Olivia's First Birthday

 Saturday was Olivia's First Birthday

and she had a party at her house!

Isn't she cute?

She's sitting in front of her 1st year onsies.

Her Momma thought they would make cute party decorations!

 Aren't they cute?

They have stickers on the front that say 1 Month, 2 Months,

3 Months and so on. One for each month for her

entire first year!

Her Momma took a picture wearing each of them

to document her growth.

 And look! She has her own Giant Cupcake Cake!

She liked it, but she was neat and dainty. She didn't even

get messy enough to need a bath.

 These are decorations her Momma has been working on for awhile.

Aren't they cute?

But... Olivia was the cutest thing of all!

All dressed in her birthday outfit opening presents!

Here she is getting into the present Grace got her.

I think they will have fun playing with it together!



A Gift For Olivia

 TODAY is Olivia's Birthday!

She is ONE!

She just got back from her trip to Germany and we haven't done her One Year Old Pictures, yet but we should have party pictures soon!

But - someone was well prepared for the celebration!

 Grace picked out a present for Olivia ALL BY HERSELF!

 She helped wrap it.... and she decorated the package!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!

She just knows Olivia will love it!

Learning to Roller Blade!

Another thing we did when Heather was in Germany was skate! Grace loves to skate. And she does pretty good as long as you hold her hands!

We practiced on the hockey court because the surface is nice and smooth and there is little or no traffic. Most of the time we are the only ones there, so we don't have to worry about getting run over.

And next to the hockey rink is a skate park where big boys do cool tricks. Grace likes to watch them, too! She especially likes it when they fall and get up and try and try again until they perfect the trick they are working on. She's very impressed that they never cry!

I think this skater is her favorite. He doesn't fall much, and he goes the highest when flying off the top of the half pipe.

Two Girls at Nations of Fun!

While Heather and Olivia were in Germany, Grace and Brilyn spent an afternoon at Nations of Fun!

Brilyn surprised us by being BIG enough to try just about everything! The thought of not being big enough hasn't occured to her! She thinks she can do anything!

She can go down the blue slides all by herself!

And climb through the tunnels!

Here she is without pants because her Momma took them off! Climbing with no pants is easier because skin gets better traction than slick fabric and sliding down with no pants is safer for the same reason. With Brilyn's jeans on she slides down fast.... without them, she goes much slower. And since she's a really quick little toddler it's probably a good idea to let her go without pants just in case she gets into one of the big slides and heads down before we get to her to pull her off. She is sooooo adventurous!

(she is so fast... sometimes she's hard to catch up with)

Here is Grace climbing through the obstacle course!

And Brilyn climbing up into the playground!

And Brilyn with her winnings after hitting the jackpot on the drop the ball game!

And Grace with all of her prizes!

Both girls were big winners!

It was such a fun day!

Taking Abby to the Vet!

 While Grace was staying with me when her Momma was in Germany, we had to take Abby to the vet! Abby has been to the vet several times, but this was Grace's 1st visit! She enjoyed watching the vet take care of Abby and had several questions for the vet and his assistant.

 Grace took care of Abby while I checked her in! It's nice to have such a big helper!

 Abby was weighed. She weighed 8 oz. less than she weighed last year. Plus she is still wearing her seatbelt harness which probably weighs a pound or so, so she may have actually lost weight. She's slightly overweight - but not much. She's actually in very good health for an 8 year old and her teeth are in excellent shape!

And here the vet is looking at Grace who is asking questions! She asked what kind of animals they see and they told her that they see all kinds. Yesterday they saw a bird and a snake and the snake's owner wore it around his neck. Stacia, who works behind the desk had taken a picture of the snake with her phone and she even showed Grace the picture! Grace thinks it would be fun to be a veterinarian, but she doesn't want to get bit by tigers and things, so she might be something else.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Picnicing on the Deck!

 Grace likes picnics!

 So sometimes we share a picnic lunch on the deck!

 We have lunchables, oreo snacks and fruit!

Then we play!

Because it is through play that children learn!

Now you know why Grace is so smart!

Valentine's Day Tea Party

 We celebrated Valentine's Day with a Valentine's Day Tea Party followed by a snowball fight!

 Grace selected treats and invited her friends!

 She even set the treats out!

 And helped set the table!

 And she kept getting into the balloons!

She was so excited! She couldn't wait for her friends to arrive!

She invited Carlee, Alison and Isabella and they all came!

 Here is Grace with Carlee!

Aren't they adorable?

Snow Day!!!

In Oklahoma, a snowman is a rare thing! We don't get much snow and when we do, it doesn't stick.

 So... when it does snow, you drop everything and enjoy it!

Grace loved it!

She built a snowman and gave him a little kiss!

 But, I think she like having snowball fights the best! She's developed a pretty good arm and can blast you with a snowball!

She even thought to pile up a bunch of snow and save it, so she could blast Grandpa when he came home!

 She got Uncle Billy, too!

And Uncle Deuce!

And Abby!

She even taught Abby to catch snowballs!

See:

Planting

 Every year I plant a little butterfly garden in the backyard by the pool! This year, I thought it might be fun to try to start our plants from the seeds we gathered from our plants last year.

 So Grace and I did a little planting! We planted Lantana, Merigolds, Purple Cone Flowers and Indian Blankets. I've never known anyone to plant Lantana from seed before, so we'll see how that goes. But for now.... we're being hopeful!

 We labeled our little garden and put it in a tray with a cover for a greenhouse effect.

 Now we wait!

....and wait!

Nations of Fun!!!

 Heather & Olivia are in Germany so I am trying to keep Grace entertained. Today we went to Nations of Fun!

 She rode ride after ride!

 And played several games!

And she even had a healthy lunch!She prefers the black olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and pineapples over the pizza... and this was the first time that she preferred eating over playing!

Oh, well.... we'll have plenty of time to play!