Pajama Party

Alison has been getting into using blankets and pillows lately.......she decided to watch some 12 Dancing Princesses with Grace last night.....they even had the same color jammies on....

Sweet Home Chicago

Ashley and the girls went to visit Brian in Chicago this weekend......I stayed home to "study" (everybody always puts the quotes on it....like I'm a loafer) for an insurance exam that's a week from today (yikes!)......here are pictures from their excursions.

Alison tries to figure out how to keep both feet out of the sand at the same time.....
Grace and UB head for the Lake......
Alison was not a happy beach comber......
Even Big Sis couldn't get her to smile for the camera....
Grace writes circles in the sand.....
They tried to get Grace to get her toes in the water......it was cooooooold.

She fought it just a tad......
Chilly Willy the Penguin.......
Alison decided to take a nap on the beach......
Grace posing with Lil' Sis......
Grace reenacts the famous beach running scene from Chariots of Fire......

Stiiiiiiiillllllllllll sleeping.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
Grace on the ferris wheel at Navy Pier......
This is a little overexposed, but Ashley said when they closed the doors to their compartment, Alison freaked out......
Happy to be back on the ground.....
HIding in the urband jungle......

The kids were excited to ride in a cab without their car seats......

Grace riding the train at Lincoln Park Zoo.......
Grace took this picture of a lion.....he's on top of the big rock in the middle......next week's photo lesson - How to Zoom

School's Out for Summer!

With apologies to Alice Cooper, Grace was not looking forward to the last day of school like a lot of kids would be.....every day she didn't have school, she asked "why not?".....and we told her school didn't start again until her birthday so on our way home, she asked, "how long 'til my birthday?"......She did very well this year and has grown up a lot in 9 months......the teacher put together memory books (little scrapbooks) for each kid. The first picture in the book was her first day of school......she looked sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo young....she turned 4 that day. Her writing has improved, she seems more mature, she's way better with scissors and markers and glue, and she seems like such a big girl now. She's looking forward to next year. Since she was the youngest kid in class this year, we decided to keep her back in pre-K again next year (she'll have a different teacher and go every day) before she moves on to Kindergarten. Here are some pictures from her last day of school. They put on a little program for the parents.

Grace is REALLY happy and excited to show off her class......
Grace and her on again, off again boyfriend Lukas waiting for the songs to start......
Pointing to the man upstairs.......
Grace receives her diploma and a medal from her teacher Mrs. Mikesell (a great teacher!!)...

Mrs. Mikesell said the last day is always the hardest for her......(she joked later that she finally had all the kids doing what they are supposed to be doing, and now she's got to start all over again in the fall).....
Finishing the last song of the day.......
Grace and her buddies......Rachel, Shae, and Amber.....(the little girl in the background is Lauren....she's makes me laugh every time I see her....she's a handful!)
These are the shirts that the kids wore for the all-school picture on Wednesday.....150 years!

Flashback - Here's Grace back on her first day of school.......she looks so little.....

Last week of school

Grace finishes up her last week (and first year!) of school this week.....there have been a lot of different activities this month. Today, they took a big picture of the entire student body of the school because of the 150th anniversary of the school. This Friday, Ashley and I will go to a special program for Grace's last day. Monday, Grace brought home the plate you see below....it's her handprint in the middle (with her name scrawled on the bottom...I think she was trying to pack it in as little of a space as possible) and then the thumbprints and names of all her classmates.

Overnighters.....

We ran down to St. Louis Friday after Grace got out of school to celebrate Pop Pop's retirement which was at the end of last year....the girls had a lot of fun!

Grace and Alison enjoy their Friday morning coffee.....
Alison decided she wanted to do a little housework before we left......
She doesn't like coming home to a messy house......

Grammy and Alison headed into the fun center........
Grace rode in some go-carts....she's in the white car on the left.....
She was running a little loose in turn 3......
It's pretty brave to stand in front of somebody driving straight towards you....

The next Danica Patrick??? (Minus the layout in FHM, of course)

Ali on Pop Pop's shoulders......
The Godfather, Uncle Bud, shows Grace how to putt-putt......
Alison loves to climb on top of tables.....
She's all smiles now!

Pop Pop's Retirement cake........he's got to stick to soft foods now......just kidding!!

Alison liked the cake a lot.....
She's trying to get every last bit of frosting she can......
With all that icing on her face, she looks part Smurf.....
The girls (and Pooh Bear) were worn out on the way home........

YouTube(s).com

Alison had her tubes put in this morning and she did (and is doing) very well!! She woke up about 4 this morning, but she couldn't have anything to eat or drink; quite the challenge. So, we kept her upstairs most of the morning and distracted her with toys and any thing else that would work. (Grace spent the night at her sitter's house, and she did very well with her part to help out!) She did cry when we went downstairs and she saw the fridge. She was a little fussy when we first got to the office but not too bad, but once they got her in the gown and booties, she was MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.

This picture was from early on in the 20 minute tirade...you can see she's not happy.....
She eventually wore herself out and calmed down though......
She even started to get a little sleepy right before they took her back......
One last little sad face before they took her back to anasthesia....
The first Post-OP picture with her milk cup......they warned us that a lot of kids woke up throwing a fit from the gas they use and that it might last an hour. But, Alison must have gotten that mixed up because she was just about perfect after she came out of the procedure. She was a little dazed (and thirsty), but she eventually perked right up and entertained the nursing staff with squeals, walking on her tip toes, and smiles.....

.....she also made friends with a little 9 month old boy who was getting one of his tubes back in.....she didn't want to leave him behind when it was time to go.....
We took her to McD for a "hot cake" since she was being so good.......
she didn't want to wait for me to cut it up.....
Finger-licking good.......yum!
Alison had some "mucusy puss" (sorry, hope you weren't eating!) behind each ear drum so she'll be on drops for 3 days, and an antibiotic for 10.......

She seems so happy so far and we haven't seen her smile like this and seem this happy in a long time......we can't wait to see what other changes might happen quickly over the next couple weeks with her mood, sleeping, and talking!