Who-Dey!

Slugger Drew

Chloe's new haircut

What a diva! Chloe, who was supposed to be taking a nap, was instead making herself right at home playing "sleepover" with her dolls and blankets all over the floor in our room...which was all a complete surprise to me when I stepped out of the shower! Honestly she was just too cute in her favorite little hat for me to be too upset--and she actually agreed to smile for the camera if I wouldn't make her go back to bed---what a deal maker she is turning out to be!

Dollhouse: Hours 1-3

When we decided to buy a dollhouse kit for Chloe's big present from Santa this year (ok, ok, when I BEGGED Brian to buy this dollhouse kit for Chloe's big present from Santa), we knew it was going to be a lot of work from the looks of the house on the box. But it wasn't until I heard Brian laughing out loud when he read the first sentence of the instruction book...this dollhouse will take approx. 30 HOURS to build...did I realize that we were really in trouble!! We are now 3 hours into the project and we've successfully unloaded the millions of pieces in the box and checked them off to the parts list (the instructions say this is actually the most important step), and we've bought the supplies we needed--so much for the box saying that everything you need is included!! In case you can't tell from the pictures, NOTHING is painted, there are over 1,000 shingles and 200 spindles for the porches, and there is WAY more than 30 hours worth of work here! Any guesses on what the final tally will be? Any guesses on what the final number of beers that Brian will consume during the project will be?? :)

Raking Leaves

We had some fun playing in the leaves this weekend--and despite how it looks, all of "work" that Chloe and Drew were doing was completely voluntary, and completely for the purpose of making the leaf pile higher so they could jump it. Drew was quite clever and figured out that his bat is easier to use than a long-handled rake. And we appreciated the fact that he was not trying to navigate a big rake around too!

Halloween 2009

Trick-or-treat was a lot of fun for us this year, but it was an exhausting night as well. Despite all the excitement and anticipation this year, Chloe sort of lost interest after just about 10 houses. That's about the time when Drew just started to figure out how fun it was to hold out a bucket and have people put stuff in it--and he started to really get into it. He could have kept going all night if not for his big sister practically begging to go home!

Back at home, Drew got his first taste of candy---and I think it's safe to say that he is a fan for life. He physically tackled anyone and everyone who stood in the way of him getting another piece--and let me just say that we paid the price with some pretty awful diapers! But he also had so much fun handing out candy--the scary costumes didn't even phase him, he was so happy to put candy in buckets--it was so fun for us to watch. The next day can only be described as Halloween Hangover in our house as the kids crashed from their candy highs---but it was worth it for the laughs we had!

More Fall Fun

Here are a few more pics of the kids from October. Drew has developed a complete fascination for doing anything, and everything, that Chloe does. So it's no surprise to us that he loves to sit at her easel and color---if only we could convince him that crayons are for PAPER and not his mouth, the walls, the carpet, etc.! We're not quite sure how they both sat so good next to each other with their Bengals gear on--this may just be our Christmas picture for the year I think! Most of the time Chloe just tries to get away from Drew--in the last picture she was enjoying some time on her "puter" away from Drew. Ahhh, let's hope this is just a phase!

Pumpkin Fun

Chloe and Drew loved their visit to the Pumpkin Patch--despite the fact that it was more of a "mud patch" than a pumpkin patch. After several days of hard rain prior to our visit, the parking lot and surrounding areas were completely full of mud--the mud was so deep on the hayride that it came right up to the top of the tires on the tractor! Any guesses on what Chloe said as we pulled into the parking lot? "Hey, we're at Bloomsbury Farm!!" Turns out their introduction to the pumpkin patch in Iowa left a lasting impression!