Quiet Mornings and Busy Afternoons

On the mornings that Chloe and Claire attend pre-school, Chris has moments of sheer boredom, I'm sure. I tried to liven up his life by taking him in to visit Claire and Chloe's tiger. This is the tiger that guards their room according to them. His interest amounted to trying to get that big paw into his mouth....

His entertainment for this moment was a "busy" toy that has lots for him to spin, move and juggle. He was talking and carrying on quite a conversation with Papa when the pictures below were snapped. We, of course, enjoy every quiet moment we have with him.



The girls come home from school early afternoon and the loud fun times begin. Chris watches them like a hawk taking in all the conversations and laughter. He is never short on entertainment when they are around. Below you see Chloe and Claire making the rounds to say good-bye to their friends at the end of their school day. On Friday when I picked them up we weren't even to the car and they started saying, "I'm going to really miss my friends." I reminded them that they would see them once again on Monday, but that was little comfort for them.

Finally, after several good-byes they head for me and eventually to the car. We are so thankful they enjoy school so much, and are so thankful for the great school and staff that teaches them.

They are definitely in the right place.

Enjoy the final month of summer...

Patty-Cake

The breaking news of the week is that Chris learned to patty-cake. Now he wouldn't do it every time, or for anyone else but me, but I know he knows what he is doing because he did it many times upon request. Decide for yourself, did he patty-cake or not? I say definitely. For a 5 1/2 month old, that is very, very good.

Here you can see that Papa and Chris are gearing up for our late Fall Hawaii trip. Chris got this really cute Hawaiian shirt from a friend, in two sizes actually, and I think the next size will be the one that needs to be packed. This one will never fit in 4 months. Chris practiced traveling by plane this weekend and flew with his Mommy to Montana for a cousin's wedding. Mommy reported that he was the perfect traveler, (no surprise to me) and was happy as a clam on the airplane. So glad they are home safely. The girls spent the weekend at home with Daddy and had a great time too.

A funny incident this week happened when we picked up the girls from their pre-school one day. Claire, particularly, always introduces us to the teachers and all of her friends when we come. Of course we have met them several times but she insists on re-doing it each visit. This week she said to one of her teachers, "This is my Papa and Grandma and they are really, really, really old. Now, there were more "reallys" than that, actually, but I lost count. We, as well as the teacher had a good laugh. On the pre-school front, one of the teacher's told me this week that the girls were doing such a great job learning their Bible memory verses. Their verse for this week was Psalm 37:7, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." We had worked on the verse one afternoon and the next morning when I asked them, Claire didn't hesitate a second and recited the verse perfectly. What great opportunities we had to talk about patience and what it means. The theme at school for next week is sharing. Can't wait to see what they will learn about that biblical concept. I know from experience that these verses stick with you for life. I'm so thankful I was encouraged to memorize when I was a child.

In this little clip below, Chloe was getting some help to combat Papa teasing her and calling her hamburger head. She thought that was pretty funny and she got quite a kick calling Papa, Acey Boy, his nickname from childhood. On Friday we took the girls out to lunch when we picked them up. As Papa helped Chloe out of the car, she took his hand and said, "Papa, I am going to help you figure out what everyone NEEDS to get." She did too, making sure that everyone got what they needed.

Here is Claire in her pretend mode. Can't remember what her name was, but it was a good one. She and Chloe changed Chris' name to Moses this week for one period of time. Glad he is too young to understand, he could have experienced big-time confusion. :)

The last week in July is here and the summer is flying by. Enjoy!

A Peek at the Week

Chris is certainly interested in everything around him. I found out this week that you don't want to have the rocking chair too close to toys (i.e. Claire and Chloe's doll house) if you want to rock him to sleep. He needs to study the details of anything near him making sure he doesn't miss out on anything. Below he is playing with a busy box toy which he thoroughly enjoys.

Papa and he spend some time together and following that, he works his way to his toy basket to check out the contents.

This was one of the highlights of the week. Mommy had been playing with Chris like she was a "bobble-head" and he laughed so hard we couldn't believe it. Below, Claire joins in while Nonie holds Chris. The laughter was so contagious we just couldn't stop.

Chloe was all relaxed on this day and didn't want to get out of her night shirt. She finally did, but it was a good thing it wasn't a school day.

Claire, on the other hand, decided that she had to have two bows in her hair and eventually added a flower to the center. Oh my, what style! Claire was a bit sick on Wednesday and unable to attend preschool. Chloe went to school by herself, which was a big thing since the two are so attached to each other. Mike said that Chloe focused on showing her teacher the zucchini she had grown and so was able to survive the day without Claire. Claire, at home, must have said 4-5 times, "I sure miss my sister". When Chloe got home they hugged like they had been apart six months. It is so special to have a twin.

Papa and Grandma attended our nephew's beautiful wedding this weekend in Sonoma. What a treat! Thankful to be home safe and looking forward to a new week and adventures with the grandkids!

Family and Festivities!!!

The past two weeks have been filled with family activities and busy days. Papa's family was having a weekend of parties in Folsom celebrating our nephew Brandon's graduation and then the 4th of July. Claire and Chloe got to go with us since their parents' schedule wouldn't permit their attendance this time. We started out the weekend with a visit to the Folsom zoo. What a great little zoo it is. It would have been a better day, had it not been so hot, but we trekked along for a while and took in a few exhibits. Claire is looking at some monkeys in this picture.










Papa and Chloe are checking out another cage area in this picture.

Claire-bear ......

The real bears were so fun to watch. They were having a great time in their water exhibit and that was worth the visit alone.

Chloe-bear..........

Then off to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Mark's house for a fun graduation party. The girls

met another set of 3 year old twins, Easton and Layla, who are a week or so younger that Claire and Chloe. It was fun to watch a little interaction between them. Easton and Layla are cruising the pool on a little raft. Sure wish I had gotten a close up picture of all of them together.

Chloe and Claire swam.......


And swam.....
And swam....with Uncle Mark in this picture below.

And swam.......

And swam......

And swam some more.....

Cupcakes were on the menu.


As well as learning new games with Brandon and Uncle Larry while waiting for breakfast on the 4th....

Claire dressed up in a Goofy costume and had such fun.

Some crash time with Uncle mark in the shade canopy.

Brandon, Jesse, Claire and Chloe with the pinata.

And oh the candy........

Chris didn't make the trip with us, but we told him all about it when we got home.

Claire and Chloe still had to keep cool at home so Nonie got them a little pool to help with that process.

Then a couple of days later Aunt NJ, Uncle Bob, Cousin Mark and his wife Carrie came to visit. Chris was so happy to meet everyone and be included in the fun. Below Carrie and Chris become friends.

Chloe stuck close to Papa until she became a little more acquainted. She had, at first, come out on the deck and said, "Hi, I'm Chloe, but then she suddenly turned shy.

Eventually both girls had a great time showing Uncle Bob their toys and then giving him a tour of their house and room.

Our visitors from the Midwest and Northwest.....


BBQ and more swimming at Papa and Grandma's on Saturday night.

Aunt NJ and Chris.

Claire and Chloe had a great time in the water with our friend Lisa.

Cousin Mark cuddling with baby Chris.

All in all our busy weeks have been so rewarding and fun. There is nothing like extended family time and get-togethers! Hope it happens again soon.

The Week in Review

Chris continues to amaze us at his rapid growth and development. He loves his jumping chair and one of several videos I have taken of him jumping can be seen here. Once again, I spent much time trying to upload it to the blog and finally just put it on YouTube.

And if you want to see Chris getting his first solid food, you can click here and see a video that Mike sent me via email.

Chris is now part of the story-telling time. He sat for the longest time while Papa, once again, by request, told stories of his life on the farm and his dog Butch. The girls never tire of hearing them over and over.
Papa and Grandma did a bit of indulging this week. We don't do it very often, but speaking of "solid food", Chloe and Claire often talk about their Daddy taking them to Dolly-O's, a local doughnut shop in their town. We loaded them all up in the car and decided to get them a special treat. According to Papa, (I stayed in the car w/Chris until they had made their purchases) the girls used very good manners and didn't hesitate a moment when making their choices. They seem to be good friends with Dolly so Daddy must take them there more than occasionally. :) Dolly always gives them each a tiny little sack with their doughnut treasure inside. The rule was that they had to wait to eat them until after their lunch but that they could hold their sack as we drove to their house. Papa and I kept hearing the paper rattle and knew that it was torture for them to hold, smell, see, and not nibble. Eventually Claire wanted Papa to hold her sack until we got home. Even at that, it appeared that a tiny little mouse must have been in the sack as well.

Claire chose a cake doughnut with chocolate frosting and yellow and green sprinkles on it. She ate the top off and left the rest.

Chloe chose a pink/strawberry frosted cake doughnut and approached hers very much the same way. Top eaten and the rest tossed.

I'm happy to report that the sugar overload didn't really bother them that much. They had eaten a high protein lunch and I think the two balanced out very well. Both took good naps and had a great day overall.

If all goes as planned and anticipated, a fun weekend will be in store for the girls next week.

Stay tuned!!