Cheap Thrills

One boring night with nothing to do, how about playing with tape that's sticky and blue?!

Two little kids full from being fed - how to pass the pass before putting them to bed?!

I love these little faces and I love the little silly moments that don't cost a cent but are still priceless!

Valentine Cookie Party

Chloe has been anxious to get to know some of the new little girls in our neighborhood better so I thought it would be fun, in honor of Valentine's Day, to invite over some of the girls she has met to decorate sugar cookies. We had a really fun time and we might have to make this a Valentine tradition.

These girls were cute as they decorated these cookies and as their attention span ended and they just decided to run around and play. Definite success! Chloe already wants to plan another party and it was so fun I'm thinking I agree. Hmm - maybe a pajama party movie "night"...

Love Him

Six Valentine's Days and still in love!

A Day In the Life of A Birthday Girl

At the end of the night this birthday was declared by Chloe to be the best she's ever had - pretty easy to choose when you've only had four and maybe remember two! Some highlights of the day:

Picking breakfast - doughnuts, bacon, and pancakes! Gotta love the bedhead look she's rockin! Presents! Presents! Presents! She has endlessly been showing me things that she wants for her "next birthday" (in fact the day after her birthday, she saw a deck of princess cards that she asked if she could have for her next birthday, 363 days from now). She was excited and anxious to get to open these. Noah didn't care that he had doughnut frosting all over, he wanted in on the action too! Love that smile!

Her not so favorite - taking a birthday picture. She kept moving and had to have the money Great Grandma Johanson gave her for her birthday in her hands at all times! This was the best I was able to get.

Chloe had preschool, a valentine party, and parent day all in one and I forgot my camera. She experienced a little stage fright meltdown but enjoyed being sung to by her classmates and the parents. From there we went to McDonald's for Happy Meal and Playland time. They are hilarious to watch there.

One of the funniest things about her birthday this year was in picking her meals - a birthday tradition - what would be your guess for a dinner choice?

Pizza? No

Chicken Nuggets? No

Hot Dogs? No

Chili and Cornbread? Yes

I thought it was hilarious that she would pick this as her dinner, but her wish was our command.

Chloe's favorite part of her day was the cake and ice cream! She loved her Ariel cake!

All in all a great day for a great little birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Chloe!

As I was doing Chloe's hair this morning for preschool I thought back four years ago to the day a little infant with puffy black hair and big brown eyes was placed in my arms for the first time. The arrival of Chloe changed my life completely. Gone were the days of sleeping in - or even sleeping through the night for that matter. Gone were the days of being guaranteed a shower first thing in the morning - or makeup being applied during the day even at all. Gone were the days of caring mostly only about the welfare of myself - Joe excluding. With this arrival came a new part of my life and one that has made me more frustrated, tired, emotional, and HAPPY then I have ever been. I am grateful for the birth of my sweet little Chloe and for the joy she has brought to our lives! She keeps us on our toes and we love it!

In honor of her fourth birthday, I thought I would list some of the things that make Chloe so great:

* One of Chloe's favorite things to do right now is sing. Not to any song anyone knows - she loves to make up her own, and she expects you to know exactly the song she is singing.

* Chloe LOVES friends. She would play with friends all day everyday if her mom had the energy for it. Which makes it very lucky that...

* Chloe loves Noah SO much. She is such a good big sister. I love that every morning when they get up they say hi to each other and give each other a hug. Whenever we go some place Chloe always has her arm protectively around Noah's shoulder. They are great little friends!

* Chloe is smart and is thriving in preschool. She is nice to all of her classmates and loves learning

* Chloe has a growing testimony already. After a recent FHE where we talked about being made in our Heavenly Father's image, she went up to a little boy and said "Do you know you look like Jesus?!" She loves to bear her testimony (when no one can hear) and never lets us forget to say prayers.

There are so many more wonderful things I could say about this sweet little girl, but the thing that says it all is that she loves life, she loves her family and we LOVE her!

Happy 4th Birthday Chloe Hannah McBride!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I have found quite a few good recipes on several friend blogs so I thought I would share one of my own. This is one of our favorites, it's very easy, and I created it all on my own!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients:

2 14oz cans of chicken broth (you can also do one 32oz container)
2 chicken breasts boiled and shredded
1 large onion diced*
1/2 jalapeno diced* (if you don't want it a little hot, skip this ingredient or don't add the seeds)
1 bunch cilantro chopped*
3 garlic cloves (or equivilent canned)
1/2 tsp chile powder
2 tsp olive oil
1 can corn kernels (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes (do NOT drain)
2-3 limes
Optional:
1 avocado
1/2 shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream
* I prefer to use my food processor for these items but using a knife works fine too.

Directions:

In a medium or large sauce pan or pot, heat olive oil. Add diced onion, jalapeno, garlic, and chile powder to pot and cook over med-high heat for about five minutes or until vegetables are softened.

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Add chicken broth, shredded chicken, cilantro, corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, and the juice of your limes to the mixture. Stir and cook on low until warmed through and ready to serve.

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Serve with sliced avocado, cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, or whatever else sounds good to you.

I hope anyone that tries it likes it too!

Our Month

We have not had a whole lot going on in our home lately - which I think is a good thing - it means life might be settling down just a little bit from the move. For preservation sake, here are some of the things we have been up to in the down time:

Chloe went on another field trip, this time to the library, and Noah once again got to come along for the ride and participate

With cold weather keeping us mostly indoors, the playdough has made been a favorite activity...for them. Playdough is one of my least favorite things to clean up after.

Chloe and Noah have been on a huge kick of wanting to play pretend with daddy.

Here's Noah, a batman, tool toting "good guy"...

Chloe, the ninja, fairy "good girl"......and daddy, the pink whip wielding "bad guy" ...and here they are as they do battle! Joe is so good to play with them as often as he does, even when he is exhausted he always tries to make time to run around with these two! I love that their "weapons" are some of Joe's ties and some pretend whips Joe made Chloe when she became obsessed with becoming a muskateer like Barbie!

We have also been able to go visit old neighbors and friends more often lately. I love this picture of Chloe resting on Cadence's arm watching him color.

Our favorite highlight of the past few weeks was to get to go to Camden's baptism! As the oldest grandson it was fun to see him make the choice to be baptized and to watch all the other kids so excited and interested in it all. I am so proud of Camden. He is such a great oldest cousin for Chloe and Noah to have as an example. There is never a time when we get together that Camden isn't playing with and taking care of Noah, and I know Noah LOVES it! We were also blessed to have my Grandma and Grandpa Johanson fly out for the baptism and to be able to visit with them. What a special weekend!