Long Time No Post

I can't believe I haven't posted since February.  I'm lazy, that's my only excuse. I think about posting all the time but the actual posting never seems to happen.  I figured no one read it anymore but a friend recently mentioned I hadn't updated in awhile. I was thinking of just letting the blog go but it has turned into a great scrap book of Gracie's childhood so I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet.

So what have we been up to these past several months:

March:

Ready for St. Patrick's Day

This was Gracie's second year of pre-school.  Last year for St. Patrick's Day, unbeknownst to me, a "leprechaun" comes into the class room before school and messes up the room and leaves chocolate coins.  Last year Grace freaked out about it.  I mean, she lost her marbles. She was furious that leprechaun came into her class and messed it up and she was convinced he was coming back while she was in the classroom.  The teachers convinced her he would not but it took a couple of days for her to come down from that.  This year I knew what would happen and we had time to prepare and talk about how the leprechaun was being silly, not mean and that he doesn't like to be seen so he would not come in the classroom. This year she was fine and enjoyed telling me about it when she got home.  What a difference a year and a little preparation make.

April:

Ready for the party!

Gracie turned 5 this year. 5 has been a greatly anticipated birthday. She had a nightly countdown that started 2 weeks prior to her birthday. At 12:45am on the day of her birthday I rolled over to see a little face was staring at me saying "mom, I'm 5!!!!! It's my birthday! Let's go to my birthday party! Boy was she disappointed to learn she had 12 more hours to wait. As you see above, it was a Doc McStuffin theme and we had it at a jumpy place and she had a blast.

Easter in California with cousins Nate and Sarah

This year we had Easter in California. My sister Amy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had her spleen and part of her pancreas removed.  We are so lucky that it was caught so early and was very treatable.  We went out to help with the recovery and I am thrilled to say they got all the cancer and she is doing great. 

Grace is a fashionista.  I am not. I expected we would battle over clothes but I did not think it would start when she was 3.  This year proved especially challenging when it came time to buy an Easter dress.  It took two shopping trips and seven stores before we agreed on one. Here is a snippett of the conversation we had during our first trip. 

Me: Do you like this one? G: Well, I like sparkles, but not THESE sparkles. Me: OK, how about the next one? G: Well, I love the dress and it twirls great but I don't like the green around the flower. Me: I think that's supposed to be like leaves G: Well, it's not doing a good job then. Me: OK, how about this one? G: Well, I LOVE the top but the bottom is too tissue papery and I would like it to be more like a tutu. After an hour and 8 dresses tried on we walked out without one. Me: I guess we need to try another store another time. G: Yeah, that store didn't have the right dresses. Let's try a store that has mediums because I am definitely a medium! I don't even know what that means but if this is what it's like buying an Easter dress God help me when it's time for a prom dress or God forbid a wedding dress!

Gracie and Nate

Sarah and Gracie. I should fly sarah in to do her hair. She is never that cooperative with me!

 

 

May:

Goofball Cousins

Nate the graduate with his proud parents and sister,

We went back to California at the end of May for our planned trip out for my nephew's high school graduation.  The graduation was in the evening so one of Nate's friends watched Grace, Meg and Jake while the rest of us went to the ceremony.  We had to get there a couple hours early to get a good seat.  It was a great week.  My parents and my sister Kate and her family came out too.  We also celebrated my dad's 70th birthday while we were out there. 

June:

 

Gracie had her kindergarten visit day. Boy, this was a highlight for her.  I was a little emotional about it but I didn't cry! She came home with a packet of work sheets to do over the summer. She said mom, we have to work really hard because there are a lot of things I don't know for kindergarten. I said, like what? She said, well......I can't count to 500. I said I didn't think that was a requirement for the first day so she should be fine! We have already blown through what they gave us because every night she tells me we need to work on her school work.

Gracie showing off her certificate with my dad

Gracie had her pre-school promotion in the middle of June. She loved that preschool and it was a great place for her to learn.  She is going to do a couple of summer camps there this summer which I know she will love.

July:

So far, her Frozen obsession shows no signs of stopping. We are all frozen all the time over her.  She sings the entire soundtrack, I mean the ENTIRE soundtrack from start to finish daily. 85% of our conversations involve Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven and Christoph.  Every morning we have to do her hair in a "frozen" braid like Elsa.  That means that braid needs to go over her shoulder.  Apparently, Auntie is better at the Elsa braid than I am so she asked Auntie to give me a tutorial. 

Here is Gracie in her Queen Elsa dress.  She is convinced that if I let her wear it to target everyone would think she was the real Elsa because she is in fact a real princess.  I actually liked the movie and the soundtrack the first 829 times but now I would like to let it go...........but she just won't let me! I even walk around the hallways at work humming Do you wanna build a snowman.