Yup - I owe this blog a few posts - but to start here are 2 videos...

Grace on Halloween singing in church with the preschoolers



Grace's first dance recital.... Glendale Glitters 11/27/10

Grace Sings "Fishers of Men" in Church

Grace has been learning a song {Fishers of Men} at school for the last three weeks specifically so that the pre and grade schoolers could sing in church today. She has been beyond adorable singing all around the house and practicing the hand movements. I did not hold out much hope though that when the time came and she was called up on the altar she would be able to muster the courage to go up and sing. I am TOTALLY biased.... But I think she did an amazing job!

GRAND OPENING

A Mother's Musings has opened up shop on Etsy... named... "Gigi and Lula" of course!



My GRAND OPENING SPECIAL is $1 shipping on all orders shipped within the US!

I am so excited!
I have had a blast making these little pretties...
The hat might be my favorite by far ... and look for more hats to come in both infant and toddler/child size.

Being a hippie chick I love flowers in my hair, or did once upon a time. Now I have fun playing with my girls' hair and pinning it up with bows and flowers!!
I hope you will love these hair clips as much as the girls and I do...

Welcome!
www.etsy.com/shop/GigiandLula

Turning that frown upside down...

If you follow my other blog you know that I had a rough time Thursday night - I always know however that even though I might be at my whits end, it is never long before the girls turn it around and we are rolling on the floor laughing together.

So in true Hurley Girl form they decided before dinner last night to fill their old pool and jump in fully clothed.  It felt really good to laugh with the girls after the night before! We had the best time...as we usually do. It moments like these... Swimming fully clothed, eating a picnic dinner in the fort we've built, having popsicles for breakfast or hunting for monsters in closets and ending up finding ghosts that make motherhood the best job I ever have or ever will have! I love my life, I love my kids and I can take a few bed-time battles is we get to have adventures like these the next day!

*First*, First Day of School

In typical Shelbi fashion I knew what I needed to do today to get Grace ready for her first day of school, pack what she needed in her backpack, and at what time I would need to leave to pick up my father at the airport – and yet…. Did Shelbi pack Grace’s backpack the night before? Did Lily wake at her usual crack of dawn? Did I have Lily’s outfit picked out and ready? Breakfast planned? Ahhh… That would be ‘No’ – ‘No’ – ‘No’ and… ‘No’. Maybe subconsciously I knew if I ran around like crazy trying to dress, feed and prep everyone and everything and sprinted out the door just in the nick of time, I wouldn’t have a moment dwell on the fact that… my baby was on her way off to her first, first day of school!

Or I am just me… a chaotic, whirlwind of ADD and I wasn’t prepared because I never am… Either way we all made it out the door with everything and on time to “rescue Grampa from the dragons!” {Or, for those of you who don’t speak “Grace”, pick him up from the airport.}

I snapped this "C'Mon Mom!" photo before we piled into the car to pick up Grampa.

About to walk into school...

Grace's best neighborhood buddy, Taylor was already waiting to go into the classroom when we got there! The girls were so excited to show off their backpacks to each other!

    

Okay Grace.... A quick photo with Daddy and then Mommy before they open the doors to your classroom...

Notice there is no photo of Grace with her Mommy...

After I snapped the picture of Brian with the girls Mrs. U. opened the door to the classroOm signaling it was time to come in. Like a blur Grace shot past me, past all of the other children waiting and straight into Mrs. U's arms. By the time I made my way into the classroom Grace had already hung her backpack on her hook and was with Mrs. E. {above} signing her name to the daily sign-in sheet.

I was able to get a quick hug good-bye and tell her that I loved her before she was lost to the wonder of her classroom. There were no tears. No begging either Daddy or Mommy to stay. Nope... just an "Okay - Love you - Bye..." as we tried to re-assure a girl that had already and without our help, lept into preschool with both feet and without so much as a backward glance.

When I returned at 3pm to pick her up, a very excited Grace lept from her chair to show me her painting and then quickly said "I don't want to go home! I want to stay here!"  -- I might have expected a tearful good-bye and while I was mistaken in that expectation, I knew all along she would say something along the lines of not wanting to go home when I returned to pick her up!

I had a moment to visit with her teachers after all the other children and parents had left and was informed in a "jovial" manner "Grace is a little chatterbox!"

I expected to hear this - I just did not expect to hear it on the first day!

Our first, first day of school is now under our belt.

The only emotion I am feeling at the moment is excitement.

I cannot pine for her infancy.

I am so proud of my little "chatterbox".

This is a good thing.

This is going to be a great year!

My baby is a preschooler!

First Dance and Gymnastics Class

Grace started ballet and Gymnastics today! It was so damn cute! She had the best time and I just wanted to pinch her little butt the entire time! I can honestly say that she liked ballet and gymnastics equally. We shall see at the end of 9 weeks if she has a preference or if we will continue with a duel class. I do not have any video of her in the gymnastics portion because poor Lily was melting down that she couldn't participate. But I hope to have some great gymnastics footage in the upcoming weeks!

So Damn Cute!!



More videos from todays class on YouTube!

The speed of light

I seems I can barely keep my eyes open lately. Life feels as if it is blurrring by at the speed of light. It's not - it's just life as a stay-at-home mom with two toddlers.

I - well... "we" have been trying to beak Lily of her up in the middle of the night wanting a bottle or something to drink routine. The last 2 weeks have been a little bit rough regarding sleep. Not as nightmarish as they could have been, but tough nonetheless. The full rundown of my "parenting choices" and my thoughts about my decisions around sleep for the last 20 months will be posted on my other blog soon.

I suppose that brings me to my other blog. My readership has been growing - Which is very exciting! {yay!} I started A Mother's Musings... in an attempt to become the next Erma Bombeck. I have since realized; Erma Bombeck I am not - she was brilliant! But I do have something to offer and I try to put my own funny spin on our life! Because my readership has been growing I have been able to "sell out" and make a few bucks off of my blog. So the bigger the blog gets, the more opportunities I have to make money, the better it is for my family - which in the end is why I started the blog in the first place - to find the inspiration to write something worth selling.

So I have been making changes to A Mother's Musings... to make it more marketable, user friendly and visable. I now own my own domain name. http://www.mymommystory.com/ is all mine. I have also had to create a logo for my blog {Thanks Bill for all of your halp and advice!!} and while all of this has been fun and exciting and a crash course in computer stuff {very technical term there - "computer stuff"} it has been time consuming. I hope that what I have done this week will be enough for now, so that I can focus on writing and more important on my girls and Brian!

{Side Note: If you like me - think I am funny - my girls say and do stuff worth reading - or that I say things  that might be worth hearing - tell people about A Mother's Musings, Mishaps & Milestones - I am currently working with some amazing friends and there are fantistic things to come & giveaways for my for my blog followers - Spread the word - Share the love! Become a public follower!}

I am taking care of Mason again this week, so I am far more exhausted at the end of the day for having chased, entertianed and cleaned up after three. Granted I only have him 2 days this week and 3 days next week, but that is enough. He is a very sweet little boy, but his being here continues to reaffirm that we were right all along, I/we cannot handle, 3 children.  *smile*

On top of Stroller Strides, Story Time, Play Group, Swim Lessons, Upcoming Dance/Gymnastics Classes and Family Time - Grace starts preschool in 22 days.  TWENTY-TWO DAYS people! I cannot believe it's here already! It was just yesterday that the school in our backyard opened and Grace would stand on the bar in the backyard and watch the kids line up for school and say "I gotta go to school!" My response would always be "Next year!" now... It's next year! Like I said... Life is blurring by at the speed of light!

Try-Try Again?

{Fried Beans}

I do not want to say that the girls’ and my summer science project was a complete failure because it was not. We managed to plant and sprout bean plants. We were able to watch the bean stalks grow for three plus weeks. We had fun and in the end I think that was really the point. I am however truly sad that we were not able to get the plants to flower and grow actual beans. I cannot fault our care of the plants save the fact that I was aware the 116 degree heat could not be good for them; yet failed to move the planter to the shade. Since every other aspect of our little experiment was a smashing and relatively simple success was inspired to search the internet for a different method or seed or idea on how to grow green bean with my girls. A broad and basic search for "home and garden products" yielded a surprising little treasure. I will admit that at first glance I almost dismissed  this site  for seeming user unfriendly; however I am so happy that I typed “Seeds” into the search box at the top of the page before moving on.

If I were growing our little bean experiment in a classroom setting rather than at home with my 1 and 3 year old daughters, I found an amazing planter that I remember seeing a few years back and completely forgot about. Do you all remember seeing the commercials for the AeroGarden? I remember thinking back then “How cool is that?” and I started to think… "Maybe?" I suppose if I were growing vegetables in a sizeable quantity for consumption like we did in our backyard when I was a child the AeroGarden would be the way to go. Living in the desert is clearly not conducive to growing a small vegetable garden - My 'fried green beans' are proof of that- In the end the scale of both the girls and my interest in this ‘bean project’ and the amount of time and money I am willing and able to invest in it, did not warrant purchasing an AeroGarden. But checking out all of the options for seeds and reading the reviews got me excited that “Maybe? Someday…” There were several great reviews from teachers growing beans in their classrooms with the AeroGraden systems.

Further search of the site brought me to an adorable option for something a “little” more to the girls’ scale. This time I am think we should try something a bit different. This time, perhaps Instead of beans, although they are so easy to sprout – perhaps we will try some herbs or small flowers? These biodegradeable pots are the right scale and price for what I should be doing with a 1 and 3 year old. Plus, I thought the planters they decorated for the ad we just adorable. The best part of this find; they will make for a great “science project” and a fun arts-and-crafts project. I am not sure what I am more excited about… Watching the girls watch something grow or seeing what G and I can create while decorating these little pots. It just goes to show – You never know where you will find inspiration and how a broad search can unearth the most surprising treasures. One website, endless possibilities!

Keep your eye out for Summer Science Project – Take 2.

Fried Beans

Well, after 30 days

{about 20 days shy of when I had hoped to wrap our summer science project up}

we have come to our conclusion.

To see our little science project from start to finish click HERE

Summer Science Project

My parents sent us to summer school every year - At least while we were in Grade School. It was more a way of giving us something to do other than spend all day at the river or off in the wood unsupervised - Versus needing extra help with a subject - In fact it had everything to do with keeping us out of trouble when during the summer . Oh don't get me wrong - Muffy and I spent a fair amount of time skipping class and trying to catch frogs at the Bull Frog Pond outside the Tea House in Child's Park. But it was {3} classes - You could pick a maximum of {1} sport, so we always took tennis - and FIRST THING in the morning before it was too hot and muggy to be on the courts, let alone chasing after fuzzy green balls. Then {2} "academic" classes. It seemed I always took some variation of the same {3} classes. Creative Writing, Science and Theater. Usually Creative Writing and Science.

I remember vividly one summer morning Muffy and I stopped our bikes at the foot of our friend Jennifer's driveway. We were on our way to summer school and Jennifer and her mother were packing up their boat for a day on the river with her father and brothers. Jackie, Jennifer's mom asked where we were off to so early. When she heard we were on our way to summer school, she asked "Why? Do your parents think your stupid?" I will never forget that conversation as long as I live. I couldn't believe someones mother would say something like that. No credit was given towards the upcoming academic year. I am not even sure there were "grades" it was more like going to camp for half a day. The classes I liked the best, beside tennis {Mr Holman was HOT!} were science. I got to dissect earth worms, watch butterflies hatch {our next science project!!} and sprout beans. Those three projects stand out the most in my mind.

A few weeks ago, remembering how simple it was to "sprout" beans and from always having a garden how quickly beans grow. As in a visible change from day to day I though that might be a fun "science" project for the girls and me to take on this summer. I debated just sprouting beans because that would only take a few days and the girls might get a kick out of it, but in the end - Their favorite vegetable is green beans and I always had a garden with fresh summer vegetables to munch while growing up and living in the 'burbs - The dusty desert, sun baked, 'burbs was not conducive to a vegetable garden. Still... I wanted to see if we couldn't grow at least a handful of green beans so the girls "reward" at the end would be growing something they could eat!

So.. I bought a packet of beans and dug out a large empty plant pot from the garage and some potting soil.

The packet of beans was the most intriguing part of this first stage of our project. Grace kept shaking and shaking the packet. Listening to the sound and then pausing to think about it. Then shaking it back and forth some more. Finally she asked me what was in the envelope. So I cut it open and shook some of the "seeds"{beans} into my hand. I explained to her " These are the seeds we were going to plant in the dirt. We were going to put our "Garden" {pot} in the sun, plant the seeds in the dirt, water it a few times a day and watch them grow just like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' - Then in a little while we will have yummy Green Beans to eat growing right here in this pot! " --- Now to me an understandable question would be something about being able to climb the beanstalk.... Or if there would be a giant up in the sky at the top of the beanstalk.... Some question referencing "Jack and the Beanstalk". Not my Grace --- Instead she looks as the handful of seeds I am holding. Thinks about it for a moment, looks right at me and says...

"That's gonna' be a lot of cans!"

Jaw dropping... shame creeping in... I grew up around farm land. While Northampton was technically a "city" it was the furthest thing from. It was a small town where everyone had a decent piece of property and most people had a garden even if it was only flowers. There were road side farm stands all over the place in the summer and fresh summer vegetables made their way to your table from no further than 10 miles from home and that was a haul. I don't know that we ate canned vegetables ever when I was growing up - but my kids.... My kids eat canned green beans. My kids eat canned green beans so often that Grace thinks green beans grow in cans! -- My-child-thinks-beans-grow-in-cans! -- Oh the shame... Guess it's a good think we're doing this little project! Next year I might have to figure out how to dig a real garden in the backyard!

So proud of her little garden!

The garden sign would not last - First the HOT Arizona Sun would melt the glue and it would fall apart - Later Lily would use brute force strength to pull the "Grace and Lily's Garden" part off.

DAY 5 - The bean sprouts began poking through the soil. I have no idea why I do not have a photo of that. Day 5 was by far the coolest day of the entire project to day. Grace and Lily amazement that something was growing where just a few days earlier there was nothing but dirt and some beans they pushed down into the soil - If the project never went any further than that - Well that was a really, really cool moment!

The first leaves!

Starting to grow!

Getting bigger by the day!

{They would be even bigger if Lily hadn't pulled off half the leaves!!}

Almost time to put in stakes and tie the stalks!

Okay this is pretty fun for all of us now! Every morning the stalks are visibly bigger than the day before!

STAY TUNED TO SEE HOW FAR WE MAKE IT IN THE BEAN FARMING RACKET!

WILL WE SEE ACTUAL EDIBLE BEANS?

WILL LILY PICK ALL THE LEAVES BEFORE THEY GROW?

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK

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SAME BEAN TIME

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SAME BEAN CHANNEL!

Vote for 'The Hurleys' on We're on the Fence by clicking on the button {can be voted for daily}:

Preschool Prep

Taking every opportunity I can this summer to prepare Grace for preschool has proved far more fun than emotional. Don't get me wrong it has been emotional but the "high" and the excitement for both Grace and me has outweighed the hesitation and anxiety of the unknown. It started with a small, ongoing "science project" just before going off to VBS. The next step was an "organized" activity for our play group here yesterday and today was story time.


Finding out that Grace has a better grasp of her world than I sometimes give her credit for, has been a wonderful discovery - I think for both of as! I raved about her intellect for the first 2 years of her life, but the last 9 months have been so much about what Lily can and cannot do that poor Grace has grown up, quite unnoticed into such an amazing little girl. I still tell people I have 2 "toddlers" when in fact I have a toddler and a "young lady".



At VBS we learned that she is quite capable of participating in an activity or classroom setting without me. The separation is still a challenge, but once the program begins the tearful good-bye is in the past and forgotten allowing Grace throws herself into the mix full bore; as is evident from the photos taken of her by the VBS staff; the wonderful letter sent home from her teacher; and the amazing staff who knew and adored my child even before the week was half over.



Knowing that school this Fall means organized activity. Like Grace had at VBS where there is a time and a place for everything. {i.e....Now is snack time, next is arts and crafts, after that is story time} I needed to bring a little more of this to Grace's daily routine. With the exception of meal and nap or bedtime, Grace & Lily can do whatever they want all day long {provided we are home} They can start coloring and decide to have a tea party after 2 minutes. They can be watching a show, putting together a puzzle and playing with the train set all at the same time. They might ask for a story and decided to play dress-up while I am trying to read or want to play Duck-Duck-Goose randomly and in the middle of any activity. This is not going to be allowed when Grace starts preschool - Art time is art time and not story time. Story time is quiet time not puzzle or Duck-Duck-Goose time. I'd always assumed that Grace was too young to impose such "rules" on. It was okay that she was a bit of a free-spirit, she's only 2 or only 3 she would not understand if I said to her "No, that's not what we are doing now". Not the case at all. In fact although I am well aware that children crave boundaries and discipline...Sometimes you forget to put theory into practice.



We will get to the science project in a bit. Yesterday was our weekly Wednesday Play Group. I love Wednesdays - the play date is always at my house. When we started this little play group Lily was a baby and napped in the morning. I knew if we just held the play group here she could nap and I wouldn't have to worry about Grace having to miss out on play time with her friends just because Lily needed to sleep. It's always been toddler mania though. Outside when the heat permits and inside when it's far too hot. The kids just run around and play with everything. The kitchen, musical instruments, dolls & strollers, whatever we have - all over the living room or loft, everything out at once chaos. But the kids have fun. My living room is gated so all the kids have a safe space to play or the loft is gated so again a safe and reasonable sized area for small children to play in - but - Chaos. I cannot complain. I don't mind the chaos. The group is made up of really good kids who range in age from 14 months old to 3 years old. They get along well and for the most part share. I am not so in denial to say that's it's perfect - There are a few fights over toys every now and again and 'Time Out' is used or threatened by at least one parent every week, but it's a great group.



This week in my quest to prepare for preschool I planned a "Play-Dough Play Date". I made play-dough over the weekend and it had been a big hit, so why not try again? But since I did not have many tools or cutters to manipulate the play-dough with I invited the moms to bring something along, any item that might be fun to use with the play-dough. It was once again a big hit! The kids all sat around the kitchen table. No one ran off to play something else - We just played with play-dough for a good 30 minutes. I was tickled pink that the kids from youngest to oldest, were able to focus their energy for as long as they did!



Today we returned to story time at the library for the first time in months. I really enjoy our local library's Thursday program. The children's librarian does a great job of getting the kids to sing, and move around and be loud to they get it all out before reading her first story. Then getting them up and moving for another few songs, and gets their "sillys" out before reading her second story. And ends with a few more songs and the "Hokey Pokey" before sending them off into the library where they will need to be quiet again. Last year Grace loved the singing part but had trouble focusing and listening to the story. With so many kids and distractions it was hard for her to listen when so many other tings were grabbing her attention. Last summer I had to sit on the floor with Grace on my lap at the edge of the carpet because she would not go sit amongst the kids, in front of the Librarian by herself. This summer Grace went right for the carpet, picked a spot to sit down and tried for a few minutes to explain to Lily & Rylan that they needed to sit too. In the end the pull of running around with Rylan and Lily proved too much and Grace, much to my chagrin joined the party. She did however pick a spot back on the carpet when story time began and actively participated with the librarian right down in front when they began singing the songs. Last year if the librarian looked at her or tried to engage her Grace would have come running to me and hid behind my leg. This year Grace was doing all she could to be noticed. It was like watching a butterfly emerge from it's cocoon {Our next "science project" by the way.} If Rylan had not decided to sit in Monica's lap for the story parts and had remained on the carpet for all of it, not just the singing parts, I think Grace would have too. And I think Grace and Rylan would have listened to the story more closely if they had been on the carpet, but where they were today compared to where they were a year ago... Those two are so ready for preschool!!



Lily on the other hand - Well this was Lily's first story time not strapped to a stroller. Lily was sure that the kids sitting on the carpet were there waiting for a giant game of Duck-Duck-Goose. She also thought that their laps were there for her sitting pleasure and tried a few out. At one point she hugged a random little girl and then wandered across the room to "dance" in front of a group of older kids. Lily has no idea that she's not a big kid and is seen as a "baby" by 4, 5 & 6 year olds. Lily thinks she's just as big as they are AND that everyone wants to hang out with Lily. She cannot imagine whay anyone would not want to hang out with her. Lily and I left story time half way through so that Grace & Rylan {and the rest of the moms and kids} could enjoy the second story free from Lily's antics.



The 'Summer Science Project' needs it's own post so keep an eye out - It's coming soon!

Holiday Weekend

This 4th of July weekend was packed and laid back all at the same time {if that makes sense?}On Friday Brian took the day off and we spent a family day at home. After Brian spent the entire month of June on the road {save 5 days} it was nice to just be here all together.

Grace got her leotard, tights, ballet and tap shoes on Friday and spent the entire afternoon, dressed, hair pulled back and showing us "what we do in class". She has yet to take a single dance lesson, but has these crazy moves and after each one she will say "Did you see that? This is what we do in class."

While I'm on the subject of dance class... *sigh*... I attended a strict ballet school for...well all of my childhood. I won't deny that dancing in the nutcracker every year was a blast - And maybe in part why I stayed a "dancer" for so many years. But this school was for hard core dancers. Something I am not, was not and never wanted to be. I started dancing at 3 and at my dance school the attire for the 3 year old dancers was the same as it was for the company dancers; Black leotard, pink tights, pink slippers, hair pulled back tight and neat. No legwarmers, no skirts, no exceptions. I knew girls at another dance studio that were allowed to wear whatever they wanted and was at times envious. I though 'IF' Grace took dance lessons I would send her somewhere where she could wear whatever she wanted...Have fun... Be a little girl... But when it came down to it... You go with what you know! So my little Grace is in black leotard, pink tights, pink slippers, hair pulled back, no skirts, no legwarmers, no exceptions.

I was a little emotional when Grace put on her leotard, tights and shoes for the first time. With her hair pulled back looking so grown up. I wasn't ready to lose my breath - She went from "toddler" to "little girl" in that moment.

On Saturday our friends Grace & Keith celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary. {Congrats guys on 11 years of wedded "bliss"!!} So... Grace, Lily, Brian and I did the least we could do and selfishly {yes, selfishly not selflessly} watched Vincent so that Grace & Keith could have a quiet dinner out, just the two of them.

As I said we "selfishly" watched Vincent - It was selfish because I swear we get more out of it than Grace and Keith do. Aside from the fact that Vincent watered all of the plants in the yard for us - The girls, Brian and I all adore him! He is just the nicest, funniest little kid! He plays so well with our girls. Grace & Lily are just as rough and tumble as boys are so I never worry that Vincent is going to be too rough with them. On the contrary I often think it an unfair fight that both Grace and Lily are full on tackling him. 2 against 1 are unfair odds. So when Vincent is here the girls have a playmate to run them around and wear them out. Someone to play duck-duck goose with {beside me and Brian!!} someone to join in the tea parties, kick a ball around with and race strollers with. And Brian... well Brian gets to have a boy around the house for just a little while. I know that Brian would never trade his girls in for a boy in a million years. I am reasonably sure that Brian has never wished he had a boy - But I know that he likes evening the odds up a bit from time to time and Vincent evens those odds up a bit!

Having Vincent over for the evening was the perfect excuse for me to make play-dough. My mother always made our play-dough when we were kids and I have had the recipe sitting in my recipe box for the last three years just waiting for me to get motivated enough to make it. The play-dough was a big hit! All five of us spent at least an hour making snakes and using the play-doh presses to make "worms" , "spaghetti" and "hair" . Lily pounded and made impressions of her face. Grace and Vincent just laughed. At what I don't know but they were cracking each other up! It was a great night!

{I love this picture! I just wish Vincent and Lily had been looking!!}

Sunday evening Grace, Keith and Vincent returned for a BBQ and a plan to go see fireworks. Grace L. and I did not have high hopes nor high motivation for going but felt like "we should". So after a laid back dinner and some "play time" or rather "wrestle time"...

{FYI Vincent is NOT biting Grace's leg - He's getting kicked in the face}

we packed into our cars, and headed towards the Sports Complex where the fireworks and 4th of July festivities were being held. Thankfully non of us had any desire to go into the complex so we joined the masses in the mall parking lot to watch. I was impressed. The mall turned off their already dim parking lot lights just before the fireworks began. We sat in the back of the car, well the kids sat in the back of my Edge with the tailgate open and we sat in folding chairs right there next to them. The display was pretty impressive although the kids interest in in lasted about 5 minutes. Thankfully the show was over after about 17 minutes and the traffic out of the parking lot and home manageable {as long as you have "MASShole driving moves" like Brian does according to Grace & Keith!!}

We wrapped up the long weekend on Monday with my family in Scottsdale. We spent the afternoon lounging in the pool and then ate ourselves into a BBQ coma with a few of their friends and neighbors in the evening. It was a great, lazy, family weekend!

"D'you wanna' Skype with me?"

This phrase has had me in stitches for over a week now – ever since Grace discovered Skype it’s her new favorite question. Lately when someone wants to say “hello” to her on the phone the first thing she'll ask is – “D'you wanna' Skype with me?” The simple fact that my 3 year old - hell any three year old for that matter, is asking to "skype" is hysterical and scary and a clear sign of the times.

It all started last weekend. My grandmother’s 80th birthday party was being thrown at her niece, Susan’s home and Susan asked if the girls and I would please set up our computer for a video chat with my Grandmother. This was the beginning of the end – I’ve avoided Skype for over a year now for the simple fact that I don’t want to be seen. But this 80th birthday party experience… Well it was something else and my girls are now hooked. Well worth the price of being caught in my pj’s past noon or with my hair a mess from the pool with the kids.

As soon as Grace realized that the people on the other side of the screen were a “captive” audience – it was game on! Instead of trying to pay attention to and follow a phone conversation she can simply surround herself with her stuff and show it off – show off – dress up – sing – dance – color – chat – She is loving life with someone other than Mom and Dad and Lily to Ham it up for! And Lily, well Lily is not sure what is more amazing to watch, Grace playing, dancing, reading and singing or the fact that her Grandparents stuck in the computer. She quite often gets in the act – Always one to follow Grace’s lead Lily is game for just about anything Grace can dream up for them to do.

I find myself wondering if anyone really wants to sit in front of their computer and watch Grace and Lily silently color or put a puzzle together and then I remember – I get to see this stuff everyday – The rest of our family lives all the way across the country – They are lucky to see the girls two or three times a year – They clearly are loving this new form of communication just as much as Grace is!

Thanks Skype, for bringing family just a little bit closer!

Day 5

Today was Grace’s last day of VBS at CGLS. She had a fun, positive new experience and formed quite a bond with her Preschool teacher this week. Now the first day of school should be a happy reunion, instead of a nerve-racking new adventure!


Brian was home this morning and able to take Grace to school. He was so excited to see where she had been all week and to reintroduce himself to Grace’s teacher and thank her for a wonderful week. Without thinking this plan through we all piled into the car and headed into the chapel to drop her off for her last day. Talk about setting yourself up for failure. Brian has not been in town more than seven days all month. Grace has missed him like crazy {as we all have!} and he only just got back into town last night. Ask Grace to say goodbye to him at school? “Ah, Hello? McFly? Is anyone home?” Of course it’s going to be a dramatic exit. Grace wouldn’t let go of Brian’s neck – Crying – I don’t want to stay! I want to go with you! I know that Brian was conflicted – On the one hand I am sure that it felt really good to have Grace want to be with him – On the other his baby was upset. Ms. Denise offered to hold Grace for us so we could say goodbye. When Grace finally went to her – which only took about 30 seconds of convincing on Ms. Denise’s part – Grace nestled her head right into Ms. Denise’s shoulder and hugged her tight around the neck. I cannot tell you how much it meant to Brian and me to have a teacher that not only made Grace feel so comfortable while she was upset – But who clearly wanted to take her and comfort her. Said it before – I am sure I will say it a million times more – We simply made the absolute right decision with this school choice!

We did hide in the back of the chapel and watch – Brian really wanted peace of mind that Grace was okay and not too upset – Something I knew she was or soon would be. We watched her dance along with the morning song and snuck out. Yes – I know we should have had Brian participate in the pick-up and not the drop-off – BUT hindsight is 20/20 and Brian’s meeting schedule was only going to allow for dropping her off – not picking her up. C’est La Vie!

When I arrived to pick her up Ms. Susan the assistant preschool teacher pulled me aside and said “I have to talk to you about Grace.” My heart sank – all I could think was this was going to be a negative report. She began “While we were playing Duck-Duck-Goose…” My head spinning –“she hit a kid? Tackled a kid? Got physical with a kid? What?...What?... What?!...” She continued – “… we were all in hysterics. Grace has had us in stitches all week, she is so funny! It was Grace’s turn to be “it” and she went running around the circle tapping everyone… ‘Duck-Duck-Duck-Duck’ around the circle twice and then stopped in front of me, bend down, looked me square in the face and asked with a most serious and puzzled expression… “What am I ‘posed to do now?” we. were. rolling!” I was then told by Ms. Denise and Ms. Susan that Grace is a wealth of hysterical, serious questions. Such as their favorites - When the group is told to “Line up.”; Grace says “Okay. Good. Where?”- or when wrapping up an activity Grace will ask “What’s next?”

I am so happy to hear that her propensity for ‘chatter’ is, at least for the moment, amusing and not getting her into trouble.

What a great, growing experience for all of us this week!

Day 4

Another first...


This week has flown by. It was not as emotional as it could have been - All in all I think a great growing and learning experience for all of the Hurley Girls. Grace seems to enjoy her time away even if she says she doesn't want to go and would rather stay home with me each morning- And I know from her teacher, assistant and Jr Counselor that they enjoy Grace so this was a good experience all around! 

This morning Rachael saved my sanity by offering to take Grace to VBS so that Lily and I could sprint across town to Stroller Strides. Something that I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for. {Rachael, I owe you BIG!} So Grace had her very first adventure in someone else's car today.

At breakfast she kept asking if Taylor was here yet.  When Rachael called to say they were in the driveway Grace all but ran through the front door to get to them she was so excited!  But when it came time to get into the car seat - there were tears.  As far as I know they were the only tears because not 5 minutes later Grace & Taylor called to tell me that Grace was okay and that they were laughing so loud that they had to call and tell me about it! So - It sounds like a fun car ride for the girls and a glimpse of loud, giggly, sleepless sleepovers to come for Rachael {and me!}

Grace was excited to tell me how much fun she had today when I picked her up - although she couldn't tell me a thing they did except for play Duck-Duck-Goose {a personal favorite of mine by the way!}She was as always proud of her art work and excited to ask permission to eat her tootsie-roll.  Brian noticed a marked difference in her since this experience when he returned home from the road today - And I am still so pleased! Bring on Preschool!

Here are a few of today's photos - with some of Lily tagged onto the end - She's kind of gotten the short end of the stick this week!

Day 3

It's getting easier everyday! Grace still said that she didn't want to go to VBS today and that she just wanted to stay home with me, but once there she ran over to her group, donned her name tag and within a few minutes I could see her dancing along with the rest of the kids as the learned a new song.  She's fine!

When I arrived to pick her up I had the camera to take a picture of Grace ans her new best buddy Jayme. I should have just snapped the photos rapid fire. Each time I tried to get Grace to smile and face the camera she looked like a deer caught in headlights - but after the flash went off she laughed and nestled into Jayme's lap and they were just too cute together!  You will just have to take my word that she was happy, relaxed and is clearly enamored with Jayme.

I had another very nice conversation with Grace's teacher after all the other kids left and I am more and more pleased with our decision as this experience goes on.  My only regret now is that we were unable to Grace Grace into the 3 day a week program.  I do believe that 2 days is enough since this will be her first experience away from home{aside from this week} But I can see how much fun she is and will be having with Ms. Denise. I have a feeling though that July is going to fly by and we'll be dropping Grace off for her first day of school before we know it.