But I want a H O R S E!!!

Who knows why or where she got the idea she wanted a horse, but that is all Grace could talk about tonight. She was like fixated on it... nothing and I mean nothing was going to deter her from her quest to get one either! Matt said, "honey, we don't have anywhere to put a horse..." I mean that's logical, right? Not to Grace, who responded, "he can sleep outside w/ Bella (Rob's dog)".

Then when Matt tried to use her friends as leverage - he said, "None of your friends have horses..." I know this logic later could come back to haunt him (i.e. Daddy Jane's Daddy lets her have boys in her room... don't think so!) But Grace was smart she said, "None of them WANT a horse". I mean duh, that makes sense why they don't have a horse, right?

She's very good about arguing - wonder who she learned that from? Could just be something you're born with:-)

By the end of the night Matt & I were both ready to scream the minute we heard the word HORSE, from now on the word is going to be banned - I almost think it was worse than the stage she went through where she asked to go to the beach every 2 seconds!

Hurricane Eva...

Okay so I'm starting to sound like a broken record - headlines read... "EVA attacks again". You would think I was referring to an October hurricane hitting the Texas coast or something... but no, just my little 20 lb. ball of fire. I wish she would start talking some, I truly think a large percentage of her bad behavior is b/c she doesn't have the verbal skills to express herself correctly. Not that expressing herself correctly would always change the situation but I think it would help - that's also the feedback I'm getting from other mom's here at work. It's strange really b/c when I think back about Grace she said "no" all the time, in fact I often hear that is the first word some children say - Eva's never said "no". It might be better if she just shouted, "no-no-no-no!" all the time rather than acting out.

So here is the latest in the Eva saga... we drove to JoAnn Fabric to look for some fabric to make curtains for the girls playhouse. While we were there Grace wanted to push the cart... so of course Eva wanted to push the cart to - using the handles like Grace did. Not easy when you're like 2' tall! So I would have to hold her in the air, while trying to make sure the cart went straight - just wasn't working out. So I set Eva on the floor to let her push the cart while walking, but she didn't like that either b/c Grace stood behind her pushing as did I. So we tried to shop w/ both girls cranky about who go to push.

Grace decided she wanted to sit in the front of the cart (yeah! one child making things easy or so I thought). Eva then decided to go after anything at eye level, not being able to push and carry her I put her in the larger part of the cart - just trying to make our way to the register... apparently Eva didn't want to be there. So instead of saying "no" she starts slapping at Grace's back - the only part of her visible to Eva in the larger part of the cart. Then Grace screeches, and starts crying real tears... saying, "Eva scratched me!" Grace often exaggerates how much something hurts - which is why I was AMAZED she got her ears pierced so easily (Daddy says she's just like me - determined when she wants to be)... the tears subsided so I just worked on making our way out of the store.

When I was putting Grace in the car I saw her back - and felt awful. Eva had scratched her hard enough to bring blood to the surface - like a cat scratch (not bleeding, but broke the skin) so of course it hurt! My baby:-( I got out my first aid kit to put medicine and band-aids (aka: ban-ban's) on her wounds... when Grace said, "I shouldn't have a sister" - I thought she said I should so I said, "honey you have one". Grace said, "I shouldn't have one, she just hurts me." I felt terrible - I let Eva hurt Grace, and I feel like there is something I should be doing for Eva to correct this. I'm at such a loss....

Luckily Grace moved on, and made buddies with Eva again - but who knows how quickly the weather will change and Hurricane Eva eye will make landfall.

Pit bull responses...

A. Neubeck: Trust me ALL KIDS go through this.......my daughter (now 2) had a biter in her class awhile ago and she bit a couple of times (not sure if it was just "monkey see monkey do" or retaliation).........and every now and then she tries to bite us. We do lots of "ouchy" and "no bite" and make bad and sad faces. She seems to be growing out of it. Sounds like your daughter is right on track!

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J. Dong: I know a lot of people have told you this but this is just a phase, and they WILL outgrow it. When my DD was 2 years old, she also had a biting incident at the day care. I was appalled and surprised because she has never done that at home. The teacher did not make a big deal out of it and told me not to. She said that some of the kids do this repeatedly because of the attention they get, good or bad. So if you ignore them, or just firmly tell her "no", remove her from that situation then walk away, she does not think it is "fun" anymore and will stop doing it. I am not saying this teacher is 100% correct but this is just the advice she gave me. Thankfully my DD only did it once :) Hang in there!

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S. Zembrodt: My first son also had a very intense biting problem. We would get two or three bite reports during the day. His daycare teachers and my husband and I would do exactly what you described below. It was very helpful when our son's teachers would observe what the triggers were to his biting. In our case, he had a hard time during transitions (from reading books to going outside) and with children he perceived to be in his space. Once we knew what would cause it, we could prevent the situation or would help him to deal with it.
I would also recommend the book Teeth Are Not For Biting by Elizabeth Verdick. We read it every night now with our second child.

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T. Craghead: I have never had a problem with my daughter biting others, however we were on the other end. She was getting bit several times by two other children at daycare constantly. I commend you for wanting to address the situation, as the parents of the kids at my daughter's daycare did not. From what research I did, it's not that they are trying to be mean, they are too young for that. They bite for other reasons...teething, not adjusting well to a situation, over stimulation, under stimulation. Instead of looking at it as a behavior, I would look more of what situation/environment may be causing your little one to bite. This will help you and daycare foresee the situation to prevent the behavior by a redirect or intervention. At daycare, have them note the times and events going on when the biting occurs even if it was just an attempt as well as keep notes yourself. Once you know what is causing the biting, you can recreate the event and show her appropriate ways to handle it. Signing is a god send for that age, even if you just do the basics.
I would never suggest biting them back although grandma swears by it, that would teach them to actually bit in retaliation.

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A. Hastings: My daughter went through this phase as well and she sounds a lot like your daughter (cute and sweet). :-) First, it is completely normal from a developmental standpoint. Once my daughter was moved to the one year old room she was frequently bitten. Within a few months things had changed and she became the aggressor. This was an obvious learned behavior.

• We bought the book, "Teeth are not for Biting" and read it every night. She always cried at the parts in the book when a kid was bitten. We would take that opportunity to discuss how badly it hurt and other things she could do in lieu of biting if frustrated, etc.
• Because our daughter only bit at daycare it made disciplining her hours after the fact or at home very difficult. So my husband and I took turns observing through an indoor window at daycare. If she bit someone while we were observing we would go into the room, take her aside, scold her and explain why this behavior was inappropriate. We would reassert other means of expressing herself, getting what she wanted, etc.
• At the suggestion of our pediatrician we also took a bottle of breath spray into daycare with a script for them to use it. If she bit someone they were to immediately spray it in her mouth, explain what she did was wrong & why, and put her in timeout. I know this last part may seem extreme, but my daughter ended up liking the breath spray. It was given in extremely small quantities. Lastly, my daughter's biting phase lasted so long and she was so persistent about it that they were thinking of temporarily suspending her.

I hope your daughter outgrows this phase quickly and that your daughter survives unscathed!

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K. Dale: I've gone through this with our 21 month old daughter. It's really nothing to be embarrassed about, some children have lower frustration tolerance than others. Biting is a natural response to frustration/anger and generally clears up when verbal skills begin. So, I just want to reassure you that it happens more than you think and it says nothing about your parenting skills, or your child other than she's frustrated or angry and doesn't have language skills to deal with it yet.
As far as dealing with it -- we tried to prevent it, (you're already doing that) and immediately responding to it when/after it happened. Our response was a consistent, firm, sort of "harsh sounding" NO and then removal to a time-out spot. We just tried to use the exact same approach every time.The other thing that helped us was "play acting" with her favorite bear. We'd say something like Mr. Bear is biting, that's not nice. He's being naughty -- let's tell him no. Eventually, she'd initiate this and tell you biting is "no, no, no." But, honestly, I don't know if any of this worked (she liked playing the no, no, no bear game) or if she simply grew out of it. It happens less and less as they talk more.
Don't worry. I know that's easier said than done, but she'll grow out of it. Hope that helps!

Help w/ my little pit bull...

Message to the Mommy Group @ work:

Okay Mom's, I'm embarrassed to ask... but does anyone have experience w/ their child biting?

My littlest who's 15 months started biting (I even hate saying it!) somewhere around a month ago. She's the youngest at day-care, and I think this is her only way to retaliate. I've corrected her firmly, removed her from the situation, even made her kiss and make up... she cries like she's heart broken when it happens but unfortunately it hasn't changed her behavior. Luckily she's generally pretty slow so if you know she's going to bite you can stop her and reprimand her first - but my four year old doesn't often realize her mean intentions until it's too late.

Any suggestions - and please not of the "bite her back" response.... Other than this nasty habit she's unbelievable cute & sweet:-)

Acting G O O F Y:-)

Eva on the attack...

Well Eva did it again - it's hard to believe she's so cute w/ those doe eyes and yet so rotten:-)

This morning the girls were playing in the bathroom w/ some paint brushes Grace had (no paint on them!). I guess Grace decided she didn't want Eva to have the one she was playing w/, and although Grace didn't ask for it back the right way - Eva shouldn't have bit her! Grace rather than saying, "Eva can I please have that?" which Eva will generally smile and hand it to you - not always though! Grace just grabbed it from her - so Eva immediately leaned in and BIT her on the crook of her arm. Grace started crying w/ real tears - bless her heart! I know it hurt, Eva's bitten me before. Her little arm had a raspberry from where she bit her and the teeth marks started to swell up.

Grace said it was bleeding but it didn't break the skin. I think it hurt Grace's feelings as much as it actually hurt. Matt wasn't home, so I couldn't manage both girls. Eva was crying right along with Grace... but I told Eva, "No - No biting!" and took her to her crib. Where she cried for the next 20 minutes, while I rocked Grace trying to make her feel better. When I went to get Eva, she stopped crying. I made her say she was sorry - not that she says "sorry" but she kissed Grace. I think she (Eva) was emotionally exhausted b/c she took a three hour nap!

Celebrating the piercing...

The actual piercing...

I want to get my ears pierced...

Grace has been saying for a while now, "I want to get my ears pierced." I think b/c Lilyann just got hers pierced and I think Jayden too... but they are older, and I'm sure they haveto be better at the doctors office than Grace is. I mean Grace is so skittish at the doctors office they have to weigh me holding her and weigh me after! Seriously do you think this child can get her ears pierced? I'm thinking no - I mean I was in 3rd grade when I got mine pierced, I passed out and then threw-up!

So we were in Lowe's shopping when Grace started in... "I want to get my ears pierced." So I (rather than fight this battle) said, ask your dad. I didn't object to her having her ears pierced, it was more the process and how she would react that made me nervous - plus I figured he would say NO. But he didn't! Matt said, "sure", so Grace being like any 4-year old said, "okay - let's go now". Matt said, "oh no not now, I don't even know where you go to get your ears pierced, another day sweetie". Grace was not going to be deterred that easily said, "No you said I could I want to go now! They do it at the mall." (She had him on that one) so Matt looked at me like "now what?". I said you told her yes, if she wants to go let's go. Matt then tried to tell her how much it would hurt - even pinched her ear to try and show her. Her little ear was all red, but she was determined, said "that didn't hurt". So off we went in search of an ear piecing store...

We ended up at the Claire's in Clay Terrace. There was another little girl already in the store discussing getting her ears pierced (she was 8-9) but wasn't getting them pierced today. I asked the assistant manager to explain to Grace what they would do and how much it would hurt and for how long. Still she wanted them pierced, so they showed us the earrings. Grace of course immediately wanted the biggest pair of earrings they had, but I really didn't want my child looking like a male rapper so I steered her towards the pink little flowers - more her style. Grace got up in the chair, looked nervous - but maybe that was just me! They gave her a bear to squeeze, cleaned her ears, all the while telling her everything she was doing. I took pictures - but at the same time had to make sure Eva didn't destroy the store. She was very interested in the sunglass stand, glasses all the way to the floor - I'm sure in her mind it was almost as if it was designed just for her.

When the ear guns went off it was like, phiff, phiff - and no other sound... no screaming, no crying, nothing... I almost thought for a minute that they didn't do it. But when I looked closely at Grace she had earrings in her ears. One of the guns had gotten caught on the earring and didn't release easily, I thought "oh no, she's going to lose it now" I saw her lip tremble, but no tears. She then turned at looked at Matt w/ a huge smile and said "I told you it didn't hurt". I can't believe how well she did!

We then selected a new headband to display her earrings, and headed next door to the ColdCreamery for some nondairy sorbet. I think I was in shock - heck I still am, I can't believe she did it - and never once complained! She has even done a good job turning her earrings, and asking for me to clean them. I would have thought all the instructions she was told prior to the piercing would have been lost in the fear zone, but Grace will say, "Mom that girl w/ the short hair, she said to clean then after I take a bath".

Makes me proud of her, but at the same time a little sad - my baby is growing up! Aww.... I want her to stay little longer:-)

Mom, open your eyes...

First thing this morning (7 a.m.) I hear, "Mom, open your eyes... I want cereal & Kim wants pancakes." You would think it would be Eva waking me up that early but nope Eva's my sleeper, she slept till nearly 9 a.m. but not Grace. I told Grace, just a minute... but she didn't go away:-)

So I got up fixed Grace cereal & Kim pancakes. It was cute though, made me think what the future would be like - Gracie w/ her friends over spending the night waking me up for breakfast. These are the times you want to remember, cute little faces w/ sleepy hair:-)

At breakfast, Grace said, "Kim took all the covers!" but according to Kim, Grace kicked them all off - but they seemed to have a really good time!

Kimmy spending the night...

Tonight we went to Gram's house - Mommy had senior pictures to take. Grace loves going out there - she has fun running around, playing w/ Kimmy - heck she loves doing anything out there:-) The freedom I guess! But poor little Eva she can't bear to be away from Mommy, which is strange b/c she does okay at Brenda's... maybe b/c she knows I'm there. Not sure. I feel awful for Gram's b/c the entire time Eva cried - at one point I went and got her and Daddy tried to hold her while I took some pics but by then she cried for him too:-( Poor baby!

I was wrapping up w/ pictures & we were loading the car when Gram's came out and said they had to go to the hospital, Pop-pop cut his hand (drove himself to the hospital), must have been bad or he wouldn't have even bothered going. Of course we were all nervous. Gram's said Kim would go w/ her (although we tried to convince her that she could come home w/ us!). The entire drive home, Grace worried about Pop-pop and him being at the "hosp-it-aler", it's very cute how she tries to say hospital:-) We got an update when we got home and it looked like Pop-pop was going to have to go in for surgery that night, so Daddy went to get Kimmy so she could stay at our house.

Once Kim was at home w/ us, Grace & Kim slept in Grace's room (Eva's room too!) on the fold out bed. They were so cute - both of them in bed... Grace was so excited to have someone to sleep with her. The three girls played on the bed together until Eva got tired and bolted. I think it's a good thing that Grace didn't get a nap today otherwise she could have had Kim awake all night! Luckily for her though, when I checked on them 15 minutes later they were both sound asleep.

A note from Brenda....

A note from Brenda....

"Of course, Grace wanted to go upstairs and see Breanna while she was getting ready. It was absolutely adorable, Gracie came downstairs and said "Breanna looks really cool today" I said she does and she said "yeah, she looks like Hanna Montanna". It was so cute!!! She got her hair cut from Judy yesterday and it is shorter around her face and she does kinda resemble her. When Breanna started to leave for school Eva followed her to the door and Breanna said bye Eva she started waving real big and puckered her lips for a kiss, she gave her a hug and started waving again. Breanna said awwwwww she is so cute."

I want to be just like G R A C E...

Its so cute, we'd gone for a walk/bike ride & when we got back both girls wanted popsicles (of-course!). But when we got upstairs for their baths, Grace laid on the floor w/ her feet up on the cabinets... it took Eva at least five minutes to position herself just like Grace but she did it:-)

It's so cute she wants to do everything Grace does! When we got back she wanted on Grace's bike -- I have to keep reminding Grace she has to be good b/c Eva does what she does:-)

Play-A-Lot

Ugh - I hate it when I type an entire message only to have it deleted --- so F R U S T R A T I N G!!! Let's see if I can do this again.

Today we headed north to go to Play-A-Lot, located in Pinheads. I'd heard at work that it was a great place to take little people, so we were looking for something new and thought we'd try it. Not sure why they thought it was so great, wasn't bad but wasn't worth the drive... maybe in the middle of an Indiana winter it might be worth going... but on the bright side we had the entire place to ourselves! The girls had a great time playing; they had a rock wall, an indoor play set, a kitchen set, blocks, tons of things. And Jess and I loved the fact that we didn't have to clean up!

From there we all had lunch at Puchini's - the girls did really well, colored while we waited on our pizza. Even Eva did a good job eating her cheese-less pizza. After lunch we decided to push it and took the girls into PBKids, they fell head over heels for the kitchen set, and fought over the baby stroller... needless to say it wasn't a pretty picture when we had to leave. Grace didn't do too bad, but Eva was prepared to bite and claw her way out, while Ella's strategy was to throw herself on the floor. The Mommy's won this match though and all three girls got in the car:-)

They are napping now, and I'm enjoying the quiet... not for long though. Gymnastics tonight, and Mattie is gone for work:-( We miss him!

Play-a-Lot...

Gremlins ATTACK...

Okay we've been bouncing around trying out new play places - I so can't wait to move in to our house and have the Rainbow Playhouse set up again... but the search for the perfect playground has been fun. So tonight we met Jess & Ella over at one of the elementary schools in town and played there. They had a G R E A T playground! Tons of things to play on for all of the girls - including Eva, lots of mulch for safety - clean, and here is the best part... it was nearly deserted! I have finding a good playground to discover the kids there are unruly (i.e. they walk up the slide as your little one is trying to go down - annoying!). Matt was out of town working so we stayed and played forever, well nearly forever from 7-9:00 p.m.! Some sport must have been having practice in the school b/c when they released a group of older girls came out, they were really sweet though - nice and thoughtful to Eva, and played w/ Grace & Ella - who of course thought that made them so "cool".

It was such a nice evening... that is until we got home. You would think Grace might be in a great mood - tons of fun w/ Mom and her friends, a fun day planned for our Wednesday. But instead when I told her we needed to put her p.j.'s on she had a total MELTDOWN. Screaming, crying, saying "I don't want to go to bed" - she told me she wanted her daddy - she even said at one point she wanted Rob! If that isn't funny:-) But I just hate it when she does this - and here lately its been more often than I'd like. We have fun + fun + fun and that seems to = MELTDOWN, so then I'm forced to wonder, "would I have been better off not going off and doing enriching things?". I try to reason with her - that doesn't work, I try to use my "firm - Super Nanny voice" but that doesn't get me much, honestlyI've not found a solution, but I'm getting desperate. Jess likes to say that Eva is my little gremlin - b/c she looks all cute and sweet andthen out of no where she'll bite you! Well at least w/ Eva you can semi see it coming... but w/ Grace it's always a total shock to me.

History behind the Gremlins:

The little gremlins are unbearably cute and look like a cross between a Pekingese, Yoda from EMPIRE, the Ewoks from JEDI, and kittens. They have impossibly big eyes, they're cuddly and friendly, and they would make ideal pets except for the fact that they hate bright lights, should not be allowed to get wet, and must never be fed after midnight. In the movie - someone always violates this rule and then after the gremlins have gotten wet, been fed after midnight, etc., they turn into truly hateful creatures that look like the monster in ALIEN.

Per Jess - Eva, but honestly in my opinion Grace:-) Cute, sweet, happy little 4 year old - then I feed her after midnight and WHAM! The monster gremlin pops out!!!

I guess I'll just have to learn how to deal - but for now I'm shocked every time it happens & left wondering what did I do wrong... maybe it's just a 4-year old thing.

Help - I'm stuck!

Eva's much more into babies than Grace ever was, Grace was always into "dogs" not sure why. But Eva loves all of her babies - she's more of a little old lady, w/ her hand bag, her baby, baby bottle - waddling off to the store:-) Just too cute! I was trying to get the girls dressed, and Grace interrupted my dressing Eva... so Eva went over to Nanni's antique baby doll cradle and crawled in! It was funny b/c she was in the cradle and then couldn't figure out how to get out... made me laugh:-)

Sparkle bugs

We stopped at Gram's house to get the trailer & Grace of course had to get out of the car, even though Gram's & Pop-pop weren't home...

I was talking to Eva while Matt hooked the trailer up when Grace comes running over yelling, "come look at the S P A R K L E bugs!" AKA: lightening bugs:-) It made me laugh, but w/ daylight savings & since we don't live in the country you don't see many lightening bugs anymore... Grace loved them! It was too cute;-)

Mommy you should share w/ Daddy...

This evening we went back to the Paint Your Own Pottery store to pick up the girls items... Grace & I were so excited!!! And when they brought the pieces out they were G E O R G E O U S!!!! I would have never know I had a genius artist budding in my family! I mean her coffee cup might go for millions one day right up there w/ van Gogh, in fact I think the cup looks a little like his famous painting Starry Night... What do you think? Just the mom in me?? She has serious potential!

So if this wasn't great enough - to top it off, Grace is just too sweet & cute. Matt acted disappointed that the coffee cup was for me, so at bed time Grace hopped into bed w/ me... laid her head down on the pillow next to me and said, "Mommy, I think you should share the coffee cup w/ Daddy. Then when he drinks out of it, he will say, 'Yum - this is a gooood coffee cup!'" Where does she come up w/ it? Love her to pieces!!!

Painting pottery... the finished product...

And their hand print plates - just L O V E them!!! I could go back there and easily spend tons of money. I foresee lots of future presents coming from there. And why not? I mean who wouldn't love to get a home made gift w/ lots of heart?

An evening at the park...

At dinner things were going so well & it looked like we might be done w/ dinner by 6:30 p.m. - a record! So I asked Grace if she'd like to go see Daddy at the castle or go to the park... I guess I shouldhave known the answer but I actually thought she might say the castle b/c she has really hated having Matt gone so much... but she immediately said the P A R K!

I called Jess, and she & Ella headed over... from there we walked to the park & played for 30 minutes or more! Poor little Eva she has the hardest time understanding why we are leaving... but all good things have to end. From there we drove over & showed Jess & Ella the house - so we managed to do both see Daddy & go to the park!

We even delivered popsicles to the guys there helping Daddy! Of course we had to have some too:)

Delivering Popsicles to daddy & the boys...

We took Popsicles over to Daddy & the boys - and of course we had to have some on the way!

Spanish Class...

Grace had her first Spanish class tonight - it was so cute, before going she kept saying, "Daddy I have class tonight! I'm going to learn Spanish." There were only 5 students in her class, so nice & small - and all girls! She came out of class grinning from ear to ear, but Grace makes friends where ever she is, so it's not a surprise to me that she had fun. And maybe along the way she'll learn some - if not it's a good introduction to what preschool might be like!

Eva's shiner...

When I got to Brenda's the girls were playing outside. Eva was happily pushing around a baby doll stroller & Grace was running around like always. I headed inside to get the girls things & check out Lilly's new hair cut... when Brenda comes in carrying Eva w/ the biggest goose egg on her little head - purple & scrapped! It was so A W F U L!!! I guess she was walking down the sidewalk, as Brenda was headed towards her when she lost her balance & caught herself w/ her head! It looked so painful... but I guess she didn't cry until Brenda took her away from her stroller. Her poor little head!

It was so sad, Eva looked at me - almost confused looking... kind of wondering why I looked so panicked. She would then sweetly lay her head on my shoulder. Made me melt!

Check out her shiner...

The park...

Today after working on pics I took the girls to the park over by the Girls Club... Grace really can make friends w/ anyone! And wow, there are already a ton of people I don't want her associating w/:-) The kids over there are so R U D E, the slides are bigger which is okay but Grace would be on the slide getting ready to go down & some big boy would walk up the slide - argh!

Eva loved the swing, but she wanted to do whatever Gracie was doing. So we played for 30-40 minutes & then headed home for a nap (the the girls that is!).

Grace & nail polish...

Oh my gosh... I could just kill Jess right now:-) Matt's off working on the house & I'm home w/ both girls. I'm in the process of changing Eva's diaper - which takes all of my attention, she's such a little wiggle worm... when I hear Grace say something like, "I didn't get any on me... I'm a good painter!" Quickly I come out of my fog - and say, "W H A T????" That is when Grace shows me her toes & fingers which she has smeared fingernail polish all over - fingernail polish from the make-up kit Jess gave her! They were still wet enough I was able to wipe it off, and thank goodness she didn't get it on Nanni's carpet - that would have been disastrous!!!

Just remember Jess... Ella might also like some make-up for her birthday;-)

Eva doesn't think senior pictures are much fun...

It was so sad, Friday evening I took senior pictures for a girl from Franklin Central... Grace & Kim played at Gram's house - which Grace absolutely LOVES. But poor Eva she really didn't want to play, I think she would have preferred to have me carry her w/ me everywhere I went. I felt so bad for her - crying uncontrollably... and poor Gram's - I felt bad for her too!

Harry Poppy...

Today we went to Paint Your Own Pottery - or as Grace kept calling it "Harry Poppy". She kept saying I want to go to Harry Poppy!!! She had no idea what we were doing except it sounded fun and Jess & Ella were going too:-)

The store was so cute, all the tables set up... the girls had so much fun, Eva included! Grace & Eva both painted a ceramic tile & we put their hand print on each one of them. It wasn't easy doing Eva's but I think they will be something to remember:-) Then b/c Gracie is such a big girl she did a coffee cup - made especially for Mommy! We have to wait a week before we can go back & get them... they have to be fired in the oven to give them a pretty glazed look (then the colors will look nice - not so chalky like the pic below) but I'm sooooo EXCITED! Maybe more than Grace:-) On the way home she kept asking why we had to wait... and you know how the why questions go, one leads to another & another!

Such a FUN day!!!

An evening at the pool...

Oh my gosh! I can't believe how much F U N we had!!! I'd heard the Shelbyville Aquatic Pool had late hours on Tuesday & Thursday 6:30 - 8:30 @ a reduced rate & thought it might be fun to go... boy was I right! We met Jess & Ella (and Marilyn & David too!) @ the pool for an evening swim. There was hardly anyone there - it was SO perfect!

Both Eva & Grace love the water, but Grace is often a little leery of the deeper water, playing it safe in general - but not this time! She made several new friends - one of which was Marcy McCrackin (of course she has a new name now, but this is how I know her!) little girl Morgan who is five. Grace kept talking about her the entire evening, "the girl in the rainbow" - she was wearing a rainbow on her swimming suit. So Grace played back & forth with Morgan, and then would randomly return to Ella & Eva too! I often had to remind her to not go out so far - a new warning for her!

And little Ms. Eva - she L O V E D the water slide! I'm not talking about a little bitty water slide either (Nanni asked if Eva went down by herself? I was like no way! This slide is 3 flights of stairs tall!). But Eva loved going down it w/ me of course:-) Jess thought maybe it was just Eva's Mommy who liked the slide but Eva came down every time grinning from ear to ear, making the hand gesture for "more" -- too cute!!!

I think in all I took Eva down the slide 20 times or more & Grace went at least 10 times. It was so much FUN! I know I've said that a gazillion times, but I totally felt like a kid again. That is until my body started to ache! I was thinking "I must be really old" until Jess reminded me that every time I took Eva down the slide I held her little chunky monkey body in the air so she wouldn't go under - its no wonder my body aches my arms probably haven't had a workout like that in a while! Not to mention carrying her up 3 flights of stairs for each trip down:-) I'm thinking though this might be our new Tuesday night hangout!!!

An evening at the park...

At the park this evening we had soooo much fun! Eva L O V E S the swing, she likes to look down while swinging, it's cute b/c she often gets disoriented. Then when she looks up & sees me, she gives me a huge grin & claps! I was pushing both girls - and loving every minute of it. Even if it was 85 degrees! When I took Eva out of the swing, she did not want to leave - and even tried to bite me! It amazes me, so sweet & at the same time so sour! I saw the jaws coming & said "Eva! No biting!" She broke out into tears, but they quickly dried when she fell in love w/ the slide:-)

On the way out of the park, I found a penny & gave it to Grace. Grace loved it - she thought it was such a pretty shiny color... and then proclaimed - "Pop-pop needs to give me some paper to scribble on!" Translation: She would like a lottery ticket to scratch b/c that's what "change" is for:-)

Potato... Tomato... T-onato....

Potato... Tomato... T-onato....

It was so funny, we were driving to the house to see Matt (he's been working over there on the play house) when Grace told me, "today at Brenda's a t-onato blew everything about... right over us in the sky". I was like, "what??" Then it clicked!

T-onato (like potato) = T O R N A D O:-)

It was so cute the way she said it, I almost didn't want to correct her, I thought her way was cuter! Sure makes a tornado sound better - wouldn't you love it, if on the news they said, "a tonato touched down in... ". Life as a 4 year old, isn't it grand!

Preschool Spanish...

I just signed Grace up (again!) for Preschool Spanish. We were signed up in the fall & she was dying to go, but they didn't have enough people sign up for the class so the day of it was canceled. Hopefully there will be enough people this time... they are to learn basic conversational class focusing on counting, colors, animals, body parts, and basic communication words. Fun themed games will help to reinforce each day’s lesson. The class is for children ages 3-5, and runs for 4 weeks... Monday's from 5-5:45 p.m. I think she'll have a B L A S T! Assuming they have the class.... let's cross our fingers!

Hot Dog...

Daddy & Jeff Grimme cooked dinner on the grill... Jeff was very careful making sure the hot dogs didn't have any lines on them, otherwise Grace would say that her hot dog has "dirt" on it:-) Grace refused to eat her hot dog, saying she'd rather have a grilled cheese - so back to the grill, where yes the boys made grilled cheese. Grace then didn't want to eat it either, but Mommy said she had to eat some of it. So while Grace is being a DRAMA queen about her food... Eva just there happily eating her hot dog, watching everyone.

How can they be sisters? They seem to be from two different worlds:-)

Don't they make a cute couple...

Eva's so cute! After the big girls - Grace, Lilyann & Ella have given up playing with sidewalk chalk, Eva slowly moves in & collects all the left behind chalk. It's almost as if she's trying to figure out what made it so great, that these girls (that she looks up to) would spend their time playing with it. Even not knowing the importance, she collects all the pieces b/c it must be something important if they played w/ it!

While collecting her chalk, Daddy moved in for some "Eva time!" - don't they make a cute couple:-)