Some gems from my kids today

In the midst of Dad being in the hospital in Houston and not doing so well (pneumonia again), it was great to come home & have the kids (and my hubby) remind me of how funny they can (unintentionally) be.

So the first is from JM.  Mike always teases JM and says he is going to play with JM's toys after JM goes to sleep.  So tonight Mike asked JM - "Can I play with your train tonight?" 
"No!"
"Can Mommy play with your train after you go to bed?"

"No!  The groundups have to stay in bed tonight - no playing with my train." 


Certainly, there are days we feel "groundup" instead of grown up, so we got a good laugh from that.

Then just a few minutes later, Mike made a comment about the expired lunchmeat that I had put in the trash can (he had meant to throw it away last night, but then put it back in the fridge "for some reason").  Well, when the kids and I were ready to have our picnic today, good thing I noticed that the main course of ham  seemed a little off, so we ate crackers, applesauce and grapes and then went and got a cookie! But anyhow, back to Clara's funny comment. I told Mike that I, too, had decided the ham was done, "it had bitten the dust."  Then Clara asked, "What does that mean - it bites the duck?????"  So then Mike started with "Another one bites the duck... another one bites the duck..."  And I addedd "Quack, quack!!" 

That's all I've got for tonight.  Oh - and a couple of cute pictures, just for fun.  Lots to put on the blog about our last few months, hopefully I'll get a chance soon. 

 Getting ready for Donuts for Dad and Field Day on the last Monday of the school year

 JM with his Little Gym medal - so excited about that medal!  He has had to "borrow" from his sisters until now.

 Clara finds the largest clump of crushed limestone in our 16cy pile.  (more on our crazy landscape project later)

 Gracie showing off the stack of "little, quick pictures" that the campers did during art camp! 

Clara at the art camp reception posting next to her layered picture (the yellow one). They had an awesome time at art camp (thank you Mimi & Pap!) and are already excited about next year!

Clara's Birthday?

Okay, so I'm not so far behind that I'm posting about last August...But we did have a 5-1/2 birthday party for Clara in April.  We had promised her a "big" party like Gracie had in kindergarten, but she hadn't even started school when her actual 5th birthday rolled around.  So we decided to wait until the spring and celebrate then (and she didn't want to wait until this coming fall).

We planned a party at the Little Gym, and I have to say, we've really loved having the girls' parties there.  It was so easy and everything is done so well.  I didn't even have to load the presents into the car - they had them loaded in the van before the party was even over. 

Anyhow, the pictures speak volumes.  Check out all of the happy faces. 

JM's Buddy!

Check out my friend's blog to see what John Michael was up to last week:

http://ourgoodthings.blogspot.com/2011/05/ace-jm-get-to-play.html 

Jump Rope (for Gracie) for Hearts!

All of the first graders warming up for their day of Jump Rope for Hearts

High-flying Gracie practicing while her best friend and jump rope partner, Kareth looks on.

Kareth getting in some warm-up time (Gracie was super excited, can you tell?)

Kareth & Gracie in the middle of their routine!  They did a great job.  Thank you to everyone who supported Gracie & this organization.  She was really excited about raising money to help the kids!

So back in April ...

John Michael turned 3!  (April 5th, to be exact).  He had a great birthday, and I think the girls had almost as much fun planning our "party" as he did opening and receiving all of the great presents.

But first things first, after the girls got him up and screamed "Happy Birthday" to him, John Michael and I got down to the serious business of making his dairy free cake.  He was quite the helper:
 
 Finally, when Daddy came home it was present time!  We had to get those out of the way before even dinner or the cake!

Clara was quite the helper with the presents, and she was not easily deterred, even after several warning shrieks from John Michael.  I bet next year he won't let her get a finger on *any* of his presents!

JM was thrilled with all of his presents.  He got a bat and a bunch of whiffle balls, a mini-sized basketball, some Bob the Builder vehicles and several other things that I can't remember right now!
















 His Aunt Sue and Uncle Todd sent the awesome-big enough to sit in-Tonka Dump Truck.   I can't find a picture right now, but he's conned his sister Clara into make it nice and cozy with a blankie and then pushing him around in it.  Must be payback for all of the present opening assistance!

Another favorite on the present front were his "kitties."  The Stebbins family sent baby kitty and Grandma & Grandpa's birthday money was used to purchase the bigger "Mama" kitty.









The birthday was fun, but fast.  We had hamburgers and sweet potato fries for dinner and finished things off with the fire engine cake.

He's just like his Daddy - already planning his next birthday, trying to see how many he can fit in during the year.  He informed me the other day, "we'll have my next birthday tomorrow, okay??"

Guest Post - Strawberries!!!

It was spring scrapbooking weekend so it must be time to pick Strawberries! We always stop at the park in Godley on the way home - always means that we went there last time.  We always get 2 big baskets and one small basket for JM - except this year we all had big baskets.  At least we all picked red strawberries this year.  We always take the county roads with the water crossings and make the car go Splash!  We always do the big dip in the road that makes the car feel like a roller coaster and then talk about all the rides at 6 Flags.

Guest Post by Dada.

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We Started picking on Row 4! But we switched to row 3 and 5 a lot because the strawberries are always redder and bigger and more of them on the next row over.

Look at the Camera this time!

Take a Picture by the Grasshopper!Coco came too!

I ate a couple few while I was picking! Don't put this picture on the Blog Daddy! My brother JM had even more strawberry juice on his face but he xcaped the picture.

Take my picture by the giant Strawberry!

Take my picture too!

I am going to drive for a couple minutes!

I want my picture by the red truck instead. I wish it could go somewhere!

Gracie's First Piano Recital - Feb 27,2011

At home, Gracie was pretty excited about her concert.  I love that it never even occurs to her to get nervous.  She is thankfully not a worrier about performing!   And she was thrilled to wear her new dress from Aunt Camille!

 Gracie was studying the program, checking out the lineup.  It was nine or ten kids playing, but it went by amazingly fast.  I guess it sounds like a lot when you know they are each playing three or four songs.  But then you realize that each song is only about 30 seconds!

 Gracie with Miss Dorla and part of her class.  I don't know what happened with the group pictures, but we didn't get one of her whole class that actually included Miss Dorla.  And there were actually two classes combined for the concert - there are only seven kids in her class.

And after the concert, Gracie chose a restaurant to go to.  And she decided by getting on the computer and typing in Mexican restaurant to Google.  I guess the computer "knows" that we are in Burleson, so she picked a newer Mexican restaurant in Burleson because "the reviews were good.

















 
And now to the important part, Gracie playing her favorite song (and the one I got the best video of), Ode to Joy: