My sweet "Mary"

My neighbor always celebrates Las Posadas, which is a reenactment of Mary and Joseph's journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of shelter. We end up at their house, where we are welcomed in, not only for the story as told in the Bible, but also for a yummy dinner. This year Halle was asked to be Mary. I think she made quite the cute Mary. We put a stuffed animal in her shirt to give her the pregnant belly. She thought it was funny to look like mom, with a baby in her belly. But when asked by our neighbor if there was a baby in her belly, she responded, "No, it's a purple hippo." The kids always have fun with this activity, and hopefully they are taking away some of the real meaning of Christmas along with it.

Clate, by the way, was a shepherd, and Chloe was asked to be an angel but refused.

Since we last posted...

I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since my last post. I thought these two months were going to take forever to pass, but instead they are speeding right by me. Since we last posted, we have enjoyed some nice fall weather and a big winter snow storm...and now back to nice, but colder fall/winter weather.

We've started our countdowns....all of them. The kids are counting down the days till Christmas (of course), and I am counting down the days until this baby gets here. 10 more to go, in case anyone was wondering. Still taking name ideas!

Happy Fall!

September 21

On September 21, Chloe turned 3! After Clate's 2 cake birthday cake, I wasn't really in the mood to have more cake, so I had to get a little creative for Chloe's bday. I decided to do a rice crispy bday cake. It was a great idea in that it was super easy to make and a little unique, but it was difficult to eat with the frosting on it...frosting got everywhere. Chloe was excited for her Hello Kitty cake though, and that's all that really matters.

We got Chloe a balance bike for her bday, which was something that she had been excited about. But about a week before her birthday, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. All she would say was a Hello Kitty umbrella, something I had not bought for her. I asked her a few times during the week to see if she would say anything else (like a bike), but she was consistent...all she wanted was the umbrella. So, the night before her birthday, I had to find a Hello Kitty umbrella, which luckily, was not too difficult to find. As excited she was about the few other things that she received, she was definitely most excited about that little umbrella. I just love this girl.

We ended her bday celebration with "The Chicken Dance" and a little 'I Like To Move It, Move It" dance party; her two favorite songs to dance to.

At 3:

• Sings ALL day long. Some of her most sung songs are "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus," "I Love To See The Temple," any other primary song, and any of the Silly Songs they listen to in the car.
• Tells me, "I love you so much, so much, so much, so much, so much, so much...."
• Still can't blow her nose, only sniffs.
• Loves to color and cut paper into really small pieces.
• Favorite cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• Rides a scooter like a pro.
• Calls the baby in my belly Jacer Racer, even though we're not sure what his name will be.
• Is potty trained!
• She is one smart little cookie and so funny to be around.
• Overall, she is one happy girl.

September 16

My little cowboy! Even on a 90 degree day, you'll find him wearing the whole outfit!

The coolest soccer ball cake EVER!

His new golf bag; one that can be carried on his back AND has a stand, two things he really wanted in a golf bag.

I'm such a bad blogger...I just can't keep up with the things going on in my life. Anyway...

Back on September 16, Clate turned 6! Whoa! I can't believe I have a 6-year-old. It was an exciting day for him; he was VERY excited to 6, not 5 anymore. I took treats to his classroom for his birthday. He wanted me to make chocolate mint chip cookies and serve them with ice cream, so that's what we did. It seemed to be a big hit with his classmates. It was fun to be there because before anyone could have the birthday treat, they each got to say something nice about Clate. After only a little more than a week in his class, almost everyone had something nice to say about him, and some had a lot to say. I think it made him feel special!

Grandma and grandpa Cowdell AND Grammie and Pa were in town for his birthday; that was treat! So we had dinner with cake and ice cream for everyone. Jack was also in town (headed home to PA) and Mike and Andrea were able to come. Clate scored BIG with presents this year; new Legos from grandma and grandpa Cowdell, cowboy gear (boots, vest and hat) from Grammie and Pa, and a new golf bag and putter from mom and dad (mostly dad). I made him a soccer ball cake, which he was also surprised by.

At six:

• He is starting to read.
• Loves playing soccer and has scored all but 1 of the goals scored by his team this year.
• Loves to draw and/or color.
• Wears his cowboy gear almost every day.
• Blows me kisses every night; one for me to use immediately, and at least 2 handfuls for me to use when I go to bed.
• Always says, "Good night, I love you." when I put him to bed.
• Is really good at putting Legos together, even some of the more difficult sets that he has.
• Loves to make his sisters squeal.
• Always asks for chores to do around the house to earn money.
• Will do almost anything for money.

I'm still in love with this kid and wouldn't change a thing about him!

Preschool, not kindergarten...

After all my talk of our plans to hold Halle back in school a year so that she will be the oldest in her class, and then I write as though we put her in a year ahead of schedule...It must have been a late night! Halle's first day was to preschool, not kindergarten. I've edited my posted, so it reads correctly now! Thanks for reading my blog though. I often question whether or not anyone even checks my blog.

Clate's first day...

September 1 was Clate's first day of kindergarten. He, too, was excited and has loved every day of it. He has already made some good little friends, some of whom are on his soccer team as well. He is very proud that he has kept his name in the "green" every day (no bad behavior), and he has a goal to keep it there the whole year! I'll be proud if he does that too!