At Grandma's House

These were taken on spring break.

What Jeff Lets Them Do

Kids Being Kids (April 4-17

You'll see mostly Grace and Benjamin here, since Jonathan is at school for most of playtime.  We'll try to fix that imbalance this summer!

This is a painting of Grace and me going to the American Girl store at midnight, by the way.

 I'm not sure why they are wearing bike helmets when they are not riding bikes, but in the bike pictures, they don't have helmets.  Hmmm.

The End of March - Girls' Day

I could preface this post with my dissatisfaction with the toy industry's offerings for little girls…or my alarm at the way dolls for little girls are highly sexualized…but I will refrain.  Instead, I'll say that I've been interested in the American Girl dolls since I was a kid.  (I never had one…I think I found out about them when I was too old to legitimately get one of them.  And also they were super expensive.)  I haven't been sure, yet, whether Grace was going to get very interested in dolls, or AG dolls in particular.  But, she has been enjoying reading the books.  So, when we got an AG store within driving distance, I wanted to check it out for myself before I considered investing in a doll someday.  Corinne was interested in doing some investigating, too, so we decided to make a girls' day out of it with Grace and Charlotte.

It was a rainy day, so we dressed in our rain boots.  We don't get to wear those much around here!  Grace chose her outfit, as you can see.  We were both very excited about our day.

Here are our girls.  You can see that Grace is a hugger and Charlotte is not so sure about giving away that much personal space, which I understand!

Grace and I had been talking about our trip to the store for awhile, and we were going with the understanding that we would not be buying any dolls because they are made for much older girls.  However, she could spend some birthday money on a couple of the books.  These are the ones she chose, and we have enjoyed them.  (I had a friend with older daughters recommend to me that my daughter read the books before she decides which character she likes the best.  Good advice!)

We really enjoyed the store.  There are so many things to look at and touch, whether or not you buy any of it.  All the parents and kids seemed excited to be there, so people were in a generally good mood.  There were lots of displays that let the girls touch and enjoy, and even the boxes of things to buy were openable so that you could inspect what you might choose to purchase.  It was quite a contrast to Target or wherever else you might find toys - and wailing children - and sealed packages.  We had fun looking around.  If you have a kid with the "gimmes," I'm sure it would be no fun at all, but since we had firm expectations of no doll purchases, Grace did pretty well, although I must admit, she did a little asking near the end.

The picture doesn't show this, but it rained a lot, and we forgot our umbrella in the car.  We made a mad dash for some smoothies and got very wet, but we thought it added to the adventure of the day!

While we were there, I also wanted to investigate the Naartje store.  Multiple friends had recommended it to me, and I wanted to check it out for myself.  Corinne and I did a little shopping, and we weren't disappointed.  The clothes are cute, good for lots of playing, and reasonably priced.  Here's an outfit I got for Grace that she'll be able to wear in the fall.

We had fun on our girls' day!

From March - Grace's Decor

Before our guests came over for Grace's birthday party, I felt compelled to take down all of Grace's artwork from her walls - both to help it feel less crowded in her room and to give her a fresh start on her walls, knowing she'd cover them again in a heartbeat.  Here's what they looked like before I cleared them of her creativity.  No worries - she has already redecorated them!

A Little Dream Come True...

for Grace!

She has been wanting to take ballet classes for such a long time, but the timing has just not been right for us…until now.  We signed her up for a class that lasts several weeks through the local parks and recreation department.  Here she is at her very first class.  There was something a little magical about all those five-year-olds in their pink outfits.

She is very enthusiastic and tries hard to do what her teacher says, although she often doesn't know how to do it.  The two older girls in the pictures are the teacher's helpers, and they help keep the little girls on task…and help them know the right foot from the left.  Which isn't always easy!  Grace is always sad when each ballet class is over.  The boys have done pretty well with being patient during her class, and I do what I can to keep them busy with books and snacks while we wait.  It's fun to watch Grace and the other little girls, too!

Daddy Daughter Dance

After a year of anticipation, the day for the dance finally arrived.  Jeff's grandma sent this dress to Grace quite awhile back, and she had been planning to wear it to the dance.  She was so happy to finally get the chance.  She posed herself like this and asked me to take her picture.

And, here are some with her and Jeff.  I heard that they had a wonderful time.  He even took her out to dinner beforehand.  I also hear that Grace danced the whole time and that she was the life of the party.  She certainly has her own unique personality!  Sometimes people ask me if she's a lot like I was as a kid.  Well…I can say for sure that I have never been called the life of the party.  So, she's only like me in some ways…but not others!

I'm so happy Jeff and Grace were able to have a special evening together.