby C arrived one minute later at 7:58. Baby A weighed in at 2lbs 8oz, Baby B weighed 3lbs 8oz and Baby C weighed 2lbs 12oz. All three babies and new mommy are doing GREAT!

A WEEK!

2011-09-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Last week at preschool Chloe learned the letter A! She has been telling me all week "A is for Alligator." On Monday the kids made Apple Puppets using brown paper bags. Chloe calls it her "PUFFIT." When I picked her up on Monday to go home they were singing their goodbye song and when it was over Joan said "give hugs goodbye," as I watched my little C run over and give her a BIG hug! Made me so proud of her! Here are all her A creations from A WEEK!

C's Puffit!

C's hat -
If you look closely it has little apples she colored and glued on it.

Little to Big Apples!

Silly girl wearing her hat and showing off her apple art!

FAIR TIME!

2011-09-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Clay and I have taken Chloe to the fair the last two years and have always had a great time. Clay is harvesting this year but didn't want to miss our annual trip so took last Monday off. When Chloe got done with preschool we headed up. It was hotter than usual so it seemed like we weren't there as long as usual but we did see all of the animals which Chloe loves doing! Her favorite is the goats. We also ate footlong corndogs and huckleberry ice cream cones - YUM! Chloe still wants nothing to do with the rides - maybe next year!

Dance!

2011-09-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Chloe started beginning Ballet/Tap Dance classes the same week that she started back to preschool at the start of this month. Davenport has not offered dance in quiet some time and last fall I was determined to bring it back. I remember as a little girl taking dance lessons here in Davenport and loving it! Chloe loves to dance so I knew she would love it just as much as I had. The dance company that taught me dance when I was little is actually still in business and is doing lessons down in Wilbur but no longer in Davenport. I called them first and the owner said I needed to get at least 30 girls interested. I got 30+ girls that wanted to do it which was great and in all my advertising I also found a dance instructor! Kelli used to teach dance lessons in another town but closed her business when they moved to Davenport. She was willing to take this on and at a smaller cost than the other company was going to charge which was fabulous! When we arrived at Chloe's first lesson all of the girls got to pick different colored butterfly wings to put on which I think they thought was soooo cool! Then when I came back (the parents' only get to watch on the last Thursday of the month) they all had suckers and stickers so I think they all had a great time! I know my Chloe did!

ready for her first dance lesson!

oh my goodness!

butterfly wings!

More Grandparents Day!

2011-09-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday for Grandparents Day, Chloe and I went with all the grandparents (Grandma, Nana, Poppy and Grammie) to the river. Jessi came down later and joined us as well! Clay unfortunately had to harvest so he missed out on a very fun day! We left around 11am and didn't get home until 7pm, so we were down there quite awhile just enjoying the sun, swimming and boating! At one point Chloe started to get somewhat cranky so Grandma and I took her on a snooze cruise. She fought it and fought it but finally put her head in the corner of the sseat up front and crashed! It was such a great day that it was really hard to leave! Chloe especially did not want to leave - and it took some coaxing to even get her back into the boat to pack up. She learned that if we caught her she could jump off the back of the boat and even as she shivered she wanted to keep on jumping. We also had a dance party on the dock at Porcupine Bay and it was the sweetest thing - Chloe wanted Grammie to come up on the dock but she couldn't quite get up there with her bad knees. Chloe held out her hands and said "I will help you Grammie!" She followed that with "hold my hands I get you!" What a sweet little girl I have AND the best Grandparents for my little girl I could ever ask for!

Snooze Cruisin'

Happy Grandparents Day!

2011-09-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Grandparents Day to Grandma, Nana and Poppy!! Chloe is SOOOO lucky to have you all in her life and we are too! Thank you for ALL you do - it is very much appreciated! We couldn't have asked for better grandparents for our little girl! Love you guys!

Chloe made these tree prints for Grandparents Day at Preschool last week to give to Grandma, Nana and Poppy!

Editing Fun!

2011-09-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have been using this photo editing program for awhile now called Picnik but recently discovered a bunch of new tricks so I've been having fun playing with it! Plus I love this picture of my girl!

Wear Red Friday!

2011-09-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

More boating!

2011-09-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures from our very fun afternoon of boating yesterday!

Check out how smooth the water is in the background!

Flying braids

Driving!

Cheese!

MMM watermelon!!

SILLY face!

SOOOOO much fun!

Boating...

2011-09-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight we took our boat out for the first time this summer. We had such a good time!

First day of Preschool!

2011-09-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Today it's back to Preschool! Last night we went to an open house at Joan's to meet the new kids and parents.
It was nice for Chloe to go and remember everything so she was ready to go this morning!
Chloe is the youngest in the group of nine, but you'd never know it because she is so tall!
My little girl is growing up entirely too fast!

Boot Stomin' Fun Weekend!

2011-09-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Grandma, Chloe and I drove to Leavenworth for a wedding. We left on Saturday after lunch thinking that Chloe would nap as we drove. The nap never happened! She was TOO excited to go swimming when we got there. Guess we shouldn't have told her that there was a swimming pool at the hotel until after we arrived! Oh well! She did really well in the car for 3 hours not having a nap. We listened to the princess CD and The Lion King song over and over again as she kept saying "turn it up more mommy!' She also kept herself busy with her princess polly pockets and playing her princess games on her Leapster Explorer. Everything has to be about the princesses you know! We made one side of the road pit stop and luckily had brought along her princess potty in the back of mom's car which worked out nicely for the long road trip! Check out the lovely potty picture below! HAHA she will kill me one day for this one! The first thing we did when we arrived in Leavenworth and got all checked in to our room was change into our swimming suits and head for the pool! It was a 95+ degree weather kind of day so the pool was fabulous! We ran into Tom, Yvonne and Ashley on our way to our room and they met us at the pool with Margaritas - even better! Chloe had tons of fun swimming and splashing around in the pool - I however didn't get but one or two pictures of it because at one point I looked down and there was my camera at the bottom of the pool! NOOOO! Ashley told me to try putting it in a bag of rice and I might be able to revive it. I didn't have a good attitude about it because I wanted to take a bunch of pictures at the wedding the next day and now that wasn't going to happen! Before we went to dinner mom and I ran to Safeway for the rice and picked up a disposable camera as a back-up! Leavenworth by the way is SUCH a cute town and it is sooo cool that all of the signs including Starbucks are the German style! We did learn that next time we will definately take a stroller because there is no parking so you walk everywhere you want to go. Carrying a 36lb little girl was challenging at times but we made it to our destinations! Sunday morning we woke up and walked to get coffees. Chloe got her own little "coffee" aka warm chocolate milk. She was enjoying it while we walked and checked out the little shops along the way. All of the sudden I hear a crash, look back and Chloe has dropped and spilled her coffee on the sidewalk. I go over to her and tell her it's ok and pick it up and toss it in the garbage. We start to continue on our way and out of Chloe's mouth I hear "DAMN!!" It was really hard not to laugh but I just looked at mom and then at her and said "we don't say that word." What a crack up! Guess she was mad that she dropped her coffee - hey I would have been! LOL. We eventually made it back to our hotel and I had promised Chloe we would go back to the pool so she could jump off the side. It was a little chilly getting in the pool this time but she didn't care as she jumped into my arms off the side of the pool over and over again. We decided to go somewhere quick for a bite to eat because it was about time to start getting ready for the wedding...McDonalds anyone?? Crazy thing is I got a text from Aunt Diane and Tom and they were passing through since they had been at Lake Chelan all weekend so they joined us at McDs! We had a great chat and then had to get back to get "pretty" as Chloe would say for the wedding. We followed Tom, Yvonne and Ashley to the wedding which was about a 20 minute drive from Leavenworth. It was a BEAUTIFUL drive along the river. We sang the Lion King Song another 10 times before arriving. Chloe and I had our cowboy boots on and were ready for a boot stompin' good time! The bride was gorgeous and the couple together seemed so happy! It was a very fun wedding and Chloe even found some new friends. She was tagging along with a 3 year old little boy and an older girl who was calling the shots to the two little ones. They ran through the grass chasing eachother, attempting summersaults and just having fun. Later they even showed us all their moves on the dance floor. It was a great night and a fabulous girl's weekend! P.S. My camera is ALIVE! After 3 days of being in a bag of rice it is now working...not quite as good as new but still, I couldn't believe it! Don't mind all my disposable camera shots as they are terrible!

Chloe on her princess potty! HAHA

Swimming in the pool!

Chloe taking pictures!

Chloe hugging the bride to be!

Playing with friends!

Dancing in our boots!

More dancing!

Boot Stompin Funny Girl

2011-09-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

I bought Chloe some cowboy boots, or shall I say cowgirl boots, a couple weeks ago for an upcoming wedding in which we were to wear boots to. She LOVES them and pretty much has been wearing them every where since! More to come on the boot stompin' wedding but for now just a few funny Chloe stories...

Grandma, Chloe and I stopped by Natalie's house the day before the baby shower to drop some things off. I was putting my hand on Natalie's belly bump to see if the babies would kick for me. Chloe was interested in what I was doing and also had to put her hand on as well. Later that night when we were in bed and reading books Chloe says to me "why are those babies in her tummy?" I explained to her that they needed to grow bigger before they could come out. To that she says "well when I get bigger I want to buy a baby brother and put him on my tummy!" The funny part about her saying a baby "brother" is that when we told her that Natalie was having 2 girls and 1 boy she said "I am going to hold a girl and you can hold a girl - Grandma Sherry can hold the boy!" She didn't want to be holding a boy - but she is going to buy a baby brother! Too funny!

Chloe went to her preschool teacher Joan's house for a couple hours one day to play and she asked Joan "can I be the line leader today?" Guess she assumed she was at preschool since she was at her house! LOL!

Baby Shower

2011-09-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

On Sunday August 20th I hosted a baby shower for my very best friend, Natalie. We met when we were 2 years old and have been best friends ever since! I was her maid of honor, and then she was my maid of honor. She hosted my baby shower at her house and now I was hosting her baby shower also at her house! It's crazy how time flies - it literally feels like she was just hosting my baby shower when I was pregnant with Chloe, but it was over 3 years ago! Anyways, this shower wasn't just a normal baby shower...it was a shower for 3!!! I am SO very excited to announce that I am going to be an Auntie to 3 little bundles of joy! Natalie is having identical twin girls and a little boy. I remember when we used to play with our cabbage patch babies always wanting to be mommies one day and now here we are! The shower turned out fabulous and Natalie had a lot of friends and family come to support her and spoil the 3 babies! Can't wait to meet Baby A, B and C!

Mini Cupcakes!

Best Friends Forever!

Grandma and Mommy to be!

Grandma #2, Auntie, Mommy and Grandma

Our gift for A, B and C!

Lots of gifts!

The whole crew!

Shirley playing the sock game - who can fold the most in 30 secs??

Food and Drinks!

I love this photo!
Don't remember what was so funny but looks like we are cracking up!

Friends since preschool!

Closer up!

More cupcakes!

Good Morning!

2011-08-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is what I woke up to the other morning - a BEAUTIFUL harvest sunrise!
The pictures definately don't do it justice but it's still pretty!

Girls Day!

2011-08-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

The 2nd weekend in August my friend Angela and her two girls, Izzy and Kenzie came over to our house to have a playday. Ang and I got to catch up and the girls had so much fun playing together. Izzy especially liked playing with Chloe's kitties, Ariel and Frankie. It was funny listening to them have little conversations with eachother. It was a no nap kind of day since they came around 10ish and stayed till after dinner which was fine because when Chloe hit the bed she was out! It was a great day just hanging out with good friends!

Driving the gator!

And they are off!

Playing with the kitties!

Playing down at the Gazebo when we went for ice cream!

Swimming Lessons

2011-08-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

The first week of August Chloe started swimming lessons at Marlene's. She absolutely loved it and never would want to leave when the lesson was over. Since she just turned 3, Marlene gave her private lessons, so she got to have the pool all to herself! Marlene was SOOO good with Chloe and when she didn't want to go on her back she would make it fun and talk her into it. One of her favorite things to do during the lesson was to put the polly pocket girls into the boat and on the jet ski and then kick, kick, kick so they would float away. Then they would swim to bring them back. Another very fun thing they did was take turns leading the green light, red light game. One would call red or green light and the other would "reach and pull" swim towards her. When we started swim lessons Chloe would not go under the water and now she still doesn't really go under but she is more ok with it and even jumped in and went under a couple times during lessons. As long as you are holding her little hands she is good! We will test out her swimming skills this weekend as we are going to Leavenworth and will be swimming at the hotel pool lots I'm sure! As much as I loved doing the YMCA mommy and me swimming lessons with Chloe I don't think I will ever take her back there when Marlene does such a great job! Plus the most kids Marlene takes at one time is 2!! Same price, less kids, closer to home and much more fun - I think so!

Swimming Fun!

2011-08-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my friend Angela drove down with her two girls to have fun with us at Porcupine Bay! Fun was an understatement! These two girls, Chloe and Izabella were bffs for the day and had SO much fun together! We are definately going to have to get them together for another play date soon! They played so hard that we thought for sure they would crash on the car ride home, but oh no they were too busy playing and didn't want to miss a second. Here are some fun pictures from our day at the beach.

Chloe and Izzy testing out the water

Bathing beauties!

Little sister Kenzie had lots of fun playing in the sand!

Ready, Set, GO!

Taking turns burying eachother!

Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies...

ashes, ashes, we all fall down!!

LOL

2011-08-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Chloe is constantly making us laugh...

Like the other night when I was reading books to her before bedtime. I was really getting into this part of the book and she turns to me, grabs my nose, proceeds to turn it like a volume knob and says "turn it down a little bit mommy!" That girl is so darn funny!

Or how about this picture of her with her kitties, Frankie and Ariel. She had just given them a "bath" in her kiddie pool and was wrapping them up and drying them like they were her babies. Good thing the kitties are so tolerant of her and didn't seem to mind!

Boating!

2011-08-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

Nana, Poppy, Jessi and Chloe took the boat out a week ago and even though the boat did not cooperate Chloe had lots of fun! She has been begging to go back out in the boat since...too bad it is broke down! Here are some fun pictures while the boat was still running!

Even though her eyes are closed she is still ADORABLE!

Jessi and Chloe

In the tube!

Water fight with Poppy...looks like Poppy is winning;)

Chloe's turn to get Poppy!

Warming up

Driving the boat!

If the boat wasn't such a lemon it would be so much fun in the summer time!

Fun Monday at the Beach!

2011-07-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last Monday it was such a nice day that Chloe and I headed to Porcupine Bay to go play on the beach and go swimming. Even though there wasn't much of a beach left we had fun playing in the sand with her new sand toys. What she really loved doing though was going in the water! It was a little chilly but I managed to make it up to my stomach:) Chloe would run in and out of the water - she had so much fun splashing and didn't like it when I would go sit on our towel. She'd say "mommy swim with me." I of course couldn't say no and would motorboat her through the water over and over again. Finally after about an hour in the water and goosebumped all over she came and sat with me on the towel and just cuddled, warming up... until round 2 that is!

Meet Frankie

2011-07-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

After a couple of months of begging and begging to bring home a baby kitty from Nana's and Poppy's her wish finally came true for her birthday! Meet our new family member, Frankie! Chloe is soooo happy to have her at our home!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2011-07-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today is Chloe's 3rd Birthday! I remember the day I had her 3 years ago like it was yesterday - these 3 years have gone sooo fast! Chloe is the greatest joy in my life and every day I am so thankful that I have her as my daughter! Happy Birthday Chloe!!

This weekend we had a birthday celebration for her with pizza, cake and ice cream. I have never seen so much princess stuff in my entire life! I think every single present she opened was some sort of disney princess something or other. Clay and I got her a John Deere Gator Power Wheels - my awesome craigslist find! It was well worth the $100 we paid for it because she has been driving it around all weekend! Good thing we bought an extra battery too because it's nice to just swap out when one dies! She had such a wonderful birthday party - thank you to all our family and friends who came and helped celebrate with us!

Chloe LOVED her princess cake!

The birthday girl and her cake!

Dancing!

Showing off one of her princess gifts!

Princess game for her new Leapfrog Explorer!
Thanks Grandma - she loves it!

Her very cool cape made by Auntie Jill!

Another picture of the cape!

The revel - what is it??

John Deere Gator!

And she is off...never to stop until bedtime!

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

Blowing out her candles!

Sprinkler!

2011-07-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

I remember some particular pictures from my childhood of my best friend Natalie and I running through the sprinkler at my house in our underware! We were older than Chloe is but when I came outside last night and saw what she was up to it brought back some very fun memories!! Who hasn't run through the sprinkler in their underware before - it's just something you have to do when you are young!

Just plain cute!

2011-07-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

This picture of Cole and Chloe is just plain cute!

More camping fun...

2011-07-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here is some more camping fun...

the kiddos!

Riley and Chloe chasing eachother.

And they are down -rolling around and laughing

Now hugging!

Chloe's first time fishing - she loved reeling in the line!

Gonna have to buy her a Chloe sized fishing pole!

Porcupine Bay Camping!

2011-07-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

A day after we flew home from Seattle we took our trailer down to Porcupine Bay to go camping! Cousin Tony and his kiddos Elise and Riley were down camping for the week and so it was a great excuse for us to go too! Chloe had such a good time playing and riding bikes with Elise and Riley that even though the weather wasn't great I am so glad we went! The first afternoon when we got there we started the fun off with a little squirt gun fight. Grandma, Tony, me and the three kids all got in on the action - funtimes! After that we went down to the beach where it was windy and sand kept blowing in our faces and eyes which was not such funtimes!

Even though it's blurry this picture makes me laugh!

WINDY!

The girls Elise and Chloe!

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

2011-07-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. Chloe had such a good time seeing all the animals! When we were done she asked me "can we go see the dinosaurs now?" We will definately be going back to this zoo again I'm sure - so fun!

Shark!

Elephant!

Grandma, Chloe and Aunt Carol

Silly girl!

Baby clouded leopards - this was the first weekend they were showing them!

Grandma, who hates birds, feeding on a popsicle stick!
Chloe thought she wanted to do this until 2 landed on her stick fighting for the seeds and completely freaked her out!

Penguins!

Petting a RAT! EWWW

The crew!

carousel ride!

Sunday in Seattle

2011-07-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday uncle Brian treated us to the best maple scones I've ever tasted from a local bakery. Oh and have I mentioned that he made us latte's every morning too. What a guy!! Uncle Brian took Chloe with him to the bakery and to the park while we were getting ready. She picked the donut with the MOST sprinkles I've ever seen! Funny tidbit...when they were at the park Chloe says to uncle Brian "I have to go poop." So Aunt Carol gets a call "Chloe has to go poop" what do I do? As if he didn't have 2 little girls once himself! It was funny but he took her and it ended up being a false alarm - lucky for him! When they got back we took Dakota on a walk around their block and enjoyed Mt. Rainier off in the distance and a deer that we were able to get really close to!

SPRINKLES!

Mt. Rainier

Chloe loved walking Dakota!

And they are off and running!

More at Gig Harbor!

2011-07-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

After we played on the beach we went up to Diane's house and had some BBQ. Yummy burgers, homemade salsa and s'mores over the grill=one delicious meal! I think I burned it off walking up and down those STEEP stairs leading down to the ocean especially the time that Chloe wanted me to carry her up them! Here are some shots of us just hanging out and enjoying spending time with family!

Chloe, Aunt Carol and Grandma

Showing off her shells!

Aunt Carol, Grandma, Aunt Diane and Chloe

Roasting some mallows!

YUM S'MORES!

All of us roasting! Grandma was the expert roaster!

Gig Harbor Island

2011-07-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in Seattle we drove to Gig Harbor to play on the beach at Diane's house! It was a gorgeous day and we had such a good time finding seashells & sand dollars, skipping rocks, and wading in the COLD water! Thanks again Aunt Diane for having us over for such a fun day!

Seattle!

2011-07-07T18:07:00.001-07:00

Since we have been busy going the last couple of weeks I need to play a little catch up! The last weekend in June Grandma, Chloe and I flew to Seattle to stay with Aunt Carol and Uncle Brian. We flew out on Friday night after work. Chloe was soooo excited about flying this time, I don't think she remembered flying in the past because she acted like it was her first time. When we boarded the plane she kept asking when we were going to be up in the air over and over again. Then as we started driving down the runway she shouts "BLAST OFF!" It was hilarious and of course since a bunch of people started laughing she continued on saying it until we actually did blast off! She had gotten so excited that by time we landed and and got into Aunt Carol's car her head was bobbing about to fall asleep the whole car ride. We kept talking to her because I didn't want her to fall asleep quite yet which may have been a mistake because when we got to their house and she saw Dakota, their dog, it was like her 2nd wind kicked in. Her and Dakota got all hyped up laughing and playing together so we didn't get to bed until late that night!

On the plane!

Chloe and Dakota

Thanks Aunt Carol and Uncle Brian for the cool Dora shades!

Water Pad Fun

2011-06-05T11:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Grandma, Chloe and I went to Artfest in Brownes Addition. Artfest wasn't the main attraction though it was this water pad that Chloe had such a fun time at! Grandma and I LOVED watching her expressions as she ran in and out of this umbrella water fountain. Every time the water went off she for some reason thought if you touched the top of the pole it would come back on so she'd run over and push the top like a button;) Finally after about an hour of playing and getting soaked she got cold. It was such a beautiful day but that water was cold! Good thing I packed a 2nd outfit in my purse! We will have to go back again soon!

My favorite picture - her face says it all!

Pedaling!

2011-06-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

We took Chloe's new princess bike up camping last weekend even though she was still trying to figure out how to pedal it. She pedals all over on her Dora big wheels bike but you can pedal backwards and forwards on it. The princess bike if you pedal backwards it is the brakes so she was still figuring that out. Clay lifted the training wheels a little higher for her while we were camping and she was really trying to get it going. Well this week when we got home she figured it out! Now she is off, pedaling all over the driveway! Sometimes she gets stuck and we have to give her a little push but she is going faster and faster every day! GOOOOO Chloe!!

CAMPING!

2011-05-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

2nd Annual Memorial Day Camping Trip!

We had beautiful weather compared to last year and it only sprinkled about an hour one day of the whole weekend!
It was a very fun weekend - None of us were ready to leave!
Here is a glimpse of what Chloe did all weekend, not including the horse petting, bubble blowing, trail walking, crayon coloring, princess song singing, or pancake eating...

FRIEND PLAYING

HOTDOG EATING

S'MORES DEVOURING

BIKE RIDING

CRICK ROCK THROWING

MARSHMALLOW TOASTING

MORE S'MORES EATING

MARSHMALLOW LICKING

HAIR BRAIDING

CAMPFIRE WARMING

MOMMY CUDDLING

FUNNY FACE MAKING

MORE FRIEND PLAYING

DOG PETTING

A WHOLE LOT OF 4-WHEELING

FUNNY HAT WEARING

MUD PUDDLE PLAYING

NOT ENOUGH SLEEPING:)
(She was out in 2 minutes after leaving camp the last day!)

Mother's Day and other Artwork!

2011-05-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here is some Artwork that Chloe made at Preschool in May!
The first two were my Mother's Day gifts - love them!

Letters V, W, X, Y & Z

2011-05-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

I got behind in May so here are Chloe's last few letters that she learned at Preschool!
Letters V, W, X, Y and Z!

Preschool BBQ

2011-05-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Friday was Chloe's last day of preschool which was sad because she is going to miss her teacher Joan and the other kids so much this summer! Wednesday Joan had us over for preschool graduation and a BBQ. Three kids (the ones with graduation caps on) graduated - they are on to kindergarten in the fall! First the kids did the pledge of alliegence for us, then they sang some songs. It was fun to see what they have learned in the last 5 months. Joan gave each of them a book and then each parent got a scrapbook of some pictures she had taken of them at preschool on different days. It was such an awesome keepsake item because in it she had asked them things like "what's your favorite food" or "what's your favorite color." Two of Chloe's responses made Clay and I chuckle..."why do you love Jesus?" Chloe - "Because I do!" Such a Chloe answer! Then "what are you scared of?" Chloe - "I not!" I am SO thankful to Joan and all of the things that she has taught Chloe! She is such an awesome teacher - I can not say enough good things about her! Chloe's already looking forward to going back in September!

Pledge of Alliegence

This is my favorite picture of them singing
"If you are happy and you know it shout HOORAY...HOORAY!"

Last full day of our trip

2011-05-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

The last full day of our trip we did it right and relaxed by the pool ALL DAY! Clay got his hotdog and I got my shrimp tacos, we had fabulous drinks in the sun, I mean really what could be better??!! Clay and I are so blessed to have Art, Carolyn, Luke and Danita in our lives because without them this trip would not have happened or been as fun as it was! Another fabulous year in Mexico making more memories that we will never forget! Thank you guys for a great time!

Yummy drink of the day;)

For our last night we went into Puerto Vallerta and met up with Chantel for dinner.
The mexican food was so yummy!

The END!

Rhythms of the Night

2011-05-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we went over to the Grand Mayan Resort for breakfast and then hung out by that pool most of the day. Last year we did this as well. That pool has the lazy river and swim up bar. We took a few trips on the lazy river but I didn't get any pictures this year:( It was fun but Clay wasn't feeling the best that day so he headed back to the room for a nap while Luke, Danita, Carolyn and I went and got massages! The massage was FABULOUS!! It was 50 mins but I wished it lasted longer it felt sooo good! Clay rallied so Luke, Danita, Clay and I went on the Rhythms of the Night boat trip. You take this boat for 45 minutes over to this beach called Las Caletas. It is absolutely beautiful there! The buffet dinner was amazing and the show was pretty cool as well. The boat ride over was a little interesting - pretty wavy! There were some seasick people on the boat - thank goodness none of us! The ride back was really pretty at dark and it was fairly smooth so not as bad!

The boat!

Just a little windy!!

The boys hanging on at the back of the boat!

Las Caletas=BEAUTIFUL!!

Check out the view from here...

2011-05-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

After being in the car a lot on Tuesday we didn't feel like going out for dinner so we went up to Art's & Carolyn's room and order room service! Here are a couple pictures of us on the deck and more pictures of the view from the room. In the first picture if you look out across the bay is Puerto Vallerta.

Sayulita!

2011-05-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

The beach at Sayulita is a happening place to be. I guess they have a bunch of surfing competitions at this beach so there were a lot of surfers. We just lounged, had some drinks and watched all the surfers.

Lots of Iguanas! Creepy!

Hanging out on the beach people watching!

San Francisco

2011-05-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

After the tequila tasting we made our way to a beach called San Francisco. It was pretty, there was hardly anyone there at all! We ate lunch on the beach and then headed back to another beach called Sayulita.

TEQUILA!!

2011-05-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we got a driver to take us around and he took us to this place where they make tequila. We saw each step in the process and then got to taste test all the different kinds they make there. It was a fun experience! Clay and I even brought home this coffee tequila that is fabulous with a splash of half and half over ice! YUM!

TEQUILA!

Agave plants - they only harvest them every 7-10 years!
The tequila comes out of what they call the "coconut" which is under the ground.

All the different kinds. This guy was hilarious!

Mexican Plate

2011-05-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Monday night just the four of us went out for dinner. We ate at this dive mexican place that we heard had good food. They did not disappoint - food was delish!

Cheers to us...family, friends and good eats!

Danita's Mexican Plate!!

Right after the waiter pointed and said "hot" to a chip dip Clay took a big ol' bite!
He was not lying Clay instantly got the hiccups it was so hot!!

Golfing it!

2011-05-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we hit the golf course! It has been too long since the last time I golfed so I was pretty much horrible! Oh well we still had fun! I liked driving the cart around;) We golfed about 15 holes since a couple of the holes were under construction. It was good to stay in the shade since I had gotten burnt the day before - opps! The last hole the boys made a wager on who could get the ball closest to the hole. The loser bought beer...we all knew it was inevitable! Sorry babe! HAHA!