Chloe's Christmas outfits

The first costume change after pajamas to Santa's ballerina outfit was into this pink leopard print jumpsuit.
Every girl should have leopard print clothing. In pink. Especially paired with a light pink tutu.

LOVE the matching jacket & bottoms! Note-to-self: m&m's go well with pink leopard print clothing.

After opening the next outfit, there was no time to remove the leopard print clothes.

It was time for some Sponge Bob action.

Next was a hot pink on chocolate princess outfit with lots of ruffles and polka dots. Notice the Sponge Bob pajamas peeking out around the seams?

Ruffles ruffles everywhere!

Last came the Vikings shirt and a purple skirt from her birthday. This was the last costume change which took place sometime after her nap. Since she had stripped down to next-to-nothing over her nap, she didn't have to continue the layered effect with the purple. You can see Chloe is rather enamored with how large she is making her stomach.

Thank God for Grandparents and all the clothes they bestow upon our little clothes horse. She just loves it!

Chloe in her Christmas Bath Robe

Chloe seemed to be particularly thrilled with herself for putting her legs through the arms of the robe. She would squeal with delight anytime someone mentioned she had it on the wrong way.
I think the ballet tutu hanging out the back makes it.

She thought holding the robe up & out made her look more like a butterfly. We kinda thought she might fly off for as fast as she was running circles around the house.

Christmas Morning

Chloe liked her new Hello Kitty hat, but it didn't stay on long. There were too many other new outfits that had to be tried on over the clothes she was already wearing. Saving those pics for another post, but at one point she was wearing at least five different outfits.

Owen's new vest. He needed a new one for this year and boy is this warm!

Sweet kids :)
Think she's reading the movie description on the back or figuring out who the actors are? ;)
Every girl needs a scarf to wear with her pajamas.

This is a new scarf for Owen. He's been stealing mine over the past few weeks and I found these cool, handmade scarves on Etsy. I love that it is a child-sized scarf and it fits him perfectly!

One of Chloe's presents to Todd was the vase of flowers from her dollhouse. He loved it!

Owen had fun waving around the Vikings flag for Todd's car window. Owen and I picked it out last summer when we were Up North in Minnesota. He wanted so badly to give it to Todd then and we got into a couple of arguments over it. Glad we waited for Christmas to come!

Todd's biggest surprise for me was this shirt. I LOVE it!

Maggie loved her bone from Jude. It kept her quiet for a coupla hours before she took it outside to bury in the backyard.

Santa Came!

Santa brought Chloe ballerina costumes and a new Hello Kitty trash can. He must really be on the ball! Chloe had only asked for a trash can of her own for her bedroom just a coupla days ago!

And Santa brought Owen a new tennis racket with a can of balls, a new tennis outfit and a new DS game.

Santa also brought Chloe a crayon maker, which helped hold up her snowman stocking.

love Love LOVE all the sequins on Owen's stocking!

One of Owen's first school ornaments. Not sure how old he was, but I'm guessing around three years old since there is still quite a bit of baby fat in those cheeks.

The calm before the storm of squeals and ripping paper and tossed ribbons.

Christmas Eve

The drive through downtown Alpharetta, with snowflakes on every other lamp post.
Even in the dark, the girl child will cheese for the camera.

Chloe watched intently as the inside of the church filled up.

Owen hung out on Daddy's lap for extra snuggles & smooches.

Grandma Eloise is such a pixie. Always smiling.

I love this pic of Mom. My 50mm lens was great for this low-light room, but didn't allow me much flexibility in expanding shots from the neighboring seat.

My favorite part is where all the candles are lit and we sing Silent Night.

I love all the candles.

Chloe was old enough this year to hold her own candle!

I think Owen felt very grown up holding his candle :)

Christmas Spirit

Santa Claus brought Owen this snowflake when he was four. A snowflake was at the top of his wish list. Santa made sure it would last forever and never, ever melt.

Christmas light bokeh. Sigh.

Owen made this macaroni star ornament in 1st grade this year. I love how he got them to stand up so perfectly on each branch of the snowflake. His teacher spray-painted it gold and then he added glitter. I think this is one of my all-time favorite ornaments made by one of the kids.

A repeat question from the boy child this year "Is Rudolph real?" Our answer? How could he not be? Santa most definitely needs Rudolph and the red nose light to guide his sleigh through foggy or snowy nights.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Sweet Pigs

I love these sweet pigs. They are getting so big. I'm sure it won't be long before we're sharing shoes.
But for now, they are still pretty little. And they're sweet, at least after bath time. :)

Street Tennis

This boy just LOVES to play tennis and was so thrilled that Todd was on vacation this week and could play with him in the street.
Look at that stance. He's so ready to hit that ball.


This is soooo much better than hitting the ball up against the garage door!

Hoping the USTA Jr. League gets their act together so Owen can start taking lessons on Saturday mornings. He will be in heaven.

Chloe and I will be in the car, blasting the heat ;)

Owen's Letter About Keeters

Owen gave us this letter the other night at dinner. He handed it to me first. I gave him a little bit of grief over the names. Dad and Mom? Who are they? :) I thought I was Mommy. Who is this Mom person? O just smiled and patiently waited for me to open and read the letter.


Tears rolled down my face as I read this. What a thoughtful letter from our seven year old boy, dealing with his grief the day after he was told that Keeters had died.
I love you so much.
Thank you for everything.
I am so sad that Keeters died.
God is the best he helped Keeters stay alive longer.
I miss him.


I don't know that I could have said it any better.

Christmas Cookies

Chloe was looking around to see who was watching as she ate her snowman icing cookie.

Owen's method of attack was to eat the cookie around the snowman, saving the best for last.

He thought the cookie with the inner layer of icing was mighty tasty!

Chloe preferred to just lick the snowman off of her cookie.

She also licked at the inner layer of icing, as well as dug some out with her fingers. The cookies remain uneaten in the pantry. :)

We don't think she's ours. There aren't any Wenzels or Fords that won't eat their cookies.