Fun Time

We are having a great time at Brian and Lisa's house!!  That's why I haven't written in so long :)  We left home on Thursday at 1 pm and headed up, and now it's 10 pm and we're settling down for the night.  We leave tomorrow morning to go back to life, and it's a bummer that it went by so fast!!!  Grace has had a great time but we've got to get her to go back to school and therapies and all that stuff, but I think she's getting sick!  oh no!  The darn weather and then probably her being around sick kids at school, it just doesn't help the situation.  

We went to the circus with Lisa!!  It was such a great time and will talk about it in another post, but for now, I figured I'd do a super quick recap.  Circus, Hobby Lobby, late nights, bananagrams, super yummy food, playtime and lots more :)

All in all, it's been a wonderful visit. I've thoroughly enjoyed being here and can't wait to see the family again for Memorial weekend.  

Amanda

The Pout-Pout Fish

I'm so sad to say that one of Grace's favorite books have met it's death.  I am so sad because she would ask for it all the time...over and over.  She'd sit in her room and read it by herself, have her home intervention therapist read it to her, and she'd talk to herself in bed about "Mis-ser Pout-pout Fish."  She had once again played with her diaper instead of just going to sleep for nap time, and so I had to wash all her blankets.  I didn't realize the book was wrapped in the blanket and didn't even think to look because she's not allowed to have anything in her bed with her!  So...as I opened the washing machine and saw the chunk of book, I wasn't happy.  :(  Poor Miss Grace...

It has been a relatively nice day today.  Brad and I are noticing that Grace has excessive emotion, energy, attitude...etc.  SO we are starting to wonder about ADHD, well, at least I am.  So Brad and I discussed it and we will be cutting out almost all sugar.  I'm not going to be super anal scouring every single nutrition label (ok, maybe I will), but there won't be any more candy, chocolate, ice cream, maple syrup, granola bars, sweet cereal (actually, the only cereal she'll eat is Post Spoon Size Shredded Wheat), cookies, honey, and cakes.  It's going to be hard because of my hectic schedule as it is, I don't know it I'm going to be able to homemake a lot of this stuff.  Homemade: granola bars, bread, spaghetti sauces, crackers, and...other things.  I'm still researching.  And then we had a surprise...or two surprises. Grace was in her room for about 1.5 hours, and so I thought she was perfectly fine, playing with toys or reading books.  But boy was I wrong.  I was deep into homework and out comes Grace... "Pooooop."  Dangit.  I won't go into details but Brad and I were SO frustrated.  I took a couple deep breathes and took her to the bathroom, took care of business, scrubbed down the bed and bed side guard, and got more laundry started.  I can't wait for the "body anti-strip suit" to get here.  We've tried everything we can think of...backwards zipped footie pajamas, taping the backwards zipped footie pajamas around her chest and covering the zipper, taping the diaper with duct tape some times and packing tape the other times, and having her wear socks on her hands so she can't manipulate the zipper.  So I've decided on buying some button up shirts and some pants and sewing the two pieces together.  So it will look like different outfits but they will actually all be one pieces.  Hopefully this will stop her from stripping and...  I will also be doing something like this with dresses as well.  I'll buy some dresses that actually fit her (her's are a little too small) and sew some legging into the bottoms of them so she can't just lift the dress.  Thank goodness for Deseret Industries!!!  That way, if this ends up not working, the shirts/pants are only costing me $2-3 each.

We still haven't gotten the catheters we're supposed to be using.  After our last visit to Primary Children's in Utah, we were told to catheterize every day with french 8 catheters (were using french 6 but they are too small).  I've contacted our supply company over and over and keep getting the same answer "it's backordered."  Ug.  What a pain.  So I'm really hoping we get them soon.

Shew...deep breath :)  New things coming up that we will have to deal with, but we will figure it all out.

Amanda

Gym and playtime

Today Grace had gymnastics and she did such a great job!!  She got to swing on the rings today and did such a fabulous job!  I was a little surprised to see just how well she could hold on.  Once again, girly has amazed me.  She had such a great time with her classmates and has a ton of fun doing all the activities each week.  It's so sad because her coach, Coach Cheyenne, might be going on a mission and so we are going to lose her as our fabulous coach!  Hopefully we will get someone that works really well with Grace.  There was a bounce house for the kids to jump in today but Grace has never liked jump houses, so it's ok that she didn't go in.  She enjoyed sitting next to coach while they watched the other kids jump and slide. 

After gym we had home intervention therapy.  I could definitely tell that Grace was tired because she was everywhere today, but even after all this hard work, she didn't nap!  After therapy we headed to Idaho Falls because Brad needed to pick up something for testing his breathing at night, and then we ran a couple more errands, and all that time she was still awake.  And then she didn't nap when I actually did put her down for nap at 2:30 pm.  4 pm came and I figured, "what's the point?"  So while Daddy went off with a neighbor to go help with some things, Grace and I went to Walmart to pick up some stuff for an Easter package for Allison and Andrea and some goodies for Kailyn!  After this we went by Taco Bell through the drive through and the car in front of us died, so a manager and another worker came out to help him push his way through the drive through.  Then I followed them to where they parked and asked if they needed a pull (of course they did).  So Brad came but good guy as he is, he got their car working again so we didn't have to pull them!

When we got home we ate our Taco Bell while watching "Racing Stripes" and then Daddy put Grace to bed!  Now it's 9:30 pm, we are tucked into bed but it looks like a Brad will be getting back up to spend some time with a neighbor.  So it will be just me in here :)  Girly movie, here I come!!!

Amanda

Grrr...

Well, Brad and I are both done with the naptime/bedtime diaper play.  I bought an "anti-strip" jumpsuit that will hopefully be here by Friday.  We'll see if that works out for this issue.  After having to bathe her for nap time, I spun her around in her footie pajamas as I wrapped her up with packing tape.  It worked for nap time, but not night time.  I did the same thing for bedtime and when I went to check on her at 10:30 pm, she was down to her diaper...ug.  I don't know what we're going to do if the jumper doesn't work.  I'm going bonkers with this.  It's been every day this past week...

Grace got to go to school for one last day before Spring break!!!  She was super excited to go to school and when I went to pick her up, I brought her teacher and aides caramel cinnamon rolls and orange juice to celebrate the beginning of Spring break.  Ms. Kim was SO excited!!  And Grace was so happy that I got her a donut as well.  We had our donuts...

And Grace was so excited!!!  The rest of the day we just hung out.  We went on a walk together and saw our friend Robert on the walk!!!  Grace was so excited to see him, and it was just so cute to see her get so happy, waving at her friend as they walked closer and closer to us.  What was the funniest is that she waved and just kept walking right by instead of stopping to talk to him!  I guess she was really enjoying her walk.  Panda Bear got to go with us and he had such a great time. :)

Later we took a picture together just because it was fun...

So cute!

All in all, a good day except for the nasty nap time stuff.  

Amanda

Fast Day

It seemed like a really fast day today.  We stayed in bed until about 10 am because we were all just being so lazy!  Grace came to bed with us about 8:30 and we all just snuggled until Grace started pulling hair and slapping...she could just say that she's hungry!  After breakfast we got dressed to go run at the outdoor track at the school as well as run the stadium bleachers, but it was so darn cold that we only made it two laps around (1/2 mile) and so we went to the stadium bleachers.  There was an old man going up and down over and over.

Brad and I tried out the BYU-I stadium bleachers today. 3 times later...we're beat (up and down=1). Then we look over at this guy...he's easily 60+ years old...soaked in sweat and chugging along with his walking sticks. I asked him what number he was on...96 (up and down=1). WOW. What an inspiration. He said, "I did 120 Thursday and 105 Friday...I have done this for 2 years." WOW again. He also said, "This is a great workout for moms. It burns calories fast and it's easy...I've lost 60 pounds. Don't give up." I won't, bleacher climber, I won't.

That is the post I put onto Facebook today about the old man.  What a great guy he was!  

After this we headed back home, Grace got lunch and then we put her to bed...oh boy.  About 4 pm I went in to find a chocolate baby.  Yuck...I won't go into details, but I'll say it's the worst that I've ever seen.  So very quickly it was bath time and laundry time :(  

After this we played at home for awhile but then we all started going stir crazy and so we went to Albertsons to turn in some monopoly cards we have for the game going on.  I doubt we'll win anything, but it's fun trying :)

I'm telling you, this day went by fast!  We got home and watched a TV show while having dinner and then very quickly, as I was finishing up an assignment and Grace was coming in from playing outside with daddy, it was bedtime!  So I tucked her into bed, read her a book "The Way I Feel" and now she's in there talking herself to sleep!

It's 8:40 pm, all my homework for the rest of this week and a lot for my psychology class for next week is done, and so we are going to go watch some TV together (Brad and I).  It will be nice to not be taking 4 classes soon.  I'll just have one math class and I can handle that course load.  It will be a nice break.

Amanda

Goodbye Grandma/Grandpa

Today grandma and grandpa Hildreth had to go home after the nice visit we had.  They were going to a family birthday dinner and so they had to meet up with everyone going to the dinner at 5:30.  It was such a nice visit!!!  And Grace was so absolutely excited the entire time that they were here, and it was so sad for her that they went home.  But we'll see them again soon once the snow melts and we can travel :)

Grace had a great day at school today.  She always has so much fun at school and today was especially fun because she got to go to the library and check out two new books!  SO FUN!  I love walking into the library and seeing her getting her books scanned by the librarian.  She looks like such a big girl resting her head on her arms while she watches the librarian check out books.  I wonder if she ever wanders around the library and pulls all the books off like she does at the city library?  I'll have to ask!

The rest of the day went well.  At 7 I left to go work out at the gym and Kenna and Jarik came over to hang out for awhile, so Grace was happy to see them.  I got home about 8:45 pm, put Grace to bed and then we went downstairs to watch Frozen with the kids.  They left about 10:10 pm and now here I am at 10:52 pm getting ready to shut down for the night and say goodnight!

Amanda

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Brad's birthday and it was so fun to see Grace so darn excited.  Grandma and Grandpa Hildreth came to visit!  They got here yesterday and so Grace has been absolutely wired continuously because of all the excitement involved with family coming just to see her!  At least that's what she thinks. Anyways, we had a special birthday breakfast for Daddy this morning.  Sausage/cheese/eggs with hash browns and juice.  Then Grace got to go to gymnastics and did a fabulous job there, and her therapist didn't come to the house so she got to watch her Pirate cartoon while I worked on some homework and made lunch.  The grandparents and Daddy had went to visit some family in Rigby and so I had time to get lunch done before they got back.  We had spaghetti and oranges for lunch and boy oh boy was it yummy!  Fast forward a few hours (after nap time and homework time) and it's time for birthday dinner!  We all went to Applebees and it was so yummy!  It was the grandparents, Brad, Grace, me, Ryan and Skyler and Mariah.  It was nice to have a big group celebrating Brad's special day.  Grace had a great day and was so happy that she got to have her own "kid's meal."  And it was so absolutely huge that she brought most of it home!  I also brought mine home because the first dish I got had a hair in it, and so by the time I got the second one I was full.  Yuck...a hair.  Bleh.  

After the super yummy meal came... CHERRY CHEESECAKE!!!  Happy birthday Daddy :)  

All in all it was a great day.  Grace girl has been super hyperactive since grandma and grandpa Hildreth came and it's cute...but also overwhelming!  I love her being so happy because it's so much different than her usual "bored" self.  Grandma and Grandpa leave tomorrow and she's going to be so sad to see them go.  But I can't wait for Spring because that means traveling and seeing family.  And she's been asking to go to the cabin almost...every day actually.  I love that she loves it!!  It really is a magical place and the fact that family is there makes it even better.

I love you Grace girl.  I know I don't write every day but that doesn't mean we aren't having exciting times or that I'm forgetting.  I've got a lot of schooling and since it's almost the end of the semester, things are really stacking up.

You're my sweet girl and I couldn't and wouldn't ask for any other little girl :)

Love, 

Mommy

Warm/Cold day

I can't believe how different the weather can be in one day.  Grace went to school this morning and it was pretty cool!  While she was at school I went to workout and I had to wear my jogging outfit.  After I was done I still had to wear it back to the car because of how cold it was.  I picked up Grace and then we came home for a little while.  By then it was warm enough that she could be out riding her tricycle!  We went to Walmart after a while and got Grace a helmet, elbow/knee pads and gloves so she can be so much safer on her tricycle.  This thing tips if you sneeze towards it, so until we can find something better, this is what she's going to have to use.  

Very quickly came lunchtime and then nap time, but hm...no nap today?!  We actually headed out to Idaho Falls to run some errands, and so we had a super chatty, super tired and rambunctious girly that did all she could to stay awake!  IT was a tough trip for her with how tired she was.  But we finally got home about 4:30 pm and thankfully, she fell asleep on the way home, so she got her little catnap in.  The rest of the evening went pretty slow and with no exciting things to do.  Normal play, horseback rides, doll house and her Pirate kids show.  Then cam dinnertime and bedtime!  And now it's 9:49 pm and I'm writing on here!  Tomorrow we don't have any plans...we'll see what comes.  Going hiking would be nice but we'll have to see how the weather is.  Supposedly it's going to snow tonight, so we'll see.

Amanda

Busy Days

Well, yes, today is Thursday and I haven't written since Monday.  Darnit.  But oh well, I do the best I can.

Tuesday Grace had gymnastics and then home intervention therapy, and everything went well with this. G race did great with her bum drops, climbing up onto the vault and then jumping off, and when she went into the pit, it as so cute because one of her little class friends tried to help pull her out of the pit!

Wednesday she had school, and she was absolutely so excited about it!  Today was library day and I have to say, I think she likes this day the best out of all three school days.  We also have our weekly play days with Robert and Jordan, and this is another thing that Grace really enjoys!  It went really well this week, too, so that doesn't hurt!

And then there's today :)  Today was therapy day and Daddy got to take her to therapy so I could complete an online meeting for school.  She had so much fun and when he went to get her and they were walking up the front steps afterwards, it was so cute to hear her talking to Daddy as they climbed the stairs.  She is such a big girl now and I'm SO happy she's doing so well!!  After nap time Grace and I went on a run and I'm SO excited!!  I went 5 miles and it took me 1 hour.  Grace was in the jogging stroller and fell asleep after awhile, so I never had to worry about her trying to climb out or anything.  It was so fulfilling to actually get through that run, and I even went uphill past the school towards the Temple and then down Temple road (that's not what it's really called but I don't know the name of it).  Near the end of course there had to be a train blaring it's horn and it woke Grace up, but I'm really glad it didn't scare her.  Then quickly came dinner (mashed potatoes, pears, banana, broccoli and elk).  YUMMY!  And it was amazing to see just how fast the time went by!  Bedtime came while I was doing homework and Daddy was playing with Grace (Lincoln Logs) and it was so darn cute watching them play!  They made letters with the logs, Daddy showed Grace how to make a hat (made a square out of lincoln logs) and then turn it into a frame around her face.  I loved watching them, and it was really hard to focus on my homework.  And it was so great to see her actually putting the pieces together correctly and she kept going, "...and dis one goes here...and dis one goes here...and dis roof goes here..."  It was SO CUTE!  She was so focused on playing with Daddy and it was beautiful to see.

Ok, that's all for now.  It's 10:10 pm, I've gotten way ahead in my PSYCH 201 class so that I have less work in the coming weeks, and I have about 2.5 weeks left before all my classwork is open and...if I push hard, I can hopefully get done early so I can have that many more days of freedom!

Goodnight, all :)

Amanda

Fun Monday

Today Grace got to go to school!  She just loves school, and I'm so glad that she loves school.  The time change was a bit difficult for me this morning and so she got to school a bit late, but that's ok.  I got to walk into class with her and that was really nice.  She went right over to her cubby and hung up her jacket, and then I helped her hang up her backpack.  And then she got to wash her hands and she said, "Mom, tum on.  Dotta wash yer hands."  But I said, "I am going, Grace!  You get to stay and have fun at school."  And then off I went.  They are learning about Dinosaurs this week and the letter D.  So cute!

While she was at school Daddy and I went to the college and lifted weights for a while.  We'll be doing this Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then I will be going running Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I've got my 10k coming up as well as the half marathon, so I gotta keep up!  After working out for a while we headed home for a quick protein boost and then I got to go pick up Grace.  She is always so excited to see me after school and will come running to me.  People probably think we look silly but I don't care.  I'm bending down towards her with my arms all the way out and a super goofy smile on my face, and she yells out "MOM!!!!!!" and comes running to me the same exact way :)  This is what I live for!  And this is why I drop her off and pick her up from school.  Because I just love seeing her so happy to be going to school and then seeing me afterwards.  

We went to Walmart to get some gelatin, 100% grape juice concentrate, creatine and protein powder.  So now Brad and I will have creatine before we work out and then the protein afterwards.  That will be helpful.  I also got Brad some reading glasses, a knee brace for me since I'm having a lot of knee pain when I jog/workout.  

Anywho, after we got home it was lunchtime/naptime, and then I worked on homework.  Dinner was homemade lasagna, creamed corn, and water, and then dessert was a Reeses peanut butter heart!  While we were all at the table still we had FHE, and then we went to the school track to walk around for a while.

After coming home I quickly made some fruit snacks, and then it was off to bed for Grace!

Now it's 9 pm and Brad and I are at a loss at what we want to do!  He has a movie he wants to watch but I'm not into watching movies about war and the military, so I think I'll start looking for colleges that offer master degree online programs and also try to find some good scholarships.

Amanda

Oh Boy, Diapers

My girly just loves going through diapers during sacrament!  We had to leave sacrament 3 times to get a fresh diaper on!  Shew :)  But I don't care.  Everyone knows about Grace and how difficult it is for her to learn how to potty and so I don't worry about anyone and what they might be thinking.  And then there was one more time during primary, but that's ok.  It was fun seeing her in between her classes :)  And she had such a great time in her primary class!  She got a little card that her teacher made that says "I can be reverent during sacrament" and it has a little picture of a girl with moveable arms that makes her fold her arms for prayer.  The next thing she got was a little booklet her teacher made that said "I can pray for others" and then it has all sorts of things that she can pray for in it.  And then she got a bag with "Dear Heavenly Father...I thank thee...I Please bless...In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  And then it has a whole bunch of little cut outs of pictures that Grace can pray for.  Her teacher is so wonderful and has done such a great job with Grace!

After church Grace had raviolis for lunch and then off to bed she went!  Now it's 4:20 pm and that little one didn't fall asleep until 3 pm, so I'm probably going to let her sleep a but later.  All in all, a good day so far!

Amanda

Cold Day and a Friend!

Boy oh boy was it cold today.  Grace and I are so ready for the sun to come out and to stay out!!  We looked out her window after nap time today and just longed to be out there playing and running around!  Thankfully Spring is March 20th and I'm hoping with that comes the sun.  So all we did today was preschool and then went to DI, but we didn't find anything fun there.  Grace didn't actually ever nap, so we were up at 3 pm which meant a long day.  It went surprisingly fast, though, because Grace got to have her friend Sabrina over!!  I got to get some homework done while they played and then really quickly came dinner time and then bedtime!  Shew.  Sometimes days go by really slowly, but then there are other days that go incredibly fast.  This afternoon was one of the incredibly fast days.

But now here I am at 9:30pm, should be doing homework and instead, I'm watching Switched at Birth and writing on here..this writing is SO much more important than homework!!

Ug...I can't wait for school to be over.  That way I can spend time with Grace and Daddy without having to worry about my darn homework getting in the way because of my mind being swamped with due dates, exams and other stuff.  

I love you Grace!  

I have been trying to work on Grace's Supplemental Needs Trust, Letter of Intent, and Will.  It's a lot of work, tons of paperwork, and I'm at the point now where I'm trying to find a lawyer that works specifically for clients with special needs children.  I'm really hoping to find one soon.

Amanda

Oh Grace Girl

I love you bunches, sweet girl :)  And you are so darn cute that I just love you to bunches!  We had an awesome day today.  You went to therapy for 3 hours so I got to get some homework done, and then it was nap time (so more homework time) and then when you got up you were as sweet as a bunch of flowers!!  Daddy wanted to go get some firewood so we all packed into the truck to head over and get some.  I put up your hair and you looked so darn cute!!  You got a scarf from Ronald McDonald house and so you got to wear this, as well as your big brown jacket.  It was so darn cute to see you in that scarf!  Well, these pictures aren't the ones with the scarf, obviously, but I thought they were too cute to not share!  She's helping put the dishes away.

  I am going to have to make you some because that scarf really complimented you...all of you!  It was so darn cold when we went to get logs that you were out with me for a little bit, but then you were SO ready to get back into the truck!  So I tucked you into the truck, put a blanket on you, and you sat toasty warm while we collected some logs.  It was so cute to see you poking your face over your carseat while you were looking out the trunk.  And it was so fun talking to you.  You kept asking me where dad was, and so I would say, "Daddy is cutting up so much wood so we can take it home and get warm."  

"Daddy cutting wood?"

"Yeah!  SO much wood!!"

"He's so busy?"

"Yes.  But he'll be back soon, ok?"

"Ok.  Is COLD ou-side!  Brr...I fweezing."

"That's why you are inside the truck!  I want you to stay nice and warm, ok?"

"O-tay.  Is time to go home?  Brr...Are we detting a-yot of wood to tate home?"

"Yep, we sure are.  It is so heavy!"

I love having conversations with Grace.  It is so wonderful.  And we have so many conversations that it's just so wonderful.

I love you Grace!

Mommy

Gymnastics day!

Grace did so well in gymnastics today!  She even got a ribbon because she did so well :)  I love watching her, and she does such a great job.  There were tests today to see what all the kids have accomplished and Grace got the "bear crawl" marked off.  She got a rainbow participation award, which is just amazing.  It's so fun because all the moms are starting to connect together and we talk a lot, cheer each other's kids on, and the kids are starting to look to all the moms for praise.  It's like we are the "gym moms" but aren't as crazy as the "dance moms" on TV.  I hope that this little group goes on together, but I don't know if that will happen.  The kids are all at different levels and there are many kids that are way ahead of Grace, so they might go ahead in a different class.  

I can tell that she's going to have some trouble in gymnastics.  She's got the hypotonia (weak muscles) and so it's really hard for her to do some of the activities.  Pulling herself up onto the bar and locking her arms is really hard, as well as lifting her feet up to the bars when she's hanging down off of the bar.  Anything with the bars is really hard.  But she'll get there.  I think we'll start some strength training at home, and when it gets warmer, we will definitely go to the park and work on it.  That's for sure!  We have a board here that I will set up for walking along the beam as well.  It's a bit wider than a beam and so it might mess her up a little bit, but at least she'll have more practice with standing on the beam.  Oh, and it doesn't help that her spine was messed with in surgery when she was 6 months ago.  That probably effected muscle growth as well.  She jumped into the foam pit today off the trampoline too!  Usually she gets to the end of the trampoline, drops down onto her butt and then slides in, but today she jumped!  I was so excited!!

So, great day so far.  Now she's working with her therapist here at home and I'm supposed to be doing homework, but it's hard to focus.  

Yesterday she stayed home from school because she still had a runny nose, and I didn't want her passing it on.  So we just messed around at home, and later in the evening we went to run on the track to get her energy out!  She does so well with her running and she's getting so much faster!  

Grace has started sleeping in her baby bed again.  It was just for nap but now she keeps asking for it for night time bed.  She's also undressing herself.  At first we would fight it, but she doesn't mess with her diaper and so we've just given in.  We just make sure it's extra warm in her room and that she has enough blankets.  I don't know if it's a sensory thing of the little rash that she's got around her diaper (I hope she's not getting to be sensitive) but we'll just keep letting her be naked as long as she doesn't start being gross with her diaper.

All in all, a good day so far :)  We get to have a friend over today to play, and then we'll go grocery shopping and Grace can get a cookie from the bakery.  We were supposed to start home preschool but I ended up choosing to clean out the closet in her school room and that was a more daunting task then I thought it would be...so we will push off school for a little while.

Amanda

Sick Sunday

We are staying home from church today because Grace has a yucky runny nose, and Brad isn't feeling good either.  I could have gotten through it but since Brad doesn't feel good, he slept in and so I'm taking care of Grace.  I don't like when Brad gets sick because he is always down for the count when he gets sick.  Grace is in front of the computer right now watching a Care Bears movie.  She has been insanely almost too much clingy this morning, and so she needed time to relax.  As did mommy.  I dumped out 4 cans of flour in hopes of making cinnamon rolls but the flour smells so much like tin that I have to let it air out for about 4 days...darnit.  So that stinks because I was actually in the mood to bake!  This flour is from the church cannery and it really disappoints me that it's like this.  It's only 4 years old.  So I definitely won't be relying on the church cannery anymore.

I wrote a letter to my brother, and he calls it stalking and harassment.  I am trying to see if he will get over himself after 9 years of not talking to me and will be a part of Grace's life, but it's sounding like he's being super childish still.  That's too bad.  It doesn't upset me because I prepared myself for something like this, but it's disappointing in the fact that he's going to let whatever he is mad about break up a sibling group that used to be so strong.

I made split pea soup last night and Grace chowed on it!  She really liked it!  And then for dessert I made quinoa chocolate muffins.  They don't need any flour, and so that's good!  Grace loved them and so did we, so I'll probably be making these again.  I'm hoping the kids will come over tonight for dinner (it's been planned but could change if Brad isn't feeling any better) because we are going to have chili, cornbread and the cupcakes that I made.  The only bad thing is that the deflated in the middle, but everyone online said that happens, so I'm not upset by it.

I can't wait for school to be over.  I've got 6 more weeks and I'm just SO ready to be done.  Last night I organized my fabrics and patterns and decided what I will make for Grace with which fabric.  If everything happens how I plan, I will have used up most of my fabric (the cotton, anyways) on clothes for Grace.  I still have a ton of fleece and flannel but people really don't want to buy anything that I'm offering to make, and so it just sits in the closet.  And I can only make so many blankets for Grace.  I was hoping to be able to get enough money for another year of gymnastics ($288) from the blankets, but I'll have to get it another way.  We only do gymnastics from September-May because the summer we are traveling so much that it's not worth it to pay for the summer.  It's going to make it hard for her to move up in classes but because we are doing this more for experience and therapy, I'm not expecting her to go up in levels really fast.

Well, I think that's all for now.  I don't really want to do any homework right now but I know I should at least start, so I better get to it while Grace is watching her movie.  Oh!  Grace can get into 4h in September!  I don't know if she's going to be able to handle the curriculum so I might not put her in, but I really want her to be able to be involved in things for her age group even if she's not there developmentally.  But then I have to wonder...will it be worth it for her?  And will she be able to do any of the work, or will I be the one doing it all?  We'll see.

Amanda