Claire's favorite things...

Claire has a few favorite things. I wanted to take a second to blog about them before they're not her favorite things anymore. :)  

Red shoes... sparkly red Dorothy shoes. These shoes are actually Lilly's from Christmas last year, but now Claire won't take them off. They're a bit too big and quite a bit scuffed, but that doesn't stop them from being her favorite shoes. Remind you of anyone?

 

Whether we're walking in the grocery store, eating at the kitchen table, playing a game or reading a book, it's normal these days for Claire to yell, "Freeze!" She expects us to literally freeze. Then, she laughs and says, "Go!" It's the freeze game. The funny thing is that she usually "freezes" in some precarious positions- arms flung outward or a goofy look on her face. I tried to capture this on the camera today, but this is the best I could do...

FREEZE!

Books... both of our girls love books. If we would let them, we'd spend three hours reading each evening before bed. Little Claire has a favorite that we read every night. She even tries to retell the story to stuffed animals or anything else that will listen. Several times I've heard her in her room flipping the pages of the book and saying "No milk! No Eggs! Clack Moo!" If you haven't read it, I suggest picking up a copy...

Miscellaneous August

In looking through my photos from August, I realized there are lots of miscellaneous things to share...

It's not uncommon for Claire to conk out under the cool ceiling fan while
watching one of her favorite cartoons...

 Lilly still loves to help in the kitchen anytime she can. On this day we made home made cinnamon rolls for aunt Teresa. Yum!

We often visit our favorite wood-fired pizza and fresh salad restaurant for dinner. Lilly loves the bread and butter as well as the high-top tables and chairs. Afterward, we always visit the fountains. Here's the gang with full tummies and smiles!

 Happy girls after their new haircuts...

We were invited to a friend's birthday party at a local ice cream parlor. Here's little Claire getting ready for the celebration.

Visiting aunts

During the month of August we were happy to host several visitors... aunt Colleen and aunt Teresa.

As you can imagine, the girls loved all of the attention they received during their stay. Here's one of the best photos from their time here...

Special congratulations to Colleen and Tyler on their engagement. We can't wait until the big celebration!

It's a girl!

Ultrasound confirmed this week that a baby girl is on her way in January.

Now Rob will truly be the king of the castle.

Lilly told me the morning of the ultrasound that she "really, really wants a baby brother." She said, "I do not want another sister, Mom." Even after we told her the news, she was in denial. We asked her what we should name the baby girl, and she gave us only boy names. 

Claire seems excited anyways, so we're happy about that.

We are open for name suggestions, so send them our way!

 

Birthday celebration

What's a birthday without a celebration?

Rob offered to make a homemade birthday dinner, and we thought grilled pizzas would be a fun flare.

Thanks to Cook's Illustrated, we found a great recipe for grilled flat bread margherita pizza which included homemade rosemary garlic dough, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and more. Our special guests included Rob's sister Colleen (aunt CoCo) and boyfriend Tyler who are visiting from Kansas. What a great birthday! Thanks for all of the happy wishes everyone!

 We also enjoyed an icebox oreo cheesecake. I recruited help when blowing out my candles. Love the face, Rob! Thanks for the help girls!

Here's to many more happy birthdays!

Messy Morning

During the morning hub bub in the kitchen- making breakfast, concocting lattes, packing lunch- Miss Claire managed to sneak an unopened container of oatmeal from the pantry- yes, one of the BIG containers. You can imagine how much fun she had dumping it all over the living room, all over the couch and even all over the dog.

She thought it was pretty funny. Rob said he heard her giggling about something... making a mess is what she was doing. This whole situation reminded me of a photo of my sister Amy with a box of cheerios all over her bedroom floor. 

The downside to this little incident was that it took me forever to clean up! The vacuum became clogged, and I even had to vacuum the patio thanks to an oat covered Sue who escaped out the doggie door.
Have a laugh at the living room floor's expense... 

Claire seems pretty happy about it, doesn't she? This was the smile before she decided to dance on top of her oats- there's nothing like smushing it in to the carpet as much as possible.

Purple project

It's finally done... we've been meaning to make Lilly an upholstered headboard for quite some time. Well, it's done! Thanks to Rob's tool savvy and my skill with the staple gun, Lilly has a "new" bed. The duvet cover is also new as well as the Barbie sheets hiding underneath. The headboard was surprisingly easy to make thanks to simple instructions from the Internet, knowing someone with an embroidery machine and a husband willing to use a power tool or two. When asked what type of embroidered L I wanted, I flashed back to my childhood... how about a nice "L" like on Laverne and Shirley. Remember that?

Sweet dreams, Miss Lilly!