The great pumpkin carve is complete.  

The anticipation was killing Brooks.  We've had the pumpkins sitting on the front porch for almost a week.

  When the time arrived to get down to business, the pumpkin guts and smell proved to be too much for both kids.  

Chloe asked for the smell to go away.

Brooks refused to reach his hand into his pumpkin because it was gross.

At least we got some cute pictures.

Happy Fall!  

1.)  Chloe loves her new car.  She likes to ride with no hands and is really good at sharing it with her brother.  Brooks on the pink 4-wheeler is an awesome sight.

 2.)  Brooks has really good soccer games and really bad soccer games.  It just depends how tired he is. This picture is from one of his best games, where he was having a blast and seemed much older than 5.

 3.)  Brooks got glasses.  His left eye is almost blind according to the first eye doctor we visited.  We are not so sure about that diagnosis.  We are going for a second opinion very soon since Brooks can't see out of his glasses.

 4.)  I love my husband more now than I ever have.  It feels so good to be in love.

 5.)  Brooks is edible when he sleeps.  He plays hard and sleeps hard, that's for sure.

 6.)  Chloe is 3.  Chloe is not anywhere near being potty trained.  We've given it very little effort.  Now that Brooks is in school, that's our next project.  It will either be very easy or very hard depending on Chloe's mood.

 7.)  Chloe and Brooks spent hours playing in this pool.  It's huge.

 8.)  "Hey, Mom! Try to get me wet!"

 9.)  Greg turned 40 last week.  We took THE BEST MOUNTAIN BIKING TRIP EVER to Copper Harbor, Michigan.  We had so much fun riding  bikes for many hours, napping, eating dinner in peace, having conversations and reading by the fire in our cabin.

Life doesn't get much better than this.

Brooks is half-way through his first day of Kindergarten.  I wonder what he's doing.  We are missing him like crazy.  

When we pulled in the driveway after dropping him off Chloe said, "I no wanna go home, Mama.  I wanna go get Brooks."  Poor kid.  She is missing him.

I'm glad we decided to skip preschool this year for Chloe.  It's going to be so good to have bonding time with her.

Brooks dressed himself this morning and was eager to get to school.  Once at school, he was mortified that we had the camera with us.  He is so shy and so sweet.  We tried to sneak some shots when he wasn't looking.

Right before I left, I whispered in his ear and asked him how he was feeling. He looked at me and whispered back, "nervous".  I didn't know that he even knew what "nervous" felt like.  

Today was a big day.  

I can't wait until 3:00 to wrap my arms around him and give him a kiss. 

Brooks starts Kindergarten tomorrow.  

He's ready and excited.  

We were very ready for Brooks to go to school earlier this summer, but both of us feel less ready tonight as the reality of Brooks being at school more than at home for the next 12 years sinks in.

I've been praying specifically for Brooks many many times today.  

My biggest prayer is that he will be protected.  He's all boy, large in stature, yet so tender and shy.  

My prayer is that he will feel safe and be kept from the emotional hurts that are so real once kids start school.  

Ugh, this is harder than I ever imagined.  

We will miss him around here.  It will be quiet and calm without him.  A new normal is about to begin and it will eventually feel right.  

The first step is going to be convincing Chloe of that. She's going to miss her brother terribly.

Chloe had a sweet little birthday party to celebrate her turning three.  The theme was strawberries.  Someone asked me if Chloe liked strawberries.  She does, but the theme was inspired by the super cute Target strawberry picnic garb that was on display in early June.  The colors were fresh and bright and we planned to serve picnic food, so it was a win-win.

Chloe had a hard time at her party.  She is SO shy and SO stubborn.  Both traits that she got from her Mama.  Chloe hid in her room for the first part of the party, hid her head in my lap for the second part of the party and needed her daddy holding her for the last part of the party.  When it came time to blow out candles on the cake, she needed both her mommy and daddy to help.  And when it came time to open presents, she had her mommy open them for her.  

She ended up giving hugs and being friendly towards the end of the party.  It just took time...like almost the whole party.  I was feeling so bad (actually I was dying) that she wasn't on her "best", but was reminded by my sweet sister Steph that everyone at the party (all family) loved her and weren't bothered by her shenanigans.  

My mom reminded me that I was the same way.  She refreshed my memory about one of my birthday parties (when I was MUCH older than 3) that I had to excuse myself, while crying, because the attention was too much for me to handle.

It seems Chloe got my personality traits, her daddy's blue eyes and a spunk all her own.

It's interesting to compare Brooks' third birthday party pictures to Chloe's third birthday party pictures. I don't think I need to explain further.

 

We had an unexpected family get together in the middle of July with the entire Johnson family.  Although the circumstance for the visit wasn't one that we expected or wished for, it was nice to see the family and have all of us together.  

The kids had a blast together and stayed up until almost midnight being silly.  

Chloe is three.  Chloe is three.  Chloe is three.

And ANYone who said three would be easier than two is lying.

The word easy wouldn't be a great descriptor of our three year old.  But we wouldn't want easy if it meant exchanging Chloe for anyone else.  

Chloe completes our family.  Things just wouldn't be right without her.  

Things would be much quieter, but not right.

We thank the Lord for our beautiful and amazing Chloe-Belle.

Some of Chloe's favorites at age 3 (and 3 days):

--The number 8.  "Hey Chloe, what's your dolls name?"  "8"

"Hey Chloe, how old are you?"  "8"

"Hey Chloe, what do you want for dinner?"  "8"

--Riding her bike with no pedals.  And she's good.  Really good.  And is scares everyone (except us) half to death most of the time.

--Dora the Explorer and Calliou.  Her two favorite shows which also happen to be the top two most annoying shows to watch over and over and over again.

--Coloring.  Chloe is a thinker and is meticulous in her coloring.  

--Playing sports.  Naturally, she wants to be just like her brother.  She's got quite a kick and loves to play catch with anyone who will agree to play with her.

--Baby doll.  Chloe has one specific baby doll that she loves the most.  She "parents" her, takes care of her, packs a diaper bag for her and sleeps with her every night.

--Swimming.  She's just recently become a fan of the swimming pool.

--Suckers.  Preferably purple suckers.

--The color purple. She picks everything purple when purple is an option, likes purple clothing best and recently told us, "It's purple.  I like purple."  (Really?  Who knew?)

--Anything that makes her the same as "Jo-Jo" her cousin.  Her hair "like Jo-Jo", an outfit like "Jo-Jo", food "like Jo-Jo", going to bed "like Jo-Jo".  

--Getting rubs on her back, her tummy, her arms and her legs.  She's our little kitten.

--Dairy.  String cheese.  Yogurt.  Laughing Cow. Milk. Ice Cream.

--Fruit.  But NO veggies...ever. 

--Going to the bathroom in her diaper!  (Although she did tell me when she was "8" she'd start using the toilet.)

--Bracelets.  Hair-ties.  Brushes.  Lipstick.  Chapstick.  Purses.  Cell Phones.  Necklaces.  Earrings.  Make up.  Perfume.  Hairspray.  

--"Go-D" clothing.  This means anything that a UMD Bulldog athlete would wear ("Go UMD").  Running shorts and a tank top, soccer shorts and a jersey, mesh shorts and a basketball shirt.  Chloe tells us that dresses "aren't pretty" and refuses (really, she's three and she refuses) to wear any of the dresses or "girly" outfits that fill her closet.

God gave us Chloe and created her just how He wanted her to be.  For that, we are thankful. 

We love you, Belle.  

Happy Birthday.

We've mostly been practicing basketball, soccer, t-ball, swimming, and fishing this summer. 

Although, we have done some practice writing.  If you call writing one thank you note to Grandma practice.  

Brooks starts all day every day kindergarten in one month.  Gulp.  He's ready.  And now that it's creeping up so quickly, I'm not sure I am.

I could have predicted that Brooks would be an athlete.  

I don't ever want him to feel like he has to be an athlete (as long as he loves Jesus, I don't really care what he ends up liking), but so far he's enthralled with sports, sporting events and sport stars.

Brooks loves basketball, t-ball, swimming, biking, soccer and Michael Jordan.

He's over his love of hockey.  We are good with that.  Being a hockey mom never did sound very fun.

Today Brooks was asked if he was going to be in 2nd grade.  He has a bit of an advantage on the size side of things.  He's not clumsy though.  Just tall, strong and coordinated.

It's fun to watch Brooks turn into a little man.  

Being a mom to a son is such a blessing.

Happy 4th of July!

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Fourth of July 2009

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Fourth of July 2011

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Fourth of July 2012

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