Some mud!

Today, the little one and I decided to go for a walk around the block. It's quite commical to see us. She carries her purse and her waterbottle and I struggle with the dog. The Block takes us about 15 minutes. Today, we were picking up rocks and sticks and noticing lots of mud. There is this one road that has no sidewalk and Miss Independent doesn't like to hold my hand so I have to usually force her in the grass so the dog and I are not in the road. Well, today the grass was muddy so I told her to walk higher up on the lawn with the mud seperating the two of us and I was on the edge of the road and grass. This plan worked fine until she spotted the big trucks up ahead and started to gleeful run towards them. She got down to the road and walked pretty close to me and the mud. In between her enthusiasm for reaching the trucks, she took moments to look at the mud. She'd say, "mommy, whaas that?" I would say, "it's mud". We'd walk some more. Then she'd say, "mommy, whaas that?" I'd say, "it's mud". We'd continue walking. Then she said, "mommy, whaas that?" Ah...the persistance of a 2 years old, I turned to say, "it's mu...? This time she had completly stepped in it. Her entire shoe went from pretty pink to barfy brown in seconds. At this point we were about 10 feet in front of the 3 city workers taking a smoke break standing in front of the big trucks. I told Chloe to keep walking with the mud. But seriously, folks, it was like 2 inches high off her shoe. It kind of resembled a little mud pom-pom on her toe and it extended back to her pants and socks. Well, of course, she wasn't about to go one more step so I knelt down and calmy wiped the mud of her shoe and onto the road. It wasn't until this time that I noticed that the mud on the side of the road was very brown and the "mud" on her shoe was not so dark brown. I was halfway through the cleaning, with the laughs of the workers behind me, when the thought occured to me that this mud may just be something other than mud. We were standing up wind so I didn't get a whiff of anything strange but that doesn't mean anything because my smellers aren't what they used to be. I just kept wiping till little Chloe Blue was satisfied and then we went on our way. i got to the next block before I dared sniff sniff my little finger and much to my relief...it was just some mud!

In the warm California sun...

Here are some pictures of our Disneyland trip. The whole Chambers family went to California for the whole week. We had warm sun, 3 great days at Disneyland, a day at the beach, and many wonderful memories. Lots and lots of pictures below, just so you know before you commit:)
Chloe's first ride. Dumbo.
Frozen banana on Balboa island. The place claimed to be the original frozen banana shop.

The Balboa Ferry.

Strolling along on Balboa island. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Here is the whole Chambers family except for Robert and Courtney. How lucky we were to all be able to go vacation together. Good thing the colleges had similar spring breaks. We missed Robert and Courtney for the last part of the week because they had to get back on Tuesday.

Grandma Nancy with her grand daughters. Madeline, Chloe, and Isabelle. Chloe immediatly idolized Maddy and couldn't get enough of "Ee-za-belle". So fun to have girl cousins.

3 girls in front of the cars. Leah, Mel, and Holli. Love these girls.

The girls were so happy together and just happy period. Chloe woke up at 615 daily and we went to the park and stayed till 830-9 and got to bed by 10 and then started over again. They were all such troopers.

Our little Chloe loved the teacups. This ride is one of my first memories of Disneyland when I was a kid, so we had to do it with her.

We struck it lucky when Chloe and I wandered into Mickey's playhouse and found Mickey at the end. Darn it, I just deleted the cute mini mouse picture. We dressed Chloe in her Minnie shirt and she loved when she saw the Minnie in person. She hugged her and smiled and squealed.

Look at Chloe's happy face. She loved the whole Disney experience.

This is Chloe's uncle Robert. He adores her and she adores him.

California Screamer. That is the best roller-coaster. This is a true action shot of Brad and some of his family.

We were there on St. Patrick's Day. Here we are sporting some green.

Days at the beach. Like dad like daughter.

Chloe loved the ocean. She wasn't a bit afraid as she ran in the cold water and let the waves splash her little legs. She's an adventure girl that's for sure.

Gotta do the family picture at the beach.Brad is never afraid of the cold water.

Thanks Steve and Nancy for an unforgettable trip. We had the greatest time.

She had a birthday, shout horray!

Chloe turned 2 today! What a fun day we had spoiling her and making her feel like our special little girl. Here is a play by play of the day for those of you who couldn't be with us.
8:15 am We had to wake Chloe (yep, she usually rises much earlier than that but she must've realized today was gonna be a special day so she should get extra sleep) We sang Happy Birthday and then told her we had presents for her. Oh, she was very into these presents.
Here she is getting right to it.

Here she is opening Thomas the train. She really loves trains.Here she is discovering her Mickey spinning light toy. We respect you Disneyland.This is her new birthday outfit. Gotta love spring green. For breakfast she got choclate milk and her fav oatmeal. For lunch she got pizza. And for dinner I made her favorite potatoes and ham and pea casserole. Then we went to the park for about 10 minutes and did some high underdogs and fast swining. Apparantly too fast because right when we drove in the driveway she threw up all over. It was sure a delight to clean it up super fast before we had some of her friends over for cake. So below she is in her jammies.
6:30 pm. Getting ready to make a wish. Actually, she's getting ready to make a wish in this picture. Dad had to help her get the candles out.

We had M and M cookies. I will post our fun Disney pictures tomorrow.

And...this last couple of weeks she's discovered everyone's favorite Shrek. So, I made this Shrek cake. The cutest thing about this cake is how impressed my Brad was with it. He really couldn't stop raving about the cake and that made me happy. I think Chloe liked it, too.

Here she is during the day just chillin' with her legs crossed while she ate an enormous Micky cookie.

She's started to love strawberries and she's back to really wanting a straw to drink out of. She likes string cheese and raizzies and grapes. She talks a ton. When she threw up she cried and cried and said, "my shirt ruined". She's discovered she can said "yeah" instead of "no" to things. She loves "book" and "cuddle you" time. She has started to manipulate the bed time routine in full force. oh, I could just keep going on and on about our little super star. I'm sure all you moms feel that way. A special love to my mom on this day.

We love you Chloe Blue.

So, I had a birthday...

So, it appears as though I had a birthday last week. It was the perfect day. Thanks to all who remembered little mel in Mizz-ur-a. Brad spoiled me rotten and so did my mom and my mother in law. I am a lucky girl. B-rad made me a birthday dinner and even made this terrific red velvet cake (picture below) What a great guy.

Here I am blowing 29 candles out, are you serious?

Just an update on the Chloe blue. She is sassy as ever, She loves to talk on her cell phone to her friends and her friends moms (my friends) which is cute. She and the dog are true siblings, getting on each other's nerves and then friends again in seconds. Actually, I just decided I will do a mom complete update on Chloe in a couple of weeks cuz it's her 2 year old b-day. As for the Chambers family. We are doing great and we will be doing greater after next week when Brad is done with 6th quarter medschool and we are in Disneyland with the Chambers clan. Love to you all.

"You've been where?"

Last night i was watching Cars (the movie) and a part of the movie prompted this next post.
There is a part at the end when the cars are racing at a big event-like oh say, the Daytona 500.
When I was 19 my family went to Florida and we went to the Dayton 500 race track. It was pretty incredible. The track is actually pretty vertical. There are parts of the track that are as tall as a 40 story building ( if i remember right). The cars drive so fast so they keep upright on the steep angles. Pretty incredible to see and pretty fun to recall that experience.
So, here's my top 10 list of very very random places I've been-places that make me or others say "you've been where?" Leave a comment telling me where you've been that's pretty random-or where you'd like to go that's pretty random-or if you've been to one of my random places. Fun starts HERE!
1. Dayton 500 race track
2. The Jelly Belly Factory in California
3. The beach and town where Goonies was filmed. Yes, I've seen the rock that fits into the Dubloon that Mikey finds.
4. followed the Pony Express trail and first saw nudity (from a distance) skinny dippers in the mud pools somewhere along the trail.
5. Toured Prince Edward Island, CANADA where Anne of Green Gables was set. "Ruby sand, Emerald grasses, and azure skies."
6. White water rafted in the Andes Mountains with mists and snow falling all around.
7. Laughlin, Nevada. It's pretty much a lamer version of Las Vegas with the age range about 70-90.
8. The Price is Right game show.
9.Took the train (yes! the train!) from San Diego to Tijuana Mexico. For some reason we thought this would save us time and money.
10. The Shoshone, Idaho community fair where I was a participant in the main event-Pig wrestling.

Dear February

Dear February,
I hate to tell you this, but when you arrive that means Christmas was a month ago and we have to wait 10 more for the merriment of the season to begin again. You bring with you bitter cold temps and dark, shortened days. I like how you try to redeem yourself with a "holiday" right in the middle of your short 28 days. I do like Valentine's and I thank you for your attempt at being a happy month. The big celebration of the month comes on the 24th. I gain another year, but I also know that March is around the corner and the lion or the lamb of spring will present itself.
I need to let you know that I am more creative because of you. We paint with water, we stand on the couch and look out the window and hope for "daddy to come home". Sometimes we bundle up with coats and slippers and blanket and hats and mittens and throw the ball for Starsky (just a few times till we get too cold), we drink "chalky-milk". Chloe gets hers cold while I heat mine up and add marshmallows. We sing to Barney, gallop, swim like a turtle, jump "high", spin, build towers, read, sing, and turn all our little space heaters on. After a week of you, February, we start to get used to the indoors and the made-up fun.
That's when you surprise us February. I woke up yesterday to the sun shining through Chloe's window. I stood on the front porch and felt your warm teasing wind. I drove in the car and I know I don't need to tell you this, but the temperature gauge said 45 at 8:30am and then 59 later on. Today it was 71. I went running this morning and was able to push Chloe and take the dog. I wore shorts, February. I don't know if you realize this, but shorts and white legs aren't supposed to happen till April. But I want to thank you. We've made several trips to the park and walked to the store.
February, just one more thing, you better write back and tell me what I'm supposed to tell my almost 2 year old toddler, tomorrow, why the weather has turned bitter cold and why we can't go outside and why we have to wear our coat and hat again and why our noses freeze and our breath turns white.

Just a little Eucalyptus, some blingy-hearts, and one loveable baby girl.

A gorgeous day for a "backback" ride and delicious BLT sandwiches and fresh blueberry smoothies.

Enjoy your February. We love it both cold and warm.

End of January...and some pictures.

I can't believe January is almost over. Sometimes I don't blog, well most of the time I don't blog because I feel like I need pictures to go with what I write. So here you'll get some pics and some ramblings. Here we are at the fire station. Chloe loves all things big. She loves trucks and trains, especially. When we first got in by the trucks she just stood there and squeeled and jumped up and down like she does when she is so excited.

This is Chloe with her best friend Taegan. She pretty much worships Taegan. They play pretty well together and then fight for a second and then are friends again. It's been really fun to have such good friends while we've been living in K-ville.

Chloe is super independent these days. She talks alot and puts a lot of sentences together. "sit by you." (she'll pat the seat next to her)"I yuv eww." (this isn't said to us, but rather she sings it to herself and the rest of the Barney song when she is in her bed along with twinkle twinkle and the abc song.)"Boogers my nose". "I want potty." (we bought her a potty about 3 months ago and periodically she gets really into sitting on it, but mostly its just there next to the big toilet for the time when she's really ready!!) She says, "I wanna jump."Yes, we let our child jump on the couch. How do you discipline your child but still let them be a child and have fun? and how to do you be stern but still understanding? Oh, these are the questions I ask in my head daily and I think I'm figuring it out slowly. it's just such a wonder to watch her explore and learn new things. Last week she fell off a chair and hit her head on a table at the library. she split her head open. First site of blood for me on my child. we got through it with a trip to the doc and a popsicle.

Today we had a snow day. It took her a while to realize she could actually get these snowpants wet as opposed to her regular pants. She actually let me put gloves on her, too, because she is starting to get that warm gloves equals warm hands. Look at that face!

She really got into when I showed her how to eat the snow.

we tried to build a snow man, but this is no Utah snow. We pretty much just stomped our feet in the snow and built a pile. The dog had fun, too. Brad saw this picture and said, 'oh no, she's learned the cheesy smile'. Such a cute phase kids go through.

we're trying to teach her to be a "polite child". She does pretty well with please and thank you and hopefully that will last through her 2's. She is starting to get real sassy and feisty. She is starting to kind of fold her arms during prayers and she'll actually say amen when it's done.

...and some cocoa. I am slowly turning her into her mama's girl.
On Sunday, Brad's bro Steve came for a quick visit. (and we had a great time having him here)That was the start of my feeling like I was at deaths door. I got so sick saturday night and am still feeling the lesser effects of it now. After a doc visit, blood draws, ultrasound (not that happy fuzzy feeling kind of ultrasound you're thinking of), a CT scan, and an iv, I am pleased to say that there is nothing seriously wrong with me. As my sister said, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and am on my way to willing myself to a full recovery. It was pretty scary there for a second, but I learned to not read the internet and to let people help you. This is the first time I have been truly sick and still have the responsibilities of being a mother. I have the nicest and dearest friends here in Kville who would do anything for us- and did.Thanks to you all. You know who you are.And way to go Brad for stepping it up and "neglecting" his studies to be Mr. Mom for the week. I'm the happiest girl in the world!