"2nd Annual Day After Thanksgiving Girls Shopping Trip"

So here we are, we dragged ourselves up way before the buttcrack of dawn and started shopping. This is the 2nd annual "day after thanksgiving girls shopping trip!" And as you can see, we packed the Highlander. Although not as bas as last year. We all spent some pretty hard cash but itwas well worth it. That's why we have to work right? Our agenda was Kohls first (they opened at 4 am), Walmart, Target, Michaels, breakfast at Diamonds, Sears, Bath and Body Works, Menards, Hobby Lobby, and then back to Michael's because I could not read that my 50% off coupon started after noon. Duh! And after that we went to Panera for lunch. It was a busy day! I got some really good deals but cannot reveal them without spoiling any surprises. I was pretty tired after 8 hours of shopping. Gracie spent the night at Grandma's house the night before. We are totally nuts to get up that early but so are a lot of other people. I think I am done with shopping too except for a few stocking stuffers. I can't wait to wrap my wonderful purchases and give them to people. Tis the season!

Hi Aunt Rachel!

Aunt Rachel is here from San Antonio, Texas! Rachel is one of my long time BFF's from good 'ol PHS. Rachel does not get the chance to come to town much since she is busy being the best policewoman ever! Gracie and I drove out to Lansing today to visit her and her family. Yes, the drive was a bit rough since I do not like driving on the highway and oh my gosh did we hit traffic on the way there. And then of course Gracie decided to wake up and cry while we were sitting smackdab in the middle of it! Oh well, we made it and had a nice visit. Rachel's neice, Kaitln was there and the girls had fun together. Gracie made herself at home while Mommy enjoyed catching up with Aunt Rachel by having a fiesta! Wish we could have stayed longer but unfortunately Mommy had to come home so she could of course post this but also prepare for tomorrow when she goes to "the BEST job ever." Anways, we'll miss you Aunt Rachel. Come again soon!

Dancing Queen

Here she is again-my little dancing diva! Gracie is obsessed with dancing lately. She really can't do too much yet except spin ever so gracefully until she falls down. We dance all the time. This was taken on Thanksgiving. Grandma and Grandpa have a piano that has demo songs on it and she is obsessed with the rock and roll song. We have to play it a zillion times everytime we go there! If it stops, she whines until we play it again. She is starting to get more coordinated and she will attempt to clap her hands and bounce a little while spinning of course. Today we danced to the song "Tomorrow" from Annie because it was on TV. Of course my awesome singing abilities causes her to fall a bit a more while dancing because she it too busy laughing at me. It's funny because I was just looking through the park district catalog today and they have a mommy and me ballerina class. The age requirement however starts at 3 but there are so many fun dance classes for kids in there! I can't wait until she gets older and tells me what she wants to take: ballet, tap, hip hop, jazz. As of right now, I am certain she will LOVE dancing. I can't wait to take her to a wedding so she can show off her skills. Watch out Dancing with the Stars, here comes Gracie!

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great day; a great day to be thankful, especially for each other. We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Mueller's where we had great food and great fun. Auntie Amy and Uncle Jon came too. Mommy made her vegetable casserole and of course her famous dip. We ate a lot and Gracie seemed to really enjoy mashed potatoes and Auntie Amy's sweet potato dish. Gracie wore her pretty dress but ended up losing it when she discovered how fun playing in the soap suds was. (That will be another post because it was too cute). She also spent the day dancing to the piano and playing with just a few of her toys to be found at Grandma and Grandpa's. Gracie even made Mommy and Daddy a Thanksgiving card at Rose's, her babysitter yesterday. The day was a happy one and when I think back to a year ago, Gracie couldn't even walk or sit and now she is mobile and chatty. Next year she will be eating all the food with us and telling us "Happy Thanksgiving" or "More turkey please." Who knows, maybe she will even have to excuse herself so she can use the potty. We'll see. It was a day full of blessings and love. Gracie is spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's so that Daddy can go to work early and Mommy can get up in a few short hours to hit the stores and do a little Christmas shopping! Hope everyone had as great as a Thanksgiving as we did!

Thanksgiving recipes (Don't try at home)

Happy Thanksgiving! My 3rd graders made a cookbook for turkey day here so I thought I would share some recipes with you.

Turkey by Madison

1 cup of butter, 1 tsp. veg. oil, 2tbsp. milk, 2 dashes of vinegar

1 pint of eggs, 3 pinches of salt

First, mix all of the ingredients together. Next, you put it in the oven for 360 degrees and 30 minutes. Then, you put it in a pan. Lastly, you eat it.

Salad by Karina

bowl, salad, tomatoes, temperature, pint of water

First, put it in the fridge for 10 minutes. Next, you take it out. Then you add some ranch. Last, you eat it.

Mashed Potatoes by Sarah

6 potatoes, peeler, butter, knife, 3 cups of salt, 3 cups of pepper

First, you mix the stuff. Next, turn on the oven to 365 and let it warm up. Then, you put it in a baking bowl. Finally, leave it in there for 15 minutes. Lastly, eat it.

Pumpkin Pie by Brooke

1 quart of pumpkin, 1 tbsp. of sugar, 1 tsp. of cinnamon, 1 dash of milk, 1 pinch of vanilla,

1 pint of butter

First, you mix the ingredients together. Next, you turn on the oven to 325. Then you put it in the oven. Lastly, the pie is done. Yum!

Apple Pie by Trey

4 cups of eggs, 2 cups of water, 1 gallon cinnamon, 1 pint sugar, 1 liter of butter,

1 dash of vanilla

First, put 4 cups of eggs. Next, put 1 gallon of cinnamon. Then, put a dash of vanilla. Finally, put a pint of sugar.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I can't believe that this will be Gracie's 2nd Thanksgiving! Time really is flying and although I am not thankful for that, I do have plenty to be thankful for. I have to say that I am most thankful for my family espcially my little Gracie Girl! I have a wonderful husband who busts his butt for his family, two loving parents who I appreciate more than they will ever know, an awesome sister who will do anything for me, and many, many wonderful friends who touch my life each and everyday. I am also thankful I have two silly kitties and even though it's tiny, my little crackerjack house. I am thankful for my job and I do like it most days and I have a great bunch of kids (5 of whom I had their siblings so I am doing something right.) There are so many other things too but I did want to mention I am also thankful I had the chance to see the New Kids on the Block not once, but two times this year! Wahoo! Anyways, here is our family picture from last year. Again, the time slipping away, not so thankful but I am thankful I have the pictures, even one where Gracie has a bib that says "Thankful for mommy and daddy." (I am also thankful I lost weight since this picture was taken). So count your blessings and smile because I am even thankful for that fact that you read this post! Happy Thanksgiving!

All I Want for Christmas is a.....bowl?

Gracie has a thing for bowls. Like all toddlers, it's an obsession. She has a few in her toy baskets that I just let her keep and play with. We finally had to put a cabinet lock on the tupperware section because she would pull ALL of them out and carry them around. She has plenty of toys mind you but still prefers the simplest of things to play with. She also prefers to play with remotes, phones, and Mommy's purses. So really we don't even need the toys she has when she would rather play with our stuff. Here she is wearing a very bright yellow bowl on her head, which yes, she does enjoy doing this while pushing her stroller around. She also has the same style in orange. Mommy and Daddy have already bought some Christmas presents but maybe all we need to ask Santa for are some new colorful bowls!

The Newest Dancer on the Block

Gracie really is a New Kids on the Block fan!! While watching the American Music Awards on Sunday night, she started dancing to the greatest band ever, New Kids of course! I'm not sure if it was Mommy's excitment or the fact that she is just into dancing these days but she was twirling around to the music. She is still learning the arm moves to "Hangin' Tough" and the leg swings to "The Right Stuff" but she sure is good at spinning these days. Her big finish is when she gets too dizzy and falls down. For some strange reason, she loves doing that. I'm afraid that she is going to get sick but she hasn't yet so...but anyways she is catching on to Mommy's obsession. So I'm not sure if this means I need to start finding some dance classes or just listen to NKOTB a little bit more......By the way, Gracie has good taste because her favorite New Kid is Jordan too!

F-R-I-E-N-D-S

Grace had a dinner date with her friends Jackie, Jake, and Kyle tonight. Mommy's friends Holly and Jason finished finishing off thier basement and what better way than to celebrate with friends? Mommy's friend Andrea and her husband Mike (who helped with the project) were also there. The kiddies had fun playing with Jackie's toys, coloring (although Joey enjoyed the crayons too), eating, petting Joey the dog (and playing with his cage). We finally had the chance to pose them for a quick picture before they were up and moving again. All of the kids are getting so big so fast. Gracie also tried pizza for the first time and liked it so yay, another food to add to the list. Kids are so fun to watch. We will have make more time for playdating it from now on.

p.s. (the reason the title is the way it is, is because Holly, Andrea and I are obsessed with the show "Friends" and constantly quote from it all the time at work and for those of you who know how to give the finger without actually giving the finger, well we like that the best!)

Wish it would be warm again

Although it is freezing outside now this picture makes me think of the fun, warm, sunny days of summer. Summer is Gracie's favorite season. Afterall, she was born on July 1st! We went to the beach a lot with Aunt Sue and swam in our giraffe blow-up pool. Swimming was fun and we even took swimming lessons! Gracie too kher first airplane ride to Colorado and went to the Rocky Mountains. We went and saw fireworks and visited the zoo a bunch where we collected every single mold-a-rama they had to offer. Gracie's favorite animals were the goats (because she could pet them) and the gorillas because she could laugh at them. Next summer will even more fun to do all these things. Perhaps she will be even able to tell me what she wants to do! Since we have the long, dreaded months of winter ahead of us, just think that after all that, we can look forward to sunny days like these once again!

Reading is fun..even in the tub

Gracie loves books, reading and being read to. She can't get enough. Lucky for her, her mommy is a teacher and can get free and discounted books through book orders at school. Wahoo!! One benefit for having to work. Books are one of the many things constantly scattered throughout the house. Some of her favorites include one on speedy machines (she loves car for some strange reason), a Seasame Street alphabet book and one about baseball. We also happen to have one bathtime book that she has to read everytime she has a bath and being tonight was bath night, here she is busy reading and pointing to the pictures. Reading really is good brain food. Gracie, if you continue to keep yoru head in the books, you will go far in life. Just like Great Grandma used to tell Mommy when she was little.

They keep growing and growing and......

This is the dress that I bought Gracie for this Christmas. I had to put the dress on her and try (real hard) to get her to pose for our Christmas card. It took mulitple attempts to get her to stand still and smile. I did manage to get a good one that I will not show you because chances are if you read this blog, you will be receiving a Christmas card from us shortly. Anyways, my point is I bought this dress like a month ago so I would have it ready for this purpose. Totally thought there would be no problem so I took it home, cut off the tags, and washed it. Well, turns out the dress is a bit snug and short. It does not come with those little undies so at times, you can see her tiny bottom. I bought a 12 month size dress because we have a little lady on her hands. (Completely dad's doing by the way: skinny with no gut or butt). So I am not sure if this dress will do for the holidays. Even at her one year pictures, she wore a 9 month dress because of her little figure. Well, maybe it is about time we move it up to 18 month clothes. The only problem is 12 month pants fit lengthwise but fall off her little behind since she did not inherit momm's baby got back. At the doctor the other day, we finally hit the big 18 pound mark! The nurse told me she was barely making the charts which I was clearly aware of. My response was "Hmm..I didn't even realize she was even ON the charts." She is in the 50th percentile for length however but doc is not worried so I am not either. She eats good (except when she decided to whip peas everywhere like she did tonight). Buying children's clothes can be a tricky business I say.

Stacks and More Stacks

Gracie is into stacking things lately. Blocks, books, mommy's candles, whatever she can get her little hands on. When she stacks her wooden blocks, she is so very careful to put the colored letter part facing up. It's really cute to watch. The other day at breakfast, she decided that she would like to stack jellies. So we gave her what we could and she went to town. It entertains her for awhile and we can eat in peace for a minute or two at least. Maybe this means she might be an arcitect someday.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy Birthday Grandma! You look 59 years young. Gracie had a fun night helping Grandma open her gifts and cards. Grandma will be going to see Dancing with the Stars. Gracie's favorite gift of Grandma's was the tissue paper. She loves it! She rips off pieces and dances around waving them uncontrollably. She is so funny to watch. Christmas will be fun but messy with all the wrapping paper. We had fun going out to the Outback too. Gracie was such a little lady eating her grilled cheese and pickles. She is growing so fast and next year she will be able to sing to Grandma. Happy Birthday Grandma! Many More to come!

A Weiss Family Holiday Tradition

It's back. We have once again become elves for the holiday season. You may have seen our famiy dance last year but this year we are back and better than ever. By clicking on one of the links, you can see our holiday disco dance. There are also other dances you can watch but the disco is my favorite. You can also elf your family by going to www.elfyourself.com. Enjoy the holiday season!

Love,

Kris, Chuck, Gracie, Hazel, and Millie

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/WKv7iLbaJlYUjuDaAbLC

http://getyourvideo.jibjab.com/dcw/hj4/4u0/2z7/gf4/ame/usz/q2b.mpg

There's no place like 3rd grade

So some of you probably remember me bitching about thd dang door that needed to be decorated. Well at parent-teacher conferences a couple weeks ago, the parents had to vote one door for each grade level. Well all be darned, but I managed to win somehow. (They tell me it looked like somebody just marked a bunch of ballots with my name and folded them all together and put them in the box) but whatever.....Here is the beautiful masterpiece for you to see. The kiddies had to help and they wrote a 3rd grade memory on the yellow brick road (which also happens to be my classroom address) and colored the characters. Being a teacher does have it's ups and downs but I still remember my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Filetti from good 'ol St. Mary's. (Yes, I was a fairy). She was one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher. Sure I complain a lot but I can only hope that my students will remember in an inspiring way too. You can see class pictures of my little darlings dissecting owl pellets, having our class elections, making globes, and presenting book reports at my school website. www.learningcommunity202.org/wesmere.

It's finally here!!!

Well, it came faster than I thought. The Holiday Lite is finally here!! I thought for sure it started the day after Halloween because it did last year. It did not to my disappointment. I checked their website only to find a countdown clock unti holiday time. People must have complained because I swear the other day there were still 11 days left. It doesn't bother me any but now that's all I will listen to until after the holidays. You can listen to whenever you want by going to www.wlit.com. Joy to the world, Deck the Halls, and I just want to say It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. I also will be posting a special holiday treat later this weekend! Season's Greetings!

Christmas is coming!

So for those of you that know me...I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! I love everything about it and that include putting up my holiday decorations. So this past weekend, down went the fall and up went CHRISTMAS! (The plan was to put it up the weekend after Halloween, but I had the flu). Chuck thinks I am nuts because I made him pull out all of the many boxes out of the crawl space. So I have it all up, tree and all. Gracie is into it this year. She is having a hard time staying away from the ornaments. I smartly hung the fabric ones on the bottom. Millie, our kitty, also has a hard time staying out of the tree. She likes to sit in it! Anyways, I figured the season is short and it will be done before we know it. I think I heard today that there is only 44 days left until CHRISTMAS. So why not enjoy it I say? One tradition I always look forward to is the Holiday Lite (radio station). That usually starts the day after Halloween but this year it starts later. It starts in 10 days I beleive. I found a music station on cable that plays CHRISTMAS music and that is my new favorite. Gracie dances around as I sing. So maybe we will come caroling to your house this year! Joy to the world! CHRISTMAS is coming!

Toddlers are busy little bees!

When you have a toddler, your life is busy! They are into everything! We have installed gates, cabinet locks, toilet locks, and more cabinet locks. All of my lower shelves, now have nothing on them. You can't leave anything low or it will be picked up in no time and toted around the house. Gracie certainly keeps me busy. It was easy when she was a baby. The house looked somewhat clean. Now that she is constantly on the go, her toys are everywhere. If you have seen my house lately, it's the truth. I don't even attempt to pick her toys up at night anymore. I just sort of kick them into a corner because I know first thing in the morning, she will be into them again. Books are one thing she absolutely loves. They are always everywhere; family room, kitchen, bedrooms, you name it. Her new things to do include pulling things off the kitchen table, climbing up onto the couch where she can switch the lights on and off and when I open the fridge, she likes to pull my yogurt cups out one by one and line them up on the rug. It makes it hard for me to make my lunch! Anyways, this is my busy bee so I thought it was appropriate for her Halloween outfit this year.

Mine (and Gracie's) Favorite Band

So you know I had to post this. New Kids on the Block are the most fabulous band ever! I went to the show back at the beginning of October. At that time I was only 29. But then once I turned 30, I had to go again. So my sister, Amy, and I voyaged back to the Allstate for yet another great show. This time we made sure to take a ton of pictures and even taped our favorite songs so we can watch them whenever we want! The boys looked great oh so yummy! I play their new CD in the car and I swear Gracie hums along with it. She seems to really like their songs and I think she likes "Hangin' Tough" the best. I have been teaching her how to wave her arms around but she has not gotten the full hang of that yet. We watch the videos on cable all the time and she dances along with the music. She will be an NKOTB fan yet! Maybe when they reunite again in another 20 years, it will be a mother-daughter moment to remember. Long live New Kids! They will always have the right stuff. And Gracie, well, I'll be loving you forever!

My Third Grade "Babes"

These are the Gracie's BFF's and the "babes" that are dropped off at daycare everyday by the gals on my third grade team. Jake, Kyle, Jacob, Jackie and Gracie are missed everyday by their super mommies who head off to school everyday. Sure we complain about the kids and the work that has to be done but we have many laughs that make up for it. We always plan where to go eat, who's putting in what movie, and which bathrooms to stay away from. I love these ladies and I guess that if I have to work, I'm glad it's with them. So Dana, Holly, Andrea, Becky, and Tracy, you dudes rock!

This is my first post on my new blog. I got the idea from my cousin's blog that she does. Thanks Jen and Addie! Her blogspot is awesome and you should check it out at www.littlebabyaddison.blogspot.com. I figured that since I don't see many people why not post picutres and updates of Gracie and life? So this is my attempt at it. This is a picture of me and my cousin Jen with our two beautiful daughters Gracie and Addison. It was taken this past summer at the Mueller Fourth of July Party. We are sitting in front of the playhouse that Jen and I used to play in as kids ALL the time! Someday our daughters will play in it too and have just as much fun. Grandpa will be building Miss Grace one of these soon and it will be hours of fun!