Tea Party!

Last weekend, Gracie got invited to another birthday party for a girl from school. Her friend Kendal, was turning 4, and having a tea party!

It was totall cute, just like that princess party she went to. When we got there, the table was set with plates, teacups with all the girls' names painted on them, pink boas, and white gloves with bows! Right away the girls modeled them for us.

Kendal's mom made this adorable cake! I told her she should bake cakes and sell them. Gracie couldn't wait to try on her gloves before drinking "tea."
Here are all the girlies ready to eat. And my daughter couldn't wait to dig into the yummy cookies. They all wore fancy party dresses for the occasion. Here are most of the girls from Gracie's preschool class.

Joccelyn, Teagan, Kendal, Bella, Reagan, Ava, Gracie, and Grace Ann.

She is lucky that most of these girls will be in her preschool class next year too! I am excited because she gets along great with them! Plus their mommies are really nice and I like them too!Time to eat! The girls also got to make crafts. Gracie made a beautiful flower door hanger. She even spelled her name all by herself! Finally, the moment all of them had been waiting for......CAKE!Gracie had so much fun with her school friends. Hopefully we will have some summer playdates with these girls. They are great bunch!

Preschool Step-Up!

Today was Gracie's End-fof-the-Year Program for her preschool. Her last day was supposed to be today but because of the blizzard, her last day will be on Tuesday. She joined with some of the other preschool classes in her program to sing songs, and recognize the 4-year old preschool graduation.

Here is Gracie with her class. I guess she felt like adjusting her dress.

Here she is again, getting ready to sing.

Then, all the 3 year olds got little certificates. Here is Gracie with hers. And here is a picture of the 4 year olds with their little caps getting ready to receive their little dipolmas. I have to tell you that I was crying and Gracie wasn't even "graduating" yet, just stepping up. I am going to be a mess next year. After the ceremony, we gave her teachers a hug and a gift. We are really going to miss Miss Darlene and Miss Deb. They were fabulous teachers and Gracie really liked them. When she plays school, she always calls herself Miss Deb. And here are the proud parents of a girl who successfully completed her first year of preschool! Really, where as the time gone? One more year of preschool and then off to Kindergarten. The elementary years will fly by. (My first class is now Seniors in high school!) Then before you know it, she'll be in high school and be valedictorian of the class of 2025! Afterwards, we went to Steak-n-Shake for some ice cream and cookies. Grandma and Grandpa came too. Presley especially liked the cardboard car. Here is Gracie receiving her certificate. Sorry it's sideways and I am bummed that I missed them saying her name. Oh well, Chuck taped it too!

Here is Gracie's class singing some songs.

This one is called "See you Later Alligator."



This is one she sang called "Tap Your Feet."

And this one everybody knows, "If You're Happy and You Know It."

I am so proud of my Gracie Girl. She also got her first report card today too! She is just growing so fast and will already be 4 in a month! But getting through the first year of preschool is a big accomplishment. There was a never a daythat she didn't want to go and always got excited about going. She made some friends that we will be having future playdates with too. Next year she will be in the 4 year old class and attend 3 days a week! I'm sure she'll love that too. I hear the teachers are wonderful too! Congrats Gracie Girl! Mommy is so proud of you! XOXOXO

Dance Recital!

Hip Hip Horray!

Gracie was the star today!

Today was Gracie's very first ballet recital!

Here is the ballerina before the show.

She was super excited and thought it was pretty cool that she could wear some of Mommy's makeup. All day she kept talking about her ballet friends and how she was going to dance on the big stage.

So at 4 pm, we headed to the Rialto.
I volunteered to be a helper parent so I got to head in and work behind the scenes. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. At first it was chaos. We were directed to the "green" room which apparently 10 other dance classes were told to go to. They had tables set up with activity packets and crayons for the girls to work on. They also had snacks and water too. Me and another mom were in charge of 10 little 3 and 4 year old ballerinas. What a task that was!

They were full of energy and although we had to occupy them for 2 and half hours, they looked simply adorable. They may have been the youngest group there, but they were the cutest for sure!

Meet the ballerinas, Lucy, Anna, Abbey, Maddie, Allie, Gracie, Emily, Emma, Maggie, and Natalie.

This was Gracie's special friend in ballet these last few months . In fact, she says that Maggie is her ballet BFF.

Here is some of what went on behind the scenes.

We ran into my cousin's Ken and Tammy's daughter Brooke. She take ballet too! She was dressed as a beautiful bride.

And then was also saw Ava, Gracie's friend from preschool. She was dressed like Cinderella.

And then after the show, Gracie was met with applause from Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy, and Auntie Amy. She even got flowers! Brooke did too.

We are so proud of Gracie! She did a fantastic job. She was really one of the only ones in her group that didn't cry at some point. One poor little girl was even on stage crying. Oh well, all the girls danced their little hearts out anyways. We are just so proud of our little ballerina.

When we got home, Gracie was also given some cool presents. Auntie Amy gave her a ballerina bucket filled with books and coloring books that are all about ballet.

Grandma gave Gracie a ballerina Barbie! She LOVED that one.

And Mommy and Daddy gave her Sabrina the Ballerina, her book, and a paint-your-own ballerina girl.

Dance Rehearsal!

Today was rehearsal for Gracie's dance recital tomorrow! We showed up at the Rialto and found our seats. I volunteered to be a helper parent so I was put in charge of 9 little 3 year old girls. We sat in the seats and waited until they called us onstage. At first, when Gracie saw the stage, she changed her mind about wanting to go on it. She was talking all week about how she is going to dance on stage. But once we were up there, she was fine. I think it helped that her little friends were going with her, as was I. Good thing too because 2 other girls freaked out. Luckily one was the other helper parent so she could deal with that. But that also meant she was no help the rest of rehearsal because her daughter refused to even be in the group picture. Oh well, after practicing, it was time to get the pictures taken. That was a process but I can't wait to see how they turned out.

Here are the girls waiting to go onstage.

And here they are practicing their moves to "Tutti Fruitti." I tried my best to tape up while up on stage.

Tomorrow is the big day and Gracie is so excited! She can't wait to wear her watermelon again. She even called Grandpa to remind him to come! I'm so proud of my little balllerina! Break a leg Grace! (but not really, just smile and have fun)

Picnic!

Today Gracie had a school picnic. It was fun! All the classes were there for her preschool program. As soon as we got there, we headed straight for the park where she went climbing...

and went swinging.

Then we ate a yummy lunch of pb&j's, crackers, raspberries, and yogurt.

After that, it was time to head to all the bouncy houses that were there!

Then it was time for more climbing....

and sliding.

And more climbing....

and more jumping.

It was a great day. I loved spending the day with just Gracie. I'm glad while we were there, the weather stayed hot and didn't get cold. Gracie had fun too and played with some of the kids from her class like Ava, Reagan, and Michael but I didn't get pictures because they were not willing to stop and pose for any! I can't believe my baby girl just finished her first year of preschool. Next year she'll go 3 days a week in 4 year old preschool!

The Twins are 18 Months Old!

How is it possible?

These darling babies of mine are 18 months old today! Already! I can't believe how fast this happened! It seems like only yesterday we were taking these pictures of them because they turned 1! My friend Jessica, did a fabulous job as always. (I don't think I even posted these ever). Has anyone invented a way to freeze time because in just 6 months my babies look much older than they do in these!

What can they do at 18 months?

*They run everywhere!

*They share with each other, bringing each other cups, paci's, shoes, etc.

*They fight over toys.

*Presley pushes Evie and plops on top of her.

*They wave "Hi" and "bye"

*They pretend to talk on the phone.

*They make funny faces at each other.

*They eat anything, and fast too!

*Evie tries to dress herself.

*Presley can throw a football pretty well actually.

*Presley can say "hi", "bye-bye", "uh-oh", and "choo-choo."

*Evie is not talking yet but LOVES to read books and points at pictures when asked.

*They love to dance.

*Evie loves babies and pushes them in strollers.

*Presley is wearing 24 months. Evie is in 12 months.

*Presley is 26 lbs. Evie is 21 lbs.

*They drink only when the other is drinking too.

*They throw food at each other and when they're full, they share with each other.

*They love to swing at the park.

*They give hugs and kisses.

*They love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

*Presley has 6 teeth, Evie has still only 2!

*They know how to climb a stool.

*They know how to work the water dispenser on the fridge.

*They love their big sis Gracie.

*They know body parts such as head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, ears, hands, feet, and tummy.

*They can do some movements to "Wheels on the Bus."

*They can pick out matching shoes that they want to wear that day.

*Presley favorite shoes are Lightup Buzz Lightyear sneakers and Evie's are pink, glittery Mary Janes.

*Presley loves to build towers with blocks and play with cars.

*Evie like to help Gracie build puzzles.

*They can almost do a wooden puzzle.

*They can climb downstairs front and back.

*They can throw a temper tantrum anywhere, at anytime!

*Mommy is their favorite person in the whole world!

Happy year and half to my terrific twins!
I love you so much!

Don't grow, stay this age forever!