Switcheroo

Last weekend my cousin Shannon and I did a switch with a couple kids.  I took baby Lexie for a few hours...

and Shannon took Aaron and her boys to the Buck to see the Monster trucks.

Outtakes

I saw this sign and wanted Claudia to pose by it.  Her "follow the rules" inclination was fighting me, she's all, "MOM, we are NOT allowed to be here!!".  I convinced her it would be ok.

I am not sure what Morgan is doing in the picture.  Or how she got in it.  This screams their personalities.

A cuter moment

I love this next one.  We were taking these pictures close to where the baseball stadium is and while we were shooting we could hear the man singing the national anthem.  Let's just say he didn't have the best voice.  Morgan started to sing along in a mocking voice.  Here is Claudia scolding her, that she should not disrespect the national anthem.  Again, cracks me up...so their personalities.

Morgan was dumbfounded when she realized that she could tear down this building that Claudia was laying beside!

10. Belated.

My sweet Claudia turned 10 back on the 1st.  Things have been so crazy with her party, school, and all the other birthdays, we haven't had a chance to take any photos until last night.  It felt like fall, so it was good that the outfits that she picked were on the cooler side!
There is so much to love about my firstborn.  Claudia's personality is sweet and cheerful.  She is a very genuinely grateful child.  Even if I fry her an egg or make mac and cheese from a box, she thanks me for the wonderfully delicious meal.  Claudia is also an extremely good helper.  We have meetings or company here often and she is really like my "second hand man."  She sees what needs to be done and just does it.  Get extra chairs, set the table, light candles, etc.  Claudia also is quite humble, she's easy to correct and quickly apologies if she gets angry or is disrespectful.  
Claudia still loves to dance, she's taking a new ballet class this year.  It will be a bit more intense for her and we are excited to see her grow there.  She also loves to plan.  She always has an idea for something, making all kinds of lists with her ideas.  I keep saying I think she will make a good wedding planner some day!    Claudia loves fashion.  She loves picking out outfits, dressing Greta, or digging through the next seasons clothing to see what she can anticipate wearing.  She got some money at her party and really wanted to buy a pair of "jeggings".  She wore them in these pics.  So cute.

Claudia's gift from us was getting her ears pierced.  She got it done just a couple hours before I took these.  So grown up.
We are so blessed to have Claudia in our family.  I can hardly believe that my chubby little girl is now 10 years old.  Where did that decade go??  We love you, girl!!

Friends

Last night we had our dear friends, Twiet and Jolynn, over.  They are in the process of adopting their second son and it was so fun to meet him and see their growing family.  Their oldest is Greta's age and their baby is just 6 weeks old.  I took a few pics of the boys.  I'm bummed I didn't get one of their cute parents!!

Baseball

The evening of Claudia's birthday we headed downtown to the baseball stadium.  Our kids love going to the Barnstormers games.

You would think that we never feed this kid.

Kids Say

Today we were at the grocery store over lunch and they were having lots of free samples.  Walking by one table I exclaimed, "Ooh, crab cakes!"  Aaron asked if he could have one.  A bit surprised by his culinary savviness, I gave him one.  About a minute later, his little hand is giving me the sample back and he says, "Where's the icing?"