Reading in Bed

When I went in Grace's room to wake her up this morning, this is what I found. She was sitting comfortably in bed reading a book. When I walked in she said, "Thank you, Mommy, for the monkey book."

A Fairy on the Moon

I have fallen in love with the website Dali Decals. I bought a few decals using a Groupon, and I love how they have turned out.
I knew I wanted a cute decal for Grace's bedroom when I bought the Groupon. Once I got it on the wall, I fell in love with it. Grace said, "I have the prettiest room!" She loves her new fairy on the moon.
I thought this one turned out cool.
Dan picked these out. He chose the placement too, and I think they turned out great too.

T.V. Time

When Dan and I went downstairs to get the kids for their baths, we found them seated on the BACK of the couch. What?? Is this theater seating??

Silly String

Once in a while I confiscate something from a student at school that I have no issues with not returning. Tuesday afternoon, I confiscated a can of silly string . . . and, boy, was it fun!
The kids and I had the PERFECT plan that we came up with on the way home from school. Gabriel was going to go next to the house with the can of silly string and wait for Daddy to come out. Grace and I were going to go inside and tell him we found a snake, and he needs to come out and look. I was going to have the camera in my hand under the guise of taking pictures of the snake.
Dan fell for the story of the snake, hook, line, and sinker. He came outside armed with a stick. Ha! Gabriel knelt down beside the house and waited, just as planned. The only problem was when Gabriel went to spray Daddy, he wasn't strong enough to depress the button. Dang!
Daddy took the can of silly string and got all of us. Boo!
Oh, well . . . it was still funny!

Playdate with Jackson & Darbi

Sunday the Lewis kids came over for a playdate with Gabriel and Grace.
The first thing Jackson asked about when he got to our house was the Nerf guns. He couldn't wait to play Nerf guns with Gabriel.
We ate pizza for lunch/dinner. Afterwards, Gabriel got a game of Toy Story Yahtzee going.
The game didn't last very long. First of all, the girls did not want to listen as Gabriel explained the directions. They had their own idea of how to play. Second, Jackson was still into the Nerf guns and did not want to play a game. Third, Gabriel got frustrated with the whole thing and gave up.
At one point Grace had a tiny little scratch on her hand, but both girls insisted that they needed bandaids. I don't mind if they wear a bandaid. It was just so funny putting one on Darbi because her "boo-boo" kept moving. Ha!
Any time I couldn't find Darbi, all I had to do was look behind the chair. She spent so much time trying on Grace's shoes. I love it! Girls are just naturally shoe-hounds, I guess!
It was just too difficult trying to keep the kids in the house. They insisted on playing outside, despite the rain.
They ran up and down the deck ramp.
They splashed in "puddles" on the deck.
They stood on top of a deck chair and "performed" for each other. Poor Darb, sat down on a wet chair and ended up wet all over her backside.
I'm so glad that the kids got along so well. They played beautifully all afternoon and had the best time! We'll have to do it again sometime soon!

Craft Fair

The daycare had a Kids' Craft Fair today.
After the tee-ball games, we headed over so the kids could eat lunch and play with their friends.
Grace was so excited to get in the bounce house. I guess she's forgotten about last summer's bounce house incident.



The kids had a good time and were ready to take naps when we got home. What more could we ask for?

Tee-ball Season Begins!

Today was the first day of tee-ball season! The kids were SO excited to be playing tee-ball, and quite frankly, so was I.
While we waited for Gabriel's team to take the field, he had some time to swing on the swing set.
I'm not sure what game Gabriel and Daddy were playing while he was swinging, but Gabriel was laughing so hard. I love to hear him laugh like that!
Grace's team practiced for about half an hour before the game started. The 3-year-old league is so funny. These kiddos don't know how to line-up, spread out, or anything. Half of the kids were pouting or crying. The coach had to walk around and physically pick kids up and put them where he wanted them in the field. At one point, he was trying to get a kiddo's attention, but had forgotten his name. So the coach says, "Hey, #4!" Then he said to himself, "Aw crap, they don't know their numbers yet." I guess you could say that getting 10 3-year-olds to play tee-ball for the first time was a lot like herding cats.
Grace was not a fan of wearing her hat. It is really big on her, and it keeps falling over her eyes. I doubt she will agree to wearing it very much this season.
See . . . as she ran the bases the first time, the hat came off.
When the coach yelled, "Spiderman!" The kids were supposed to get down in their fielding positions.
Grace got a couple of good whacks on the ball.
See liked batting and running the best. She lost interest in fielding pretty quickly.
At the end of the game, the teams congratulated each other. It was cute because I don't think the kids had any idea why they were saying, "Good game" to the other team.
Gabriel and Grace's games were at the same time. I got Gabe's game just in time to see them line up and High 5 the other team. Bummer.
I heard that Gabriel did pretty well. He said that he hit a ball into the outfield and caught two balls in the first inning. I can't wait to see him play next week!

Target Practice

The kids have been using the doors to the porch for their Nerf target practice. I like this for two reasons: #1 If they are shooting the doors, they are not shooting me or each other and #2 Later when I see all of the Nerf darts stuck to the doors, it reminds me of how much fun they've been having.
The kids had been in bed for quite a while, and I just left the darts on the glass. It makes me smile to see evidence of their fun.

It's That Time of Year

To ride with the top down again!! The weather was beautiful. We cranked the music up, and rode with the top down.
The kids danced and sang the whole time we drove.

Preschool Celebration

Thursday evening Gabriel had an end-of-school-year ceremony for Mrs. Wilson's class. The kids sang a few songs like the days of the week, This Little Light of Mine, and the alphabet. It was a cute program.
At the end, each child received a certificate of completion and a folder showing the progression of their work throughout the school year.
Of course, no celebration is complete without cake and punch!

Field Trip to the Zoo

I went with the kids on their field trip to the Louisville Zoo on Tuesday. I forgot to take my camera, but oh, well. I think it helped me enjoy my time with the kids more because I wasn't thinking about what might make a cute picture. We had a great day together!

It's a BIG One!

Dan brought one of his catches in to the house this evening to show us. I've been teasing him about his "fish tales," and he wanted to prove that he was catching real fish in the pond. Haha!

Learning to Fish

Grace and I ran some errands Tuesday evening. When we got home Daddy had been teaching Gabriel to cast. Grace could not wait to get her turn.
Daddy found a fishing rod that was just about the right size for Miss Grace.
He taught her how to cast a line and reel it in.
Gabriel was blowing the dandelion puffs in the yard.

Grace was so excited to try out fishing for real.
She and Daddy went to the pond and Grace cast her line a few times.
Hershey LOVES the freedom he has at our new house. This little dog has not smiled so much since his puppy days. (Yes, I said our dog smiles . . . and I mean it!)
On our way back to the house, Gabriel wanted to take some pictures. This is photography by Gabe.
More photography by Gabe . . . He wanted me to hold up the shell he found by the pond. LOL
Two of my three cuties