Blame it on Facebook

We're back after another long absence. We'd like to take a minute to blame Facebook for the long stretches of time without posts. It's just too easy to upload photos and share them with our Facebook friends. No worrying about spacing, uploading photos one at a time and hoping they are in the right order, trying to come up with clever text...Mark Zuckerberg just made it easier to share photos :) I realized that when Claire looks back on this blog when she is older, she is probably going to become justifiably angry that there is not nearly as much "blogumentation" of her early years as there was for Charlotte. In an effort to avoid even more sibling rivalry issues than we are certain to encounter in the future, I decided to suck it up and start blogging again. Don't worry, Facebook. I won't abandon you. The addiction runs too deep... :)

So, what have we been up to? After a long winter, we are welcoming spring with open arms. Unfortunately those arms are still usually covered with long sleeves, but we are hoping for warmer weather soon. Charlotte's kindergarten class is in full spring mode - they have welcomed a new class pet. Nibbles has only been in the class for two weeks, but Charlotte has spoken enough about him that you would think she's been around all year. Charlotte likes to talk. About everything. Currently, most of her nonstop chatter is about Nibbles.

Nibbles likes to eat little green pellets. Nibbles poops a lot. Nibbles gets scared easily. Nibbles is soft. I love Nibbles. I wish we could keep Nibbles. Do you think Trixie and Emmet would like Nibbles? I wanted to name her Rosie, but the class voted to name her Nibbles. Nibbles' poop is little. Nibbles' doesn't poop jelly beans like E.B. does in "Hop." Nibbles is SOOO cute!!!! Nibbles, Nibbles, Nibbles... Charlotte's class also had several eggs that hatched into chicks last week. Mrs. Ditzler invited us to come in and see the chicks (and Nibbles, of course). Claire loved visiting the room and stared at the chicks for a good five minutes.

Mommy, CHEEEEEEKS!!! Sis Sis, CHEEEEEEEEKS! Hi, CHEEEEEEEEEKS!

Charlotte very proudly showed Claire around the classroom and took her to see Nibbles. She made sure to go over all the rules with Claire. Charlotte is a rule-teller. She loves to tell you the rules. Maybe someday she'll follow all the rules herself :)

Claire, this is Nibbles. Claire, be gentle. Claire, don't scare Nibbles. Claire, Nibbles is a broken rabbit. Claire, Nibbles is a girl. Claire, be gentle. Gentle, Claire. Gentle!!

Spring has brought lots of new excitement to Charlotte's kindergarten class. Now that the weather is getting warmer, Charlotte's social schedule is getting even busier. Tomorrow she is having a lunch playdate with her BFF, Anna. It will be a quiet lunch tomorrow for Claire and me. Well, quieter than usual anyway...Miss Claire is doing her best to win the title of Chattiest Aston lately :)

Alright, Facebook. You might be a huge time suck and an obssession, but Blogger is going to do her best to avoid a complete take-over...Only time will tell!

We're Back!!

Sorry for the delay! We've had a busy holiday season (and some camera issues!), but it looks like the blog is back! We know you've all been sitting around, waiting patiently for an update...And now you are all smiles because we've returned!





Claire and I started off the holiday season by helping to decorate the tree. You might think that decorating a tree with an almost-2 yr old would be difficult, but it wasn't. It was a piece of cake! Claire only broke one ornament ;)



Here are the special ornaments that Nana bought for us this year. Claire got a Claire Bear and I got Tiana!






To officially kick off the season, we went to downtown Lancaster to see the tree lighting. While we waited, we enjoyed some sweet treats and some music at Central Market.

Next it was time for Santa to arrive!! A firetruck brought him to Penn Square, and then a ladder lifted him up to the top of the convention center.

Hi, Santa!! (this was the closest that I got to him all season. He's not so scary from this distance!)

Doesn't Penn Square look beautiful?

What a way to kick off the holiday season!

We will have more posts soon about our holiday - we are having trouble downloading pictures onto our computer. Hopefully Daddy can fix it soon!

We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!

Trick or Treat!

The pink cat and the little lady bug, ready for their first night of Trick or Treat!

The little lady bug looked a little confused at first - she wasn't sure why she was wearing a big black hood and carrying a pumpkin bucket. The pink cat and the little lady bug joined two silly cows at Nana's work to be cute and get lots of candy.

After scoring a large amount of chocolate, there is nothing better to wash the chocolate down with than your first ever juice box.

The little lady bug and the little cow, taking a break from the festivities.

Two nights later, it was time to join the neighbors for another fun night of begging for candy.

The babies had a sweet ride!

Claire is ready for some candy!

Can we please stop taking photos and do some Trick or Treating??

Hmmm. Which house was handing out beer?

It's Official!

The photo is in - I am officially a kindergartener now!

Pumpkin Chunkin

Once again we ventured to the Oregon Dairy for some good ol' Lancaster County autumn fun. This was the first time that Claire could pick out her own pumpkin.

First rule of pumpkin pickin' - try to pick a pumpkin smaller than you!

This one was more her size :)

Second rule of pumpkin pickin' - lift with your legs, not your back

Third rule of pumpkin pickin' - quickly try to find Daddy so he can carry your pumpkin :)

Once you have chosen the perfect pumpkin, sit on a hay bale for the required photo for Mommy (try not to fall off of the bale)

Proceed to the crowd gathered around the crazy guy with the pumpkin chucker.

Hand the crazy pumpkin guy a huge pumpkin, pull the lever and watch your pumpkin soar through the air!

After watching everyone try to hit the wagon half a mile away with their pumpkin, it's time to play with some corn!

Playing with corn is almost as fun as eating it!!!

Time to make the pumpkins look pretty!

Ta da!! Another great Family Fun Harvest Day at the Oregon Dairy!

Pumpkin Cookin'

To help welcome the Halloween season, Drew and Reed came over to bake Halloween brownies. We each got to pick our own shape, and surprisingly we didn't argue about it! Drew chose the pumpkin and I chose the cat. After a few leg amputations of the poor kitty brownies, it was time to decorate!

Our hard work paid off!

They looked almost too good to eat. Almost - they were Halloweenicious!

Good enough for the cover of Martha Stewart Living?! :)

Who Needs a Bus?

DPS

These days, it seems as though everyone has a GPS to figure out where to go. On a recent trip to the Oregon Dairy Corn Maze, I brought along something better - DPS (Daddy Positioning System)This corn maze was shaped like a huge cow. We received a detailed map to find ten flags located throughout the maze. We had to shade the number for the flag on our paper to prove that we had been to each one (the prize for finding all ten - free chocolate milk!!)

Daddy only had to look at the map once and knew immediately how to find his way around, but he was very patient with me. He stopped at each flag to help me figure out where we were going next.

Claire wasn't concerned at all - she knew that Daddy wouldn't let us get lost :)

Even though we had Daddy with us, Mommy always kept the maze manager in sight. He was there to help anybody who got lost!

Whenever I was unsure about which way to go, Daddy always showed me where we were on the map. Who needs a GPS?! I have a DPS!

Mommy did try to help me once. Just once.

We made it to all ten flags and found the exit!! Bring on the chocolate milk!!

When we were finished, I couldn't resist riding one of the karts at the hay track. I think I made Daddy proud!!