Oh, bar-nick-alls! (Oh, barnacles!)

Grace wanted to color today and all I could find was a pencil.  So I gave it to her along with a piece of printer paper and let her draw to her hearts content. 

She sat on our bed happy as a bumblebee in a flower garden just drawing away.

Then Grace said, "Oh bar-nick-alls!" (Oh, barnacles!) while looking at her pencil.

And she held her pencil in her left hand while rotating her right hand in small circles next to the pencil.

After several revolutions, she held the pencil up to her mouth and blew.

And then she calmly went back to drawing on her paper.  It took me a minute to realize that she was pretending her pencil lead broke and she needed to resharpen it.  She even blew off the imaginary shavings!  Every day she does something to amaze me...

Dora's birthday party

Today we went to Wal-Mart to celebrate Dora the Explorer's birthday.

Unfortunately, Dora wasn't at Wal-Mart.  She could only be found in the electronics section on the tvs.

But they did have cupcakes with Dora rings.

Grace was excited about her cupcake.

It was actually pretty yummy.  Grace licked the icing off and gave me the cake.

And Grace wore her Dora ring all over the store.  Once we left though she wouldn't put it back on.

And while Grace enjoyed shopping at Wal-Mart (she loves the fishing section) and the cupcakes, Faith wasn't too thrilled.  Maybe she would have enjoyed it more if we let her nibble on some icing...

A princess dress for Grace

The girls and I were itching to get out of the house today so we went shopping at some of the local children's consignment shops.  At the last shop, Grace saw this dress, grabbed it off the rack, and ran over to me with the biggest smile on face and said, "Yook, Momma, it's a pin-suss dess!  It's bew-full!"  (Look, Momma, it's a princess dress!  It's beautiful!)

Then she asked, "Tan I put it own?" (Can I put it on?) It's so rare for her to ask for something while we're shopping and she asked so sweetly that I just couldn't resist. So we bought it even though it's a size 7 and she wears a 4T.

And Grace looks so darling in it!

I put Grace on our table so she could see herself in a full length mirror.

And she twirled her little dress around.

And twirled around all the while grinning in the mirror.

"Yook at me, Momma!  I uh bew-ful pin-suss!"  (Look at me, Momma!  I'm a beautiful princess!)

Pink dress or not, she'll always be our little princess.

A new fishing pole

David found a new fishing pole on sale this week.

So last night he enlisted Grace to help him string it up.

Then we headed out to the pier to test it out.

Along the way we noticed some gnarly crickets/grasshoppers/bugs.

Then David and Grace started fishing.  Using tackle - not bugs.

David is so patient with Grace.

And Grace has graduated to a big pole!

Meanwhile, Faith and I just hung out.

As usual, the sunset was pretty amazing.

With a multitude of colors.

There's nothing better than spending a beautiful evening just relaxing with your family.

Little Picasso

Grace colored some pretty pictures today.   I asked her what she drew.

"Dis is Bait, Momma!  See?  It's bewful!"  (This is Faith, Momma!  See?  It's beautiful!)

"An dis is a woe-bot!"  (And this is a robot!) 

I never would have figured them out alone...

Happy birthday Dora!

Dora the Explorer is celebrating her birthday at your local Walmart and you are invited!

When:  Saturday, August 14

Time:  11:00am - 4:00pm

Children and adults are invited to the ultimate birthday party in-store. When Dora’s friends arrive at Walmart they are invited to join the adventure at the Bright Ideas event station in Toys, where they will get party favors like cupcakes and a free photo print with Dora in her special birthday dress.

Click HERE  to see if your Walmart is participating.

Luckily, our Walmart is participating and I can't wait to see Grace's expression when we take her to meet Dora this Saturday!  It's going to be so much fun!   

A nose in the corner

Tonight Grace was deliberately testing our patience.  I don't even remember what she insisted on doing after we told her to not to, but then I had enough.  I told her to go and stick her nose in the corner.

And she did.  Grace went right over to the corner and stuck her nose in it.  But then she said, "Watt?  I doan see it, Momma!  I doan see eeny-fing!"  (What?  I don't see it, Momma!  I don't see anything!)  And I just couldn't help myself.  I burst into laughter and completely forgot what I was so upset about. 

I just can't stay mad at someone who makes me laugh.  It's as simple as that...