The Woes of Preschool

Gracie is still at the young and honest stage where she usually tells us anything we want to know. She goes to Preschool on Wednesday and Thursday, and I always ask her if she got in trouble at school. Today she said, "Yes, I did. I had to put my nose on the wall." I was shocked and said, "Well, what did you do?" Gracie said, "I was crying because I missed you and daddy, so I had to put my nose on the wall. Mrs. Joyce (her teacher) said if I would dry up my crying I could come off the wall." I simply said, "Mommy really wishes you would stop crying at school." To which Gracie replied, "Yes, I really wish I could too." I was feeling really sorry for her until I relayed the story to Brent and he said, "She probably actually took a toy from another child and when she got in trouble for that she started crying and began thinking about how much she missed us." He has been a principal for 4 short months and thinks he has all children figured out!

Growing Bigger

Some of you may be reading this thinking I was referring to my expanding midsection when I titled this "Growing Bigger." It would be a fitting description of what I am currently doing, but this post is in reference to a conversation Brent and Gracie had while I was fixing supper tonight. I was picking Gracie up and spinning her around until she/we were dizzy. She would say, "Whoa, Daddy. I'm very, very busy." We repeated this over and over again just to hear him mispronounce dizzy. Brent got to laughing at her and said, "Gracie, can you do your daddy a favor and quit growing?" Gracie just looked at him kind of funny, so I said, "Tell Daddy that you have to keep growing." Gracie looked at him and said, "Daddy, I have to keep growing just like you and mommy did." He said, "But you sure are awfully cute right now. I'd like to keep you little."

All Grown Up

Our little 3-year old is acting all grown up. I hope it continues when the baby arrives! We went to Ben Franklin today, known for having more breakable items than I am comfortable with her being around, and Gracie was very responsible and mature. I didn't even give her the lecture on not touching anything. She kept backing away from breakable items and eyeing them from a distance. Her phrase for the trip was, "Isn't it beautiful, Mommy?" Every pretty little Christmas ball deserved, "Isn't it beautiful, Mommy?"
Tonight when we got home, the newspaper was laying in the driveway. Gracie is the newspaper retriever, so she quickly ran to do her job. On the way up to the house she said, "Mommy. I'm tired. Let's just go in and read the newspaper. All right?" She sounded like a grown man or woman coming home for an 8 hour day of work. Like I said, she's all grown up.

Gracie's Big Accomplishment

What a day! We had a very big thing happen this morning. When I dropped Gracie off at school, she didn't cry or pitch her usual fit. It was so wonderful. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be at school, but at least she didn't cry or have to be forced into her classroom by one of the teachers. I hope it continues, but realize next week could bring a fresh wave of tears. Yesterday on the way to school I was trying to keep her spirits high by singing a silly song. It was such a big hit that I started singing a second song when Gracie interrupted me and said, "Mommy. I think one song was enough." Translation - QUIT SINGING!
This doesn't relate to Gracie's big accomplishment at all, but Brent wanted me to mention one more thing. This morning while I was trying to get ready for work I wasn't giving Gracie the attention she felt she deserved and she said, "You come back here you silly ogre." I think it's time to return the Shrek DVD we borrowed from our friend Niki, huh?!

Gracie's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Tonight after supper Gracie asked if we could make cookies. I am a weakling, so I said yes! I asked what kind we should make and Gracie suggested Chocolate Chip Cookies. She is famous for whipping out an invisible book or notepad and pretending to read it, so she whipped out her notepad and began reading me the ingredients we would need to make the cookies. Keep in mind we make cookies every couple of weeks, so she has a fairly good idea of what is normal and what isn't normal. She started with 1 egg, 1 butter (her terminology), 10 cups of oil, 3 spaghetti's, 2 chocolate chips, 5 cookies, a couple more spaghetti's, 9 salts, and from there the list just got really crazy. Bottom line - if you want to make chocolate chip cookies, consult Betty Crocker over Gracie Doolin. Betty's recipe turned out pretty good after I convinced Gracie to delete a few of her own secret ingredients!

You'd Better Watch Out

It's that time of year. During a recent trip to Wal-Mart, Gracie was checking out the toy selection and kind of whining a little about us telling her that we wouldn't buy anything right now because Christmas is so close. We continued playing with the toys when I saw a man in a red suit go walking by. I looked up to see Santa perusing the toy section also. I quickly said, "Gracie! Look! It's Santa." She looked up in time to see Santa Claus walking away. I told her, "It's a good thing you weren't whining when Santa came by. He saw you being good, so he will probably come to our house." Well tonight we went out to eat with my parents in Moberly and we were talking about the encounter with Santa Claus. Gracie piped up. "Mommy said it was a good thing I wasn't whining when Santa came by. He would have heard me and not come to my house. So I waited until he was gone and then I started whining again." Hey, at least she's honest!

Gracie the Drama Queen

Today is Sunday, so we spent most of the day at home. When we lived in Kahoka and drove to Keokuk for church, Sunday was such a short day. We'd get home around 2 to 3 p.m. every week because we would run our errands while we were in the "big city." The church we attend now gets out around 11:15 on average. I had lunch fixed and cleaned up by 1 p.m. today, so we had a nice long afternoon before evening church began. I'm still painting on doors and trim in our bedroom and bathroom, so that took a chunk of the afternoon, but I did walk Gracie and Molly to the park for a while. It pooped me out, so when we got back I sat down on the couch with Brent, who was enjoying a full afternoon of Sunday Football. It didn't take me long to relax and almost fall asleep and Brent was in the football glazed over zone that happens to most men when they are watching a game. Gracie was having a snack in the kitchen and the next thing I heard was her saying, "Mommy? Daddy?" There was silence as we waited to hear what she wanted. She continued, "Oh, no. I don't have any family. What can I do?" She had been looking for us and couldn't find us, so she jumped to the dramatic conclusion that she was now an orphaned child with no family. We cracked up. Poor little Orphan Gracie. All alone in the world with no one to care for her. The mind of a 3 year old is a funny thing!

Let's Give 'Em Something To Talk About

This morning I was cleaning out the garage and found Gracie's Easter basket, so I hung it up out of the way. I obviously didn't hang it far enough out of the way, because early this afternoon she asked if she could play with it. I said sure, thinking it would be harmless. Well, playing with the basket led to me having to find the plastic Easter eggs, which led to me having to hide them outside so she could find them. I complied for 3 rounds of hunting when I noticed the neighbors up the street were having an outdoor party and they all seemed to be looking our direction. There was Gracie in her coat, hat and mittens holding her Easter basket while she looked for eggs in the shrubs. My only consolation is that they have small children as well, so hopefully they have been in my shoes!

Being a Stay-At-Home Mom

My hat is off to those of you who are or were stay-at-home moms. I enjoy my days at home very much, but some of you warned me that I would be busier than I was when I was working full-time. Today was one of those days. Brent isn't home for me to talk to tonight, so I'll recap my day on the blog. The day started off with Gracie's fall party at school. I was the mother in charge of helping at the party, so we were at school and had a great time until mid-morning. Then our plethora of errands began (grocery store, bill paying, pharmacy, etc.). We came home for a quick lunch and then began some outdoor work. We raked leaves, scooped up Molly's presents she leaves in the yard, emptied out the flower pots the frost got and played on the swingset. Next was Gracie's playdate with Emma, who is a 4 year old neighbor. While they played, I tried to start the ironing. Is anyone else out there married to a man who has to wear dress shirts to work? Even the ones that are wrinkle-free need to be pressed. I was very behind, so I had to iron 12 dress shirts, 5 pairs of pants, and 3 of Gracie's outfits. Gracie then helped me fix supper, bake a banana cake and finish the laundry. This pooped her out, so we wound down with a game of Dora tic-tac-toe. I gave Gracie her bath and she was asleep on the couch with her hand in a bowl of popcorn shortly thereafter.

Ahh. The laundry is caught up, the ironing is done, I have a baked treat at the ready if anyone stops by this weekend...something is going to fall apart. The washer will break tomorrow or I will discover the freezer thawed overnight and all of our food is ruined! Happy Weekend everyone!

Shrek and Fishing

Gracie and I went over to my friend Niki's house on Monday night and she loaned Gracie her Shrek DVD. At the beginning of Shrek, since it is a Dreamworks Entertainment movie there is a standard Dreamworks song that plays and an image of a person sitting on a half-moon fishing. It's probably played before every Dreamworks movie, but I haven't paid attention. Well our little 3 year old was paying attention. Gracie's eyes got really big and she said, "Look Mommy. Jesus is sitting on the moon fishing." So, to those of you who like to fish, Gracie thinks there will be fishing in Heaven!

A Whirlwind Weekend

It has been a while since we have blogged. Last weekend we packed up both vehicles and headed to Kahoka for the last football game of the regular season. We were able to watch them win the district championship. After that we went to Keokuk and spent the next two days visiting some of our friends. It was really fun to be "back home" in our old church again. Gracie had a great time staying at Bruce and Missy's house, also. She is still talking about how much fun we had last weekend. Gracie was able to be reunited with her old buddy Mike and they shared many good talks. Sunday Brent headed back to Macon, but Gracie and I stayed the night in Kahoka at our good friends, Ray and Mikie's, house. Gracie wanted to go see our old house, so the new owner was kind enough to let us come in and look around. We were glad to see that not much had changed. Monday our trip ended with me having a doctor's appointment in Hannibal on the way home. Everything appears to be fine and Fuzzy Marie :-) is growing at a normal pace.

This week is the Atlanta Junior High basketball tournament, so Brent hasn't been home at all. He got someone to watch the tournament tonight for him so that he could go to Kahoka and watch Clark County play Trenton in a playoff game. So far, the Indians are losing at the end of the first half (17-7).

Gracie had a little trouble at school today. She won't tell me what she did, but she was more than happy to tell Grandpa and me that she had to sit in time out for a while. I think she actually knows what she did, but is ashamed to tell me. Tomorrow I'll probably investigate to make sure it wasn't anything too bad. She probably told someone that Clifford says you shouldn't talk with food in your mouth...again. Gracie certainly makes life interesting.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We Have a Winner

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