Gracie Girl

I kidnapped this girl from school yesterday. I knew after lunch there was not much going on and figured we could spend some quality time together doing whatever suited her fancy. I had visions of us getting our nails done, maybe a big ice cream sundae, or Barnes and Noble browsing for books while drinking some decaf Starbucks. I picked her up and said we can do whatever you want. Pick anything! You know what she said? I just want to go home, play with Jack, watch a movie with you, and play Mario Cart. So, that is exactly what we did. We rolled the windows down, sang out loud to all the songs that came on the radio, and I even let her stick her head out the sunroof when we got in our neighborhood. Once you pull into our entrance, it takes a good 5 minutes to get back to our house. Lots of time for wind blowing through the hair and singing at the top of your lungs. We live on a golf course and pass about 5 holes before our house. As we were passing hole 8, and Grace was exclaiming something along the lines of, "I am the QUEEN of the trees, and I say GROW!!", four men turned to look at us as they were about to tee off. I'm sure we looked hilarious, and at first I thought they would be a little annoyed we were ruining the quiet that MUST come with golf. Instead they waved and laughed. I love how Grace is just who she is, and proud of it. I find myself not so uptight when we are together and letting loose more.

So Grace and I spent the afternoon at home, just chilling and playing some intense games of Mario Cart while Jack snoozed next to us. It was just what the doctor ordered for Grace....and mommy. Love this girl to the moon and back.

BFF's

Two peas in a pod. Grace had Victoria spend the night last night....and we tried to do all the things that are a MUST at a sleepover. Make over the top sugary snack (check), paint nails (check), stay up late watching a movie (check), fall asleep on couches in playroom and never make it to an actual bed (check), and wake-up at 6:30 eventhough they were up way past normal bedtime (check). Ahhh...I think mommy needs a nap today. :) I love that they are at the age where they want dress alike. So cute.

This was the over the top sugary snack we made. It was super easy.....fun craft alert for those with little people....they loved it. And they were so yummy! Saw this in a magazine last year, and decided to try it this year. It's 3 ingredients: big marshmallows, mini M&M's, and white chocolate bark. You will also need some kind of a stick to hold the marshmallows. I got mine at Hobby Lobby in the baking isle. They have 6 and 8 inch, and the 8 inch was much better to give their little fingers room to hold it while they dipped. So, melt the chocolate per instructions on the package, place the marshmallows on the sticks, and roll them around in the chocolate. Place them on wax paper and decorate with M&M's. They are addicting, so beware......

Don't you love how the little red tree/bush/twig thing in the background changes in every picture? ;) This is what happens when it takes you a whole week to get your act together and dig out all the Christmas stuff.

Pilgrim Girl

"the crew"

Grace's class got to lead chapel today at school. They did a play all about Pilgrims and Indians. It was too cute. My little girl who normally could talk to a brick wall for hours, all of a sudden gets shy when she has to sing or speak in front of a crowd. Crazy. She had fun though, and luckily got to stick close to her friends. I love watching her interact with other little girls. Cracks me up. I don't know exactly what they talk about, but they are so funny. A bunch of us moms just sat there watching them today cracking up at their crazy antics.

And then they feasted the rest of the day on Thanksgiving goodies. And so did the moms. ;) It was fun to come and go from her room and help out for a little bit. Fun day. One party down, two to go.

Glasses!

Gracie girl has glasses!! We have been keeping an eye on her at home as well as school with some potential vision problems, and the time has come. Thankfully, she LOVES them. We went and picked them out, and she HAD to have blue one's. Loathes all things pink, which cracks me up. So we picked them out, and they arrived today. She only needs them in the classroom, and can take them off all other times. I'm thinking that should be a little easier on the glasses budget. We have one little "glasses girl" roaming around the house with a smile on her face. The weekend is looking good.......no pun intended. ;)

Girls Day Out

Grace and I spent a much needed afternoon together today. After church, she and I had a "girls day out". I let her plan the day which started at her favorite spot for lunch (Osaka 21) followed by a trip to Target to peruse the isles of the journal and paper good section. SO my child. I could spend hours looking at office supplies and cute journals and paper. So we picked out the perfect spiral and then shopped for some school supplies. We had a great time, and it was needed. Grace is the one child that really needs the one on one time. Is it because she is the middle-child? Maybe, but one of her top love languages is quality time, and when she doesn't get enough it shows in every area of her life. So we drank Coke, had LOTS of fried rice, and talked about some stuff that has been on her mind for a little bit. Stuff that would have eventually come up on its own, but I'm glad we got to talk about it today.....just her and I.....on our "girls day out". Love you Gracie girl!!