BIG Bike

Sunday evening Dan and I noticed that Gabriel's knees were practically touching the handlebars of his bicycle. We had planned on giving him a new bicycle for his birthday, and with the weather being so beautiful this week, we decided that it was only fitting that he get his birthday gift a little early.
He said, "This is the best birthday gift you could have given me!"
Grace had to get her bicycle out too.
Bobby, Ben, and Uncle Rob gave Gabriel a new helmet to go with his skateboards for Christmas. Daddy decided this would be good opportunity to try it out.
It was pajama day at school today. We didn't really forget to dress them.
There she goes. I think it's safe to say that she's not scared anymore.

Valentine's Day

I have to say that I enjoy Valentine's Day. I try to go out of my way to make it special for my family because I know that I don't tell them often enough how much I love them.
When Gabriel and Grace came downstairs Monday morning, they found the kitchen decorated and gifts on the table.
I made each of the kids Valentine cards.
Grace was so excited to see her Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD.
Gabriel was excited about his new books.
I made heart-shaped peanut butter pancakes and covered them with strawberry jam for a special little breakfast treat. It was so fun seeing how excited the kids were! A great way to start our day!

Bath Fun

Daddy brought the kiddos these little water squirting frogs from his trip to Orlando last week.
Who would have guessed that they would make bath time so much fun?
I love to see his smile, and I love to hear him laugh.
Thanks, Daddy! Squirting frogs seem to be the perfect souvenir.

Welcome Sunshine

The weather Sunday was so nice. The kids could not wait to get their bicycles out and ride.
Grace was afraid to ride her bicycle in the Fall. Luckily, she seems to have gotten over her fear.
Gabriel got these sunglasses from Grandma and Papaw for Valentine's Day. He looked so cool!

We are looking forward to many more fun bike rides as Spring gets closer.

Valentines

This morning after breakfast, the kids and I decided to prepare for Monday's Valentine's parties at school and make out Valentine cards. This was Grace's first experience making Valentine cards, and she loved, loved, loved it. I wrote her name on each Valentine with an orange marker, and she traced her name with pen. She loved decorating the cards with markers and stickers. They are quite creative!
Gabriel started out strong. He wanted to write his friends' names and his name on all of the cards by himself. He was very particular about who got which card and which sticker. After about an hour, he completely lost interest. We took a break and played Uno. A little later, we had lunch. After lunch I wrote his friends' names on all of the cards, and I asked him to write his name on the cards while I showered.
After about five minutes, he was upstairs knocking at the bathroom door.

Here is one of the many things that I truly adore about my boy. When he is irritated or frustrated, he is direct, honest, and to the point. He opened the the bathroom door with a frown on his face and said, "Mommy, I don't like doing Valentine cards anymore. I don't like it. I'm not going to do. It's boring." He said it very matter-of-factly. He wasn't mean, and he didn't raise his voice. He stood there looking at me, I think, waiting to get in trouble. I just said, "Okay. You don't have to." He turned and walked away. I poked my head out the door and asked, "So what will you give your friends at school on Valentine's Day?" He didn't even turn around to answer, "Just candy." And he huffed downstairs.

Another memorable moment:
As soon as we started making out Valentine cards this morning, Gabriel leaned across the kitchen table and "whispered" to me, "Mom, I'm going to make one for Grace." I gave him a thumbs up, and he got busy working in silence. Grace leaned over to me and said, "Mommy, can I make card for Gabe?" "Of course," I told her. So SHE got busy working silently on a card for Gabriel. For probably five minutes they each worked in absolute silence. Occasionally, one of them would hold up their card so I could give them a thumbs up. Finally, Gabriel put his card behind his back and walked over to Grace. He said, "Gracie, I have a surprise for you! TA-DA!" He pulled out the card. She was so sweet . . . she acted totally surprised and told him how pretty it was. Then she gave him hers and he told her thank you and that he liked it. I just sat in awe of my kids. They DO love each other! Those sweet moments are few and far between. There is more rivalry than love most of the time, but boy, I LOVE the sweet moments!

Poor Girl

Tuesday evening and Wednesday Grace ran a fever. She's had a cough for almost two weeks now, and we've been treating it with a humidifier in her bedroom and Vick's on her chest at night. Cough medicine has done nothing to help. Grace has also complained of "icky stuff" in her ears. She asked me Thursday evening to clean her ears out with cotton swabs "like Daddy does." Dan had cleaned her ears on Tuesday night and gotten a ton of snotty-looking gunk out of them.

Friday she was fever free. Today she has been fever free, but tired and cranky. I have been at a loss for what to do for her. At 3 o'clock this afternoon, I decided that it would be worth the co-pay just to get peace of mind that I had her checked before possibly going into the weekend with a miserable girl. I'm glad I did. Grace has pneumonia and a double ear infection.

Now . . . pneumonia for a kiddo is not the deathly illness that we often think of. According to the doctor, it's as treatable as an ear infection and often affects kids the same way. They don't sleep well because of the chest congestion and increased coughing. They are irritable, and they just generally don't feel well. All of those apply to Grace. She has still been active and mostly playful. She has had a normal appetite. She hasn't complained about not feeling well or having any pain. She coughed one time this morning, and it was a tight cough. After coughing, she said it hurt her chest. That alarmed me. I felt like the rest of the day she avoided coughing so her chest wouldn't hurt, and that of course, doesn't help her congestion.

So . . . here's hoping for a speedy recovery for my baby girl. I'm so glad that I got to spend the day with her today!

Kosair Shrine Circus

I took the day off work today to take the kids to the circus. It was so much nicer taking them on a Friday, rather than Saturday when it's so crowded you can't move. It was busy, but not so busy I was afraid of losing one of the kids.
Grace and Gabriel were looking SO forward to having cotton candy. That's all they talked about on the way over. As soon as we found our seats, Grandma took Grace and found the cotton candy.
Here she is with her much anticipated blue cotton candy.
We had great seats on the floor in the fifth row.
Gabe watched in amazement.
I thought the tigers were so cool! It is amazing how these huge wild animals can be trained to do a show like this.
Grace couldn't stuff that cotton candy in fast enough. She came downstairs this morning at 7:30 with her clothes in her hand. She said, "Okay, Mommy, I'm ready to go to the circus. Wait! I need a ponytail holder!" Then she refused to eat breakfast because she was "going to eat cotton candy at the circus." She is such a funny girl!
I looked over at her once and she had a gob of cotton candy just hanging from her mouth.
During intermission Grace wanted to ride a pony.
Gabriel wanted to ride an elephant, which I was willing to let him do. After he saw how high the seats on the elephant were from the ground, he said, "Maybe I just want to ride a pony with Grace." He is so cautious.
Grace wanted nothing to do with the clowns, which was no surprise. Gabriel wasn't entirely impressed by them, but being a good boy, he agreed to have his picture taken for Mom.
Grace was so excited to see some of the amazing face painting that was being done. She wanted to have her face painted so badly.
She chose a butterfly. It looked so pretty on her!
Grace got tired during the second half of the show. She wanted to go home so badly, but Gabriel wanted to see the show (So did I, for that matter.) At one point, Grace danced on the stairs next to our seats. It was cute and it kept her entertained for a minute.

Superbowl 2011

The McAfee's invited us over for a Superbowl party last night. We always have a good time hanging with the McAfee's.
OH . . . Did I mention how healthy my kids eat when we go to a party at the McAfee's house? Yes, Grace's dinner was chips and fruit snacks. Nice!
Frank did a little chart so we could bet on the score at the end of each quarter of the game. Sam wanted to know what it was all about, and Frank was happy to explain. You know it's never to early to teach kids some practical applications for math.
Alicia was our hostess with the mostest! (Photography by Grace)
The Lewis' relaxed while watching the game. (Photography by Grace)
Darbi is such a pretty girl! (Photography by Grace)
Gabriel rode this little tricycle all over the basement. I think it's safe to say he's a bit big for it.
Jake pulled up a chair and helped himself to the snack table. He was actually sorting the crackers. The broken ones were going in one section of the dish, and the whole crackers were going in another section.
For some reason, the kids wanted to wear costumes. Jackson and Braden each dressed as Spiderman. They decided to attack Grace. Don't worry . . . she is tough and took care of those Spidermen with no problem.
Gabriel decided to be Mario.
Grace was Elmo.
I didn't know that Mario and Spiderman were rivals.
Here I am earning my Mother of the Year Award . . . again! Feeding my growing girl unlimited chips. I'm pretty sure this was the healthiest thing she ate all evening. Good thing the Superbowl only happens once a year!
Kate got in on the potato chip action too.

Thanks, McAfee Family, for inviting us to enjoy the Superbowl with you.

Little Reminders

I know that it's difficult to see what I was taking a picture of. As Dan and I were driving home from Cincinnati Sunday, I kept noticing this odd smudge on my passenger side window. I kept looking at it and wondering what could make such an odd smudge. A dog nose? No. Fingerprints? No. Then I figured it out . . . It was a Gracie lip print! At some point, she has sat in the front passenger seat and kissed the window! Ha ha! It just made me giggle all the way home. I want to remember how little reminders of my kids like this always make me smile.

Daddy's Biggest Fans

Daddy was surrounded by his biggest fans, myself included, tonight. Grace cuddled in his lap and watched t.v. while Gabriel was talking to him. As you can tell, Daddy was soaking up the cuddles and attention. I don't blame him; I do too, when I get the opportunity.