Ha-ha!

I was talking to Calvin today about going to get our flu shots next week. Aubrey must have overheard us, because when we got home she started trying to convince me that she didn't need to get a shot. She told me that she wasn't sick. I tried to explain to her that the shot would help keep her healthy. She was not happy about the whole idea. She finally said, "I'll just pray every day and every night. Then I won't need a shot." Wow! What do you say to that? I don't remember exactly what I said, but I think it was something like, "That would be a great idea honey," and just left it at that.

Aubrey carrying her baby in the Snuggli.

I actually got Chloe to sit still long enough to get her hair french-braided.

After the girls got up from their nap today, we were playing in Aubrey's room when Chloe started brushing my hair with a little pony brush. She doesn't brush gently - the tips of the brush are pressed hard against your head as she drags it down your scalp. Plus, she holds a chunk of your hair at the ends and then tries to brush the part that she's holding without letting go of it. Needless to say, there's a lot of me saying "ow, ow!" to which she replies, "Sorry." It's really quite humorous. After a while, Aubrey decided that it looked like fun to do my hair, so she started too. First she put in several headbands - none of which were holding any hair out of my face. :) Then she put about ten barrettes and bows all across the front of my hair. After she put in each one, she would rub my face with her hand and say, "Ahhh. That looks pretty!" After the fifth time doing it, I just had to laugh.

Aubrey did her own hair. . .

. . . and mine. Think she's got a career in hair dressing? :)

I bought Chloe a new toothbrush today that has a train on it. After Chloe finished brushing her teeth tonight, I told her that it had a "choo-choo" on it and showed her where it was. She looked at it kind of puzzled and then said/sang, "Na na na na choo choo." Let me explain. This summer at VBS, there was a song that had a chorus in it that said, "Na na na na woo-hoo." Aubrey loves that song and sings it all the time, except she sings it as "Na na na na too-too." Apparently Chloe changed the words to her version too and her part became "choo-choo". I just had to laugh - it was so darn cute!

Chloe likes to wear her sunglasses like this . . .

. . . and like this.

One more note - I read stories to both girls tonight in Chloe's room as Calvin was in the field. Aubrey and Chloe each get to choose one book, and then we lay out pillows on the floor in Chloe's room and read them. Well, Aubrey brought in this book called Kisses. Chloe hadn't picked one out yet, so I told her to go and get a book. Instead of going to her book basket, she ran out of her room and brought back a romance book off the shelf in the office. She then laid down on her pillow, got covered up, and handed it to me to read. I, of course, didn't read it, but gave it back to her to look at. She proceeded to "read" through it as I read Aubrey's book to her. What a character!

They're getting so big!

Today Chloe went up for the children's sermon at church with Aubrey. This is the fourth time she's gone up and I have yet to have to go up with her. The first time she went up was with Abby, my niece who is in 4th grade. The other times she has just gone up with Aubrey. She doesn't sit down - she just stands there. This morning she must have been standing facing Aubrey, because Pastor said something about all of the kids looking at him except for Chloe who was facing Aubrey. She'll learn in time the purpose of being up there, right? It is cute watching them walk hand in hand up to the front of church and then back again.

Chloe has definitely become more of a daddy's girl. After dinner today, Calvin went out to plow the field around our house. He was planning on taking only Aubrey, but Chloe just stood at the top of the steps crying with tears rolling down her face saying, "Daddy! Daddy!". He gave in and took her with too. They both loved it and didn't cry at all, according to Aubrey. It's so nice for them to have daddy time too.

Puddle Jumping

Earlier this week it rained. Aubrey asked me all morning if she could jump in the puddles. I was not looking forward to the mess that puddle jumping with three children would entail (I was babysitting Clare that day), but decided to brave it and let them jump anyways. I found three pairs of boots for them to wear, all of which were too big, except for Aubrey's. We then went outside and walked up and down the lane to find puddles to jump and walk in. Aubrey and Clare loved it, while Chloe wasn't too sure about the whole concept. Amazingly enough they didn't make too much of a mess - only Aubrey's pants had to be changed. It was definitely worth it to see the smiles and hear the laughter!



Aubrey continues to absolutely love school. She loves to come home and tell us all about what she did at school, which invariably includes the singing of songs and what they had for snack. She also loves having Clare come over and play. She relishes being the oldest one that the younger ones follow around and want to play with. It's neat to see her in her new role. (She still likes playing with Sophie too though.) Lately, she has really been into babies again. For the past week, she has dressed her baby every morning, put it down for naps, and had it sit at the table and eat with us. It has been really cute to see her take care of her baby.

Chloe continues to be her crazy self. Her favorite things to say currently are "Don't say that!" and "No, no, naughty!". She also said her first sentence last night. She was sitting at the table drinking from her milk cup and said, "I like that juice." clear as day. It was pretty funny considering that she was drinking milk, not juice. She continues to talk more and more. Her vocabulary is huge, and it's so nice to have her tell me some things versus just screaming. Tonight at supper she was mooing. I asked her if she was a cow and she said yes. She then proceeded to talk about the cows being in the barn and helping daddy do chores. She can be pretty funny at times. She loves to carry purses around and wear her sunglasses.

My Little Artists

When Aubrey got home from preschool last Tuesday, she informed me that Mrs. Schuldt said that she was going to get to play with shaving cream at school the next time they came. This gave her the idea of doing it at home. Aubrey's played with it a few times, but Chloe never has. I was a little worried about her trying to eat it, but she only tried a couple of times before she just rubbed her hands in it. She then proceeded to try and wash herself with it. She was a mess! She had shaving cream all the way up her arms, smeared across the front of her shirt, and even in her hair! Aubrey had fun just moving it around and making different shapes in it.

Eileen had extra pumpkins growing in her garden and sent some home with us. We decided to paint them and make them look pretty. I was going to have the girls paint them inside, but Aubrey had the great idea of painting them outside. It was awesome and much less messy! The sidewalk still has remnants of paint, but at least the inside of my house doesn't! :)

Goodbye Pool!

Last weekend we went to mom and dad's house to help them take down their pool. They are in the process of getting their house market ready in hopes that they will be able to move next summer. In order to do this, mom thought that the pool should go and thought that we might want it, to which we replied - definitely! :) Who wouldn't want a free pool? There was just one catch - we had to come and help take it down. It actually went pretty well. The only big problem we had was with the joining piece that held the wall together. It ended up having to be cut off, but other than that, we got it all down and in the trailer in one day. So, while it was an exhausting weekend, it was so nice to be able to spend some time with my family again.

Playing in the pool water as it ran down the driveway, then the street, and finally into the sewer.

Mom and Dad's yard with the pool
Playing in the water left inside the pool

Splashing

Mom and Dad's yard with no pool

Playing at the park

Aubrey's New 'Do

So, I finally came to the conclusion that Aubrey needed to get a substantial amount of hair cut. It was so long (which was awesome!), but was getting really stringy looking when she wore it down. We went last week and had Calvin's aunt Betty cut off about 3-4 inches. What a difference! It looks so much better!

Before

After

Lessons from Aubrey

Chloe has been picking up on a lot of things lately, most of which come from what she sees or hears Aubrey do. Some of these things are hilarious, while others are somewhat annoying. Here are just a few of the things she has started doing lately:

• She loves to say "in minute (which ends up sounding like mee-net)" when I ask her to do something or come here. I'm pretty sure this one comes from me, because I tell the girls "just a minute" when they need something and I'm busy.
• She will go around saying "naughty, naughty" to me or Aubrey when we do something that she doesn't like, which could be as simple as Aubrey taking a toy away or me telling her to stop screaming.
• She loves to scream as does Aubrey. They've gotten to the point where if one does it, the other does it too. It's obnoxious!
• She occasionally tells me "that not nice", like when she is yelling and I tell her to stop.
• She can now count to six, which I thought was a fluke, except that she has done it several times. Aubrey loves to count and apparently it's wearing off on Chloe.
• Aubrey has gotten into this habit of holding out a book and having me read a part of it if I'm trying to change a diaper or wash dishes and can't sit down and read it to her. She'll say "what does this say", so Chloe's started doing this too, except that she'll turn her book around and say "a say".