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.

Last Week of October

We painted pumpkins last night instead of carving them. The oldest two went on field trips this month and picked their own pumpkins, and they were really too small to carve. They had a fabulous time, I felt like a rock star parent, and it actually wasn't a big mess. Spencer and Genevieve both did tons of painting in preschool, so they were pros at it and Aaron had no problems either. It was a fun night.

 I found this Christmas ornament idea awhile back on Pinterest. It's pony beads melted in the toaster oven in cookie cutter molds. These are all the metal ones I own, and they turned out really nice! The first I did single layer and it worked but not for the points of the stars. So the second round I did a double layer and I like that even better. I need to round off the corners. Hopefully I can sand them down and have them look good. It was a fun little project. I like to get a new ornament every year for Christmas and this year these will be it. I'll drill holes in them for a string too.

 I ran my half marathon Saturday morning. It went remarkably well. I really enjoyed it! This particular training cycle I discovered the joy of audio books. I listen while I run and it has changed exercising into not only an enjoyable experience from the endorphins and feeling of being in shape, but also because it's now combined with listening to books, which is phenomenal. I love to read but I never have time to. I've listened to probably four or five books the last month. It's really pleasant and I finished one book during my race. The time goes by so much faster when I'm just listening and zoning into the run.

 I got this little guy from my kids' school fundraiser. It came white and I painted it one very productive day with the included colors. It lights up. This year is a Christmas on the mind super early sort of year. No complaining. :)

 Poor Chloe was sick on Friday and she is still sick. She's mostly just had a fever, which makes for very sad evenings and early mornings. Poor kiddo. I hope she kicks it soon.

Vignettes from the week

 We did family pictures last Friday. I sent probably 20 pictures to Bill that morning deciding on clothing to wear.

 Here's a sneak peek of our picture session. it was so beautiful out and the kids rocked it on pictures for the first time ever. We even got Chloe to smile. I'm so excited to see the rest of the photos.

 Chloe is such a climber. She stands up in her high chair any chance she gets. I took this to show off her cute outfit she just grew into, and then strapped her in. If she follows in Aaron's footsteps, she'll learn to stand up even when clipped in and then we'll be out of luck on the high chair, but for now she still will sit and eat thankfully.

 I picked paint for my snowflake. Despite the grain being really pretty, I want this snowflake to be more festive, so I'm going with white and then silver glitter. We'll see how it turns out.

 Instead of sleeping one afternoon last week Chloe was doing acrobatics. She had her feet above her head pushed against the mesh of her crib before I grabbed this picture.

 She was obviously sleeping. Obviously. Lol. I think she fell asleep later in the car, but definitely didn't take the opportunity to sleep during this nap time.

I made a couple of Christmas trees too with scraps I had. I'm going to put bases on them and paint them green, but even unsanded and raw I love how they turned out. The silhouette look is really appealing to me this year.

A few pictures from this week

 A little black frosting lipstick for the day. A friend and I hosted a baby shower for another friend. It was fun.

 She said she wasn't sick, but then she fell asleep in the car. Very telling.

 Finished drawer. I got my last piece of wood I need to do the other drawer on her bed hopefully today.

Another view of what the bed looks like without the mattress. I cut grooves into the drawer front with my router so it would match the planking on the ends and it really looks cool. It probably would help if I took a picture with something besides my phone camera, but no time for that.

Dirt

I let my kids play outside the other day while I was folding laundry and watching them from inside. They beelined it for the flower bed we cleared out this summer but didn't fill up yet and started digging. And apparently Aaron dumped a shovel full of clay dirt on Chloe's head and it was hilarious. She wasn't even remotely bothered. I had to bathe her to get it off. It wouldn't brush off even at all. Good times. 

Pictures from this week.

 Three of four drawers done for my kids' beds.

 Spencer got comfy during conference this weekend.

 These mini recliners moved onto a new owner this weekend. They were so much fun to have the last few years. The kids don't really use them anymore so we're going to do something different, but I had a moment of sadness when they left.

 Chloe climbs up to look out the window these days.

 She has a little mischievous streak that is so cute. I can just see the thoughts going on in her head of what funny thing she can do.

 I cut Aaron's hair a few days ago. He's looking so big these days.

 She wears these shoes all day long every day. True love.

I always love it when my kids put themselves to sleep. That blanket is down with soft minky on the inside. It's a napping blanket for sure.