To the moon, Alice.

On Christmas Eve, Grace discovered a really fun game at Memaw and Papaw's house that involves jumping as high as you possibly can, and then landing on a doohickey that's attached to a thingamabob that ultimately launches a nerf-type flibbityjibbit into the air.  For brevity's sake, we'll call the game Stomp Rocket.  That's actually the name of the game, but Grace likes to call it Rocket Launcher.

Yesterday, Memaw and Gaga came over for a little visit and to bring the girls some Valentine's surprises.  

They couldn't have picked a better day.  Or a better Valentine for Grace.

Guess what it was...

Hand-stitched by Memaw

After ballet, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside in this absolutely amazing weather.  More good news:  the 5-day forecast predicts more of the same!

My Funny Valentines

I sent Grace to school today against my better judgement.  Not because she is sick; rather, because everyone else is.  If today hadn't been her Valentine's Day party and I if I hadn't volunteered to help with it, she would have had a nice relaxing day at home.  

Apparently, the stomach bug of the century hit Preschool last Thursday night.  5 of 10 children in her class have been stricken along with 2 of her 3 teachers.  Not to mention the apparent puke fest that occurred on Friday in the classroom next door.   

I got the the frantic e-mail with all the gory details after our friends left on Saturday night.  I just keep picturing the pie eating contest scene from Stand By Me.  I won't go into those details, but if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about.  

So far, we've managed to steer clear of not only this stomach virus, but also of any and all other stomach viruses since I've given birth to both of my children.  I'm knocking on wood as I type this. 

In spite of all the vomit, we had a great Valentine's Day.  We started off the morning with a couple of little Valentine's gifts for the girls, had a fun party at school, then an awesome play date in the awesome weather with our friends, Carrie Beth, Handley, Harper (and Hudson).  

Corey even surprised Grace with a sweet little bouquet of pink roses when he got home from work.  She was just beside herself.  

3 sick kids are missing!

Pre-Valentine's Day Date Night

Babysitters (Mimi and Gramps).  Check.

$200 gift card to Chops.  Check.

Mom and Dad out for a romantic dinner.  Priceless.

Topic of conversation for the entire meal?  The girls, of course.   

Everything was amazing.  I ordered the Dover Sole and Corey got the filet.  And thanks to all the appetizers, sides, and desserts, I don't need to eat again for at least a day.    

Grace insisted that I borrow her tiara.  It really completes the outfit.

The girls had a blast opening their Valentines from Mimi and Gramps.  As always, my mom went WAY overboard!

Where's the chocolate?

Super Grace!

Found the chocolate.

Wow, I really need to get a clue.

So, I've been squeezing Bonnie's size 5 1/2 foot into a size 4 shoe.  I knew it was time to get her measured, but I had no idea that her foot had grown that much.

I'm sure I don't even need to mention that she is very happy with her new Stride Rites.  Thank you, Mimi!

Tonight we had our friends, the Fougerousses, over for dinner.  Their girls are exactly the same ages as ours, so we always have a great time when we get together.  Grace has been looking forward to seeing Em for a very long time, and started asking first thing this morning when they were going to be here.

In fact, she was so excited that all afternoon she would run to the front door and yell, "Em! When are you going to ring our doorbell?!"

Bonnie was really happy to have a playmate, too...

"Sharing" with Page

A Surprise Trip to the Doctor

This entire week Grace has had a little bit of stuffy, crusty nose (yum).  I really didn't think much of it at first and have just been chalking it up to the preschool funk that every kid inevitably gets at some point; however, I did keep her home from school on Tuesday because she actually told me that she didn't feel good.

She never, ever says that she doesn't feel good.

She seemed to be feeling better on Thursday and was eager to go back to school and see her friends.  She had been acting normal all afternoon, and did her usual dress-up-in-jewels-and-headbands routine after her bath.

While she was taking all of her accessories off before she got in bed she mentioned that her head hurt behind her left ear.  Once again, I thought nothing of it and chalked that one up to a too-tight headband.

Then she woke up at 1:50 this morning with a "bad dream."  In keeping with my complete inability to notice that she was actually sick, I assumed that this was merely a ploy to snuggle up in our bed and sent her back to her room.

When she was still complaining this morning that the headband, which she had worn no less than 13 hours before, was hurting her head (still behind her ear) my dim bulb finally got a little brighter and I suspected an ear infection.  Her progressive screaming for the rest of the morning that her ear was hurting was also a big clue.

We went to the doctor and as soon as he looked in her ear he said, "Well there's where the pain's coming from.  Wanna take a look, Mom?"

I took a peek and sure enough the inside of my poor little girl's ear was as red as a cherry.  I must have gasped because then the doctor said "Yeah, it shouldn't be that color."

It breaks my heart to see my kids sick.

Suffice it to say we stopped by the toy store for a little treat and since we were so close to Gramps's office we met him for a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a before heading straight to the pharmacy.

She will be on Omnicef for the next 10 days.

On a brighter note these 2 are inseparable nowadays, holding hands wherever they go...

2 parties, 2 Monkey Joe's

Blake's 3rd Birthday Party at Monkey Joe's

What an amazing cake!

Of course the bow is intact

I would say that birthday party season has begun, but does it ever really stop?

And I am not complaining one bit about going to these parties, either.  I think I have just as much fun as the kids do. Watching Grace and now Bonnie have so much fun running around like crazy people with their friends makes me really happy.  

Even though I need a 3 hour nap when we get home.

I think we may have a climber...

Preschool boyfriend, Mack

Grace edited this picture herself.  Seriously!

How did I miss this?

I've been having a feeling for the last couple of weeks that there was something I forgot to do.  I was right.

Grace's preschool class was scheduled to have its "Pancakes and Pajamas" day the week we were scheduled to be in Orlando.  She was bummed out to miss such a fun day, but got over it pretty quickly when she realized where we would be instead.

As luck would have it, however, the week we were out of town was the very week of the 2011 Ice Storm and school was shut down for 5 days in a row.  PJ Day was rescheduled for the following week and all was right in Gracie's world.

I would have forgotten to blog these pictures had Grace not come across them while "helping" me edit my January album last night!  

She's got the beat!

Be true to your teeth or they'll be false to you.

Today is Mack's birthday.  Mack is Grace's boyfriend at preschool.  She is going to marry Mason, however.

This is the information I was told immediately upon picking up Grace at carpool this afternoon.  That, and also that her whole class got to eat donut holes as a special treat for Mack's birthday.

Then she started asking some unusual questions.  Well, they were unusual to me at least.

"Do donut holes have sugar in them?  Am I going to get holes in my teeth if I eat donut holes?  How many times a day do I need to brush my teeth?"

And then it dawned on me.  Today was dental hygiene day at preschool complete with a visit from a real live dental hygienist.

Suffice it to say that she learned a lot about the importance of taking care of her teeth.  She also spent the rest of the day asking me if everything she ate had sugar in it.

Notice the pants in both pictures?  The pink polka dotted pair may be a little short, but 2 days in a row with no dress is some sort of record around here!