Gracie's Cemetery Experience

My parents watched Gracie and Ella while Brent and I were at the wedding yesterday. Dad and Mom took the girls with them to the cemeteries to put flowers out. Ella fell asleep on the way there, but Gracie really enjoyed the experience. She helped cut the weeds away from some tombstones, placed the flowers where they needed to go and she learned a lot about our family. There were a few questions asked later about my dad's sister who died as an infant. I know she never knew that story, so she found it very sad. Gracie also learned about the flag being placed on graves of those who served in the military. Today as we went to some of Brent's families graves she mentioned all of those flags and what they represented. Gracie and I also discovered a set of stones at a cemetery near Lancaster, MO for sisters named Grace and Ella. You can bet it was a sobering moment to discover those graves. Memorial Day prompted lots of questions, but it made for some good learning.

Justin's Wedding

Today one of Brent's best friends got married. They have known each other literally forever, so it was cool that Brent could be the best man. Justin and Jenn had a beautiful day and we enjoyed being there. The picture is of Brent, their youth minister from back when they were kids and the groom, Justin. Sadly, I only took one picture the entire day. I was somewhat preoccupied with the fact that I locked my keys in the van at their reception site.

Gracie's Dance Recital

McKenna Nelson is Gracie's dance teacher. She is a high school girl who still takes lessons herself. I don't know how she does it all, but she's wonderful!

All of the girls would stand off to the side and watch whatever group was on stage. They were mesmerized!

Gracie with her buddies Shelby, Brooke and Aubree

They just needed to unwind!

This was Gracie's jazz outfit. They danced to "Tutti Frutti."

Gracie and Gracee - The Toothless Wonders

Fishing at Rob's House

We found ourselves back at Rob's house again today. This time I got to go, but Brent had graduation at Atlanta, so he had to miss out. Rob's pond is beautiful and it was a gorgeous day to be out!

This was Ella's big catch! She was mighty proud of her fish, but after she caught one fish she was done fishing. She decided it was more fun to sit with her feet in the pond or chase the ducks.

Ella up close and personal with her fishy friend.

Should I touch him???

I was touching him, so I guess she decided it was okay.

Rob put Ella's fish in a bowl so she could watch him for a while. He eventually jumped out and found his way back home.

Gracie's first fish wasn't too big, but she was proud anyway. Rob gave Gracie quite a bit of help, so she was able to catch probably 10 more fish.

What a fun place to hang out! Rob and Celeste let us feed the fish, catch the fish, feed the ducks, chase the ducks, and invade on their Sunday afternoon!

Ella loved reaching into the bowl and trying to touch the fish. They move pretty quick!

Look at that cute little fishergirl! I do believe she caught most of her fish with her little sis's princess pole.

A lesson in fishing from someone with more experience than I have! Gracie really listened well to Rob and learned some good things. I saw Rob a few days later and told him he should have heard Gracie telling Brent about her fishing experience. When she held her hands out to show Brent how big the fish were, they somehow went from being 6 inches to about 15-20 inches. She learned to tell a fisherman's tale pretty quicky!

Church Fishing Day

Today our church sponsored a youth fishing day at the Macon Fairgrounds. There is a nice pond at the fairgrounds, but it is heavily fished. You will notice there are no pictures of us with any fish. The only thing we saw were snakes...no fish. I still got some cute pics though!

All of the kids who showed up got a prize. Ella loves her new Disney Princess fishing pole!

Gracie and Quinton were the only kids in their age group. Gracie was excited to get a new pole to add to her fishing gear, but she was awfully sad to not catch anything. We are already making plans to take her tomorrow so she can try again.

Fall Fling and Spring Art Show

Tonight was Gracie's spring music concert at school. The kindergarten and first grade classes sang some really cute updated nursery rhyme songs.

Gracie and her teacher Miss Gott. Gracie has really like her teacher, but is also excited to move up to first grade since her friend Shelby's mommy will be her teacher.

All around the gymnasium they had the kids artwork displayed. Gracie's picture got the blue ribbon for her grade, so she was very excited.

The proud artist with her ribbon. There were a lot of cute pictures, so I'm sure it was hard for the judge to choose. Gracie is very creative which I am thankful for since I don't feel gifted in that way. Her picture had some very unique details, so maybe that was what helped her win.

Gracie with one of her best kindergarten buddies, Mati. Mati is probably the shortest girl in the class and Gracie is still one of the tallest so this picture shows both ends of the spectrum as far as height goes in the kindergarten class.

Rock Star

When Gracie is at school Ella loves to "borrow" her guitar and rock out. She is currently stuck on the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" which the guitar plays automatically. Once in a while she switches to "Hot and Cold" from "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." It's pretty funny to hear her slightly jibberish version!

I guess I should explain that we were in the midst of a wardrobe change thanks to potty-training when I took these. She doesn't walk around in the buff all day long!

How Will She Eat?

Last Friday Gracie came home from school with a tooth necklace around her neck. Inside was her real tooth that she lost that day. It had been bothering her, so she and 3 classmates went to the nurse and asked her to pull their teeth. The tooth fairy was busy that night, I guess. Well today she came home with another necklace. That makes 4 holes in her mouth.

She looks a little wild with her front teeth gone and a lingering goose egg bruise on her forehead! It looks like she got in a dandy of a fight!

Ella continues to show us her loose teeth in her own mouth. She is certain she will be losing some soon! This is a case of "monkey see monkey do", I guess.