Dance recital

Saturday was Gracie's second dance recital. Scottie's parents came out and his Aunt Cindy and her husband Gary came down from Iowa. Gracie had three dances this time. It was hard for the girls to remember all the dances, but it didn't matter because they were too cute in their little outfits. Our video camera was turned on by accident and the battery died. So I had to use our digital camera to take the video. It's pretty poor quality, and everyone looks like they are in the witness protection program with their fuzzy faces. We ordered the DVD from the studio so we will have better footage later. Scottie and Gracie got to dance together. They are on the end in the back row. It was sooo cute!! We couldn't get Gracie to understand that the audience wasn't laughing at her, they were laughing at the daddy's dancing. That didn't help because she started crying and said " I don't want people to laugh at my daddy!" We had a great time and she loves being on the stage. I just wish we would have gotten better pictures of her. We were so busy chaning costumes that we forgot to take pictures. When she was done we were all hungry and forgot to take pictures again! Oh well!

Daddy-daughter Dance

One year down... too many left

We took these pictures last Friday. We had lunch in the park after Scottie's last final. He still has a summer session until he is officially done with his first year, but the major part of the year is over. We are so thankful. Scottie did a great job this year and has done really well in his classes. We still don't understand why he didn't get into IU, but we are trusting that God sent us here for a reason. Now we just have to get through next year and it's on to rotations!!! We are praying that we get into the Dayton,OH site. So if you feel like praying with us we would appreciate it! We will find out in October where will be going next summer. Ohio! Ohio!

They are always listening!

I love this picture of Grace and Kingsley. They "look" like they love each other. Well... Gracie loves Kingsley but the feelings are not mutual. I know he loves her, but he definetly doesn't like her. Anyway, the subject of this blog is to remind ourselves that our children are always listening to us. I have been telling Scottie for about two weeks now that Kingsley's fur is getting long and he needs a trim. I'm sure you know where this is going. I was cleaning up the office and Gracie was playing in the living room. Everything seemed normal to me when I got done cleaning. Kingsley was sleeping in the bathroom (that's his favorite spot when it gets warm)and Grace was still in the living room. I walked in and saw her sitting on the floor looking sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said " His hair keeps getting longer and longer, so I tried to cut it." That's when I noticed the scissors on the floor and a few clumps of fur!!! I called Kingsley into the living room, and he walked in like nothing was wrong. I saw that he had three cut marks into his fur, but thankfully she didn't cut his skin. (I couldn't get a good picture of his "hair cut") I just can't believe he let her do that! I asked her if he growled when she was cutting his hair and she said no. But she was sad because she didn't trim him up all the way and he still had long fur. We had a BIG discussion about not cutting other people's hair or animal fur. Then we had ANOTHER discussion about scissors. I keep hiding them from her. On the bright side, at least she didn't cut her own hair. I would have passed out!

I'm still learning

I'm trying to figure out how to post videos in my blog. If you click on the picture it will send you to my ablum on photobucket. You can play it from there. The other video is of Gracie making her self at home in Target.

Gracie and Chloe danced throughout the entire reception. In the video there is a little boy that wouldn't leave them alone. It's so funny to watch the girls run off so they could dance by themselves. That's right girls, boys are bad news. Leave them alone for another 25 years!

I love watching these two together.

Photobucket Album

Andrew's Wedding

We went to my cousin's wedding this past weekend. I can't believe I don't have a picture of the bride and groom. Michelle's dress was beautiful!
Gracie and I had so much fun with our family. We were all on the same floor at the hotel and it was a blast. The kids just went from room to room, although Aunt "Dippy's" room seemed to be the favorite. Gracie and her cousin Chloe were attached at the hip. You didn't see one without the other. The second picture is of Gracie and her cousin Meriel listening to Wicked on our way to the reception. I gave Gracie a dollar so she could dance with Andrew during the dollar dance. She asked my mom if she had a dollar, when mom showed it to her she grabbed the dollar and said "here you go Chloe." They were off and running to the dance floor. They were so cute!! The last picture is the day after the wedding. This was a rare moment to see them sitting still for a minute. They played up until the very last minute. It was such a good weekend. Gracie can't wait until we go to Indiana in June so she can play with Chloe again.

One Week Later

Here is an updated picture of Gracie's foot. We have been using the cream from the doctor and wrapping her foot everyday. The doctor said that everything looks good and we go back on Thursday for one more check-up. Dr. Grgurich told us to go the the local farming store if we wanted to get colored bandages. They are made to wrap horses legs, but can be used on humans. As soon as Gracie heard that we had to make a trip to the Farm and Home store. She has blue, green, and hot pink. Letting her choose the color every night has helped make the wrapping process go smoother.

My friend Debbie and I had a yard sale on Friday and Gracie was running around with her bandaged foot. When people would ask her about it she would tell them that she stepped in a crockpot of green beans. The looks on their faces were priceless. They would look at me as if to say "where did she come up with that?" Then I would have to tell them that she was telling the truth, she REALLY did step in a crockpot of green beans. It was so funny!

Then last night we were getting ready to go to bed and she asked AGAIN if we were going to my cousin Andrew's wedding in the morning. (she has asked this every night for the last three nights) Again I told her that we weren't leaving until Friday morning, which doesn't mean a whole lot to a three year old. She sat there quietly for a minute and then said "I sure hope Andrew doesn't step in a crockpot of green breans, cause his foot would burn like mine." I tried so hard not to laugh, because she was very sincere. She doesn't want Andrew to have a burnt foot for his wedding. Kids are so funny!

Martha has failed me

I was watching Martha Stewart yesterday and she said that it was National Chocolate Chip Day. In the early 1930's Ruth Wakefield and her husband owned a restaurant in New England called The Toll House Inn. One day she was making cookies for her guests when she decided to chop up a Nestle semi-sweet bar of chocolate to put in her dough. Thus the chocolate chip was born! In 1939 Nestle started producing the chocolate chip and Ruth's recipe went on the back of the bag. Just a little nugget of information for you all in case you are playing Trivial Pursuit (Jared!)

Anyway- in honor of this special day I decided that Gracie and I needed to make cookies. Now, I never try new chocolate chip recipes because I LOVE the toll house one. But in my excitment of watching Martha (lame-Iknow) I thought I would give her recipe a try. I had made her peanut butter cookies the other day and they were fantastic, so I expected the same for the chocolate chip. I am sad to say that Martha has disappointed me. Do not be decieved by the picture- they look like they would taste yummy, but these cookies were not good at all. When I took them off the cookie sheet you could see a puddle of butter underneath. (Right now Paula Deen is rolling her eyes and licking her lips somewhere) So I have learned my lesson - alwasy stick with Toll House! Gracie and I had a great time in the kitchen, so it wasn't a total waste.

Who Knew Green Beans Could Be So Dangerous?

Parents beware! Green beans could give your child second degree burns! Here's the story: Gracie and I stayed for a potluck dinner today at church. (Scottie was having tummy issues, so he stayed home) We were waiting for everything to be put out and our friend Josh decided to play around with Grace. He started chasing her and she ran into a crockpot that was sitting on the floor. I didn't see it happen, but when I turned around I saw the lid sticking out of the green beans. Apparently her foot went in the crockpot, don't tell the people who ate them! Our friend teased Grace and told her she had to eat all of them now. She started crying, which I interpreted as embarrassment since Josh was teasing her. But she wouldn't stop crying and I couldn't believe how dramatic she was being. I continued to talk to my friend Debbie about our upcoming garage sale and trying to ignore Gracie's dramatic cries to go home. (at this point she still hasn't said anything about being hurt) I told her that she didn't need to be embarassed and she wasn't in trouble. Finally she grabbed my face and said " my foot is burning!" I felt her shoe and her tights and they were coverd in green bean juice. I felt like the worst mother in the world! We ran to the bathroom and took her tights off. Her foot was bright red. We put ice on it and sat there for a while. It didn't start blistering until we got home. The blisters have continued to get worse, but she says they don't hurt. She has an amazing tolerance for pain!

So here are the lessons I learned today: 1: don't underestimate the danger in a crockpot of green beans 2: if your child cries uncontrollable...maybe you should stop and ask them what is wrong. Ok- I'll still feel like the worst mother in the world.

City Museum

On Saturday Gracie and I went to the City Museum in St. Louis. Scottie couldn't go until later. He is the president of the christian organization at school, and they had a leadership meeting that day.
I had never heard of this place before, and I am so glad that we found it! It is amazing!! It's really hard to describe. The museum is in an old warehouse and uses the first four floors. I thought I had gone to the wrong place at first. I couldn't figure out why a museum would be in an old dirty warehouse. The first picture shows just a small part of the outside maze/tunnel thing. Everything is made out of old junk; metal rods, fencing, an airplane, a couple of old limestone building pieces, etc... You had to crawl through tunnels and go down slides. It was crazy. The inside was incredible! It's very artistic and creative. Their were caves, more tunnels and slides, a skate park without the skateboard; the kids just slid down the ramps. I could go on and on. If you are ever in St. Louis and you have children who have lots of energy, then this is the place for you! Gracie had so much fun, she cried when we left. You all know what that means; everyone within three blocks knew we were leaving!

St. Louis Zoo

We went to the St. Louis Zoo last weekend during Scottie's three day weekend. We had a lot of fun. Gracie loved looking at all the animals. She never got tired, even though I wanted to stop and sit after each exhibit. I am really turning into an old lady. This is by far the nicest zoo I've ever visited. You wouldn't know it since we only took pictures of animal statues. Next time we'll take pictures of real animals.