Out of the Mouths of Not-So-Much-Babes

Scene: Mommy is happily congratulating Rachael on being a big girl

because she's going on the potty and wearing big girl panties all the time.

Mommy: Rachael, do you know what makes you special?

Rachael: Jesus!  Jesus makes me special!

Scene: Mommy is in the kitchen doing dishes,

Grace has taken a shower and gotten herself ready for bed. 

Grace enters the kitchen in tears.

Mommy: What's wrong, honey?

Grace: I was just thinking that I'm starting to do more on my own,

and I was afraid you were gonna think that I don't need you anymore!

Easter, Mother's Day & Summer, OH MY!

It's been over a month!!  So... what has happened?

I ran another 5K!

My actual time was under 36 minutes, so I did better than the Disney one back in March.  This one was over a bridge and back for part of it, too, so that has to count for something!!

Here are the girls on Easter Sunday --

Grace was able to wear the same beautiful dress as last year,

made for her by Chris' Aunt Carol!

Gracie loves our hibiscus trees and wanted her picture in front of one that morning!

Here's Rachael, "goin' shoppin'" with her baby!

The highlight of April was a visit from

Aunt Kiki, Uncle Jerry, Blake, Savannah & Veronica!

Grace & Savannah on our playdate with them!

Rachael & Veronica were sharing a banana.

Grace's kindergarten class had a Mother's Day Tea last week.  The moms waited outside the classroom, and one by one the children came out and presented his or her mommy with a flower and escorted her inside.  It was so sweet!  It was a good thing there were tissue boxes at each table, because they were definitely pulling out all the emotional stops!  After they serenaded us, the teacher read a couple of heartwarming stories, and then we were served snacks by our little hosts and hostesses!

Rachael had her last week of preschool, and we were wondering how she was going to do at the program they had, considering she'd cried through most of the Christmas one!  She had a rough start coming to her classroom and I thought we were in trouble, but once she got up on stage, she was fine!  Yay!  She sang, she smiled, she did hand motions, she tapped sticks -- she was great!  We were very proud of her!  I don't know if she understands that preschool is over for a little bit, but hopefully I'll be able to keep her entertained!

Gracie has one more week of school left!  We're already looking forward to Vacation Bible School and some playdates with friends throughout the time off!  I learned last year that summer "vacation" is kind of misleading -- it's going to be work to keep these girls busy while they're out of school!  I'm really blessed because both girls are really amazing at finding things to keep busy, and they (usually) play very well together too!

Hope our family and friends reading this are doing well!  We're hoping that we might get to see some of Chris' family in Connecticut this summer -- keep your fingers crossed!

Spring has sprung! FINALLY!

What has happened in the last month...

That's me (standing, third from the left) with a bunch of friends after we ran the Disney Royal Family 5K at Epcot the first weekend in March.  This was my first 5K, and even though I didn't get bit by the running bug, I did have a lot of fun!  It probably helped that we were all wearing tutus and boas!

And even though I let the cold weather we had and the time change (too dark in the early morning!) further disrupt my "training," I signed up for another 5K in April.  No tutus this time!

That's the girls just this past Sunday, wearing dresses they got for Christmas from their GG -- the weather was finally spring-y enough for them! 

Gracie is doing great in school, her teacher has started her in the Accelerated Reader program and she seems to be loving it, and doing well!  She hasn't shown an interest in any kind of after-school activity so far (soccer, ballet, etc.), but when I told her about her school's Young Authors Celebration and that she could write a book for it, she was all over it!  She wrote three little books in one weekend!  We picked one to turn in -- she dictated her words to me since she was having trouble fitting them on the page, and she did all the illustrations and the cover page!  She was so excited to turn it in!

Rachael has turned into a total Chatty Cathy!  I love listening to her talk, and she's getting much more conversational with the moms and dads of her friends!  I've been told she's pretty much the teacher's little assistant in her preschool class, and that just tickles me!  She's also started to sing songs in the car and during movies -- I'm already looking forward to the fall when she starts choir!  Of course, we'll see how she does at the end of the year program for preschool in May! 

This is our Spring Break, so I've been trying to keep the girls busy -- and we had our 2nd Annual Pajama Day on Tuesday!  The girls loved going to the mall in their pajamas with their friends, and I have to admit, it was pretty comfy!  Three other moms and their kids joined us this year, it was a lot of fun!  We have a big playdate and picnic coming up, then a movie morning, and by next Monday I'll probably need another week to recover!

Now, for your viewing pleasure... Recently Chris got me a new game for the Wii, Just Dance, and Grace decided she was going to get in on the action.  She's already topped my score at a couple of the songs!  So here we are "dancing" to Wannabe by The Spice Girls:

Now that I've sufficiently made a fool of myself, I'll go!  :-)  Hope things are warming up where you're at!

We are here! we are here! we are here!

Shame on me!  I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted here!  I could say that I've been really busy, which is pretty true, but it's also because a lot of my time has been spent writing at my other blog, Much More Than Mommy, and also at Mom With A Pen.  And while I know that I'm not passig along earth-shattering information here, it is definitely a good way for ME to be able to come back and see how the girls have grown, etc.! 

To be honest, though, not much has happened in the past month!  We are all still trucking along our merry ways!  I did have a birthday and had a great time celebrating with my family!  Here's a picture of the girls before we went out:

I know many of you are dealing with weather conditions that are way more severe than what we've had, but I can tell you that all of us are definitely over this weather!   I don't think my thin Florida blood can handle too much more!

I do have a good story, though, courtesy of Grace!  The other night I took the girls to McDonald's for dinner as a treat, and when we walked it all three of us were immediately shivering!  It was one of the warmest days we'd had in a while, and apparently those inside decided to crank up the A/C to celebrate!  We got our food and sat down, and Gracie and I were especially chilly -- we kept sitting closer and closer and hugging to try to warm up!  We started eating, then Grace suddenly stopped and said matter-of-factly,

"I'm going to go tell them it's too cold in here."

I looked at her and smiled because I thought she was just joking, but she was dead serious!  And that's exactly what she did.  She walked up to the counter, said "Excuse me" to the cashier, and then explained that she was very cold and asked if it could be warmer.  WOW!  I don't even know if I would have had the courage to do that at 16-years-old, let alone 6!  Gracie came back to the table and we watched as a manager headed straight to the thermostat.  She was very happy!

That's all for now!  Hope you're managing to stay warm!!

Brrrrthday!

Just after Christmas we took the girls to Sea World to see their Christmas stuff.  They got to visit Santa -- we told him he was taking his vacation in Orlando.  ;-)  They told him what their favorite gifts were, and we had a great, albeit COLD, time!  We were definitely bundled up as we watched their ice show!

Chris was busy over his "vacation" -- his biggest task was painting the girls' bedroom.  We had picked a pink that I thought would look less Pepto Bismol and more dusty rose.  I was out while Chris painted, and he called to let me know that he thought it might be a little darker than I expected.  I told him to go ahead, there wasn't much we could do about it now!  I came home and was greeted by the pinkest pink I'd ever seen!  We also put up the toddler bed for Rachael.  The girls were SO excited about their room!  Here are a couple of pictures of them as they first came in, and you can catch a glimpse of the pink:

Gracie pretends to sleep for her photo op...

Rachael pretends to stretch and yawn...

January came and brought along MUCH colder weather, so we learned a lot about hats, scarves and gloves!  These were taken when the girls were helping their daddy with some work on the back porch early one evening!  This was before they had their scarves, which I may have run out to get that very night.  I had no idea how much a scarf could help in the cool weather -- but why would I, being a native Floridian??  I was very thankful we were able to get all wrapped up every morning for school!  So were the girls!  (If you notice in the picture with Rachael, Chris is wearing shorts!!  Even on the coldest day we had, he went outside and ran errands in shorts, it's like he never gets cold!!

January also brought Miss Rachael's 3rd birthday!  We celebrated with family, and she picked the main dish -- pizza!  When asked what kind of cake, without hesitation she replied, "Strawberry!"  So strawberry she got!  Rachael had a big week -- even though she started off under the weather, she managed to fit in a haircut, a little lunch after moms' group with her friends, her birthday party, bringing cake to school the following day, and then after we picked Gracie up from school on Friday, we headed over to the zoo.  WHEW!  We did manage to wear the girls out enough that Rachael told us she was ready to go to bed!

Gracie brought home her second report card -- that's still a little wild!  She's doing great in school, and she's really impressing us with how well she's reading!  There is no point in spelling out words in front of her anymore, she'll figure it out!  Chris and I are going to have to figure out a new kind of code!  Grace loves coming home and telling us what she's learned, and I LOVE that!

Rachael is also still a huge fan of school!  For a little while there, she was acting like she was going to bolt after me when I dropped her off, but all it took was her sweet teacher offering to let her paint, and usually she'd be fine!  :-)  After the break, she was back to walking herself in and barely sparing me a wave!  She is definitely talking clear enough for strangers to understand, and the funniest thing is when she gets her hands going!  We are still working on the potty training thing -- and I do mean WE, it definitely takes parental involvement!  She knows what to do, I think it's just going to take me being willing to give up the diapers and Pull-Ups during the day altogether, and I'm not there yet!  Soon, though!

The girls are so much fun, especially when they play together, which they do fairly well!  Lately Rachael has become a little bit more affectionate with Grace, coming over and sitting in her lap or randomly giving her hugs.  Gracie will usually holler out, "Mama!  Look!" so I don't miss it.  Love them!

Things are warming up here, hope that you and your family are staying warm as well!