My 3 Girls

Time for a change

2012-01-01T22:18:00.000-06:00

After about 2 years of blogging, I finally figured out what my blog should be called! I know it seems so simple to name a blog, but if you look around in blog world you will see what a big deal it really can be. So with out further ado (what does that really mean by the way?) Please visit my new blog where all new posts will be - Better Days.

I have to apologize now to all of my 12 followers for dragging you all over the internet from tales of the lives of Gracie and Caroline to littlebitandgrace, but now we're on to better days. It should be getting better ;) I would love for you to follow me at the new site!

Also, please read this post about why my blog is named Better Days.

Peer Pressure

2011-12-30T13:28:00.001-06:00

There's nothing like a little peer pressure. Wednesday, I read Heather's blog about her bucket list. Today, I talked to Jen about her bucket list. This makes me think about my own list - which has been in rough draft form for a few years now. I think I need to finish mine up and just go ahead and put it out there.

From what I can tell all bucket lists are based on each individual's perspective on life. My definition is simple - a list of things I would like to do before I "kick the bucket". These aren't mandatory to me and there are lots of things that are much MORE important than accomplishing the bucket list. I have a separate list of musts that is very personal to me.

1. travel to Boston with Jon - we have been talking about this since before we were married. A Red Sox game will be on the agenda

2. take Gracie to New York - she is so impressed with it. I have to take her there so she can see what it's all about. Ice skating in Central Park is a must!

3. take Caroline to a Dude Ranch - she LOVES horses and farms - this will be a challenge for me I think.

4. swim with the dolphins

5. take Jonas (our dog) to the beach

6. take Anna Kate to Disney World

7. take all three kids to Washington D.C.

8. plant a garden and harvest it

9. see London - still not positive about this one

10. make amazing memories with my family that none of us will forget! This one may be the hardest of all.

11. be a better blogger ;)

Happy New Year!

Back to Blogger

2011-11-17T09:21:00.002-06:00

After being attacked by a no good, worthless hacker on my WordPress blog, I have decided that I just don't want to fight with that, so I am moving back to blogger, but keeping my domain - www.littlebitandgrace.com. I thought my twelve followers would like to know...

Crazy (sometimes) Beautiful Life & HHI Vacation

2011-11-15T11:07:00.003-06:00

I finally feel like it's time to start keeping up with my blog again! Whew! That last month of pregnancy was hard on all of us! This picture was taken the morning we went to the hospital to meet Anna Kate.

This is where the (sometimes) comes in to the title since I'm not really feeling beautiful here!

We are all so thankful she arrived safely and is a healthy girl! Our world has changed so much since her arrival!

For the past 5 months I have been generally exhausted with life! Trying to keep up with a 10 year old and an 8 year old while taking care of an infant apparently isn't easy. Anna Kate has had lots of life experiences by now that the other two had never seen at this point in their lives. I can tell she is catching on quickly though.

Gracie and Caroline have proven to be awesome big sisters. They enjoyed a summer of playing outside with our neighbors and the occasional visit to a friend's house which was a welcomed break from the door opening and closing all day long for me! We had to get some WD-40 a few weeks after the baby was born because every time the door opened, the baby woke up, and I was ready to SCREAM! I love WD-40 now!

We have taken two trips since Anna Kate's birth. She enjoyed her first trip to the cabin at Oak Haven Resort in Sevierville.

It was really a good trip. The kids had a good time visiting with the Hall family. Anna Kate got tired with all the traveling and different schedules, but she made it okay too. We took this trip to meet most of the Halls for a family reunion. There was good food and fun for all. We rode go carts and Caroline let me drive her around the track...she may never want me to do that again because my competitive side came out! I think we won, but it has been a few months since the race.

It is a family tradition for us to go to the Chop House on the first night we arrive at the cabin and then we usually end up there at least one more time while we are visiting. We held to tradition on this trip and it was delicious as always! I guess that is just a small piece of Josh that we like to hold onto when we're there. He would order the biggest steak I have ever seen every time we went! I think it's called the DelMonico Rib-eye. I'm just waiting for Gracie to ask if she can order it one of these times when we go. I think I will let her just so she can say she ordered it.

We also just came back from Hilton Head Island. This was my first visit there. It was a really nice place and the beaches were prettier than I expected them to be. I have been to the East coast before and my memory of the beaches was not good...

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip - the colors just came out perfect - almost postcard worthy!

It was so windy when we first arrived! There was some rainy weather moving out and the wind was totally unbelievable! I took the girls to the beach on that first day - this picture shows just how windy it was!

Caroline is cracking me up here, but it really is that windy! I don't know if there is a picture of it or not, but one of the days Heather and I took a blanket to sit on while the kids played and the blanket ended up wrapped around us while we were sitting on it and the kid's toys were about half a mile down the beach by the time they caught them. CRAZY!

We did manage to get a family picture that I think will be on my wall soon!

I'm not thrilled with myself in this picture, but everyone else looks good...it's kind of hard to get 5 people to look at the camera and all smile without someone's hair getting crazy or eyes blinking, etc...

I love how the baby is looking at the girls because that is pretty much how it is when they are around.

Caroline spent most of the week hunting for shells and sand dollars while Gracie and Andy were more interested in getting out to the "big" waves. Caroline was very successful finding 3 sand dollars and 1 starfish. We tried to bring the starfish home but it was not happening - it broke into a million pieces. She gave one sand dollar away to a lady who wasn't as lucky as she, and we brought the other two home - one for us and one for Andy.

I can't say that we will go back to HHI anytime soon. We much prefer the emerald coast with its white sand and crystal clear waters, but I'm glad we experienced it. I don't know that I've ever been that close to a gator before unless I was at a zoo! There were some different things to do there like ride bikes! The kids loved being able to ride all over the place with us.

We were able to take the kids on that awesome Exploring Savannah tour that Jon and I took last year while we were there. Savannah is only about 45 minutes from HHI. It's a walking tour and the weather couldn't have been better! Anna Kate got to "ride" in her favorite position most of the time. The kids got to sit on Forrest Gump's bench and see Forsythe fountain. Mr. Bobby Davis taught us all about the great city in his own "southern" way! We ate chicken tenders at Spanky's on River Street and ice cream at Leopold's Ice Cream shop. I would recommend this tour to anyone!

If you get the chance be sure to ask Caroline about the "certificate of appropriateness" that she learned about. She has a great southern belle impression!

I have a few more things to blog about, but I feel like they deserve their own post. I will get to those soon...I think!

Jonas and Stella

2011-04-09T14:18:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to get a video of this for several months. Each time Stella gets Jonas's toys, Jonas will just stand there and cry and bark and whine until we give her the toy. Here, Stella has a black tire toy that belongs to Jonas and even though this wasn't her best performance, Jonas ends up getting the toy :) At the end, you will hear Caroline say "Good Luck, Anna Kate" because she says that at the end of every one of her videos now. (If you haven't watched Disney's "Good Luck, Charlie" show, you should!)

I was thinking as I was typing this post about how we will soon be videoing Anna Kate instead of our dogs...we have about 9 weeks left until we meet her!!!

Sweet Caroline

2011-04-08T08:20:00.002-05:00

Press play to enjoy a song while you read (because I have tried for at least an hour to figure out how to get this song to play automatically when you open this post)

These photos are being posted in the order that they were taken last night...It has become a bit of a family tradition to make a cake or cupcakes on the night before the birthday - usually because we are taking them to school the next day - so Caroline wanted her picture taken with her cupcake:

Next, I think she was about to blow out the candle:

BUT WAIT!!!! She forgot to make a wish!

These pics made me laugh this morning!

She was properly named Caroline by her Daddy - she just couldn't be sweeter if you ask me!

Happy 8th birthday , Sweet Caroline!

Memory Lane

2011-04-07T04:52:00.002-05:00

Life is not measured by the number of breaths that we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Five years ago today, the world lost a truly great guy. His memory lives on through two beautiful little girls who I am lucky enough to call my daughters :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Josh and Caroline:

Here is a good one of Heather, Josh, Andy, Gracie, and Caroline:

We miss you, Josh!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

2011-03-24T16:51:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow Gracie is turning 10 years old. I feel like I should have something proverbial to say, but I'm at a loss right now. It does make me feel old to really think about the fact that she has been here for an entire decade.

I have been thinking about when we decided to have a baby the first time. I think it was more "I" wanted to have a baby at first, but after she arrived Josh was smitten by her. I can tell when I look back at pictures how much happiness he got from her. I think she has so many of her dad's traits from not being very flexible (literally) to taking life quite seriously at times. Even her teeth remind me of him. I know he would be so proud of her for being a good student, being respectful, and so many more things because I am proud of her for them!

Gracie was a great baby, funny toddler, great kid, and is now turning into a responsible - I'm just going to say it - preteen?!?!?! That just sounds so weird! In my mind, I suppose, she will always be this little girl that I prayed for:

She was 6 days late (or as some might say on "Gracie's time"), and she has kept up her tradition as we are all commonly sitting in the car waiting for her to finish whatever she's doing so we can leave :)

Here is the most recent picture I have taken of Gracie. She is wearing silver make-up because of her recent role in "The Wizard of Oz" at school. Look at what a different 10 years makes:

Happy birthday, Gracie!

Love, Mom

Pulling Teeth

2011-02-20T15:39:00.002-06:00

My kids are like night and day when it comes to several things - one of which is pulling teeth! Gracie can't wait to get the teeth out. As soon as she thinks a tooth is the slightest bit loose, she pulls it with her dad's pliers - yes I said pliers!

So, about 2 years ago here is what Gracie looked like: (Her little sister was pretty cute with all those baby teeth, right?)

Now, Gracie's teeth looked a lot like two large chicklets for a while when they finally came in. They were way too big for her little mouth! She has now grown into them and I really don't even think she is going to need braces - now that's something to be thankful for!

Here are the chicklets:

Well, Caroline started losing teeth about a year ago, and it has been a totally different experience. She did okay with the first one. I'm pretty sure it just fell out of her mouth while we were in a public restroom somewhere - great memory right? That was not exactly what I had planned, but I was just glad it was finally out because there was NO convincing that child to pull her tooth or to even let anyone near her mouth at the time.

The second tooth was not quite so easy to get out: Her adult tooth started coming in behind it and it just wouldn't get loose enough to fall out...this little scenario ended up costing me $100 at the dentist office! We had a very serious talk about the fact that there were about 15 more teeth in her mouth and we would not be letting the dentist pull each of them at the rate of $100 each! She took me seriously, because it has gotten better...

Last night, Caroline hit her mouth on something and it knocked one of her top teeth looser than it had been. It looked so funny because it was crooked and slightly out of place. Today at lunch, I told her I would buy her a toy if she would just go ahead and pull it today - knowing that probably wouldn't happen. She hit her mouth again today, and guess what??????

The tooth came out and I had to go buy a toy! Here is the big girl with her missing tooth! Here come the chicklets :)

Chicken Enchiladas

2011-02-20T10:39:00.002-06:00

This recipe is one of my family's favorite dinners! It is also fairly easy to make, so we have it at least once a month...

You will need:

1 pkg chicken breast (3-4 breasts)

1 small container sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can Rotel

1 C shredded cheese

1 can red enchilada sauce - I use mild

1 package large tortillas (about 10)

To make things easier I put the chicken in the crock pot on low for the day. If you don't have time for that, you can boil it in a pan with water and a bouillon cube until cooked.

I have done with two different ways and either one is great. The first is to pour the whole can of Rotel in with the chicken. The second is to put the chicken in with a chicken flavor bouillon cube and about a cup of water.

When you are ready to cook the enchiladas, take the chicken (and Rotel) out of the crock pot and shred it with a fork. It should shred very easily. Combine the soup and sour cream, mix well. Add chicken, cheese and rotel (unless you used it to cook with). [You may want to add other ingredients to this such as black beans, black olives, etc...]

Prepare a 9x13 pan by spraying it with PAM. Fill tortillas with about two spoonfuls of chicken mixture and roll. Place enchiladas in pan. When you have filled all tortillas and placed them in the pan, pour enchilada sauce over top. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Serve with rice, cheese dip, guacamole, and ENJOY!

Sweet Memories

2011-02-18T16:13:00.002-06:00

Since I have been at home for a few weeks now, I have organized and cleaned (more organizing than cleaning actually) several things that I have been meaning to get to but just couldn't find time while working...

One of these things is my pictures from the past several years. I was really good at keeping them chronologically placed in albums - I mean to the point that if you open one of those previous albums to the front cover, you will find a list of all the events that are in that album. They are numbered too! I know that's ridiculous. Well, I fell into the craziness of single-parenthood and totally lost my groove on the picture organizing :( There are two large boxes full of disorganized pictures since 2005 or so...Jon all but banned me from going through them after we moved into this house because I started looking at them then, but ended up crying like a big baby over my babies and their dad...He really didn't know what to do with me that time - and honestly there was nothing he could do - just deal with some of my craziness - the poor guy! I'm not crying this time, but remembering so much and thankful for those memories.

When I finally started looking through the pictures, I found these sweet kids in them that I barely recognize anymore! I miss these days so much! They were so sweet and young and cute! I love the baby faces...

These were taken in the Spring of 2005 - the last time we went to the beach with Josh. We got some great pictures of him with the girls there - one of my faves:

That is possible the sweetest little look Caroline has on her face that I have EVER seen!

I think this was the second trip we took to the beach with the kids. The first time Caroline was not fond of the sand at all. She wouldn't let us put her down on the beach without a towel or chair underneath her, so this picture was quite the milestone for her:

Sweet little toes and fingers!

I have really enjoyed looking through them and love my Picasa to organize them in. It puts them in order by year when I load the CDs! So even if I don't know what year the pics were taken, the picture CDs do, and somehow the software pulls out the info! AWESOME! I would recommend Picasa to everyone!

Snow 2011 - take 256

2011-02-07T15:08:00.002-06:00

These are from the last snow we had - what was that last week? or two days ago? I don't know...I've lost count.

I love the colors in these pics - especially the one of the two girls together on the bridge!

Snow is so beautiful and yes we should just enjoy it's splendor, but I have just about had my fill of it! I'm writing this post as I wait - yet again - for school to be cancelled tomorrow because guess what?

It snowed...again!

Pink Little Blanket

2011-02-04T17:22:00.002-06:00

Tonight we are childless! We had discussed just getting a movie and staying in, so that's what I was already doing when Jon called on his way home. He said he wanted to go out and do a few things, so I got dressed again and we went to Hendersonville. There are a couple of birthdays in the family, so he said he wanted to get those taken care of and he wanted to get something for the baby! YAY!

He was telling me how when he was little he had an orange blanket that he called "Orange Little Blanket" and maybe we could get Anna Kate and orange blanket like his (I convinced him that the only way we would get an orange baby blanket would be to go buy the fabric and make it ourselves...)

When we got to the store, Jon went ahead to the baby stuff and I had to go to another department...by the time I got over there, he had chosen a soft little blanket with a bear on it. Anna Kate now has a "Pink Little Blanket"!

Animal love and the future

2011-02-04T17:10:00.002-06:00

Caroline has a deep affection for animals, especially horses... This morning on the way to school we passed a little fence that held a miniature horse. She said she really just doesn't understand why we can't have one of those at our house. (I kinda feel like we already do - her name is Jonas)

Anyway, we live in a neighborhood with restrictions on this sort of thing, so I began to explain to her that we are not allowed to have farm animals here. The rest of the conversation went like this:

Caroline: I really just don't like the neighborhood where we live. I really want a horse.

Me: Well, when you grow up you can have a horse as long as you will take care of it.

Caroline: I want to work with animals when I grow up.

Me: You can do that, but you may want to do something else like be a teacher or something too. Then, you could just have the horses at your house, but you will want to marry someone who loves horses as much as you do so they can help you with them.

Caroline: Well, what will I do when I'm pregnant?

Me: HUH?

Caroline: Who will take care of the horses when I go to the hospital to have a baby?

Me: Oh, well, you have plenty of family members that will help you with them when you go to have a baby. It only takes a couple of days.

Caroline: Gracie, will you take care of the horses when I go to have a baby?

Gracie: Ummmm.....well....

Me: Caroline, please don't worry about it right now. We will take care of it when the time comes!

All because we drove past one little horse on the way to school!

Lovin' the Groundhog!

2011-02-04T16:54:00.002-06:00

So, if you haven't heard, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early Spring. I love that guy!

BUT Where is it? Why are the weather forecasters predicting snow again???? I'm counting on Phil's prediction to come true, so hopefully this week will be the end of the snow until next winter!

It's a GIRL!

2011-01-24T12:48:00.002-06:00

Another sweet little blonde headed one if my predictions are correct! We can't wait to meet Anna Kate sometime around June 10th!

After the ultrasound, the doctor took close to an hour to come to the room, so all I could do was worry that something was wrong. Thankfully, she came in and said that our baby is perfect! That was an answered prayer! I had worried over that for several weeks for some reason - I guess just the Devil giving me something to worry about, right?

Tomorrow, tomorrow...you're only a day away!

2011-01-23T14:47:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow we will find out if we are going to add Anna Kate or [insert boy name here] to our family! I am excited to know which it will be - hopefully he/she will cooperate and let us know! Jon and I picked out several boy names, but were unable to come to an agreement on what to name him if it is a boy...His name will have be _____ Evan or Evan ______, but this is all we know! I don't think Jon officially accepted Anna Kate as the girl name, but we made an agreement - if it's a girl, I pick. If it's a boy, he picks! Obviously, I have already picked with the help of my BFF Jen...actually it was her suggestion because I have already chosen two girl names and was totally out of ideas!

Out of all three pregnancies, this is the first time that I have waited to decorate the room or buy clothes, etc for the baby until I know what to buy. I was way too excited to wait with Gracie, the first, I had the room practically finished before the ultrasound and just added girly touches; she already had several sleepers, onesies, etc that would go either way too. With Caroline, we waited until she was born to find out if she was a boy or girl, so we had the room totally finished and of course by that time we had figured out that we didn't need much for a newborn - blanket, diapers, gown/onesies and you're good to go! I think waiting was fun, but was torture for the family! This time, I want to buy boy stuff if it's a boy and girl stuff if it's a girl - no in between!

Needless to say, there will be a new blog post tomorrow with the news!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2011-01-22T16:56:00.002-06:00

I know that anyone who has ever been pregnant will definitely understand this. Last night, I really wanted a BBQ Chicken pizza. If you have never tried this, you are missing out. I know it sounds a little gross, but it's not. I even liked it before I was pregnant, so I don't think it's one of those pickles and ice cream things...I never craved anything like that by the way.

I thought I would share the recipe if anyone would like to try it.

I buy one of those pizza dough mixes at the grocery store, so you can do that or just buy one of the pre-made ones.

You will need
pizza crust
Olive oil
a sweet but spicy BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle OR Raspberry Chipotle)
Red onion chopped
Cilantro
one large chicken breast cubed
Mozzarella or Pizza cheese

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add red onions and cubed chicken. Cook until chicken is completely done. Add 2 TBSP of BBQ sauce and turn heat to low to simmer. If you are making your pizza dough, go ahead and do so following the package directions. Mine said to heat the oven to 425*. When your dough is ready, place it on your baking sheet. Spread the BBQ sauce (as much as you would prefer) on the dough. Add the chicken and onion mixture. Cover with cheese. Cook following dough instructions (mine said about 20 minutes). When the pizza is finished, top with cilantro and serve!

It is sooooo good.

Dayspring Unwound!

2011-01-22T16:36:00.002-06:00

Gracie and Caroline have been on the school's jump-rope team for a few years now. They really love it! I love it because we only have practice once a week, they both like to jump and it's right after school! They get to perform at the school's basketball games to show off their skills. Let me say that there is no way in the world that I could do any of these things, and I am amazed at what they have learned!

Here is Gracie doing the "Moon bounce":

Here is Caroline doing the "Pretzel"!

I hope the girls continue to jump for years! It's so good for their health! Occasionally I get the idea that I can jump rope (not while pregnant, of course), then, I try it and remember that it feels like my brain is going to explode! I will just stick to walking ;)

The Real Reason Jon went to Orlando...

2011-01-22T16:23:00.002-06:00

Hogwarts! It was amazing but ridiculously busy...

Funnies from Disney

2011-01-22T16:17:00.002-06:00

I think we may have been more exhausted on this trip than we have been in a while because there were several things that happened which have become part of our everyday lives...

I promised the family that there would be a list to go on the blog so that we wouldn't forget all of them, so here goes!

1. While we were there the kids noticed that there was a large Hispanic population. Gracie piped in to one conversation regarding this fact with a very loud "Aloha". Now, I'm not sure if it was the exhaustion or what, but the whole group just fell apart laughing at her because she felt like she was speaking Spanish! We did fill her in that it is a Hawaiian greeting, but she has thoroughly enjoyed using the word at random times since this incident!

2. From this trip forward I think I have become the official Tour Guide and trip planner. They made me drive this huge suburban that we rented; AND somehow, we did get to the right places! I got some help from the kiddos one morning though:

3. I don't know if this one qualifies as a funny, but it's something any mom would be proud of! Our kids have grown up watching Mary Poppins - I think Gracie and I probably know every word to the movie and each song too! Well, while we were at Epcot, we met the real Mary Poppins and she said that our kids were extremely well-behaved ;)

I may have to return later to add to this post, but I have to work tomorrow - it's bed time!

The most Magical Place on Earth

2011-01-18T16:22:00.002-06:00

We went to Disney World in September 2010, and I have had a hard time picking which pics I want to use for the blog post; I am finally going to put it into words with LOTS of pictures. It seems to me that I always do a better job choosing pictures after a little time has passed...sentiment sets in and I can appreciate even the worst picture of myself because of the smile it puts on my face when I think of the memory I have from it. Case in point:

OH! I don't want to leave this one out because there is a great story to go with it...sorry Heather! This picture was taken before my family actually arrived at the airport. They are laughing at GranGran I believe because of a discussion about the new full body scanners at the airport...She was telling them that it allows them to see you without clothes and they didn't believe her. Apparently LOTS of things are very funny early in the morning ;)

We didn't tell Gracie and Caroline that they were going to Disney World until we arrived at the airport. We let Andy hold this sign as we pulled up to unload our bags! They didn't really believe us until we got on the plane! I LOVE Gracie's expression here! It's perfect!

This was Andy's and Caroline's first time on an airplane! Thankfully, the flight was very smooth and uneventful! (I have more pictures of Andy, but wanted to let his mom post them on her blog :)

The first place we went when we arrived was Animal Kingdom. It was awesome! After getting our lanyards for pin collecting, and walking around trying to figure out the map, we stopped at the "A Bug's Life" show thinking that would give the kids something to do while we caught our breath! HA! It was an interactive 3D show and not all of us enjoyed the "interactive" part. The seats felt like there were bugs crawling behind our backs and under our bottoms, but the WORST part (if you ask Andy) was getting sprayed with "bug saliva" (water). I think it nearly ruined his day! Caroline liked the bug glasses!

I love the look of amazement on Gracie's face watching this parade!

The second day, we visited Magic Kingdom!

Caroline enjoyed at least a couple shoulder rides through there! It seemed very crowded, but the workers told us that it was a light day with around 20,000 guests! WOW!

Gracie and Caroline had their faces painted at Magic Kingdom...and we watched the electrical parade - SO COOL!

The kids even talked GranGran and Grandad into riding a rollercoaster!

It was a fantastic trip! We made lots of memories to go along with these pictures. I would say I can't wait to go back, but I need a few years to recover!

Fall

2010-09-08T06:12:00.002-05:00

I am so excited that fall is almost here! I was just thinking about how beautiful the leaves will be in just a few weeks. I think last weekend was a just a taste of what we have to look forward to!

Fall has to be my favorite season. It makes we want to go to Gatlinburg and drive through the mountains, take a walk down a mountain trail, and eat chili and apple pies! YUM!

I was looking back through the pictures I took of the girls last fall. It never ceases to amaze me how much they can change in one year!

Here are last year's pics:

What's your favorite season?

Kellye

More project pics...

2010-08-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

Sisters!

Me and my baby!

I love this one of Jon and Caroline! Gracie took this one.

Here's what I do best - LAUNDRY!

So the girls had a good time playing with my camera :)

Can you say cute?

2010-08-20T21:18:00.000-05:00

Caroline loves her dogs! Jonas (the bigger one) is now 1 year old. Stella is about 6.5 mos. She is the CUTEST puppy I have ever seen in my life. I can't believe we have two dogs and I'm ok with it...

Grandma

2010-08-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

Caroline had a project for the first day of school, so we needed a picture of her with her Grandma. I thought this was a good opportunity to get a pic of both kids with her, so I snapped this at church a few weeks ago.

I think the girls look like they're about 12 years old here!

Beautiful Savannah!

2010-08-20T21:09:00.001-05:00

I may be moving! I fell in LOVE with Savannah, Georgia!

The houses are gorgeous!

The city is rich in history! There are city square EVERYWHERE! I mean each one has a different fountain, monument, statue, etc....

filled with HUGE live oak trees that are covered in spanish moss! I have never seen anything like it in my life!

Jon took me to Savannah for our second anniversary. He totally suprised me with where we were going. He has now set himself up for failure because I don't know of any other place that he could take me that would be any more perfect than Savannah!

It's just Walking!

2010-07-11T21:06:00.004-05:00

...so what's the big deal?

I have owned a really cool treadmill since January (because I, like millions of others in the world, fell into the whole "new year, new you" ad campaign that works every year for retailers around the globe) I can say that I have used it several times ("several" being used lightly here), but I have NOT been devoted in the least!

It's not something that's difficult to do or that takes up much of my time...

I have really good intentions of getting up 30 minutes early...or walking before going to bed...or just exercising three days per week, but I CANNOT MAKE MYSELF DO IT!!!!!!!

WHY??????????? My only answer here is that it's BORING!

So.....

Tonight I am typing this blog post as I **guess what I'm doing** WALKING ON MY TEADMILL!!!!

Ok so that's kind of nutty, I know, but it is getting the job done!

I'm walking!

Horsing Around

2010-07-06T21:20:00.001-05:00

Another camp story....

Camp week is full of events like horseshoe tournaments, volleyball games, disc golf, and more! Gracie has been playing in the horseshoe tournament since she was old enough to walk. (not really but it seems like it to me...) Here you can see the concentration on her face as she gets ready to pitch...

And here are the results of the concentration.....A RINGER!

Father's Day

2010-07-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

Each year we have family camp week at our church's camp grounds. It always begins on Father's Day which is pretty cool because the camp ground is the perfect place for Gracie and Caroline to remember their dad since he LOVED it there! The girls are standing beside the covered bridge that Josh helped build there. He never got to see it to completion but he would be so pleased with the way it turned out! The girls are standing beside a small monument built to dedicate the bridge to Josh, and there is a time capsule filled with lots of "Josh stuff" inside the concrete on it.

This year for Father's day the girls brought these purple flowers and placed them in front of the monument. They watered them and took care of them all week while we camped out. Sometimes it's hard to think of ways to help them remember and know who he was. Hopefully they will have that same love for the camp ground that he did!

He really graduated!

2010-05-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

It happened! Finally! YAY! These are two proud parents.

...And here's one proud wife. :) Congrats, Jon!

Pics of my kids...

2010-05-15T21:33:00.004-05:00

We had some professional pics taken of Andy and the girls today. I think this is the first time we have EVER taken them somewhere else to have pics done! The photographer took some great shots of the three of them, but she didn't take any of them by themselves, so we stopped on the way home and I snapped these: (not too shabby for an amateur like me..)

I will be sending out some copies of these soon, but I couldn't wait to share them!

Finally...a note from me

2010-04-25T00:11:00.004-05:00

I'm caught up! I had no idea how many pictures I had taken, but it was a LOT! It feels good to have the blog updated!

We have had so much going on lately in our lives that I have become a "binge" blogger I guess. I hope to be doing better soon. Some of you may not know that Jon has been in college for several months - 18 or so. Well, he is graduating in two weeks!!! He won't be completely done with his school, but he will be able to finally work a full time job - which God blessed him with recently by the way. It has gone by so fast in some ways, but slow in others. We have been through so many transitions in just the past few months life has just been pulling us along. I'm so thankful that he will be finished with the 'heaviest" part of the college classes soon and that he has started working.

The down side to that of course is that I am now losing my Mr. Mom - the one who picked up the kids at school, cooked dinner (most of the time), did the laundry, etc, etc, etc. He has really been a lifesaver for me in those areas. I can't believe how easily he took on the jobs in the first place, but it sure was nice coming home to dinner almost ready and laundry even halfway done....

So, thanks for all you did Jon! I'm so glad you have had the opportunity to go back to college to do what you love! I Love you!

I also want to say thanks to our family for bearing with us as we have gone through these crazy times. You have been super helpful when we needed you and understanding when we haven't had time to be around like we were in the past. We are looking forward to getting to spend more time with you all as things calm down. We love you all!

Caroline's 7th Celebration

2010-04-25T00:10:00.000-05:00

Caroline chose to celebrate her 7th birthday by taking her BFF Maddie (and sister - after a little arm bending) to Bath Junkie in Hendersonville. The chose their scents and made lotion and soap...

Love that scarf...

Running to Brixx Pizza for dinner.

Again, the tooth. We need to pull it but it's such a big deal to her - she won't let me near her mouth. I have offered several bribes with no luck. We are seeing Dr. Wendy (dentist) next week, so hopefully it will come out by then...or maybe while we're there ;)

A Little Shade please...

2010-04-25T00:04:00.001-05:00

Caroline at Gracie's soccer game last weekend. She forgot her sunglasses, and borrowed Mr. Jon's. I think she would look cute in anything! Gotta love that crooked tooth in her mouth...

More Stella

2010-04-25T00:02:00.000-05:00

I love this pic of these two dogs! They're sharing a stick here - Gracie took their picture...

Stella

2010-04-24T23:39:00.000-05:00

The girls conspired against me this year for their birthdays. They began telling Jon and me how Jonas is too big for them to walk and handle, so they definitely need a smaller puppy. As a result, we have a new puppy named Stella. Her name came from the TV show about the Jonas brothers, so the dogs' names "go together" Having her around has been much like having a new baby! She is so small that we all think she needs to be picked up and carried around all the time. She is adapting to our house well, and Jonas doesn't mind her biting her tail, ears, paws or anything else she can reach very much at all.

Easter 2010

2010-04-24T23:31:00.000-05:00

We had our egg hunt at church this year just like when I was a kid ~ even the same place where I hunted! This is the group the girls were in for the day to hunt.

Andy (cousin), Gracie and Caroline

The golden egg winner - Maddie! What a cutie! I LOVE those curls!

This is probably my favorite picture of the girls from Easter Sunday! Mrs. Jenny made their dresses this year and I think they were perfect!

Gracie's 9th, Rock Climbing

2010-04-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

Do I see a little fear in that face? Gracie chose rock climbing for her birthday. We took about 15 of her friends with us to a place called Climb Nashville. I booked the party site unseen and luckily it turned out to be really nice! Those were the tallest rock walls I have ever seen - probably around 30 feet tall - and the kids were wonderful! We even got a compliment on the way out about how well behaved they all were. I was proud of them.

I love this shot of Gracie just hanging out...

Blowing out the candle on her birthday cupcake.

Secret Prayer Pal Dinner

2010-04-24T23:17:00.000-05:00

Gracie and Caroline have been participating in a secret prayer pal group at church. They've been having a great time giving and getting thoughtful gifts and cards for the past few months. March marked the end of this 'round' of gift giving, and we ended it with a formal dinner party. They loved getting dressed up for the night. Gracie is wearing a dress that was her cousin Alexa's, and Caroline got to wear a dress that is really special - her dad picked it out. I had sort of forgotten about it, but he chose it as Gracie's easter dress in 2006, the year he passed. Caroline was so proud to wear that dress - it brought tears to my eyes...just a little piece of her daddy that I could give her. Hopefully, all of those little pieces will be enough for her to know about him.

The Incredible Westward Movement

2010-04-24T23:08:00.000-05:00

The girls were in the elementary play at school in February! I can't believe it's already April - almost May - and I haven't posted these pics yet! WOW! Gracie was a pioneer mom. She had several lines and sang a song in the play. I was so proud of her - she made it through all the lines and the song with no trouble at all.

Caroline was an indian. What a cute little indian if i do say so...she did great as well! She had lines and a song too. I think they had a great time in the play!

Jonas...

2010-04-24T22:59:00.000-05:00

Gracie and Caroline LOVE this dog! She may actually be the best dog EVER! She sits on the couch here and watches all of us in the kitchen...

Caroline is letting Jonas pull her across the wood floor!

Good Dog!

It's been a while....again

2010-04-09T21:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I obviously don't have time to publish blog posts on a regular basis.....I have great intentions, great pictures, and lots of thoughts to post, but not much time :)

I will be catching up soon. We have celebrated a birthday and Easter, and we have a new addition to the family to introduce. Details and pictures coming soon! Don't give up on me!!!

Snow......

2010-02-14T21:57:00.002-06:00

Finally a really good snow to build a snowman in! I think it has snowed at least three times this year already, but the first time it didn't pile high enough for snowman art; the second time it was the dry powdery stuff that didn't work either; finally the third time we have snowman snow.

Jon and the girls went out last week and built this snowman while I was at work. The had some help from our neighbor and Jonas of course...

I love how the carrot is in there backwards. If I were home during the project, you all know I would have had to fix that :) I did ask if anyone noticed and Gracie said that Caroline was hungry and had taken a few bites out of the other end!!!! That made me laugh!

Jon added his finishing touch - the Vandy cap.

I just think this is a funny picture of Caroline.

I wonder what type of snow will fall tonight as I sit here watching the weather report for more of the white stuff!!! I am really going to appreciate the warm weather when it finally arrives. Come on, Spring!

Playing on a Frozen Pond...

2010-01-16T20:29:00.003-06:00

I know what you're thinking. A FROZEN POND????? WHAT? YOU TOOK THOSE SWEET LITTLE GIRLS OUT ON A DANGEROUS FROZEN POND!!

Well, yes we did. Now let me explain myself ...

Grandad and Grangran have a pond on their property. Last Saturday, after all the snow and ice was really frozen, Grangran made this picture of several kids playing ice hockey on their pond.

Pretty cool, huh? In my 30 years of life I have NEVER seen a pond frozen enough to play on, so we decided that the kids needed to experience this one!

We sledded on a corn scoop:

Andy -

Caroline:

Gracie:

Heather (she fell off the scoop and Grandad had to help her out a little...)

And...this is me - Marlon fell down when he was pulling me and it was hilarious!

Made snow angels (Caroline and Andy):

Then, we finally (with the help of some of the neighbors) figured out how to REALLY enjoy the pond:

Letting Grandad pull us in a laundry basket behind the mule! It was awesome! We had a great time! I just realized that Grangran (who made the picture CD for me that had these pics on it) didn't put the best pictures on it! There is one picture of her riding in the laundry basket behind the mule...she had fun, but now I think she might have been afraid to have her picture posted on my blog doing so ;)

Snow much FUN!

2010-01-16T20:04:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we had a *little* snow and a LOT of FUN! The girls absolutely LOVE to play with the little girl next door. Here's a pic of them introducing Rose (the hamster) to Jonas (the dog): LOL!

The funniest thing to me is that Rose is the only one looking at the camera!!!!! HILARIOUS! Jonas doesn't seem to care at ALL that there is a hamster sitting on her back...

We ended up getting about 1.5 inches of snow and missing three days of school for it! I never remember things like that happening when I was in school. I know we had snow days, but never that many for 1.5 inches!!!! WOW! I just hope they don't have to make them up at the end of the year.

Another really cool thing we did last weekend was to finally put our bird feeders out! Caroline had been asking for some bird and squirrel feeders outside in the back yard. We put one on the window outside our breakfast "nook" area with a hook that had a suction cup. The birds loved it, and we enjoyed watching them. Here are two blurry pics of some birds we saw.

So.....you're getting a camera in August?

2010-01-10T20:11:00.000-06:00

My camera broke on Thursday while Jon and the girls were out playing in the snow......BOOOO! I'm pretty sure the screen froze and cracked.

Today, we decided to go look at a new one, and we took the girls along. We went to Best Buy and saw what they had, and decided to price compare with some other stores we know of. While we were there, we took the girls over to check out the Nintendo DS's because they both would like to get one for their upcoming birthdays.

.........Caroline, in the most pitiful way, told us last night at Grangran and Grandad's that EVERYONE in her class except one other student has a DS and that it makes her feel "bad" that she doesn't.........

They both showed us which DS they would like, and I think they were expecting to get it tonight by their actions. As we were walking out, I told Gracie that we wouldn't buy one tonight, but that she would probably get one for her birthday in March.

Her response......."So, you're getting a camera (for your birthday) in August?

I couldn't help but laugh at her witty response to that!!!

January - The girls are holding Rose - Finally!

2010-01-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

After months of hard work and dedication, Gracie and Caroline are no longer scared to hold their hamster. Here's proof:

Rose doesn't seem to mind being held at all! In fact, now that they have held her so much, she is friendlier.

December trip to the Cabin

2010-01-02T21:26:00.000-06:00

We took a nice trip to the cabin in Gatlinburg with GranGran and Grandad this year. The weather was warmer there than it was at home! (We had thought we might see some snow...)

The kids went to Ripley's Believe it or Not:

That's a GIANT Chair!

Had their picture taken in front of the Gatlinburg sign with GranGran and Grandad:

Played a game or ten of checkers:

Rode race cars - Gracie is making sure Caroline's buckled up :)

Andy WON!!

and BEGGED us to take them to the new indoor water park - but we said "Maybe next time." :)

They had a great time. We all love spending time at the cabin with Grangran and Grandad!

Thanksgiving

2010-01-02T21:21:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite times of year. This year I took some pics of the girls with their great grandparents. These are their Nanas and PawPaws. :)

We visited lots of places this year and ate lots of really good food!!! We are thankful for all of our friends and family.

Jonas

2010-01-02T20:26:00.000-06:00

We have been talking about getting a new dog for several months. The cost has been the biggest deterrent to us getting one right now. BUT, a co-worker of mine is a dog lover and is always sending e-mails around about stray dogs that are found by her friends. She sent one of these e-mails out about mid-November with the subject line "Chocolate lab puppy". I have a soft spot for labs because we have had some before and they are great dogs. So, I replied to the message saying please send pics. She did and I forwared them to Jon. To make a long story short, we have a new dog named "Jonas" (by the girls.) She is the best dog ever!

Finishing October...

2010-01-02T19:39:00.000-06:00

Well, it is now January and I see that I haven't posted ANYTHING since October! OOPS! I plan to do a better job in 2010, but before I get into that I will update you on all the fun we have had for the past few months.

Caroline's 1st grade class visited Honeysuckle Hills Farms. Here she is playing the ducky race game and milking a "cow" with her friends Skylar and Maddie. It was a great day. The weather was perfect and the farm was too!

For Halloween this year we carved some awesome pumpkins

Caroline carved the cat, and Gracie carved the howling wolves. I was so suprised at how much of the work they did on their own! Caroline wasn't very excited about the insides, but she cleaned it out on her own!

We took fall pictures:

and dressed up as the Jetsons. Can you believe we got Jon to dress up as George. The costumes were all bought except for part of Rosie's (I had to make it out of posterboard! )

Bubbles in my Ear

2009-10-19T18:22:00.000-05:00

Gracie has been sick for approximately 7 days now! UGH! The poor kid was out of school for Fall break last week and ended up with a fever on Monday that lasted until Saturday. Luckily it was a very low fever but it lasted ALL week! The only other symptoms she had were a little cough and sore throat for a day or so....until this morning.

Today Gracie's symptoms include a cough and "bubbles" in her ear! HAHAHA! (You know that feeling when your ear is clogged and it keeps popping) This made me laugh today even though Gracie does have an ear infection. :)

A Rose by Any other Name...

2009-09-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

...would smell better than this!!!

Here is a picture of our new hamster's cage. Caroline asked for this pet from GranGran and Granddad as a belated birthday present (because she couldn't make up her mind about what she wanted until now, 5 months after her b-day.) Rose is really cute and looks cuddly, but we don't know about the cuddly part yet (see below).

The girls were afraid for me to take her picture because on one of their TV shows, Drake and Josh, the hamster would freeze every time its picture was taken. I assured them that this would not happen, and so we will take some pictures of the actual hamster later.

Rose came to live with us on Sunday. The pet store employee told us not to try handling her for at least 24 hours, so we waited until last night to attempt getting her out of her cage. We talked to Rose for a while until she was awake and moving around the cage. Then, I opened the door and let Caroline put one hand in thinking that Rose would like to smell us first. After a few minutes of sniffing Caroline, Rose wandered off to eat a little food. I thought this would be a good time to put my hand in for Rose to smell, so Caroline moved her hand to give me room. I put my hand in, palm up, hoping Rose might crawl into it and she did put one paw in my hand. She smelled of my (just washed) hand for second and then bit a small plug out of my finger:) OUCH! This incident ended our attempt to hold the hamster for the night and we will try again tonight...

Caroline, the gymnast

2009-09-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, I took Caroline to a gymnastics class on Thursday night to "try" it out. Our neighbor attends the class, so I thought this would help Caroline with starting out. (she is the nervous non-committal type.) We carpooled with the neighbor to the gym, and Caroline seemed to have a fantastic time. She got in the van telling me this was exactly what she wanted to do. This thrilled me because we have been to several classes to "try" them only to discover that Caroline does not want to go back! :(

You may remember our experience with soccer when Caroline was about 4 years old. We went to every practice. She seemed to be enjoying it. Then, the games started - and the tears came. She sat on the bench - even when the coach called her to come out on the field and play. I was totally embarrassed!!!! I walked around to the bench to try convincing her to finish the season, but she definitely inherited my stubbornness (and Josh's for those of you who may remember)! It was absolutely not going to happen. Finally, I gave in and called to coach to let him know that we would not be able to finish the season....

So, last week I came home from work ready to fix dinner and go to gymnastics class only to discover that Caroline had decided yet again that she did not want to go back! This disappointed me to no end, but I tried to disguise my frustration while thinking of some way to get her to go. I knew she would be happy if I could just get her in the doors of the gym. We finally came to the agreement that we would try gymnastics for 1 month starting last week. Caroline went to class, and she loved every minute of it! She got in the van after it was over and said, "Momma, remember that deal we made about just trying gymnastics for a month? I want to do it forever!" FINALLY!!!!! :)

Election Update

2009-09-04T08:05:00.000-05:00

I regret to inform all of the "Gracie for Mayor" campaigners that after a long, hard race, Gracie did not get elected to the Mayor position. Please don't be too alarmed because the candidate lost gracefully and congratulated her opponent - a boy in her class named Anthony. Gracie reported that Anthony won by a landslide due to the high number of other boys in the class who voted for him.

The good news is that Gracie is now Vice Mayor. She stated in a post election interview that she was definitely planning to go for the banker position that will come available in town soon.

Thanks for all your support through these past few weeks. Elections can get crazy!

This Smells So Good!

2009-09-04T07:56:00.000-05:00

Last night was open house at the girl's school. Gracie made this really cool map out of icing, chocolate chips, and a peanut butter mixture to demonstrate her understanding of goegraphy. As you can see, there is a volcano, mountain, plain, valley, ocean, etc.

It smells amazing!!!!! I wanted to eat it last night until Mrs Frizzell told me that all the kids had their fingers in the peanut butter mixture...

Gracie was so disappointed that she didn't get to go with me. Seh came home yesterday with a fever :(, so it's off to the doctor for us today.

Gracie for Mayor part 2

2009-08-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

Here's the speech you have all been waiting to hear! (Sorry it's sideways - I couldn't get it to turn around!) We have worked very hard to support the campaign. Gracie and I decorated the Pringle's cans, attached "Have a Ball with Gracie" flags to pencils, and added "Gracie for Mayor" stickers to Hersey's bars, and Gracie's Gran Gran helped by making buttons with Gracie's picture. It was all lots of fun for us!

Now, after a long mayoral race, the candidate decided that if she loses it's okay because there's a banker position available in the class....I just hope we don't have to get her elected for that one. :-)

Kellye

Gracie's Baseball Schedule

2009-08-24T20:55:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of all of Gracie's baseball games for anyone who would like to see her play...The first game was last Saturday and Gracie's team, the Braves, won 6-4! Gracie played a great game.

"Little Bit" AKA Caroline

2009-08-20T11:39:00.000-05:00

Here's a little about Caroline - I feel like I've mistreated her because I've posted stories about Gracie lately...

Caroline's dad, Josh, nicknamed her Little Bit when she was just a tiny baby (no one knew about the heart defect at that point.) The name, which was and still is very appropriate, stuck and everyone knows her by that name still today. I think that's a great gift from her dad!

She is such a special girl! She doesn't really like sports, but give her some paper and scissors or glue and she's in good shape! We are getting ready to start taking her to art classes. Maybe she's the artist in the family...

My daughter, the baseball player

2009-08-19T08:34:00.001-05:00

Here is a pic of Gracie in her new baseball uniform! We signed her up for girl's fall softball, but they called and said there weren't enough girls to have a team. So, they gave us the choice to get a refund or let her play on the boy's team....obviously Gracie chose the boy's team! She thinks this uniform is awesome! I think it will be better when we add the red ribbons I am going to buy today. :)

Her first game is this Saturday at 10:30! GO BRAVES!

My First Tomato Pie.....YUM!

2009-08-14T09:44:00.001-05:00

Let me start by saying that I am not a HUGE tomato fan. I eat them, but not by themselves (unless they have been prepared with that yummy Feta cheese and balsamic vinegar). So, several months ago when my friend Alicia came to work telling me that her mom made tomato pie I was really not interested in trying it. Alicia went on to say how much she loved to eat it and that I should try it sometime.

A couple of weeks ago, Alicia and I were talking again and she mentioned that a friend of hers had posted a tomato pie recipe on her blog complete with pictures and helpful tips. This sparked my curiosity because I had never seen tomato pie before, so I visited the blog. The post was great. It gave step by step instructions on how to make the recipe and had pictures of each step. This is good for me because when I'm cooking from a new recipe, I always wonder if I'm doing it correctly.

Last night, I made my first attempt at tomato pie. My mom grows tomatoes, so I had homegrown tomatoes. However, I didn't have all the fresh ingredients like fresh basil and green onions, so I substituted dried basil and onion powder. My tomato pie was awesome, if I do say so! ;-) I have added it to my favorite recipes now. It would have probably been even better if I had the fresh ingredients....

Here's the link to the recipe - Tomato Pie

Gracie for Mayor! and other projects...

2009-08-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

Last week, the first week of school, Gracie came home with a couple of projects to work on.

One of them was to collect pictures of herself from birth through now. This sounded easy enough, so we got started looking through all the pics we have of this child! UNBELIEVABLE! Since she was born, I think we have taken about a million pictures of her! It was bittersweet to go through the pictures with her, but I am glad we had the opportunity. I am looking forward to seeing the final product of her work on this project.

The big announcement is that Gracie decided to run for mayor of 3rd Grade! How exciting, right? When I asked Gracie why she decided to run for mayor (it was optional), her response was "Because the mayor gets paid the most money." I thought that was probably a typical 8-year-old response, but I did explain that being mayor includes several responsibilities including being fair and considering the needs of the people while making the best decisions in your town. Gracie understood this and I hope if she is elected mayor she will do a good job.

As with any other election, oponents are needed to make it a real competition. Well, this election definitely has some competition! My best friend's son, Colton, is running in the race as well. (Colton and Gracie have known each other since birth.) On Monday, as I was waiting in the drop off line at school, I noticed Colton's mom, Jen, getting out of the car and taking in a large rubbermaid container. I thought she had probably made something nice for the teacher (the teacher is a good friend of ours). So, I sent her a quick little text message saying that she was kissing up to the teacher....Later in the day, she responded with a message explaining that she made cupcakes that said "Vote for Colton". Because I think of myself as a very supportive mom, I was suprised that she had thought of this sort of bribery before I did! My response explained that the competition had begun! ;) Gracie came home all out of sorts explaining that we must do something! Colton brought cupcakes!!!!!

Today, Gracie took her first of several campaigning favors in to class. She chose individual servings of pizza flavored Pringles for her classmates. I made labels for the cans that said "Vote Gracie Hall for a Fair Mayor". We do have a couple of other tricks up our sleeves to help win the popular vote for Gracie, but I can't tell you about them yet!

Back to School...in a Mustang

2009-08-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

The girls started back to school on Monday of this week. WOW! I can't believe summer break is already gone! We had a great one though! Back to the world of schedules, practices and early bedtimes.....

Grandad picked the girls up in the Mustang on Monday morning! They were super excited! I have a picture....it's coming soon!

So far, Gracie absolutely LOVES 3rd grade. She was a little weary of going back into class with all boys for the third year in a row. Much to our suprise there is one other girl, Mya, in class. She has kept me up for the past week telling me all about the things they are learning. I'm so glad she loves school.

Caroline on the other hand would have been okay with staying home and cleaning the house instead of starting back to school. It is so funny to me how different these girls are! She has told me that she likes her class. I think she was relieved to know that Mrs. Bowlin was her teacher again. Caroline gets nervous about changes like that. I have already been suprised at her reading. She is doing great!

Church Camp in our new (old) camper

2009-08-06T20:06:00.001-05:00

Here it is - our first camper.

Jon and I decided this would be the year to buy a camper for family camp week at our church. Yes, we have a beautiful camp ground where we stay for one week every year. Little did we know a camper is a ridiculous amount of work! We started out with a broken toilet and ended the week with a leaky pipe that ruined the carpet. Next year we will be better prepared....maybe!

The kids look forward to this week all year long! There are crafts and games during the day, plenty of crawdads and frogs to catch in the creek, and more fun and games at night!

This year I had to work 3 out of the 8 days that we camped. :( It was a little harder than I planned for it to be, but all in all it was a great week.

Gracie and her friend Erin played in the kid's horseshoe tournament. They won first place!!!! Way to go Gracie and Erin! My friend, Jen, and I played in the women's tournament and we won first place too! Gracie and I both brought home trophies for our accomplishments!

Camp week has been a family tradition for our church for several years. We are so blessed to have a beautiful and safe place to enjoy with our family and friends.

Vacation 2009

2009-08-06T13:49:00.001-05:00

School let out on May 21st around lunch time, and we left for Santa Rosa Beack, FL that afternoon! The forecast was mostly rain and we were a little bummed about that, but God smiled on us and sent the sun for at least part of the day every day...We had a great time, made lots of pictures, and ate some delicious seafood! These are a few of my favorite pics from the trip.

Jon and I were both snapping pictures of them. I have been taking pictures of the girls all their lives. I just knew my pictures would be better than his. Much to my suprise, his turned out better. These pics are from Jon's camera! LOL!

Electronic Thank You Card From Gracie and Caroline

2009-04-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

New "Pics" Section!!!

2009-04-12T17:37:00.000-05:00

Here at All Things Gracie and Caroline, we do everything we can to give you all of the two Hall girls we can. We would like to introduce to you our Pics section. This is a link to all the pictures we have stored in out system. When you get to the page you have several options for viewing as well as purchasing (All Things Gracie and Caroline, nor unfortunately anyone involved, will receive any profits from sales). You may download selected pictures to your computer or buy directly from the web page (all you need is a credit card to purchase and downloading is free).

Pictures will be posted as we receive them. A permanent link is set up on the left side of the page.

Caroline Hall Spotted Training for Recital?!?!?!???

2009-04-12T17:19:00.000-05:00

Caroline Hall, the fabulous 6 year old dancing sensation was spotted early Saturday morning training for what some hope to be a future dance recital. While no date is set, sources close to Hall reveal that a recital could be coming some time in the near future. Evidence of Hall "enjoying" dance lessons could possibly be what has sparked the rumor that Hall may be seen at some point in the future in such a recital, and trust us, the people here at All Things Gracie and Caroline will be the first to show our pleasure in such an event and will most definitely have our best writers on such a monumentus occasion. Stay tuned for more information.

Hall's Final Inning Heroics Save Game for Fireballs

2009-04-12T14:10:00.000-05:00

It was the bottom of the final scheduled inning of the game, with two outs, and bases loaded in a tied ballgame. A single was all that was needed to seal the game for the Heartbreakers. When asked what was going through the head of catcher Gracie Hall she said, "I was just thinking, I want to get her out." Sure enough the ball was hit to the infield and the throw was made into Hall for the third out to force extra innings. The Fireballs went on to score one final run the next inning and that was all that was needed to clinch the victory. Later, Hall, speaking of the victory said, "Well, I was really excited, and then Grandma was telling me how she used to be catcher and that if I didn't catch that ball, we wouldn't have won...So then, I was really, really excited."

The Fireballs, now on a two game winning streak, face rival Miss B'Haven Monday April, 13 at 7:45 on Field 2. Could the 13th be found to be an unlucky number for Miss B'Haven? If Hall and the Fireballs have anything to do with it, it will. Tickets are still available.

Gracie's Softball Game

2009-04-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

Hall Batting Avg. Perfect in Season Opener

2009-03-30T21:39:00.000-05:00

Gracie Hall and the Mighty Fireballs of the White House Dixie Youth Softball League started their season off Monday night against Miss Behavin'. After a long hard fought battle, the Fireballs fell to Miss Behavin 12-4, but the first meeting of the two league favorites did not disappoint. After two innings the fireballs led 3-2 until Miss Behaving found a spark and scored four in the third. This was a deficit the Fireballs could not overcome. When asked how she felt about the loss, Gracie Hall, who's batting helped propel the Fireballs to a lead in the second inning said, "Horrible." And when asked if she thought they would bounce back in the second game Hall said, "If they put me in the infield."

The Fireballs fell to 0-1 while Miss Behavin took an early league lead at 1-0.

Caroline 'Lil Bit' Hall Begins Dance Lessons

2009-03-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

Caroline Hall who recently made a comment that she did not want to engage herself in any extra-curricular activities did just that last Saturday as she took her first Jazz/Tap/Ballet class at Dance South in White House. When asked how she felt about her new endeavor she merely nodded her head and said she had no further comment to make at this time. The seemingly always happy Hall was seen to be "enjoying herself" during the lesson by a parent in attendance. More to come on this breaking story.