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.

Gracie's Day of Adventures

We headed to Moberly today to eat lunch with my mom and grandma for Mother's Day. After lunch we made a last minute decision to let Gracie stay in Moberly for a while since Brent and I still needed to work on the deck. We knew we could count on Ella to take a nap, so while Ella napped, we labored away on the deck. My parents took Gracie over to my mom's boss's house and they did some exploring. His pond is prettier than most, as you can see in this picture of Gracie.

Rob helped Gracie cross the pond on some rocks. She thought that was pretty cool and talked about it for days.

Rob also let Gracie pet the baby ducks. Since she is a fan of feeding ducks and geese, she also enjoyed this part of her day.

Rob found Gracie some crawdad shells and let her bring them home. She had never seen a crawdad, but we have told her about them when we have seen their holes. It was good for her to actually see one.

Rob let them feed his fish. Apparently they really jump up to the surface and fight each other for food. Gracie found that very entertaining.

What a cute little duck!

After their adventures at Rob's house, my parents took Gracie to ride the train that runs through the park.

Since they were already at the park it only made sense to let Gracie play for a while!

I don't remember the exact wording, but Gracie made some comment to my parents about this being the best day of her life. She needs one-on-one time periodically, and it must have been that time again.

My Mother's Day Present

I got a huge surprise when Brent told me he was going to tear down our old deck and build a new one for my Mother's Day gift. The existing deck was old, painted green, and partially rotten. This is a gift I will really enjoy!

Brent enlisted the help of Eric, our brother-in-law who is very handy and his Uncle Don who somehow eluded the camera!

You gotta love demo!

Stay tuned for pictures of the new deck once it's finished.

Prizes

Gracie wanted me to make a post about the prizes she received when many of you ordered magazines for a school fundraiser she contacted you about. She earned this awesome glow in the dark t-shirt that she would wear everyday if I would let her, and she also earned these fun light-up glasses. The glasses scare Ella so we have to use them with caution. Thank you for the purchases you made to help Gracie get these prizes but more importantly, it helped the school.

A Field Trip To McDonald's

Ella was very excited today because she knew we were supposed to join her sister's class at McDonald's today for a field trip. Gracie's class collected the most pop tabs this year, so they were rewarded with lunch at McD's. I had to stall a little, because Ella was ready to head out around 10 a.m. and we didn't need to be there until 11 a.m. A quick bike ride helped to distract her for a while. We had a little talk about helmet safety as well.

Finally it was time to go. Gracie and her classmates were all so excited to be eating Happy Meals for lunch instead of the same old school lunch.

The boys are squishing Ronald McDonald!

Gracie and her best friend from school, Mati. (Yes, it was a very windy day!)

Gracie, Mati and Tanner - they all had to weight their food down so it wouldn't blow away. There were chicken nuggets flying in the wind today at one point!

The girls sat with Ronald McDonald, too.

Ella needed a turn also. However, she didn't understand why she couldn't be in the picture with Gracie's class.

What a class! I think 18 kindergarten students is a lot for one teacher. Teachers are amazing! (By the way, if anyone that is reading this wants to save pop tabs for Gracie, they will be having the same contest next year. We have already started saving at our house!)

Spring Flowers

Grandpa and Nana came up today and brought a car full of spring flowers to plant. Both of my parents have a green thumb and they do a great job brightening up our house with pretty flowers. I hope I can pick up on a thing or two and do this on my own someday!

Gracie and Ella loved wearing their gardening gloves and "getting dirty."

Gracie has always been excellent at watering the flowers. She would water them all day long if need be!

Grandpa got a little carried away with the garden hose, so Gracie got the umbrella out for some splashing in the "rain."

Ella was practicing some of her dance moves. She quickly tired of planting flowers, but she doesn't tire quickly from dancing.