525,600 minutes

Cuties

2012-01-22T14:34:00.002-05:00

My little "cutie" has been gobbling up the tangerine "Cuties". Today Grace ate three of them in a row!

I think she likes that she is able to peel them herself. I like that, too. But I don't love the peels all over the coffee table!

Dancer

2012-01-19T18:47:00.000-05:00

Grace will be starting ballet and tap lessons next Tuesday. She asked to take ballet classes, but I didn't want her to give up gymnastics. Luckily, the gym she has been attending has a combination gymnastics/ballet/tap class. It seemed like the perfect way to let her try it out before we commit to a "real" dance studio.

Ever since she got her tap and ballet shoes a week ago, she has been prancing around the house in them. So cute!

Might as well enjoy it

2012-01-15T16:53:00.000-05:00

There is no doubt that winter is here. Since we can't hibernate like bears, we might as well find ways to get out and enjoy it....in small doses!

We went to the sledding hill early before it got crowded.

Next time we'll bring Daisy.

She would love to run around in the snow!

"Old school" sledding....Kyle bought this Radio Flyer sled

and refurbished it. It was F-A-S-T!

Hold on! Here we go!

It looks like there wasn't enough snow...but it was packed down

and slippery enough to make both of our sleds fast and fun.

No pictures of me....but I DID go down the hill a few times. When we were leaving Grace said she has the best Mom and Dad because we take her places like ice skating and sledding. That is nice to hear!

Ice capades

2012-01-14T18:27:00.005-05:00

We took Grace ice stating for the first time today. I wasn't sure how it would go, but she was very confident all morning telling us that she can balance and that she would do spins like the Disney princesses we saw last week.

The ice arena we went to is at Kent State University. We told Grace we were going to the college to skate. Inside the arena there were three birthday parties going on, a lot off people, and a big fireplace in the center of a sunken area with tables and benches for eating and resting. As soon as she looked around, Grace asked, "Is this college?" When we told her it was she said, "I like college." Yes, my dear, most people do.

Like most things athletic, I figured Kyle would be the one to help Grace the most. But, it turns out my one or two lessons in the Poconos when I was a kid trumped his current skating abilities. Really, don't ask me how. But I wasn't arguing because usually Grace chooses him for most activities. I was happy to be the one she wanted today.

After a short break for a snack Grace wanted to go back out on the ice. I was trying not to support her too much but she wasn't ready for me to let go and her legs were too wobbly to just hold my hand. The bad news - bending over hurt my lower back a little (no "getting old" comments, Mom!). The good news - it was also a good butt exercise!

In the end, Grace liked ice skating and I feel confident enough to take her back alone. I was impressed with how great she did for the first time!

Shadow Puppets

2012-01-12T21:15:00.001-05:00

I thought Grace was asleep but when I checked on her this is what I found.

She told me she was making shadow puppets. Now, where did she learn that?

Dare to Dream

2012-01-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

"Dare to Dream" is the title of the newest Disney on Ice production. We went to see it this afternoon with Dawson and Mayna and their super-cool moms. Thanks to Kellie, we had perfect seats in the second row for non-stop princess fun.

The show highlighted the stories of three of the Disney princesses.

Princess Tiana from Princess and the Frog,

Cinderella,

and Rapunzel.

Grace said her favorite part was when Rapunzel and Flynn Rider were flying through the air on her hair. It was very Cirque du Soleil.

At the end of the show, all the princesses came out for one song....I guess that is the way Disney avoids disappointing all those Mulan, Jasmine, Belle, and Ariel fans who waited two hours to see the princess of their dreams!

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-01T00:24:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you...but we are jumping into the new year! I hope it is full of happy times and great memories.

Godparents

2011-12-31T14:39:00.000-05:00

Grace's Godparents, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Chris, played with us in an awesome playground at Sugar Sand Park near their house. It was an enormous tri-level wooden structure with all the slides, swings, and hideouts you could imagine...all with a science theme to go along with the hands-on science museum adjacent to it. We didn't go into the museum this time, but it is a good idea for a rainy day on another trip!

Nana and Ba

2011-12-31T11:57:00.001-05:00

We loved hanging out with Nana and Ba all week!

Playing at the beach...

...swimming in the pool....

...watching TV...
(Ba didn't know he would get to see "Shark Boy and Lava Girl"!)

...and a lot of other things we didn't take pictures of!

What do you think of Nana's lime green and gold Christmas tree?

Beach Baby

2011-12-31T09:44:00.001-05:00

The warmest day we were in Florida was also the cloudiest. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the ocean at Del Rey Beach.

Fully zoomed with my new camera lens.

At first, Grace wasn't too sure about the salt water and kept her mouth closed and her cheeks puffed out.

But it didn't take long before she was running, jumping, and playing in the the waves!

Please change the weather

2011-12-30T23:48:00.000-05:00

We arrived home tonight after spending 5 days in Florida. Kyle and I both commented that the 40-something temperatures and rain were not bad for the end of December in Ohio. I was certainly expecting to find snow and ice instead of rain. But, the first thing Grace said in the back seat was, "Please change the weather." After a little chuckle, we asked her what she wanted instead and she said "sun". I guess our bathing beauty prefers the warm Florida sunshine to cold, rainy Ohio!

Mom, Santa came!

2011-12-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, the big guy in red arrived and brought some awesome toys for the good little girl in our house. I think "he" did a great job this year. Sometimes, you just don't know what will be a hit with a 4-year old. But, Grace seemed to like everything and when I asked her (a few different times this morning) what her favorite present is the answer kept changing. I think she just can't decide!

The dollhouse is taller than Grace and it has an elevator!

She has been telling me and Santa that she wanted a "shopping cart like giant Eagle". The first thing she did was get her baby and put all the food from her other cart into this one. Then she told me we should "yard sale it to kids who don't have one". I didn't know yard sale was a verb.

Notice Rock Star Mickey in the background.
This was top on the list, too.

Kyle's parents gave it to Grace last night
and the look on her face was priceless!

'Twas the night before...

2011-12-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Grace is in bed and Santa is on his way. We baked peanut butter cookies and sprinkled reindeer food on the grass behind our house (we figure Santa will probably fly over the lake and land on our deck since we don't have a chimney). It is a day early, but we leave for Florida on Sunday, so Santa knows to come tonight....

See you in the morning!

Shaving cream snowman

2011-12-21T19:27:00.001-05:00

One of the advantages of working in a preK-1 building is that I get to see a lot of the projects the teachers work on with their students. This week, I walked in on a class making snowmen from shaving cream mixed with glue. It was just the messy kind of fun we needed this week! The teacher was so sweet and provided me with all the "fixings" so with the shaving cream and glue we had in the house, we were all set for this fun project!

First get your shaving cream and glue.

Mix it up for a few minutes.

Spread the mixture with a spoon or your fingers and add

accessories and glitter to make your snowman shine.

Soon you wil have a finished snowman.

Throwing snowballs

2011-12-18T13:52:00.000-05:00

There was a lot more snow in Cleveland yesterday than there is here today. The little bit that remains was on our deck so Grace got all bundled up (I remembered to ask if she had to use the bathroom before zipping her into her snowpants) and went out to play for a little while.

She and Kyle were throwing snowballs into the lake. But Grace's didn't reach so he walked her to the edge so hers would actually make it into the water!

Tiny Trekkers

2011-12-17T17:04:00.001-05:00

Kellie and I took Grace and Dawson to the Natural History Museum today for a preschool class about animals. The theme was animals that are active, migrate, and hibernate during winter. The instructor was a former early childhood educator and she had a lot of fun, interactive things for the children to do. We ate lunch at the museum, went to the planetarium for a show about the night sky, and when we came outside we were greeted with this beautiful snow! It was the perfect light, fluffy snow typical of an early winter day in our area. Grace and Dawson LOVED it. Their smiles were ear-to-ear as they ran, climbed, twirled, and tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues!

Pre-kindergarten elves

2011-12-16T17:54:00.000-05:00

For the annual holiday show at Grace's school, her pre-kindergarten class recited a poem about Santa's elves who were overworked and ready for a beach vacation. Grace was a little "out of it" because she wasn't feeling well, but she rallied for her solo part when she told the elves, "Everyone get back to work!"

Some of the pre-K elves waiting their turn and watching the other classes.

Getting ready to perform.

They put their elf hats on by themselves...can you tell?

My sick little elf.

Grace's teacher told me that she didn't seem like herself this morning so she took her temperature. I agreed and decided to take her home to rest. But on the way home I got called with a crisis at work so Grace went with me. She was very patient while I talked to students and parents about a fight. But at one point she said, "Mommy, are you still thinking about taking me to the doctor?" When I said I was thinking about it she pointed out that we have a doctor here. I told her that was the school nurse and she said, "Well, maybe I can go see her and she can make me feel better." Poor baby. But she did. Grace left my office, walked through the main office, a back office, and into the clinic on her own. When I found her a few minutes later she was talking to the nurse about her runny nose and that her whole body hurts. We went home to rest after that!

On the shelf...or in the basement?

2011-12-13T18:24:00.009-05:00

Last year, Grace did not like our Elf on the Shelf, Christopher Pop-in-Kins. I think the whole idea of one of Santa's elves sneaking around, watching her, and reporting back to Santa was just a little too freaky. Plus, she wasn't allowed to touch him or he would lose his magic. This year, we are doing things a little differently. He is a bit more naughty and some nights will do something "bad" like pull all the toilet paper off the roll, make snow angels in flour spread on the counter, and have a snowball fight with her doll using mini marshmallows. Grace can touch him, play with him, and move him around. The only rule is that he is on the steps at night "so he can get back to the North Pole to check in with Santa". Really, it is just so I don't have to hunt for him when she goes to bed! I think the whole thing is teaching her some good lessons. One morning she told me she was going to tell Santa that Chris did something naughty but when I reminded her that would be tattling and asked if she wanted Chris to tell Santa on her, she changed her mind!

So, when a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer came to read the Elf on a Shelf story to her class and interviewed the kids, the whole concept was familiar to Grace. In this article (click to read it)she is quoted (near the end) along with some of her classmates. I have to laugh that they call her "a quiet girl with brown hair". She might be a little quiet at school, but she is NOT quiet at home!

Overall, I think Grace is a little skeptical of the elf. She asked me if he lives in the North Pole. Instead of answering her, I said, "is that where you think he lives?" She said, "I think maybe he lives in our basement." That stinker must have seen him in one of the boxes down there with the Christmas decorations!

Third time's a charm

2011-12-10T20:22:00.021-05:00

I finally smartened up. For the third year we made a gingerbread house for Christmas, but this is the first time I bought the house already assembled. The first year, I didn't know you could buy them that way. I was just happy to get a kit so I didn't actually have to bake the walls. The second year, I couldn't find a pre-assembled house until after the holidays. But this year, I was ready. I knew where to go to get one and I was thrilled not to have to mix icing and prop walls up while they dry. It was much more fun to be able to concentrate on the fun part...decorating! Oh, yeah, and eating too much candy in the process!

Carefully making a pattern.

She loved squeezing the icing.

Almost finished.

Grace decided to add the snowman she

made at Dawon's house last night.

What a great finishing touch!

Happy Holi-DAY

2011-12-04T10:55:00.038-05:00

Today made the third year in a row that we attended the Holiday Walk in Hudson. They have a shopping area with small shops and restaurants and several times per year the merchants host events to bring people in. I like this holiday because it is a low-key way to see Santa and they have free horse and carriage rides around the town.

They also have carolers, a live Nativity with reindeer, and other costumed characters like Christopher Pop-In-Kins and Frosty the Snowman. The weather was great today for walking around - a little windy but warm for December 4th!

This year, Santa was at the Wild Bird Center so Grace enjoyed the wind chimes and other outdoor items while she waited her turn to talk to him.

I like seeing Santa here because he takes his time with each child. He talked to Grace about her stuffed doll, what she wants to be when she grows up (which right now is a conductor in the orchestra and a teacher), and what she would like for Christmas. He was in no hurry even though there was a pretty long line behind us.

And, just because it is fun to see how much Grace is growing, here she is with Santa when she was 2 1/2 years old (2009) and 3 1/2 years old (2010).

With Santa in 2009

With Santa in 2010

2011-11-27T17:40:00.006-05:00

Several weeks ago a poster for the Nutcracker was displayed at Grace's school. For days as we entered the building Grace pointed to the dancers and said, "Can we go there?" Knowing that she loved The Wizard of Oz and Fancy Nancy performed by the Ballet Theater of Ohio, I didn't hesitate to buy tickets. Not having a sense of time, it probably seemed like a long wait for this day to come. When I told her this morning that we were going to the Nutcracker TODAY, she said, "Oh, I am so excited!" and after the show she told me, "Mommy, I loved that show!" I have to agree. It was fantastic. I love that most of the dancers are not professional. Many of them where children. It wasn't perfect. But it was impressive with colorful sets, glittering costumes, and all the theatrics of a performance you would expect in a bigger, more metropolitan city.

Only marginally related to this post (but something I don't want to forget) is the vocabulary Grace has used this weekend....most notably two words -fragile and ominous. As Grace was upstairs decorating her Christmas tree, I heard her say about an ornament, "This one is fragile." And today during the ballet she said, "Mom, that music is ominous." You know I questioned her about the meaning of those words and she correctly replied, "It can break" and "It means it is a little scary." Wow! Where is this stuff coming from?

Special delivery

2011-11-20T16:25:00.005-05:00

We were too excited to wait....so Grace dropped off her letter to Santa today in his special mailbox. I hope that she gets a response soon since we sent the letter early.

No need for a jacket today...it was almost 60 degrees! Not bad for Nov. 20th in Ohio!

Making a list, checking it twice

2011-11-19T14:09:00.017-05:00

Grace's Christmas list has been a work in progress for the last few weeks. This is the first year she has really shown a real interest in choosing toys and she understands being on Santa's "naughty" or "nice" list. I must admit...I am taking full advantage of this by saying I am going to call Santa whenever she isn't doing what ask!
Back to her list...every time a catalog comes Grace spends a lot of time carefully looking at all the toys. She will do this over and over with the same catalog and after a while several items became favorites. So I told her she could cut them out and glue them on a big paper to make a list for Santa.
We finished the list this morning by finding the last couple of presents on the internet and adding those to her paper. With help sounding out the words, Grace labeled the pictures just so Santa would be sure to know what she wants.

What's on the list? A "real" shopping cart (this one is from Melissa and Doug and it is expensive but AWESOME!), the game Operation, a horse (the picture is of a rocking horse, but what she wants is one for her American Girl doll), the Imaginext Batman cave, a dollhouse (this one is Kidkraft and is taller than Grace), Rock and Roll Mickey, Trash Pack kids (these will be in her stocking), and a pretend school. Some things that are not on the list, but she has mentioned are a cash register and a wind chime. I think Florida Santa will be bringing those to Nana and Ba's house!
Our city has a special Santa mailbox at City Hall so we are going to decorate an envelope and drop the list off one evening this week. Santa will even write back if you include a self-addressed envelope!

Striped tights

2011-11-14T08:31:00.000-05:00

OMG this outfit just kills me! Grace says she doesn't like to wear tights, but she looks so adorable in them....especially striped ones like this!

First snowfall

2011-11-12T11:06:00.003-05:00

Although snow on November 11th seems much too early for me, Grace was thrilled yesterday morning when she woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground. The normal morning routine of pleading, coaxing, and rushing was replaced by a kid who jumped out of bed, got dressed, and gobbled her breakfast when I promised she could go out on the deck for a few minutes. Grace declared that she was going to build a snowman. When I said there wasn't enough snow she told me, "Just a baby one, Mommy.

Autumn came to our front lawn

2011-11-06T11:14:00.010-05:00

We only have one tree on our front lawn. This year, it seems like the leaves have lasted a long time. In the last week they finally turned a beautiful orange-red color and just in the last few days enough of them fell to cover the little patch of green we have in front of our house. Grace helped rake them and had a great time jumping and hiding in them.

I love this photo!

I tried to capture her joy at throwing the leaves in the air, but I guess I need work on my action shots....although I do kind of like how the leaves are out of focus and are just blurs of color.

Taking these photos today reminded me of pictures my parents took of my brother and me years ago. They used it for a Christmas card that year. Hmmmm....I wonder if we can locate it. Mom? Any ideas?

Trick-or-treaters

2011-10-29T21:20:00.004-04:00

Kyle's nephews came over for dinner and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Grace had a great time. It is definitely more fun to have some friends to go with!

Here they are

2011-10-29T10:42:00.004-04:00

Pumpkin carving

2011-10-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

This has become a new tradition! Grace loved getting her hands (and the table, chairs, floor, my hair...) all goopy with the pumpkin insides! We ended up with three, cool-looking pumpkins.

Pre-kindergarten parade

2011-10-28T17:46:00.010-04:00

Trick or treat,

Smell my feet,

Give me something good to eat.

Not an apple,

Not a pear,

Not your stinky underwear!

That is the song Grace has been singing for the last couple of weeks. She learned it at school. Hopefully not from the teacher! My guess is she learned it from some of her classmates. Many of them have been together since they were 18 months old, so they are like "family" at school. And with that comes the teasing, rivalry, and silly songs and jingles

Rainbow in the sky

2011-10-27T18:39:00.006-04:00

Grace got the coolest balloon today when we went out to dinner. She asked for a rainbow and, boy, did she get one!

Horse people

2011-10-23T15:52:00.010-04:00

Horse people are different. Not being a "horse person" myself, I have always known they live in a different world of stables, shows, and caring for a pretty big animal. Visiting Post Hill Equestrian center today with Grace, made me think that some day I might just understand the difference between "Western" and "English" and the benefits to both, because, as I have said before, we have a little horse lover in our house.

Unfortunately, Grace didn't get to ride a horse today, but we saw about 30 of them. The owners were all really nice and welcomed her questions and allowed her to pet them. She also got her hand painted, made a horse mask, and decorated a horseshoe with glitter paint and jewels.

We got to enjoy what might be one of the last warm autumn days of 2011. And Grace even posed for some pictures.

I think the bribe that we would go into the inflatable jumpy house at the pumpkin farm next door had something to do with it!

Jinkies! Zoinks! It's....

2011-10-22T21:27:00.005-04:00

....Scooby, Scooby Do!

This year, Boo at the Zoo was very crowded. We think it is because the weather today was wonderful and last weekend it was cold, rainy, and windy! When we tried to buy pre-sale tickets this afternoon they were sold out. So, we had to buy them at the zoo, which meant waiting on line to get in. Even with the crowds, we had a fun time. Grace was very proud of her Scooby Do costume and her friends - the nerdy Velma Dinkely and the always hungry Shaggy! We got a lot of looks and comments at the zoo!

Progress

2011-10-17T18:54:00.008-04:00

I have been working A LOT! And I have a lot of Mommy guilt to go along with the long hours I have been putting in at work. But I have been so pleased with Grace's pre-kindergarten teacher and the progress I see Grace making.

Suddenly, she is interested in writing and trying to "sound out" words. And, I see a difference in her drawings. For weeks she has only wanted to draw rainbows (that were colorful but not shaped like a rainbow) but the last few days she has been producing art like this and has elaborate stories to go with it.

In this drawing she told me it is Kyle, me, Grace and the babysitter because Mommy and Daddy had to go to a meeting. The color above the head in the middle is Kyle's hair. I haven't seen her draw people like this before so I find it hard to believe the drawing is hers but Grace is so insistent and she can share so many details about it that she must have drawn it.

Today, when I picked her up from school she was excited to show me the "sentence" she wrote. When I asked her to read it to me she said it says, "My mom is the best ever. I love her to the moon and back." Awwww....Of course it doesn't look anything like that so I asked her to tell me the letters. She pointed out an a, o, h, the number 7, a, t and then h, i, t.

All that work calls for some ice cream!

Storybook forest

2011-10-09T08:54:00.001-04:00

We didn't know what to expect when we decided to attend the 3rd annual Light UP Lantern festival this weekend. I guessed that we would experience something different and magical since it was sponsored by Leandra Drumm, a well-known local artist and her creative family members who run one of the oldest and respected galleries in the area. Just walking into Don Drumm studios is a delightful experience. To see an event they created and sponsored is something out of this world. Combine all that familial creativity with a fall evening, close to Halloween, lanterns and costumed spectators of every shape and size, folk music, fortune tellers, stilt walkers, street performers, and the exotic aroma of food cooking at sidewalk stalls and you have all the ingredients for a unique evening.

I am glad we arrived early. The whole event took place on one small side street, so once it got crowded it became hard to see everything. Since we arrived about an hour before the crowds we wandered through the gallery where I bought this spider "hat",

Grace and Dawson took a quick rest on a bench in the secret garden,

they made two craft projects (a firefly and a lantern),

and we people-watched as fanciful costumes, floats, and lanterns wandered up and down the street.

This little girl's costume was amazing.

The entire back was like a patchwork quilt.

Grace was curious about the "smoke"

in the Alice in Wonderland teapot.

But NONE of us liked the Queen of Hearts. She was RUDE!

The theme was "storybooks" and there were a lot of fairies.

I liked this one best. She was Thumbelina

and next to her was Tinkerbell.

The girls are looking at Tinkerbell here.

Grace told me early in the day that she was "so excited" to go to the lantern festival and more than once when we were there she said, "This is so awesome". Putting her to bed was fun as she recounted to me her impression of the beautiful costumes, displays, and lights.

My little pumpkin

2011-10-08T12:51:00.009-04:00

Have you ever seen a pumpkin like this?

Or this?

Unusually warm weather for October, allowed us to play outside at the soccer field before the last home game. It is pretty nice to be out there without jackets and long pants. The temperature is supposed to get up to 80 this afternoon!

It was "senior day" for the soccer players so the field was decorated with balloons, tents along the sidelines, and they brought out this giant bulldog. We watched as they blew it up and then Grace had fun running through it.

Preparing for the lantern festival

2011-10-02T18:19:00.010-04:00

I don't know how Kellie and I have never heard of the Light UP Lantern festival before. This year will be the third year of the festival held on a Saturday night in early October. Kellie and I are always looking for something new to do, so I can't imagine how we missed this artistic event the last couple of years.

Since we are headed to the festival next Saturday night we thought it would be fun to have Grace and Dawson make lanterns to carry with them. The festival sponsors say, "fanciful costumes and lanterns are welcome and encouraged". I know there will be some amazing ones by many local professional and amateur artists.

Our "artists" made these cute ones using plastic jars, paint, and battery-powered tea lights. I think they turned out great. I am glad they decided to make their jack-o-lanterns more colorful than just orange. They seem to fit in well with the creative theme of the festival.

Dawson's lantern is on the left; Grace's is on the right.

More fall fun

2011-09-26T20:00:00.000-04:00

Some people might think it is a little early but we went to a farm on Sunday to choose our pumpkins. They had a lot of fun fall decorations and a farmers market with rows and rows of locally-grown fresh produce and baked goods. I wanted to buy everything!

All week, Grace has been asking to go to a pumpkin patch. She decided we needed 4 pumpkins - one for each of us...and Daisy! She chose two small ones for herself and her dog and Kyle and I chose our own.

Getting so big

2011-09-25T19:53:00.001-04:00

Some days I feel like Grace grows up while she is at school. I drop her off in the morning and by the time I pick her up after work she seems like a much bigger, older, smarter kid to me.

These are her fall school photos. I like them (except for that piece of hair that came out of her flower clip....didn't anyone notice it?) but they are also hard to look at because she isn't my "baby" any more. I miss the baby and toddler days, but I love the "big" kid she is becoming. Hanging out with Grace, talking to her, answering her many questions, and watching her play and learn are all so much fun!

First signs of fall

2011-09-24T16:11:00.007-04:00

A few days ago summer officially turned to fall. You can barely see a hint of color on the tips of some leaves and there is a crispness to the air, especially in the morning and evening. It is time to start pulling out jeans and sweaters and to cuddle under a warm blanket so we can leave the windows open at night.

While Kyle was at soccer this afternoon, Grace and I went to a garden center to get started on our front porch decorations. They had a little fall festival going on so she got to jump in the bouncy house and ride a horse.

We got a snack, looked at all the spooky displays, and came home with a scarecrow and some mums. Grace was a big help putting the flowers in pots and arranging everything in front of the house. She even "played school" with the scarecrow!

Rocket and rollin' around town

2011-09-18T16:24:00.014-04:00

I never thought I would be one of those parents who would wait in the Toys R Us line at 5AM for the "it" toy of the season. But, the truth is, I would do anything for Grace. Even drive around town looking for a rocket. More on that later.

It is good to rediscover some of the great things about your town. In honor of National Curiosity Day (did you know there was such a thing?) a local bookstore hosted a storytime and tea party. Naturally, their theme was everyone's favorite curious monkey - Curious George. But they read other stories, too, and brought a curious 9-week old kitten from the humane society. The entrance "fee" was a box of dog or cat treats. Grace was very proud to bring her gift for the animals that don't have a loving home. She loved sitting in a quiet corner exploring the books,

sampling her "tea",

and holding the kitten.

One little girl really thought her parents were going to let her bring the kitten home. I chuckled to myself when her dad tried to distract her with ice cream instead of the kitten!

Luckily, I had prepared Grace that we were NOT adopting a kitten so I didn't need to do much to lure her away from that cuddly, little grey puff of fur. But, going to the toy store and getting a cupcake didn't hurt.

I think a dollhouse might be on Santa's list this year.

While we were eating amazing gourmet cupcakes outside the bakery, two rocket cars kept speeding by. Any four-year-old would definitely want to ride one of them. So, I kept watching where it was turning and we started on a "rocket hunt" looking for the place where people were boarding. I knew Grace really wanted to ride because she didn't complain as we walked looking for it. Kyle was helping from home looking for the rocket cars on the computer, but finally I decided to get in the car and FOLLOW THAT ROCKET! We found it at the Catholic Church where we jumped out of our car and waited in a short line before our turn to ride. It was worth the hunt...both for the ride and the ear-to-ear smile on my Grace as the wind blew through her hair!

No training wheels

2011-09-17T12:55:00.013-04:00

For the last three weekends, Grace has been practicing riding her bike without training wheels. I think using the balance bike had a lot to do with how easily she was able to ride once Kyle removed the training wheels.

With help, Grace has been going up and down our street. There is a slight hill so she can pick up a little speed on the way down, but she really has to pedal hard on the way back up to keep her balance.

The first week she did it I ran with her, but the last couple of weekends, Kyle has helped so I can take photos and video. There is a short clip from last Sunday on YouTube. If you want to see it go to www.youtube.com and try searching "Grace bike riding.AVI". There are a lot of "Graces" riding their bike for the first time. Our clip was posted under LynnVvideos on Monday, Sept. 12th.

Two other "big kid" things happened recently....today she made another friend on our street. Austin is 7 and right now Grace, Cameron, and Austin are playing in his yard. And, Grace wanted a toy she saw on television - My Little Pony Princess Celestia. She told me about it a couple of weeks ago. Then she pointed it out when the commercial came on - many times! So today I told her she could use the money in her bank to buy it. And she did! That kid had $22.41 in coins saved. Kyle says every time she sees coins around the house she asks him if she can have them. Smart girl!

Crooked River Pow-Wow

2011-09-14T22:29:00.003-04:00

I learned that a pow-wow is a gathering of North America's native people, often from different tribes. I didn't realize that these pow-wows are like festivals for native and non-native Americans. The one we went to last Sunday with Kellie and Dawson probably was a small once compared to some, but it was fun to see the native costumes, hear the drums and singing, and watch the dances.

A new friend

2011-09-10T20:03:00.005-04:00

Grace became friends with a little girl down the street. Her name is Cameron and she is 1 1/2 years older than Grace, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for either of them. Yesterday, they rode their bikes together and today Cameron rang our doorbell to see if Grace wanted to play. They did chalk drawing, hopscotch, and a big puzzle in our driveway and then went o Cameron's house to play. Grace was there for a couple of hours!

Fireworks and festivities

2011-09-04T10:23:00.007-04:00

Our city as and end-of-summer celebration called Summer Sunset Blast every Labor Day weekend with food, music, and carnival games. Part of the festival is a pretty good fireworks show that we can see perfectly from out lake. Grace was very excited for it this year. All day she kept talking about the fireworks and she even agreed to take a nap in the middle of the day yesterday so she could stay up for the fireworks and festivities!

Grace waited all day to light up her glow-in-the-dark princess wand. That was a great Target $1.00 bin purchase! It is still glowing this morning.

Tonight, the Cleveland orchestra has a Bugs Bunny outdoor concert. We are hoping the thunderstorms pass over us so we can bring our blanket to check out the cartoons and hear the music! I might even go buy another one of those wands....without the star it makes a great conductor's baton!

First day of pre-K

2011-08-26T17:45:00.004-04:00

Goodbye pre-school....Grace started pre-kindergarten today! Did you know there was such a thing?

One thing I love about Grace's daycare/school is that the children transition each year. So far she has been in 4 different classes at the school - toddlers, discovery preschool (bigger toddlers), preschool, and now pre-K.

They are an NAEYC accreditted center and they follow a set curriculum where a weekly school theme is adapted to meet the developmental level of the children in each room. Since we have been there they haven't repeated a theme at all so the exposure she has gotten to topics like Egypt, gooey science, community workers, and dinosaurs have been fun ways to explore letters, number concepts, and emergent reading.

Grace's new teacher, Ms. Elyse, is also new to the school. I think this is going to be learning and growing experience for both of them!

Going kicking and screaming

2011-08-21T13:15:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted much this month. I started my new job on July 26th which means I have been crazy busy during the day and exhausted at night. Looking back, I am so glad we took advantage of the first 5 weeks in June and early July for summer fun. Yesterday, we went to the pool for the last time - it closes today because the lifeguards are all high school and college students who are going back to school this week. It was in the mid-80s and sunny and it just didn't feel like the end of summer. I don't want it to end. Bathing suits, sunscreen (or sunSCREAM, as Grace calls it!), eating outside...ahhh. Even though I like fall, I think this year I am going into it "kicking and screaming"!

Today was a little cooler so we went for a hike in the national park near us. Grace and Daisy had a great time climbing on the giant rocks and exploring the woods.

What are you doing, Grace?

Being the Statue of Liberty.

Ritchie Ledges is a popular part of this park for the massive rocks that formed 320 million years ago from the sediment of a muggy swamp. Today, the ledges are covered in moss and are home to plants and animals that are perfectly adapted to this cool, damp environment.

Friday cuteness

2011-08-19T16:31:00.005-04:00

Grace didn't want me to take her picture so we played a game to see who was faster. She would try to hide her face faster than I could snap a shot. I was lucky to get these three cute ones!

Sail the Hudson

2011-08-08T09:31:00.006-04:00

The sailboat ride on the Hudson River was a new experience for all of us!

The captain was very laid back and let the kids and John steer the boat for most of the trip. He really had to, because he needed to tend to the sails once we got out of the channel.

John did a great job maneuvering through some choppy water from freighters, big tour boats going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and two rocket boats doing 360s and creating huge wakes!

Grace has a fascination with the Statue of Liberty (she used to call it the "lady in the water" and the "Statue of Liverly"). I am glad she got a chance to see it this close so early in her life. I am sure it will be the first of many times!

The kids and I liked it on top of the boat near the sails. Shelly, the captain, said that is the most stable place. I don't know about that....at one point the boat was tipped on its side and our feet were getting wet from the water that seemed to be just inches away!

50th anniversary fun

2011-08-07T21:14:00.005-04:00

Friday, August 5th was a beautiful summer day - in 2011 and 50 years ago in 1961 when my parents got married.

We celebrated their golden anniversary as a family with a sailboat ride in the Hudson River....

..and then dinner at an amazing waterfront restaurant with views of Manhattan.

It was a fun day with a lot of laughs. But the best part was seeing my parents' faces when they saw the gallery-wrapped canvas of the grandchildren! At first, my mother didn't believe we met for a beach weekend back in June.

Shhhhh....it's a surprise!

2011-08-05T14:00:00.013-04:00

My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary together today. As one person I told said, "That is an uncommon love". It is certainly a testament to love and commitment to one person - for life. I have been lucky enough to watch my parents' love and marriage for 40+ of those 50 years and they truly have lived those marriage vows they took back in 1961...for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, etc.

My dad has been carrying this wedding

photo in his wallet for 50 years!

When we started discussing ways to celebrate, my parents were VERY clear that they didn't want a big party, a big trip, a big present....a big ANYTHING. In a way, that makes celebrating more difficult because everything was so undefined. But, we figured out a great, intimate way to celebrate the occasion - more on that in another post.

In June, we drove to New Jersey to meet up with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews to have a professional photographer take pictures of the three grandchildren on the beach.

Kristy, the photographer, working with the kids.

Our hope was to get some great candid shots of the kids together as their anniversary gift. Believe me, I am glad August 5th is finally here because reminding Grace to keep the secret that we spent a couple of days at the Jersey shore playing with Connor and Ryan has not been easy!

Rainbows

2011-08-01T01:52:00.001-04:00

The pool is going to close in a month but the weather will stay warm here through at least the end of September. So, I bought Grace a sprinkler to play in the water on our front lawn. The rainbow colors of the sprinkler matched her rainbow bathing suit.

Watching her today reminded me of when I was a kid. We lived in two different houses with pools but sometimes, we would play in the hydrant sprinkler. When that happened, the whole neighborhood would come out to run through the water together. Maybe if we keep playing outside we can attract some neighborhood kids for Grace to play with!

Under the stars

2011-07-31T10:03:00.005-04:00

We were happy to end a busy week (back to school and back to work) with an outdoor movie night that Kellie hosted at her house. Dawson and Grace had a great time playing on the jungle gym as the sun went down.

eventually settled down for the movie Rio, side-by-side in their matching sleeping bags.

The weather was perfect for an evening outdoors. Unfortunately, the mosquitos thought so too so we had to move the party inside for the last hour of movie-watching. No one seemed to mind, though!

End of vacation

2011-07-23T18:39:00.012-04:00

Although according to the calendar there is still a lot of summer left, for us summer vacation is almost over. I have been telling (preparing) Grace for the last few days by reminding her that on Monday she will be going back to school every day. The other night she told me, "I like vacation better." Yeah, I am pretty sure everyone feels that way.

I read an article the other day about a woman who makes a "summer jar" sometime in the spring. She fills the jar with ideas of things to do on those lazy summer days when her kids declare that they are bored. They choose something from the jar in the morning and set out on an adventure that day based on what the card says - visit a new park, play miniature golf, take a nature walk...

I can honestly say, our summer has been full and I don't think there was a day any of us felt bored. We all wish we had more lazy summer days to do whatever we want without worrying about work, alarm clocks, meeting deadlines, answering calls and email....

So far this summer we:

explored San Francisco for 5 days,
swam in the pool too many times to count,
participated in 3 weeks of swimming lessons where Grace learned to float, flutter kick, and use her arms in a front crawl,
saw the elephants at the Cleveland Zoo,
rode the train and the carousel at the Akron Zoo,
saw Cars 2 and Winnie the Pooh movies,
listened to the orchestra at an outdoor concert,
watched fireworks,
went to an Indians game,
rode our bikes on the bike and hike trail,
went to birthday parties for Dawson and Elijah,
learned cheers at gymnastics camp,
touched an alligator, snake, and chinchilla with Jungle Terry,
played in the pool and playhouse on our deck,
cooked dinner outside on the grill,
made smoothies with fresh fruit from the farmers' market, and a bunch of other things I can't remember right now.

It has been a lot of fun but we are not done yet.....we may be going back to school and work, but we are going to squeeze every bit of warm sunshine out of this summer because this kind of weather is just around the corner!

Live, learn, and move on

2011-07-18T16:15:00.011-04:00

This blog has been a labor of love from Day 1. I can't just let it go. So, I decided to try to stay current with our lives AND try to go back and recreate at least the photos for 2011. That is 87 posts with photos. I have no idea how long it will take me, but I figure I can find time to do a few each week, maybe even one per day.

In the "moving on" category....We had a fun playdate with my friend Carla and her son, Ryan, who is 2 1/2 months older than Grace. Grace and Ryan got along really well and did a fantastic job walking all day in the hot summer sun. (Carla and I refused to pick them up so it was "walk or we go home!").

We went to the Cleveland Zoo to see their new African elephant exhibit, which has been getting great reviews. It was really well done and, unlike some of my friends who have gone recently and only saw one elephant, we saw five!

Ryan was a master with the zoo map. He can't read yet but the little photo icons helped him point out which animals we needed to see next. His sense of direction was amazing. A few times he corrected the adults about where a certain animal was and at the end he informed us (correctly!) that we missed three animals!

Grace tried reading the map, too!

I photographed some of my favorites....giraffes and the polar bear.

But this little "wild thing" will always be my number 1!

Before we left, Grace and Ryan rode a camel. She said it was a bumpy ride and their smiles and giggles as the camel walked around were priceless

I made a huge mistake

2011-07-17T15:09:00.009-04:00

Grace trying out some kangaroo ears at the Cleveland Zoo.

If you are here looking for pictures of Grace and updates on our lives, you will probably not see any for a while. I made a huge mistake. In an effort to "clean house" and close out everything associated with my old job as I transition to the new one, I closed a Google account. I had been using that account as my sign-in for Blogger. Before I closed the account I established a new one and changed my Blogger login to that account. BUT.....and here is the mistake.....I didn't know Blogger stores all the photos on the blog in a Picasa account associated with Google. When I closed the Google account I lost all the photos in this blog. 609 entires and probably thousands of photos. They are not really "lost". I have everything backed up on disk and all the 2011 photos are stored in my computer. They are just lost to the blog. The Google account is not recoverable. I checked and there are a lot of people out there who did the same thing and lost it all too. The only thing I can do is go back to each entry and reload the photos ONE BY ONE. I just can't imagine the enormity of doing that and I am not sure if I should. At the end of every year, I had a book printed for that year of the blog (thank goodness I did that!). I am at the point right now of trying to decide if I am going to close the blog or go back and upload just the photos for the 7 months of 2011. Even that seems overwhelming. My goal would be to do that so I can have the 2011 book made and then in January 2012 maybe close this blog permanently.

Maybe I'll start a new one then. Who knows? Right now I just want to cry.

Summer shower splash

2011-07-12T20:09:00.013-04:00

What a fun way to spend a summer evening - splashing in the puddles during a rain shower.

Lately, Grace has preferred to hang around the house in just her underwear. So when the rain started she grabbed her raincoat (now more of a rain jacket!), her boots, and this little golf club umbrella that Kyle had and went right out to the deck for a little mid-summer splash!

I stayed where it was dry taking pictures! But it DID look like fun.

A little house cleaning

2011-07-09T13:15:00.006-04:00

Several weeks ago, Grace got stung by a wasp who was making a nest in her playhouse. We had a service come out - twice - to spray for bees and wasps (we also had a carpenter bee situation in the deck) but she has been afraid to play in the house. Today, we got out the hose, sponges, scrub brushes, and soap and cleaned the house from top to bottom.

Grace seems really happy to play in her house again. And I actually think I might be able to lay on the lounge chair and read a magazine while she plays

Go fly a kite!

2011-07-06T03:09:00.015-04:00

You have seen our photos from San Francisco so you know the wind was a constant part of the atmosphere. On the last day we bought a kite from a shop right at the pier and took it to a small beach to fly it.

Wouldn't you know, the one place we chose was sheltered from the wind so flying the "easy fly" kite was more of a challenge than it should have been! But Kyle has experience flying kites as a kid and he was determined to make it fly for Grace.

Grace also noticed the people (in wet suits!) swimming laps in the water, so she took off her shoes, pulled up her leggings, and rolled up her sleeves so she could get a little time in the water too. The swimmers said the water temperature was about 55 degrees but it didn't seem to bother Grace one bit!

What do you want to do today, Grace?

2011-07-05T02:40:00.014-04:00

First, let me say "Happy Birthday" to my dad. We love you, Ba!

The one thing Grace kept asking to do in San Fransisco was to go on a boat ride. That seemed like a great choice for a place that has water everywhere! And, finally on Thursday the weather was perfect for a boat excursion to Sausalito.

The 30 minute ferry ride took us into the bay, past Alcatraz on one side and the Golden Gate bridge on the other.

Grace led us up to the very top of the ferry (are you noticing a pattern here?) where the sun kissed our cheeks and the wind blew our hair.

Our first close-up views of Sausalito again reminded me of southern Italy with the houses tucked into the side of the hill. I am guessing the real estate here is about as expensive as that on the Amalfi Coast and the owners are in good shape from carrying groceries up to their homes, just like in Capri.

Grace and I watched the sailing school (you can see the little sailboats in the foreground of this photo) taking place in the harbor as our ferry docked. All along the "bridgeway" there were cute shops, cafes, and galleries that were perfect for window shopping.

We walked along the rocks looking for crabs that were sunning themselves. They scurried to hide in the crevices when we approached. Some of the bigger ones were more bold and remained in view so we could watch them scrape moss from the rock surface and eat it! Cool!

On the ride back we were all tired from another busy day so we relaxed inside for most of the ride. Those cushioned benches were great for a short nap as we approached the city once again.

Cable cars

2011-07-04T07:55:00.001-04:00

One of the traditional ways to get around San Francisco is on its cable cars. They are the best way to navigate the hills as the cars are pulled along the hilly tracks by an underground cable. We waited in the long line near Fisherman's Wharf to board the famous Powell-Hyde line that takes you past Lombard Street and over Nob Hill to Union Square.

As you can imagine, the cable car was crowded with tourists and locals but our seats at the back allowed for some nice views of the bay as we climbed the hill.

Grace watched some girls hanging from the side of the car so when it stopped she wanted to try that too!

I found out that there was a zip-line at the end of Market Street - a promotion by British Airways to entice people to fly to their tropical destinations where you can zip-line in the rainforest. This is one of the things on my bucket list so I was really excited to try it. But when we got there they were just training workers and said it wasn't opening until Saturday. The woman was NOT moved when I pleaded with her to let me ride since we were leaving on Friday.

You can see the orange zip-line sign in this photo.

One fun part of the day was meeting up with my cousin Greg for dinner and a visit to Washington Park. He works in San Francisco at a company called Drop Box. It was nice to see him after such a long time!

July 4th (okay, 3rd) fun

2011-07-03T20:14:00.009-04:00

This afternoon we went to an annual picnic hosted by one of Kyle's cousins. Grace loved playing with the other kids and swimming in the pool for more than an hour. She is getting to be very brave in the water. I am glad we are starting swim lessons on Tuesday.

Flying like an eagle

For the picnic, I brought these:

If you need a quick dessert, I really recommend strawberries dipped in melted chocolate (I used white chocolate chips but chocolate pieces come in many colors now) and sugar (blue, in this case) for the festive "red, white, and blue" effect. The strawberries seemed to be a hit since they were all eaten when we left. Always a good sign....

It NEVER rains in late June

2011-07-03T07:13:00.005-04:00

Oh really?

On Tuesday when we planned a day trip to Muir Woods and Sonoma wineries, the rain was non-stop. Our driver told us that in his lifetime (41 years) he had never seen rain at this time of the year. One of the things that makes the Sonoma region so good for growing grapes and wine production is that the climate is like the Mediterranean. The winters are temperate and wet but by the end of May it gets very dry with no rain until the fall. Apparently, this is very good for grape-growing.

Well, we broke the record as the rainfall this day was very unusual and it didn't stop for the 8 hours we were walking around. What was supposed to be a nice hike among the redwoods turned into a sloppy, cold walk. I should have planned better. I even had a rain poncho in my suitcase for Grace (from a rainy evening at Magic Kingdom in May) but did I think about bringing it with me? No. Because it never rains in June.

We tried to make the best of it, buying ponchos at the gift shop and playing a game of jumping and hopping over the puddles. Grace, to her credit, was amazing. She went along without complaining even though her feet and pants were getting soaking wet! Unfortunately, we really couldn't enjoy the giant coastal redwoods at Muir Woods and we made it only to the second of four bridges before turning back. New, dry socks warmed Grace up and we headed to our next stop - Sonoma.

The drive to Sonoma reminded me of the Amalfi coast with twisting and turning narrow roads that the driver handled with ease. Our first stop was a beautiful vineyard specializing in Italian wines. The Jaccuzzi winery is owned by the family who invented hot tub jets. Yes, THAT Jaccuzzi.The entire place was designed like an Italian villa and was just beautiful!

We were treated to a tasting of 5-6 wines in a private tasting room and then visited their main tasting area. Grace and I wandered into their olive oil room where she was able to sample a few flavored oils. But, we ended up buying popcorn flavored with their pistacchio olive oil. Yum!

The remainder of our day included lunch and more wine tasting in the town of Sonoma and a visit to Cline Cellars which is owned by the same family as Jaccuzzi. But, the two wineries were worlds apart - the style, the wines, and the people. Grace and I spent most of our time here outside on the front porch swing and feeding the fish in the pond.

Later that night, after a nap for all of us, we wandered the streets and finished the day with delicious ice cream from Ghirardelli. Mmmmm. I could use some of that right now!

Exploring the bay

2011-07-02T08:02:00.001-04:00

East coast time worked in our favor on Monday as we all woke up early and beat the crowds to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. It seems San Fransisco isn't an early morning place. It was chilly and foggy most mornings we were there, so I can understand why the locals might want to avoid that weather and come out later when the sun is shining.

We started our day at the Aquarium of the Bay, a small aquarium devoted to study and conservation of local aquatic animals of San Francisco and neighboring waters. The aquarium is divided into three parts - Discover they Bay, Under the Bay, and Touch the Bay. Grace's interest grew as we progressed to the end. Personally, I thought the two tunnels that were meant to show the fish near the shore and in deeper waters were really cool.

But, Grace had the most fun where she could touch sharks, rays, starfish, and sea urchins.

We eventually had to coax Grace away to have lunch. It was really chilly and windy outside and she didn't want to leave the warm aquarium. We told her we would go see the sea lions at the end of Pier 39 but only a few were there. I guess they wanted to go somewhere warmer too!

Even with the wind, the pier was fun. Kyle was surprised Alcatraz was so close. It does look like you could swim it, if you happened to escape. But now we know about the cold water, strong currents, and sharks out there!

Kyle told Grace about the "jail for bad guys" and for the rest of the trip she kept talking about the place where the bad guys lived.

Our afternoon was filled with a visit to Union Square for some shopping and the Cars 2 movie. Look Nana, there is a flat iron building in SF, too!

I know it is "touristy" but we rode a double-decker bus to see the city. Miss Grace chose seats at the top of the bus all the way in the back. What windy fun we had, especially when the driver raced down some of those famous steep hills!

My favorite part was getting to see the Painted Ladies from the opening scenes of Full House. The view from Alamo Park was incredible. Now I need a tour of the inside of some of those old Victorian homes.

Back from the city on the bay

2011-07-01T23:29:00.015-04:00

We returned tonight from 5 busy and fun days in San Francisco. Grace was an amazing little traveler. She was close to perfect on the 5 hour flights, did much more walking each day than I am sure she ever has in her life, waited in many lines without complaint, and even tolerated a rainy day hike and adult fun (wine tasting) in Sonoma. We did so much that the pictures and story will take several days to post.

Our Sunday morning arrival landed us right in the middle of San Francisco's gay pride celebration. Apparently, the parade closed down a lot of streets and, combined with gorgeous weather and a Giants baseball game, brought many more people to the city than on a "typical" Sunday. I should have known we were in trouble when we told the cab driver we wanted to go to our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf and he was very unhappy. We flew into the city from the airport but after about 30 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic along Embarcadero, we decided to get out and walk the last two miles along the water. It was a much better option than sitting in a hot cab watching everyone enjoy the sunshine. Our first view was of the Oakland-Bay bridge once we got all of our luggage onto the sidewalk. (I later learned that this bridge is 7 miles long - the Golden Gate is only 2 miles - and is mostly the same suspension construction as the Golden Gate. Makes you wonder why the Golden Gate is more famous...)

Not bad....even if we did look kind of silly wheeling two suitcases and pushing a stroller overloaded with carry-on items.

Grace was happy to get right into the hotel pool. In fact, she was in the pool at some point 4 out of the 5 days even during the chilly evenings. Luckily the pool was heated so as long as we wrapped her in towels when she got out, she was fine. On this trip she learned to do flips under the water. The kid is fearless!

Later that night we went to see the Cleveland Indians play the 2010 World Series Champs - the San Francisco Giants.Their stadium is right on the water and from one walkway in right field you can see people on small boats and kayaks waiting for a home run ball.

It was a sold out game so we only had "standing room" tickets. Grace couldn't understand why we weren't going to our seats. I think she was tired and wanted a place to sit down. Normally, she would be content wandering and exploring.

We kept her busy with ice cream, cotton candy, going down the Coca-Cola slide and hitting baseballs in a mini stadium for kids. She did a great job and was SO proud of herself!Forget soccer, maybe softball is going to be her game!

Party girls

2011-06-26T14:07:00.001-04:00

Kellie planned and hosted a unique "art and tea" birthday party for Dawson's friends.

The girls used clay to make animal-shaped pinch pots and drank tea from real china that Kellie and her mom collected at second-hand stores all spring. What a cute idea!

These clay balls became...

...this cute doggie bowl for Kyle's desk at work.

Outside, Kellie had an area for chalk drawing so everyone could be outside while the studio was transformed for tea and lunch.

One of the artists painted the girls' hands and arms with designs. They didn't do face painting. Being an art studio they felt it was important for the kids to see the process of painting. They all seemed to love watching art created on their bodies!

Looking at the paint and glitter.

Mayna and Grace waiting their turn.
Mayna chose a beautiful dolphin!

Flowers for Grace

And flowers for the birthday girl!

Suitable for framing

2011-06-25T14:04:00.003-04:00

We picked up Grace's art work from the studio today when we were there for Dawson's birthday party. This piece was done around Easter during a class about mixing colors. I think it is wonderful and I probably will frame it to hang in my office at work! I love how proud Grace looks showing it off.

Ce-le-bra-tion, come on!

2011-06-23T18:31:00.009-04:00

I loaded some Kids Bop music (pop songs sung by kids for kids) onto Grace's Mp3 player last week. Since then she has been singing, ABC (Michael Jackson), Girls Just Want to have Fun (Cyndi Lauper) and Celebration in the back seat. It is funny to hear some of the music I grew up listening to come out of a 4-year old's mouth. And, it is really interesting to see which songs she doesn't like and just scrolls right past, like Stand By Me and Brown-Eyed Girl (one of MY favorites!). She also loves Electric Avenue and takes Kyle's iPhone to play it!

Dancing and singing "Celebration"

Here is Grace right before going to Kyle's nephew Elijah's 5th birthday party this evening. He is having a Star Wars theme, so we were thrilled to find a talking Jedi helmet as a gift. I know Grace can't wait until Elijah opens it so she can try it on.

Thanks for the cute top, Nana. Do you like it?

Too busy to blog

2011-06-21T20:29:00.006-04:00

Friday was my "official" day of work for the summer and we have been busy enjoying our vacation time together. That is why I haven't been blogging. But, here is a photo from tonight to prove we are still around.Grace is already working her summer tan! 70 SPF and she STILL has tan lines!

Our next few days include school for Grace tomorrow, golf for Kyle and me, two birthday parties, gymnastics camp, and leaving for our trip to San Francisco. I definitely know how to pack a lot into a short amount of time. Maybe too much.....

Two funny bugs

2011-06-09T21:59:00.017-04:00

The Little Gym started in 1976 with the philosophy of encouraging children to do their best in a non-competitive environment. The Little Gym says that their gymnastics routines as based on the USA Men's and Women's compulsory routines for levels 1-4 but children are not "scored" or "graded". Grace has been taking gymnastics lessons here for about 1 1/2 years. I don't expect her to become a competitive gymnast but we see her developing confidence, new physical skills, have having a great time each week! And it is much more fun since our friend, Dawson, joined!

Tonight was the "show" for her Funny Bugs class. After a couple of warm ups and group cooperation exercises, the kids divided into three groups and showed off their skills on the bars, beam, and floor. It was far from perfect, but fun to watch!

At the end, every child received a medal and posed for pictures. They were so proud.

Our "Funny Bugs" posing!

Giddy up, Cruiser!

2011-06-08T19:30:00.001-04:00

I surprised Grace with horseback riding lessons this week. She gets so excited around horses so when I saw a Groupon for lessons at a farm near our house, I got it right away! I bought three 1-hour lessons, but the instructor suggested that we come for double the number of 30-minute lessons. So, we will go once a month from now until November!

When we got there, Grace said, "I like it here with the horses!" Uh, oh....we DO NOT WANT TO BUY A HORSE.....PLEASE remind me of this when she asks for one! Because you know I am going to have a hard time resisting this face.

Grace met Cruiser, watched as they put the saddle on him, and got right on. The instructor showed her how to put her feet in the stir-ups, how to use the reins, and how to say "giddy up" and "whoa" to control the horse.

Before long she was using the reins alone and moving Cruiser around the outside of a little cone. I was impressed at what Grace was able to do for her first lesson.

Whoa, Cruiser!
Look at her pulling on the reins!

Left turn....

I loved how quiet and patient she was. She stopped sometimes and gave Cruiser a pat saying, "Good job, Cruiser!" Grace seemed so comfortable and confident on such big animal. You can see it in her face.

When it was time to end the lesson, Grace led him into the stable and spent a few minutes brushing and patting him. We talked about how much work a horse is....it isn't just fun and games of riding. Someone has to clean the poop! She wasn't too sure about that.

Running through the sprinkler

2011-06-05T18:12:00.004-04:00

This is what we did tonight before dinner!

Last call

2011-06-01T22:23:00.005-04:00

Tonight was my last high school graduation....at least until "Little Miss Attitude" graduates in 14 years!

Another Disney photo

2011-05-29T08:05:00.009-04:00

This one is from 1972. When I showed it to Grace, she thought the little girl was her.

Udderly adorable

2011-05-28T19:04:00.008-04:00

Can you guess where Grace was going in this lovely outfit? To the zoo!

Notice the attitude.

Grace was very impatient with me because
I wanted a photo before we left the house.

Kellie and I can't even begin to count the number of times we have been to the zoo since our girls came home.

This year, they changed the petting zoo area, added a bigger train, and you can try your hand at milking a cow! It isn't a real cow (thank goodness!) and you only "milk" water from the udders, but it was a big hit with the kids!

Getting bigger

2011-05-26T15:01:00.008-04:00

We have been having some pretty severe storms here. It has been the wettest April and May on record, but more than the rain, the storms have been bringing black skies in the middle of the day, strong winds, hail, and tornadoes that have gotten scary at times. Last night, I was at a work event and we needed to shelter all the guests in a lower level room without windows due to reports of a funnel cloud heading in our direction. I was scared. There is something about the unpredictability of tornadoes that makes me nervous like no other type of storm.

When I got home, Grace was in bed, but not asleep. So I went in to talk to her for a little while. She said that she was scared of the thunder and lightening because it was noisy. Totally understandable, but of course I reassured her that she was safe and there was nothing to be afraid of. I didn't believe it myself, so I am not sure I was very convincing.

The conversation turned to her doctor's appointment today and how the doctor was going to check her and make sure she was growing and that everything on her body was working fine. She told me that since she is getting bigger now, she probably would be able to:

ride the school bus,
take a shower by herself, and
fly on an airplane to see Nana and Ba without me.

Well, Big Girl, maybe someday....but not yet!

The doctor confirmed to day that she is 41 inches tall (75th percentile) and 36 pounds (also the 75th percentile). At 42 inches you can ride the "big kid slides) at our pool so maybe this will be the summer she gets to do that.

Four years old is a lot of fun....Grace has so much to say and a lot of it just cracks me up. I wish she could stay this age forever. She is just perfect.

Goodbye 3

2011-05-23T05:25:00.000-04:00

Hello 4!

Are you curious?

2011-05-22T18:10:00.001-04:00

When trying to decide on a birthday party theme for Grace this year, I was really stumped. Not because I couldn't think of anything....but because I had so many different ideas. We tossed around the idea of an "almost" camping party in Kyle's backyard complete with tents, camp songs, and a glow-in-the-dark bug hunt; a pink girl pirate party since skulls and crossbones are so popular right now; a cupcake party; an "inflatable insanity" party at one of those places with the blow up slides and obstacle courses; and even a Spiderman party where the kids could try out a rock-climbing wall. (All good ideas that I might use in the future!) But, after a lot of deliberation and even some in-depth planning for some of those topics, I decided to use this book as the inspiration for Grace's 4th birthday celebration - a make your own pizza party!After considering a few different venues in our area including the possibility of using our house for the party, we decided to hold it at a local pizza place. Hey, I figured they were the experts at making and baking pizza AND they have big ovens so why try to do it all myself? I asked them for personal pizza boxes and used these as the invitations. Luckily, we were able to hand deliver them to many of our guests - just like a pizza delivery!The decorations were centered on the colors in the book - bright yellow, white, red, and blue - with balloon bouquets held in place with bunches of bananas, yellow table cloths, and some cute Curious George napkins. I even found edible monkeys online as the toppers for the cupcakes!As the kids arrived at the party they used crayons to decorate their own personal chef hats. I outlined their names a few days before the party so they would be able to find their seat at the table and add fun colors right away.I had hoped they would be able to roll their pizza dough but this pizza place didn't allow that. Instead they all got personal-size pizza circles which they covered in sauce, cheese, and the toppings of their choice. Most just wanted cheese while Dawson and Ryan asked for black olives and Grace wanted pepperoni. It was a treat to go into the kitchen and watch their pizzas going into the huge ovens!They also allowed the kids to go into the walk-in freezer and look at the assembly line where all the pizza toppings were stored. The personalized chef hats went home with each guest as party favors along with a Curious George book, stickers, and some Curious George fruit candies. All the party favors we put into small red, yellow, or blue shopping bags.While the pizza cooked we read Curious George and the Pizza Party and then a balloon entertainer join the party. He made every child his or her own animal in whatever colors they wanted. We had a monkey, two dragons, a ladybug, a bear, and a dog. The kids liked looking at the hundreds of balloons stored in his bag. It was a tightly-packed rainbow of color!After that we sang "Happy Birthday", Grace blew out her "4" candle, and everyone ate the cupcakes. Grace wore a really pretty yellow dress from Aunt Suze to go along with the color theme. She looked girly and festive. And, whenI found this adorable bow on Etsy....you know I couldn't pass it up!

Just 4

2011-05-21T13:27:00.013-04:00

If you ask Grace how old she is she will tell you, "just four". That is because she had been saying "almost four" for months, and with her birthday 2 days away I told her she can't say "almost" anymore. She IS four!

Tough guy getting ready to play.

These are soccer pictures from this morning. Overall, the experience is much better than last May/June when she was "just three" and stood around holding Kyle's leg the entire time. (She played once in all the weeks we went.) But, I don't think we have a soccer player. She doesn't want to run fast and kick the ball. We see a lot of standing around and watching, standing around and picking dandelions, standing around and staring into space. Then when the coach calls her name and wakes her up from her daydreams, she runs a little....at the back of the pack. Oh, and then, she comes over to the sidelines for a drink of water.I'll admit, we haven't practiced with her. At lunch we asked Grace if she wants to go to the park and practice running and kicking. Maybe we will do that one evening this week before Grace goes back to soccer next Saturday.

Before soccer practice/game so
I guess it is okay to hold the ball!Do you see how long the grass is?
We have had a lot of rain this spring.
I little dark shadow on Grace's face, but
it is the only one I have of her kicking the ball.Mostly I have photos of her standing on the field,standing listening to the coach,getting a drink and some sidelines
coaching from the expert,and getting another drink.But then, there was this glimmer of hope.

At least she was in there near the ball. I think it was because we promised her ice cream!

Chef Mickey

2011-05-19T16:35:00.003-04:00

Grace told her teacher at school that Mickey and his friends cooked dinner for her!

Pirates and Pals

2011-05-17T07:47:00.000-04:00

On Saturday evening, we met tons of Disney characters at two "meet and greet" events. First, we went to dinner at Chef Mickey's where....

Chef Minnie Mouse,Chef Donald Duck,Chef Pluto,Chef Goofy, andChef Mickey

...stopped by our table to say hello and wish Grace a happy birthday. It was crazy, high energy, chaotic fun for all of us!

Then, we donned our pirate bandannas and eye patches to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smead before getting on a boat and heading into the Seven Seas Lagoon.

Peeking to see if the pirates were ready to come out.

From the boat we watched the electric water parade and the fireworks show over Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom. I loved how the castle changed color based on the story and music. Grace said she didn't like it when the witch came and tried to spoil everyone's wishes.The pirate, Patch, who was our host for the evening was hysterical! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. And, then, when we got off the boat at 10:30 Peter Pan was waiting for us on the dock! What a surprise!

Deja vu

2011-05-16T05:42:00.001-04:00

A long time ago (no, I am not going to tell you how many years!) my parents lost me at Disneyworld. From what I remember, I was with my mother, I asked her to do or get something, she said, "Ask your father" and then pointed in a direction where she could see him. I turned around to look in the direction she was pointing but I didn't see him in the crowd and when I turned back, I no longer saw my mother. In true 5 1/2 year old fashion, I cried and the next thing I remember a man with an enormous broom (he must have been a Disney employee) asked me if I was lost. He took me to the Crystal Palace to a room filled with the most amazing toys a kid has ever seen. There must have been toys for all kinds of kids in there, but the dollhouses stood out to me. Amazing.....And then what seemed like not nearly long enough (remember, I wanted to play with those toys!) the door opened and my grandfather was there!This weekend had an element of deja vu for me. We were at Magic Kingdom. Kyle and I were there. My parents were there. Grace was there. Two sets of adults and a child. All we had to do was NOT lose the kid!

Luckily, we managed to spare Grace from getting lost. A big improvement! I saw the Crystal Palace, but now it is a restaurant. I really wanted to find the place where lost children are taken now, just to compare the reality with my memory. But, we were there for Grace and it was more important that she had a wonderful experience riding the classic Disney rides like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Its a Small World. We sprinkled in some newer attractions likeBuzz Lightyear and Monsters, Inc. And two things that got the "thumbs down" from the birthday girl - Mickey's Philharmagic (she didn't like things flying at her in this 3D show), the Haunted Mansion (what was I thinking?)!

The rides were fun and a little "cheesy" but they still retained the "magic" for a 4-year old. But the real attraction was getting autographs from the characters. I had heard about this but I wasn't prepared for the characters being such a draw. Some of them had lines as long as the rides with people waiting for a signature and a photo! Grace got to meet:

Pluto,Pinocchio,Mary Poppins,

and Buzz Lightyear.

(I'm not bragging or anything, but I had the highest score of 23, 900 and defeated the Evil Zurg!)

But where were the princesses? We saw Snow White at the very beginning during the opening show, but then they were nowhere to be seen. Grace kept looking up at the castle and telling me that Cinderella was probably sleeping. Another cool thing was that they gave Grace a pin to wear that said, "Happy Birthday, Grace". So may people wished her a happy birthday while we were walking around. My parents also got pins that said they were celebrating an anniversary. What a great idea to make you feel special!

Where the wild things are

2011-05-15T16:49:00.016-04:00

We spent the last few days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in Walt Disney World - an African animal-themed resort on 33 acres of savanna in the middle of Orlando. AKL boasts that 200 species of animals call their property home. I will admit, we saw some animals every day from our balcony - exotic birds, antelope, giraffes, zebras. Now I wish I had taken the animal identification card home with me! The coolest part of the resort was when the employees came twice a day to feed the animals. Like clockwork at about 4:15 (I don't know what time the morning feeding was) they put fresh leaves in the trees and hay on the ground and the animals came from their cool hiding places to enjoy their meal.
The most fun part of the resort was watching these "party animals" at the pool dance party.......and these "wild things" feasting at Boma, one of the restaurants.Later the first night, Grace played some African drums and participated in a parade around the lobby where the leader chanted something and the kids shouted "Af-ri-ca" back to her. It is still amazing to me how Grace is so enchanted by music. No matter where we are or what we are doing, she stops to listen and participate.

If you give a mouse a cookie...

2011-05-09T04:10:00.000-04:00

Born in Brooklyn (like me and most of my family!), Laura Numeroff became famous for the "If You Give A..." series of children's books that use a circular format, presenting the reader with a humorous chain of events that has no definite end and relies heavily on a cause and effect setup . It all started with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and the series has expanded to include a moose, a cat, and a pig.

Grace's favorite before this weekend was If you Give a Moose a Muffin, but a children's theater company in our area might have changed her mind. Their adorable performance of If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, had her sitting on the edge of her seat and giggling for the entire show.

The enormous refrigerator, kitchen counters, mop, and other household items really made the actors seem like a little child and a mischievous mouse. They made a huge mess in the house while mom was not home!

Grace and Dawson looking at a giant cookie on

the floor by the big glass of milk.

My favorite thing about spring

2011-04-30T13:19:00.005-04:00

By far, my favorite thing about spring is the flowering trees. They don't last a long time, but they really are beautiful. In a way, they seem to distract your eye from the patchy grass, the muddy ground, the tips of flowers that are just starting to grow, and the bare branches of trees that still don't have leaves.

And then once the delicate pink and white flowers are gone from the trees, the world seems to suddenly turn green and lush!

Yes, it is still raining

2011-04-26T05:51:00.000-04:00

Forecasters are saying this could be one of the wettest Aprils on record in our area. It certainly feels like it has been raining every day this month. With all this wet weather, I discovered that I have three raincoats - 4 if you count that the one I have on in this photo is reversible!Now all I need is come cute rainboots like Grace has. I think I might put them on my shopping list!

Sweet treats

2011-04-25T00:35:00.000-04:00

Aunt Nancy and Uncle Chris sent Grace some Easter treats. One was an enormous container of flavored popcorn. We took some of it in bags to see "Hop" at the movies on Friday night and I think Grace is going to share the rest with her friends at school. (Otherwise, Mommy is going to eat too much of it if we keep here at the house!)They also sent a cookie decorating kit. It was another rainy, cool day on Sunday, so we spent some time on Easter morning...

...getting messy,...pretending to be a bunny,and having fun with sugary icing, colored sugar,
and little candies to make these gorgeous cookies!

You KNOW I had to buy these

2011-04-24T09:18:00.000-04:00

For E.B. - the Easter Bunny, of course!

Easter egg "dash"

2011-04-23T14:19:00.017-04:00

The weather forecast was "iffy" this morning after another night of rain and high winds. But when we woke up this morning it was noticeably warmer and all that was left of the April showers were puddles on our deck. So, after Grace tested out her new rainboots we gathered our Easter bunny basket to meet Kellie and Dawson for a new adventure.

I can't really call what we did an Easter egg hunt since the eggs were spread out on the lawn in front of the manor house at Stan Hywet Hall. When the whistle blew, the kids dashed out to gather as many eggs as possible. There was no "hunting" going on! The event was wonderfully organized with the children divided into age groups, costumed nursery rhyme characters walking around handing out small trinkets, the Easter Bunny available for pictures, snacks, and outdoor games (jump rope, frisbee, hula hoop, etc.). There were a lot of people, but we never felt crowded or rushed.

Grace and Dawson telling Little Miss Muffet
that she had a spider on her hat!

Practicing her jump rope skills.

Sitting on a bench to open their treasures.

While walking the grounds, we discovered a huge lawn chess set. Grace and Dawson had so much fun lifting and moving the pieces. Their giggles were just delightful!

Teamwork!Come on, girls! Let's get some lunch!

April showers bring....

2011-04-20T17:34:00.004-04:00

Grace's flowers!

Tonight was the summer camp open house at Grace's school. We didn't stay because it is already a LONG day for us, but she got her face painted and took some cheese, crackers, strawberries, and banana bread to go!

Colored eggs, three ways

2011-04-17T11:26:00.011-04:00

This year, we tried some new ways to decorate our Easter eggs. One of them was an idea I saw in a magazine to use crayons on warm hard-boiled eggs. Since the eggs are warm the crayons melt and create really bight, colorful designs. The trick was holding the eggs since they were pretty hot. Wearing mittens seemed to be the best solution!Then I used a kitchen grater to "shave" some crayons and we sprinkled this on the warm eggs. The effect was pretty different!By the time we were done with our crayon eggs the others had cooled so we tried some Q-Tips that had egg dye in them. You break one end and watch the color fill the other end of the cotton swab. Then you paint with them like with a paint brush. I was surprised at how well this worked with minimal mess.And, then we made the traditional dye-vinegar mixture and dunked our eggs to get a variety of rainbow colors. Grace made funny faces when we were adding the vinegar. I guess she didn't like the smell! There were a lot of giggles and messy hands, but we had a lot of fun!I guess I am going to be eating a lot of eggs this week. Good thing I like them!

Boot Scoot bike

2011-04-16T13:45:00.011-04:00

For some reason, Grace has been reluctant to try the really cool Schwinn bike Aunt Nancy and Uncle Chris bought her for her birthday last year. We can't figure it out, but it seems like she is having trouble with the pedals. Kyle thinks it might be because it is her first experience with a bike with brakes since the pedals on her tricycle turn both ways. So a couple of weeks ago when I saw the Boot Scoot bike on an online shopping site, I decided to get one for her. These types of "coasting" or "running" bikes don't have pedals. People who have used them say kids learn to balance on a 2-wheel bike much faster without training wheels and then jump to a "normal" bike much faster. My hope is that she will learn to balance on this bike and then we will take the training wheels off her Schwinn and she will be pedaling along by the end of the summer!
It arrived last night and, as you can see from the photos, Grace liked it right away. She jumped on and after a little demonstration of what to do, she was able to scoot along the sidewalk in Kyle's neighborhood.She balanced a little - for a second here and there - but is nowhere near coasting. For her first time, I think she did great! And she was very proud to tell the 9-year old boys playing next door that it was her new blue bike (she chose the color) that has no pedals!

Look, Ma! No feet!

Grace enjoyed it so much, right after dinner we went back out to ride again. First, Kyle showed her how to put air in the tires. And then she did 4 loops of the block. With us watching from behind and eventually from the driveway when Miss Independence wanted to try it alone.

Roller girl

2011-04-12T02:55:00.002-04:00

Kyle's parents bought beginner roller skates for Grace for Christmas. This weekend she got the chance to try them outside for the first time. They are designed to fit over her shoes and have different "levels" to go from walking to sliding forward only and then, finally, the wheels can go forward and backward. We had her in the second level but she didn't get the idea of sliding her foot instead of walking. We'll get there. She seemed to have fun so I think she will want to try it again soon.

Just perfect

2011-04-11T05:48:00.000-04:00

The weather on Sunday was perfect. People were out everywhere working in their yards, biking, running on the trails, walking dogs, playing in the park, and eating on the restaurant patios that have been neglected all winter. As Kyle said, "This is the weather we have been waiting for since November!"Open windows and a visit to the park were part of our Sunday afternoon.

Funny Bunny

2011-04-10T08:37:00.000-04:00

Without much planning, we headed to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. I wasn't really sure he would be there so on the way, I told Grace that the Easter Bunny might be eating dinner....just in case he wasn't there. And, wouldn't you know it....he was on a break when we arrived! So, we waited about 40 minutes (killing time in the Apple store - boy, do I love the 13-inch Macbook Air) until he returned. I was surprised that Grace gave him a hug and sat down right next to him. She wouldn't get anywhere near Santa just a few months ago!

The bees knees ....

2011-04-09T16:03:00.003-04:00

...or at least, Graces!

She didn't want to wear tights today but once we got outside Grace told me, "my knees are freezing!"

Hold on tight!

2011-04-05T05:16:00.000-04:00

Dawson and Grace had a lot of fun riding the new merry-go-round at the zoo last weekend. I love how Kellie captured the two giraffes in the background - all four of them are proudly displaying their spots!

Spotted at the Zoo

2011-04-02T14:15:00.016-04:00

Before Grace, I never imagined I would spend so much time at the zoo. Who knew it would be such a fun, enriching place to visit? Most zoos these days focus on natural habitats, education, conservation, and rehabilitating animals for re-integration back into the wild. Recently, we have seen animals that would have died in their natural homes but were able to live because they were brought to the zoo. So, I have changed my mind about visiting the zoo. Plus, when Grace tells me on a stormy day that it reminds her of the rainforest and that she wants to see porcupines again (both things we saw and talked about weeks ago at a visit to the Cleveland Zoo), I have to be happy we have included the zoo as one of of our family activities.This weekend, our zoo excursion was even more special because we met up with some friends for a preschool class about how animals' spots, stripes, and colors help them camouflage for protection.

Grace wore her spotted jaguar coat to go along with the theme!

They listened to a story, sang a song using sign language, did a craft project (using colored sand to make stripes in a bottle).... ...enjoyed a spotted and striped snack, met an animal up close (a tortoise from India)......and then we all went on a guided tour of the zoo where we looked at other animals and the way their skin, fur, and feathers help them hide to survive in nature.One of my favorite things is watching how our kids interact with each other. They are all so unique. It is amazing to listen to their conversations and to watch how they play together. After Ryan went home, Douglas was the only boy and he kept saying, "Come on, girls, lets...." and they all followed along!

No foolin'

2011-04-01T18:12:00.006-04:00

I wish could say this is an April Fool's joke....BUT.....

It is April 1st and still COLD here! And, it is the Indians' home opener,
which makes this hat very appropriate attire.

I just couldn't take it any more

2011-03-28T05:01:00.000-04:00

Lately, I have felt like I am constantly fussing with Grace's hair. Although I thought it would be a good idea to grow it long (and SHE says she wants it as long as Rapunzel's hair in the movie Tangled), I just couldn't take it any more. It always seemed messy to me. So, we went for a haircut yesterday afternoon. Luckily, the kids' place we go to is open on Sunday and you don't need an appointment. I love the cut she got and Grace seems pretty happy with it, too!But....if you are wondering....we didn't touch her bangs. I am still determined to let them grow so her hair is all one length, although I hear that could take about a year!