Good GRACEious

May is a busy month for us. We have 4 family birthdays (all within 4 days of each other), mother's day, the end of school (which brings about 2 weeks worth of business all on it's own) and Memorial Day.

Since it's not quite to Memorial Day and we still have 2 days of school left, I am going to focus on the birthdays. One in particular. My Grace.

Our second born turned 6 on May 5. She has a very cool birthday, 05/05/05. Neat, huh? Last year, she turned 5 on 05/05/05. Very, very cool. We were actually able to celebrate that birthday at Disney World. Very, very, very cool. This year's birthday was a bit less glamorous. Poor thing had to attend a funeral on her birthday. However, the funeral was in Florida so we tried to do some fun Florida things and have a good time. Her party was planned for the following weekend. This year, it was at Pigtails and Crewcuts, a children's hair salon that also does parties. It was a big hit. The girls got to play dress up, get their hair done with all sorts of sparkles. They got a manicure and makeup done. Then they got to have a little fashion show and dance party. It was cute. Grace said she had a really good time. That's all that matters.

Grace. What can I say about Grace. I think I wrote about my oldest when she turned 8 that she was maturing in the face - mostly because she now has grown up teeth. Well, the grown up teeth fairy came a little earlier to Grace. She is still 1 day shy of being done with kindergarten and already she has these big, older kid looking grown up teeth. No more cute, tiny, little itty bitty baby teeth. While she still had those little teeth and in kindergarten, I could pretend she was still my little girl. Now, she has grown up teeth and is almost in 1st grade! What has happened to all my little girls!!??

She's still crazy though. I think Grace will always be a little crazy. I once heard someone say that being mature doesn't mean you have to act mature all the time, it's knowing when to act mature and when it's ok not to. I like that.

Grace is active. She doesn't walk across a room she hops, skips or flat out runs. She can be a little clumsy so sometimes the not walking much causes bruises. Out of our 3, my hus and I said from the beginning that she would most likely be the first to break a bone. Unfortunately we were right. She loves to make people laugh. She thinks she's funny. Sometimes yes, sometimes, not so much. She's sensitive. She thinks about things. She's smart. She says she's going to be a waitress when she grows up and have her own restaurant. It's going to be called, "Zippies." (Don't ask, I don't know). She's so cute. She is a fashionista. She loves to dress up, put on jewelry and makeup. She likes to layer and combine fashions. It works for her. Although she's terrified of shots, she always says she wants to go first which I think is very brave. She is a sweet girl. She loves her sisters. She's a middle child. She has a wonderful, fun loving personality. Kids want to be her friend. She's creative. She's a horrible speller but (is only in kindergarten) tries really hard. Maybe "creative" speller would be a better term. She loves candy and oddly enough, broccoli. She is a child of God and takes comfort in that.
She is our sweet, Grace. We love her very, very much and are very proud of our crazy, smart, beautiful little 6 year old.

???

In case you were wondering...and you may not have, but I've been MIA on the blog seen for a couple of weeks now. The first week was simply because I was busy and uninspired to write (I need to feel it to be able to write). The second week was because I have not been about to get on to the blogger site to post anything. I had to install a whole new browser to get it to work. I don't know what was/is going on.
So, I'm now back in business, however, just a tiny bit inspired and yet again without much time. So I hope to really start blogging again soon. Glad to see everyone is getting on fine without me.
:)

Gag Me With a Spoon

I saw a commercial the other day that really bothered me. It was for one of those miracle diet pills. You've seen these commercials. They show before pics of people sticking out their pooch with all their might and then the after pic where they are sucking it in for all their worth, saying something like, "I lost 52 lbs with this slim pill in just 2 days!"

The other day, I saw a similar commercial with this girl who said, "I went from a size 8 to a size 0!"

So now, we are being told that if you are a size 8 you need to lose weight? We should all strive to be a 0?

Gag me with a spoon. I feel for the girls who think 8 is too big. It makes me angry that this is what the media is teaching young girls and even some misguided older girls.

And Another New Baby!

Not mine. No, No, NO.

My sister had her first baby on Friday, Good Friday. Her name is not Mary Rose, but that is what we will call her. She is cute. She is tiny. She makes me want another baby for about 10 seconds and then I snap out of it.

Being at the hospital with my sis did bring back a lot of fond memories. It wasn't that long ago that I was having babies. My youngest is only 3-1/2. I remember those first couple of days in the hospital where all I wanted to do was rest (good luck) and look at my baby. I remember those pink, blue and white striped blankies they wrap the babies in. I remember those cute, teeny, tiny diapers and the not so teeny tiny poops. But it was cute poop. Yes, it was. And I'm sure my sis thinks the same about her baby. I'm pretty sure my brother-in-law does too. Aside from my own husband, I've never seen someone look so tired and so happy at the same time. It was sweet. I hope that tired/happy feeling is able to coexist for a long time.

So, good luck, guys! Enjoy this short time with your newborn. Dress her up in cute clothes. Put cute little bows and ribbons in her hair. It will be gone before you know it and then she'll be 8 years old and arguing with you because she wants to do her hair and pick out her own clothes. But if you are lucky and your daughter is anything like mine, she'll still want you to sit by her and hug her lots and will help to make your life a joy.

4 new babies!

Birds. 4 new baby birds.

As an appropriate sign of spring and of the upcoming celebration of our Lord's resurrection, we have a mama bird who has made a nest, oddly enough, on a blue tarp that was laying in a little alleyway on the side of our house. The other day, 4 baby birds made their way out of their eggs. They are not cute. They have no "hair" (Grace's words, not mine), huge, bug like eyes (that have yet to open) and these seemingly over sized, bright yellow beaks. They are really tiny.

We check on them each day to see if any progress in their growth has been made. So far, no. Sometimes the mama is sitting on them and sometimes they are left on their own for a bit while the mama goes off in search of food. I've taken a few photographs.

Every time I use my flash, they wildly open their beaks thinking someone is there to feed them. It's kinda funny.

It's a little hard to tell from this picture what exactly you are looking at. One bird is laying on top of the others. "Clarence" almost fell out of the nest earlier today. Don't know how that happened. Paul used a stick, (so as not to make any human contact) to tilt the nest so it would be a little bit more straight. This helped Clarence to roll back into place. Hopefully they will make it to become full grown birds. It will be kinda fun to watch.

An Easter Song

Up from the grave He arose!



With a mighty triumph o're His foes;



He arose a victor from the dark domain;



and He lives forever with His saints to reign;



He arose!



He arose!



Hallejuah, Christ arose!



We were sarenaded "Low in the Grave He Lay" by our girls on Sunday after church while we dyed Easter eggs (over and over and over). I thought it was very appropriate.

Bubbles

Yesterday, Elliott and I spent some time outside blowing bubbles. It still amazes me just how excited my kids can get about a bottle of liquid soap. I got some cute pictures and thought I'd share.