Coloring

Chloe is 15 mos old now & continually amazes us. Some of her newest accomplishments are: she knows the hand motions to twinkle, twinkle, she can blow kisses, she plays ball (rolling the ball back to you), she understands small commands & follows through with them (like when we ask her to bring us certain things she will or when we ask her to turn a book page she will, etc), she uses utencils when eating on a more regular basis & drinks from a regular cup (I still help her with the utencils, but she is able to scoop food on spoons more & more and is able to stab at food with a fork & bring that food to her mouth to eat it & I do have sippy cups on hand just in case), she is interested in the potty, but I think it is still a bit too early for it, but I can see it won't be too long before the potty training ensues, she can stack blocks, dances all the time, & finally, as the photos show below, she is starting to color & loves it! Her vocabulary is still pretty small, but when you say phrases like "I love you" she will try to mimick you back & definately make the tonal noises correctly (kinda like scooby doo). I wrote her name on the paper, & showed her what to do with the crayons & she caught on pretty quick (she wanted to stick them in her mouth at first but after showing her how to use them properly a couple of times she really got the idea...what a smart girl!!)

Good Times

Some cute photo moments for you to enjoy...

grinning from ear to ear...

Holly Hobby pose...

on the move...

kickin' back & enjoying life...

Keepin' Cool

It sure is hot here...100's & more it seems these days. Here are my two most favorite people stayin' cool in the summer heat...

Chloe loves her raft. She has learned to kick her legs to make it move & she motors around the pool all on her own (of course we are in the pool with her but she can get around the pool without us pushing her, & in fact, sometimes she insists upon doing it herself...that's our smart, independent girl!!)


Here I am lounging (this is the present Nate got for me for our anniversary) & Chloe is just having a blast motoring around the pool.

Chloe was being extra cute before church this morning, dancing & all to her vegie tales music, so I took this photo to share with you. She is our dancin' queen...

Celebrate Independence

We had a nice 4th of July. Family came over for bbq & pool party. The pool has been lots of fun & we spend time in it every day (and for me multiple times a day!!) Chloe is celebrating independence day by wearing a cute red tank top with the american flag on it reading "Celebrate Independence 2006" & her socks are a cute osh kosh patriotic print.

We have bought a bunch of pool toys...one of which Nate gave me for our anniversay (we celebrate 6 AWESOME years of marriage on sat. July 8th). He bought me a lounger for the pool & it is so wonderful. Chloe got a water torpedo (it is a chair for little ones that floats on the water & I can't wait to try it out.) We also bought her this suit that has foam in the top of it to act like a life vest for little ones...it actually did not work as well as I had hoped but you can see her wearing it in the photo below. We hope you all had a fun & safe independence day.


I am ready to swim...


but I need my snack 1st...

Grandma, will you take me swimming now?

ok, I will just play with my toys...

read to me, daddy!!

Chloe & the Ducks

applause, please...

Dive in!

The sand was delivered about 1.5 weeks ago...

Nate chose a great spot in the backyard for our pool location then searched our prop for spare railroad ties (which he dragged to the pool spot with our ATV) & here he is forming an area with the railroad ties to be filled with the sand & leveled for the pool.

Here is the spot almost ready for the sand...


now that the weed barrier is down, here comes the sand...


Nate begins to fill...

and fill...

and when Nate could no longer wheelbarrel in the sand...

he used our truck...and when he could no longer do that...

he called in the big guns and a friend came to save the day...

and the leveling began...

and when it became level...

he then put up the pool...

finished...with a beautiful view of the duck pond....this is the life...a lot of work went into putting this pool together and I just wanted to thank my hubby for the best birthday present ever (he worked SO hard & has the blisters to prove it.) I love you, Nate!!