Family Photo Session

Our great friend Shannon is starting a family photo business and we were very excited to jump on list for day 1!  She was so great at getting our kids personalities to come to the front!  Thank you Shannon!

Claire's 4th Birthday!

I love celebrating my kids’ birthdays.  It’s fun and special to me.  It’s a time when I pause to be extra grateful for the person God made them to be.  I am beyond grateful that God gave me the privilege and responsibility to be their mom, and that He gave me an incredible husband to be their father.  Here are some things that I want to remember about our sweet and silly Claire Bear as she turns 4 tomorrow…

When Claire grows up she wants to be:

• A Wild Kratt’s member (this is a PBS cartoon where the Kratt brothers explore nature and “turn in to” different animals in order to learn about their “creature powers”)
• A rock climber—and not one that climbs on those “fake” walls… a “real” one on REAL rocks
• A person who goes into the forest to fight bears
• An artist
• King of the World. When she's named King of the World, she will give everyone food and everyone will have a Mommy and Daddy.

Claire currently has 3 backpacks packed and ready to go.  She worked very hard on these and knows EXACTLY what is in each one.  They are for:

• Fighting a monster or bear (includes rope, flashlight, weapon, stick, blanket)
• Going on a hike (includes binoculars, flashlight, mirror, chapstick, water, snack, make-up)
• Going “out” (includes her Bible, 4 other books, crayons, things to do, sunglasses, jewels)

Claire’s favorite things:

• Snuggles, hugs, kisses
• Being with Grandma
• Being a true preschooler and learning—she is a wonderful little student (and loves pretending to be the “teacher” at times too)
• Doing art (her art is eclectic/mixed media, and involves a lot of glue, glitter, googly eyes, pom poms, and stamps)
• Playing with her Bubby--she loves him to no end.
• Playing in her room with Mommy
• Wrestling in her undies with Daddy
• Eating candy, ice cream (current favorite- mint chip), or popsicles
• Creatures and things that crawl- she is drawn to them (unfortunately for Mommy).  She chooses to go to the pet store for our “Momma dates”.  She LOVES it when we get to be the hamster sitter for Liv’s hamster, named Panda.
• Watching Trolls or Moana
• Going to her Sunday School class at Church in the Valley
• Dancing to her favorite songs in our house (current favorites, “This is My Fight Song”, “Can’t Stop The Feeling”)
• Being silly and crazy with her family
• Hiking and riding her scooter
• Being a helper in the kitchen

Claire’s favorite places:

• Texas- she is asking to go almost daily (she misses her TX family)
• The Big House (aka Dada and Momum’s beautiful home in Carmel)
• Chuck E. Cheese- where she wants to do everything independently, thank you very much!
• Disneyland to meet the princesses and ride the one roller coaster she’s big enough for in Toon Town!
• The park with friends
• Grandma and Grandpa’s house- always
• Going to Uncle Pablo’s and Aunt Sammi’s or Auntie Lolo’s homes to swim and play
• Ellie’s house, Liv’s house, Emer’s house, Cindy’s house
• Chick-fil-A or the local ice cream shop here in Glendora
• The pet shop—a girl can dream ☺

At Bedtime she currently likes to:

• Pray (her prayers are precious and genuine and she prays for the people she loves)
• Practice her Bible verse (currently Genesis 1:1)
• Read the book of HER choosing (or she reads it to me)
• Do shadow puppets (it’s always the same “play”- we are each an animal, we meet each other, she asks me to be her friend, she asks me to go to the pond and jump in to play together)
• Send dozens of emojis via text to someone (usually Daddy)
• Make up a story (Daddy is really good at this)
• Watch a funny video on Daddy’s phone
• Get a back tickle/scratch
• Turn off all the lights and run around in the dark with Logan like two crazy people

Claire is funny, like really funny.  She makes me laugh out loud every day.  She is opinionated, strong-willed, and strong.  She is joyful and enjoys her life.  She is loving and cares about people. She is sensitive.  She loves her friends.  She wants to help strangers.  She is tiny, mighty, and fierce.  I love that she is brave and willing to try new things.  She is beautiful and very girly at times.  She asks for forgiveness and forgives easily.  I love her to pieces.

A prayer for Claire:

“God we thank you for the gift of our daughter.  We are incredibly grateful for her life and the way you created her.  She loves you and that fills us with joy.  We trust you with her future God and ask that you give her a long and full life here on earth.  May she grow to know you personally and choose to follow you wholeheartedly all the days of her life.  Please give her the courage to do what’s right in a culture that does not follow you.  Please help us to teach her how to use her strengths and talents for your purposes in her life.  Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice on her behalf so that she may know what true love and sacrifice looks like.  Amen.”

Happy First Day of School!

March and April - 2 Eventful Months!

Some of Logan's friends celebrating his birthday.  He had a slumber party--such a big boy!

Watching donuts being made the morning after his party.

A coworker gave us awesome Clippers/Rockets tickets.  We had a blast!

During Logan's birthday week, we had an awesome visit from Mimi and Granddaddy!  Thank you for coming out to CA!  

Beautiful weather led to a lot of outdoor time

Dada and Momum got Logan a gymnastics mat for his birthday, which doubles as a wrestling mat.

Beautiful drive up to Lake Arrowhead

Grandma and Lyndsey took Logan and Claire to a farm to pick their own veggies/fruit.  They got sugar snap peas, lettuce, carrots, celery and strawberries.

The Huntington--one of our favorite places

Happy Easter!

Fun boating day the kids gave me for my birthday

Claire found a cushy spot just her size

Logan at a public speaking class

He has done so well at it.  He had to describe this picture he drew.  We are proud of him.

Claire has become extremely artistic lately, with different projects every day.  On this day she wanted to make faces sandwiches.

Logan and Claire each got a Mommy date by themselves at Disneyland

Thank you Aunt Leslie for the beautiful Easter dress!

Claire and her best friend Ellie

Logan was selective with his egg hunt color.

Snuggly siblings

Logan came with me on "Take your kid to work day".  We had so much fun.

He went to a drawing class and a sculpting class.

Hasbro animation is next door and Logan wanted to take this picture all day.

The kids have been collecting stickers at night when they are great helpers getting ready for bed.  10 stickers got us an ice cream party.

It only took 11 nights :)

Today was Claire's first dance recital.  Our beautiful girl danced 2 routines--one ballet and one tap.

Logan and I bought her flowers.

Claire with her teacher

At every dance recital, there is always that one kid.  You might find that Claire is that one.  Part following the routine, part waving, and part dancing to the beat of her own drum.