There's a BABY in the house!

This poor girl has served as a pillow,

a step stool, a mop, a vaccuum,

a baby sitter...

AND

Now, she's a BABY!

 Grace got into the drawer to get Brilyn

a pacifier and came back with

pacifiers for herself, Olivia and Abby, too!

It took a little convincing, but once Abby understood what

Grace wanted her to do, she was happy to

do it! Then, all 3 girls took turns

popping that pacifier into

the poor girls mouth and covering her

with a blanket!

She has the patience of a saint!

And I don't think I've seen these girls

laugh so hard! There must be something really

funny about taking your turn and

pacifying a puppy dog!

I wish I'd had video!

Rub A Dub Dub, Three Girls In A Tub!

After we tried out the soft serve ice cream I had

three little sticky, gooey, messy girls!

So.... I tossed them in the tub!

 Olivia turned her back to the others and

splashed and played! She likes splashing,

but not necessarily being splashed. I think she's

learned to keep her back turned to Grace

in the tub as a means of self protection!

 But... Brilyn hasn't!

She had no clue how wild Gracie could

be in the bath!

 But, she has her own ways of defending herself!

Grace loves taking a bath with Brilyn!

She has hair that can be shaped with

shampoo bubbles and it's just so cute!

I think Grace washed Brilyn's hair 3 times!

 Olivia laughed!

(ha ha! My sister has someone else to pester!)

The girls had a great time and came

out nice and clean!

Three Girls in a Tub

is

THREE TIMES THE FUN!

As just one!

Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

 Earlier this month I got a new Soft Serve Ice Cream

Machine for my birthday!

I love it!

It makes delicious soft serve ice cream

in about 20 minutes!

And I love soft serve ice cream!

 Brilyn likes it, too!

And so does Olivia!

(so does Grace, but I didn't get a picture of her. Oops!)

We tried it out one day when Grace and Olivia

were here and Andrew, Brandy and

Brilyn came over for lunch!

When Grace went back home she told her

Momma and Daddy all about it!

And.... she let them know that

THEY DIDN'T GET ANY!

Poor Momma missed out of all the fun!

And all of the yummy goodness of

soft serve ice cream!

(and of course, all of the messes created by 3 little girls eating ice cream)

A Fairy Tea Party

 After building the fairy house and

making "paper fairies" the fairies

wanted to have a tea party!

 They love sweet treats!

 Each fairy had to have it's own place at the table, it's own cookie

and it's own chocolate. Then Grace laid the fairy accross the top of

it's teacup so it could drink.

The cups were a little big for the fairies to lift!

After Grace made sure everyone was served we had

a delicious snack and enjoyed the company

of several fairies.

But - none of them offered to share their

pixie dust! They just ate, piled into the fairy house

and onto the fairy bed and took

a long nap and left the clean up

to us!

I think they completely forgot their manners!

But, Grace loves them, anyway!

After all, they're her little friends

and that's what friends do!

They love you in spite of yourself!

Making A Fairy House

 Grace wanted to build a fairy house! So, we got a box

and covered it with various papers and

decorated it - just right!

 After all, her fairies would want to be

comfortable!

 We made a fairy sized bed in a fairy sized

room in pink and purple! Because according

to Grace those are the prettiest colors

and fairies like pretty things!

 We even hung fairy artwork on

the walls!

 I think the fairies will love it!

It's got beautiful windows and doors

and a nice little walkway lines with stones.

But.... where are the fairies?

That was a problem.

Grace had spent the night with me

and she'd left all of her fairies at home.

So, we printed "paper fairies" onto

cardstock and cut them out.

They were meant to satisfy her for

a day, but she still has them.

And - when she comes over and

forgets her paper fairies, we just print

some more!

Now... will someone tell me why we

spend so much on toys every year?

I mean... the kids play with PAPER and BOXES

and DIRT!

Let's Go For A Razor Ride!

 Grace really likes to ride the razor!

And Olivia really likes Grandpa!

 If Grandpa is riding the Razor, that's

where Olivia wants to be!

But - she likes the Razor, too!

Olivia is going to be our brave one!

She's teeny, tiny, sweet and

FEARLESS!

That's Grandpa's Girl! 

Summer Days at the Park!

 It's nice to have a little park right here in our neighborhood!

We can just jump in the Razor, ride to the park and play...

Sometimes for just 30 minutes or so...

until Grace is ready to move on to something else.

And she's always ready to move on to something else! 

 This kid likes to stay one step ahead.

 She can be a challenge to keep up with!

 But, she's such a delight!

She always has most interesting things to say

and she tells it like it is!

Just the other day she told me that her

Aunt Brandy's friend is not cool!

I asked her how she knew and she explained,

"Well.... cool people have fun and

not cool people mess up fun!"

And when I asked her who was cool,

she seemed to have all the answers, too!

UNCLE BILLY

&

UNCLE PATRICK

Yes.... this girl definately knows whose cool

and whose not!

Gracie Learning To Swim!

Grace has been swimming in arm floaties and tubes

and she's doing well and getting comfortable

in the water - but Monday, she decided she wanted

to learn to swim WITHOUT a floatie!

She's a good, strong kicker, but we need

to work on paddling with her hands a bit

so she can keep her face out of the water.

She's getting there. She can swim a little ways!

And she can jump off of the side of the pool, too!

We just didn't get any pictures or video of that!

I cannot take pictures or record videos when I'm

in the pool staying ready to catch a kid, so photos

and videos come only when help is available.

Brandy was here Monday to help out!

Fun In The Pool

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time in the pool!

Andrew is on vacation, so Brandy, Andrew and Brilyn came over

and Grace was already here.

And now BOTH girls can slide down the slide all by themselves.

Brilyn needs help getting up the slide... but going down

is no problem.

She can maneuver her way around the pool

pretty well - unless it's windy and then

the waves push her the direction of the wind.

But - we've got that figured out, too!

Her sweet cousin Gracie can just pull her to the

deck and we can pick her up out of the water and

put her on the slide again.

These two cousins play so well together!

I hope they have lots of good times to come!

Time To Go Fly A Kite!

Grace enjoys flying a kite from to time.

And she's pretty good at it, too!

Nature

 We really enjoy nature here!

Wildflowers...

 Weeds...

 And other things of beauty!

 Grace's favorite color is purple, and our fields

are filling themselves with purple flowers

"just for her"

Or so she says!

 This is a Scissortail Flycatcher - Oklahoma's State Bird!

 And this is just the top of a thistle blowing in the wind!

Grace taught me what a thistle was!

She learned it from Tinkerbell.

See.... watching movies can be educational!

And I have no clue what this is. Perhaps another

thistle. I just thought it was pretty standing there all alone!

Someone Likes To Have Her Tea Time!

 This sweet girl loves to join in on a good

tea party. But, most of our tea cups are a bit

big for her little hands!

 However, an espresso cup fits just fine!

Look how well she handles a cup when it's just

her size! I have this little set of Gibson

Espresso Cups just for this purpose!

Aren't they cute?

Olivia sure enjoys them!