What I did this summer

I played. Gracie and I played A LOT. Both together and separately. We've been together a lot because Scott is working 2 jobs right now. But since we only have one car, we still see him quite a bit, driving him there and picking him up.

We've seen alligators at the library. We love storytime!

We go see movies at other libraries, read books and play at the mall playground.

I've seen more Clifford the Big Red dog than anyone should have to ever in one life time.

And we've been working on projects. We took pictures today of some of the ones we've done. There are lots more. There's always lots more - but I've cleaned the house and some have been (shhh!) tossed. Our good friend gave Gracie a craft box full of projects for her birthday and she's been having a ball! She's so creative!

These are pop beads we've used to make jewelry with. We bought them with her birthday money.

I decoupaged one of our TV trays with photos from our 4th of July adventure to NASA. It was my first time to do it. I thought it could have been worse. Next time I'll choose more colorful things. I'm starting a collection of bright pretty flower pictures for the next project.

Gracie has discovered pbskids and she's a natural with the computer. I listen to her play and am just amazed at how quickly she's learning words and sounds and predicting what comes next. And it's a great thing for her to do separately.

She's 4 now and such a hoot! She's logical and creative and knows exactly what she wants. Sometimes she drives me crazy and mawmaw keeps her for a night or two, but I've been having a great summer with her. It's always something different.

Gracie's birthday party

We had Gracie's birthday party at my parent's house last Saturday. Scott's parents and sisters came in for it. We had a good time. She got some great toys and clothes.

She got great and terrible dinosaurs. And she knew all of their names!

This was the cake I made her. It was white and strawberry layers with blue icing. And, of course, the dogs.

Everyone got to spend some time with Brady. Gracie was very insistent that he wear one of her birthday hats.

With her aunties.

Mawmaw and ballerina doll.

More Museum

This is the scary dinosaur in front of the museum.

This is Scott and Gracie in front of the kid's play area.

This is Gracie and me inside of a dinosaur footprint.

We had a really nice time. There was a da vinci exhibit there as well.

Gracie's cousin Eileen came over tonight to swim and play and they are having a great time.

We're considering the zoo tomorrow.

Still on vacation

Scott and I had a grown up day yesterday. Mawmaw kept Gracie - they picked flowers and tomatoes and made a cake. We went to Whole Foods, World Market, Petsmart, Freebird's and the mall for a while. Today the whole family went to the Forth Worth children's museum. It was a lot of fun. Very open with bright colors. Aunt Katie came in from her camp job and Gracie was all about Aunt Katie.

I had found Gracie a superman t-shirt because Scott had one. Turns out Scott had 2 and one of them fit me, so we matched today. Also turns out that Saturday is Superman's birthday and the museum was having a special event. Several staff members told us about that. The whole place was really nice. Many of the staff interacted well with the public. I was very impressed.

This is a huge macrame doll that was standing in the hallway

This is the colorful entrance to the Mexican toy exhibit. That was very interesting.

Gracie insisted Katie and I wear these sombreros for a while.

Traveling days of summer

Gracie and I haven't been up to much. We go swimming at my parents or to storytimes and such. This week is our traveling vacation time. We went to Austin this weekend for my LWML convention. I was busy with the convention and Scott had to entertain Gracie while I was gone. They went to feed ducks and to the Children's Museum in Austin. She enjoyed it. Scott- not so much. I very much enjoyed my convention. I love my ladies, and I got a lot of good ideas for my society.

Now we are at my inlaws in Arlington. Last night Gracie and her cousin Eileen had a great time playing together. Gracie is really bossy, but they still play really well together.

Today we went to see Curious George at the dinner movie theater. It was an interesting concept- eating real food while watching a movie. Then we went to Eileen and her mommy to Borders to spend some money on books, then Gracie and daddy went ice skating. Mawmaw and I watched. I'll try to post more pictures later. She was able to ride the carousel there too. Now she is swimming naked in a kiddie pool on the porch. What a hoot!

Friday

Today we went to Houston for my 3-month post op appointment. Mom decided to go with us and we made a day of it. I had to give blood, which was an ordeal. I'm a hard stick and the lady needed like 7 vials of blood. Needless to say, it was a process. And I'll be sporting some bruises for a few days. Gracie, always friendly, made a new friend at LabCorp. She shared her colors and her gum with a little girl also there with her family.

We went to eat at Freebird's - my favorite place ever. Gracie was so good everywhere we went today. She ate "2 pairs of rice" and no beans. Stubborn, that girl. There's no convincing her or talking her into some protein. There was a slight meltdown when she discovered I got her water instead of sprite, but she had some later.

After we ate, we went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the butterflies and dinosaur bones. TomTom did a good job of getting us around Houston. We also went to Ikea. That put us coming back smack in the middle of rush hour traffic. My mother complimented my driving. That was almost the best part of the day.

But the best part was finding out that my sister is having a GIANT baby - the ultrasound puts him at almost 10 lbs. Needless to say, there is a c-section in her future. Hopefully it will be before we leave for vacation. I can't wait to see him and hold him! Here's to giant babies. :)

First week down

The first week of summer vacation is almost over. Wednesday we took my mother to the hospital for day surgery. Gracie went with us and was so good. We went to "Dumpin' Donuts" for breakfast after dropping mom off. Gracie had the "best donut she's ever eaten." I brought my computer so that she could watch a movie that we brought. Fortunately mother's surgery went well and they didn't find anything bad.

The other night Scott left out the back door then came back in the front door saying "Your daughter needs to get off of her dresser and stop playing with the blinds in her room." Yeah, my daughter.

Today we went to storytime at the Beaumont library, which was fun. We'll probably be going there again. We also went to the PA library summer program kick off. Gracie had popcorn and a snocone. We had to leave early to go get Scott from work, but we enjoyed what we were there for.

Today we're going to Houston for my dr appt. The plan is to go the the museum afterward to see the butterflies, then lunch at Freebird's then Ikea. Mom is going with us. Should be fun!

Summer 2010

We're starting off the new summer! So far we've been swimming and shopping and been to the library. We've been working on "projects" - crafts with glue and foam stickers and paints. I'll post some pics of them later. Gracie worked on hers, I worked on water and carbon dioxide for next year.

Dancing Divas!

Gracie's recital was at the end of last month. It was a process. She and I danced in a mother-daughter dance and there was one on her own and one for just the mothers. We practiced a lot. Scott's parents came in and my parents were able to be at the recital to see her dance. She did so well! We were so proud. She knew all the dances and the songs.