Halloween

Halloween - yippee! I love Halloween, in fact I love almost every holiday:-) I of course was soooo excited from the start of the day, just knowing that once work is over I get to dress my two little monkeys up and go door to door for candy is enough to get me excited... but Daddy on the other hand needed a little help finding his Halloween spirit. Halloween morning, he said, "I hate Halloween..." I mean come on - bah humbug! Right... don't worry though, a little Disney princess manages to help him find his Halloween spirit:-)

After work I rushed to Brenda's to get my girls and I was sooooo HAPPY to find Eva wearing her lady bug costume, and looking soooo CUTE! I'd sent it to Brenda's letting her know - if Eva falls asleep stick her in it (when other than physically hurting her I was willing to do nearly anything to get her to wear her costume! I should say, we'd had the costume for over a month and she would run the opposite direction any time she saw it.) Eva has this thing where she refuses to wear something, and then when she finally does she won't take it off... so I knew putting her in the costume might mean that she'd still be wearing it come Christmas, but I was okay w/ that:-) So to my huge surprise, when I got there out comes Eva wearing her lady bug costume (not the hat, but who cares!). I was so happy!!! And she looked soooooo cute!

From Brenda's we went home to get Gracie all dressed - she went as Jasmine, the Disney Princess from Aladdin. She let me do her hair in messy buns (my favorite!) although, she really didn't think that was how Jasmine liked to wear her hair. I told her, "Jasmine always wears her hair like this - if you wear it like this, they will really think your her!" That must have convinced her b/c she was good w/ it after that. Once both girls were dressed (Eva in all black and red -- and her WHITE shoes, yes she picked them out.) We headed out the door w/ Daddy.

Our first stop of the evening was a Pop-pop's work, where he loaded the girls up w/ tons of sugary things. Not sure how he managed to slip this one past me, but as he left he gave Eva a Reese's cup candy bar. And wouldn't you know it, she managed to get the candy bar open and ate some of it! I know, so what right? It has MILK in it! And peanuts, so w/ her food allergies, I had a little bit of a freak out - but got over it. We were lucky that only her hands and the car seat straps were covered in chocolate, I think had we been in the car any longer and Eva would have had to go as a Hershey's Kiss for Halloween:-)

The girls got Princess snack treats at Grams's, from there we headed over to Grandma-Great's house, and then on to Brenda's. I think both girls could have stayed at Brenda's the rest of the evening. When we got there Ella Griggs and Riley Lee were there so the little people were running around playing:-) But knowing it would get dark soon, we didn't stay long - our next stop was Rick & Vickie's. Matt did a little bit of his own "trick or treating" there and managed to get dinner out of Vickie:-) While Matt ate the girls passed out Halloween candy w/ Uncle Rick. Grace did a great job this year, in the past she wouldn't give anyone candy who was wearing a mask. But she wasn't as afraid this year, when pretty girls would come up - Grace would immediately tell them, "I love your costume." or "You're beautiful!" And she always said it w/ such honesty - she's so sweet! Although Rick probably would have liked to have help the rest of the evening, we left and went on to Marilyan's house. Where Grace rang her doorbell and came right on in - making herself at home. She then passed out candy there for a bit. She only decided she would leave when we told her she could trick-or-treat at the houses on our old street (Springway Drive).

Grace thought it was great going up to the houses getting candy. And so many of the neighbors were sweet having Teddy Grahams, etc... for Eva too! Both girls had a GREAT time, and the weather was so nice too! After trick-or-treating we headed back to Nanni's where Grace and Eva passed out more candy, and examined all the candy they both got. I'm sure way more than Poppy would ever want to see them eat! But they had fun, that's what matters! Plus, after seeing how excited Grace was, Daddy managed to find his Halloween spirit!

Wow - that's really neat...

Today we were going on a walk, Gracie was riding her bike when she told me... "Today Ella said, "I want that, I want that" and I told her Santa doesn't like it when you say that. You should say, "Wow, that's really neat." He'll know you like it then."

Makes me SMILE when she actually listens to me! Earlier in the week, Grace was CONSTANTLY saying, "I want that - I want that - I want that!" I didn't think we'd make it to Christmas, so I told her, "Santa will think, "Gosh Grace wants too much, I can never make her happy." So then he might just skip her house and go on to another little girl who only wants one special present. I told her I bet that if you just say, "Wow, that's really neat." He'll know you liked it. And who would have known - she listened!!! Makes me smile:-)

A note from Brenda...

"Eva saw a tractor out back and I think she was trying to tell me it was Poppop. She went and got Grace and was showing her too. Gracie said, "Eva loves her Poppop". It was so cute!! She had the biggest smile on her face so I'm sure she thought it was him."

I kind of think I might have...

Okay I know some of my blogs about the girls make those of you reading laugh, but this is one of my favorites... I have a hard time repeating it w/ out laughing, in fact I'm certain I've not repeated the story w/out bursting out laughing! So here goes:-)

Grace & Eva are in the bathtub, I'm busy getting their items for Brenda's ready, when Grace says, "Eva scratched me", "Eva pinched me", "Eva bit me". I'm in between telling Eva, "No Eva, that's not nice", obviously it's not working - so by the last "attack", I'm like, "Gracie I don't know what to do, do you want to get out?" Of course not. So they go back to playing, and I to packing.

I'm washing Eva when I see some scratches on her back, and two circular marks... that look odd to me. So I ask Grace, "Did you bite Eva?" Grace says, "No, she scratched her back here - pointing to the back wall of the tub". So I'm like okay, but I can't let it go... the circle marks have little dashed lines in them... something seems off. So I ask again - same answer. I even told Grace, "Gracie, you're not in trouble, Mommy just wants to know what happened." Apparently I wasn't very convincing b/c she still stuck to her story.

Finally, following my gut - I told Grace, "You know you might be able to get by w/ lying to Mommy but Santa will know if you're lying." This must have really gotten her b/c she looked like she was really thinking, and then sweetly said, "Hmmm.... Now that I think about it.... I think I kind of maybe might have bitten her... (then she follows it up w/) only when I was being a mean dog."

Oh gosh, even writing it makes me laugh - "I kind of think I might have" - some serious commitment there. And as I told her, she didn't get in trouble - Eva if someday you are reading this - please know, you never cried, so it must not have phased you too much! Plus at the rate you pinch/bite/scratch Grace she probably owed you one;-)

I'm "A-Door"???

I've been spending a decent amount of my spare time working on my new website (www.PhotographybyAmazingGrace.com) - it's not quite ready yet so if you peek know it's not finished! So the girls are playing with the doll house, and I thought I'd sneak into the office and a get a few things updated.

Of course, I'm in there for all of a minute when I'm two-some comes in. Grace and Eva both love watching the pictures flash on the screen. Eva LOVES to see the pics of the babies;-) Grace being older, wanted to know where the pictures of her were. I said, "Your pictures are under the gallery adore" Grace says, "What? I'm a door?" I said, "No silly" and showed her the few pics of her I had loaded (not many yet!). And let her listen to "her special song" - Gracie, by Ben Folds Five. Grace loved the song so much she sat in Nanni's office for nearly an hour listening to it - I think memorizing it! And periodically spinning in circles, she made me get my camera out b/c she thought that would be a good picture to go w/ her song:-) Too cute!!!

My little monkey...

Eva cracks me up!!! I would love to think that she's ready to start potty training but seriously it took Grace F O R E V E R, so why get my hopes up right? Well who knows if she is ready, but she loves to sit on the potty w/ toilet paper in hand, wiping her behind repeatedly. AND she has so much fun doing this that if you take her off the potty -- look out b/c she is going to be MAD.... she is sooooo like her Daddy when it comes to her temper (ha ha ha!!! I get to say these things b/c I'm the writer, see if Daddy wrote the blogs he could say, "she's just like Mommy w/ that temper of hers" but I'm writing this story, so it's Daddy!).

You know come to think of it, she's pretty set in her ways... she has this little Princess fleece jacket, and that is the only jacket she is willing to wear. Matt said this morning she threw a fit, refused to put it on. I'm thinking she's only 18 months, you could get her jacket on... so of course karma came back to bite me in the ass b/c when I pick her up from Brenda's she threw herself on the floor refusing to put it on, flopping around like a fish out of water. Grace was never like this - or was at least nearly 6 months older when she started it. Whew - we could be hitting the "terrible two's" a little early.

But you know, even writing about my little monkey and how crazy she can behave makes me smile... I think her temperament is only part of what makes her so lovable. Right now I'd have to say one of my favorite things she does, is - since she doesn't do a ton of talking - when she wants something to drink, she purses her lips out like she's going to give you a big kiss but makes smooching noises. I know my description is lacking, but wow - just thinking about her little mug doing that makes me smile. Between that and thinking - not much longer and we will be in our own house, makes me want to jump up and down and dance in circles around the bedroom. I seriously can't wait till we get our own space.

I mean don't get me wrong I feel so blessed to have lived here w/ the parents, but I think there is a reason children are supposed to grow-up and move out (I think I figured that out at least 6 months ago - I know slow learner). Matt will miss the home cooked meals, although he's at the house so much that just living where he's working will be a huge plus.

Okay enough blogging for now - gotta go back to editing senior pictures... not sure who reads the blogs, other than hopefully the girls some day, but it sure gets addictive!

Please let my Mommy's head be okay the next time she drinks!

Oh gosh some of the things Gracie says, whew! Taken out of context and I'd hate to hear what her teachers at school would think... tonight I had a glass of milk and I drank it too fast and got a "cold headache". So at bedtime when Grace was saying her prayers, at the end she added, "and God, please let my Mommy's head be okay the next time she drinks!" Ugh, Miss Rhonda will think I'm out on a bender every night;-)

A note from Brenda...

"The girls are good. Eva has been pinching and scratching but no biting!! She had some fries for lunch and boy was she in heaven. We only have them maybe once a week or every two weeks and she gets so excited when she sees me get the bag out to put them in the oven, She always runs to the closet door to get the booster seat. It is so darn cute to watch her. The little ones are napping and Grace, Jaidyn, Macey and Megan are coloring. She wanted to know if she could color a picture before her nap. She insists she doesn't need one today but I said yes, we'll try."

S M I L E :-)

Oh gosh, where to start? Today, although a Monday (ugh!) just feels like one of those days where you wake up smiling. The weekend was good, nothing special, I guess just loving where I am in life. I sit back and watch the girls play together and feel like the luckiest person alive. I couldn't ask for Grace to be any sweeter, she w/out prompting will offer to share some of her most prized items w/ Eva (ie. the tiniest bite of her stick of gum). Yesterday she popped into Poppy's room & came down the stairs saying, "Oh Mommy, I just went into Poppy's room, & it was soooo sweet - he & Nanni were sleeping together (sigh... smile) they're so SWEET." Seriously, how many four year olds notice things like that? My little Gracie does, and I LOVE it!

I love watching Grace dance in front of the huge mirror w/ Eva, my little monkey, following her every move:-) I even love how Eva's becoming her own person, even if that means that she has some VERY specific opinions on things. Specifically, she will only wear what she wants to wear - of lately, that is a Princess fleece jacket w/ a crochet hat. She will only eat what she wants to eat - currently chicken nuggets & grapes. And she will not go to sleep - no matter what, unless SHE wants to;-) What is it they say? Can't fight the tide, just enjoy the waves? :-) THAT IS EVA - and honestly, I wouldn't change her.

Sometimes, I wonder how I got so luck... I've got Mattie who seriously I know can be a turd when he wants to be, but how many girls out there have husbands who really truly want to make their wives happy??? I'm not sure, but I'm one of the lucky ones b/c Matt honestly is happy when I'm happy - guess he's lucky that's a lot of the time;-) Add the girls into the mix, and the fact that soon we'll be living in our VERY OWN HOUSE, and I'm OVER THE MOON w/ excitement!!!!

I know it's a Monday, a total oddity, but smile.... SMILE... S M I L E:-)

Why would anyone want to grow-up???

Tonight we had so much FUN! It's not often lately that we get a night out w/ Daddy, but Mommy talked him into it:-) And BOY did we have fun! First we went into Bishop's to look at appliances for the house - after that brief stop we headed north. Since the consensus was that everyone was hungry we went for pizza first:-) Eva refused to take her Princess jacket or hat off, which was fine - everyone there eating thought she was cute. And shockingly (she holds her smiles close to the vest) when anyone would look at her & smile, she'd give them the cutest grin... most of the time w/ at least one eye hidden beneath her hat. And look out if you so much as try to adjust her hat so she can see - she doesn't want anyone touching her hat, if she could talk more I'm certain she would say, "leave my hat alone Mom, it's fine just like it is!" w/ attitude I should add.

So after dinner we headed over to Pottery Barn Kids, where both the girls were in love. Mommy shopped for baskets for the Camera bookcase & some cute curtain rods, while the girls played w/ the kitchen set. I feel like a little kid w/ my excitement, but I was over the moon when Grace talked nonstop about the kitchen set (later on in the weekend, she BEGGED to go shopping again, b/c she wanted to play w/ the kitchen set). Oh, I soooooo want to tell her - YOU'RE GETTING IT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! YIPPEE!!! And then proceed to dance in circles w/ her:-) But instead I bite my tongue and hold the secret in:-) Matt always says I'm a big kid - and this time I have to agree:-)

All I can say is I can't wait for Christmas -- only 62 days!!!! Not that I'm counting or anything!!!

Don't wish your life away...

I know life isn't always a bowl of cherries, but I think a lot of what you get out of life is how you view it... I know today's blog may sound serious, but I had the thought, "What if I'm not here some day to teach you how to make lemonade out of lemons? Would you learn it on your own?" Maybe, but just in case I wanted to make sure you always woke each day thinking about the great possibilities that day can hold... when I was growing up Nanni often caught me "wishing it was the weekend" and although I never got to meet Nanni's daddy she imparted some wisdom from him, he used to tell her "Don't wish your life away." From that I take it to mean, Enjoy each day - each moment. Yes, weekends are more fun than work days... but what if today a work day was your last day? Wouldn't you want to know you woke up singing on the way to work, smiling about how wonderful your life is? Enjoying the little things... For me playing footsie w/ your daddy while he's protesting that he's "sleeping", or being head butted by Eva who's breaking out all of her super cute moves to keep from going to bed, or sweet-sweet little Gracie who thinks the world revolves around goodness and it is her mission to share stickers w/ everyone:-) Focusing on the good things makes you smile, smiling makes everything else seem better and easier to deal with. I mean why worry about what you can't change, right? I know, sounds CRAZY, coming from me the semi-reformed control freak! But life is about smelling the roses, right?

So if I'm not there to tell you when you're older and Mr. Wrong breaks your heart - its okay, it hurts but its a good thing b/c he wasn't MR. RIGHT. I hope you both always have the spirits you have today, but if you don't know that you can take a deep breath, shut your eyes and when you open them you can see things differently... it's all what you make it.

Always know that you both and your Daddy make me SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!

Isn't more always better?

So I think Eva's taken to the motto, "Isn't more always better?"

I mean sometimes, but not always... today after picking Grace up from school the three of us are in the kitchen I'm "trying" to fix Grace macaroni and cheese - w/ out a boxed recipe! Crazy I know, but we're out... note, she didn't like my homemade version, go figure. I look over and see Eva, seriously looking like a cat that just got caught eating a canary... still in her mouth - fighting to get out. So I say, "Mutchkin, what's going on? What do you have in your mouth?" Out comes a HUGE smile followed by the biggest wad of gum ever! The gum is a mixture of chewed gum, and gum w/ the wrapper still on!

Apparently, Eva thought "more is always better" so she just stuffed it all in her mouth:-)

She was very upset to lose all of her gum, as was Grace since Eva stuffed nearly a pack of Grace's Trident into her little mouth - but after a lot of tears, Eva settled on being happy with 1/4 stick of gum.

Lesson: Sometimes less is better;-)

Mommy I don't want you to go to work...

Okay so today was TOTALLY embarrassing... I'm known for being a total K L U T Z, but wow did I ever out do myself. I was in the break room at work, when I turned quickly - b/c for those of you who know me I do everything quickly! When - WHAM! I slam my right knee cap into the ice machine, the ice machine that is sticking out an extra four inches. I know, I probably could have hit it w/out it sticking out but at least this lets me save a little face:-) So I'm in the break room hopping around clutching my leg, feeling as if I might throw-up! I have no clue how I wasn't screaming obscenities, I guess the "I have toddlers who repeat things" filter was working b/c I was only cussing in my head:-) So I make it back to my desk (about 15 feet away)... when I say to my neighbor, "Donna?" Donna responds, but I'm clearly not the brightest bulb b/c I proceed to ask, "are you there?" which she says, "Yes?" I then tell her, "I just hit my knee on the ice machine so hard I might pass out!" So Donna being nice and not at all thinking "DRAMA QUEEN" comes over to see what I'm talking about. Apparently I looked rather pale, so she being a nurse was going to check out my knee, when I followed through with my claim and PASSED OUT:-) Donna not being prepared, tried to catch me but failed, said I was like a "skinny slinky w/ hair" so I hit the floor.

But on the positive side, I woke up w/ Donna holding me;-) A crowd of co-workers looking in on me, and memories of a wonderful dream. Now granted my knee still hurt, not to mention later I had a heck of a headache. So of course it couldn't just end there w/ an embarrassing moment - they have to call an ambulance and bring in EMTs. If they had their way I would have left on a stretcher - a total nightmare! I refused treatment, no surprise there... and then had to follow-up at the Employee Health Services.

Matt must have told Grace a bit about the story, b/c the first thing when she saw me was to ask about my knee. And then declare, "Mommy I don't want you going to work anymore - you might get hurt!" Matt must have failed to tell her, "you're Mommy's a klutz and could get hurt anywhere!" But it's nice to know someone loves you;-)

Preschool Field Trip - Settles Farm

Riley....

We just found our that Riley our chocolate lab of 7 years has diabetes. She's been turning away her food, and has had a few accidents... so we took her in for a vet visit. They drew her blood and reported her blood sugar was 450+, when it should be about 85 - so extremely high! We now have to decide whether to treat her or not. If we treat her she would be hospitalized for about a week, during the week they would test her blood sugar and insulin levels to determine the average amount of insulin she need to receive daily (broken out into two injections). This is b/c w/ dogs they do not have their blood sugar levels tested prior to the injection, so each month we would have to take Riley back in to ensure she's doing okay and the dosage is correct. Then after her hospital stay she would require two injections each day and we would need to regulate her food and water intake - ensuring her food is given to her w/in the same 60 minute timeframe each day.

If we decided not to do the insulin shots, we could watch Riley and treat any of the symptoms of the diabetes... different from humans, one of the major discomforts would be chronic bladder infections. Eventually she would have kidney and liver problems, and would have to be put to sleep. But until she gets sick she could have a very happy life. On the other hand, treated w/ no other problems she could live an additional 7 years. Matt and I have been so busy w/ the house,work, photos and the girls activities we really haven't even had a chance to talk about what to do. Part of me says, sadly... "she's a dog..." and I hate to think that we're paying for insulin shots for her and sacrificing saving for college. Then the other part of me says, "she's more than a dog, she's family. I mean doesn't it say something about who we are, by how we treat those around us??" I know choosing to not give her the shots isn't like we are mistreating her, but to look at her and tell her she can't enjoy a future b/c I want to buy name brand cereal... doesn't feel like good karma to me. Then add that Grace LOVES her - she just told me after a session of playing w/ her, "Mommy, Riley's sad - she wants to come home and live w/ me..." Riley was our first "baby" so Grace hasn't ever not had Riley as a side kick... the thought makes me sad.

I think Matt and I will have to do some serious research, we have a hard decision to make.

Trip to the doctor...

Okay so Wednesday Grace started getting these dark circles under her eyes... way worse than they have ever looked before. So Thursday I called the doctor - thinking maybe it's allergies and they would recommend something. But of course they want to see her... so Friday morning at 10:20 a.m. we have to go in. This of course is right in the middle of my work day. Luckily, work was nice enough to let me work from home, take Grace and then go back to working at home. So Grace got up this morning and it's a good thing she's going to the doctor, b/c as I'm trying to braid her hair she keeps twitching (scratching her leg). I was telling her she has to hold still or I can't braid... when she tells me she has "bug bites". So I look at her leg, and to my amazement... she is covered in bug bites, then I realize it's more than just bug bites it's a rash! She did not have this last night at bedtime.

Grace went to school, I know she probably should have stayed home... but it was paint your shirt day, and everyone would then be wearing their shirts to the Pumpkin Patch field trip on Monday. So if she didn't paint she'd be the onlyone w/out one. So she went - I know bad Mom. So I picked her up a little early from school for the doctor, and after listening to her cough, her rash, her eyes... all of it, what do they say??? Allergies. Hmmm... I think maybe I could have gone to medical school b/c that is what I said yesterday. But of course now I get to be reassured and lose $40 in a co-pay. But on the bright side we got to see Celia, who we love seeing. And she's making a referral for Grace to see a dermatologist about her skin tag. Whew - hectic day!

Gymnastics = Magic Sticks

Okay so some day, probably some day really soon Grace is going to learn the correct way to say gymnastics and won't say "magic sticks". Mommy do I have magic sticks tonight? And I know I'm supposed to want her to say it the correct way but I L O V E "magic sticks" so much better than just plain old "gymnastics"... it will make me sad. So for now I love getting her to randomly say "magic sticks". Sometimes I can even get her to say, "my magic sticks outfit" aka: her leotard:-)

Glass 1/2 full?

Okay so I always thought I was a Glass 1/2 Full kind of girl, but clearly I need to take lessons from Gracie b/c she takes this philosophy to a whole new meaning... and in doing so makes you want to just jump in & join her. Okay, so for those of you reading you've clearly thought I've lost my mind but I am going somewhere:-)

Tonight during the girls bath, Eva had another incident (yes - incident means "poop", more clearly poop in the bathtub). So Eva is all upset, as usual but Grace who is now in a bathtub w/ Eva's poop - pretty gross right? So you would think she'd be upset, or at the very least a little grossed out... but not Grace, she quickly hops out & while Eva is very upset... Grace thinks its FUNNY. Yes, funny! And her little personality is just bubbling over, we're all in the bathroom giggling & laughing, while I fish little turds out of the bathtub.

So while I could be upset, frustrated that now I have to scrub the tub after removing the mess and give the girls a whole new bath - I'm not upset at all. I'm a little wetter than I was before but I'm actually having fun. Crazy, huh? But it's true - so for those of you out there thinking you are a Glass 1/2 Full girl... think about it, would you still be if their was a turd floating in your glass? I think if you can say yes you've got a lot going for you.

Just sit back & enjoy the ride:-)

Stoney Creek Farms...

Today we went to Stoney Creek Farms in Noblesville - we've been to other pumpkion patches but this one is by far our favorite! They really cater to the little kids:-) Tons of fun things for them to do... petting farm, ride pony's, games, you name it.

The first thing we did when we got there was let Grace ride a pony! Grace is in love w/ horses so this was probably the highlight of the trip for her. I'm sure if she could she would have ridden the pony the rest of the day. She was so cute, she even wore her cowboy boots there - b/c she remembered last year getting to ride one.

After riding the pony she played some games - climbed through the huge blowing caterpillar... made a homemade bees wax candle. And then we road a hay wagon back to the pumpkin patch where both girls got to pick out a pumpkin. The rule every year is it needs to be a pumpkin you can pick up - they don't have to be able to carry it but they have to pick it up. Grace has fun trying to find the biggest one to see if she can pick it up -- but it has to be "clean" she doesn't like the dirty pumpkins! And Eva was too cute, I'm not sure how she found it b/c other people were looking for them, but she found a little bitty pumpkin and not one of those pumpkin/gourds but a real pumpkin that just never grew up. She was so proud of it - check out the pics below!

Senior pics...

So tonight I'm taking senior pics out at Gram's house, and like always Grace is best buddies w/ the senior. Not sure how she does it, but they all fall in love w/ her. Tonight she was especially in love w/ her latest BFF - Liza, probably b/c Liza brought a huge basket full of fun teenager things... great shoes, jewelry, fun shirts & Grace's favorite scarves! After Liza picked the one she wanted to wear she let Grace wear the one she wasn't. Grace was head over heels! She had me wrap her up and then Grace showed Liza the proper posing techniques:-)

Maybe I should put her on my payroll:-)

Just like my Daddy...

Ugh! If it's not hard enough teaching a 4 year old correct behavior, now I have to teach my husband!

We needed to get banana's and strawberry dip so just a quick trip to the grocery store. Generally I would always go to Kroger, but Grace begged to go to Marsh - only b/c Marsh has the grocery cart where both girls can sit up front in a little car and drive. It's too cute b/c they both drive like NASCAR drivers while Grace frequently turns around to ask me what movie I want... since we didn't need much I was forced to drive around the store like a crazy lady so the girls could drive. But I guess that's the kind of thing Mom's do:-)

While driving the cart, I see my cute, sweet, little 4 year old spit outside her window! I was like, "what did you just do??!!!" Grace informs me like - what? I didn't do anything wrong... "I spit, just like my Daddy does when he drives" UGH! I quickly informed her, "We do not do that. And if you're Daddy does he'll be sitting in time out w/ you!" So we make it through the rest of the trip w/ no spitting - thank goodness! When we left the store I called Matt to say, "Why would Grace think it's okay to spit outside the window while driving???" Matt was like, "oh, hmm... not sure..." So then when I told him what happened he thought it was funny! I said, "No more spitting:-)"

Side note: Eva loves driving so much that I had trouble extracting her from the drivers seat of the car... she bent over to prevent me from getting a good grip on her. Once I was able to get my hands under her arms, she then went limp. Luckily I didn't drop her, and followed up w/ full body spasms. Would would have ever thought a grocery cart could be so much fun!

Look Mommy - this bead fits in my nose!

"Look Mommy - this bead fits in my nose!" Okay that is a phrase you don't want to hear... I'm not sure why I just thought we'd passed the point where she might want to do that - and Eva's nose is too little. I'm not sure what made me think that b/c Sara Peters was like 3rd grade when she stuck a little ball of clay in her nose. But there were those words "it fits in my nose". There should be a sticker that warns against anything going IN your nose, isn't it obvious things should only come OUT? I guess not b/c Grace thought it was a perfect fit... luckily for us we didn't spend the day in the ER fishing for a bed for Uncle Rob's next bracelet... Grace easily extracted the bead (which was then thrown away - although she didn't see why it needed to be thrown away!). And the last bright spot w/ the bead is Eva didn't see her do it otherwise I'd be trying to get a bead out of her nose, b/c Eva does everything Grace does;-)

Painting our pumpkin....

Okay so earlier in the week I broke down bought the girls their pumpkin. It started w/...

Grace: "We're not ready for Halloween... (w/ a sad face)."

Mommy: "What do you mean? I already have Halloween costumes for both you and Eva..."

Grace: "But we don't have any SCARY-crows outside..." (Both our neighbor and Brenda but out scarecrows as Halloween decorations)

Mommy: "Okay, well I'm not sure Nanni wants to have scary-crowsoutside so lets go a head and get your pumpkin:-)"

Grace: "GREAT - let's get it now!"

Then for the next 4 days I had to listen to her beg to paint it (which as any parent knows, is not a quick after work project - especially when you have a 1 year old helping). Grace wanted to paint it last night after the trip to the Apple Orchard, but I told her "we have all weekend together, let's not do everything fun tonight - let's spread the fun out and do it later." I guess "spread the fun out" was interpreted to a 4 year old as "let's lay out the paint and get started!" After explaining what I meant - like thirty times she relented and said okay to tomorrow.

Not to go back on my word, after a trip to the castle to see Daddy we got out the paints and the pumpkin and started painting. Grace is a wonderful painter, Eva on the other hand has a style all her own... she's probably more like Picasso:-) Eva insisted on painting more of herself (and Mommy) than the actual pumpkin. I'm sure an expression of her own artistic style:-) Yet most of it was washed away in the bathtub so there won't be a record of her "early work":-) Beyond the photos;-)

Grace is Miss Neat when it comes to her painting technique... and Eva, well... let's just say she's the OPPOSITE;-)