Monday, October 26, 2009

trick or treat... a little early

Here in the city different business districts will have trick or treating for the kids around Halloween. Yesterday we went with friends to one of these areas to take advantage of the beautiful weather.

Here's Clara in her unofficial costume...
(does turning 8 make you pose like this?!?!?)

Her "official" costume isn't finished yet so we threw some things together to dress her up yesterday.

The hat was so cute....
... but a huge source of aggravation :-)

Clara giving me "the look"...

After I had finally finished taking photos, we headed out to her friend's house...
Clara and her friend...
There were TONS of people out, but the kids had a great time anyway. I'm so glad the girls are old enough to trick or treat on their own (with us moms watching of course) because those with little ones were having quite the time maneuvering toddlers and strollers through the crowds.

After working our way up one side of the street, we stopped for a treat...
Can you believe that it was warm enough to eat ice cream OUTSIDE while trick or treating? With how chilly it has been already this fall I wouldn't have thought it would have been possible.

After a while the girls wore out and the businesses ran out of candy so it was time to head home...
(notice how neither girl is wearing their hat... guess who was in charge of those about 15 minutes into this outing)

One last shot of the girls...
If you were wondering where Alex was.... he opted not to go. The 4th and 5th graders had a Sunday School class exchange that morning at church and his group went on an outing to another church. He didn't get back until after lunch and by the time Jeff picked him up he just wanted to relax at home.

Okay... busy day ahead... gotta run!

Happy Monday!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

sassy

Last night Clara was invited to a birthday party at Sweet 'n Sassy. She LOVES that place!

Here's my attempt at a "before" shot...
(for some reason - user error I'm assuming - none of my before shots turned out sharp)

While she was at the party, Jeff, Alex and I ran an errand and went out to eat.

When we picked her up, she looked like this...
... the side view....
She was wound up and coated in glitter! She had such a great time! This time she got to choose a "sweet look" or a "sassy look"... she chose SASSY! :-)

After she had showered and washed some of the glitter out of her hair, she tried on her new sleeping mask...
She crashed out shortly after she got into bed.

Alex crashed out early too. He had his first swim meet yesterday morning. He swam three events and did well... he didn't place high but he did knock some seconds off of his times. Most importantly, he had a great time competing and hanging out with the team. I can't wait until his next meet!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Clara!

Today is officially the day that my baby girl turns 8 years old! I really have a hard time believing it, but it happened anyway :-)

So, like usual, she wanted to take a trip to the American Girl Store. I waited too late to make reservations for lunch so we ended up having brunch instead.

One of Clara's favorite things is the little box of conversation starter questions....


Here's her breakfast.... a french toast stack...
After that they brought out dessert with a candle for her and sang happy birthday...
and then it was time again to make a wish...
Julie needed some refreshments too...
Clara and Julie...
After brunch (with Alex and Grandpa and Grandma Missouri), we did a little shopping in the store. She spent some of her money on outfits for Julie and then spent the rest at home online on Little Miss Matched stuff.

She had a great day! She was so excited to go to dance this afternoon on her actual birthday. On your birthday her teacher will pull on your ears and pull you up by them once for each year... has anyone ever heard of this? Clara thinks it's hysterical and was really looking forward to it. If you have ever heard of this tradition and know any background... I would love to hear it (Clara's teacher is Russian if that helps any).

Well... I should probably get the birthday girl into bed!

'nite!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

sigh...

Another week... another photo of the boy in a silly hat... see why here.

we've been everywhere....

Yesterday morning we were all over Chicago working on a project.

Do you know where we were?

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

the party...

Clara's birthday festivities have begun!

Her grandparents from Michigan were in this weekend. Her grandmother took her to the American Girl store and Clara now has a new friend...

Julie!

Clara had to have her hair braided like Julie's for her party today.

Here's her cake...
... vanilla cake, lemon cream filling and buttercream frosting. Yum!

Clara had a jewelry making party.

Here she is checking out the charms and beads before the party began...
Picking out beads with her friends...
Clara realizing that she forgot to include her charms in her bracelet design...
After the girls had finished their bracelets and had taken a tour of the store, it was time for cake...
Make a wish!

And of course, after cake, it's time to open presents....

Clara is such a lucky little girl to have so many good friends... they are all so fun and kind and just all-around good girls. They all seemed to have such a great time at the party too.

As we were waiting for Jeff to pull up so we could load up, I took this quick shot of the bracelet Clara made...
It's now her "lucky bracelet" :-)

Okay... I'm worn out!

'night!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

the invite

I think all of the invites have been passed out, so here it is...

(kit is Falling Leaves by Lili at Scrapartist)

This is Clara's first year to do a small(ish) girls only party. It should be fun! Hopefully I'll have photos to post by the end of the weekend!

Happy Saturday!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

a couple of clara...

Okay... maybe not a "couple" since there are three photos... but you know what I meant :-)



Life has really been crazy lately! Nothing particularly noteworthy... just very busy. So busy, in fact, that I've rarely had time to have my camera out.

Oh... we are prepping for Clara's birthday party this weekend! I have her invitation done, I'll just have to remove the personal info and then I'll post it here. She's very excited about her party and her actual birthday a week from Friday. I can't believe that the girl is going to be EIGHT!!!

Okay... I know this is short, but I did post something (just for you Tracy!)! I'm editing some other photos now so maybe I'll post again before another month goes by! :-)