::oh, little brothers!!::

Poor Chloe! She has a little brother!! Porter's sweet and lots of fun for her and she LOVES him to death, but he........

::broke her little flat iron in two pieces::

::broke the dishes in her porcelain tea set::

::smeared her make-up all over the floor in her room::
::pulled the head off of her Princess Aurora doll::
::broke her crown from the circus::
::broke her new crown she got for her birthday::

...and those are just a few! The crowns and Princess Aurora were the worst-we couldn't fix them, and they were her favorites! He loves her too. He always asks where she is if she's not around, he always wants to sleep in her room with her, and always has to give her a hug and kiss goodnight. We always fix or replace the things he breaks, and she's a really good sport about it, but oh the pain of having a little brother!! AND she's got another one coming!! Poor child!

::Chloe is 5::

Chloe turned 5 on Friday!! I can't even believe she's 5!! She had school that morning, and was "snack friend" which meant she got to bring snacks to share, be line leader, turn the lights on and off for the class, and help the teacher. She was SOOO excited about that!! She decided to take princess cupcakes and juice boxes. (For those who don't know, she's BIG TIME into Disney princess-Aurora in particular).

So after school we all had dentist appointments. She did great! None of us had cavities and none of us cried cause we were scared :) After the dentist, we headed down to my mom's to make some cupcakes and play. We took some cake mix and pink frosting and princess sprinkles and some princess "toothpaste" (it was really decorator frosting, but Portie called it toothpaste cause it was in a tube).

Then we picked Matt up from the airport (he'd been in FL all week for work) and came home and gave her her new princess bike! She LOVES it!! She rode it all around the house (cause it was late) and then in the garage all the next day (cause it was raining).

Then Sunday she had her princess party! She LOVED it! She was so glad for everyone that came and for all her fun presents. We had lots of princess decorations, a light up princess cake, and, of course, the Princess Aurora dress-up dress. Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks so much for the gifts for Chloe. She loves them all!!

::have you done...::

Have you done . . . ? Got this one from Nicole (thanks!!). These kinds of "unimportant" things about people are always interesting to me.....

Copy this list and bold the things YOU have done (mine didn't show up in bold, so I put them in orange). Then post it on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (never-Honest!!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating?
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I tag (if they want to): Carrie, Sarah, Taryn, and Danielle-maybe that'll help ya get some more things on your bucket list :)-and whoever else wants to participate ;)

::our trip to the circus::

Yesterday, we all went to the circus (our family, Grandma & Papa Kitty, and Billy's family)! We got there a little early so we could go down on the floor and see some of the animals and watch the jugglers and see things up close. The kids (and Matt) kind of didn't know what to think (as you can see from the pictures-haha). It was pretty cool! They had the aerialists, trapeze, tight ropes, elephants, tigers, a few fireworks, motorcycles driving in this ball thing, lots of cool things. The kids enjoyed the first half, but by the time the second half got there, they were tired and kind of ready to go. I think their favorite part was getting toys from the gift stand...Portie got a fourwheeler, and Chloe got a little light-up crown :) Then we all went to dinner and came home.

Watchin the jugglers. Waaay cool! They would juggle with 3 people like 12 things at a time (behind the back, between the legs, you name it!)!!
Quick picture during the preshow (it was SOO crowded!!)
The elephants...crazy what the trainers can make them do!
The end of the show-elephants, dancers, acrobats, horses...fun show!

""finally, something new...::

So, I STINK at blogging lately!! I forget what pictures I have to post, I don't have time, or I just don't feel interesting enough to share little things we do every day. So I was looking at my camera and found some pictures that I totally forgot about!!

These are from our get-together for Grandma-Kitty's birthday a couple of weeks ago. My brother and his family came up too for the party and also to help load 90 sheets of sheetrock into the basement!!

Not too sure about this picture...fixing her hair maybe??

Chloe told her to close her eyes before her "coconut, vanilla, peanut butter" cake got to the table.

Just kidding it's CHOCOLATE!! Surprise!

Lots of help with the candles :)

Chloe and Porter LOVE to nap together! Any time I tell Portie it's nap time, he says "can I sleep Chloe bed?" And I let him. Don't they look sweet all cuddled up together?? :)

::Chloe's first day of preschool::

Today was Chloe's first day of preschool! She's been nervous about it for a good year or so (since last year when we were enrolling her, but then decided to wait 'til this year cause we thought she might get bored with it). So today was the day!! She picked out her outfit, her headband, got bathed, dressed, ate breakfast, and off we went. She was nervous walking in (so was I!!), and I thought she might cry when I left, but she did great! I, of course, cried when we got in the car to go home, and Portie said "don't cwy mamma, it's awight." He called for her a couple of times at home (out of habit), and was really excited to go pick her up. Then he said "It my turn to go teacher." Anyway, Chloe had a great day, and was all smiles when we picked her up. She's excited to go again.

Before....

After....

::hoooooola::

We went to Grandma & Papa with the kitty's house this weekend for a little visit (spent the night on Sat.). The kids brought their hula-hoops down to show off their mad hula skills. We couldn't be more proud :)

(remember to turn off the music at the bottom of our blog so you can hear the video)

::pick-i-nack::

How nice was the weather today?!? We played outside ALL day (well, until naptime)! We had a "pickinack" (picnic), drove the Barbie Jeep, jumped on the tramp, watered the flowers, and played in the sand. I only got a couple of pictures (for the blog), but they were so excited to play outside today and not sweat to death! Yay for cooler weather!! I know it's supposed to be back up to like 96 next week, but we loved today!!

They had some icecream cones....

...And Porter decided to water the roses...and everything else!

::flying trampoline::

Did you know trampolines could fly?? Neither did we...'til Saturday night. We woke up in the middle of the night (3 or 4-ish) to some loud thunder and rain and wind outside. Chloe came in our room cause she was scared, and the power went out for a few minutes, so we had her flashlight on. Then we looked out the window to see what was going on out there, and Matt said "where's the trampoline?!" We couldn't find it! It wasn't in its usual spot in the corner of the yard, so we looked in the front yard and didn't see it. Then a bolt of lightening flashed, and I saw two trampolines in the neighbor's yard! One was theirs, and the other was ours! It flew over the fence and landed in their yard right side up! We couldn't believe it. There wasn't any damage to anything in their yard or the fence; just some damage to the encolsure on our tramp.

(Top pic is where it's supposed to be in that corner, and bottom pic is where it ended up after the storm)

So the next day, Matt and some family members came over and lifted it back over the fence and back in its spot (a little broken, but back home). This is our second trampoline this summer (the other one got flipped over and bent like a taco). Maybe one day we'll learn that we need to stake it to the ground :)

::done and done::

Matt's done!!!!!!! Yep...He's done!!! FOREVER!! No more school ever again! We can't get used to that idea, but we're all so excited! He had his LAST class last night, and I had all these plans for him when he got home @ 10:30 (gifts out, BIG sign all painted on the garage, cake ready...). BUT...he got home at 9!!! So I wasn't ready. Adam had to kind of drive around the block so me and the kids could paint the sign and get all the gifts out and the camera ready. It didn't turn out as great as I had hoped, but he knew we were proud and happy for him :) The picture is really fuzzy cause I had my camera on the wrong setting.

We gave him Rock Band for the Wii. We got it for him like 3 weeks ago, and Chloe did so good! She didn't even come close to telling him what he was getting! She just kept telling him the lamps were his present (cause we got new lamps at the same time). We framed his 3 diplomas too (the MBA one I just wrote "MBA" on a piece of paper and framed it cause he doesn't have that one yet-haha). We got him a little cake and made our (sad) sign. It was still wet, and I got paint all over me when I was hanging it :)

It was a fun little night. We played Rock Band for a minute, and then went to bed. He's done so well, and worked so hard, and we're SOO proud of him. We're excited to have him back and have some free time with him!!