My new "bling-bling"

I forgot to post this sooner...Chloe had some dental work done last week. She had quite a few cavities that required silver caps, so she had to have dental surgery. She was so cute about the whole ordeal. She was all smiles at 6:30 a.m. after traveling to Santa Fe, Thursday morning. She is sitting on the bed waiting for the nurses to come in and prep her for surgery. She did really well coming out of anesthesia also. What a trooper Chloe! We sure love your new "bling-bling" teeth! :)

I also have to tell a really cute story about Chloe. We went to visit her daddy in Santa Fe on Father's Day (while he was doing the art show.) We parked in the Cathedral parking lot and as we were walking past the Huge Catholic Church, we saw a monk walking by in his long brown robe with white rope tied around it. I hear Chloe say, "Hey Carter" and I turn around to see and hear what she is going to say. She continues with eyes raised, a big smile, and pointing in the monks direction, "Looks like a Star Wars Guy, huh!?!" I thought I would die laughing. I would have never made the connection between the two. :) Carter seemed impressed!

Happy Father's Day

We all want to wish you a Happy Father's Day!

You are a great husband and father and we all love you very much!

Thanks for being who you are!

"Challenge New Mexico Art Festival"

Matt and I spent the weekend in Santa Fe where Matt was displaying his artwork at the "Challenge New Mexico" Art Festival in Santa Fe, NM. It was a really great experience for us and we definately learned a lot.
He got so many compliments on his work that really helped boost his confidence. I am so pleased with all of his hard work...he has had so many long hours in getting everything ready for the show. He has one more and possibly two more shows this summer in Santa Fe. We keep praying that the right people come by to see his work, and he is able to get his name out there for art investors. A little thought comes to mind..."slow and steady wins the race." That is a saying that keeps coming to mind lately in our lives. We keep pushing forward, no matter how hard and whatever obstacles come into our path.

The following art pieces are ones that we had to say goodbye to. Of course they were the two that he finished just in time for the festival and both his and my favorites. They went into good hands though...our new friend Amy Kyle, who creates beautiful works of art herself. We were neighbors in the festival.

The name of this piece is "Yellow Field" and it is my favorite. Matt promised that he would paint me another one only bigger. :)

The name of this piece is "Green Field" and it is Matt's favorite.

They are both very minimalistic and absolutely beautiful.

Chloe "Blooming Flower"

Ok, so I have posted something about each of the other kids, so I figured I need to post something about my sweet Chloe also.

She loves to give me flowers.

We have a lovely unfinished backyard and certain times of the year, the weeds grow beautiful flowers. It is because of my neglect to get the weeds pulled before they bloom...but Chloe always finds the beauty in these little flowers. She will look out the window and notice that there are new flowers growing and she will have to run outside to pick some to put in a glass of water.

This cute picture of her was taken at the Zoo when we recently went with Carter's Kindergarten Class on a Field Trip. They are such pretty pink flowers and they match her shirt perfectly. She loves to pose in the midst of the flowers with a pure and innocent smile.

I love her so much and when I think of how much she loves flowers, I remember why we named her Chloe. The meaning behind her name Chloe is "blooming" and she fits her name perfectly. She is blooming into a beautiful girl, just like the flowers she likes to pick so often for me. She is just precious to me.

Mason's Favorite Things

So, since Mason is our busiest child at the moment...I thought I would share a few of his FAVORITE THINGS to do (or get into!) :) Whenever I realize that it is quiet in the house, I call everyone to "check the bathroom" because it is probably where we will find Mason. He loves the toilet...sad, but true. It is always a surprise what part of his body is in the water. This picture shows him sitting on it, but notice his shirt is not dry... I couldn't find the picture where we found him standing inside the bowl...with both feet submerged in the water, oh and I must mention that was on a different occasion. Sometimes it is the top of his head, sometimes, it is his hands and sometimes it is even a wad of wet toilet paper in his mouth...I know, too much information! I try to keep the toilets cleaned as often as possible, because you just never know what he might find!

Mason loves to wear shoes...all sizes, colors and shapes. He doesn't have a preference between Daddy's work boots and Chloe's "Fancy Nancy" shoes. He usually gets them on the right feet also. What a silly boy...looks like those boots are made for walkin'. :)

Here he is, caught in the action. This time, at least it is the sink! He is standing on the toilet and dipping his head in the running faucet...

Oops, got some running down into his eyes! :)


Caught wearing Carter's underwear...but not sure how to put them on correctly. You mean both legs don't fit in the same hole?

He is quite a little fish too...he lays down in the water with everything but his face submerged in the water.

Caught in the bathtub...yes...fully clothed!

This time, he had a partner in crime...they are...I'm not exactly sure what they thought they were doing, but they seem to be happy! :) Notice Mason's big puffy shiner on his eye...he got that from standing on the kitchen table chair and falling on the ground...another favorite of his!

Ok, this is one of my favorites of his favorites. He loves to open the fridge and sit on the little ledge. He thinks it was designed as a special little seat, just for him...because it is his size and all... Notice, what he is sitting beside. Another one of his favorites, MILK. A few weeks ago, I came into the kitchen to find milk on the floor and him sitting on the family room carpet with his cup of milk in his hand. He had gotten himself a cup, opened the fridge, pulled out the milk, unscrewed the cap, poured milk into the cup, screwed the cap back on the milk, put it back in the shelf in the fridge, closed the fridge, and found a special place to relax and enjoy his cup of ice cold milk. He was so proud of his accomplishment. :)

Someday, I will be able to explain to him how I "strongly" dislike milk and why I was upset about the spilt milk on the floor...and then we will all be able to laugh about it together! :)

Mason has the cutest smile...and no matter what he gets into...his cute, smiling face can usually get him out of trouble. He learned that from his Uncle Travis! :)

Josie is Crawling!

Wow, Josie has been crawling in place for several days now, but she finally started going somewhere today! :) Yeah Josie! Now, the real fun begins for her because she can get to all the things she wants to get to...or into. So, the fun begins for mom also! :) She is absolutely adorable...and we all have a hard time keeping our lips off her cute cheeks!

I can't believe she will be 7 months on June 5th...where does the time go? It seems she was just born and now she is already crawling and making lots of cute noises. I tease the kids all the time by telling them they have to stop growing up! Carter and Chloe just laugh at me and tell me they can't help it, because they are supposed to grow up so they can be mommies and daddies. Gotta love the precious moments of children.

Carter Graduated Kindergarten!!!

Well, I am a little late posting this exciting news about Carter! On May 19th Carter officially graduated from Kindergarten! It was the cutest little ceremony ever! They started out singing a couple really cute songs. The first one was "Who let the A out." The song goes through the whole alphabet. The next one was the "Skip Count" song and Carter informed me that he was the "drummer." There are other kids doing fun moves like skipping the records and playing the guitar. It was fun. Here is part of what we got recorded. You can see Carter in the back row with the white shirt and tie.

Carter is entering the classroom to the graduation march song. So cute!

Carter is sitting in his designated chair so straight and tall. :) I think he is so proud to have us there watching him.

I am so pleased with how well Carter has performed in school. He is a great student and he has really loved learning to read and write. He is a great kid if I do say so myself! :)

This is Carter with both his teachers. They were so great!
Carter and his teacher Ms. CoxCarter and Ms. Vivian the teacher's assistant.Carter with a proud Daddy and Chloe
Carter with Mommy and Chloe again. Chloe is Carter's little shadow...she loves him so much and can't wait to be able to go to Kindergarten!