Officially 4

I can't believe my baby girl is 4!
Where has the time gone and
how can we slow it down?
WE LOVE YOU GRACIE,
for all that you are and all that you will grow to be.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Michigan

There are so many things that I love about our annual trip to Michigan. I love spending time with my parents, relaxing, playing at the dock, visiting the little towns, wake boarding, boating and I absolutely love the gorgeous scenery. It's so great being able take the kids right outside the house to take a picture with some actual greenery in it. No driving around to search for hours for a little itty bitty patch that might be able to resemble a bit of green. As an added bonus, my kids don't really fight me on it (most of the time). I think they realize it's just part of the trip and if they grin and bear it they can go back to playing and having fun. Kelly on the other hand ... well that's a different story. I'm still working on him.

Our Birthday Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE LOU!

WE LOVE YOU!

All Grown Up!

Merry Christmas to All!

Christmas Sunday

Hiding Spots

Grace is a thief.
It happened every morning. Right when she would wake up, she would go straight to Jackson's room and grab the little green frog that sat on his bed. She loved it!
We tried to explain to Jackson that she only liked it because it reminded her of him, but that did not make him feel better. Finally, one day, he'd had enough. I had heard enough about it so I told him to go and hide it and then she won't be able to take it. That seemed to work. He was happy!
I didn't think anymore about it. Grace would ask for it each morning, but I just told her it was lost and to go look for it. It kept her busy and that was just an added bonus. Then about two weeks later, I was in Grace's room and noticed this.




Apparently, Jackson thought that the best hiding spot to keep his frog away from her was right under her nose. I don't know what's worse. Jackson thinking this was the smartest place to hide it or that Grace never found it. Either way, I about died laughing.
* In the end, the frog was discovered and the process went on and on until Christmas time. Jackson was trying to decide what to get Grace and thought of the perfect gift ... his little green frog. He wrapped it up and before handing it to her on Christmas morning explained to her why he was giving it to her and that she was going to need to take good care of it for him. She agreed and then he let her open it. She was so excited. It was her favorite gift and still is. It's always nice when it ends happily.

Mohawks Rock!

Who doesn't look good with a bath tub mohawk?

No matter the length of your hair, it always works.

PARTY TIME!!!!

It's birthday season in our home again! With that, comes the big birthday party. This year, we had the party over at our community pool.

They had all their friends there.
We swam, played and had lots of yummy food.
Make that, lots and lots of yummy food.
We had a wonderful cake (which was even more wonderful since I didn't have to make it). This wonderful cake even magically turned into cute cupcakes. We can't always be bothered with silly things like hands!

Sometimes we weren't the most observant about what our children were eating. Case in point. Maybe this is why he was so wound up the rest of the night.

Here's our little social eater!Overall, we had a wonderful time and are so grateful to all our friends and family for helping us celebrate!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Grace's Birthday Celebration

Gracie had a GREAT birthday!

(despite the birthday cake incident)

We ate dinner with her Oma & Poppy (my parents) at California Pizza Kitchen. She loved the bread and is always a fan of pasta.

Then we went back to their house to open presents.She got more into it when she noticed that we made great reactions once the presents were open. It quickly became a game and she immediately learned how to react just like us! Such a little mimic!Grace got tons of her favorite things, bracelets, purses, movies and books. She had a great time and loved showing us her new gifts.

What a day!
Thanks Oma & Poppy for celebrating with us!

Who Cries Over Cake?

Apparently, she does!
It didn't even get better once the candles were blown out. We tried getting her to at least take one bite of cake, since last year, that's all it took for her to realize how yummy it was. That didn't even help. It actually made it worse. She just thought we were feeding her poison or something. I just don't get it. Oh well, that's Gracie for you!
*this is not a good picture, but it says it all

Birthday Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE!
We love you!

"The Box"

Why are they always more entertained with the box then what's inside it?

If you got it, flaunt it!

Time Out!

Grace has a REALLY bad habit. Most of you don't need to worry that this could affect you or your children someday as she seems to focus this bad habit strictly on Jackson. She bites him! Yep, that's right, she's a biter. Not only that, but she is smart enough to only do it when we are not in the room. Granted she does not do this on a regular basis, but I think one time is too many. I can't say he doesn't always deserve it, but honestly, .... why biting? So, the very few times we've been able to catch her we are quick to reprimand her in hopes of putting a stop to this nonsense. For whatever reason, she listens to Kelly so much better than me and actually takes him seriously. Who would have thought!
I know I shouldn't laugh when Gracie get put in "time out" by Kelly, but ... how could I not. She would never sit there for me or like that for that matter. I think he now does it just because it makes me laugh so hard.

"SORRY!"

Happy 4th of July

7We had a great 4th of July this year, despite the fact that we are in Arizona in the extreme heat. The Marriott family was kind enough to invite us over to the Moser's beautiful home for a day of yummy food and lots of pool fun. I think at one point we had more rafts then we did people. Although we weren't able to do a "dive in movie," we were able to see an amazing monsoon show instead. Jackson and his goggles! He loves them and once they are on, they are not coming off! I don't mind since he swims a million times better with them on. You do watcha' gotta do!
-Thank you Marriott family for the great day and thanks Marnee for the great pictures!
(there are more pictures you can check out on Marnee's blog)

I SEE YOU!

Peek-a-boo has changed recently to, "I SEE YOU!" The only real difference is that now, Grace looks under a table or chair and then declares, "I SEEEEEEEEEEE YOU!"
This is an image we see very, very frequently.