Cookies and Family

Laura, Matt, and Belton came to visit us, and we had some fun!

 Just look at this happy little guy!

Laura, Claire, and I made and decorated some cookies, too. We celebrated fall by making apple and football cookies. 

I'm glad they came! And the cookies were great, in case you were wondering! :-)

Cousin Time

While we were in Houston within the past few weeks, Claire enjoyed some quality cousin time. I'm so glad she likes playing with these guys! 

Kyle was loving the spotlight of being photographed; he looked at the camera (and made faces) the entire time. That's quite different from how he is sometimes!!!

Dressing up with cousins?!!! Sounds like one of Claire's favorite activities!

More Fun

Here are some random pictures of Claire having fun during the past few months.

Cooking up a storm!

All these babies are having a picnic.

This activity had a very easy set up, it kept Claire occupied for a good while, and she really enjoyed it because it was something she's never done before!

Dressing Up, Again

Do you remember that I said that Claire likes to dress up? Here's another example of how she put a dress on herself (backwards) during her quiet time.

But the even better part is that she also dressed up her stuffed animal dogs. I love it!

Iron Chef: College Station - Basil

We had another Iron Chef, and the secret ingredient was basil. I LOVE basil! We had lots and lots of yummy dishes!

Chef Marcie - Basil Chicken with Coconut Curry & Jasmine Rice
Chef Laurie - Panzanella
Chef Julia - Caprese Kabobs

Chef Breanne - Tomato Basil Soup
Chef Holly - Caprese Bites
Chef Nicole - Margherita Pizza
Chef Rachel - Parmesan Basil Dip

Chef Jennifer - Chicken with a Basil Cream Sauce and Margherita Pizza

Here's the crowd, minus the kids who were playing

And the winners are...
Iron Chef Jennifer - Taste (That chicken with the basil cream sauce was excellent!!!!)
Iron Chef Laurie and Iron Chef Rachel tied for Creativity
Iron Chef Julia - Presentation

I had lots of fun and am looking forward to the next one, too!

Claire's First Day of Preschool

Claire started preschool last week. She is so excited! Here she is her first day.

She's showing off her new backpack.

And she was just waiting for her classroom door to open.

She's had a great time so far, and I'm so glad!

Class: I Can Be Helpful

Claire is a good helper. Wait, that's an understatement. She is an incredible helper! Last night she helped me with dinner - from prepping ingredients to cleaning up afterwards. She really loves to help.

We had some classes on being helpful about a month ago. Here are some pictures of our fun!

We talked about how washing germs away, (like the cinnamon on her hands), is helpful.

Also, the pepper she put in this container was scared away by the soap. - Being clean is good!

Then she practiced cleaning up.

And after that, she had the idea to get her own toys, dump them out, and clean them up!

Finally, just this morning, without any mention of making the bed from me, she decided to make our bed. I love it!