My Baby Girl

My beautiful baby girl, my first born is 10 today. I can hardly believe it. She is a sweet tender hearted young lady with a heart for God. I could not be more blessed!

A Dickens of a Christmas

Cute title, huh? This was the title of the Christmas play that Gracie was in at school....let that sink in a bit.....my daughter is in public school! And yes, they used the word Christmas!!

It was a cute little play based on, I know you are shocked, Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Grace played the part of Scrooge's nephew's wife. I was so proud of her! She did a great job and has a beautiful singing voice.

Merry Christmas, to one and all!!

Grace and Olivia

Gracie and Olivia are tight...

Really tight, in fact it is almost impossible to take a picture of just one of them .

And when you take a picture of the two of them, they are always hanging all over each other, because that is what my kids do!

But like all sisters, they fight a lot too. (And when they are wanting me to intervene they speak to me like I was the offender instead of their sister. ) They yell, loudly, throw things and sometimes, yes, I am embarrassed to say, they hit.

But right now, I am sitting downstairs and they are upstairs. And they are not yelling. They are not running downstairs to tell me what she did.

Right now, they are upstairs laughing hysterically........which, I admit makes me more nervous than when they are fighting.

Boo Night At School

Last Friday, Gracie has a Halloween party at school. Thanks to Tracy and her daughter, we were able to borrow a 'Sharpay' outfit for her to wear. (if you don't know who Sharpay is, ask the nearest 8-13 year old.) She had a wondeful time despite when she was dancing with her friend Caitlin and her wig flew off and hit Mrs. G!!

More costume pictures coming in a couple of days!

Moments That Make It All Worth It....Grace

(Don't you love her self portrait?)

This year, we've been letting Gracie stay up later than her siblings. A whole half an hour. (To listen to Olivia you would think it was HOURS....) It has afforded us great time to just talk to her, by herself. No one else tells us what she meant to say, or interrupts or anything!

Last night we were watching a show together. A reality weight loss show that I generally think is pretty child safe. But a couple of the contestant were swearing. A lot. It lead to a discussion about not always needing to use language others use.

I mentioned that, as she is getting older, she is going to hear a lot more inappropriate language from her friends. But that doesn't mean she has to use it.

And my baby girl looked at me and said, "I know, Mom. I am never going to talk like that. It is not appropriate and God doesn't like it."

I love that girl!!

Catching Up From the Week

Wow! Where has the week gone? And where have I been?

On Monday, Grace and Olivia went swimming with our friends from down the street at Burwood Pool. They had a ton of fun, the little fish. And then one of the girls spent the night here. I think they actually got some sleep. I admit, I was asleep before they were. Shhhh, don't tell them!

On Tuesday, we had a play date a couple of streets over with a former student and her children. I don't know if it makes me young or old to have children the same age as the children of the kids I taught. (Follow that? ) A few hours after that, the kids went over to Jeanne's to play in MacLand! I can't explain that, you have to see it! Jeanne kept the kids for the evening. She even bathed and fade them. Kevin and I took full advantage of the time to spend time together.....okay, he did homework for his class and I went to the grocery.

Wednesday I just tried to catch up on things. I cleaned up the house. We were supposed to have dinner, but our guest wasn't able to make it. At least Kevin and the kids ate really well!!

Thursday? I don't know. I think that was the day the kids were really difficult. Let me amend that. More difficult that usual. (Note: Charis is crying over a balloon right now. And Josiah is whining over balloons.)

Friday, I had my post op appointment. Everything looks good and I will have my first band fill on Sept. 5. I stopped at the produce market on the way home and got veggies for a tray for church today.
Okay, NOT THOSE VEGGIES!! I spent the evening at church with several other volunteers to set up for today's events.

Today a bunch of kids came from State Ave. Church to spend a morning with our kids. They sang and played games (the prizes were all school supplies!) and ate a delicious lunch! A wonderful time was had by all. The kids from both churches got along great and were an amazing example of Christian love.

Now we are getting ready to head back to church for our monthly Family Fun Night. Don't let the name fool you. It's the church family, not just families!

Off to get ready for dinner!

The Other Teenager

my daughter had wrapped around her little finger. This is Enmanuel, isn't he adorabe?

WOW!! Gracie's award!

Let me start this off by apologizing. My pictures from this event were AWFUL!!!!!!! But, today, I went to Gracie's 3rd grade award ceremony. She received several award for academics of which we are very proud. She was given an award for outstanding music for the 4th year. AND she got an award for performance in Phys. Ed.

Now neither Kevin nor I are overly athletic. He is more than I. In gym class we expect our kids to try their best, but don't expect award winning performances! But Grace's grade, she is the fastest girl in the 50 yard dash!! Her gym teacher doesn't grade for effort on these end of the year awards, purely on performance. We are very excited for her! A jock, in our family!!! Wow!!