Mommy and Grace!

Making a turtle :)

"Grace & Mom Campout 2011"

Yeah, this is what Scott made!! Totally beats my turtle :)

The deer car.

Her beauty is breathtaking, but I am her mother!

Sorry, couldn't pass up a GREAT tourist shot :)

Grace and Yama!

This made grace sad, but she also thought it was cool that it was blue :)

Sleeping in!

Her first time in Lake Michigan!

All the shells made for a great photo op :)

Playing in the sand.

Yep, she is a keeper!!!

My girls are growing at an alarming rate these days! I need a pause button, if any of you other moms find one let me know. What if life was like a DVD I would love to fast forward through the bad parts and rewind the good ones. I wouldn’t even mind watching the previews, after all that is where the best parts of the movie are right?! However, if I didn’t have the bad parts it more than likely would not let me appreciate all the good parts so much. Damn those DVD players!

Grace and I went camping three weeks ago (yes it’s been that long since a bloggity!) with my mom and Mike and their two awesome neighbors. Don’t worry Jenni stayed home with Daddy and they had bonding time of their own. Sometimes I often forget that my girls need to be separated from each other and that they are unique individuals and need a break from each other. I also need to spend time with them individually its good for myself and for them.

So anyway, Grace and I went to Mackinac City. We hit a deer on the way to the campground and that made Grace really sad, but as soon as she saw the beach, she was good! (The deer totaled the front end of my mom’s car, but nobody was hurt!) We collected rocks until she decided it was time to have a throwing contest and chuck them back into the water, she loved when they skipped on top of the water. She had her first boat ride on the ferry to Mackinaw Island. She got to see all the horses on the island, and she was hilarious when one took a poop, she that it was just the funniest thing. She stayed up late with the adults sitting around the campfire and was always the last one to wake up in the mornings. We made a turtle in the sad together, and we even dug to china! I even broke down and played barbies (Thanks Tammi!) She was so cute and I almost forgot she is only 4.

She held my hand and it made me want to cry because she is slipping into her own independence. She is remarkable!

Beautiful Girls

This is her microphone!

Fixing the basement is paused so that we may be able to enjoy the summer first.

I LOVE this peach pie so much!

Sisters!

They found a caterpillar to play with.

The funny one.

The grown up one.

I have two beautiful daughters (if I say so myself). Grace is 4 with beautiful blue eyes, brown curly hair and the brain of an adult. Jennifer is 2 with beautiful blue eyes, straight red hair, and a very infectious laugh.

Here is my newest (not really new, it just irks me) problem with people. When we go out (to the grocery store a restaurant or anywhere it doesn’t really matter) we get stopped by random people to tell us how beautiful Jennifer is. It’s nice to have people notice and make comments on how pretty your kids are. Then these people tell us how stunning her red hair and blue eyes are and how she is a rare breed.

Well my first thought is be to be polite (as my mother taught me) so I say thank you with a smile as nicely as I can. My next thought is she is not a breed, she is my daughter, a breed makes me think of a horse or a pig. Then after that my thought is Grace.

I think that both of my girls are beautiful each in their own way. Grace has the same blue eyes as her sister, but Jenni’s stick out a little bit more because they are going up against a mane of red.

I love that people think my girls are beautiful, I am grateful for the compliments. Maybe I am just an overprotective Mom, but I worry that Grace is going to have a complex from this somehow. Maybe a jealousy thing, or a why am I not good enough thing. I never (NEVER) want my girls to think they are not pretty enough or good enough for anything. I have a job to empower them with the ability to know they are enough.

Because of these random stops in stores and places I tend to make it a point to kiss Grace on the forehead and tell her “I love you”. I know that these people stopping us are just being nice in noticing Jennifer, but I just think about Grace and how she doesn’t get the same show stopping attention that Jenni gets. I don’t think Grace really realizes what is going on right now anyway, but I worry that she will catch on and I just don’t want her to think she is any less stunning then her younger sister!

***Please do not cry, but I will not be home next Friday to post a new Bloggity. Grace and I are going camping up north while Jenni and Daddy spend some time together at home.***

$4 per kid

My brother and my nephew playing.

My nephew using the bouncy house as a hair dryer! I LOVE this kid!

Somebody ate cake with red frosting!

Jenni's wet foot prints.

Grace and her favorite teacher this year, Mrs. H.

My beauty queens!

Grace and a few of her friends singing about springtime.

Watering her carrot veggies.

Jenni and her first braided pigtails.

So, this week ends Grace’s Preschool days. She is growing up so fast. Next year she will be in Pre-K for a full day. I am not ready, but what parent is ever ready for a child to grow up? She has learned a few new things from going to school. She has learned to write her name, she can make a self portrait, and she has decided when she grows up she wants to be a teacher. She learned tons of other things too and she found a bff. When I drop her off to school all she cares about is where her bff is so she can walk into school with her. It makes me feel like chop liver, but I am sooooo happy she has someone she loves and cares about!!! And for those that are wondering, yes, I shed a small tear after we left her school for she is just getting bigger and smarter and I am so proud of her!

Jenni has decided to follow in her big sisters footsteps by doing exactly whatever it is that Grace is doing. If Grace goes potty, Jenni tries to go potty. If Grace asks me to do her hair, Jenn has to have her hair done too. So the games begin of copy cat and fighting over toys. One day the fighting over a babydoll was so bad, I took the doll away and told the girls she was adopted by sisters that don’t fight over her. Drastic? Probably, but I just couldn’t take the tears, the yelling and the fighting anymore. Then I went out and bought them new dolls all their own. I wonder if it was the right thing to do or not, but for $4 per kid, it gave me a little bit of peace :)

Grace and Jenni are remarkable little girls. I feel like I am in my Mommy prime (if there is such a thing?) Here is why: First, they always want Me(Holla!) Second, they let me hold their hands and give them kisses in public (Can I get a woot woot?) Lastly, they don’t care if I make a fool of myself they think it’s always funny. The girls and I are just having so much fun together. We started a veggie garden on Monday and the girls are loving watering every day and watching the veggies grow. They love to be outside and play. We got the girls a pool for the future HOT days of summer I am so looking forward to it.