Linda Started School!

Linda had her first day of preschool today!! She's an Eagle View Eagle! Her classroom is 5 doors down from Bruce's.

We walked Linda to school this morning. The 3 amigos are no more. It was a quiet afternoon with just me and my blondes. :) Jane really missed Linda. They are good friends.

Linda and her teacher, Miss Denise.

My little girl has grown up so fast! :( She loved every second of school today. She will be going 5 days a week.
Some things she did at school today:
ATE LUNCH,READ BOOKS,
WAS THE LINE LEADER,
WRITING CENTER,PLAY AREA,
DECORATED CUPCAKES FOR THE JANITORS

(apparently it is Custodian Appreciation week),
SNACK,
SANG SONGS, PLAYED INSTRUMENTS
In notes about her day her teacher said:

"Great First Day!"

our mini vacation - hotel in New Jersey

We started our mini vacation on Friday. We drove to New Jersey and got a hotel there. The kids LOVE staying at hotels. The 1st pic is all the kids under the covers. The 2nd is a little "how to" on how to fit 3kids in a full size hotel bed. Bruce is holding up his newly lost tooth. He was excited to leave it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Linda is convinced that Bruce's tooth is now in heaven, the Tooth Fairy took it there. :)
On Saturday morning we headed to...

New York City!!

(above) Me and the kids at Battery Park

(below) Robert, Bruce, Linda and Jane downtown New York City
Empire State Building

Bruce and Jane on Liberty Island (is was very WINDY!!)

Bruce. Linda, and Jane on the ferry heading over to Liberty Island

Robert and I went on our honeymoon to New York City 7 1/2yrs. ago. We finally made it back, this time with 4 kids! :) We spent Saturday there and had a good time. I love the energy in NYC. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones walking the streets of New York with a double stroller. :)

*Click on the pictures if you want to see them larger.*

The Big Change...what we know so far

(Oceanside Pier)

This week Robert got verbal approval for a transfer with the SBA to the Santa Ana, California(Orange County) office. This is Big news for us and means that we may be making another move across the country. We have not been given a exact time frame so we'll keep you posted as we learn more details. We're guessing it will be early next year.

Right now the plan is for us to move to Oceanside, California(near San Diego) and Robert would take the Coaster train to commute in. His commute will be 30min. shorter each way than it is here in DC. I was living in Oceanside when Robert and I met and Robert and I lived in Oceanside when we were first married. Bruce was born there. We love it and we love the beach. We will live close to most of both of our families which will be really nice.

It will be sad to leave behind our life here in Virginia and all of our wonderful friends and our good ward. Overall, we are so happy and know this is where the Lord would have our family live.

Claire Bear

Claire's favorite pastime, climbing! During this post I've gotten her off of my kitchen chairs 3 times! Her big fall a while back did not deter her. She is non-stop.
I was helping Jane get her undies on and Claire sees me and runs over in front of me and lifts her leg up for me to put them on her. She was sooo proud to be wearing big kid underwear. :) This gives me hope for easy potty training in the not too distant future.

She really is such a happy girl...

but she does have her sad moments.

Other Claire Facts:

Claire says: Dada, Mama, Linda, Bruce, Uh-uh(while shaking her head no), Ya!, Ni-night, Pampa(grandpa), RaMa(grandma), juice, all done...and tries many others.

She is very cuddly with all of us.

She is just shy of 15months.

Pumpkin Cobbler Recipe - Award Winning ;)

1 - 1q. Can Pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups sugar

4 eggs
1 - Yellow Cake Mix
1 cube of margarine (real butter makes it soggy, I made that mistake this last time.)

Mix pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, evaporated milk, sugar, and eggs. Pour in to a 9X13 baking pan. Pour dry cake mix evenly over the top of the batter. Cut margarine in to small squares and place all over the top of the cake mix.

Bake 350 for 50-60 min

I prefer to eat it after it's cooled down. Don't worry if there is some dry cake mix on top. It's yummy! I keep the leftovers in the refrigerator. It's really good cold too. Mmm, I'm making this for Thanksgiving. You're all invited!!