21 Month Salute......

I can't get this to put the photos side by side, but I put together a picture of girls at roughly the same age......Grace is a couple of days away from being 22 months in her photo but close enough, right?

This is Alison this morning......
Grace up in Michigan just be for the Fourth of July, 2005......
Me, circa September 1976......


PS - It's Michigan-Illinois week this week (they play each other in football Saturday) and Alison got a jump start on "representing" the Maize and Blue this week......Go Blue!

Random Shots

While dinner was in the oven, Alison felt a little cuddly......

Grace Elizabeth woke up today with an upset stomach and a slight fever.....here she shows she's holding up well.......

Grace and Alison ready for the day

As a dad, I don't quite understand what to call it, but this is a new hair-do for Grace.....pig tails on the back of her head.....
Alison has a speech evaluation this morning.....looks like she's ready to go....

The Girls Messing Around

No big events going on this weekend for the girls...but here's a few photos...

The other night, the girls wanted to watch TV in our room, and we caught Alison copying Grace's TV-watching style.......
We went shopping for costumes last night, and Alison picked out a candy bucket to match Grace's.....they've been playing pretend trick or treat this afternoon.....
They are pretty happy and they are still a few weeks away from candy......

Final Birthday picks

It's been a hectic week since we got back from St. Louis on Monday.......and it's been raining for like 4 straight days.....I should've had time to get to this earlier but here is the last of Grace's 5th birthday pictures......

Grace and her haul down in Grami and PopPop's basement.... Grace has wanted an American Girl doll, but because of what we've seen happen from time to time to a Barbie or to her Cabbage Patch kid, we went with a knock-off version as a practice doll....a Made-in-China Girl doll, if you will.
Grace checks out her new Hannah Montana PJ's........
.......and her new Hannah Montana wallet.....
.......and a High School Musical shirt......
....and a Hannah Montana puzzle.... One of Grace's favorite gifts was a box of envelopes......the kid LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEESSSSS to mail things........pretend, or otherwise, and she's asks for a envelopes from me all the time......she was so excited for this and the memo pad that came with it.....gotta love a kid you can shop for at Office Max......
Just in case you forgot about her, Alison (and her 14 teeth) makes a cameo......
Grami made Grace a cupcake cake.......
She's blowing out her 5 here.......
Alison liked HER cupcake....... Ivory and Ivory......
On Saturday, we went to this place called the City Museum.....it's an old 10 story building that they are turning into a sort of children's museum.....it's all recycled or re-used materials that they are using at this place.....it's pretty wild and interesting.......her Grace and Alison ball-pit it.
Alison posing on a shelf.....
The girls go down a roller slide......
Grace is in the middle of the picture there climbing up thru a maze to get to a slide....she's like 5 stories high at this point.....

Inside they had this little train (like the one in Silver Spoons) that the girls got a kick out of.....
Here's a picture of part of the outdoor part......
Then we went to the mall and the girls had to ride the little train......
Grace opens up an art frame from her cousins (and I bet her aunt and uncle had something to do with it too!).....I think she had a great birthday weekend!

Milestone Friday!

One of Grace's birthday gifts from Ashley and I this year was the chance for Grace to get her ears pierced. (More mommy's idea than anything, really) So Ashley, took the morning off, sent Alison to daycare, and took Grace to the mall. I met them there. Grace was really excited about it, and she picked out some little flower earrrings. She's got a busy few weeks coming up to take care of them!

Waiting for the lady to get everything sterilized, Grace is pretty excited.
Getting ready for the first one..........y'ouch!
Grace seemed a little surprised at how much the first one hurt.....we tried to warn her.....here she's fighting back the tears.
After she was done and she shed a few tears, Grace was all smiles......she got TWO suckers!
A close-up of her ear.......

Happy Birthday, Grace!

Our little girl turned 5 today! Crazy! We don't know where the time has gone.....so much has changed with her from the day she was born but at the same time it all seems like yesterday. Today is her golden birthday (turning 5 on the 5th), and also all the days line up the same as in '03.....she was born on a Friday. (Don't think Ashley's not using the "this time 5 years ago, we were....." about a 100 times this week.) We are so proud of the big girl she's gotten to be this far and can't wait to see the little lady she turns out to be!



Grace opened a few of her presents this morning....here, she opens a package from Aunt Vicki....

"Check out my new hairband!" which she is wearing today......
Posing with her new Pinkalicious book......

Grace models her new vest and hairband.....
Grace and Dad before Dad headed to work......
Alison got some new jeans this week so she wanted to model them for you!
Is she already stuck or is she trying to get stuck???

Last Day of Pool, First Day of School

Another summer at the pool has come and gone......Labor Day marked the end of the trips to the outdoor pool, so we took a few photos of the last day....

Alison gets a hand and a leg up on getting out of the pool......she loves the water!
Grace "trapped" underneath the water umbrella......
Just splashing around.....
Alison's tuckered out and ready to go home......
Grace all wrapped up in her giant beach towel.....

Yesterday, Grace had her first day of school......she's in pre-K again this year, but this time she's one of the older kids and she goes 5 afternoons a week....she was geeked up the last week for school to start......we should enjoy that while it lasts....
She's getting all "growed up" on us.....she asked if she could just be dropped off at the door....
Alison wasn't interested in getting her picture taken.......
....until she found out that she'd have Miss Nichole's all to herself in the afternoons.....
Grace and Mommy pose for a picture.....cute!

Grace and her classmates had a little McDonald's picnic outside the school before class started....
All the kids and their moms and dads......it was hot so they were trying to find some shade anywhere they could
Grace and her friend Samara are ready to go.....
One last shot before we walk into school......

The last few minutes we waited inside since it was so hot out....one of the moms organized an impromptu Simon Says game....

Simon Says touch your knees......
Group Hug!!!
Lined up and walking into school......
......and there she goes......