Artwork!

Here is Chloe's artwork from December. The top two pieces were from the Bayside Christmas Eve service we went to. The rest is from school...

Chloe was sooooo proud to be Mary in this picture! She talked about it for days!

Birthday dinner

For her birthday dinner, Chloe decided that she wanted pizza. And then she said that she wanted to go bowling, so we offered Chuck E Cheese, and she agreed. Ade, Gree, Gramps, Grandma, and Grandpa joined us and we had fun watching the kids run around playing games and riding on the rides. Thankfully we were there on a weeknight, so it wasn't too crowded!

Andrew wanted to pose with the kids, and it was challenging because Micah kept looking at him rather than the camera!

Happy birthday, Chloe!

Happy birthday to my sweet, spunky 4 year old girl!!! I can't believe that she is already 4! Chloe loves her family, friends, princesses, and anything pink! She loves going to preschool and is learning so much! She knows most of her letters and sounds and is starting spell out simple words. I am sorry that she has a December birthday, so she has to wait so long for kindergarten! We love you, Chloe!

Here she is calling Brittany on the Hello Kitty phone she gave Chloe for her birthday. I think Chloe will have many hours in the future talking on the phone!

Stockings!

We have a big crowd here celebrating Christmas--so fun!!!

From left to right: Karen, Rori, Andrew, Micah, Katie, Chloe, Bev & George, Brian & Rae Ann, Ade

My mom made these stockings for all of us, with the exception of Rori's. I love that Karen and Bev & George have stockings with their names on pieces of paper taped on!!

Christmas Eve

I forgot to take my camera to Bill and Elaine's house for Christmas Eve, but here are a few blurry pictures from my cell phone.

Chloe loved her princess castle and princesses.

Micah got a huge garage with cars! So fun!!

playing with an ornament

Eben got a DS and quickly disappeared to play it. It was super cute because Micah followed him and sat next to him watching him play. Micah loves his older cousins!!

Dovewood Court

Andrew and my mom took to kids to see the lights at Dovewood Court. My back is still really hurting from the pinched nerve, so I decided to stay home with my dad. They met up with the Serranos and had fun with all the amazing decorations.

a cell phone picture that Andrew texted me

a picture that Dean took.....much better!! ;)

Happy Anniversary Jodi and Dean!

Jodi and Dean had friends and family over to help celebrate their anniversary. We ate yummy cake and toasted their happy marriage!

I love this picture of us warming our hands by the fire on the TV!!

Christmas Performance

Chloe's preschool class sang "Who Was There That First Christmas Day" during church this morning. Chloe was so excited about her performance, and we practiced a lot at home watching her teachers on youtube. When Chloe walked on stage, she was so nervous and was clinging to one of her teachers and looking around. I knelt on the ground in front of her, and once she saw me, she got a huge smile on her face, and then had the confidence to stand up on stage with her class. She did such a great job! She sang most of the words and did most of the hand motions. I think this is the best she has done in a performance! They sang during both services...

(sorry for the sideways video)

Painting together!

When we asked Chloe what she wanted to give Micah for Christmas, she said, "A remote control car that he rides on and I control with the remote!" After we laughed a lot, and then explained that we would NOT be buying that for Micah, she said she wanted to paint his room for him as a present. She said that her room is a pretty purple, and his is only white, so we needed to paint it a nice color for him. So cute!!!

(Side note...I have been asking Andrew if we could paint Micah's room since I found out I was pregnant with a boy. So, that was about 2 years ago. I teased him that he is willing to help paint when Chloe asked, but not when I did! He said that now it was a gift that makes everyone in the family happy. Aww!)

yes, I have a clip on tie on my back, thanks to Chloe...

(and a special thank you to Ade for hanging out with Micah (and Chloe after she got bored with painting) so we could paint without a 1 1/2 year old helper!)

Can't forget about Micah!

...and this is what Micah was doing while Chloe and I were washing dishes!

Big Helper!

I was doing dishes today and Chloe brought over a chair and said she wanted to help. We had a pretty big pile of dishes to wash, and she was very thorough and did a great job! She washed and I rinsed, and it was so fun doing it together! Now, if she would just be willing to help like this everyday!!

hard at work

trying to get her to smile for the camera--we always end up with squinty eyes

So then I tell her to open her eyes bigger, and this is what I get..... love this girl!!!

Artwork

Someone gave me this idea to take a picture of Chloe with her artwork, and then throw the artwork away. Trying to overcome clutter and paperwork! Here are some of her creations from preschool this month.

What a mess!

I have a feeling there will be many more posts like these in the years to come....

(and, yes, there was a similar post last month)

Micah found the container of cheerios in the pantry, took off the lid, and dumped cheerios on the kitchen floor. So, of course, Andrew grabbed the camera!

As I am trying to clean them up, Micah thinks it is more fun to scatter them further!!

Women's Retreat

This weekend was CCC's women's retreat at Zephyr Point in Tahoe. It was a wonderful weekend connecting with old and new friends, laughing, learning, and not much sleeping!

Playing a very heated game of Catch Phrase

Beautiful afternoon by the lake!

This sign was part of Courtney's cardboard testimony. Love these women!

Motorhome

Today my parents sold their motorhome. Since my dad retired in 2002 (I think that is the right year?) motorhoming has been a fun way for my parents to travel and come visit us in Sacramento. We were laughing today, remembering that Chloe used to call the motorhome my parents "house," and the house in San Rafael their "other house!" Bye-bye motorhome!! You will be missed!

Yummy Cheerios!

Micah loves to feed himself Cheerios for breakfast. Sometimes he tries to use a spoon, but he usually shoves handfuls in his mouth!

Can't forget to drink the milk...

Good to the last drop...

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, Chloe wanted to be Rapunzel, and she wanted Micah to either be a prince or the horse from Tangled. Thankfully, Rebecca had the brilliant idea that Micah could be Pascal, the chameleon from the Tangled movie. I bought Micah some green sweats and Elaine magically transformed them into a chameleon costume! Thanks so much!!

In the car, driving to church for Trunk or Treat!

Thanks to Dean for the following pictures....

Em, D, Shae, Chloe, with their dragon Devin

One of the cars was decorated as Rapunzel's tower. Chloe was being shy and wouldn't let the other Rapunzel hold her!

Em and D posing at the princess castle