Abby Turns 2!

The kids and I headed to Abby's 2nd birthday party this afternoon. There was a ton of stuff for the kids to do, and they had a great time.
Gabriel and Grace both enjoyed riding Abby's Power Wheels Barbie Jeep.
I think Abby kind of enjoyed all of the attention when it was time to sing Happy Birthday.
There were a LOT of kids at the party. Can you believe that they all sat down at the same time to eat cake?
Here are my little cake and ice cream lovers.
Missy planned a "Stick-the-Nose-on-Elmo" game for the kids to play.
After the game, Abby opened gifts.
After gifts, Gabriel and Grace decided to take advantage of the bounce house.
Happy Birthday, Abby!
I love the grin on Gabriel's face in this picture.


Needless to say, I left the party with two tired kids.

Go Home Fast!

On the way home from Staci's today Gabriel said, "Go home fast, Mommy. I need to poop."

(I'm not sure why I find this so hilarious, but I do.)

I replied, "Okay, Gabe, but I still have to stop at all of the stop signs and red lights. I'll get you home as quickly as I can."

"That's terrific." He answered.

(Haha!)

Little Mama

You may be getting tired of seeing pictures of Grace being girly, but I never get tired of seeing her being girly. Tonight she was packing her baby bottle in her purse, putting on her hat, and taking the baby "home." I just love it!
In this picture she was saying, "Stop, Mommy, stop taking pictures."

Gabe the Rock Star

"Look, Mommy, I'm a rock star!"

Homemade Ice Cream

We had dinner at Grandma and Papaw's house last night. After dinner, Grandma and Papaw made ice cream. Yum!
Gabriel and Grace checked out the ice cream maker.
Gabriel enjoyed a bowl of Sunkist ice cream.
Papaw and Gabriel enjoyed a second dish of yummy ice cream because one serving just wasn't enough. Mmmm . . . .

Sleepy Kids

We made a quick trip to Edinburgh yesterday morning. On the way home the kiddos were a bit sleepy. If you click on the picture, you can probably see the ketchup still on their faces from lunch. Hehe!

Ice Cream Before Bed

Back Rub for Daddy

Yeah, Daddy talked Gabriel into giving him a little back massage this evening.

Cassidy's 2nd Birthday

We went with Grandma to the Tomlins' house this afternoon to celebrate Cassidy's 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe that our little girls are turning 2!! Gabriel was shooting some hoops at the party.
Gabriel and Grace were in love with Cassidy's Barbie Jeep. Gabriel drove, of course.
Candi and Wayne served up some yummy lunch.
Cassidy was not sure what to make of all of the attention when it came time to blow out the candles on the cake.
Grace tried to show her how it's done.
After a few minutes, Grace was put next to Cassidy to help her with these darn candles.
I asked Grandma and the kids to pose for a picture while the kiddos had their "I love my grandma" shirts on.
Next, they posed with me.
Happy Birthday, Cassidy! What a great party!
Aunt Linda was nice enough to push Grace on the tricycle.
And Grandma pushed Gabriel around in the car.
Before the party ended, Cassidy had to open her birthday gifts.
This Rainbow Cones toy was a hit with the Ellnor kids. Grace had it. Gabriel wanted it so he tried to take it away from her. She bit him. He kicked her. Gotta love brothers and sisters, huh?

For Grandma

Their shirts say, "I love my grandma." Thank you for staying with them last night, Grandma!

Fish Faces

Just being silly with my cutie girl

Funny Story

This morning on the way to Staci's house, Gabriel and I were calling out "Mustang!" as we would see one. It was kind of a race to see who could call them out first. As a school bus crossed an intersection in front of us, Grace called out, "Mu-tang!" Then she giggled her little head off knowingly.

On the way to the credit union this afternoon, a green Aveo passed us. (Papaw drives an orange Aveo.) Grace said, "Geen Papaw's car!" This impressed me for two reasons: 1. She named the color correctly, and despite having worked and worked at color recognition, she has not shown any interest. 2. She correctly identified the car as being the same as Papaw's.

What can I say? Our daughter is witty AND smart!

Sick Girl

Grace and I headed back to the immediate care center this evening. She was running a fever of 103.8, and it was just obvious that she felt awful. My poor baby fell asleep in the car on the way.
She was feeling so bad that she couldn't hold her head up.
We waited about 45 minutes to see a doctor, and she slept a good part of that time.
While waiting for the results of the strep test, the nurse gave her a popsicle. She LOVES popsicles, but took two bites of this and put it down. She wanted to "nay down" (lay down) on Mommy.

The doctor said that the strep test was negative, but her throat was raw and had white spots. Sher prescribed an antibiotic for strep throat.

I can't wait for my angel to feel better soon. There is nothing worse than seeing my kids sick or in pain, and we've had to do both in the past week.

Playing Together

It's rare, but Gabriel and Grace played together SO WELL on Sunday morning. In this picture, they were under the kitchen table pretending to be taking a trip on a boat. You can see all of the loot they were packing with them.

BIG Ouchie

Friday evening as we were sitting down to dinner, Grace decided to be silly. No surprise there. She was putting her feet up on the edge of the table and pushing herself backwards. This is something that we have gotten on her about numerous times, just imagining that one day she would kick hard enough to fall fall backwards. "One day" ended up being Friday night. She fell backwards and caught the back of her head on the hinge of the backdoor. I picked her up, thinking that it was just a bump on the head. After rocking her for about a minute, I felt blood on the inside of my hand that was cradling her head. It was then that I realized a hospital run was going to be necessary. It was difficult to see how long or deep the cut was because of her hair, but once the doctor cut her hair away, it was actually worse than we'd anticipated.
This is our little girl before being seen by a doctor and after waiting for more than an hour. She doesn't look injured, does she?

She ended up getting three staples in the back of her head. We have now moved her seat at the table to the end where there is nothing behind her.

Cookie Mess

Who do you think is responsible for this?
Yes, Grandma and Papaw brought Gabriel and Grace cookies tonight decorated like Elmo and Cookie Monster. Evidently, they were yummy.

Last Hoorah

It's official . . . Mommy has gone back to full-time working as of last Friday. As our last summer outing, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to ride rides and enjoy some pizza.
Gabriel invited Grace to ride with him. I just love that he enjoys his sister's company, despite how he behaves a lot of the time.
I always try to get a table near the school bus because, seriously, it's their favorite ride. HA! Just wait until they have to ride the REAL school bus; I'm sure it won't be their favorite thing.
She was so excited to ride with Chuck E. himself.
Papaw gave Gabriel some pointers about playing video games.
Woot! Woot! Papaw won tickets playing Wheel of Fortune.
The kids decided to "play" Mariokart. Hahaha!
Papaw and Grace had their picture made together.
Grace thought this horse ride was fun. She's into horseys right now.
Grandma came and met us for lunch. She sneaked in a quick picture with Gabriel.

Reading with Gramps

Grampy came over Sunday night for dinner. He has a special talent for reading aloud to kids, so Gabriel took advantage of it. Before he'd left, Grampy had read six books. Thanks, Grampy!