It snowed!

 Bill and I went to a grad school end of semester party hosted at Clemson. It was semi formal. I don't really have any formal dresses anymore, but I did take the opportunity to actually do an updo with my hair. The actual event felt so much like a teenage church dance except with better dressed people, good food, and lots of beer. lol. We went with two other couple friends and we had lots of fun.

 Chloe got her current jacket wet in the snow and so I pulled out her next size jacket, which Genevieve wore and loved for like three years. It's a bit big, but she loves it! And we ran out of kid gloves that weren't wet, so we just pulled out the adult gloves and it was amusing.

 We legitimately got a bit of snow! A couple inches ended up falling and there were big, pretty snowflakes. It snowed for 24 hours. Pretty fun! And perfect timing. It ended Saturday morning and we didn't end up with no school for days and days.

 Jumping on the trampoline in the snow is fabulous.

 It was really coming down. It started as sleet and went to big, beautiful flakes. I haven't seen nice snow like that in five years.

 Just chilling by me while I work.

 Fish lips!

 Testing out her new bed. It's not hers yet, but will be very soon, come early January once my mom heads back home. She's coming for two and a half weeks and I'm so excited. 

 And then testing out Spencer's bed. Also a big hit.

 She actually managed to balance this recorder and was so proud of herself.

 A little fuzzy, but crazy face Chloe loving wearing a cape.

 Hey mom, take a picture!

We broke out the super warm gloves and Aaron wore them to church and all through sacrament meeting and Spencer played with them all night. Apparently happiness is wearing oversized gloves.

First week of December

 Two things about my tree make me laugh. One, there's fewer and fewer ornaments where Chloe can reach them because she's at that stage where she takes them all off the tree. She still puts everything in her mouth too, so I've re-glued several ornaments together already. Also, there isn't a strong center branch on the top so I had to just lean a lightweight star on the top, but it still looks topless. I still love it though.

 Aaron and Chloe playing the piano this morning.

 I had an extra piece of plywood and I really like these snowflakes I'm making, so I designed a new one and made it small. It still needs some glitter, but I love how it turned out.

 I went to Genevieve's class on the 1st and read a book and then helped the kids make these snowflakes. They loved them and I always feel like a celebrity when I go there. They're so cute. I even took Chloe and Aaron and they were universally loved.

And finally, a video of them making "beautiful" music together. :)

Thanksgiving Break

We actually took a break! We never do that! Bill took off the whole Thanksgiving vacation and it was lovely to just relax. We didn't do anything special. Stayed at home, went and got our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, as per annual tradition that our kids made sure we kept, and just chilled out. It was lovely. Maybe we'll learn and do that more often and the normal life stresses will be easier. Probably wishful thinking but hey, I'm a dreamer.

 Genevieve thought it was Sunday on Saturday and she got up and put a pretty dress on. She kept it on most of the day and even did some kid yoga in it. 😊

 I finished my Santa paint-by-number just in time to add it to our Christmas decorations.

 The piano we got this year gives me a place to make a mantle of sorts!

 The Christmas tree doesn't really have a top, so our normal tree topper doesn't stand up on it. I got a star that I can rest in the branches. It's still a little funny looking, but I like our cute little tree this year. The star isn't in this picture, but I haven't gotten a new one with it in it.

 I still love this string art sign I did. And the cute little nativity my mom made years and years ago. I put it here so Chloe could play with it.

 Another spot for decorations that I didn't have last year. This was before I added the Santa.

 We had a great time cutting down our Christmas tree.

 Poor Genevieve. Turns out she was a bit sick and she was so tired walking around with us. She sat down in every bit of shade she could find.

 I made a sour cream crust this year and it was really good! I did a pumpkin pie and an apple crumble pie this year. Both were so tasty of course.

In the blink of an eye we're most of the way through November

Chloe wore a new dress today that was Genevieve's four years ago. I went searching to find a shot of her to compare the two. I have pictures of them when they were under a year where they look identical, but not so much now. Genevieve really plumped up as a toddler and Chloe hasn't. Just to put it in perspective, this is Genevieve at 13 months and Chloe at 17, so Genevieve was WAY bigger way younger. They both sure are cute. My mom informed me Chloe looks like me, so yay!

 I'm staining the new bed I'm building before i assemble it. It's coming along nicely. I have to put one final coat of finish on the panels and then I'll be able to assemble the frame. I may wait though until the drawers are ready to assemble it though. It's for Genevieve and if I don't have drawers in it she won't have anywhere to put her clothes. The wood for the drawers is more than the wood for the whole frame since I had 2x4s already and the boards for the slats as well. Good times. I need to find a different stain to do for future furniture because I'd like a lighter, more gray brown for my future bedroom furniture, but I never tire of this red mahogany. All the kids' beds are done in it.

 Spencer brought home his school pictures and I just died laughing. He told me he tried hard to smile but they only gave him one try. I'd call that a grimace not a smile, but it was good for laughs. We just got family pictures done and I have a much better shot of him from those that I have up on my wall.

 I don't think I know who this baby is. Sitting with other people? Interacting with an adult that isn't me or Bill without glaring at them? Playing with other kids? This can't be my baby. Haha! Chloe is just starting to get out of her I hate everyone and will glare at everyone at all times if they're not my family MO that she's lived in the past year. She's going to be in nursery in a few weeks and that was the magical age Genevieve started getting out of that as well four years ago, so I'm hopeful for Chloe's well being and general niceness that she'll grow out of her saltiness. Hahaha!

mid November

Genevieve loves to draw. Tonight she decided she should draw portraits of Bill and me. She's five. I'm so impressed with her details. 

 My favorite parts of this picture? Bill's red beard, eyelashes, blonde curls, fingernails. He looks kind of like Owl from Winnie the Pooh, hahahaha! Oh, and all the swirls in the background that are in glitter pen. She said she wanted to pretty much the picture.

 And my favorite parts of my picture? The Clemson Tiger paw on my shirt, my lips, the curly hair. It's so fun to see her developing interests and being good at things.

 The library put on a fabulous activity where we went and built cars and then watched the movie Cars 3. It was fabulous. I left Chloe at home with Bill but the other three went and had a great time.

 Genevieve was so much happier about hanging on Chloe's swing than Chloe was, haha! Chloe just wanted her to keep pushing her.

 Oh Chloe. You are such a climber. This is your life: finding whatever you can climb and getting higher. She can push chairs around now and climb up on them. She loves standing on the table. Half the time she sits in a big chair at the table because she loves everything about begin big. Her bed is a pack n play and while she's only 16 months old I don't doubt she'll figure out how to climb out of it long before she's really ready to have a big bed. Then again, it's not a big fall if she does, so she may get to stay in there anyone once she figures that out, but I am currently making a new bed for the older kids so that the toddler bed came be open for her when that time comes. I'm fairly certain it will be before we finish the PhD. Good times.

I wake up early every morning and transcribe before the kids wake up and through them getting ready for school. Bill wakes them up and runs pre-school prep. The older kids all grab a blanket and come out and snuggle on the couch. Chloe almost always wakes up and comes out too. Bill changes her diaper and brings her out and lets me kiss her first, then she hops down and starts wandering. This morning all three other kids started trying to entice her to come kiss them. She got this little smile on her face and headed straight for Genevieve. Those two are so cute together. I had to convince her to go see her brothers and she offered her cheeks to them like the little queen she is waiting for her faithful subjects to kiss her. This girl. She is going to be trouble forever and I don't even care. She is the cutest.

I got Chloe and Aaron some ice cream while we were at Hochstetlers this week. Chloe was too cool to sit at the same table as us until she realized the ice cream actually tasted good. Then she was all over hanging out with us.

Halloween and beginning of November

My friend Genevieve this adorable dress. She sells them and this one came from two different pieces of the fabric and the color is ever so slightly different on the top and the skirt plus a sleeve. So she just gave it to Genevieve, and she couldn't be happier. It's really adorable.

 I've put in a jillion hours already painting this Christmas paint-by-number. It's by far the most detailed one I've ever done and it's turning out so cool.

 Aaron got hit with the sick this week. I first sent a picture to Bill of him like this but uncovered. His first question? But did you cover him up??? I went back and did and sent it to make him feel better, lol.

 Genevieve loves lego story builders. This is her creation from this week. Fuzzy, but they have really cool miniature pieces.

 I spent many hours this week cutting and sanding these blocks for a Relief Society craft. I didn't mind the work at all, but my hand did get really sore and tingly after spending big chunks of time sanding. The activity is tomorrow and the craft is going to be super cute.

 This was our annual trip to downtown Clemson for trick or treating. Genevieve switched out her Moana costume for a mermaid, and we have a bumblebee, Superman, and Maui. Bill traced those tattoos on that shirt. We had planned to do the arms and shoulders too, but stuck with just the front and back. It's super detailed and really cool looking up close. That's a leaf skirt too, though it's all scrunched back in this shot.

 Chloe and Aaron styled it up one of the chiller days this week.