Chuck E. and a Play Date

 We met the McAfee family this afternoon for lunch and games at Chuck E. Cheese.  Chuck E. came to visit our table.  Let's just say that Nora was NOT a fan of Chuck.  Poor little girl!  She'd look at Chuck E., cry hysterically, look away, calm down slightly, look back at Chuck E., and start crying hysterically again.  Alicia and I stood back and laughed and took pictures.  See . . . I told you . . . poor girl.

 Here is our crew!

 When we left Chuck E. Cheese, Jake and Sam came home with us for a play date.  Grace climbed into our bed with her baby doll as soon as we got home, and she surprisingly fell asleep.  This never happens . . . She MUST have been tired!

God bless Jake!  He was like a lost little puppy without Grace to play with him.  He was so good though!  He spent a ton of time playing with Legos in the living room all by himself.

 After Gabriel and Sam played Wii and Cuponk, they went outside to play with color changing car sets.  Luckily, this was something Jake was able to play with the big boys.

Grace finally woke up and took her water set outside to play too.

Thanks for coming to play, Sam and Jake!  We had a really fun afternoon!

Snails

Saturday morning as Stacey was leaving, she pointed out that there were several little snails on the sidewalk in front of the house. The kids went outside to inspect. Grace helped several snails to safely reach the rock garden where they live. Two lucky little guys were put in a bug jar that Grace had sitting on the front porch.

Meet our new pets.  They don't have names.  I didn't really think they'd live with us for this long.

This is currently their home . . . in a bug jar on the living room table.  Dan and the kids went outside and filled their new habitat with more vegetation and a few extra drops of water tonight.  They seem content.  I wonder how much longer we'll have them?  I'll keep you posted.

Last Art Class

Monday was Grace's last art class at Motion Studio.

Gabriel went with us to this class.  Miss Mary is awesome because she allows siblings who tag along to participate in the class too.

One of the projects this week was gluing tissue paper squares onto white paper, and then they placed their first initial over the tissue paper.  So simple and so fun!

Miss Mary insists that the kids listen while she gives instructions.  Love it!

The last project was using pipe cleaners to attach beads to plastic lace.  Miss Mary said this was the first step toward sewing.  What a great idea!

Grace has LOVED these classes!  Gabriel enjoyed tagging along too.  I have gotten a ton of great ideas from Mary.  She is a great teacher!  Thank you, Alicia, for recommending this art camp!  Thanks for the pictures too!

Another One Bites the Dust

Backtracking a bit . . . last Wednesday evening, I was out having a girls-only play date when I got this picture on my phone.  Gabriel lost another tooth!  That makes a total of four lost teeth, and all of them have been on the bottom.

Gettin' Ready to Go Out

Sunday evening we went out to eat with Bob (Dan's dad), Barbara (Dan's stepmom), and Carly (Dan's stepsister). Grace and I had just gotten home from shopping at Kohl's where I bought her a new pink shirt on clearance.

Girly had to wear the new pink shirt, and she had to put on a little make-up to go with it.  A girl wants to look her best when she goes out, ya know.

I didn't realize she had gotten a hold of my camera to document "the look."

She cracks me up!

A Visit With Aunt Stacey and Evie

Stacey and Evie came to visit Thursday and Friday. Even though their visit was short and I ended up working both days, it was so great to have them.  We enjoyed their visit so much!

Gabriel loves his little cousin so much.

Gabriel and Grace posed with Evie.

A tired Evie napped on Grandma's shoulder.

Friday night we celebrated Aunt Stacey's birthday.

Saturday morning Evie was all smiles.  Gabriel had the best time talking to Evie.

Evie is not a huge fan of tummy time.  She holds her head up when you hold her, but when she lays on her tummy, you get nothin'.

Look at these grins!  I love me some baby grins!

Gabriel and Grace could not get enough of their baby cousin.  We can't wait to see them again!

Photography by Grace

Grace had my camera for a little while Friday evening. I was surprised to see such a variety of photographs that I did not take.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Papaw and Evie . . . interesting perspective on that one.

She is clearly practicing her self-portraits.  I'm glad she got Evie in the picture anyway.

A self-portrait with Aunt Stacey.  It would have been better ONLY if Grace had actually gotten herself in it.

Evie . . . not bad!

Aunt Stacey . . . This is a really good picture.  The photographer and the subject were both excellent!

Gabriel and Aunt Stacey.  Haha!  What else can I say??

 

Here is my little photographer!  Gotta love this girl!

This is Cookie, Grace's toy dog.  Cookie barks, whines, growls, and turns its head.  At times, Grace treats Cookie better than she treats our real dogs.

Last, but not least, cauliflower, anyone?  Why did she take a picture of cauliflower?  Who knows.  That's my Grace.

Holdaway Family Reunion 2012

The Holdaway Family Reunion was held July 19-21 at Lincoln State Park. Thursday was spent unpacking, setting up, and greeting family.  Friday was spent at Holiday World.  The only day I got any pictures was Saturday, and even then, I didn't take many.

Kenneth (pictured), Megan (pictured), Preston, and Lauren agreed to play Uno with Gabriel.  They started making up their own rules to the game, but Gabriel still won. 

The nature center is in the basement of the dining hall at the group camp.  We like going in to see what is new and what programs they have going on.  This year they had a bee hive in the nature center, and we got to see the bees do their "dance" to communicate.  You need to ask Grace to show you how bees "dance."  **Wink**

Maria held the rat snake.

Gabriel and Anthony got in a quick game of checkers.

Gabriel pet the rat snake, but didn't get to hold it.

Uncle Ed, Aunt Stacey, and Evie came in the early afternoon Saturday.  Evie was ready for some milk and a nap.

When Dan found out about the snakes in the nature center, we made a return trip.  Grace was feeling more brave this time.

I tried giving Evie a bottle, but she didn't really want to take it from me.

She finally fell asleep while Grandma held her.  Gabriel is so in love with his little cousin.

Aunt Stacey, Papaw, Uncle Brian visited while Evie napped.

I'm not sure what game Gabriel and Uncle Ed were playing, but I'm pretty sure Ed was winning.

Awww . . . after a little snooze, Evie was much happier.

The kids used painter tape, foam shapes, and rubber bands to decorate t-shirts.  Then we sprayed them with bleach water.

Anthony and Andrew decorated shirts.

Gabriel was playing ball with Michael and Mike, so Mommy decorated his shirt.

Joey got into the bleach solution and made his own design.  Unfortunately, Dan thought the design was clever.  Boys will be boys, I suppose.

If there is a screen, Gabriel will find it!  Gabriel watched as James played his DS.

Whitney, the DNR person at the nature center, brought the rat snake out for a "walk" Saturday evening.  She was immediately accosted by our youngest Holdaway cousins.

Maria was a fan of the rat snake.  She pet it and held it at every opportunity.

Grandma got to give Evie her first reunion bath.

Gabriel, Anthony, and Matthew took turns pulling each other around the parking lot in the wagon.

Such a sweet, clean little Evie!

When Whitney with the DNR brought the rat snake out for a "walk," she told us about a campfire on the beach that evening.  While waiting for the campfire to begin, Grace piled sand for a sand castle.

 

Gabriel did the same thing.

If you brought your own supplies, you could make s'mores or roast hot dogs.  Daniel and Joseph roasted marshmallows.

Jeffery, Anthony, Andrew, and Grace roasted marshmallows too.

Saturday night is always the night for music from the Gallagher brothers.  Grace played the cow bell between songs.

Grace, Anthony, and Maria enjoyed the music.

I went to bed while the music was still going on. It was past midnight, and I was tired.  The music was great, but it had been a full day of fun activities.