HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG

You are cute. I love you!
Love, Nicolle
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Clara's Funny Book

Some funny/cute things Clara has said, lately:

(Dressing Sarah Jane up like a princess)

(singing) Rudolph the red-nose Reindeer, had a really (very) shiny nose.

(singing) I love to see the Temple, I'm going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to play (pray).

"Wow, look what we do'd" (did).

She loves to announce herself whenever she arrives at a playgroup...
"Hey everybody, I'M HERE!"

Clara loves to climb on my lap when I am holding Sarah-Jane and say "look at all of these girls!"

Clara started to say "NO" to me one day. I looked at her like... "excuse me?!? You aren't supposed to talk to me like that" and she quickly recovered "(NO)-VEMBER'S ALL DONE. IT'S CHRISTMASTIME." She is quick on her feet, that girl.

Clara loves being in Sunbeams at church. She wants to participate in everything and for every turn to be her turn. Since I play the piano in Primary, I get to overhear lots of cute comments. Last week, the teacher was encouraging them take turns saying a little testimony. They would find a piece of paper that said "I know" and then were supposed to finish it with something like, "Jesus lives." When it was Clara's turn, she stood up confidently and said, "I know... my Mommy."

Clara is really into princesses and pretty dresses. I got dressed for a choir concert at Christmastime and when Clara first saw me she gasped (a huge gasp) and said, "Wow, Mommy you wearing a pretty dress?!?" She was very curious about my pantyhose (since I never wear them, otherwise, she didn't know what they were). The next night, I told her I was going to get dressed for my concert and she said, "Oh, you gonna wear your panty's? (she meant pantyhose)."

She has been trying to squirm out of her carseat, sometimes, lately. The other day I had to pull over to put her back in and I told her I was going to tighten the straps really tight so she couldn't squirm out. The rest of the way home she screamed and cried, "Mommy don't tie me up(tighten me up)!!!" Not so funny at the time, but looking back it is funny.

Her grandma gave her some birthday money. We went to Target and she picked out a toy and gave the money to the cashier. The cashier gave her some change and she said, "Oh, you give me some new monies?!?"

Mom: Clara, please go potty before we leave the house
Clara: But, Mom, I went potty two years ago
Mom: We go potty several times a day
Clara: But I already went potty seven times!

Mom: Do you like your teacher?
Clara: Yes, she is so nice to meet you! (So nice to me)

Love is in the Air

and on our car...

(Greg left this surprise on my car this morning)

and in our treats...

and at Clara's preschool party...



Clara got to sit in the "warm fuzzy chair" while her friends told her why they love her...
Addie likes her Curly hair
Shaelyn likes her special hugs
and Caroline likes her silly songs.

Here is Clara's preschool class with their beloved "Miss Shelley"

Snow in NC

Greg (from Rochester, NY) and I (from Nashville, TN) have very different backgrounds when it comes to winter weather. I really learned a lot about snow on our recent trip to NY- like, for instance, what a snow plow is. Really- I saw a snow blower and said, "Wow, that person owns their own snowplow?" It was one of many times Greg had a good laugh at my expense.

Now it is my turn... it snowed 7 inches at our home this week! Here is a sample of what happens when a Yankee marries someone from the South:

Greg: I think I'll go out and shovel the driveway.
Nicolle: What? How?- We don't own a snow shovel.
Greg: I'll just use the garden shovel.
Nicolle: Why do you want to shovel the driveway?
Greg: So it will be easy to get the car out when I go to work.
Nicolle: Are you going to shovel the whole way to work, because they only (maybe)plow the main roads...
Greg: Oh, good point
Nicolle: We don't shovel snow in the South... we just wait a couple of days for it to melt

Here is what we have been up to while we've been trapped at home.

Finally taking down our Christmas Card photos (sad).

Teething

BFF's playing together

And, of course, lots of sledding, building snowmen, and playing in the snow

And finally baking a successful batch of cinnamon rolls. (I have been trying for years, but could never get them to come out right). Thanks, Jennie, for the dough recipe, and thanks to Greg's Mom for teaching me the thread trick.