Grown Up Errands

Our little Ryan is growing up... at 7 now... time to take care of her OWN grown up errands!

(Such sticklers in this house... LOL)

No, seriously... Ryan is started to understand and appreciate the value of

$MONEY$

She asks how much things cost and determines whether or not she should use her own money to purchase something. I think she is a saver because she has yet to determine something important enough to ACTUALLY buy on her own. Haha, she asks mom and dad instead!

(Smart girl)

Good.

Phewww...Maybe she'll be able to buy her own car someday!

(I'm afraid her car expectations might be a bit high...hmmm, I wonder where she gets that from!)

She stood patiently in line and was absolutely "grown up" (aka... polite and talked in a "big girl" voice when she came up to the counter) in her task.

Nice work Ya! (short for Ya-Ya)

A little bragging is okay, right?

YEA!!! The Grace girls BOTH won awards this month at their school award ceremony!

And, not only did they both win awards, they both won the Learned Leader award.

Steve and I were so proud!

M.c.G.A.U.G.H.. McGaugh! McGaugh! Yea, McGaugh!!

So, this is how it works. If your child is receiving an award, the teacher sends home a 'secret' note letting the parents know when and what time to show up for the awards ceremony. About a week before, we got one 'secret' note from Ryan's teacher and then on the next day, we got one from Charlie's teacher. Funny, I know... they swear they didn't plan it this way. The very same award, on the very same day!

So, on the morning of the ceremony, daddy and I tried to be sneaky and hide a little bit so the kids wouldn't know they were getting an award. We totally assumed if they saw us, it would absolutely ruin the surprise. Of course, Ryan spotted us. Charlie didn't see us. She was sitting down in front. She was the second one to get the Learned Leader award. The funny part was that as soon as she was on stage, she was in heaven! As each student got called to the stage (probably 20+ kids), Charlie thought they were applauding her! She would wave to the audience and smile another big smile! I swear, this girl was born to have all eyes on her! It was precious.

There's Charlie... proud as can be!

Ryan, on the other hand, was one of the last students to be called up for the award. I was able to get a shot of her shaking Vice Principal McDonald's hand.

Ryan and best buddy Abbie next to each other with the same award! The John Wooden Learned Leader award means that the recipient is a role model in class, is a leader with her classmates, and is an all around "go to" child for the teacher! Very cool that Ryan and Charlie are both leaders for their classes.

Ryan walked right by us on her way back to her seat.

(Notice Charlie, by the way, is still up on stage waving at all her "fans." Almost the first one on the stage and last one off the stage, means that Charlie had some significant time with her "fans!")

Congratulations Ry-Ry!!

Mrs. Lupescu, Ryan's teacher, poses with leader!

A photo opp for Charlie and teacher, Mrs. Hobbs!

Our Grace Girls... could not be more proud of these princesses!

"Is it March yet?"

Oh my goodness, this day has been a long time coming!

Ever since September, Charlie has been asking me when it will be her turn for "Star of the Week." I didn't have the heart to tell her at first that I could have signed her up for her birthday week in October but chose to pick a date on the sign up sheet in March. Why, you ask? Well, her teacher said that although most parents choose a week around their child's birthday, Charlie's birthday is so early and the kiddos in pre-K are so little at that time in the year that the Kinder Star book is more scribbles than pictures at that point. So, in thinking about Charlie's personal book, I wanted her friends to actually draw her pictures... so I decided to wait until March. Well, as soon as March 1st came around... Charlie kept saying, "Yea, it's March. Now I'm Star of the Week." I had to explain to her that March was a month, not a week, and that she was only going to get one of the weeks in March. Whoosh, that went right over her head.

"Is it March now? Is it March now? Is it March now?" went on for what seemed like forever!

March was a silly decision too though... seriously, why would I choose the week after Ryan's birthday and the same week that my work gives out "pink slips" to those getting laid off! Two crazy, crazy times of the year! Oh well, we fit it all in and Char-Char could not have been more excited! And boy, if I had to hear, "Is it March yet?" one more time, I might have lost it...LOL!

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y.

The best part was watching Charlie get interviewed by her teacher (well, student teacher in this case). What a pro!

HAPPY STAR OF WEEK BUG! YOU DID GREAT!

Lucky Strikes Again

This St. Patrick's Day, Lucky the Leprechaun had another trick up his sleeve for evidence! In addition to the green toilet water, the green milk, and the messes, Lucky left his footprints.

He is so clever that Lucky ;)

The girls were in awe when they discovered that Lucky had indeed visited Fir Avenue!

They were ready to start their day in their green and very festive outfits (thanks to Bubba and Casey)... Charlie even said, "And now I won't get punched!"

I replied, "It's pinched, not punched Chuckie!"

LOL... It didn't matter she said "punched" all day and I didn't have the heart to tell her again. It was just too cute. I guess she'll have to learn next year!

We hope everyone had a safe and fun Leprechaun Day!

Just a regular ol' Tuesday Morning!

This week the girls wanted to experiment with curlers in their hair so on Monday night we got all curled up and ready for bed. I swear... the girls started in their own bed but... typical in this house...

They ended up in mine!

I was sneaky and got up to take a shower. No one woke up while I was in the shower.

As a matter of fact, this is how they were sleeping...

Right on top of each other!
They really love each other, don't they?

I can't believe they didn't wake up with my taking pictures!

On this particular morning I had to actually wake them up for school... I never have to do that!

I blame the time change.

But... once they were up, the girls with curls could not have been happier!

I said, "Smile!"

And they did this...

"C'mon girls... give me a real smile!"

"Thank you! That's better!"

They were so excited to show their friends their new do! I wonder if I will have to do this all the time now.

Softball: Take 2

Softball activities are abundant these days... and we're lovin' it! We've got practices, games, parades, picture day, and carnivals comin' up one after another! This week we had a Thursday night game and 7:30 a.m. arrival time for a Saturday morning parade/Opening Ceremonies! LAGSL (Los Al Girls Softball League) is so well run! I have to admit that I got teary at the Opening Ceremonies watching this many girls in our community participating in the league. They make so many special moments for the older girls to be role models for the younger girls in the community! We say it often but really... we feel so lucky to live where we do!

Papa was able to make it down for Thursday night's game... surprise, surprise...

it was a tie: 24 to 24 (2 innings with 12 players on each team!)

Saturday morning (the morning after the rock out bday party) was the parade and Opening Ceremonies! The Ice Breakers walked with attitude in the parade from Rossmoor School to Rossmoor Park... where the ceremonies would be held!

"LET'S GO ICE BREAKERS! LET'S GO!"

Donuts, coffee, hot chocolate, noise makers, and other props... every parent's dream Saturday morning!

Hi Kendie!

Ice Breakers rule!

Have I said lately that Charlie LOVES to be on her very own team!!! She does!!!

Charlie and one of her besties... Addie!

Getting all situated for the parade stance!

Here we go!

Opening Ceremonies!

Look at all these girls!

This is such a great experience for our girls... I can't say enough how proud we are to be a part of it all!

Go Ice Breakers!

Game this Thursday, 3/10 at 4:45 @ Rossmoor Park

Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday Rockstar Ryan!

Can you believe Ryan is 7 already?

We can't!

What we realized about this birthday... our little girl is really growing up! The theme she chose for her party certainly illustrated that fact for sure!

JAMMIE JAMS!!

I know, you say, "huh, what's a Jammie Jam?"

Well, this is how it started. Ryan wanted a pajama party AND she wanted a dance party... so mommy put the two ideas together to come up with "Jammie Jams!"

I was a little nervous... but it turned out cute! I love a party theme "challenge." It makes it more fun for me!

The favors...

Every girl got a Jammie Jams CD with the playlist from the party...

Justin Bieber, Hannah Montana, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez... and even tracks from The Sound of Music. Ryan picked all the songs and then mommy went online to read all of the lyrics to make sure we picked "appropriate 7 year old tunes." The Justin Bieber songs were "iffy" but oh, I would have not lived that down if I didn't put the #1 heartthrob on the CD!

The favor bags also contained jammies for each girl... somehow I had to connect the two concepts of the theme! I even found jammies in the colors of the party... black, pink, and turquoise!


Favor bags lined up and ready to go...

We also had a candy bar as part of the party fun...

The cupcakes were crafted by our favorite cupcake vender

"CUPCAKES BY AUBREY"
In the picture, the hot pink ones look orange but they were actually the perfect pink! She even incorporated the zebra print that I had in the decorations!

I can't believe I didn't take pictures of the all the decor... you'll have to imagine the Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and peace sign posters that graced the walls along with the Hannah Montana and Selena Gomez cut outs!

Don't worry... they are now adorning the walls in their bedroom, so you can see them anytime...LOL!

Ryan first guest arrives... Kendall!

The girls started getting out the props... hats and sunglasses to get the party started!

The rest of the girls started to show and immediately started dancing the night away!

About a half an hour into the party, we stopped to serve dinner! We continued to take turns on the Wii Dance while the girls ate their dinner! Perfect dinnertime entertainment!

After eating... no time was spared before getting back to the rockin' out!

To keep the attention span of 1st graders... Mommy kept changin' it up! We had a freeze dance with glowsticks, strobe light dancing, karaoke singing, and lots of instruments for the full rock band effect!

Oh, there's Justin...

We took another break to sing happy birthday to Ryan and eat some cupcakes!

The craft table was a continuous part of the party fun... at any time the girls could head over and create a peace sign key chain with best babysitter in the world, Aubrey!!! Here is Hannah making her key chain...

Candy Bar time...

All the girls got a popcorn cup to fill with candy and popcorn!
We ended the party with snuggly movie time with our "goodies." Somehow, we had to incorporate the "pajama" part of the party.... haha... it's a stretch I know but they were cute and think, all rocked out and needed the break!

Ryan is so lucky to have such a sweet group of friends!

What a great time!

A party that I hope Ryan will remember and one that Charlie will want to copy in the future... this one was a really fun one to plan!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BIG GIRL! WE LOVE YOU RY-RY!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO LOTS OF ROCKIN' OUT WITH YOU FOREVER AND EVER!