Disney on Ice!!!!

The BIG event came on Thursday when we got to go to Disney on Ice!! Papa splurged on our tickets and got us FRONT ROW SEATS!!! I felt like a little kid the closer we got b/c I KNEW Grace would absolutely LOVE it! Look at the girls all dressed up and ready to go.....LOVE the pose Soph!! haha After Nana insisted on getting the girls the "official" program and a toy of their choice we headed for our seats. We nearly died once we arrived b/c we were literally 2 feet from the ice! There was no barrier between us and the rink which made me SLIGHTLY nervous considering I had an almost two year-old to keep under control! I now fully understand the purpose of those child "leashes!" :)

Please look at how close we were to Minnie!!! Now look at the picture to the right and just imagine what Grace was thinking!!! She didn't quite understand why she couldn't go out and sit with Minnie.......afterall there was plenty of room on that bench for Grace's little tooshy! Mickey and Minnie did this "love" number and at the end of the song Minnie had a rose to give out to someone in the crowd. Much to our amazement, she came right over and motioned to Sophie to COME AND GET IT!!!!! We all sat completely frozen as if we were at a Keith Urban concert and he just asked us to come on stage and get a guitar pick! Finally once we got ourselves together, we told Sophie to go ahead and she got the only rose that Minnie gave out! Can I even tell you how exciting that was! Check out her picture below!

Intermission came at the perfect time b/c Grace was starting to get a little restless. I let her run a few thousand laps and then the show came back on. Nana saved the day with her tinkerbell snow cone. Once Grace got a hold of that, she forgot what was happening around her. Let me explain. You see she only drinks milk and water and had had juice 3 times up until that point. As soon as she figured out that she could drink that sugar water through the straw, she drank like she had never drank before!

We had SO much fun and I am SO glad we decided to go! There is nothing like seeing that through your child's eyes! And we saw those eyes until 11pm due to the overload on sugar water! hahahahahaha



Thank you again Nana and Papa!!

My little punkin' head was pooped the next day! We got to play with Grandma during her lunch break and this picture was taken right before she conked out on her lap!

First Gingerbread House

Grace also got to help make her first gingerbread house while we were in IN! Every year, Grandma and Jack make one and this year they were nice enough to let us "help!" Grace actually did pretty well, and Jack (bless his little heart) was VERY patient with her! They started decorating the roof and took it pretty seriously. Grace didn't start "sampling" the candy decorations until we had a good portion of it done. And then she started popping candy into her mouth so fast I didn't even notice she did it. She got away with eating a spree (yes the perfect candy for choking) before it was already too late! Here's a picture of the final product......not too shabby!!!

Odon Christmas Parade

The next thing on our agenda was supposed to be a Christmas show in Indy. Unfortunately, we found out that no child under 3 was allowed since it was a theatre-style show! BOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Poor Grace and I headed back to Bloomfield sulking in our misery.......alright I'm kidding although I was pretty disappointed. We found another Christmasy event to go to.......the Odon Christmas parade! Who knew! For as long as I lived in Bloomfield, I had never heard of it. This didn't quite work out as scheduled either. Laura and Brent looked on their website and it showed a parade start time of 6:30pm. So Mom and I get Grace in around 5 layers of clothing, and got her out of the car just in time for the parade TO BE OVER!!!! WHAT!!!! Yep, the start time was wrong on their website! I would like to share some words with the townsfolk there in Odon! :) Only kind, stern words.......come on people it's Christmas!

Luckily, there was still all kinds of fun to be had. Odon transformed their park into a winter wonderland complete with lights galore, Christmas trees of every color (Grace's favorite was the purple tree), live animals, and Santa of course! Most of the buildings in the park were transformed into a different Christmas theme. We walked into the building that housed the big man himself, and encountered a line you might see at King's Island! Most of you know that Grace isn't a real shy type of child, and definitely showed her colors that night! She wasn't about to wait in line to see Santa. She grabbed Grandma's hand and walked right up to him. Yes, I was the horrible mother in the background taking pictures and watching while Grace was completely ruining some little girl's moment with Santa! All she did was touch Santa's leg twice and she walked away! It was HYSTERICAL! I'm pretty sure we all had a little tinkle in our pants after that!

The last stop in our Odon adventure was the new community building where cookies and hot chocolate were in store! We even got to listen to some local talent..........FABULOUS!!! :)

I would highly recommend the Odon Christmas parade......although next year we're hoping to actually make it to the parade!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We're finally back from our extended stay in IN, and I have a lot of catching up to do! First I'll start with Thanksgiving. We had an impromptu dinner with the Gentry side of the family the night before Thanksgiving. We were originally going to feast on Thursday, but when the Townsends had a change of plans, we decided to go ahead and have dinner when everyone could be together. Barb, Laura, and I started whipping up all of the deliciousness while Jack and Grace ran at least 500 laps around Barb's house! If I heard Grace say, "Come on Grandma" once I heard it a thousand times! We also came up with a new pumpkin pie recipe. You see if for whatever reason you make your pie and add condensed milk THAT ISN'T SWEETENED, simply taste it mid-way through cooking and start adding sugar!! You'll end up with a lovely twice-whipped pumpkin pie and no one will know the difference! :) It's a real good thing that Barb decided to give the pie a taste before it was done!!

On Thanksgiving day, we headed to Greenwood to have dinner with the Harding side of the family. We got to see Maggie and Adam's new house for the first time and it's beautiful! It's got me all geared up to move myself! Anyway, we once again stuffed ourselves to the gourd and couldn't stop eating! Grace tried some of Maggie's chocolate-cinnamon pudding, and clearly LOVED IT!! Later that night, the kids had a make-shift campout in Sophie's playroom complete with a camp fire! Then we locked them up and went to the movies!! hahaha Ok so we didn't lock them up, but the girls did head off to see New Moon that night (Go Team Edward)! We made sure to get home at a decent time so the shopping extravaganza could begin the next morning! We didn't make it out until about 10am but still found almost everything we needed. The big-ticket item that we couldn't find is now on lock-down in a safe, secure place since it was a certain someone's #1 item on her wish list!!!!!!!!!!

Fun two weeks ahead!!

Tomorrow Grace and I will be heading north for our LONG stay with Nana and Papa! And I have to tell you, I can't wait!! We have so much to look forward to in the next couple of weeks, and I'm getting a little giddy! Tomorrow is Mom's (Nana's) birthday and we will be able to help her celebrate after we arrive in IN! I think some Pepperoni Grill is in store and my mouth is watering just thinking about that place! On Wednesday, Grace and I are going to play with Grandma, Laura, Brent, and Jack while we wait on Matt to arrive. Next up is of course........Thanksgiving! I don't know about you all, but I intend to wear my sweat pants so I can stuff my face with as much goodness as I possibly can! On Friday morning, bright and early, Mom, Carrie, Maggie and I will head off to do our annual Black Friday shopping! I never thought I would say this, but I AM SO EXCITED!! I have almost 90% of my shopping done, but it's so fun to see everyone in the Christmas spirit.......dressed in their pajamas, drinking 10 cups of coffee, fighting over parking spots, and loaded down with so many shopping bags that the poor kids are walking and the bags are in the strollers! For those of you who haven't experienced Black Friday shopping, I have to say you're missing out........unless you head to Walmart at 4am and get trampled!! You might walk into Toys R Us and see the line that wraps around the building. Don't worry it moves REALLY quickly!! On Sunday, we get to watch Jack play basketball in Columbus. I can't wait to see the new moves he's learned from IU and the Pacers! :) IU may even need to look into recruiting him. It nevers hurts to sign a player A LITTLE early! We were initially planning on travelling back to TN after his game, but I learned that our next event was only a few days away and it didn't make sense to drag Grace back and forth AGAIN. So on Thursday, Grace, Nana, and I are going to see Disney on Ice IN THE FRONT ROW!!!!!!! WHO HOO!!!!! I am SO EXCITED to take Grace I can hardly stand it! It's possible she may have a little tinkle running down her legs if she sees "Mick" up close and personal!!! I'll make sure to take a ton of pictures! On Friday, we'll load up and head out to St. Louis for Vince's big 4th birthday party!! I haven't been able to go the past 2 years so I'm VERY excited to go this year!! Awww I can't believe our little "Bincy" is almost 4 already! If I missed any days, don't worry I'm sure I'll find some Christmasy things for Grace and I to do while we wait on everyone to get home from work........maybe we'll even visit the "cold room" at Pioneer Papa!! :)
To sum up my feelings for the next couple of weeks, I think it's safe to say I'M SO EXCITED!!!! I can't wait to see everyone!!!!

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

NANA!!!!

A Visit from the Mann clan

Chad, Julie, and Ally-cat made the long haul from Indy and visited good ol' Knoxville last weekend. Julie used to be our most frequent visitor. And then we started having babies which makes travelling A LITTLE more difficult! :) When we travel back to Indiana, we usually have our weekends packed with birthday parties, weddings, graduations, funerals, etc that tend to take up most of our time. Needless to say, Julie and I don't get to see each other very often anymore. So when she said they were coming for a visit, I did a little happy dance!!

Ally is 8 months older than Grace and was such a sweetheart to her! After they arrived in Tennessee, the girls put on their dress up clothes and the "night-o-fairy princesses" started!
They played so well together as long as Ally got to wear the green (Tinkerbell) dress and Grace got to wear the purple (Barbie) dress.......hey a girl has to know what color works best on her, right!?! :)

On Saturday, we sent the boys golfing and then took the girls to the aquarium in Gatlinburg. This was Grace's first trip to the aquarium so I was pumped. It's such a neat place to take the kiddos, and if you're ever in Gatlinburg, I highly recommend it. Inside there is a moving sidewalk and takes you underneath an enormous water tank filled with all kinds of sharks, turtles, etc. It's just like the scene in Jaws where the people are walking in the underwater tunnel. You know right before the dead body floats by the window and Jaws smashes into it!!!! Thankfully, we didn't have that SAME experience!! Whew I've watched one too many horror movies!



Once you pass all of the reminders of Jaws, there is a kids area with all kinds of fun things to look at and touch. The vibrating fish that you can stand on was a big hit as you can see in the pics above! Take a look at the picture of the treasure chest. You might notice a bright green button on the front. If you push that button, a big gust of air blows up from the what the kids are standing on. Now you might think this is a little cruel b/c it scared each and every kid that did it. On the other hand, I've never seen so many parents laughing SO hard!!!

Just like her mother, Grace was happy-go-lucky after we had our lunch!! We tend to get just a little irritable when we get hungry!! :)

We took the girls to the gift shop and let them each pick out a surprise. They had the cutest stuffed animals and little trinkets to choose from. For whatever reason, Grace picked out one of the ugliest things in the store......a purple mermaid. And what did Ally get......the same mermaid in pink!!!! Oh well they sure loved their "dollies!" It didn't take Grace long to start snoozing after we got on the road!!!

Saturday night Julie and I got a night out on the town! Ok so it was just dinner but enjoying a dinner out is a foreign concept to me these days! We got to enjoy A WHOLE meal without any interruptions AND the food was HOT when we ate it!! Ahhhhhh! I still slobber when I think about the white chocolate bread pudding a la mode!!! YUM!!! When we got home, we were pleasantly surprised to find the house picked up AND the dishes put IN the dishwasher. Matt and Chad are "brothers from another mother" and could sit and talk for hours like me and Julie so leaving them together all day is not a bit deal by any means. As a matter of fact, when we got home they were ready for us to leave again!

We had such a good visit with the Mann clan!! Come back anytime!!

We had beautiful weather all weekend, and decided Sunday night was a perfect night for a weenie roast before the big game. Here's a picture of Grace helping Matt with the hot dogs. She did a pretty good job. No eyes were poked out in the process so I'd consider that an overall success!!!

Here we go again......

Well it happened again.....we had our second round at the ER on Sunday! I always thought in the back of my mind that I could keep Grace in my little, baby bubble her whole life and nothing would happen to her that included any illnesses, injuries, bumps, bruises, etc. Doesn't every mom think that?!?! And here we are with two ER visits in less than 4 months under our belts! On Sunday, Grace and I were getting ready to head to the grocery store. She was in a closet downstairs playing peek-a-boo when I told her it was time to go. I took ahold of her forearm (in a VERY gentle way.....not in a LET'S GO OR I'M GOING TO PULL YOUR ARM OFF kind of way) to coax her out of the closet. She took a couple of steps and then fell onto her knees. She instantly started crying and pointing to her arm saying, "Ouch!" I knew instantly that she hurt it because she wouldn't even let me look at it without crying. Poor baby! I called Matt, told him to get home IMMEDIATELY,

and off we went. Grace was fine (and even fell asleep before we left for the hospital) as long as she was up against my chest with her left arm pointing up. The doctor took one look at it and popped her elbow right back into place! OUCH!!! While Grace wasn't thrilled with the actual popping back into place, she was fine RIGHT afterwards! SHOOO!! The combination of me having her arm and Grace falling just the right way was a recipe for disaster! Did I feel guilty you're probably asking? Ummm does a Paula Deen recipe have butter in it?? YES, of course I did! I don't care that it was an accident. It still happened nonetheless!

I posted a couple of pics from later that night to show you all that Grace was back to her old self again.....dancing around with her jammies pulled up past her bellybutton!! Oh I love that girl!! She even got a pair of purple gloves to take home as a souvenir!! :)

Hopefully we won't have to visit the ER for round three anytime soon........OR NEVER!!!!!!