Smocked up

I decided to try and take some pictures of the girls wearing their pretty smocked dresses.

Grace wanted to play her "tax-oh-fone" (saxophone).

Bless her heart, she loves music.

And having her picture made.

She's quite the camera hog.

And she loves her baby sister.

I've decided it's quite the challenge to get a good picture of the girls together.

When Grace smiles, Faith doesn't.

In fact, I think Faith is already over all this picture taking business.

But I keep trying in hopes of getting the perfect shot.

Getting closer.

And closer!  Look at the sweet embrace.

If I can just get Faith to move that hand...

Then Grace just rolls Faith over.  See what I mean?  That perfect shot is so elusive...

Two in the bed

I put Faith down for a nap today and Grace said she needed one, too.

And she insisted on climbing in the crib with Faith.  And she needed her "peent mon-tee" (pink monkey) since Faith had her monkey.

Surprise, surprise.  Both girls napped.

Sunset magnified

I took the lens-on-loan out to the pier for some sunset pictures.

I couldn't believe how close to downtown I could get.  Downtown Mobile is like 10 miles or so away from us.

This is without the zoom.

Then with the zoom.

I like it without.

And with the zoom.

Again with.

And without.

It's hard to decide which I like best.  Either way I love our sunsets!

Wild apple

The girls and I were taking a walk to the pier.  Grace spotted this and said, "Yook, Momma!  Dare's uh app-ull!  I need tuh pit dat app-ull and ee it!"  (Look, Momma!  There's an apple!   I need to pick that aple and eat it!)

You know, it kinda does look like an apple...  So we went inside after our walk and snacked on an apple...

Lens up for review

We thinking about getting a bigger lens for our Nikon.

I took this picture zoomed all the way with my 18-55mm lens.  Look at my gorgeous husband!

Then I tried this 55-200mm lens (on loan for the weekend from a friend).  My husband looks even better up close, don't you think?  Seriously, I'm in love with the lens already.  I can hardly wait to try it out some more!

Sand

One of Grace's favorite birthday presents was a sandbox.

A miniature one that is.

We don't have room for a big one, but that's fine by me.  The beach is only a few minutes away.

This little sandbox is perfect for indoor play.  It came with a mermaid, tree thingys, a turtle.  Even a tiny little shoval and bucket.  We love it!

Grace says the funniest things

Grace passed a little gas this morning and out of habit I asked, "Did your hiney just say hello?"

Grace simply looked  at me and replied matter-of-factly, "No, Momma.  My hiney dust burft."  (No, Momma.  My hiney just burped.)

Presents

Finally, it was time to open presents.

Grace decided her wagon was the perfect place to sit.

So she climbed into it.

And sat down to open each present.

She was a very enthusiastic gift opener.

Her friends were just as excited as she was.

Grace was so sweet.  She exclaimed over each and every gift with expressions like, "Oh, tank you evry-bah-ee!  Oh tank you so mush!"  (Oh, thank you everybody!  Oh thank you so much!)  And "Dis is wun-dur-full!" (This is wonderful!)  And "I yub it so mush!"  (I love it so much!)  Grace gives new meaning to heartfelt gratitude.

Grace was a very lucky little girl.

She received some pretty amazing gifts like this mini sandbox which she adores!

After opening all her gifts, she thought for a moment, and then piled everything up in her wagon.

And decided to take everything home to play with.  She was kind enough to wave "Buh-bye evry-bah-ee!  See you yay-tur!" (Bye-bye everybody!  See you later!) as she headed home.

She really was ready to go home and play with all her new toys. 

Who could blame her?  So we packed everything up and headed inside to play.

Peen-ya-ya (Pinata)

Soon it was time to attack the "peen-Ya-Ya" (pinata).

I was a little afraid how Grace was going to react to the kids beating up Ariel.

But I shouldn't have worried.  Grace knew what "pize-uzz" (prizes) were inside.

And she was ready to attack!

She hit Ariel again and again.

And Grace even chased after her when Ariel started to swing away.

That poor Ariel never stood a chance.

Grace stopped Ariel mid-swing and pummeled her.

And then beat her again.  Poor Ariel.

After Grace blasted away, we let the other kids have a turn.  We started with the youngest.

And worked our way through the kids.

Grace helped her Daddy hold the "wope" (rope) while each child took a turn.

She was surprisingly content to help while watching the other kids bombard Ariel.

She even cheered them along.

Poor Ariel really took a pounding.

But eventually she gave up the candy.

And when she did, all the kids got excited.

And cleaned up in a matter of seconds.