That's my girl!

She knows what's good.

Friday night! Barnes and Noble or bust!!

Cinderella and Luciber

Gracey woke up from her nap a little earlier than normal this afternoon. I tried to to coax her back into bed but didn't want to put up too much of a fight because I finally got Emily to take a nap. *see picture below

I basically relented and said do whatever the heck you want, my dear, as long as it keeps you quiet. The activity of choice? Dress up like a princess. Favorite prop? Penny of course. Only her new name as of this afternoon is Lucifer. Or in Gracey's pronunciation, Luciber. And one more thing, don't you dare call Gracey "Gracey." From what she has said, her choice of princess name for the day is Cinderella.

And here is my favorite sight of the day. After refusing her morning nap and trying to refuse her afternoon nap, this is how I found #2. She managed to climb out of her play pen. That must have been the straw that broke the exhausted camels back, because she was out cold in a matter of minutes. I still love her, even after being a royal nightmare...along with Gracey, and having to go to the DMV (and pay a ridiculous amount of money to have my car registered in Arizona), Petco, and Staples (not for paper, pencils, or any type of office supply but because I knew theys old water bottles and my girls were dying of thirst). Yes, that was a lot of paranthesis.

Sleepy

This morning our lives got a little bit harder. (yes, that is dramatic but I feel dead on my feet I am so tired from it already) Emily finally realized that she can climb out of her crib. Which means that naps and bedtime are a little bit more difficult to deal with. Why can't kids be more like adults and LOVE their naps? I would love for someone to put me to bed twice a day. What do kids have against sleep? This morning I had to watch Emily through the crack of the door for 15 minutes, waiting for her to try to climb out again, just so that I could get that "NO!" in there. I tried moving her into the guest bedroom to her play pen, where she usually takes her afternoon nap, but she would climb right out of that too. I tried putting her in Gracey's bed but she didn't want anything to do with this. This is totally foreign to me. Gracey was able to climb out of her crib a lot sooner than Emily could, but she wouldn't. Gracey was slightly more obedient and so it was never an issue.

As I was typing that it got quiet. I assumed that Em had finally fallen asleep. Nope. She had climbed out of her crib once again.

I know she's tired, she has been up since 5:30 a.m. and yawning every 5 minutes.

Does anybody have any tricks or advice that might help this situation?

Pigtails!! Woo Hoo!

I have ALWAYS loved little girls with pigtails in their hair, even though I admittedly hated them on myself when I was younger. I now think they are so cute.

Last week, I was finally able to fit all of Emily's hair into them. This is exciting to me because it takes me back to the days of when Gracey was a little babe. It still cracks me up the differences between my girls. Gracey was wearing full piggies at only 6 months old. Emily, 18 months old.

Gracey (at 6 months old) with my sister Markie...over 3 years ago


Emily, showing off her new hair-do

And this my friend, is what pigtails look like on a little girl that has just woken up from her nap.

Fruity

I got these shirts for the girls at Target on clearance, I think that they were only $.98 a piece. I love bargains and I love cute shirts.

We took our lunch of PB&J to the park that day.

After we spent some time at the park (not much because it was so hot and muggy) we went home and did a cheap little craft project that Gracey picked out one day at WalMart. It was lots of fun and not very messy, that is just how I like them.

That drool looking thing on Em's chin is a scab from last week. She hit her chin on an end table in our living room. It hurt her quite a bit at first but then she didn't think much of it. Until of course every time she sees it in the mirror. Then it is "ow, ow, ow, ow" in her little whisper whine.

A drowned rat.

We still love Penny, even though only moments ago she saw me sit down at the computer desk and decided it would be lots of kitty-fun to jump from the back of the chair to my back....leaving claw marks on both shoulder blades. That's beside the point. We love that she doesn't go in the other room and hide when people are here, but she doesn't crawl all over your legs either. She just likes to hang out where the people are and observe.

The other night Gracey and Emily were having a bath. Penny usually gets up on the counter and watches with curiousity. I got Emily out of the bath and took her to her bedroom to get dressed. Penny got on the side of the tub and Gracey thought that meant that Penny wanted to get in with her. That, or Gracey took the opportunity to experiment with bathing a kitty while I was out of the bathroom to discourage it, which I usally am doing. I don't think I will ever know for sure but I have my guesses.

The verdict? Penny didn't like it, but didn't hate it enough that she bolted into the other room away from all humankind. She gladly licked herself dry for the next 45 minutes all while still following us around the house.

The Hills Are Alive...

With the sound of Music!!


On Monday night, Gracey and I attended the musical at Tuachan Amphitheater with my brother, his fiance, my dad, and step mom. It was a lot of fun and the play was SO GREAT! I was so happy to see Gracey love all the songs. I just might have to go buy the original for her to wear out like I did. Do they even have it on DVD? I hope so.



I just thought Gracey was feeling the cool water until she looked up and said "Mom, I can't reach the money!"

Gracey getting her picture taken with Maria and Captain Von Trapp! Who, by the way, did such a fantastic job!

A refreshing swim.

No cabin trip is complete unless some foolish boys go diving off the dock. This water is seriously 40 degrees!!!!

They're crazy!

The Grimshaw Family reunion

Every two years we have this big fat reunion in Beaver. My great-grandfather purchased some land way back in the day and built a cabin on it in 1950, I believe? (someone please correct me if I am wrong) Even though his kids have had kids, and their kids have had kids....it is still a favorite destination among all of us.

This is how I remember so many of childhood days at the cabin. We had our fishing poles just sitting there, watching the bobber closely to see if we had a nibble, and casting and rescasting until our lines broke. Its fun to see the new generation love the same thing.
Emily and Grandma enjoying some corn on the cob.
Here is Emily taking a much needed bath in the kitchen sink.


Here are my girls playing in the kid games.


Gracey trying out her hula hoop. You know she's concentrating hard when her tongue is out.


Corky, my brothers Dallas and Reggie, and my handsome Uncle Wayne having a bubble blowing contest. Corky won, hands down.

Every reunion we have some goofy theme. This year's was "hippie" and I was a party pooper. No other reason though except that I just didn't think much about it. As hippie as I got were my tishirts with peace signs on them. It was still fun though and we had a great time.





My 2nd cousin, Candy made some brownies and someone put some foilage on top...creating the perfectly themed photo op.



I would definitely say this year's reunion was a success!!

Golf Tournament

Every 2 years, for the Grimshaw family reunion, we have a big golf tournament. It is one of the highlights of the trip and not just because you get to hang out with family but because it is probably my favorite golf course to play on. This was the first year that Corky and I decided to let our girls tag along with us. (clearly the golf course is pretty laid back in Beaver)

Clockwise: 1- Loading up the carts. 2- The first group to tee off. 3- Not quite everybody that played, but almost. 4-Me and Emily waiting our turn.

Some playas!!

If we were having a slouching contest, I for sure would have won that one.

Another week in the life...

Last week we had a really good time. After Bailey and Skyler left (can see pictures of that visit on their blog)we had only a day to get ready for more visitors. Corky's mom, grandma, and sister came for a couple of days. It was lots of fun. They helped me finish up a project that has been 3 years in the making....my crayon quilt. I should say it didn't take me three years of working on it. I got the fabric 3 years ago and then got around to making the quilt a couple of months ago. Grandma Jean brought her quilting frames and helped me tie it and helped me sew the cute little crayon buttons on it. It is exactly how I imagined how it would turn out. So YAY for that!

Here is Grandma Jean and Old Grandma Ruby with the girlie girls! I didn't get a single picture of Jolene. She had never heard of the Twilight series and so I insisted she start reading one. She finished it in less than 24 hours so she was a busy girl while she was here. :)

It was new to me to hear it but in Corky's family, starting many generations back, all the great-grandmas and grandpas have been called "old Grandma" or "old Grandpa!" I think it is so cute and funny. I hope my great-grand kids will call me old grandma and hopefully I will be secure enough with my age to love it the way Old Grandma Ruby does!

And here are my girls enjoying the blanket.

These pictures are from Sunday, right before church. I thought the girls were looking especially cute and couldn't take enough pictures.

Being in Sunbeams with Gracey the past 2 weeks has really made me see how really well behaved she is. I mean, she is like any 3 year old and can get rowdy at times, but she loves to sing the primary songs and raises her hand when a question is asked. I don't give her enough credit. She is a good girl.

Emily is finally in nursery and LOVES it. Corky tells me how torn she is when he goes to pick her up. She is happy to see him but she really wants to stay and blow bubbles! I love her so much. I am so glad that she is okay in there, I was afraid it would be more difficult.


And only a couple of more pictures, I promise.

This was Sunday. Our church is at 1pm, which is the exact nap time of my children. Needless to say, Sunday is early bedtime for them. Gracey can barely make it though. We ate dinner at around 5:15 and she couldn't keep her eyes open. Could it be my boring dinner of apple slices, omelet, and toast?

Not 10 seconds after this photo was taken, she had a twitch. You know the kind where you dream you are falling off of your bike and you wake up suddenly with a rapid heartbeat? That kind. Her plate, including eggs, toast, and apples went FLYING. I am talking "hit the kitchen counter that is 7 feet away" flying! It was so funny.

And then here is our beloved Penny. We still love her and we are pretty sure she loves us. This is her favorite place to sleep during the day and I can't help but scratch her belly every time I see her. Oh yes, and she is officially ours. The adoption was complete as of last week as well. Gracey says that she is a happy part of our family.



I am thinking one of these days I am going to get the hang of blogging more often so I don't overload my entries withpictures only once a week or less.

Mother Birdie

Yes, that is me...or that is what I reminded myself of just after lunch today.

Corky's mom bought some really yummy cherries while she was visiting us, and lucky for us, she left them here! (Thanks Grandma Jean) So today after lunch I thought it would be good to share a bowl with the girls. I was all prepared to do all the pitting with my plate, trusted paring knife, and a napkin...because you know things are going to get messy. After cutting the first cherry in half, digging out the pit, and making a royal cherry-juice mess, I decided to give up the attempt to have manners. After that, I just popped a cherry in my mouth, split it with my teeth, spit the pit out onto the plate and placed a cherry half into both Gracey and Emily's mouth. Yes, I placed it into their mouths. I wasn't about to give them free reign to an open cherry. That just spells cherry stain disaster.

You may have seen it on the Discovery channel or remember it from school, but you'll recall that when freshly hatched birdies are wanting food from their mother they are not very patient. They crank their necks up, open their mouths, and squeel. That was basically Emily today. I couldn't pit those cherries fast enough. Thankfully Gracey is more patient.

After I told the girls this would be their last one, Gracey asked "Mom, have you eaten one?" Come to think of it, I hadn't. So I enjoyed one or two cherries that I actually could swallow! They were good. Cherries are one of the perfect summer fruit...or in my girls case "ABC Cherries."

Jesus wants me for a SUNBEAM! Again

If you are really perceptive and assumed from the title that I am the new sunbeam teacher...you are correct! Let's start this off with a little bit of honesty, shall we? We went calling-free in our new ward for 2 months. That was a shock all by itself because in the branch we just moved from, the bishop literally shakes his hand to introduce himself as he sets up a meeting to extend you call....sometimes two callings! You get scooped up pretty quick. While it was a little frustrating at first because I was so anxious to feel a sense of belonging here, I finally convinced myself to enjoy it while it lasted.

Corky and I were extended callings the same day. He was asked to be the Deacon's Quorum advisor and I was asked to be the Sunbeam teacher....Gracey's class. I accepted of course but our bishop asked if I had reservations. I simply said that I had been in the primary for so long, not to mention how it might be difficult to teach Gracey's class. I didn't mention that I had been praying for 2 months that of all the callings that I might get, I prayed to NOT get nursery or sunbeams. He then proceeded to tell me that as a bishopric they had been stewing over this particular calling for me for quite sometime and feel strongly that I should be in there. So I smiled, accepted and said "Apparently I have not learned all the lessons yet that I am supposed to!" The bishop left our house, I closed the door and began to cry. What's the big deal you ask? Well, normally it probably wouldn't be but for me it is. Although I feel that I am good with children that age, I don't particularly like it. I find it very frustrating to be with a bunch of 3-4 year olds that won't sit still, pick their nose, pull their gum out of their mouth, and growl at each other, all while I am trying to "teach" a simply lesson on loving one another.

I received this calling 2 weeks before I had to start actually teaching so I had plenty of time to ponder and think about what I can gain from this, or what I may have to offer. One day as I was blow-drying my hair, it occurred to me what that was. For quite sometime now, I have realized that I expect a lot out of Gracey. She is a very smart girl. So when I see her misbehaving or acting out, I get quite upset. I am not as patient as I would like to be and have been asking for help and guidance in my prayers on how I can be a more patient and loving mother. I fear that I will drive her away with my expectations and reactions. Like I said, I was blow-drying my hair when I had the thought that this calling is exactly what I need to learn to treat Gracey more like the 3 year old she is and not a 10 year old that should know better. I scanned the lessons for the Sunbeam class and the lessons are so simple. For example, they include "I am thankful for my eyes", "I am thankful for my ears","Music can make me Happy", etc. They are simple but brilliant.

Yesterday was my first day teaching. This class is by far the most restless class in all of primary and I got a lot of "good lucks" from fellow teachers. I took a lot of things that I learned from Ft. Irwin and applied them just yesterday. We took turns being line leaders instead of running (yes, they usually ran) to their classroom. I made them spit their gum out, and I made them put their papers under their chair. I hope that doesn't sound to "Hitler-ish" but I wanted to do what I could to teach them reverence. After those things were done, we had fun. I was laughing almost the entire time during class at the silly things these kids would say. Just one example was when I introduced myself I said that my name is "Sister Whipple." I asked them to repeat that and they did, with the exception of one girl who for some reasons couldn't pronounce it very well, it came out as "Slipper Nipple!" I waited to laugh out loud until I could tell Corky....we had a good laugh at that one.

After making it through the class, Corky and I were set apart. I must say that it was one of the most spiritual experiences I have had come from a blessing. The Bishopric was truly inspired with every word that came out and I had confirmation that, just as I thought, my children will be blessed because of me having this calling, among other statements made. By the end of the blessing, I was bawling like a baby and spiritually touched by the love that I felt.

I can't say that I will whole-heartily enjoy this calling, it will be a challenge, but I look forward to doing my best and learning the lessons that I am supposed to.

On another note..................

We had company this weekend. Bailey and Skyler came for a visit...but of course I didn't take a single picture! We had a really good time together though. Emily had quite the "aunt bailey crush" and didn't want anything to do with me as long as Bailey was in the room!

Because I didn't take any pictures of Bailey and Skyler, I suppose I will play a little picture catch up and post pictures of the previous weekend when my mom, step dad, Markie, Reggie, and my Grandma Annie came to visit. That was a fun weekend too! We love having visitors!

We spent some time in downtown Kingman, playing on the old train, eating snow cones in the shade, and playing a little ball.

All dressed and ready to go to church. It was also Father's Day so we had to get one with the big daddy himself!

And visitors don't stop there! Tomorrow, Corky's mom, sister, and Grandma are coming for a few days to visit! I LOVE living so close to family!

Happy Birthday Edward Cullen!

My lovely friend Sariah made this post today on her blog, and I thought it was so great that I decided to steal it and post it as well. Thanks Sariah!!

He is 107 today and I'm wondering what does one do to celebrate their 107th birthday?

If there's a thunderstorm nearby, he could play ball with his family...

Or perhaps he could compose another lullaby...

Or marry Bella Swan...

So, Happy Birthday Edward! You know we all love you! ;)

If you're thinking, What? Who's this Edward?...