Merry Christmas!

A visit from the Ashleys

Our dear friends the Ashleys moved to Rochester this summer. Kristen cared for Chloe and Emily several days a week from the time they were 4 months old until June of this year. Grant and Heath adore the girls and the feeling is mutual. It was hard to say goodbye, but we went to visit their new home in the summer and they came to see us last night. All four kids were thrilled to see each other again and we had a wonderful visit. From left to right in the picture: Heath, Chloe, Grant, and Emily.

Chloe's artwork

Chloe has been drawing some great pictures on her magna doodle lately. The only problem with that is, they get erased quickly to make way for the next picture. I watched her draw this and had to get a picture of it before it disappeared. Pretty good for a three year old!

Our favorite snack

Snacks are great. We like lots of different things...goldfish crackers, graham crackers, teddy grahams, but our absolute favorite is alphabet pretzels. Wegmans sells them in the pretzel aisle. A huge bag filled with edible letters. What could be better? Here we are enjoying a hearty letter filled snack.

Tree hunting

We went to Baughman's tree farm the weekend before Thanksgiving to get our tree. It was a sunny, cold day with a little snow on the ground. Perfect weather to look for a tree. We walked around looking for just the right tree and settled on a nice Concolor. It looks beautiful in our foyer and Emily and Chloe get excited each time we turn on the Christmas tree lights!

Simple pleasures

The holidays are coming and we've been getting catalogs in the mail describing the hottest toys of the season. There are gizmos and gadgets, dolls that walk and talk in more languages than I can, computers for toddlers, bicycles that hook up to your tv so your kids can ride while they play video games. I was feeling a lot of pressure and angst...what's the best gift for three year old girls? Joel had some adding maching tape that didn't fit his new machine, so he gave it to Chloe and Emily to play with. They occupied themselves for a good 30 minutes, rolling the tape across the floor, gathering it up in a pile, running through it, tossing it up in the air, winding themselves up like mummies. It just made me realize that they are still at the age where simple things are delightful and we don't need to rush out and buy the season's hottest fad. So have fun Christmas shopping. Remember what was fun when you were a kid? Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Barbies. Simple is good and I hear Staples is having a sale on adding machine tape......

Shopping with Daddy

We went shopping in Rochester today. Our first stop was Target where we bought fancy shoes, pink boots, some holiday outfits and cute tops for Chloe and Emily. I really needed some new clothes for work too, so Joel dropped me off at JC Penney's to shop while he and the girls went to Gander Mountain. Apparently Gander Mountain can be an enjoyable experience for three year old girls. There was a bear, a goat, geese, a large conference room that is perfect for eating a snack...what's not to like?! Joel had his phone and snapped some pics of the fun.

Happy Halloween!

What lovely princesses! The weather on Halloween was beautiful and Chloe and Emily had a great time trick or treating. Chloe chose a Snow White costume and Emily was Sleeping Beauty. They were delighted to be dressed as their favorite princesses and thought it was pretty neat that their crowns lit up at night. Now we can wear the costumes when we play dress up.

Is it real??

At Baughman's there are lots of neat decorations. Emily spent lots of time looking at these chickens and wanted to find some food so she could feed them.

Chloe rides the school bus

At Baughman's there are some cute cutouts for the kids to pose in. Chloe loves watching the school bus go by in the morning and was eager to have her picture taken in the bus.

A trip to Baughman's

We went to Baughman's on Lima Road in Geneseo to choose some pumpkins for Halloween. They have a really nice area for kids to play and lots of decorations. Emily and Chloe chose some pumpkins and gourds and we played a while on the playground there. We'll return to get our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving.

Visiting Daddy at Stony Brook

After playing on the playground, Chloe enjoys a drink in Daddy's camping chair.

Another day, a different leaf bouquet...

Joel camped at Stony Brook State Park with friends in October. The girls and I went over to visit and play on the playground. Emily gathered up some leaves at the campsite and sat in Daddy's chair to relax a bit.

"A beautiful leaf bouquet!"

Emily spent much of the summer searching out dandelions and clovers in the yard. She enjoys picking flowers and making them into beautiful bouquets and centerpieces. I can't count the tiny vases of clovers that adorned our table this summer. As soon as the leaves started falling, we raked up piles of leaves to jump in. What did Emily do? Why, she fashioned a beautiful bouquet of leaves, of course!!

Backyard fun!

We enjoyed one of the last warm days of fall with a little fire in the backyard fire pit. Joel got out some marshmallows and sticks and we had a ball. Here's Chloe with her marshmallow stick. She enjoyed toasting the marshmallow more than eating it!

Happy 3rd Birthday Chloe and Emily!

On September 6, 2008, Chloe and Emily turned 3! We had a family party and celebrated with a pink princess castle cake decorated with Disney princesses. It was a fun party and a yummy cake.
A good time was had by all!