Grace walks in her first fashion show

Our local Belks was having a children's fashion show this weekend and Grace participated.

She got to select whatever she wanted to wear from their fall line. 

 Of course, she picked a dress with pink in it!

 Grace liked posing in the dressing room.

And making silly faces, too.  She's such a character!  After she was dressed, we went to the practice room to practice walking.  Grace didn't want to practice.  She suddenly turned shy and buried her head in my leg and whispered, "I don't want to."  So I told her she didn't have to and we could go home.  But first she had to take her dress off.  She didn't want to do that either.  Then it was time to line up!  So I put her in line and walked away.  Of course, I sneaked back through the clothes trying to hide from her to see how she was doing.  I was fully prepared to pull her out of the fashion show at the first sign of tears or fright.

 To my surprise, she was having a great time chatting up all the other girls around her.

 And then she called me silly!  So I finally left feeling a little less nervous for her.

Until I saw the crowd ready to watch the show.  There were so many people that I couldn't find room to sit or stand at the end of the makeshift runway.  So I stood by the models instead.  Can you find David?  He's peeking out from the crowd.  He managed to find a seat so he could record Grace.

 Before we knew it, Grace was up!

 She looked a little nervous nibbling on her fingernails.

 But then Grace marched right out there like she owned that runway!

 And she stopped on the flower just like she was supposed to.

She posed there for a bit until everyone clapped and then she walked off her runway like it was no big deal.  I would have never believed she was nervous and shy and didn't even practice.  She was so sweet and confident.  Just like her Daddy.  I would have been a nervous wreck in her shoes.  But then again, I'm an introvert.   

Here's the video of Grace's first fashion show!

She enjoyed it so much that she said she wanted to do it again. 

Letting Priscilla go

This morning I woke up and checked on Priscilla before getting Grace out of bed.  I had to check to make sure her Show and Tell was still breathing.  For some reason, I was a bit paranoid about that frog.  I worried about it most of the night, thinking things like what I was going to do if that Priscilla croaked in the middle of the night.  Fortunately, she was fine.

Although I was a little weirded out by her just staring at herself in the mirror on our buffet.  But what do I know about frogs and their vanity.

Grace was very excited to see Priscilla this morning.  She couldn't wait to take her to Show and Tell with all her school friends.  Her teacher told me Grace's frog was a real hit at school today.  Grace just told me "It was good.  My friends like Puhsilla." 

And when we got home from school, Grace was okay with setting Priscilla free.  It was so cute watching her talk to her frog.  She said, "Okay Puhsilla.  We're going to let you go back home to your family.  Okay?  We'll miss you!"

Then Grace tried to dump Priscilla out of the jar, but that frog clung on for dear life!  Eventually Grace shook her hard enough that she came tumbling out.

Then Grace gave her a sweet, heartfelt rub on Priscilla's back as she said goodbye.

I think that Priscillas was somewhat sad to leave us.

Then again, maybe not.

Regardless of how that frog felt, I sure was glad to see her hop away.

Then Grace exclaimed, "Look, Momma!  Look what I just found!"

"It's a baby Puhsilla!  Can I keep her?" 

And I just didn't have the heart to say "No."  So instead I said, "Just for a little while.  Okay?"

Catching a Show and Tell

Grace is learning about amphibians in school and each Friday they have Show and Tell.  So I promised Grace that we would catch her an amphibian for this week's Show and Tell.

 So we headed to the pond hunting for frogs today.  But it was too hot to find any.  I'm not exactly certain what amphibians do during the hot of an Alabama summer day, but apparently they do not loung around in the sun waiting for a 3 year old and her Momma to catch it and put it in a jar.

 So Grace and I went inside to cool off and enjoy a snack.  Then we came back out when the skeeters (mosquitos) came out.  Frogs eat bugs, y'know.  And what better time to catch a frog than when the bug eating is best?  As soon as the sun starts to go down our state bird, the mosquito, comes out in full force!

We had quite a bit of success!  Grace caught this small frog in her net.  We already captured another, bigger frog as we walked out the door.  She (Grace insists it's a she) was sitting by the door to our elevator.   After telling Grace she could only put one frog in our Mason jar, she decided to let the little one go.

 So her is Grace's Show and Tell for tomorrow. 

Grace named her "PUH-seel-uh!"  (Priscilla)  I have no idea where that name came from!  But as soon as we brought Priscilla inside, can you believe that frog relieved her bladder all in my jar?  Apparently Priscilla had been holding her bladder for quite some time.  She put a good 1/2 inch in my jar!  Therefore, according to Grace, Priscilla needed a bath.  oh boy. 

So I grabbed the net and dumped Priscilla in it over the sink.  Then I rinsed out the jar and tried to hose that frog off.  I even made sure the water was tepid so as not to scare or kill the frog.  Priscilla, however, didn't appreciate the efforts I went to and tried to hop away to freedom.  I did what any woman would do.  I screamed.  And so did Grace.  But David just laughed like a coyote.  All our commotion managed to encourage Priscilla to hop even harder.  Fortunately, I caught her mid-air with the jar before she got out of my sink.  Now Priscilla is safe and sound and semi-dry in her Mason jar home for the night.  I can hardly wait to see what Grace's teacher thinks of her show and tell tomorrow.  And then tomorrow night that frog is going back to the pond.  No matter what.

Two year mystery. SOLVED!

Roughly two years ago, Grace and I ended up at the ENT for an emergency because she had something stuck in her nose and besides obviously being painful, and stuck, her nose kept whistling.  For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was.  But now we know.

This little piece of plastic came from inside one of Chloe's squeaky toys.   It is just like this one below that was pulled out of Grace's nose 2 years ago and is taped inside Grace's baby book today.

I spent hours trying to figure out what it was all to no avail.

Then today Faith picked one off the floor and handed it to her Daddy.  Stuffing from one of Chloe's toys was all over the place.  David, clever man that he is, quickly deduced the plastic piece's origin.  And then stuck it in his mouth and zipped out a tune exactly like the one Grace's nose sang 2 years ago. 

Faith's 1 year checkup

Today was Faith's 1 year checkup and she was not happy about it!

In fact, Faith cried even before she got any shots.   The nurse was really nice and tried to cajole Faith into a better mood, but Faith wouldn't give in.  She was unhappy and wanted everyone to know it!

 As soon as we got to our room, I put her on the floor and she stopped crying immediately.

There were books to explore, after all!  And then the doctor came in and gave her 4 more shots and her screaming started all over again.  At least until we got to the car.  Thankfully, we don't have another appointment for 3 more months.  Whew!  Hopefully, Faith will be in a better mood for that visit.

Faith weighed 20 pounds 2 ounces and was 31 inches long.  That puts her in the 90th percentile for her height and 40th percentile for her weight.

Caught with my pants down.

I was in the our bathroom today when the phone rang.  Before I could get to it I hear Grace say, "Hello!"  So I hurry to wash my hands hoping that Grace hasn't actually answered the phone.  (I've been waiting for an Elder from our church to call and let me know when we're having dinner together.)  But Grace has answered the phone and as she sees me coming for her, she takes off running down the hallway all the while continuing her conversation by saying, "Well.  My mom.  She's going potty.  You there?  Yeah!  My mom's going potty right now.  She's potty trained!"  All I could do was hope that it was someone I knew and not the Elder from the church... 

Fortunately, it was just my mom.

Faith's following in her Daddy's shoes

Faith saw her Daddy sitting on the round chair working on his laptop.

 So she climbed up to join him.

 And went to work imitating her Daddy with her princess piano.

Then she stopped to wave at me when she noticed me watching her.  

I love that our children try emulate their father.  He is such an amazing role model to them and I hope both girls take on the best of his characteristics:  his intelligence, integrity, sense of humor, strong work ethic, and his kind and generous spirit.