Lyla's new Scooby shirt

While we were at Goodwill looking for a cane for Grace's 100 year old costume, Lyla found this wonderful Scooby shirt. She thinks it is just great. I'll keep my opinions to myself. She actually wore it to preschool 2 days in a row this week! I know there are some moms around here that wouldn't let their children be caught dead in a "character" shirt. I agree, they aren't the most attractive, stylish clothing. But, I want Lyla to be herself. I want her to learn that looks aren't what matters. I want her to learn to make her own choices. I want her to be free to express her own style and personality. I don't want her to learn that she has to dress a certain way to fit in. I don't want her to learn that she has to wear a certain brand of clothing to be cute, pretty, cool or whatever. So, to the moms that can't stand "character" clothing...please, just look the other way and keep your comments to yourself.

The 100th day of school

The first grade was supposed to dress up like 100 year old people for the 100th day of school this week. I tried to find a cane for Grace to take but they are more expensive to buy than I would have guessed. Goodwill didn't even have any. Oh well. So, she wore a flowery dress, shawl, pearls, make-up, white hair and a bun, and pantyhose that wouldn't stay up. I thought she looked pretty good.

The actual birthday morning

Sunday was Grace's real birthday. She opened her presents, with Lyla's help, of course. Grace was in a good mood so she let Lyla open one of her presents. Lyla helped me pick out Grace's presents this year and she kept the secret the whole time! She loves surprises. Anyway, we got Grace a little camping set to go with her dolls. The campfire came from American Girl. It lights up and plays campfire songs. It's really cute. It came with little pretend smores and marshmellows on sticks. To go with the campfire theme, I got two sleeping bags sets from Target and a mini lantern from Walmart. They have been playing with them all week! Again, pictures are in backward order. My new year's motto-nothing's perfect and it doesn't have to be.

Grace is 7!

After the cheerleading game, we all came back to our house for a little family birthday party for Grace. Grace said she wanted hot dogs and watermelon for her birthday meal. So, we made a pot of chili to go with the dogs. Grace had to open presents first, of course. Then we ate and sat around for a while. Grace got a Barbie vet doll, which she loves, from Grandma and Papaw Gardner, along with a new movie. She got a new outfit and a Crayola glowdome from Mimi and Papoo. She got a cute little duffle bag with her name on it from Julie and Jason. She wasn't too impressed with a bag as a gift at the time. But, since last week she has used her new bag every day! She has been carrying around her new doll things in it. When she goes to Reesi's to play she takes her toys in her new bag. Then, last night she went to spend the night at SK's and she used it to pack her clothes. I think she appreciates it a little more now. Joni got her some Build-a-Bear clothes for her stuffed animals. I don't have a picture of those yet. We didn't give her gifts from me and Eric on Saturday. We decided to wait until Sunday morning because that was her actual birthday and we wanted her to have something to open on her actual birthday. In the blowing candles pictures, you can notice that there is one picture that Lyla looks mad in. We had to have a fight over blowing out the candles! Doesn't every family??? Well, we do anyway. All of the kids want to blow them out, whether it's their birthday or not. So, here are the pictures from the party. They're in backward order because I'm not focusing on perfection right now. One more note, I made the cake to look like a cheerleading megaphone. I got the pattern from familyfun.com. Pretty easy.

The Karate Kid

The Saturday morning of Grace's birthday party, Mimi, Papoo, Reesi and I took Lyla to karate. Papoo had never watched her do her thing so we took him to see her in action. She is so cute out there. After every thing she did, she looked at us and gave us a thumbs up. She's so funny.

Grace's 1st real sleepover

This year Grace said she wanted to have her birthday party at a local gymnastics place. Those kind of parties cost quite a bit of money, at least in my opinion. So, I told her that if she had that kind of party she wouldn't get any presents from Mom and Dad and Lyla. She didn't like that idea too much. I suggested she just have her "bff" come spend the night instead. She was very excited about that idea! So, Miss Sara Kathryn came for Grace's 1st friend sleepover. Grace was SOOO excited! That day, Julie, Mimi, Lyla and I took a cookie cake to her school for lunch. She was excited to see us and acted silly the whole time, of course. Then that afternoon SK came home with Grace on the bus. Lyla spent the night with Reesi so Grace and SK could have quality time together. They jumped on the trampoline, played in the bathtub, played with their animals and acted silly together. Grace wanted to go to McDonalds for dinner that night, so the whole family (us, Mimi, Papoo, Joni and all of the kids) went to McDonalds for play and chicken nuggets. When we got home the girls watched a movie and then it was bedtime. They had their cheerleading game in the morning so I didn't want them to stay up too late. They were asleep by 10pm, which I thought was pretty good for a sleepover. They got up and played more the next morning before the game. SK gave Grace an American Girl animal, named Coconut, for her birthday. She loves it!

More Cheerleading

Last Saturday my family and Eric's Dad came to Grace's cheerleading game and then to our house to celebrate Grace's birthday. Here are the pictures from Grace's game. It's so funny to watch those little girls out there. They don't watch the game at all. When they're not cheering they're just talking and being silly together. They do stand up in the middle of the court to do an actual cheer with motions during half time. They're in two lines. Grace is in the back line. When they started the cheer Grace promptly scooted herself up to the front row and made the other girls move over to let her in. I don't think she was doing this on purpose. I think she just didn't realize where she was supposed to be. It was pretty funny though.

Grace and Lyla dress up

Grace and Lyla wanted to dress up in mine and Eric's clothes a few days ago. These are pictures of them playing house. Hilarious! The sad part is my clothes aren't that big on Grace anymore. She was wearing her own pants though.

Grace is a cheerleader!

Grace is trying out cheerleading this year. She is cheering for a little basketball league close to us. It is a Christian organization so they have a small devotional at each practice with a prayer and a memory verse to learn. They emphasize learning and reward each girl with a sticker for their megaphone after each game. Each sticker has a different meaning. Grace's sticker was for having a lot of team spirit. Grace had a great time. Honestly, I don't know if she enjoyed the actual cheerleading part as much as she did sitting by her "bff" the whole time being silly. She loved it though and was excited about it. She's such a big girl!