This doesn't even need a caption...

But look how gracie's horns are glowing. Coincedence? I think not.
 

Indecisive

So Gracie and I are at the Disney store and they are having a sale on Halloween costumes. She walks in and sees all of the Princesses and says "OOOHHH, Pretty!" So I tell her she can pick any one she wants. She goes right for this one. I was so excited! How cute is that? Then she sees this one. Still cute and she has the hair to go with it! We are almost out of there, she is even trying on the cutest boots to go with it. Then she sees this. It's all over. It was too good to pass up. Too many Princesses, too little time...

What Princess room is complete without a Princess bed tent? Gracie loves it!. Thanks to her Aunt Carrie, Uncle Braden and cousins!
 

I HAD to borrow this!

OK, so after an hour phone conversation with Cameron's Pre-school teacher about his behavior (when they call you at home, it isn't good!) I was reading blogs and saw this. I laughed so hard I cried and then cried some more. So I Stole it from My favorite blogger.ARRG Blogger wouldn't let me upload it, so you have to go there.. Here it is:

What I do all day...

I got this from an E mail joke, so you may have heard it, but I thought it was great!

"What Do You Do All Day?"
A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know everyday when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?" "Yes," was his incredulous reply. She answered, "Well, todayI didn't do it."

Birthday pictures

 
 
 
  

Mirror,Mirror, on the wall...

Gracie got this princess wand for her birthday. It says things like "you are adorable". You have pretty eyes" Blah blah blah. You see, I am not really a "princess" type of girl. I had my share of Barbies growing up, but I was really more of a tom boy and would climb trees and ride my horse, too. But somehow, Gracie Loves Princesses. I am not even really sure where she first saw them. I know some people who will not even expose their girls to such things. "What does this teach them?" they ask. "To wait for their prince to save them?". But I don' think we can shield our children from everything, and I really do not see any harm in the Princess stories. I feel like I can still teach her that she can be strong and not have to depend on anyone. But if I could make a magic wand for girls, here is what it would it would say. "You are a strong person". "You are so smart!". "You can do anything you want to do". Well, the party is over and we have more princess stuff than I have ever seen. And it will be fine! I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Look what I made!

I had been looking for something cute for Gracie to wear to her party. Either it was too expensive or I didn't win the E bay bid. So I made something! I got the jumper at Ross for $15.00 and the iron on patches at Michael's for about $15.00. Things like this are selling on E bay for $50.00-$100.00! Mabye I'll sell it when we're done with it. (I can hear my sister screaming at the comnputer "NO, you will save that for Sophie!!")
Front:

Back:
 

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Ok, it was on Tuesday, but I am behind! It was pretty low key because we are having the "birthday extravaganza" on Saturday!. Just Gracie and 20 of her closest friends. I have no idea how this happened. When I made out the list, I was really sure that someone wouldn't be able to come! This is her first real party, so it is OK. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

  

ACCEPT picnic

Today our home study agency had their picnic. I got to meet so many fellow bloggers, some for the first time! Scott couldn't make it,so I didn't get to talk as much as would have liked,trying to watch two kids. I saw Donna and got to meet Maddy. I saw Kelly and Helen..Then we saw Maggie and parents. And I finally got to meet one of my favorite bloggers, Julie. I'll post pictures tomorrow. I am done in after last night and today!

A big night out!

Last night Scott and I had a fun evening out. We went to a charity event at an art Gallery for Project Night Night. This charity provides blankets, stuffed animals and books for homeless children living in shelters. I think that is the saddest sentence I have ever typed. Blankets for homeless children who do not have any.. We got very dressed up and Had a great time. There was a silent auction and I won a Sally Spicer bag.. That is two weekends in a row out! Did I forget to mention last weekend, my sister took the kids overnight?.I could get used to this!

What have I gotten myself into?

My kids have been going to a Co-Op pre-school for the past 4 years. That means that I have worked in the classroom, next to the teachers, although mostly with set up/clean up, etc...I have also served as a substitute and worked summers there as a teacher. Every year I comment "what a nice class we have". Great families, fun classes. Then I decided to become a teacher there. And this is the year that we have a very challenging class. (Of course!) I was slapped in the face by a 3 year old on Monday. This child also bit another child so hard, he bled. He pulled the other teachers hair and kicked her. All the while his Dad was yelling out obscenities like "Jesus Christ, behave!" (Most of the parents stayed the first day, which was part of the problem). WHEW! I have my work cut out for me! Welcome back to work...
*Update* Today was somewhat better,but still hard. One of us has to "shadow" him all day,which is hard on the other children (and us). It will get better. I think what he needs is to try and hurt Gracie,because she will kick his @ss!

Like my new "do"?

  

9/11

What can I say that hasn't already been said? I'll just recount my day 5 years ago. I was laying in bed nursing Cameron who had been born 5 weeks earlier. I was exhausted/happy/hormonal. Scott came in from the other room and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. "Hmm. I thought. That is strange". When he came in to say ANOTHER plane had the it, I jumped out of bed and ran into the other room to see what he could be talking about. How could that be? This couldn't be an accident, could it? There we stayed, glued to the T.V. ALL day. Nursing and crying(well, me nursing).He didn't go to work that day or the next, even though we were on the opposite coast. Just too scared. I feel for all those people and their families and Ii think of them on this day.

Goodbye Summer

 
  

It's fiveO'Clock somewhere...

  

Wish you were here...

Guess who managed to pack clothes for two kids, snacks for everyone, toiletries for Hubby, and the entire car by herself, but only brought one change of clothes for herself? If you see me wearing the same thing for 4 days, please don't say anything...

A much needed break

This is a quote from one of my favorite blogs-Cease Cows! Life is short!. She is talking about good things she did over the weekend and I think about it so much, because I can so relate to it.
"- Making my Weekly Exodus on Saturday without freakingthefuckout first. There's much to be said for calmly leaving for your solitary outing as opposed to suddenly stopping mid-laundry, throwing your hands up in the air and stating I'VE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE OR I'M GOING TO GO CRAZY while everyone in the family stands around shifty-eyed and uncomfortable."
Today, after a 3 day weekend, I realized that I had to get out of this house and away from my family. I just needed to be by myself for a few hours. It is so rare that I am ever by myself. So what to do with all this free time? Shopping, or course! I needed some new clothes for my debut back to work. Yeah, I'll be teaching 3 year olds, but I still should look presentable, right? I also had fun shopping for iddy biddy baby clothes for a friend who just had her third child. She has two boys and she had a girl! I went a little crazy with the pink! So it turned out to be a good weekend after all...

Commercialism: Catch E'm when they're young!

We don't watch much regular T.V. that has commercials. Most of the channels the kids watch don't show them. But lately, Cameron has been wanting to watch a few shows on regular channels and it is amazing how fast he has caught on (Read: Become addicted) to them! It started one day when I was in the kitchen and he was watching T.V. and he screams "MOOOOOMMMMMMM, Come here, QUICK". I come running asking "what is it, is someone hurt?" He says "We need to call this number Now". Then I bought him some new shoes. I bought these.
I was worried, becuase I knew he really wanted these. But he wasn't upset. No! He said "Thanks Mom, I have always wanted Skechers!" Should I mention that he is Five and that I don't even have Skechers? Then there is the fact that he can't see his toys all over the floor, but he can pick out a McDonald's sign a mile away. Sigh. What's a parent to do?