Chit chat

Geez, I've neglected my blog...my writing, even though I'd up to my ears in what I've written the past few weeks. Feel like I'm drowning...then in my advance assessment class we're told if we want to be writers that we must write & do so every day. Right - in between reports for work, papers for school, dictations for Ms. Grace (really- that's no chore at all) & writing away my money to other folks so I can talk, type, drive, eat and sleep. :o) I'm doing a whole lot of writing these days. And Gracie heard somewhere about a dream journal...nice, except she hasn't been able to remember any dreams and doesn't want to be bothered by it as soon as she wakes up.

Well, my house is really clean & my laundry is almost caught up. I did a bit of scrapbooking today or supervising...scaffolding Ms. Gracie's creative streak. Nice. Actually, her pages are great with a shabby chic appeal with heavy emphasis on the shabby. :o) To be quite honest, after a full day of typing yesterday, I was glad for the break when she said "Hey, mom. Let's do something together, k?" Sure - I was thinking Pretty Princess game or reading some books, but she said scrapbooking before I could suggest or guess. Ok - now, mind you...I have a small, yet cozy- cozy, place that really doesn't work well for scrapbooking - you know, get it all out so you can lay it all out and go on with your bad creative self. No, not here. Here you must clean as you go scrap. Bummer...it's time to clean it up before I really even get organized to get anything on the paper. Imagine scrapping on the coffee table -yes, that's us.

Anyway, she wanted to scrap and like I said, anything was a welcome break from the keyboard - baseboards cleaned, cabinets organized, papers sorted...yanno. She with a bit of help from "we" finished two pages and I sorted some of my most pretty-FULL paper.

My brother's coming tonight...I should be in bed already. We leave for vocal rehearsal at 6:50 AM - when it's DARK outside. Geez...like I needed or had time to bake an apple pie tonight. It'll be 11-12 before he even gets in, yet I must bake an apple pie. I don't even know if he likes apple pie - if that tells you anything. He's been driving forever...well, since Lafayette, LA. South for sure. He's made stops at dad's & Tracy, which is really cool. Let's talk about restoration...

Ok - this is going nowhere and I still have writing to do and not facebook writing.

Just to get this out of my head & down in print before I go...

GraceFULL moments since last we chatted~

• Early one AM last week, I was here at the keyboard cranking out a report when I heard from the back of the house "Cocka Doodle Doooooooooooooooo. Cocka Doodle Doooooooooooooo." What in the world?? Checked in on Grace - the girl was still sleeping. I have no idea what she was dreaming but she was announcing a wake up call to somebody or something. :o)
• Gracie's still using her new word "chit chat" whenever she can. Last week, "So, mom, let's chit chat about when you were a kid and the snow was so high & you got stuck in that snowbank." She loves that story and the picture to go with it. We chit chat about volcanoes & the highest mountain and what makes lightening. We chit chat about the songs my mom sang when I was a baby and how Papi kissed her toes when she was tiny. Chit chat about restaurants and kitties and boy kisses and when she gets bracelets on her teeth. Chit chat~
• Fact: children need exposure to a new word in context 11 times before it's added to their lexicon.
• We have moved on from Mrs. Piggle Wiggle to the Snow Queen, our 1st chapter book that's really captured her attention ohne lots of pictures. Illustrated by my favorite Mary Engelbreit, I've had this book forever. So reading it with Grace has been a new experience for both of us. Here's one of my favorite parts:

Then Gerda said her prayers. The cold was so great that she could see her
own breath, which poured from her mouth like smoke. Her breath became
thicker and thicker, and it formed itself into little angels, who grew and grew whenever they touched the earth. All the angels had helmets on their heads, shields and spears in their hands, and their number increased as Gerda prayed. When she had finished her prayer, a whole legion stood around her and struck with their spears at the terrrible snowflakes of the Snow Queen, and shattered them into a thousand pieces. Then the angels stroked little Gerdas' hands and feet until she felt the cold less and could hasten with good courage to the Snow Queen's place.




Well, now the formatting is all messed up and I don't have time to fix it. Another bit of news...I was notified this week that I scored a really BIG scholarship. I'm thankful -yes, I am. :o)
Ok - the pie is out of the oven and it smells really good. The warmth from the oven made me linger there a bit. Gracie made a deal with me...she'd take her medicine without fussing if I'd let her eat a piece of pie dough and help make the pie. It's a deal. :o) Tonight was her 1st time using a knife knife - a semi sharp enough to cut an apple knife. She was so proud. She was so happy she got to eat some pie crust dough. Actually, we had quite a bit left over so she suggested that she make cutouts with our heart & lip cookie cutters to go on top of the pie crust. It's an apple love pie. Can't wait to taste it myself, but I'll wait for my company. :o)
Night all and happy Sunday to you!
Brother called and he's 1.5 hours away. Can I stay awake? Can I get this last paperpiece finished? I don't even know, but that pie sure smells good. :o)

Best & Worst: 02/09/09

What was your best today, Mama.

Well, it was definitely that love note you wrote to me. That was very sweet.

What was your best, Gracie.

My best was writing that love note to you, Mama.

No worsts were reported today...really, they are a rarity.

Here's the charming note she dictated to her teacher for me. It was stuffed..I mean folded... into a delightfully decorated envelop with lots of construction paper hearts & presented with formal fluffery when I arrived at her school-

I love you, Mama.

I like it when you cook pancakes with blueberries & chocolate chips.

I like it when we bake cookies together and when we dance together.

I liked it when we went to Disney to see Aurora - when we talked together & she walked us to our table. Then we saw Belle, Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty & Snow White.

I love you Mama & I know you love me, too!

The End.

Now, if that wasn't enough to make my heart overload on SWEETNESS...we had this exchange once home from the University.

Mom, I love you to the oceans & dolfins & Disney & Germany & back.

Ooooh, that's lots of love.

How much do you love me, Mama?

Well, I love you all the way to heaven & back.

Wow! That's alot of lovin~

This, followed by "chit chat" - Gracie's new word - about what heaven is like & the possibility of food in heaven.

Tears were shed in search of tiny Tinker Bell, who lights up but we're "saving the battery". We found her hiding under the pillow. Now all is well with the world. Finished up lights-on time reading & giggling our way through Mrs. Piggle Wiggle & the Won't Take a Bath Cure. Tooo funny!

After best/worst & thankful hearts, I think I may have fallen asleep during our prayers. :o/ God understands...He has kids, too.

Princess Play

It's truly delightful & satisfying to watch your child experience dreams come true. I didn't introduce Grace to Disney princesses...never thought I'd be one of those moms or have one of those kids all about the princess business. Alas, the day came when a curious two year shopper spotted a Cinderella movie at a garage sale. That was it...our Disney princess collection had officially ensued. Or maybe it was when good friend, Tina, bought Grace that very frilly Belle dress for her 2nd birthday. But somehow it started & blossomed into this "Mom, we HAVE to go see Cinderella's house; that BIGGGGG castle."

So here we are a couple of years later, making dreams come true with our 1st trip to Disney World. Anticipating we would need a good thaw in the throes of deep Chicago winter, Uncle Bob agreed to accompany us to Florida. Too bad Florida was in a cold snap - dog gone it & we wore jackets & coats for many of our days. Grace said it was cold but no snow! That was plus!

Not that the photo captures it, but my absolute favorite moment was in Ariel's Grotto. You know we waited for nearly an hour to have our face to face time with that mermaid. Wait..Gracie danced around in the spray ground with the other munchkins while the adults waited in line. Finally, our turn & Grace was in awe of her favorite princess - Ariel. They chit chatted about hairstyles (Grace had lovely auburn extensions in like Ariel) & transportation -"How did you get here, little starfish?" Taking it all in, Grace was simply enamored. At one point, she looked down at Ariel's mermaid legs/fins, then back up & down again. Slowly, she slid her little hand onto Ariel's legs...fully exploring that shiny, sequined fabric. Oh no, what's going happen now...talk about violating the personal space rules. Ariel threw her head back, giggled, then tickled Grace right back. It was just the cutest! I asked Grace later why she tickled Ariel. "Mom, her legs were so shiny & sparkle-y with all those sequin-y things, I just had to touch 'em." There you go! That's my fabric feeling, sensory seeking girl. :o)

Favorites include Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique-- oh, so charming! Later, Grace got to ring the bell & wake up tiny Tinker Bell. She flew in for a little hello before heading off to dust the park with pixie cheer. Other highlights included a Wonderland Tea Party with Alice & the Mad Hatter. " That guy has bad manners--he gargled his tea!"

We also were chosen as the family of the day at Chef Mickeys & Grace helped open the restarant with Mickey Mouse. He asked for HER autograph in his special book...nice, we've been working hard on writing our name.

Grace was Lumiere in Belle's storytime in the castle couryard. We earned our pilot's license on the Monorail & celebrated Gracie's half birthday at every turn - met with trinkets, stickers & cupcakes with candles at every sit down meal. The crowd sang Happy Birthday outside of Toon Town & she opened the park with a generous shower of pixie dust & wishes.

There was a bit of swimming on the hottest days - think like low 70's - indeed a far cry from -15 or so when we left Chicago. Thoroughly enjoying fun in the sun, Grace joined in the poolside games at Fort Wilderness & scored some cool prizes winning the hula hoop contest. And all those prizes from arcade play with Uncle Bob.

We did, of course, see all the princesses, Pooh & friends, those wicked step sisters; along with Mary Poppins & Jimminy Cricket. However, Grace was a bit irritated when,after a week of hugs & hellos, those princesses seemed to forget they had already met her. It wasn't until that sweet Alice noticed she already signed Grace's autograph book & declared it was good to see her AGAIN. :o)

All in all, we had a wonderous time & even Uncle Bob survived 8 days of princess play. We tried to work in a fishing excursion at Fort Wilderness, just to break the monotony for the guy among us...but the fish & the attendant revolted due to the "cold" weather. :o) So, UB & Grace fed the ducks while mom enjoyed a hot stone massage. Oh, yeah...sooooo nice.

Here's a little bit of pixie dust & magic from our sleepy heart (yes, it's 2:53 AM) to yours~

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Kimberly~