Decorating the Christmas tree!

Dan, Brett, Claire, and I decorated our house for Christmas this past weekend. I know *gasp* before Thanksgiving.... but there's just not enough time for those lovely decorations to beautify the home! Claire likes the ornaments and Brett hung all of his one like two branches!! But he put Jesus right on the top in the best spot on the tree!

A new friend!

Our friends, Ben and Rachel Loots, had thier little girl last weekend, Teagan Lynn Loots. We were all excited that they came over for a visit last night! Brett couldn't wait to hold her.... it didn't last long.... but he held her. Claire was happy to play with her carseat buckles and touch her head and check on her. Brett informed us that he might want her to be his girlfriend someday!! I am hoping he heard someone else say that and didn't come up with it on his own!! The little ladies man..... I think Ben might have something to say about that!!!

Backseat crazies!

Whenever it's sunny out in the car in the AM on the way to work, and I reach up to grab my sunglasses, Claire wants them. Then as soon as Claire asks for them, Brett asks for some too, and the next thing you know, I'm driving in the sun with squinted eyes and no sunglasses! So, one day this happens, and I look back into the backseat and this is what I see. I grabbed my camera and took a couple photos.... after I stopped laughing!

Weekend in Galena continued!

A few more photos of all the fun!

Weekend in Galena!

This past weekend (Nov 7,8) Ann, Tim, and Aaron met Mom, Dad, Dan, Brett, Claire, and I in Galena for a fun weekend together. Unfortunately, Jacob was sick so Tony and Angie and the kids weren't able to join us and we missed them. But we had a good time just hanging out and catching up. The hotel had a couple of water slides, so we spent a fair amount of time in the pool. We browsed the cute little shops/wineries on the main street of Galena on Saturday for a couple of hours. It was just a blast. And the kids had a great time together. Aaron is so big and adorable. Claire's only got him by a couple of pounds at this point! And she loved playing peek-a-boo with Aaron and he'd giggle. But he REALLY laughed his tail off at Cousin Brett goofing off. I'm pretty sure Brett has a #1 fan in Aaron! And the feeling is mutual!

A girl and her purse

Claire is such a little girl! She loves shoes, purses, and jewlery! This is Claire this weekend in Galena in the hotel with Nan's purse. She has to hold her arm up to carry it so it won't fall off because it's so heavy! When I took it away, she was SO upset! Lesson learned: Don't mess with Claire's purse!!

Trick or Treat!

Here are a few more pictures of Brett and Claire in their costumes and in the action of trick or treating!

Happy Halloween!

We had a bit of a funny trick or treat experience this year. A friend from work offered to let Claire barrow a Holly Hobby costume that her daughter had worn. It was adorable and so I decided to have Claire wear that instead of the lion costume that she was going to wear (a hand me down from Brett). It had a wig and I knew that would take a bit of coaxing so we practiced wearing it a couple of days earlier and it wasn't really going over. But the night of trick or treating, I decided to just try it because it was SUCH a cute costume and I really wanted her to wear it! As you will see by the photos... this is what happened next!! Brett sat by as the most good natured baseball player you've ever seen! Claire ended up being a ferocious lion and I guess that was what she wanted to be this year! Brett loved trick or treating- despite being a bit under the weather all weekend. Claire- the sweet tooth that she is- loved the candy!