Who needs good weather to have a picnic?

After everyone left the party on Saturday night, Joni, Reesi and Larry hung around for a little while. The girls took a quick bath together and then it was snack time. Mimi gave Reesi a little pinic basket so she wouldn't feel left out when Grace was getting presents, so the girls wanted to have a picnic, of course. So, we got out the goldfish, cheese, grapes and apple juice and they had a nice little picnic in the kitchen floor! Joni and I tried to get the perfect little picture but it's nearly impossible to get 3 little girls to all smile at the same time! My pictures prove that! I guess that's how memories are made!

Party #2

We had Grace's 2nd party on Saturday evening at our house with family. Eric and I spent all day cleaning and picking up! Our house only looks that good when we're having company. ha ha Mom and Dad took the girls to McDonalds and to play with Reesi while we cleaned up and got ready. Of course, the girls loved that! We had a 2nd cake which was still a rainbow theme, as Grace had requested, but this one was a "rainbow of flowers". They were so good! When I brought them home on Friday the girls just kept going on and on about how beautiful they were. Grace said at one point that they were "more beautiful than I ever thought they would be". She kept going over to the counter to look at them, at least that is what I thought she was doing. But then she told me that "I can't keep my nose off of them". They also tasted better than just about any cake I've ever had. If you live in the Nashville area I'll give you the name of the girl that made them. They were awesome. Anyway, the party went well. Grace had fun playing with her Papaw (Eric's dad) and enjoyed seeing her Aunt Angela (Eric's sister) too. My parents, Joni, Reesi, Julie and Jason were also there. Again, Lyla kept getting mad when anyone would say it was Grace's birthday or Grace's cake. She finally smiled when Mimi (my mom) gave her a present of her own to open. Grace got a Leapster from Mimi and Papoo, a Disney easy bake oven and handmade blanket from Papaw and Grandma Gardner and a new outfit from Aunt Julie and Jason. It was a good night!

Birthday Party #1

Well, we had our first "friend" party ever! In the past we simply have had family over for our birthdays, but this was a big one. Grace turned 5 and for some reason it seems really big to me. So I let Grace pick out what she wanted to do for her party. She invited her close circle of friends from church and preschool and we decorated sugar cookes, had a special rainbow cake, and played on a GREAT play system at a local party place. It turned out great. The kids had a great time. I did make one mistake though. After decorating sugar cookies for their activity they had no interest in eating cake too. Oh well. I sent home several pieces of cake with the moms of our friends. Grace got some great gifts from her friends and she's been playing with them constantly. Lyla has had a hard time with this birthday concept though. She just doesn't understand why it isn't her birthday too. We even caught her on video throwing wrapping paper at Grace and storming off camera when she couldn't open a present of her own! She didn't get too short-changed though. I gave her a small gift and so did my mom and her grandma and papaw. Over all, I think the party went well and Grace had a really good time! Now my baby is offically 5 years old!

Shots are not fun

Somehow in the course of all of the birthday talk Grace found out that she was going to have to get 4 shots at her 5 year old check-up. I didn't think this would be a big deal because she got a flu shot in December and never flinched or shed a tear. Again, she proved me wrong! Ever since she heard about the 4 shots she has been worrying herself sick, literally. I hadn't even made the appointment yet. So, this morning, after she opened her presents, she started worrying about the shots again. I tried to convince her that it won't happen within the next few days and not to worry, just enjoy the birthday parties coming up. That didn't work. She was practically in tears. So, I called the dr. this morning and said we had to get these shots over with asap! They got us in right after preschool this afternoon. When Grace forced me to tell her where we were going after preschool was over she flipped out right there in my classroom at preschool. I had to carry all 42 pounds of her (along with 3 other bags) to the van while she was kicking and screaming. She cried/screamed all the way to the dr. office. She wouldn't even get in her carseat. I know, I know, bad mom, I didn't make her buckle up. Let me assure you that isn't a common practice in our van. (When the doctor asked if she is in a booster seat Grace just had to blurt out that she didn't even buckle up all the way to the office. Thanks for mentioning that one Grace!) Anyway, I had to carry her in the office kicking and screaming, literally, while everyone looked at us. Then when the nurse came to get us Grace got on the floor and took a death grip on the chair leg. I had to pry her fingers loose! She cried uncontrollably through the weight, height, eye and ear check. Then they pricked her finger, which was not good either. Finally, I said, can we please get the shots over with. The nurse finally came back with the needles. Grace really freaked out then. But, she had "freezing spray" with her. While the nurse and I both held her down she sprayed the freezing spray on Grace's leg. At that moment, Grace stopped crying. When the needle poked in Grace giggled and said, "that didn't even hurt". The rest of the day Grace told several people that she got 4 shots and didn't even cry! I can't help but roll my eyes! Grace decided later tonight when I was talking with her about it that God reached down from heaven and sat the freezing spray on the nurses tray because He knew that would make Grace OK! I told her that is why she doesn't have to worry so much about things. God will take care of her and Mommy will do the worrying for her!

She's FIVE!!!

Grace is five!!! I can't believe it's been five years since she was born. She's so grown up now. Anyway, I'll save the tears for later. We gave her a few presents on the morning of her birthday, which are shown here. She got a baseball glove from her daddy, which her daddy is very excited about. She also got a Halloween barbie doll. Weird, I know, giving that it is the end of January. She went to a girl's birthday party around Halloween and we gave the little girl this same barbie. Grace told me at that time that she wanted one for her birthday too but I blew it off thinking she would forget about it by the end of January. Well, kids never fail to prove you wrong. Every time I asked her what she wanted for her birthday the answer was always the same, the Halloween barbie. All I have to say is, thank goodness for Ebay!!! Grace also had been asking for a baton with glitter in it. I found some at Wal-Mart for $0.88 each!! Gotta love Wal-Mart too. I got one for Lyla too so she wouldn't feel left out. I'm thinking this was a mistake since I had to take it away from her within 20 minutes because she was using it to hit everything in sight, including Grace!

Birthday Time!

Grace received her first birthday present in the mail this week from Grandma and Grandpa Galloway (Jenny's Mom's parents). Grace didn't like the idea of waiting to open it until her birthday so she got an early treat. It was a bubble machine for the bathtub! They had to get the in tub immediately and try it out. It even has a working microphone. Very cool! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Chuck E Cheese!

We went to birthday party for a friend at Chuck E Cheese this week! Mass chaos! But, the kids love it. Grace and Lyla sat with Grace's buddy, Abby, to eat pizza and cupcakes. Lyla loved the cupcake as you can tell. Grace only ate ice cream because she has recently decided that she doesn't like icing! We'll see how long that lasts. The night ended in tears, as it usually does, as we had to carry them both out kicking and screaming and mad at hornets that they didn't have enough tickets for the My Little Pony toy hanging on the wall. The choice between a glow-in-the-dark plastic scorpian or 1 tootsie roll just wasn't acceptable to them. At least the cupcake was good!

Olympics here we come!

Grace and Lyla have been going to gymnastics since last summer and they love it! They are both pretty good and have moved up to the next class level since starting. I tried to get some pictures of them on this day for the first time. I couldn't really get any good ones of Grace. I'll try her again next week. Lyla is shown in these pictures in her class with her coach. Coach Kristina has told us that she has never had a 2 year old be able to do what Lyla can do on the bar! She's very strong and coordinated and fearless. I think her fearlessness is the biggest thing! Anyone who knows Lyla understands when I say she's fearless. She's our little wild child. Maybe it will pay off one day!

Another Sunday Afternoon

Don't be fooled into thinking this was a nice, calm, quiet, sleepy Sunday afternoon like I wanted it to be. The girls were wild as usual. I couldn't get them to take naps so I finally gave up. They ended up in the same little chair watching a cartoon around 4pm when Lyla fell asleep. Grace fell asleep shortly after I took this picture. Of course, I had to wake them up just 30 minutes later to get ready for Life Group and they were very unhappy with me! That's the way it goes!

The First Snow!!!

It's Wednesday night and I'm trying to hurry the girls out of the door to get to church. I knew it was snowing outside for the first time of the season but for some silly reason I thought I could rush them into the van and promise of playing later. Well, as soon as the door opened, Lyla was on the ground making a snow angel and getting all wet before church. After we got home from church they did get to play some more though. They loved throwing snowballs with Eric and trying to find snow to eat. Grace posed for the picture again but Lyla just have a frozen face for the camera. They were very disappointed the next morning when it was all gone. Lyla just couldn't understand where it went. I think they asked me 50 questions the next morning on the way to preschool about where the snow went!

One of the girls' favorite activities in our new neighborhood is to visit the Harpeth River which is just a short walk from our house. Thanks to Daddy, the girls know this walk very well already. The pictures above are from a Sunday afternoon walk to the river. The weather had been very rainy that weekend so the walk was muddy! Everyone fell in the mud except Daddy. Needless to say, Mommy wasn't prepared for walking in sloppy mud, and wasn't real happy when she slid down a steep bank and got all muddy. The girls loved it, of course, even though it was quite chilly outside. On the way back I decided to try to get them to pose for me in the grassy area. Grace has the cute, girly, picture pose down pat, but Lyla on the other hand, refused to smile and insisted on making silly faces for the camera. Then, on the way back, the girls wore us down and we told them they could walk in the water a little. A little turned into 30 more minutes and Grace lying belly down in the cold water! Lyla had a little trouble with her pants staying up but she didn't seem to care. They walked back with water swishing in their boots and complaining of the cold and Mommy saying I told you so!