I Love My Lilly!

Trunk - R - Treat

Our church had Trunk -R- Treat for Halloween night. Both the girls were ladybugs - so cute!
Caroline was a little overwhelmed by all the people and some scary costumes.

Grammy and her ladybugs

Caro had about 5 suckers over the course of the day!

Her Sunday school teacher was the first and only to get a big smile the whole night!

Lilly slept the whole time

Halloween Cookies

Caroline loves to help make cookies. What a mess we made! We still have some of the sprkinkles on our kitchen floor I think! And she put all the little pumpkin decorations on one cookie! She shared her cookies with Daddy. Lilly was hoping to get some but "she no have teeth" as her sister told her!

October 14, 2007

We went to the Botanical Gardens to find some good spots for a bridal photo shoot that afternoon. I love this picture of me and Lilly! It's my favorite! We cleverly used Photoshop to get rid of a man in the background. Can't even tell can you?! It's so hard to get Caroline to smile for the camera anymore!

The Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch

The playgroup went to the Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound last Friday. Really, it's just a big photo-opp so the mom's can get some pictures of their kids with lots of pumpkins! Aunt Shannon and cousin Hunter took the hour long road trip with us. Lilly was fussy on the way up there and Hunter was fussy on the way back. It was so crowded when we got there and a bit hard to get good pictures but I think Caroline had a good time with the bounce house slide and her friend Sydney. Caroline got to do the hayride with Mommy and share a snow cone before we left. Sydney's mommy took her and Caroline on a long wagon ride around the pumpkin patch.

A Halloween Shirt from Other Grammy

Caroline has two Grammys. A Grammy (in Texas) and another Grammy (in Oklahoma). And today, Oklahoma Grammy sent Halloween outfits for both of the girls. Caroline was so excited when she saw the package as I took it out of the mailbox. I said "Oh, Grammy sent you something" and she said "Ohhhh, yeah! Other grammy! I wanna go see her at her house!" And I knew she meant to go see Oklahoma Grammy! Caroline wanted to put on the bright orange shirt immediately even though she had on pink striped pants. And she even put the shirt on by herself without any help at all! It actually kind of matched the rest of the ensemble though since she had on her purple sparkle glasses and her pink sparkle flip flops. The shirt from Grammy has lots of pink and purple glitter on it! That girl is so hard to get to smile for the camera anymore. She's sick of it, I guess since I've constantly got the camera in my hands trying to get her to pose. Usually, if anything, she gives me that fake cheesy grin. Finally, I had to bribe her with the swing. I said I'd swing her if she'd give one last big smile and show me her shirt so I could send the picture to Grammy. She agreed. It was nice and pleasant outside this afternoon, in the 70s, which is a welcome change, letting us know that fall is on the way.

The Benbrook Heritage Festival

Saturday, October 6, 2007
Grammy and I took Caroline & Lilly to the Benbrook Heritage Festival at Dutch Branch Park. They had longhorns, a buffalo and horses, bounce houses (which she would not get in because they were wet), lots of food stands and other vendors. Caroline played some of the little games to win candy and a kazoo and some glow in the dark bracelets. They had facepainting at the booth for Westpark Elementary (Grammy's school) and I thought it would be fun for her to get that done. But she wanted me to go first. So, in the end, I went home with a ladybug on my cheek and she went home with nothing! She was a little bit too shy to let a stranger paint on her face! Caro looked so cute in her pink "cow boots". I love them! After dark we watched the fireworks. We were so close to them that we could feel the cardboard pieces falling and hitting us before they hit the ground - a little scary! And to top it off Blake and Shannon bought some kettle corn so Caroline got to eat some of that while she watched the fireworks.

I have a new nephew!

His name is Hunter Allen and he is sooo cute. He was a bit fussy when we tried to have another photo session yesterday but we managed to get a few cute pics. And look at my sister - she is an amazing mom. I knew she would be but it's really neat just to see it happen - my little sister is a mother. And I think her boy is going to fit in nicely with the other two cutest grandkids ever! He's brought a lot of blue into our very pink lives! I like to brag that I got to be in the room when little Hunter entered this world. I think it's just because I'm a photographer but that's ok. I got to take the first pictures of this little guy and that's pretty special! My little Buckaroo he is.

The Clonts Family

We're just a simple family of 4. Wow! Four, already! A mom, a dad and two adorable little girls. We don't have a family photo of all four of us because we never seem to find the time or take the time to get one done. We take lots of pictures though. We're amateur professional photographers - Jeff and I. It's fun, finding something that you love doing together - a hobby that both of us love. We didn't find this out until about 5 years into our now 7 1/2 year marriage! So, we have Caroline (she calls herself Caro) who is almost three and Lillian (we call her Lilly) who is 4 months old. Caroline is a fireball. In every way. She has this red hair that popped up out of nowhere. I mean, if we go to Walmart, I'm asked by no less than 4 old people where she gets her red hair. They look at me with my dark brown hair and can't figure it out. We can't either. We both have some aunts and cousins and other relatives with red or reddish hair but not our parents or even grandparents. Anyway, her personality is just as fiery as her hair. It's got to be HER way all the time. She is very particular about things. And she is so hilarious now that she is talking in complete, long sentences. Everything she says ends in "ok?". "You don't have to tell me no. I'm Caro. I'm a big girl, ok?" But with her passionate personality comes a very loving side that is so sweet. She absolutely loves her little sister and tends to her like a little momma. I love to see her hold Lilly's hand in the backseat of the car. She just reaches her hand into Lilly's carseat and holds her hand, no matter what she's doing otherwise - looking out the window, drinking her water, whining about not getting her way, whatever! And then there's sweet little Lilly. What did we ever do without her?! She has got to be the best baby, EVER! I'm not just saying that. Lots of people have told me that she really is the best baby. She's so laid back and agreeable with anything (except being held by Boompaw - sorry Boompaw!) She self-entertains and does not require much extra special attention. She has really fit nicely into the family since someone else already demands all of the attention! Now, if I could be guaranteed to have another baby as good as Lilly, I'd have another, and maybe another! But since there are no guarantees in life, maybe I should just stop while I'm ahead. I forgot to tell you about my sweetie husband, Jeff. He was made perfectly just for me. His nickname is Clonts which makes me the Clontstress. And the nickname just kind of stuck. Jeff is my handy around the house, computer-smart, always patient with me, optimistic, laid back schnookums! Not much to say about me...I'm a mommy and that about covers my days. I work part-time as a pediatric nurse which allows me to be almost a full-time mommy! And if I ever have time, I like photography, scrapbooking and napping! That about covers the high points of our family. There you have it, the Clontstress has spoken!