A great message

Not only were Grace and Bonnie perfect at church this morning, but we also got one of the good priests. I know we got one of the good priests because the girls were so well behaved that I actually got to listen to the homily.

I guess I shouldn't say one of the "good" priests because they are all good, but in all honesty some may be a tad more inspiring than others.

Anyway, Father Lopez, who is Corey's favorite (and I think mine now, too), talked about being grateful and remembering to always thank God for our many blessings. Of course he went into more depth, but listening to him was very inspiring and it amazes me how the homilies are always so closely paralleled with what is going on in our life. I could miss church for a month straight (and believe me, I have) and the same would be true.

We hit up our usual lunch spot afterward, went home and got some things done around the house, watched Bonnie push her walker around, played with George (he is bunking here this evening) then grilled hot dogs for dinner.

A great end to a great weekend. Thanks be to God!

Don't be fooled by Grace's affection...she had just told George to "beat it" a few minutes prior to this picture!

My little dress strategy worked!

After Grace's head trauma incident 2 weeks ago, I made a new house rule: absolutely no standing on chairs. Period. End of story. I know should have been enforcing that rule all along, but she is usually so cautious that Corey and I really never thought anything like that would happen.

Clearly, we were wrong.

Grace was very excited this morning when she woke up and found a surprise waiting for her in the kitchen. A brand new Learning Tower!

Or as she calls it, a pancake tower.

A couple of my friends have these nifty little things that allow kids to be "tall like grown-ups" as Grace says, and help out with whatever is just out of their reach. Adult supervision is still, of course, required. :-)

Now, she can safely help her daddy make pancakes every Saturday morning without worrying about falling down and getting another head injury. Bonnie is pretty excited about getting to stand in the Learning Tower one day, too.

After breakfast we got the girls ready and headed over to Mimi's and Gramps's for some po-boys and a little Georgia football. Looks like the girls will be wearing these dresses every Saturday for the rest of the season!

GOOOOO DAWGS!!!

A great day to be outside

The weather this entire week has been so gorgeous that there has been no excuse to stay indoors. Except for the fact that Grace is terrified of bugs, which, unfortunately for Bonnie has cut some of our outdoor time in the backyard a little short.

Grace decided that today, however, she would brave the elements and enjoy a fun picnic at the park. Also, getting to play with her friends Handley, Harper, Avery, and Dylan didn't hurt, either.

Bonnie was so excited to play with Harper. They were busy doing something very important at the bottom of the slide in this picture. She also loved playing with Dylan...he is such a cutie, and I wish I could have snapped a quick pic of him, too!

Bonnie could have stayed in the swing all day...

And these three thought it was really cool to race down the slides...

It was getting dangeroulsy close to Bonnie's nap time when we started packing up to leave, and she made sure to let us all know it. On the bright side, Handley is also a very sweet big sister just like Gracie and walked right over to Bonnie (who was trying to escape from her stroller) and started singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to her. Bonnie stopped fussing right away. Not to be left out, Grace joined in and Bonnie just sat there and listened to the girls sing. So cute!

Goooo Dawgs! Sic 'em! Woof...woof...woof...woof...

I'm not giving up on the Dawgs yet, and I felt it necessary to go ahead and start sporting our red and black early this week. I've also got both girls practicing their "Goooo Dawgs" cheer.

And of course, Bonnie has a matching dress that she will be wearing on Saturday as well.

We're going to need all the help we can get against Tennessee! Go Dawgs!!

My girls

We were having so much fun today relaxing at home that I completely forgot about ballet this afternoon. I mean, I just now remembered. Just this second.

I can't believe that it just completely slipped my mind. Moreover, I can't believe that Grace never mentioned it.

Oh well. These two were acting so cute together all day to day that even if I had remembered we may have skipped it anyway!

It's back to school for Grace tomorrow, though. Bon and I sure miss her while she's there and I count down until it's time to go pick her up. Seriously! It's just not the same without our little Bub.

"Good girl!"

It seems like overnight Bonnie has transitioned from baby to toddler.

Her vocabulary is exploding, and although she is not quite walking yet, she is getting pretty darn close.

Over the weekend, she stood in the middle of the room all be herself. When she realized what she had done (mainly because we all went crazy), she sat down as fast as she could. I thought it was a fluke at first, but then later she did it again and even added a little clap!

Crawling (and she is a very fast crawler I might add) is definitely still her preferred method of transportation, and she LOVES for us to chase her around the house and say, "I'm gonna get you!" It's really my only form of exercise these days!

Another one of her favorite games is to throw all of her food and her sippy cup off her tray when she's all done. Or if it's just in her way. Or if she just feels like it. Now, I know this is normal and Grace did it to a certain extent, but I am certain that Bonnie knows that this little game chaps me a bit and does it just for kicks.

I am certain of this because she says "good girl" (wonder where she heard that?) whenever she decides to put her sippy cup back on her tray instead of chucking it on the floor.

I've also praised her for that so many times that now, whenever she wants something to drink, she just says "good girl" and I know what she means!

Chili's for lunch; chili for dinner

Clearly, these photos were taken in the morning shortly after the girls woke up. Both are sporting their rockstar jammies, however, so I suppose the crazy hairdos are appropriate.

We had a great weekend with my mom. We did a little (more) shopping, ate lunch at Chili's, played outside a lot, and even invited Gramps to come over and and watch the Bulldogs lose another game with us.

At least the chili I made for dinner was good!

In honor if the cooler weather, and the fact that it is October already, my mom and I got down all of my fall/Halloween decorations. The girls were so excited to wake up and find the house all decked out.

Grace also spent a lot of time perfecting her Chicken Dance. The little witch "duck" dances around to that tune (which is STILL in my head...and yours now!), and Grace couldn't get enough of it.

As an added bonus, Mr. Skeleton also sings and dances to La Grange by ZZ Top. Lovely lyrics, they are, but luckily she has no idea what he is saying. Well, except for the very beginning when he shouts "Have mercy!"

Even then she still doesn't quite understand him. She insists that he is saying "hambercy". So that is exactly what she calls Mr. Skeleton.

Hambercy.

The stacked bob

While we were at the mall last week, I saw a little girl about Grace's age who had the most adorable hairstyle. Getting Grace a haircut has been on my "to do" list for a while now, but the task somehow seems to keep getting put on the back burner.

Anyway, I loved this little girl's haircut so much that I went up to her mother and asked her what sort of "do" she had (I never know what to tell the haircutting lady so she just ends up chopping Grace's hair willy-nilly). She told me that the style is called a "stacked bob" and that the haircut people would know exactly what to do if I asked for that.

So, with Corey out of town this weekend (living high and large at a bachelor party in Las Vegas), my mom is staying with us for a fun girls' weekend. We kicked off the festivities with a little shopping at the Avenue yesterday, and finally got Grace that haircut I've been promising her.

We walked into Snip-Its where she promptly said to the receptionist, "I would like a stacked bob, please."

And an adorable stacked bob is exactly what she got!