Joy

Even though it was extremely difficult to understand the priest last night, I did walk away with two very important lessons.

1. We are called to be humble and simple.
2. In order to experience JOY, we need to remember what the letters stand for.
J= Jesus, always comes first.
O= Others, we must think of others.
Y= Think of yourself LAST

Merry Christmas!

Living in Grace's World

1. Grace is love with the nativity that sits underneath the tree. The other day, we overheard Grace talking to baby Jesus. "Baby Jesus, this is your mommy. Listen to your mommy."

2. A picture of Mary was in the church bulletin. Matt's mom told Grace that was Jesus' mommy. Grace studied the picture and finally said, "Jesus Mommy doesn't have shoes. Grandma, she needs shoes. We need to get her some." Matt's mom asked Grace is she had any money. Grace's response, "At home, but Grandma do you have any now? She needs some shoes."

3. The ornaments need to be rearranged daily.

4. Taking a bath at 2 in the afternoon and spending the rest of the day in pajamas.

5. Pink, pink, pink, pink.

6. Singing to random strangers in stores. So if a toddler comes up to you and starts singing Jingle Bells....well, it just might be Grace.

7. Princesses....man, oh, man...the princessess

8. Reading her Christmas books before bed....all of them...and sadly she knows when I try to hide some.

9. Playing powders...also known as playdough.

10. Running and running and running like a crazy girl.

Moving with a Toddler

Moving with a toddler = nonexistant progress

It all started with a box of books. Grace helped me pack a shelf of her books into a box. It went relatively easy until I tried to tape it shut. She told me not to give away her books. We decided not to touch her stuff until the last possible moment.

Then Matt decided to pack up the stuff under the kitchen sink. She's not even allowed under the kitchen sink, but as soon as she saw the box, she started screaming and hyperventilating and crying uncontrollably. We decided we wouldn't pack when she is in the house.

The boxes are piled everywhere. In fact, one box has become her personal car, but she still finds things that are "missing". Take the clock on the wall. Matt packed it one day when we were out of the house. Grace came in and repeatedly asked where the clock was. It got to the point where we had to unpack the clock and put it back on the wall.

This packing stuff is not all it's cracked up to be.

One more week. I wonder if Grace will let us pack. We're down to the wire now.

30 Days of Gratitude

Well, the calendar now says November, and Grace and I made three crafty turkeys today, but the seasons have not changed in my house.

Grace is still wearing her Halloween costume. She's worn it just about every day since the beginning of October, and we're still counting. Her handprint spiders and painted pumpkins still decorate the fireplace. And the candy. Oh, the candy. And Grace has a wicked sweet tooth. It's so bad that she'll have meltdowns over not being allowed to eat candy for breakfast or lunch or dinner.

I think Snow White will remain with us long past Thanksgiving. Well, at least until that costume is nothing but threads, so in the meantime, I'm trying to get our household less focused on Halloween and more so on Thanksgiving.

We started with making leaves of gratitude. I originally was going to make a tree, but then I found a turkey on Pinterest, and now we are in the throws of packing our house up because we finally sold it, so who knows where these daily gratitude leaves will end up. All I know is that daily Grace and I (and Matt if he is home) write down what we are thankful for on that day. Grace was first thankful for leaves. I'm hoping this trend brings me out of my stressful funk.

Last week, I read this during my daily reading:

Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here's what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you're worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listenning and responding well to what he's asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.

Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless - that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Wow! Right?

I read that last week. I tried to be mindful this week to focus on the positive. Let me tell you the negative won quite a few times, but I'm not giving up. I'm going to remember the blessings in my life.

1 - Listening to Grace sing "Jesus, loves me"
2 - Getting moments to snuggle and rock Grace again just like when she was a newbie.
3 - Hot apple cider
4 - Signing a contract to SELL THIS HOUSE
5 - sleeping in just a little bit longer on a Saturday because my wonderful husband got up when a certain little person started yelling Mama, Mama.
6 - Grace (Every.Single. Thing about her)...even the constant why? why? why?
7 - Being a parent. This is one of the greatest gifts.
8 - Bars behind the vents in my car, so when my child tries to use it like a cash register, the coins don't actually go all the way in the heating and ac vents.
9 - Knowing that my patience is restored each and every day.
10 - Dora Band-aids for $2 at Big Lots. We go through a lot of band-aids. (Grace uses them as accessories. Lots and lots of accessories.)

Azra

Far too many days are spent reading despressing, heartbreaking, and negative stories in the newspaper or on the news. Tonight, for once, a story brought tears to my eyes.

A two-week old newborn was pulled from the rubble created by that earthquake in Turkey. Her mother was pulled out alive next. And her grandmother was pulled out alive as well. Wow! Three generations...alive!

Please pray her father is next.

Life, Celebrated Daily

Today while driving back Sam's Club (note...always check the checkbook first to make sure there are actual checks in it.), I saw Life, Celebrated Daily on a license plate cover. And I stopped. Well, not literally because traffic is already chaotic down here without me stopping at a busy intersection. I stopped because I was and have been in one of those ruts in which I feel like I'm complaining and/or whining about something all the time. When in reality I should be celebrating life. So without further ado....

Today, I'm celebrating...
1. My family - I so grateful for Matt and Grace. Our home wouldn't be complete without them.
2. Daily Gracisms - A day does not go by without a saying from Grace that just leaves me laughing out loud. This child always brings my stress levels down each day. We never know if her rantings will be about the giant pink egg also known as a cement truck, or her desire for a pink school bus, or pumpkin candies.
3. Grace calling me "Mama Lady." It just puts a smile on my face.
4. Patience. Patience. Patience. When I feel like I have absolutely nothing left, I find some more.
5. Pinterest - Grace and I have found some fantastic craft ideas here.
6. Fall Sports - Who would have thought I'd have the Tigers and Lions and Michigan all on winning streaks?
7. KLove - I love that radio station.
8. that my 2-year old sometimes still needs me to fall alseep with her at night. Now if only I could get her to cuddle with me.

And We're Back

I can't believe my last post was in July! JULY! July was also the last time I uploaded pictures off my camera. Again, I keep asking myself why did I let it go so long? Well, here is a quick fly by on what we've been doing since then.

1. Grace and I made a trek to the U.P. For the first time, she actually acknowledged without tears my dad. She ran right up to him and jumped on his lap. I think he also won her heart when he took her for a spin on the riding lawnmower. Grace and Landon were inseparable yet again. The two of them together just crack me up.

2. School is back in session. I KNOW this is where all my time has gone. There are a lot of changes for me this year (new curriculum, new lesson plan format, new schedule, new class, new everything). I'm still trying to find my groove. I don't like it when I feel all out of sorts. And to top it all off, piles have already formed. I usually don't get massive piles until November. How many days until a teacher workday?

3. Football season is in full swing. Grace LOVES the entire atmosphere of high school football. She packs a bag with a snack, her pompoms, and her football. What girl doesn't carry a football? She loves her "football boys" as she calls them. She loves looking for Daddy. She loves the cheerleaders. This fact does not go unnoticed by Matt. Her babysitter has made her the cutest little Hawk cheerleader outfit to match the girls, plus replica hairbows. She now refuses to wear other hairbows. On Friday night, she told me she needed white cheerleader shoes, so we had to dig out her almost too small shoes so she could have her white shoes just like the cheerleaders. She also loves the band. I think love isn't a strong enough word. As soon as she spots any sign of the band or music she gets all excited and says, "Oh, my goodness. My band is playing my music." (special emphasis is on my)

4. We also have been on the hunt for a specific giant pink egg. One morning, we saw a cement truck painted pink for breast cancer awareness. Grace instantly coined it the giant pink egg. She asked for this egg repeatedly for days. A co-worker spotted it last week in a subdivision, so Grace finally got her pink egg again. (Note: Grace says it is a really big chicken inside. This chicken is brown, and will eventually lay more pink eggs.)

5. We've been crafting and reading and making trips to the library and playing Purplicious and playing Pumpkins aka Starfall and watching Dora and cooking and having tea parties and playing dress up and watching Cinderella and going to the park and many more.

Thankful for the Yoop

1. It was 65 degrees here yesterday. Man, oh, man I will take that over 105 heat index any day.
2. Grace is in love with my mom and dad. She used to be afraid of papa, but not any more. Not.at.all.
3. And she is loving her personal playmates...Auntie Mallory, Bella, and Maddie.
4. I just ate homemade gnoochi and Becco's italian sausage. Do I really need to elaborate on how yummy this is?
5. Grace ate chicken last night. And I'm not talking about a frozen chicken nugget or McDonald's. This was bbq chicken that I cut up for her.
6. Who knew we were in a different time zone. Grace switched over like a champ.
7. And I'm sitting here laughing because I can hear my mom and Grace laughing in the bathroom and pretending to bark just to get the dogs to howl.

Who Loves Nemo?

Today we made Nemo crafts in honor of Grace's newest favorite movie "Finding Nemo." I'm sure if you have any artistic talent (none here) your fish and jellyfish will look more like the real thing, but I'm working with a 2-year-old and well, the animals were made in the spur of the moment. All you need for the jelly fish, Dori, Nemo, and Nemo's daddy is construction paper, glue, googly eyes, yarn (ribbon would work too), and scissors.

I cut out a very rough jelly fish and you'll notice that Grace decided that the bottom should be the top. She also had complete control of the googly eyes. Hence, the one large eyeball and one small eyeball per fish.

I cut out Nemo and Nemo's daddy's bodies and let Grace glue stripes and the googly eyes.

For Dori, Grace ripped up yellow construction paper and didn't waste any time with the glue.

We did start making a "big butt" (the boat for any of you non-Nemo watchers), but she had enough of the crafts and ran off before it was cut out.

Smart Summer Challenge Recap

So I haven't been the best at posting this past week. To be honest, I can't even remember every single thing we did for the Smart Summer Challenge because I didn't write it all down. Here are some of the things we have done though.

1. Firework Craft in which Grace played with glitter for the first time

2. We took Grace to the Children's Museum, and I exercised my thriftiness by using my teacher's ID to get in free and using a buy one/get one free for Matt and Grace. $10 for the three of us.





3. We hit the Botanical Gardens too.

4. Grace had her last art class. Her teacher had them make art by blowing bubbles using bubble solution with food coloring. She loved it. Thankfully, she let me put a smock on her, and her hands turned a lovely swirl color that faded by the next day. She wasn't a fan of the lacing of supplies. Instead, Grace dumped feathers, ribbons, yarn, and ribbon into the bag.

5. We also shaked our sillies out at story time at the library, and of course, Grace had to complete all the puzzles.

6. And we are reading a lot of books.

Simple Truths

• Watching a toddler create art is a lot of fun. It also requires a lot of patience. Why patience? Well, sometimes you (the adult) want that art to look a certain way, and quite frankly, your toddler has other ideas. Case in point - Yesterday, Grace received a wooden butterfly to decorate at art class. The table was full of googly eyes, yarn, rhinestones of all colors and shapes, stickers, cotton balls, puff balls, etc. I (the adult) envisioned her using the rhinestones and making a colorful butterfly. Grace (the toddler) envisioned her butterfly covered in different colored POP BOTTLE TOPS. Oh, it was sooooo hard to just sit back and let her do it. But. I. Did. And she is soooo proud of her pop bottle top butterfly.


• I can't remember the last time I watched real television. I can however recite episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Barney's Night Before Christmas, and Barney's Halloween.


• It is summer vacation for me, and I have slept in ONCE. In fact, I'm getting up earlier now than I did when I had to get up for work.


• Watching all (well, almost all) the grandkids of Tom and Melanie Davis jump in the pool yesterday IN THE RAIN made me realize that we all would enjoy life more if we looked at it through the eyes of CHILDREN!


• And in two different books yesterday, I read about happiness. In one, happiness is being satisfied and being grateful for what you have, for the love you receive, and for what God has given you. In the other, the best way to live is to take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life.


• When Grace was born, I vowed to never let her watch Barney. I remember when my sister was little. She watched it all.the.time. And that song...I could never get it out of my head. Well, let's just say Barney is a staple in this house. And right now as I type this post, Grace is on the floor covered in her nap (aka blanket) singing Deck the Halls and O, Christmas Tree. I wouldn't change it for anything. It just makes me smile.


• Dora band-Aids fix everything...even imaginary injuries similar to the injury of Willie the Giant.

Smart Summer Challenge: Art Day

Smart Summer Challenge Recap for the past few days

1. 
   
   Sorry...I haven't uploaded pics for an in-depth post.


2. 
   
   On July 4th, at the butt crack of dawn (literally...Grace got up at 5:10 a.m.), we made firework crafts. Grace found her trusty Elmer's glue, and Mommy hunted down blue construction paper and glitter. I tried to show Grace how to make fireworks with the glue, but she was dead set on making giant blobs or designs that resembled crabs (in my opinion). Oh, well. It was the first time for glitter use. Ever. Maybe we'll use it outside next time. I'm still finding glitter. And of course, our glitter set came with stencils, so Grace had to make star fireworks, heart fireworks, and flower fireworks. Because who hasn't seen those before?


3. 
   
   Yesterday was art class. I signed up Grace for an art class through the Parks and Rec. program. Saying she loves it is an understatement. We walked into the classroom to see contact paper hung on the wall and tables and tables of just stuff for her to design with. I'm going to call it found art. What did Grace gravitate to for her art? Well, let's see...she used a lot of popsicle sticks, crinkled paper that she pulled straight, random letters, a kangaroo, a dinosaur, cotton balls, and lots and lots of pumpkins. She also received some wooden things to create. Her butterfly is now entirely covered in pop bottle tops. The frame is covered in googly eyes and a few random stickers, and the gingerbread man has two eyes, hair, and a giant googly eye in his stomach. She was so proud of her creations. She brought them home in a paper bag to show her daddy.


4. 
   
   And of course, we went to the library after to play with all their cool puzzles.
   
   

Smart Summer Challenge: Be Amazed

Yesterday, in the thick of the heat, we played in the mazes at the botanical gardens. It was fun watching Grace run through them, find a dead end, and have to back track until she found the correct path.

Smart Summer Challenge: Zoo Day

On Friday, we hit the zoo. Seriously, buying that zoo membership was the BEST investment. During the summer, we go at least once a week. In the beginning, Grace was obsessed with the cattle and lions. With the opening of the new Asian exhibit, she has been loving the tigers and orangutans. And for some reason, these giant butterflies they have hanging from the ceiling.

We talked about what the animals were doing, what sounds they make (Grace's elelphant is hilarious by the way), and their color.

And it wouldn't be a fun trip to the zoo without playing in the water at the end and finding the nearest Golden Arches for lunch.

Summer Summer Challenge: It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Since we are on a library kick this week, I decided to combine literature with art. The original idea came from A Mom With a Lesson Plan. I believe I stumbled across that blog via The Crafty Crow.

Grace and I got this book from the library on Monday. We read it numerous times. I was uber excited to follow it up with the craft, but Grace wanted none of it. "No, no, no, Mama." Looking back, I'd probably start with the craft first (I'll explain later.)


The materials are easy and for me cost nothing. You need construction paper, paint, and a dropper. Now, I didn't have a dropper until I realized I had an empty Tylenol bottle upstairs in the medicine cabinet. I started with blue construction papers because they are supposed to be clouds, but Little Miss Independent added other colors. Notice the black in the background? She also added purple, red, and orange.

Yes, that is a shot glass to hold the paint, and it worked perfectly. She simply filled the dropper (with help) and dropped paint on one side of the paper. It took her a few times to get the squeezing part down, but after a few she was on her own.

We then folded the paper over and pressed our hands over it. Actually we called it squishing. Open it up and see what you have. Like the book, we wanted to see what the clouds looked like. I asked her, "Grace, what does it look like? Snow came up a lot, and I'm not surprised because yesterday morning she woke up requesting to play in the snow and build a snow fort. But then she told me it looked like spilt milk. And that is why I would do the craft first. My daughter would never have come up with that one by herself.

Here are a few finished cloud prints. We have snow, Grace, eyeballs, heart, and three. We also had more snow pics and the spilt milk.

Another Smart Summer

Yesterday, Grace had her second art class. Together we made playdough sandwiches, lions, and elephants. She also drew a picture with pastels and sidewalk chalk. Since we were so close to the library, we headed over there for her to play with the puzzles again. We also found a big comfy couch and read a Dora the Explorer book.

My favorite thing that we did yesterday happened on the spur of the moment. In school, we call these teaching moments - times when you just stop what you planned and go with the flow. We were walking back to the car after art class when Grace noticed the light pole. She asked what it was? She made a comment about it being big. So, for the remainder of the walk, we just kept finding things (school bus, grass, leaves, trees, etc.) and she would tell me if it was big or small. Simple? Yes. But so worth it.

This is the post that should have been written yesterday. But that didn't get done. Since our schedule is pretty random, I didn't want to create a calendar of activities. Frankly, I knew I wouldn't stick to the schedule. Now I just have to decide what kind of learning activity we'll accomplish in the morning.

Yesterday...

1. We made a calendar counting the days until Grace sees Landon. It is not neat, not straight, and really not all that colorful. Grace already had control of the markers and went to town.

2. Together we scanned Pinterest for activities.

3. We went to storytime at the library and learned about different clothing around the world.

4. We played at the library for over an hour doing every puzzle under the sun. They also have this giant bucket of bean bags, one for each letter of the alphabet. There is a clear side to showcase items that start with the specific letter. We also built towers out of blocks.

5. We read more books at home.

6. She helped me cook lunch.

7. And of course, we matched up Purplicious cards.

now...what is on our plate for today?

A Typical Summer Day

It must start with a cup of coffee. Well, to be honest, it must start with a couple cups of coffee, especially since Grace has been getting up at 5:30 a.m. And Grace’s must-have-in-the-morning is Mickey Mouse.

Grace also loves to play with her farm and Little People strip mall. See the blanket in front of the tv? That is our permanent picnic blanket. See the eggs and sippy cup?

We play Princess Purplicious. A lot. It is supposed to be like Old Maid, but we simply just find matches.

“Let’s go again,” is a popular phrase from Grace.

Here is Hop Hop. The “silly bunny that eats Mommy’s flowers.”

And this would be the procession of birds that decided to grace us with their presence after one scare the beejeezus out of me when I tried to water the flowers. Apparently, my hanging basket is one of their homes.

And of course, it wouldn’t be our house if we didn’t do a craft.

Summer Continues

5: 18 a.m. wake up call. Thanks Grace. (Note: This is becoming a trend. Today it was 5:30 a.m.)

Grace is currently singing "O, Christmas Tree." I have a feeling Christmas is a year round holiday in this house. Barney Christmas is a constant and Christmas carols are the most suggested bedtime song.

I've signed us up for the Smart Summer Challenge.

Grace had her first art class yesterday. She painted three pictures using stamps, brushes, and of course her fingers. And we got the coolest eye stickers, so we made little aliens out of them with just a bucket of crayons.

I really need to start using my camera.

Finished Keeper by Andrea Gillies. I was not overly impressed. The quote on the front cover said, "One house, three generations, and a journey with Alzheimer's." I expected a story about their house, not a science book. It was a mix of both, but I was sooooo tired of reading about dead guys who they think might have had the disease or differing opinions on drugs.

Today is supposed to be a scorcher - 100 degrees I think. Guess a new craft is on the table today instead of the zoo. Maybe we'll make handprint fireworks to get ready for the 4th of July.

I'm Going to Love This

Summer that is.
Grace slept in until 6:30 a.m. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and got caught up on some blogs. I wish I could have registered for Craft Weekend with Meg at Whatever, but that isn't in the cards this time around. I welcomed the first Monday of summer break with a visit to the dentist. And I was reminded once again that I'm not the best flosser. Can you say bleeding gums? My summer reading list is growing longer by the minute. I can't wait. I'm anxiously awaiting two new books from Barnes and Noble. I loved playing Purplicious with Grace. I loved the cuddles I got. Too bad it was because she isn't feeling so hot right now. I got in 20 minutes of Turbo Jam. I need to start carrying my camera around. I want to insert pics on this blog more.

And We're Off

Today is officially the first day of summer vacation in this house. And to welcome me to it, Grace decided to get up at 5:20 a.m. And we are currently watching Barney's Twas the Night Before Christmas. But we did sign up for the summer reading program at the public library, and we did have a picnic lunch in the living room.

Happy Summer!

yawn...random thoughts

I'm tired of watching Barney Halloween. It's June.

Fettuccine with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce from The Cheesecake Factory is yummy and filling. No dinner for me; lunch was enough.

Who new trying to find straws WITHOUT the flexible bendy part would be so difficult?

Don't go to Target or Harris Teeter on a Sunday evening.

Sometimes toddlers simply refuse to wear shoes.

I hope the chocolate sauce comes out of Grace's dress.

Family Nap Time rocks. Why did it feel like I only slept for 10 minutes though even though it was about an hour and a half?

I wish Grace hadn't learned how to open DVD cases.

And I guess I now need to teach her they are not giant cookies. (I just found her sitting with the Baby Elmo DVD in her mouth.)

Okay, so maybe Barney Halloween isn't so bad after all. Grace is dancing and singing along to the autumn song. She's even doing the hand motions.

summer list

I'm officially jumping the gun on this one, but I can't wait for summer vacation. I'm itching for summer vacation. Sadly, we still have school until June 17th. Thanks to Meg at Whatever, I have a really cool family tradition. This is our second year writing out the summer list.

Weekend Roundup

1. Grace has been a hoot.
2. Barney's Christmas and Barney's Halloween have been a staple this weekend. Oh, the joys of singing Deck the Halls and Jingle Bells in May.
3. Grace and I made egg carton caterpillars yesterday. Well, one looks like a caterpillar, one looks like an inch worm, and two look like three-headed monsters.
4. I think I may need to buy stock in Nemo swim diapers.
5. Grace has already outgrown her 2T swimsuits. I need to go shopping today.
6. Matt and I enjoyed the movie and dinner with friends.
7. We enjoyed Saturday morning at the beach.
8. Grace has eaten pretty much fruit non stop.
9. I also need to buy stock in Brothers-All-Natural Fruit Crisps.
10. I've been typing my students' poetry book.
11. And starting on our summer to-do list.
12. I like sleeping in...even if it is only until 7 a.m.
13. I learned Grace doesn't forget anything.

16 Days

Who says I wasn't counting down until the last day of school?

Easter Day

"Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth; For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory." (Col. 3: 1- 4)

Nothingness

It's spring break, and my plan from the beginning was to do absolutely NOTHING. Well, let me rephrase that. We were going on vacation - Florida to be exact, but in Florida, my plan was to do NOTHING. And let me tell you, NOTHING is wonderful.

1. Grace still gets me up at the butt crack of dawn, but I'm okay with it. I've been okay with it, since we're going on two years of it. Today, we took a walk along the beach before breakfast. I thought Grace might like to collect seashells. I couldn't have been more wrong. She just threw them back in the water.

2. I love just sitting on the beach and feeling the cool breeze and the sun and playing in the sand with Grace and running to the water to fill up her bucket and so on and so on.

3. I'm going to run out of books. I've already read Unbroken and Heaven is for Real. I will finish The Strange Case of Origami Yoda tomorrow morning. I need some more books, or I might not make it.

4. I can honestly say the only full episode of tv that I have watched is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (We can thank Grace for this. I probably see more than I want of Mickey in one day.)

5. Did I mention eating lunch on the balcony or sharing a ice cream cone with Grace or listening to Grace sing me her original song or watch the excitement on her face when she realized she was swimming all by herself in her Puddle Jumper (I love that thing.) or having to go back to get Dora sunglasses because the five other ones in her purse just weren't going to cut it for her?

6. I love NOTHING. I love having no plan, no deadlines, no meetings, no anticipation of HAVING to do something.

7. I really don't want to return to reality.

Painting into Spring

Today, was the first non-meltdown day from Grace, so I decided today would be a perfect day for some painting before dinner. I saw this craft on Meet the Dubiens yesterday, and I knew it was something Grace could do.

She loved it. I used paper plates simply because the off-white/grey doodle paper I had just seemed too blah for me. And Grace modified the original plan of using thumbprints into using her pointer finger. And most of you know, there is no arguing with Grace. Can you tell which hyacinth Grace did by herself?

She made four hyacinth plate paintings and a few plain finger paint plate paintings.

And because it looked fun, I made one too.

Giving Thanks

I'm giving thanks that:

1. Grace is long over her love of the Wiggles.
2. I'm on day two of Turbo Jam (and I haven't talked myself out of it.)
3. I gave up coffee.
4. Grace's laugh.
5. Pinkalicious books
6. Grace's cheesy smile

Snow Day Craft

Courtesy of Scrumdilly-do!



And without further ado....Grace's pretty Valentine tree.

It's official! We have a snow day here. Yes, there is snow on the ground. Yes, it is still snowing. All in all, we might have a total of two inches. I find this hilarious, since we have had more snow days here than most schools in Michigan have had the entire year. Yes, I realize the cities do not have the means to get rid of snow down here. Yes, I KNOW people down here do NOT know how to drive in rain, let alone, snow. I get it.


And because of this snow day, I figured it would be a great day for a Valentine Craft. I found this craft via The Crafty Crow, which is a must-see craft site. I figured I'd have to make the trunk, but Grace will be all over finger painting the top.

Stick With Me

Please stick with me as I play around with backgrounds and fonts and images and all that fun stuff. Not that I know a lick of what I'm doing though.

It's been a long week. Teething does a number on Grace. Last night was the first I've slept in my own bed. Plus, Matt has strep. Lucky me.

I planned on writing a lot. Well, maybe not a lot but at least something seeing as though the last time I wrote anything was January 1st.

Here's to tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

I'm not a big fan of making New Years Resolutions because I never stick with them. Oh, I'm Gun-ho for a month of so, and then my old ways of doing things slowly creep back. Maybe this year, I'll make some anti-resolutions.

I'm not going to say I will lose weight, get back in shape, yadda yadda yadda. I will join my fellow April Mommas in our Biggest Loser Challenge and see what happens there.

I'm not going to say I'll organize this house. Maybe I'll donate a few more toys. Maybe I'll find a way to part with some extra vases or clothes I no longer wear. Maybe I'll find a routine to help me keep my house in order. Maybe I won't.

I'm not going to say I'll spend less time on the computer. I'll really really really try though. I want to spend more time with Grace. I want to do more crafts with her and for myself. I want to write. I want to read. I want to spend more time with my husband. I think I'll really do this one.

2011 you have arrived. I am looking forward to all you bring. I'd rather you kept my little firecracker from growing up. At least it gives me a lot to write about, if I ever get around to writing all the thoughts in my head down on paper (or blogland).