I love school!!!

Grace had two days off school because of the Veteran's Day holiday on Tuesday. After the first day, I realized how much I love that Grace goes to school EVERY day. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love having Grace home. But entertaining her and keeping her out of mischief for the two days pretty much took it all out of me. She found lots of ways to keep busy (most of which included dressing Claira up), but she also started to backtalk me when I would ask her not to do something or to pick up her mess. By the end of the second day, I had had it with the backtalk so I told her that I was going to get out the "Sassy Spray" (a friend told me to put vinegar in a spray bottle to spray in your kid's mouth when they "sass" you). To this threat Grace responded, "Maybe I'll like it!" Oh No You Ditn't! (the "t" is intentional)--that was definitely a dare from her for me to follow through with my threat. I didn't have a spray bottle, but instead I used a spoon to drop a couple of drips on her tongue. She willingly stuck out her tongue, and I stuck the spoon full of vinegar on it. She looked at me, shrugged, and said "that tastes like water." I quickly glanced down at the bottle to see I had grabbed a bottle of Club Soda from my pantry instead of vinegar (which, by the way, why do I even have Club Soda in my pantry). Man, talk about stealing my thunder. I did however make a second attempt with the correct bottle, and this time it was not so yummy. After the punishment, I sent her to her room to think about how she should talk to mommy from now on. When I went up to talk to her after her thinking time was up, I found spit all over the rug. I was completely disgusted and ticked, but I learned my lesson. Next time, I will make her stand in front of me with the vinegar on her tongue for a good 20 seconds and then let her wash it off so I don't have to clean up spit after the fact. Ahhh...life's lessons we learn the hard way.

Family, Friends, and Fun!

Notice how the kids changed positions in each of Ben & Allison's family pictures (that's why I included them all). And Matt, thanks for the smile in our attempt at a family photo.

The day after Halloween, we made a trip down to Southern California for our niece's baptism (Elena, you were beautiful) and a one-day excursion to Disneyland. We decided to drive despite Grace's adamant reminders that she always throws-up when we drive to Disneyland (it's happened on two such occasions). Happily there was absolutely no throw-up involved in this trip (one-day trips to Disney seem to suit us best considering we have done this twice now and both have proved to be our healthiest and happiest times at the park). Claira did come down with a pretty good cold just before our trip. We actually considered staying home to avoid another Disney catastrophe, but after a trip to the doctor to confirm that there was no sign of an ear infection, we decided to go and see what happened. True to her usual self, Claira was sweet and happy, despite a constant runny nose and limited naps.

We had lots of fun and enjoyed spending time with some of Matt's family. Grace loved being at Disneyland with her Grandma Lovey and three of her cousins (Elena, Noah, and Rex). She was especially excited when one of her best friend's, Hailey, came up to join us for the afternoon/evening at Disneyland. Hailey's family moved to Southern California over the summer, and Grace has missed her terribly. It was so much fun to see Karen and Hailey and get caught. Grace and Hailey had so much fun together--they are both so sweet and loveable. All-in-all it proved to be a fun and worthwhile trip!

Every time Grace rides the teacups, I ask her to sit in a different color cup. It is always a fun way to see how many times she rides the teacups each trip (only 5 this time). Claira also loved the teacups--I love the picture of her with the wind in her hair! Notice the picture of Grace when she got her head stuck in the fence leaving the teacups. It took Matt a minute to get it out-just long enough for me to snap a picture. Usually Grace's favorite ride is the teacups, but after trying out the red roller coaster in Toon Town, she was singing a different tune about her favorite ride. She would have ridden that roller coaster the rest of the day if she could have because it was "SO COOL!"

Claira hated the Alice in Wonderland ride and all other rides in the dark (ie. Pirates of the Caribbean and Nemo). On Nemo, she was so scared that she just decided to go to sleep on my shoulder. She's too cute!

Claira riding in Grandma's suitcase for this trip (yes, it is a cardboard box--LOVE IT!)

In the end, I realized that once again I am not in a single photo from our dayat Disneyland. Luckily, the Disney photographers did stop us for a couple of family photos to prove that I was at the park with everyone having fun!

Run, Gracie, Run!!!

The day after we got home from our Southern California trip, Grace had early school (we hate Wednesday mornings). As I was rushing to get out the door, I remembered that it was the Fun Run at school that day. So I quickly rushed Grace back in to change her outfit from jeans and a sweater to a black sweatsuit suitable for running in (I have run in jeans, and I didn't want her to experience the same need for cornstarch powder that I did). When we arrived at school (barely on time as usual), we immediately noticed that ALL of the kindergarteners were wearing their spirit shirts. I promised Grace I would bring hers when I returned in a half hour for the run, and I headed home to retrieve the said shirt.

I got back to the school just in time for the run to start. They had cones set up out on the field that created a track for the kids to follow. When I originally pledged for the run, I decided to do a fixed amount since I was unfamiliar with how big the track would be and how many laps Grace might be able to complete. Unlike many of her friends, who thought they could run about 50 laps, Grace said she could run 1--ambitious right??? And in actuality, when I asked her how many laps she could run, she told me that she probably wouldn't be able to run any, but she could probably walk one.

The run began and a sea of kindergarteners in different color t-shirts were off. Over the loud speaker, they reminded the kids several times that there was a water station after the lap check station, so if they needed a drink, they should stop for one. I think Grace misunderstood and thought she was actually supposed to stop after each lap. So lap after lap, Grace stopped for a water break, then after gulping down a dixie cup of water, she would take off running again at full speed. By the 8th lap, Grace came over to me looking rather sick and said "My tummy hurts." I asked her if she was going to throw-up, and she said no. I told her to just walk her last lap (the 20-minute run time was down to the last minute). She slowly started to walk away--taking what seemed like one step every 10 seconds. Without knowing her current tummy plight, her teacher Mrs. Mochizuki, came running up and took Grace by the hand and encouraged her to run this last lap with her. Grace looked back at me with a look that said "I am seriously going to die!" A quarter of the way through the lap, I saw her walking once again getting slower and slower. I crossed the field and started to cheer her to the end. The run ended with Grace in tears, and me laughing as I could literally hear the water sloshing around in her tummy. After a few crackers to absorb some of the water, she was feeling better, but I have to wonder if I can handle her definite flair for the drama (I wonder where she gets that from???)

Confessions of a 5-Year Old Drama Queen...

Over the past couple of weeks, Grace has come to me pretty much on a daily basis to participate in the catholic ritual of confession (where her need to suddenly confess all of her misdeeds is coming from I do not know). Usually the confessions come with a few tears and a quivering lower lip, and in the end I have to do my best not to laugh when the actual words finally escape her little lips. The things that have been confessed are often associated with games or imaginative play with friends that include some kind of scariness or violence such as forcing someone to drink poison or one friend telling her "You're mine now!" so she was worried that she was playing a kidnapping game. Well, tonight's confession takes the cake. She told both Matt and me separately her most recent indiscretion. While laying next to her in the bed tonight (Thursday) trying to get her to go to sleep, she said "I need to tell you something". So I braced myself once again, and this is what happened next:

Grace: Sometimes I go to a secret place behind the couch and say potty talk.

Me: Behind the big couch or the little couch? (why this question was relevant is beyond me)

Grace: The little couch.

Me: What kind of potty talk do you say?

Grace: Tinkle and poo-poo. (quite literally potty talk)

Me: Are there any other words that you say?

Grace: Mmhm...sometimes I say (quivering lower lip enter now)--I, I can't tell you (in absolute shame).

Me: Grace, you can tell mommy anything. Whisper it in my ear.

Grace (Quietly in my ear): Shut up.

Me: That is probably not a very good word to say. Why do you say these words? Are you mad at someone when you say them?

Grace: No. I just say them sometimes.

Me: Well, we should probably work on not doing that anymore.

Seriously, between these confessions and her experience at the Fun Run for school yesterday (post coming soon), I don't know if I can handle this little lady. She definitely has a flair for the drama. And please just picture my sweet little five-year old sitting behind the couch muttering "tinkle, poo-poo, shut-up!" over and over again under her breath. I mean I just can't get over it! Gotta love her!

Tricks, Treats, and Two Cute Witches...

I love Halloween! It is one of our favorite holidays (Okay, so I think I say that about every holiday), but it really is. I think I determine how much I like a holiday by how many decorations I have for each one. Christmas comes in first with well over 20 tubs of decorations, but Halloween comes in second with about 7 or 8 tubs of cute (not creepy) witches, pumpkins, cats, mummies, vampires, and the like. The day of Halloween, I always try to decorate the outside of the house with lights and lanterns and of course our carved pumpkins. This year, we are heading out of town the day after Halloween so I am trying to keep it simple (also the reason for starting this blog entry before Halloween actually happens so I can post it before I leave in an effort to be up-to-date and ready to post about our trip when we get back). Keeping it simple is sometimes hard for me--in many people's books keeping it simple would be leaving it as I currently have it with pumpkins and some little lanterns lining my walkway, but I just can't contain myself. We shall see how much of the fun comes out once I get started. (Note after the fact: I kept it pretty simple with just a few lights to light our sidewalk and the pumpkins all lit up.)

We carved our pumpkins over a 3-day period--it just isn't that easy with a nearly 10-month old walking through the pumpkin guts and trying to eat the seeds, so the pictures span a few days. Grace picked the Cinderella and Cinderella's Castle patterns from the book we bought. They were two of the most difficult patterns I have ever done, but I think they turned out pretty good. Grace made a princess with a pumpkin-making kit, and she also drew and helped carve a face on one of her pumpkins (eyelashes and all).



We spent the morning of Halloween at Grace's school party. It was cute to see all the little kindergarteners running around in costumes. There was a costume parade with the high school band playing several Batman numbers and lots of games, crafts, and fun activities for the kids. It was a very fun morning, but by the time we got home we were exhausted. After an afternoon nap, we were all ready for Halloween night.

Trick-or-treating was lots of fun, but we cut it short because Claira wasn't feeling well and it started to rain. Last night when I was telling Grace what to dream about, I told her that maybe we could find a really creepy house and see if she was brave enough to knock on the door. We left Matt home to put Claira to sleep, then she and I headed over to a nearby neighborhood. We found a house with a cemetery on the front lawn and hands sticking out of the ground. Grace was a little scared, but she made it to the door and knocked. She was very surprised when a sweet old lady answered the door. She asked me afterwards why that little lady would have such scary decorations. She was very brave! The best part of the evening was when Grace sorted and counted all of her candy afterwards. We ended up buying most of her candy from her (a little trick we learned from some friends). She isn't that crazy about candy anyways, so she would much rather have some money to spend on a prize from Disneyland this weekend.

All in all Halloween was a hit! Claira and Grace were the cutest witches you've ever seen, and mommy and daddy made a pretty good vampire couple. We were a seemingly happy "family of evil" (according to Grace)! Since I didn't have the blog way back when Grace was a babe, I am doing another walk down memory lane. I absolutely had to show pictures of Grace in the same costume as Claira, but I also included a couple of pictures from each year since Grace was born. With that being said, until next year, Happy Halloween!