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.

Ella's Pretty Funny These Days

1) This afternoon on the way home from school, Gracie asked me a question and I answered it and ended by saying, "Okie-dokie?" Ella spoke up and said, "Her name isn't okie-dokies. Her name is Sissy Doolin."

2) On the way home from dance class today I started humming one of Gracie's dance songs. Gracie said, "How do you know that song? It's on my dance teacher's Ipod." I said, "Well maybe I need to put it on my Ipod also so you can practice dancing to it." Ella chimed in with, "I want it on my teapod too." She kind of blended Ipod and teapot, and Gracie and I both cracked up! :-)

3) I had to run to Ben Franklin today and was trying to find something quickly. Ella kept saying, "I have pockets today, Mommy." She had on jeans today that had cute little cuffs at the bottom. "I need money for my pockets, Mommy." Well, I just wanted to keep looking, but I quickly gave her a coin from my purse. I realized she was struggling to keep up with me, so I turned around and she was putting her coin in the cuff of her jeans...her "pockets."

4) I'm not extremely proud of this fact, but for some reason one day while Ella was being goofy I called her a boobie-head. She giggled and has liked it ever since. Well, today when I called her a boobie-head she said, "I not a boobie-head. I'm Ella Boobie-Head."

Little Lambs

Tonight was Gracie's last night as a Little Lamb. Our church has a kids choir for children 2 years old - Kindergarten, and both Gracie and Ella love to be involved. I can remember the first few nights I took Gracie and she didn't want me to leave her because she was scared. Now she runs into the church and never looks back. She is already sad that she will no longer be a Little Lamb, but next fall she will join the God Rock Crew which is for kids 1st grade and up. Again, these pictures aren't great. I didn't want to be in the way too much while they were singing, but I think they show how much the kids enjoy being there.