::while Chloe's away...::

...the little boys will play---in her room!

I usually go make the beds sometime later in the morning. The little boys follow me, and we play for a while. There have been lots of times I've come into Chloe's room and it's been a total disaster! Now we know why...

Today was pretty mild. Nobody got into her closet or dresser drawers. We just read books and "tried" to turn on a movie. I guess we kind of bounced on a ball and did flips off of her bed too, but it wasn't too bad.

In other news...
I'm proud to report that Porter is reading!! He's been reading for a couple of weeks now. He can do 3 and 4 letter words (short vowel sounds mostly), but he's getting it! I told him that he's learning to read WAY sooner and faster than Chloe-which made him WAY excited! Chloe helps him learn too. She writes words on her little easel and helps him read them. She tells him how smart he is. Port is trying to teach Cooper how to spell (which is SO funny). He spells stuff to him, and he spells back random letters. It's cute.

::me according to Porter::

These are just a few questions about Port's mom :) I did this same post with Chloe when she was this age, and it's pretty fun to hear what your 4-year-old thinks of you...

Porter age 4 1/2

These are his exact answers...

1. What is something Mom always says to you? I love you

2. What makes Mom happy? thank you

3. What makes Mom sad? saying mean stuff

4. What does Mom do to make you laugh? (this sniffy goofy face thing-hard to describe)

5. What was your mom like as a child? a little girl

6. How old is your mom? ten!

7. How tall is your mom? taller as a stick

8. What is her favorite thing to do? be with her little boy!

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? miss me

10. If your mom becomes famous what will it be for? a toy

11. What is your mom really good at? building with blocks!

12. What is your mom not very good at? building with wood

13. What does your mom do for her job? I don't know!!

14. What is your mom's favorite food? green beans

15. What makes you proud of your mom? when she gets me dressed

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? a kid

17. What do you and your mom do together? play with blocks together

18. How are you and your mom the same? we have the same skin, we have the same teeth, DIMPLES!!

19. How are you and your mom different? cause you have long hair and I have short hair, we're wearing different shirts, different eye color!

20. How do you know your mom loves you? 'cause she gives me hugs and kisses

21. What does your mom love most about your dad? he builds stuff for you. me-'like what?" the sandbox. me-"But he didn't build that for me." Well you play in it!!

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? I don't know, the store?

Port, I think you're the funniest, sweetest, silliest 4 year old I know, and I'm so glad you're my boy! I love you so so much!

::halloween::

Happy Halloween!!!

Buzz (4 1/2), Little Green Alien (almost 2), Princess Belle (7)

We've been having halloween for about a week now. It started last friday with a little halloween party with Brylee & Addy before they left for Minnesota. They had some cute little games and treats. The kids had fun.

That same night, we had the school carnival. They LOVE that! They played lots of games, got a few treats and prizes, and Chloe got her face painted.

Then yesterday we took 'em trick-or-treating. They LOVED it! We went around to a few more houses this year, so they got WAY more candy than in years past. Chloe loved being Belle, she's known for months that she wanted to be her. We even tried to do her hair kind of Belle-ish. Porter, of course was Buzz, and Coop was HIS little green alien. Bubb said it like this "adlehn," and he HATED his little hat. He was pretty good about wearing it for pictures though. It was kinda rainy and cold, but they didn't care at all! They were so excited, and we spent most of the day today eating eachother's halloween candy.

::little miss matched::

This last week was Red Ribbon week (anti drug campaign) at Chloe's school. Every day is a different theme that goes along with why they don't do drugs--hat day, beach day, etc. Thursday was "drugs and I don't mix" and they were supposed to wear mismatched clothes. I just thought she looked particularly cute...

I tried to get her to wear two different shoes, but she wouldn't. She told me "that's just too weird, Mom."

In other news...

Chloe and Port both got sick Thursday night. They were "throw upping" most of the night. It was just a short-lived little virus, and it was gone sometime around 5 in the morning. So they stayed home from school on Friday, and they were both a little sad. They had to miss costume day and halloween parties at their schools. Chloe was more sad than Port, and cried a bit. She wanted SO much to wear her costume and go in the halloween parade and most of all to see her teacher all dressed up. She kinda loves her teacher. But anyway...everybody's feeling better, and it was only the 2 big kids who got sick (thank goodness!!).

::bye-bye, we'll miss you...::

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to a couple of our closest cousins...

(Addyson-4 1/2, Porter-almost 4 1/2, Cooper-almost 2, Brylee-2)

Addy and Brylee are moving to Minnesota. We had our last evening with them last night before they headed out this morning. It was a tough goodbye. The kids have been sad about their cousins leaving for a few months, and I don't really think it's completely sunk in yet. They don't realize that Addy and Brylee won't be at Grandma's when we go up anymore, and they don't realize how far away Minnesota really is! It was so fun to see the little cousins play together these last few years. I've said before how much it reminded me of when I was little and played with my cousins. Cousins are just plain fun!

We'll miss Adam & Krystal too :) Matt will for sure miss him on the golf course, and any time there's a project to do. Being such a close family, this is going to be kind of tough. The furthest any of Matt's family lives from eachother is 30 minutes. We wish you the best, and we hope you know we'll miss you and think about you often!

Thanks, Addy and Brylee for being so much fun! And we hope you'll remember us when you're out in Minnesota. We sure love you girls!

::another year older::

Yes, I'm another year older. Remember when you were little and you couldn't wait 'til your birthday and being a year older?? Those days are long gone for me! I'm not too excited about how close I'm getting to 30. I'm going to try to drag out these last two years as much as possible, and maybe not even ever admit to being 30.

So my birthday was last Sunday. On Saturday, we went down to spend some time with my side of the family. Grandma Kitty had "high tea" all set up for us at a tea room. It was a new thing we'd never done, but SO fun! We went into this cozy little library type of room. The dishes were so dainty and cute-and so was Chloe. She wanted to wear her Belle dress and bring her Lanie doll (American Girl ).

We had our hot chocolate, some chocolate mint herbal tea, some homemade scones (which were d-lish!), some dainty little sandwiches (PB&J for Chloe-cut into little flowers and hearts).

See how dainty she is? Pinky up and everything :) It was such a fun little outing. So girly and just fun. Thanks mom!

A bit later, we met back at Grandma & Papa Kitty's house for some pumpkin carving and some dinner (we were planning on going to Cornbelly's, but it was too cold & rainy). Billy showed us a couple of things he can do with dry ice-including how to blow up a pumpkin...

The last photo is pretty awful. It exploded and was so loud that I jumped while I was taking the picuture-which is why it's so blurry, but you get the idea. It was pretty neat!

The kids started out painting their pumpkins with just some poster paint. Then they decided carving them would be more fun, so we washed off the paint and carved them. Chloe drew some eyeshadow and eyelashes on hers after it was done. We had a really good BBQ dinner and some cupcakes from a really great little cupcake shop!

Then on Sunday, Matt and the kids made me breakfast, and brought me some little gifties. They were socks and some jewelry, and everytime I opened something else, Portie said "I picked that, Mom!" He was so proud of himself. Matt and the big kids went to church (Bubb and I stayed home due to me having a terrible headache and him missing a nap). After they all came home, we made dinner and they sang to me. It was so sweet.

I love my family so much!! I feel so loved and appreciated by them, and especially Matt. He never fails in making me feel special, beautiful, and loved-other than when he's telling me I'm old :)

::halloweeny::

Wednesday. 7:30ish pm.

A treat...

...a favorite Halloweeny movie, and a few cute littles.

Happy UEA weekend, everyone!!

::our 7 year old::

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Chloe..."

Chloe turned 7 last week!!

Every kid's birthday leaves me feeling sad and excited at the same time. Time's going by too fast, but at the same time, I think she's growing up to be such an awesome person!

This year, we didn't do a princess party! We did an American Girl party. A few months ago, out of nowhere, we got a catalog in the mail, and have been hooked ever since. There are such cute dolls, and SO many little things to go along with them (outfits, purses, glasses, shoes, backpacks, nail polish, beds, camper trailers, party sets, etc). It's very Chloe.

We told her how these dolls are a really big deal and very special. They're really expensive you have to take really good care of them, and she probably wouldn't get one this year. We told her she'd have to save all of her money and next year (on our road trip to Michigan), we'd stop in to the American Girl store in Chicago and maybe get the doll. She still wanted to have an American Girl party though.

She got lots of awesome presents! She got a princess snuggie (haha-thanks J& Sae), a gymnastics barbie, LOTS of American Girl books, lots of fun crafty things (jewelry making, treasure box decorating, purse making), and some money too. We're so lucky to have such a sweet, supportive family who love our kids so much :)


Then there were 2 gifts left. We had her open them in a specific order.


She got the doll!!!



She was SO surprised! I expected this crazy, squealy reaction, but I think she was just SO shocked, that all she could do was stare at it with her mouth open! It was pretty fun.

Then she got some matching jammies for her and her doll...and that was way fun. She wears them every night!

Then we had some cake and ice cream...


And after everyone left, she got to work on her purse, and relaxed in her snuggie :)



Since Sunday was her actual birthday, we waited to take her out to dinner 'til Monday. We went to Wingers (her pick). Her doll came with us.

She had a friends party on Tuesday. She invited lots of little friends from school. I put on the invitation that it was an American Girl party and that dresses and dolls were encouraged. All the little girls wore dresses and brought their dolls. It was just cute!!

We played a game (pass the present), made some official "American Girl" beaded rings, and had a little tea party with pink 7-Up and cupcakes-big ones for the girls, and little mini ones for their dolls. The dolls even had their own little teacups. The girls gave her some really fun presents. All of her little friends are SO cute and sweet.


We think she had a pretty fun birthday. She's such a sweet girl, and loved everything she got so much. She'd been excited for weeks about her party and having everybody over to our house. She loves her family so much!

As for the little boys...they did good too. It's tough (especially if you're 4) to watch somebody else have a birthday for 3 days. He was excited for her party too, and told us about all the stuff he wants at his party. Bubb didn't care too much either way, but we went to the store the other day, and he said "wheh da cake?" Because we bought cake and cupcakes (to share at school, the family party, and the friends party) it seemed like every time we went to the store. It was funny.

::proud::

"Any job a man can do in this world is a good job as long as he works hard at it and does his best. God didn't put sweat in a man's body for no reason. He put it there so he could work hard, cleanse himself, and feel proud."

-Charles Ingalls

Matt's company awarded him a Silver Snoopy this week. We were treated to a really nice dinner at their conference center up in the mountains. A few "high-ups" in the company were there as well as a couple of NASA astronauts expressing their appreciation for the recipients' hard work and dedication. The next day, I went out to Matt's work for the ceremony itself. The astronauts expressed appreciation again, gave him a framed certificate, and pinned his Snoopy on him.

It was a pretty special couple of days. Matt is well appreciated in his job. Several colleagues shook his hand and told him how well deserved this award was. As his wife, I felt proud of him and thankful for him. Where he works is sort of like a fortress-it's guarded with security, and visitors are not allowed without special permission. So while I was already there for the award ceremony, I got the grand tour of his office(s) and some of the areas he works in. It was a joy to be with him at work and see how much he means to the people there.

What is a Silver Snoopy award???

This is Matt's Silver Snoopy pin. It was created by Charles M. Schulz (the creator of Peanuts) specifically for NASA. It's one of the highest awards to be given to their employees. Less than 10% of the NASA and NASA workcenters' total workforce nationwide receives this award. It's presented for exceptional job performance above and beyond the call of duty. All of the Silver Snoopy pins have flown on a NASA shuttle. Matt's flew aboard the orbiter Endeavor on STS-118.

To say I'm proud of him just doesn't do justice to the way I feel. He's always been a hard worker. He's always wanted more, and always wanted to get further. He sets what can only be described as "lofty" goals for himself, and has never fallen short in achieving them.

Way to go, Matt!! We're SO proud of you!

::the king has returned::

The day finally came!! We got to go to the Lion King!! And it was Ah-mazing!!! It was so colorful, beautiful singing, beautiful dancing...I just can't say enough about it! I wanted SO much to take pictures during the performance, but it's not allowed. It was definitely something I'll never forget!

My parents took us. They saw it on Broadway in NYC last year, and asked if we'd be interested. YEAH!!!! Matt and Coop stayed home and watched the Cowboys game :) ,and Suzie stayed home with Mia, so It was just the 8 of us. I was a little worried before it started that Chloe and Port might get bored or not understand it, but they LOVED it!! They were completely taken with the whole thing! They recognized parts from the movie, the characters, and some of the songs. I talked to them a lot during the play so they'd kinda know what was going on. I explained how it was supposed to be an interpretation of the movie, not exactly like it. They totally got it! They absolutely loved it! We're so lucky to have gotten to go. It meant a lot to me to be able to go to a play with my kids. I grew up going to plays and symphonies a few times a year, and I loved it, and have an appreciation for it. Yesterday I was thinking about how great it is that people have these types of talents and desires-to perform! I don't, but I'm so glad others do!

(our group)

(Me, Mom, Chloe (almost 7), Papa, Liam (5), Porter (4), Tristan (3 1/2), and Billy)

When we got done, we all met at Z Tejas (YUUM!) for lunch. The kids were so excited to tell Da-da all about it. They even kept talking about it after we got home to our house. They just loved it!

It was such a great day! It was a long wait, since we got the tickets in April!, but it was SO worth it!! We're so glad we got to go! Thanks so much for taking us, Mom & Kevin!!