Connecting the Dots

Well, it was only a matter of time before Grace connected the dots that the loud music playing outside is actually the ice cream truck.  It is quite hilarious to watch her put her hand to her ear and say, "Do you hear it?"

Stalling at bedtime is becoming a routine.  Every night she calls me back to tell me there is something round like ball.  That's it.  Who knows what it is.

And the sheet monster still visits.

I Choose Happiness

Who couldn't love Tinker Bell Easter eggs with neon colors and glitter?

"I don't like rhombus.  It's a diamond."  Gotta love geometry and an-almost-three-year-old.  Thank you Starfall.

In response to us and Terri asking Grace if she wanted to look for the hula hibiscus with Mickey Mouse, she said, "No, I'm not in the t.v."

Jelly Beans...not the black ones or the white ones though. Yuck.

Pinterest and the soon-to-be crafts that will be done when I find a spare minute.

A Few Gracisms

1.  Birdies, come out.  Come eat my birdseed.  I can't eat it.  I'm not a bird.

2.  Mama, come lay with me.  Don't go on Daddy's side of the bed.  It has germs.

3.  Mama, there is a monster eating my sheets.  Why is the monster eating my sheets?

Spring Into Everything New

January 2?  Is that really the last time I posted?  Well, I apologize.  But...I was kind of busy with:

1.  Buying a new home.

2.  Painting the entire home.  Let's rephrase this.  Matt and some awesome people painted this home.  I was fired.  I am a pathetic painter.  Terrible.

3.  Moving in.

4.  And well, we are still making this our home.

on top of life and working and football and track.

Grace just being Grace.

 Grace playing with her t-ball set.  (yes...left-handed)

I will soon have pictures of the house.  The only room that I can say is finished is Grace's bathroom.  Can we say hello Tinkerbell?  And in other Grace news...

• She still asks for "fa la la la" on the cd player EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  
• We had a few days last week where the Halloween costume came back out.  After day two, she spilled ice cream on it and into the wash it went.
• Our next craft will be to make bird feeders.  She tells me the birds our hungry. 
• She's still loving the princesses, but she's added My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake (aka Strawberry Cake) to the mix.

New Year, New Things

First, I've missed this (writing). And quite frankly, there are tons of things I should be doing right now instead of writing, but sometimes things need to be put on hold for my sanity. It's the new year, and with that comes resolutions. I believe last year I wrote anti-resolutions, but this year I'm going more simplistic.
1. Spend more time outside. Granted this is easier down here where the temperature was 65 degrees. Not sure I would be thinking about this if I was still back in the U.P. Although, we did have fun sledding on multiple days.
2. Be more mindful. This fits into so many aspects of my life right now.
3. Find the time to do some exercise. I'm not making a plan of do this or do that for x amount of time because I never do it.
4. Get back to to-do lists.
************************************************************************************
Hmm...some updates:
1. We are in the process of buying a house. Can I say I hate this process? It is stressful. It is confusing. And there are so many questions and what ifs. Ugh...
2. Grace is still our Grace (and sometimes Gracie). She fills our life with sooo much joy and laughter. Currently she is painting her thank you cards while I write this post. She loves anything princess and pink and watches Tinker Bell daily. She has been a hoot this Christmas. She was obsessed with baby Jesus in the nativity. She "fixed" the Christmas tree every single day.
3. We spent a week in the U.P. over the break. I love getting to see my family, and Grace loves spending time with Landon, my nephew who is only one year older than she is. I ate way too much food, played Farkle and Phase 10, built a puzzle with my dad and Caleb, and just spent time with my family.

And we have one more day of football until we have to go back to reality...work.

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.