Happy Halloween!

I know this picture is a blurry, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of the creepiest store window in Kirksville. (maybe the entire country) It's a medical supply store here in town. Every month they decorate their "models." It is hysterical! They are advertising some kind of nighttime breathing aid. It's only natural that Darth Vader would be helping someone with a breathing mask. It's so creepy. I feel like it's a cross between Star Wars and Silence of the Lambs. I will post a picture each month because everyone needs a laugh every once in a while! :)
Scottie wanted me to blog about his creepy experience this morning. After their test this morning he was standing in the hallway with his classmate Cory. He said a lady (stranger) who appeared to be in her early to mid 50's came walking up to them. She was wearing a completely white outfit with a big yellow cardboard circle on her stomach. She also had a pair of devil horns and a tail. She walked up and said "Guess what I am?" Cory said a goddess, he really had no idea. She gave them a hint " I'm food." Finally they got it, she was a deviled egg. Isn't that strange? But the strangeness doesn't stop there my friends. She came back a few minutes later to give them... a deviled egg. Scottie lied and said he doesn't eat them. I don't think I blame him. I'm pretty sure every parent has given their child the classic Halloween warning : Don't take deviled eggs from strangers! She said she felt stupid for dressing up and handing them out. My question is: who made you? and why deviled eggs?! If she felt the need to dress up and pass out treats she could have put on a silly hat and gave out normal candy. There are some days that make me enjoy living in Kirksville. Today would be one of those days.

Drumroll please.....

We found out yesterday that we will be moving to Bloominton Normal, IL in July. We knew Dayton was too far out of reach so we made some changes to our six choices. Bloomington Normal was our second choice. Our first choice was Wyandotte,MI. Scottie really liked the hospital there, and it looked like a really neat place to live. But we didn't get it. We were both a little sad when we found out. Then we remembered that we had prayed the night before the match and asked God to send us wherever He wanted us. So we have to believe that Illinois is the right place for us to be next year. After the initial shock wore off I started looking at all the positives of moving to Bloomington Normal. Of course the number one positive is that we will be so much closer to family. Gracie is really excited about that!! She keeps asking us when we are moving. I don't think she really understands the whole concept just yet. The second plus is that we found out our friends Nate and Debbie are moving there as well. I am really excited! They are originally from Fort Wayne,IN. Debbie is the only real friend I have here. As most of you know I hate to talk on the phone and I am weird about calling people. For some reason I have no problem calling her, which is a great friendship for me to have! We all go to church together and we try to meet for lunch at Debbies every Monday. They have a boy who will be three soon, and a one year old boy. Grace and Addison play together all the time. We've watched the boys for them when they've wanted to go out or have something to do, and they are the first people we would call if we needed someone to watch Gracie. So moving there with them will really make this a great experience. It will be nice to already have a friend in a new town.

Here are a few of the things that have me most excited about Bloomington Normal:

Oh how I have missed you. I am counting down the days until we will be together again!

No more clothes from Wal-Mart... and that's all I have to say about that.

I can smell the chicken parmigana right now. I just drooled on my sleeve, I better stop looking at this picture.

This is the one thing I will need in order to enjoy all of the above. Anyone know where I can get one of these?

Fall Party

Gracie's preschool had a fall party last night. The kids got to dress up and there were a couple of games to play. They also got to decorate pumpkin shaped cookies. Gracie got a lot of compliments on her kitty costume. This is the cheapest halloween costume we've ever bought. The ears, bowtie, and tail were $3.00 at Wal-mart. We just bought a black leotard and tights to go with it. She looks so cute!! Scottie painted some whiskers and a black nose on her.
This is a picture of Gracie with her "boyfriend" Landon. Well... she told me the other day that he isn't her boyfriend anymore. Then she said "I just decided that I'm everyone's girlfriend. Wait, wait, I didn't mean to say that. I'm just everyone's friend." Sometimes it feels like I am talking to a twelve year old instead of a preschooler.
This is Gracie doing the cupcake walk. She finally won a cupcake after SEVERAL walks around the rug. It was a cute game.
This is Gracie's favorite teacher Miss Jenny. She loves all her teachers, but she talks about Miss Jenny the most. The other little girl is Catherine. They are always playing together when I pick Gracie up from school. I think eveyone had a good time at the party. I really like her school. The teachers are so sweet and do so many fun things with the kids. I'll be sad when she has to leave it this summer.

CHICAGO!!!

My mom's birthday present to Grace this year was a trip to the American Girl store in Chicago. Gracie and I rode the train from Kirksville to Chicago. It was so much fun. I highly recommend taking the train! It took less time than driving, and if Gracie was hungry or had to go to the bathroom I didn't have to waste time pulling into a gas station. It was very relaxing for both of us, I loved it!! When we got into Union Station downtown I had to figure out a way to get to the hotel. I was looking at the bus routes when I decided to just pay for a cab. Best decision of the day. We just got in the car, held on for dear life, and arrived at the hotel without having to look at one street sign! Mom met us there later and then we walked to Navy Pier. I took some pictures but they came out really dark, so I didn't want to post them. Gracie liked walking by the water and seeing the boats. We walked a lot and she got blisters on her feet, so that put a bit of a damper on the evening. We didn't go swimming because she didn't want to get her blisters wet. Poor thing!!

Here we are at the American Girl store. This place is amazing! It has three floors of shopping. It's so hard not to buy everything you see, except when you look at the price tag then it get's pretty easy to restrain yourself. Gracie was hilarious. Without any prompting she started walking around the store and pointing at things like a model from the Price is Right. Saying things like: "Here we have dollies sleeping in their sleeping bags. Here is a dress for you to wear." She even said in an adult voice: "And if you would just turn around Nana, you will see Niki and her horse." We couldn't stop laughing at her. I have no idea where it came from!


You can make reservations at the cafe for brunch, lunch, or dinner. We were there for brunch. Everything is decorated in black, pink, and white. The lamp shades are covered in hot pink flowers, the chairs are black with pink circles and a big white button on the back, and they offer black and white chairs for you baby to use at the table. Grace brought her itty bitty baby with her. The napkin rings are black and white scrunchies that you can take home. Grace used her's as a headband for itty bitty. The food was pretty good, and we were able to sit by the window and look out at downtown Chicago! Our waiter was unique. He had a little pony tail with wispy bangs. I told mom that is would take a "special" kind of guy to wear a black and pink apron and serve heart shape pancakes to little girls. But he was nice and we enjoyed our brunch.

I hate that this picture of mom and Grace is fuzzy. But you can tell by their faces that we had a good time! Thanks mom!!

More Chicago

Here are a few more pictures from the store and dowtown. After brunch we saw the bitty bear show. There is a little bear that comes with all the itty bitty dolls, like the one Gracie is holding. She is sitting with bitty kitty, bitty bear, and bitty puppy. She was scared of them during the brunch, but I think watching them in the show made her a little more comfortable.


She got a little cake because we were celebrating her birthday. Our waiter lit the candle and sang happy birthday. Your birthday isn't complete until you have a "pretty" man with a pony tail sing happy birthday using a spanish accent and a femine flare!
Doesn't it look like bitty baby is watching her? It's cute and creepy all at the same time! The little flower pots had white mousse with oreo cookies crumbled on top. It was soooo good. I couldn't eat very much, it was too much sugar for the morning!


I forgot to flip the picture, so you will have to turn your head to see this one. Gracie is sitting in front of the old water tower in dowtown Chicago. She is holding her new American girl doll Niki. She is the 2007 doll. Her story is about raising horses and training a service dog. Since Grace is such an animal lover, Niki was the perfect doll for her. She even looks like her a little bit. She really wants the $65 horse that accessories Niki. Yeah right! Grace was bandaging up it's leg and brushing it's hair. If it wasn't so expense I would have gotten it for her. Maybe we can find one at Wal-Mart and cut up an ace bandage for her to use. She'll never know the difference. (Well... knowing Grace she will know the difference but she will just have to deal:)

After the American Girl store we did some more shopping on the mile and ate lunch. This picture shows how exhausted she was that afternoon. She fell asleep holding her new Sleeping Beauty toys she got from the Disney store. What a way to celebrate your birthday!! :)

Even More...

These are pictures of us hanging out with my Uncle Chris, Aunt Christine, and my cousins Mason & Colton. They live in a suburb just outside of Chicago. Gracie had a lot of fun with Colton. Unfortunately we didn't see a lot of Mason, he was really busy with football stuff. Although we were able to get him to come with us to the pumpkin farm. I'm sure that is what every high school guy wants to do on a Saturday! :) This farm was so cute. It had a ton of pumpkins!! There was a petting zoo, a haunted house, and a corn maze. The only problem was that is was almost 90 degrees!! It's hard to get into the fall mood when there is sweating dripping down your back. We still had a lot of fun.