Halloween!

It was such a fun Halloween!!  It was super cold, though, so Levi didn't last very long.  But that's ok.  Grace got SO much candy, and when we finally couldn't handle the cold, we went home so that Grace could help hand out candy.  She did such a great job, and loved it just as much as I did!

 Our friend's son was a Tiger, just like Levi!!  How fun!  It was so cold Grace girl had to wear her coat, but everyone still knew she was a princess, and she never has to even wear a princess dress for that!

And Grace loves playing with Daddy.  Whenever he lays on the ground, he becomes a horse :)  

Amanda

Back to Home Depot

So we had to go back again.  The paint we got was horribly yellow!!  So round two :)

Here is the tile that Grace drew (up), and the one I made for them!  I'm hoping the next time we go, we'll see these on the wall!

Oh, and then a TON of cherry tomatoes from the garden!  Thank goodness for cherry tomatoes that were volunteer growers!

Amanda

Off to Home Depot

So Daddy finally decided that he was ready to paint the inside of the house.  The walls are just so darn brown and it makes the inside of the house so dark!  I have kept saying over and over that I want things to change but we never took that step...well, there we go!  Having fun in the shopping cart!!  This kids LOVE this shopping cart!  Holy cow!  I need to just bring this shopping cart home with me and use it for them to play with when they get bored.  Levi loves it so so much that he'll reach over and play with Grace's wheel as well, and he'll scream if Grace touches his.

Amanda

Grace's Birthday Party!!!

We celebrated Grace's birthday party before her actual birthday because the weekend after her birthday was Labor Day weekend, and I was worried that people wouldn't be in town.  Here comes the pictures!!

Walk the plank!!  ARR!!!  Grace had such a great time at her birthday party, and had so many friends there to celebrate with her.  They had a treasure hunt outside while they were walking the plank (a bunch of yummy candy was hidden!) and so all the kids had a great time finding the treasures.

And then it was lunch time!   Macaroni and cheese, hot dogs cut to look like octopus, and grapes.  Oh, and juice that Julie Field brought over!

It was such a great day for Grace, and I'm so glad Grace had a great time.  She just has so much fun with friends, and enjoys their happiness so much.  Did you see the picture of her holding the little box up and her friends are all around?  She got a box full of jewelry treasures and the first thing she did was lift the box up to share with her friends!  I have a girly with such a soft heart.  I love this kid so darn much and can't believe it's almost been 6 years.  She got coloring things for her birthday and of course, she colored once everyone left!  

Amanda

Celebrate Youth!

We got to go to the park to the Celebrate Youth that they had going on.  It was a fair and so there were tons of booths and food and games for Grace to play at.  We got to leave Levi at home with Daddy so it could just be a mommy/daughter activity, and I could tell Grace loved that.  I gave her a lot more chances to have independence and she did so great!  I stayed at a bench while she walked over to the fishing booth, she waited in line and fished and didn't get nervous at all!  I was so proud of her!!

 And of course we had to go visit the swings.  My girly just loves the swings so much, and she's graduated to the big swings so that's just a wonderful thing.  I still don't push her very high because I don't want her falling off...I know, helicopter parent.

This is my girly so proud of herself and yelling, "MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!"  

Love you Grace!

Amanda/Mommy

Fun Times

Well, another day.  I've been working on painting aliens and other space stuff in Levi's room and so the kiddos love to play around me while I'm working.  They are such cuties, and they're getting so much better at playing independently, as well as together without me having to be there.  There are times that we need to be around the kids since sometimes they get a little overwhelming for one another.  But that's ok!  Oh, and we had some pool time!  See my girly in the one picture where she's sitting over at the sidewalk?  Yeah...she kept purposely splashing and after I asked her not to, well...she needed a 2 minute break.

 I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Amanda/Mommy

On a side note...my girly, a week away from 6, can now bathe herself, brush her teeth, dress and undress, put on/take off shoes, get her own snack/drink out of the fridge, takes her plate to the sink, and wore her glasses for the whole time at school!!!!! I let go of some control and bam!! Progress!!

First Day of School

Grace finally got to go to school.  Over and over she would ask me if she could go to school and it just wasn't time!  And then...it's the day!

There they are!!!  My kiddos.  This is how they rode to school.  Cute, huh?

Her first homework assignment as a kindergartener!

Levi was happy for about a minute until I stopped taking this picture.  Grace was working on her homework and he really wanted her to play with him!

A great first day. Grace's name is Mrs. Call and Grace really likes her :)  Grace loves school and that makes me so darn happy.  I can tell homework is going to be an issue but that's ok.  We're going to work together on our patience, and make sure we try our best.

Amanda

Back to School Night!

Today we got to go to Grace's school and see her teacher, her classroom and learn about the goings ons for her class!  I can't believe I'm going to have an official kindergartener soon!  AH!

Grace had a great time but it was super overwhelming for her.  Lots of kids on top of all the parents...she did her best but ended up having to leave.  But that's ok!

SHE ALSO LOST A TOOTH!!!!  Daddy pulled this one out for her and she did so great because she didn't cry!  Daddy wrapped some floss around the tooth and I tightened it for him since I have smaller fingers, and then pop he went!

Amanda

Helping a Friend

Today we went to a friends house and watched Daddy help them build a storage shed.  It was just one of the plastic piece together ones so it wasn't too difficult, it's just that it took a LONG time!  But Grace had such a great time over there playing in the sand box, swinging on the swing, jumping on the trampoline, and looking through the garden :)

Amanda

Just Random Things

Random activities :)  Grace and Levi love snuggling with Daddy, and I finally got a super cute picture of them!  And other stuff.

Love you, Grace!

Mommy

Grace won!

At the fair Grace got to spin a wheel to see what prize she would win and WOW!!!  She won a $10 VISA card!  So we went shopping today and she got to pick out a toy with her own money.  Then came a funny story.  I've tried to buy paint 3x so I could paint Levi's room. The first time at checkout I found out my card was frozen because of someone frauding my account. The second time, they didn't have the paint I needed, and the third time....today, I was so close! Grace got to buy her special toy from winning the money but I had to pay extra because it was over $10. I was not about to tell her no because she LOVED the toy. So not enough money. Which turned out to be fine because the Walmart worker didn't close the can the whole way, it tipped over and spilled a HUGE pile of paint on the floor, the cart, and somehow got on my arms and hands! Shew.  What a crazy day...but Grace got her toy so it was all worth it.

Love you, Grace!  And so does your daddy!  He was so so proud of you for spinning that for your reward!

Amanda

Celebrate Youth Fair!

I just love that there are so many things going on in this town!  This is so much better than living in California!  It just seems like every time you turn your head there is a child oriented activity going on.  

See the stamps all over her face, arms and hands?  You can't see the ones on her stomach and the back of her neck ;)  Silly girl just LOVES to get all messy!  Love you bunches, girl.

She went to the fishing activity all by herself and actually waited in line, told the girl how old she was, fished and got her prize!  Here she is yelling..."MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM...I got a prize!!!!!!!!"

Silly girly.

Amanda

Sick

Bleh, we're all sick.  'Nuff said.

But on a positive note...our friends brought homemade tomato soup and homemade french bread for us to eat since we were all sick!  How sweet!!!

Amanda

Gymnastics Competition!

Grace had a gymnastics competition today, and I was SO HAPPY to be able to watch her perform!  She had so much darn fun, and Levi just enjoyed watching his big sister flipping, having fun and celebrating her success.  Let's let the pictures speak for themselves!

Warming up for her gymnastics competition!

Wonderful job, Grace!!  I'm so darn proud of you :)  And I can see that you are so darn excited as well.  I love you so darn much.  And so does Daddy.  We are so proud of you and I'm so glad we get to have so much fun together.

An after gym competition snack :)  He and Grace both absolutely LOVE go-gurts!!

 And then he decided that he was going to stand up at the couch and transfer to the laundry basket.  CRAZY!!

Amanda/Mommy