Gracie - 2010

post written Sept. 2010


Gracie has started Kindergarten, lost two teeth, made the competition dance team, learned to read, and turned 6 this year. I cannot believe I have a six year old. Amazing! I know I always say the same things about her, but it's because they are all true. I am so proud of her and she is a huge help around the house. She is Garrett's other mommy and I catch her disciplining him almost every day. It makes me laugh because I was the same way when I was young.

She lost her two bottom middle teeth and the tooth fairy gave her $5 for each one... I didn't know teeth were worth that much.

Gracie decided to have her 6th birthday party at a place called Young Chefs Academy. She invited ten friends and they made their own pizza and decorated their own cupcakes. They learned about kitchen etiquette and that is when I almost died. Before they started the party the lady that was in charge was pulling her gum out of her mouth and playing with it and then she picked her nose. I wanted to leave... Christa and I looked at each other like, did she really just do that! Apparently, it was all part of the skit to teach the kids what not to do in the kitchen but I thought it was real and was freaking out.

Gracie had a great birthday party and is loving Kindergarten. She is off track as of yesterday and she has a lot going on... she is hunting with Jake and then off to Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa Glines and she is planning sleep overs with her friends. It is going to be an exciting three weeks.

UPDATES.... Finally!

Wow.. its been a long time since I have been a part of the blogging world. Many updates, not much time.. here goes.

Garrett turns two on Saturday OMG... where does the time go? Really? I love that he is growing up and he has the cutest wild teasing personality and he is talking like CRAZY but wow... I didn't think time would go this fast! Here are a few things I want to remember about my kids and my world that have happened in the last couple months.

Garrett saved his own life a few weeks ago when he attempted to ride his bike down the stairs... somehow, someway, he grabbed onto the railing and his bike went flying down. I heard the ruccus and started freaking out and shaking immediately. I thought for sure he would be broken when I found him at the bottom of those long stairs... but instead, he miraculously grabbed onto the handrail and walked away with onlyl a scared little tender heart. God Bless our little guardian angels!

Gracie has a loose tooth.. her first one and she is soooo excited about it. it is the bottom left.

Garrett pooped in the potty yesterday and I couldn't be happier... I can't wait for the day with no more diapers.

I ran my longest distance ever yesterday of 7.22 miles and I did it in 1 hour and 13 minutes (on the treadmill - UGH!) I am training to run the Wasatch Back Relay again this year with the best group of ladies out there.... except Kim.. but I think we can talk her into it...if not this year, there is always next year!

Gracie started playing Baseball in the Riverton League and she is loving it. Garrett wants to be big so bad so he can play with the bat and the hat... he doesn't care much for the ball!

Gracie is doing so well in preschool. She is already reading and counting to well over one hundred. She is starting to understand simple math. I am proud of her. She is a huge help to me when I am working at home. She takes care of Gary and helps me with everything.

Garrett wants an Elmo, a tractor, and/or a football cake and he talks about his birthday every day.

Oh yeah, and how could I possibly forget to mention the most fabulous Dirty thirty cruise that we went on in January with the best people! I can honestly say that I have never had more fun ever. But I did gain 7 pounds and have not been able to lose it... all I have to say about that is ahhhh, but those pounds were totally worth it. Here's to looking forward to the "over the hill 40 cruise" as JR puts it!

I love my house and my adorable little family!

Jake and Sjon and Kory and Jeff built me a beautiful deck this past weekend and I could not be happier. I LOVE SPRING!

Christmas

What an amazing Christmas. We moved into our house only 2 days before Christmas and were able to get the tree up and decorated, the stockings were hung, and the elf even found us at our new home. We are loving it. It feels like home. WE. ARE. HOME.

I will post pictures soon. I promise. I just want to get the wall pictures hung....

Santa came and brought the kids oodles of toys and other junk that we won't remember in a month. But, it was fun nonetheless. Garrett was soooo excited and kept running to the window looking for Santa or "Bah" as he called him. The kid is pretty smart and knew exactly what was happening. He had sat on Santa's lap a few days earlier so he knew that toys were on the way. When Gracie woke up in the morning, she got Jake and they went to wake Garrett up. He was so happy that Santa had come he was shaking. I have never seen this reaction from a baby in my life. Talk about the good stuff. Anyway, the highlight were the Glitter balls that the kids got. When Gracie sat on Santa's lap, the only thing she asked for was a glitter ball and she did mention that she had a list.... but that seemed secondary to the ever facinating GLITTER BALL.... you know the ones full of water and glitter. They actually are pretty entertaining.

We had an equally amazing New Years... the big night consisted of a house full of good friends and family for food, games, fireworks, and noise. The kids ran wild and we gambled with the ladies coming away as winners. Woo Hoo for 2010!

School Days!

Gracie had her Christmas performance at preschool. Once again, sooo cute! They sang song after song and played kazoos and rang jingle bells and they were all dressed like Rudolf. She is learning so much in school and can recognize words and she writes and draws all the time. I will be sad to see her go to kindergarten next year. OMG, where has the time gone?

Gracie Sassy Pants!

Oh Boy am I in Trouble....

Gracie is taking dance again and gymnastics this year. She loves it. they had their Christmas program and it was darling. The girls are starting to learn and remember the dances and they are to die for in their costumes. I cannot get enough of how cute they are. She did great, they danced to "I'm gettin nothin for Christmas". She is doing well in gymnastics and practices everyday. Garrett is getting pretty good at somersaults too with Gracie's help. We took the girls to Leatherby's for icecream afterward.... AMAZING! I think that part was more for me.... ha ha!

Update

Garrett has been talking like crazy for about the past two weeks. I was getting worried because he didn't say anything but mom and dad for the longest time... but now, he repeats everything we say. He Calls Gracie Doo Doo and he says shoes, juice, bear, ball, no, baby, ba ba, car, tractor, more, mama (grandma) and Bob (Grandpa). I am sure there are a lot more words that I don't understand quite yet. ha ha! Garrett was asking for juice the other night and I was too lazy to get out of bed so I told him to go ask grandpa for some juice. He ran out of my room and yelled "BOB, Juice" It was the funniest thing... I didn't even know he knew my dad's name. His hair is finally growing and will become a full mullett shortly. Sooo Excited about that. I tried to cut it around his ears and in the back with no success. Oh well.

Gracie is wonderful and is behaving well for Santa Clause. There is still the occasional melt down but that is expected. She is only five... at least that's what I keep telling myself. She is writing and coloring all the time. She made her Christmas list and just needs help with the spelling. She is learning a ton in school and loves it. She was sick yesterday and cried because I wouldn't let her go to school. What an over achiever.

Jake is sooo busy building our new house. He is gone almost every night doing something. We are hoping to be in on the 23rd of December... just days before Christmas. I pray that we can pull it off. The house is coming along and I am loving it. Painting starts this week and I think stucco goes up Friday.... YAY! I have been choosing colors like crazy and although overwhelming... I still love it. I hope it all comes together. I tend to go with simple choices so hopefully it will all flow.. I did not choose any chandeliers for this house. Only can lights and ceiling fans. Did I say Simple or what?

I am doing well. I just had surgery last week and I feel good. LOVING my kids and my wonderful parents for helping out so much. I am soooo grateful for my full life and all the amazing people I love.

Birthday Party!

Gracie had 2 birthday parties this year to celebrate her 5th birthday. I cannot believe how fast time flies. Wow! five already?

Anyway, We celebrated Gracie and Mya's Birthday together with the Thomas clan on Sunday since their actual birthdays are only 3 days apart. It was perfect. The family got together at Granny Goose and Papa's and the girls shared a cake and opened what seemed like a million gifts. We were very lucky Gracie could even go to her party because she was throwing up sick the day before. She hadn't eaten in a day and a half and she was even scared to eat her cake for fear of getting sick again.

The day of her actual birthday we went to Bouncin off the walls (because we don't have a house yet) and it was soo much fun. Everybody had a great time sliding down the huge slide and bounin around. Gracie still wasn't 100% better and ended up spreading her sickness to 10 people... sooo sorry people! I still feel bad about that. It was a great time and Gracie loved having all her friends there.

Happy 5th Birthday!

I just want to wish my beautiful daughter the happiest birthday ever! I love you so much Gracie Lynn and I am so proud to be your mom. You are such a wonderful, smart, and helpful little girl. Thank you for being so perfect!

xoxo

Mom

Sally

It has been a sad week at our house.

Last Wednesday, I let Sally outside and she never returned. I had a bad feeling before I went to bed and went out to call/look for her about three times. For some reason, I knew she was not going to come home. We are sad, we miss her.

I will never forget how happy Gracie was on her 4th birthday when Ya Ya brought her home with her new kitten. Gracie named her Maddie at first but couldn't remember the name so we changed it to Sally. Sally was sweet and playful. She became friends with the dogs right off the bat. Sally would have been one this week on August 4th.

Sally, we miss you!

Another Fabulous Weekend!

It all started Friday morning with a trip to the pool with Kim, Jenni and all the kids in tow. Wow, talk about not relaxing.... I had Garrett remember. I honestly felt like I didn't even get to visit with the ladies. Garrett loves the water and has absolutely no fear of it. SCARY! Anyway, we enjoyed the water and then we were off to lunch at Zupas - which was cut a bit short thanks to Garrett... LOL! I can't take him anywhere! Then we headed home for a long, much needed nap and a shower. (that was relaxing... Garrett and Gracie slept too!) I woke up around 3:30 and thought I was short on time to get to the parade. Needless to say, I rushed for nothing. The parade didn't start until 6:30 and I arrived at 5:00. That sucked! So I headed up to Herriman for Turner's all star baseball game (which he won.) I was there just long enough to see him hit a triple and bring 2 people home. Then the kids and I made it back to Riverton for the parade. Garrett almost got ran over by Murray City when he ran into the street. Once again, no fear. Crazy kid!

Saturday was super relaxing. I made Jake go on a short run with me in the morning. It was the first time I had ran since my race and it was hard. Jake did better than me and he does NOT run! Oh well, I will get back into it soon. Back home for pancakes, a nap for Garrett, and a quick shower. Then we decided to head over to Riverton park for the festivities. Garrett and Gracie had fun riding the rides but it was stinking hot. They went on the ferris wheel with my mom and Garrett screamed the entire time. He hated it but he liked the small kid rides. Back home to pack, eat and let Garrett have another nap. Then we were off to the store for fireworks and food for the lake. Jason and Aubrey came up and we lit a few fireworks for Gracie, got attacked by June Bugs, and enjoyed watching the city fireworks in the valley off the deck.

On Sunday we headed to Yuba with Rakel, Kory, Jenny, Kim, JR and all the kiddos. It was so much fun. We had a blast wakeboarding, tubing, knee boarding, and swimming. This time we took Garrett with us and he loved it. The weather was perfect and it wasn't too crowded. Gracie kneeboarded all by herself. She was so proud.

Pretty Little Dancers

Gracie, Aniston, and Lauren were able to dance in the same class this year. They performed at Lagoon, Riverton High School, and Riverton Arts festival. They had sooo much fun and loved performing. The song they danced to was "I'll be in your heart" so sweet!

Preschool

Gracie finished her first year of preschool at Small Wonders. They had a year end program and the kids sang and sang and sang... it was darling. She loved her teacher, Miss Leann, and is going to miss school and being in the same class as Aniston. Next year, she will go to a different school that will be closer to the new house. Yay!

Summer Fun!

Here are the kiddos running through the sprinklers one HOT day! Oh how we love summer!

T-ball

Gracie played a little ball this year and loved it. She was the only girl on the team at first, but then they did a little recruiting and there ended up being three wearing pink. She is so girly. I could spot her from a mile away... her long blonde pony tail and dainty little run gave her away every time. Anyway, she did great and was so cute. She played on a team with her friend Easton and the team name was the Steel Tigers (so tough). Here are the pics....

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

We made it to Disneyland this past weekend and had a fantastic time. We went with Kim & JR, Krista & Josh, and Sharon & Curtis and of course all the kiddos! We were able to leave Garrett home with the Grandma's and Karli so we could spend time with Gracie! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! But, we missed him so much by the end of the trip.

We flew in on Wednesday Morning and played at the pool the whole first day. The second, third, and forth days were spent at Disneyland and California Adventure. At first, I wasn't sure who was more excited.. me or Gracie. Probably me!

Here are a few of the highlights with photos to follow:

We had Lunch with the Princesses... Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine, & Arora (Sleeping Beauty) all came right up to our table and talked with the girls and took pics. The girls loved it but we didn't eat until about 3:00 and Gracie was sooo hungry she barely stopped eating to say hello to the princesses. Actually, the lunch was fabulous....I ate every bite down to the white chocolate seashell! Gracie loved it too... so much she saved her leftovers all day and had a complete meltdown when they spilled on the floor of the hotel when we got back. So sad! At least we know she cares about her food as much as her mother. ha ha!

The kids were able to meet some of the characters while we were over at California Adventures. This may have been the best part of the trip. They all had little autograph books for the characters to sign. We went to Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell and the girls were able to meet another fairy named Fawn too! Gracie was a little nervous to meet the awful Queen but got brave just long enough for me to get the picture!

Swimming at the pool and playing in the sun!

Gracie was so brave and went on Space Mountian and the Tower of Terror and did great! She didn't love the rides but she also didn't cry! I was so proud. While we were on the haunted mansion She said "I am really enjoying this" I think we made such a big deal about it not being real that she had to act all grown up and not scared.

*EASTER*

Easter was fabulous as always! We were able to celebrate with both sides of the family. We had my favorite brunch and the biggest treasure hunt ever at Auntie Ya Ya's house. Then we had another egg hunt and dinner at Granny Goose and Papa's house. So much food and fun. The kids scored. I swear we had more candy after Easter than after Halloween. Love it!

Garrett did really well gathering the eggs and dragging his basket all over the house dumping the eggs out along the way. It was cute. The Easter Bunny brought Gracie a new "bra" swimming suit and the game of Sorry. She was one happy little girl.

Happy Easter to all and to all a good night!

Sick, Sick, Sick!

Since we have moved into my Parents house, someone has been sick at all times. I am laughing now but it has not been fun.

First Gracie and Garrett both were coughing with Runny noses. They passed it onto Grandpa but Gracie didn't get better so off to the Dr. we went. Turns out she had a mild case of Pnemonia which went away with antibiotics. Garrett felt better but Grandpa was still sick. Then it came around again, Garrett's nose started running again and Gracie complained of a sore throat. Oh no, now I have a scratchy dry throat. Grandpa gets it again - the poor old man can't catch a break. Grandma has knee surgery on Thursday. Then on Friday we were out and about... everyone feeling great! And then...Gracie gets a tummy ache in the car and throws up everywhere. It was soo sad. We pull over and do our best to clean up and drive home. Of course she slept with us and once again puked all over my bed! YUCK! change the sheets, give the poor girl a bath and try to go back to sleep at 2:00 in the morn... Today, ALL IS WELL!

HOORAY!

6th Pic in 6th Folder....

This pic was taken in 2008 at a family Christmas party... you can tell that Gracie was preoccupied when I asked her to smile. Ha ha... typical 4 year old.

I tag... Jenni and Kim!

Valentines Day Funnies!

As any busy mom would understand, I ran out of time and energy the week of Valentines, and Therefore, delegated my motherly duties. I dropped my kids off to my parents and assigned my dad to pick up valentines for Gracie to give out to her class. He followed orders wonderfully. They went to the dollar store and instead of buying a box of pre-made valentines for kids, they went straight to the hallmark card section and picked out all the "pretty" ones. Of course Gracie can't read and Grandpa didn't read them. While Gracie was at Grandma and Grandpa's she wrote her name on the cards, put some candy in them, and sealed them up. There was nothing left to do but send them to school for the kids. Gracie ended up being so sick with a fever on Thursday. She couldn't go to school for her Valentines day party so I sent all the cards with her on the following Tuesday.

As I was at home today, I got a call from Jenni about the card she found in Aniston's back pack. Apparently, Gracie had delivered her cards but Aniston didn't open hers until today. So, Jenni opened the card and this is what it said.....






At this point... I am just hoping that the other cards were not this "adult" oriented. Who knew that grandma and grandpa would send a 4 year old to school with Valentines day cards about sex? You know all the parents think I am a total pervert. Oh well, at least we got a good laugh.

Dancing Diva's

Gracie, Aniston and Lauren all take dance together. They had their Christmas program and here are a few pics. Santa came and they were able to wear their Pajama's. It was darling.