The Magic Eraser... nothing magic about it...

A crazy evening.... Matt wanted to talk about some house things & the girls were interrupting, wanting me to hold them, etc... so we decided to go on a drive. While driving Grace wanted something to write her name w/ so I gave her one of Matt's red ink pens (crayons weren't available - don't I wish!). I had no clue she colored all over herself.

When we got home Eva was tired so I took Eva in; Matt took Grace. 10 minutes had passed & Grace came up crying saying it hurt... Matt is saying, "Did you know she colored all over herself? Why did you give her an ink pen!???" I was like, "I had no clue she colored on herself..." He said, "I had to use that thing of your Mom's to get it all of..." I immediately felt sick, and was like... "The Magic Eraser??!" He said, "Yes".

Several months ago - heck, maybe a year! I received an email saying - never let your kids use a Magic Eraser b/c it can cause a chemical burn - not to mention never use it on them. So we immediately undressed her & put her in the bath tub to ensure the chemical was all off of her. But by then her chin was all red & her legs where she had the ink. She was crying saying it burned.

Matt felt awful, he had no idea it would hurt her. I think he felt even worse b/c he was pissed b/c she'd colored all over herself, but had no clue cleaning her with that would hurt her! It took her FOREVER to go to sleep, she kept saying her chin hurt... crying:-( We put burn cream on it & rotated ice packs... she even took Motrin, which she rarely agrees to take. She had a temp of 103 a few months back & refused to take the Motrin, but took it last night.

I felt so bad for her & for Matt. I mean tomorrow is his birthday, we opened his presents this evening & then this... what a way to have a birthday.

Update 7/1/08: Mom & Matt both said it looks like she has a rug burn on her chin this morning & on her legs. I guess it could have been worse b/c the pics in the email warning look awful - like 3rd degree burns.

The Baby Contest...

Today we took Eva to the baby contest at the Shelby County Fair. Grace did it both years when she was little, the first year she got Reserve Grand Champion, and the second year... not sure, maybe a runner up? But Eva got stage fright - on the stage she just froze w/ her finger in her mouth. Poor thing, she was of coursethe cutest! But didn't get anything, 40% is looks, 40% personality, and 20% something else? I so wished she had gotten up there and waved, or did her little dance where she shakes her bootie, but oh well - she's our hidden gem!

It was funny though b/c as we were registering, Grace pointed to the race track and said, "what is that Mommy?". I told her, "it's the race track", she looked at me VERY SERIOUSLY, and said, "they are going to have the babies race out there?" Still makes me laugh! She's too cute! Prior to the contest all Grace talked about was how Eva was going to win the "context' - I liked asking her about it just so I could hear how she says contest!

America's Next Top Model...

Jess & Ella came over so we could go walking (and to the playground!) Plus I needed to take some pics of Ella for her birthday invites... It was so funny b/c I asked Grace before they got to our house if she would mind helping Ella pose "pretty". In general Ella never wants me to take her picture, its like she gives me this look that says "Tina - you an inconvenience to me, don't you get it I'm P-L-A-Y-I-N-G!!!" So I wanted to get Grace on board helping, which she loves to do! Grace said, "Sure! Oh I have a good idea, it would look great if she put her feet up on the house." Not sure where she was going with that but I said sure. So when Ella got to our house Grace was great at helping. She even tried to teach Ella how to pose & Ella bless her heart tried to do whatever Grace did but it didn't quite look the same... see pics below! Jess & I both agreed Ella looked like a bad contestant on America's Next Top Model! I was laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants:-) Good thing they are all so cute - they can pose however they want & still win hearts!

From there we went to the playground, little Eva didn't want to leave - threw a fit when I put her in the stroller... for someone so little she sure has a TEMPER! Whew! I hate to think about what she will be like as a teenager - yikes! But she settled down quickly, we walked over to Brenda's addition for a little change of scenery. While there I thought I saw a real owl, so the girls were checking him out - while standing there Jeff, Brenda, Breanna & Jarrod pulled into the addition. The girls had to go see them... they had so much fun running around over there, Jeff lit the fire & got out fish food. Eva was Breanna's little side kick, it was hard to get them to leave. And when we did leave, neither Jess or I could believe how long we'd been there - day light savings sure throws you for a loop! We didn't get back to our house till almost 10 p.m., and it was just starting to get dark! CRAZY!!! Jess's mom called & said, "what are you doing w/ my baby out so late?!" Funny - Jess told her mine was littler & she was still out. But the girls had great fun, it was kind of nice to just enjoy the evening & totally lose track of time - makes me feel like a kid again:-)

A star in the making...

An evening on the farm...

Tonight we went over to Pat & Tom's to take pictures before the wheat field is cut, the girls had so much fun running around out there. It's amazing how just leaving town frees you!

My little cow girl...

A sassy carpenter...

Below a pic of Grace over at the house, we were checking out the progress of the house on the way to Gram's house... Grace marching around what will be her room - can you tell she has some attitude galore!

News from Brenda...

Oh no... Brenda just wrote & said:
Just wondering, has Eva tried biting Grace or any of you? She tried bit Alyssa. She tried to again but Alyssa pulled away from her crying, "don't bite me Eva" Later when Lilyann got here she has been trying to bite her. She wants Lilyann to play with her and then she bends over and tries to bite her on the arm. I (Brenda) was just wondering if she has been doing that at home.

She doesn't have very many teeth so I'm (Brenda) sure it couldn't hurt too bad. It's like she even knew when to do it. Alyssa was sitting at the table and Eva wanted to sit there so she tried pushing her out of the seat and Alyssa told her no and Eva reached down and bit her the first time on the arm. The same thing with Lilyann Eva wanted on the couch and Lilyann put her up there b/c she was sitting there. Eva tried walking across the couch, Lily didn't want her to fall so she went to sit her down, Eva reached and grabbed Lily's arm and bit her. I (Brenda) was just in the kitchen getting her some milk in her cup and Alyssa screamed and said no Eva. Jaidyn said what did she do and Alyssa said she bit my toe. Alyssa was sitting on the floor playing with Jaidyn and Eva went to lay down on her blanket and reached over and bit Alyssa's little toe. I looked at it and it is red and she does have little teeth marks on it. It will go away and Alyssa didn't cry long at all.

But on the brighter side she said:
Grace looks so cute in her little sun dress. She is such a beautiful girl! Have you decided what Eva is wearing for the baby contest on Sunday? It is so cute to listen to Grace talk about it and how Eva will get a trophy when she wins. She said she wants to hold her hand and walk out there with her."

She doesn't look like a bully... does she? TOO SWEET if you ask me!

Feeding the giraffes...

Feeding the giraffes - last year when we went to the zoo w/ Breanna, Grace got in line to feed the giraffes (cheese) but got scared & threw her cheese @ the giraffe. But this year, she got in line w/ Ella & fed them! She came running back saying, "I fed him an A-P-P-L-E!!! And I wasn't scared any more!!!" It was so cute! She was soooooo proud of herself, & of course so was I:-)

Below is video of Grace & Ella feeding the giraffes (she made Daddy watch it over & over!):

The zoo...

Jess & Ella, Grace, Eva & I all went to the zoo! I was very excited as I haven't been to the zoo since the arrival of the koala's. Grace got to go last week w/ Jess & Ella while Eva got her tubes so she's been talking about all the animals since. We'd planned our trip earlier in the week, and then the weather looked a little questionable, but Jess watched the news and said it wasn't supposed to rain until at least 1:00 p.m. Not sure the accuracy of that report b/c on the way there it POURED, it rained so hard on 465 that we could barely see to drive! But we kept going... thinking, "Its our day - we're not going to let a little rain spoil it!" Plus Jess said, we could always take the girls into the Butterfly Exhibit.... although, honestly we would have looked like drowned rats by the time we made it there it was raining so hard!

But by the time we got there it wasn't raining at all! I seriously thought while we were in there it might cut lose and I'd be soaked w/ two - three if you count Ella, soaking wet children, but we were lucky b/c it didn't rain at all. However, on the way in Ella tripped and fell (I think she walks in her flip flops about as well as I do!), she skinned both her knees... bless her little heart! I felt so bad for her. We headed back to the car for some First Aid, and the stroller... and then were headed back to the zoo again. Luckily from there on out we didn't have any more obstacles!

Once in the zoo, we went to the dolphin show - one of Grace's favorite things (she's been that way since she was little, although Eva only thought the show was so-so). We also got lucky and they were feeding the giraffe's. Grace had fed them last year w/ Breanna, well fed them sort of! She went up to feed them, got scared and threw her piece of cheese at them:-) But this time she and Ella went to feed them & she fed the giraffe her apple. It was so cute b/c she came running back saying, "I'm not scared anymore!!! I fed him the A-P-P-P-L-E!!!!"

We went through the Petting Zoo - although w/ no petting to see the horses, cows, pigs, etc... (Ella loved commenting on the poop! How much there was, or how big it was - it was so funny!).

After the zoo, we all headed to Hot Box (aka: Pizza Express) for breadstix, all of the girls did a good job eating... from there we headed home for naps!

Easy come, easy go...

We went walking w/ Jess & Ella tonight - the girls had so much fun. Played at the playground, although you can NEVER stay there long enough for them!

When we got back to the house Grace & Ella started playing w/ Grace's jump rope. Eva was dying to play with them, but she's not fast enough for them... they just run circles around her. But it was so sweet b/c when the dropped the jump rope (for something "better"), Eva slowly made her way over to it, & claimed it as her new item:-) You could see in her eyes how pleased she was w/ her new find. She wrapped the rope around her trying to figure out what made it so great that Grace & Ella would have wanted it... even though she wasn't sure what magic qualities it held she kept a tight grip on it.

Grace tried to come over & take it back, but one look from me & she let Eva keep it (Eva had it wrapped around her, I could see in Grace's eyes that she thoughtshe could give it a tug... send Eva spinning, get the jump rope & no one would be bothered... not happening!) So Ella decided she should come to the rescue for her new BFF Grace (they have an on-again, off-again love affair - love each other one minute & not the next - actually it's usually Ella who has the on-off but whatever) so Ella grabs the jump rope & runs to give it to Grace. Jess is yelling at Ella - telling her we don't do that, Ella said "but Gracie wanted it! It's hers!" Eva didn't cry, looked a little disappointed, but I guess - easy come easy go:-)

The girls finished the evening playing with the ball, something they could all do:-)

Poppy's wasting the water - it might run out!

Matt called this morning & said when they were leaving for Brenda's this morning, Grace said "oh no! Daddy, Poppy's wasting the water - it might run out!" I guess the irrigation sprinklers were going off - but I'm so proud of her! She's actually listening to me when I tell her we shouldn't waste things:-) I've told her we need to turn the water off when we aren't using it, the lights, the tv, etc... She asked me why? I tried explaining, when she said, "b/c it might run out?" Which is some-what true so I agreed! She's sooo smart!

Monkey see... Monkey do...

Monkey see... Monkey do... It's so cute, it doesn't matter where we go - Eva wants to do whatever Grace is doing! We were over at the house (according to Grace aka: the castle), Grace was checking everything out... w/ Eva right behind her! If Grace leaned out the window Eva was two steps behind her doing the same thing:-) I love how much she worships Grace!

Popsicles...

I want to be - Just like Grace...

Oh how I LOVE my girls!!! Matt called this morning & said when Gracie was brushing her teeth - standing on her little stool, Eva got behind her trying to get on the stool too! She always wants to be JUST LIKE GRACE! It's sooooo cute! Then when Grace went to get a hair clip, Eva followed her... Eva found a paper clip & was trying to put it in her hair, saying, "Grace, Grace". Grace apparently thought it was funny, and said, "oh Eva, that's not a hair clip! (laughing)". Gracie then went & got a hair clip for Eva & put it in her hair:-) Matt said the whole drive to Brenda's Eva kept touching her clip saying, "Grace, Grace". It's so sweet & makes me so proudof Grace my heart almost doesn't fit in my chest! Gracie is such a W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L big sister!

Oh how I love my girls!

The zoo w/ Jess & Ella...

Eva had surgery to put her tubes in so Jess & Ella asked if Grace wanted to go to the zoo w/ them –a lot more fun than going to the hospital w/ Mommy & Daddy! They left around 9:00 a.m. and spent the entire morning there. Jess said the girls were so good on the way, talking, giggling and snacking all the way.

They went to the dolphin show, which apparently Grace was talking about as soon as we got there. They then got to see the Koala's, who apparently sleep their lives away :)

Next, they rode the merry-go-round (which is GREAT b/c when we go w/ Eva we can’t do some of those things). Grace chose to ride a horse and of course Ella wanted the horse in front of Grace. She is so cute, wanting to everything the big kids do.

Afterwards we looked at the horses, pigs etc and then road the train, which the girls totally loved and I think they were getting a little tired because Ella wanted carried some and Grace asked Jess to carry her but she told her she was too heavy. Grace had asked for ice cream so after the train we had rainbow dip-n-dots, which seems like a sherbet or something. Ella had them all over her white pants and half way through Grace wanted Jess to feed her like Ella and we spilt most of them. We had to wash off the sticky, including Graces feet; they must have got in her crocs. Of course, since Grace washed her feet, Ella had to too! On the way home the girls were great, talking and laughing all the way. Jess didn’t think they argued even once, which is a near miracle :)

Eva's tubes...

Well today Eva got tubes in her ears... she'd not had that many ear infections, or at least in comparison to others I hear talk about tubes. But she continually had fluid in her ears that was muffling what she was hearing - they had measured the movement of her ear drum & it wasn't moving at all. The specialist said if we didn't put the tubes in, it would impact her speech b/c everything she heard was muffled.

Her surgery was scheduled at 9:00 a.m., we had to be at Community South by 8:00 a.m. and here is the real kicker, she couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight! When Matt woke Eva up she was not in a good mood - we did our best to not let her see me until we got there, I mean I'm a walking advertisement for milk!

Once we were there and checked in, they were pretty fast in getting us a room. All three of us went back to the room, got Eva in her gown - she looked so little! And from there nothing went according to plan - they were running behind, and keeping Eva occupied wasn't easy. She was fussy, hungry, thirsty, tired and above all she wanted Grace! It was so sweet, she kept walking around the hallway outside of our room saying "Grace, Grace" looking for her. It's so sweet how much she loves her and looks up to her.

When they came to take her, Eva did much better than I'd ever imagined. I would have thought she'd scream and cry but I guess she'd already done enough of that and was shockingly quiet. The surgery only took like 10 minutes, and the doctor (Dr. Fang) came out to say it went well. I couldn't believe how fast it went! No IVs or any kind of needle, just a little gas:-)

And here is where the real hiccup happened, they were "supposed" to give Eva a Tylenol suppository while she was under. I guess the insertion of the tubes can result in some pain, as well as the hangover from the gas. Well, they forgot to give Eva the Tylenol. They could have just not told us, but the nurse was nice enough to say they forgot - so we "tried" to give it to her orally which was a joke! I think she and I wore as much as she actually swallowed. Which doesn't surprise me, she was already upset and disoriented, wanting to go home and here we were trying to hold her down and shove medicine down her throat. I wouldn't have liked it either! So we left on 1/2 a dose of Tylenol, which was sad b/c I couldn't give her more w/out worrying about overdosing. And I know her ears were hurting (I'm guessing similar to getting your ears pierced?) b/c she would grab her ears and the top of her head and cry:-( If someone talked too loud she would cry too... mad me sad! This went on for most of the day, by early evening she seemed better.

I know the nurse we had felt bad, and like I said it wasn't even her fault! But when we were checking out, Eve was allowed to pick a balloon. When she did she kept saying "Grace, Grace" so the nurse said, "Oh of course you've had a rough morning! You should get two." So Eva left w/ one for her and one for your big sister Grace:-)

Oh on a side note - before the surgery when Dr. Fang came in to make sure we didn't have questions, he called Eva, "my little Gerber baby!"

Below is a pic of Mommy & Eva before the surgery:

Father's Day...

We spent Father’s Day at the lake – after spending the night, which is a story in itself! Let’s just say neither of the girls slept well so neither did Matt or I! But Father’s Day was GREAT! Mom, Dad & Rob came down and so did Shane, Jess & Ella. The girls had tons of fun playing together… the first thing Grace wanted to do was show Ella how to fish. It was cute too b/c right off the bat Ella caught a fish on her two foot Dora fishing pole! The girls caught fish right and left – they were practically jumping out of the water and hooking themselves on their poles. We were throwing them back in so I didn’t feel too bad for the fish:-)

We all had lunch and then headed out on the boat. The girls were cute on the boat – Eva wants so badly to be just like the “big girls”, it’s so sweet to watch! It was funny at one point the three girls were at the front of the boat when I noticed Ella trying to “move” Eva by grabbing a handful of hair and pulling her backwards! But even funnier was Eva was giving it back as much as she was getting throwing an elbow out in one direction and pushing in the other. What a bruiser:-)

After the boat ride the girls played on the deck… w/ Poppy squirting them (huge hit!), at popsicles and played w/ sidewalk chalk. The simple things in life!

Break out the sidewalk chalk...

Grace's 1st fish...

After spending the day on the water, Gracie & Daddy got out great big fat night crawlers & tried fishing. Their first go at it didn't go so well, but they were trying to fish off the dock... then once we were back at the cottage the girls spent some time playing around when we noticed three fishermen at the end of our dock (on their boat) reeling them in one after another! Grace went running down wanting to catch fish too! Daddy & Grace tried for a while, but no fish. Eva was getting fussy, over tired w/ no nap so we decided to put fishing on hold & take Eva for a driving -- hoping it would put her to sleep.

Daddy left Grace's fishing pole laying on the dock w/ the line in the water... when we got back Grace went down to the dock to see if she'd caught anything (she was dying to catch something so she could give it to Mommy to eat! Not that I ate any of her fish.) When we pulled her line in & yes, her pole had moved some - we were lucky it wasn't gone! B/c the fish she caught was HUGE!!! She caught a catfish & he was at least 12 inches! Go GRACE!!!!

A Day at the Lake...

After a week of fun it is only fitting that we top it off w/ a weekend at the lake w/ Daddy! We headed out w/ the car LOADED around 11:00 a.m. this morning. Grace was dying to get down there are do "lake things" - we started off w/ a little hitch - forgot the keys! We called Uncle Rob who brought down keys, but in the mean time we got impatient & Daddy broke into the cottage via the kitchen window. Kids don't do this! But it worked.

The weather was AWESOME! We spent the day riding on the boat, playing with the girls... Grace had fun pulling out old toys - mainly items Rob had at one point loved. She found some little play drill & used it on everything, which was cut but got a little annoying - the sound it made was like nails on a chalk board! Ugh:-)

The Strawberry Festival...

Today was the Strawberry Festival on the Circle downtown... Grace was DYING to go! It was all she talked about this morning. We met Jess & Ella downtown around 12:30 p.m. - right when the storm was rolling in... it was so windy I expected to see Dorthy & Toto fly by! We hurried back to Nanni's house so Grace & Ella could eat their "strawberry festival" w/ out being blown away:-) Grace LOVED hers, Ella was more interested in playing than eating:-) And poor little Eva, she would have eaten whatever they tossed to her, but it had milk in it so she just snacked on grapes:-(