All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!

Well, they didn't come on Christmas, but Lena's two front teeth made their appearance yesterday. Needless to say, she has been a little "testy" but we know she will love having four teeth. Think of all the food possibilities!!
Grace is having fun playing with all of her christmas toys. She is particularly fond of the lego set we bought her. I think Erik is quite pleased with this, as he has been waiting for her to be old enough for lego's, well since we found out we were having her! :)
Today my "niece" (my friend Karis's little girl) will make her appearance into the world. I am so excited, and can't wait to see pictures.
Hope you all have a Happy New Year. I work into the wee hours of the morning, but tomorrow Erik and I have the whole day off. We are looking forward to spending some time relaxing as a family. May God bless you abundantly as we begin another year.

Well it has been a very fun and busy last week and a half.

Last Wednesday our little girl had her first birthday! We had a great day with her. Erik was able to take a half day at work, in order to spend a little extra time with us. We took my family out for dinner at Applebee's and then came home for presents and cake. Lena was absolutely thrilled with her cake! And her favorite present would probably be the gloworm that my grandma got her. Grace was so enthralled with the gloworn that we had to find hers at the bottom of the toy chest- she had apparently long forgotten that she even had one!

Last Saturday I didn't have to work!!! So, we took my brother along with us to go to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. We had a good time riding the train and carousel and seeing some of the animals. It was nice to be able to spend a special night as a family, and it was great to have Uncle Jo along for the ride!

Christmas Eve we attended a service at my parents Church where we met up with some family friends. Afterwards we had a good time at my parents house visiting with friends and enjoying good food!

We had a great Christmas yesterday! The girls had fun opeing up their presents at home in the morning. Grace was very excited over the movies she got. Both girls got baby dolls, and lena was so excited that she could hardly wait for me to get them out of the box!

Later we went to my parents house for a big Christmas brunch and opened presents with my family. Grace was hilarious because she passed the presents out and would ask everyone if she could help them open their presents. Well, she gave my grandma a present and said, "I need to help grandma because she is an old lady." I cracked up! Oh, the things she says sometimes- I definitely wish we would have gotten that part on tape!

We enjoyed a very blessed Christmas! It was a hard day for my dad, as we wasn't feeling the best, but I am so thankful that God has given him to us for another Christmas. Each one is such a gift!

Well, I work the next two nights, so they will be busy and tiring. Erik's mom and dad come for a visit this weekend to celebrate Christmas. We are looking forward to heading north in a couple weeks since we weren't able to make it for Christmas. Well I had better get the kiddos ready so I can get to work! Hope you all had a blessed christmas!

Well, the last week has been a little exhausting. First off, my dad is doing good. He was actually able to come home on Thursday afternoon. He was definitely happy to get home, and we are so thankful that he is making a good recovery. He is still in pain and every cough and sneeze is agonizing, but he is doing surprisingly well! Please continue to pray for his recovery. He will have follow up appointments with doctors in the coming weeks to see where he needs to go from here.

Last week Wednesday we took the girls to get their pictures taken in the Christmas dresses that my grandma bought for them. They turned out pretty good, but I wasn't that thrilled with the portrait studio. Oh well, at least I finally have a studio picture taken of my girls!

Wednesday night we went to a Christmas party for Erik's work. So, before we left I took a picture of the girls all dressed up, and of course now they decide that they are going to smile!

Grace had a great time getting to see Santa! She is absolutely thrilled to see Santa this year, and keeps asking everyday if it is Christmas yet!

Lena's favorite part of the party was a chocolate chip cookie! Somehow she managed to eat the cookie, and not get any on her dress! Way to go lena!!

Saturday morning we went with my mom to see Santa at her work. they had Christmas cookies and fun games for the kids. It was fun spending some time with my mom with the girls.

I worked most of the weekend, so I am glad I don't have to work again until Friday.

It is hard to believe that Lena is going to be 1 on Wednesday. We ordered her cake today. We decided to just have my family over for dinner and cake. It will be nice to not have the stress of a big party! I guess this is one of the downsides of having your birthday so close to Christmas! I talked to my friend Karis earlier today, and we agreed that her baby, Jane, should be born on Wednesday!!! Now Jane just needs to agree!

Well, on to cleaning- it always seems that everything is a disaster after I work all weekend. You never would have guessed that everything was spotless on Friday night! :)

I'll give you a quick rundown of the past 24 hours. Well, yesterday I finally took the girls to the hotel around 8pm and my dad was still not out of surgery. My Mom and Josiah were not able to see him until 10:30, which was absolutely crazy, as he was taken back for surgery at 1:30. The surgeon said that they were able to take out the pieces of his lung that they needed to, but they were located in different areas than they thought they were, and there were more of them. Well, the problems started when they were closing him up, and apparently they nicked his pulmonary artery. When this happened he lost more than 2 liters of blood and as the doctor put it, "it was pretty touch and go for a while." So, apparently God was in complete control, as he could have easily bled out! When I saw my dad first thing this morning, he looked pretty bad. His coloring was very bad, he had a breathing tube inserted, and did not look promising. As the day went on his coloring got better and he was finally able to get the breathing tube removed. Praise the Lord. He is still in the ICU but is now sitting up and doing exercises to strengthen his lungs. Since he was doing so good, and the girls were losing it we headed home tonight. It is good to be home but part of me wishes I could have stayed longer. Hopefully if he continues to make the progress that has today, my dad will be home at the end of the week. Praise God for protecting and strengthening my dad! It has been a very long and emotionally taxing two days, but I am so thankful that my dad is now on the road to recovery once again.

Still in Surgery

It is now 7pm and my dad is still in surgery. We haven't heard anything for a while so we are getting a little worried! Hopefully we hear something soon as he has been in surgery for more than five hours now. I think we are all getting a little over exhausted and the girls are losing it! I'll update when we know anything.

Update

My dad's surgery was delayed a few hours as a result of earlier surgeries taking longer. It is definitely hard to be patient!!! They took him back about 1:30 and Started surgery at 2:20 so hopefully we will get an update from the nurse soon. Thanks for the continued prayers! OH, the girls have been good and are both sleeping right now! Praise the Lord!!! We pushed chairs together to make them both beds, I have to admit it is a little cute! I'll update when we know more.

Today's the Day

The girls and I are about to get on the road to Indianapolis to be there for my dad's surgery. His surgery is around noon and we don't know how long it will take, as they have two directions the surgery could go once they get in there. Please pray for my dad- he has a great attitude and is very positive, but I think with each time it is more discouraging. Pray for his quick healing. Pray for the doctor's wisdom. Also, I know this is completely selfish but please pray that the girls are well behaved over the next couple days. We are going to spend all day today and tomorrow at the hospital, which could be stressful with two little girls! Well, I am sure my brother will take his laptop with him, so I will try to keep you posted on what is going on.

No Cavities!

Grace had her first trip to the dentist today! At first I didn't know if we were going to have to leave the office without a tooth even seen :) She eventually warmed up and did a great job. I took her to a pediatric dentist and she was absolutely great with Grace. It was pretty impressive. The office had video games, movies, and aquarium in the waiting room; and while she was getting her teeth worked on she was able to watch one of her favorite movies, The Polar Express. So, her teeth are healthy and she had no cavities!!!! So hopefully she will follow after me and not her dad when it comes to healthy teeth! :)

The last week has been a bit of a blur. Last Wednesday my mom took Grace out to lunch and shopping for the day to give me time to get everything ready for thanksgiving. My little girl cam home with two adorable dresses, two pair of shoes we could never be able to buy her, a necklace, and a princess crown. Grace definitely enjoyed her time with Grammie and I definitely enjoyed the time I was able to spend with the quiet that comes with only having one child to wrangle! :)

The Genthers, Uncle Matt, Jeff and Louise all came into town on Wednesday night. We were treated by the Genthers to a wonderful dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. The funny thing is, that in the more than two years that I have worked there, this was the first time I had been a patron in the restaurant. Grace was thrilled to spend the night in the hotel with her beloved cousins.

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. Seventeen people in my small apartment! I had to be crazy to undertake such a feat, but it all went great and we had a great time with both of our families together. My brother even made the trip from Kentucky for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately I was too busy to take many pictures but here are two from the day.

Grace decorating her gingerbread house. Later Erik finished the house by designing a maize and blue M out of m&m's on one side of the house. I have to admit, it was the perfect touch. :)

A picture of my girls and their cousins in front of our Christmas tree. If you can tell, I finally "spaced out" the ornaments!

Friday Erik was the only one to hit Black Friday sales. He was able to get some good gifts for the girls. We hid the gifts in our closet, which has a child lock and is usually shut. Well, the other day Grace comes running out to the living room and says, "Mommy can I have my prizes?!?!" I was laughing to the point of tears. Growing up I always found my Christmas presents well before the holidays, so I guess this is my pay back! So, Grace received her Tinkerbell sleeping bag, and was thrilled!

My Grandma took the girls and I out shopping to find Christmas dresses for the girls. We went to Carter's and found the most adorable Red dresses and sweaters for them. They are going to look sooooo cute. I already made an appointment for them to get their pictures taken next week, which is something that I have wanted to do for almost a year now. Oh well, better late than never.

Yesterday was my hubby's 28th birthday. He had a pretty crummy day at work, and got out late so instead of going out for dinner we ordered pizza, which I think made him happier anyway since this is his all time favorite thing to eat. Grace was so proud of the cake she made for her daddy. She put all the ingredients in the bowl, mixed the cake batter, and put the batter in the pan! She did a great job. We also watch the new Narnia movie, which we got him for his birthday. It wasn't a very eventful birthday but it was a nice quiet evening at home with family!

Two quick cute pictures of my adorable girls!

Now for an update on my dad. Yesterday my mom and dad traveled to the cancer research center in Indianapolis for an appointment. They really liked the doctor and he had them come back this morning for a consultation with the surgeon. Well, my mom just called and they scheduled surgery for Monday. Everything is moving pretty fast, which is good, but at the same time I think my dad is a little shell-shocked at how soon this major surgery is. Hopefully they will be able to extract the cancerous mass in his lungs orthoscopically, if not they will have to remove another major portion of his lung. Please continue to pray for my dad, my mom, and for the doctors wisdom!

Yesterday we decided to take it easy. We made a quick trip to the grocery first thing in the morning, and then enjoyed being home. I decided that since Christmas in now just a little over a month away, we would begin getting ready for Christmas! So, I read Grace Eloise at Christmas Time, and then watched the movie. We absolutely love Eloise! I think Grace enjoys that Eloise is more mischievous than she is.

The rest of the day we listened to Christmas music, cleaned, and cooked. For dinner I made the best homemade chicken pot pie I had ever had, along with mashed potatoes, my first attempt at making homemade gravy was a success, and a chocolate cream pie. I absolutely love cooking from scratch! It was nice because my mom came over for dinner. So, we enjoyed eating a great meal while listening to Christmas music.

Afterwards we decorated the Christmas tree. Grace could hardly contain herself, she was that excited.

I don't have a picture of the finished project, but she did not move from that spot on the tree. So, we are either going to have to buy a ton more ornaments or I am going to have to fix it during nap time today :)

This is the "time out chair." Lena has begun to hit when she gets angry, and when Grace hits she sits in the timeout chair. Well, last night Lena hit Erik because he told her no, so Grace said Lena should go in the timeout chair. This only makes sense to a 3 year old. Lena thought it was hilarious that she was sitting in the chair all by herself. I don't think she got the idea :)

Here is Lena putting on Minnie Mouse Ears. She was so proud of herself when she finally got them on.

Well, the girls are about to wake up, and we have a busy day ahead of us. Grace has her animal class and I have to work tonight. Here we go into another crazy busy weekend of work, kids, and church nursery!!

Quick Update

My mom just called and said that the results of the fluid that was removed from my dad's lung came back negative. This is an answer to prayer, in that if it came back positive there would be nothing that could be done for my dad. From here things are a little blurry. The oncologist is apprehensive of starting chemo right away, or in doing another major lung surgery right away since he has so much fluid on his lungs as it is. As a result, he is going to see a specialist at Indiana University. He will hopefully have an appointment soon, and we will go from there. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Fun Times with the Buskard Household

It seems like we have done a lot over the past couple of days. Saturday we met my parents to go see Madagascar 2. Grace loved watching the movie on the big screen. I enjoyed the first ten and the last ten minutes of the movie :) I was glad that we went to go see the movie at The Greene, because I took Lena and we walked around the shops to spy out some Christmas dresses.

The rest of Saturday before I went to work was chilly and rainy so we spent the afternoon inside, and this is the result of trying to find something fun for Grace to do.....

She had a blast painting the windows. I think I have learned over time that sometimes a little mess (or even a big mess) is worth it for a little fun!

Yesterday we went to the library for story time, and we were able to check out the movie WALL.E. Grace was so excited! Afterwards I took the girls to get their flu shots. Grace hasn't had a shot since she turned 1, so she didn't realize that they hurt. She was actually excited to go to the doctor to get a shot (I think her 3 year old mind thought it would be some sort of prize). Lena whimpered for a minute, but poor Grace was inconsolable. I had to reward her for doing so good, so we had her favorite for lunch- McDonald's.

The fun thing that we did yesteday was shop for and pack Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I explained to Grace earlier in the morning that there are some kids who don't get Christmas presents, and that we were going to get some for two little girls. It was little hard at first for her to understand that she was picking out toys for someone other than herself, but i think she got the idea.

Here's everything that we were able to get, luckily I had thought ahead and saved back art supplies from back to school sales! I have to admit, the only part I dislike about putting the boxes together, is actually wrapping the boxes. :) I have decided that wrapping shoe boxes is not in my skill set.

Grace putting one of the boxes together. She thought this part was great!

Lena had been eyeing the little white bears that we were going to pack, and when we weren't looking, she snagged one. SHe was definitely proud of herself.

The finished boxes! On Sunday Grace will get to take them to church and put them under the Christmas tree. It is so good for her, and for me as well, to take the time and give to someone other than ourselves. It is so easy to think that we don't have much, but in reality, the little that we have is so much more than the girls that will receive the boxes have. Now that Grace is old enough to understand, I think that we will make this a Christmas tradition.

Here's Lena with her bear. She has recently become attached to stuffed animals, and it is so cute!

Well, later today my dad will find out the results of his tests. Please continue to pray and I will keep you updated.

I have been attempting (and I will have to admit I have been not been doing a good job at it) to do my quiet time during naptime or before the girls get up in the morning. It always amazes me when God has already put into words what I need to hear at the exact time. How is it that words that were written thousands of years ago can bring everything into perspective for me, sitting in my living room today? Well, today I read Psalm 30:5 which says, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." God does not promise us an easy road, but He does give us the hope that the morning will be filled with joy. This was such and encouragement to me today!

Today has been a good day. I took Grace to her art class, where she got to paint. Afterwards we played at the park and went to the libray to check out some movies. It is such a gorgeous day that I think I am going to have to take the girls for a walk later this afternoon!

LEna is officially walking!!! She made it all the way down the hall and is now standing up on her own without holding on to anything. She is still being selective about when she shows off her new skills, but it is so much fun to watch. Now for some pictures.

A picture of Grace and the medal she received at her last soccer game!! She is wearing the goalie jersey- definitely made her day!

Erik and Lena at the game. It was definitely cold for 3 year olds to be playing!

Sweet Grace! She is so funny- she is actually sitting in the bouncy seat in this picture.

Lena making her funny face!

My last picture for the day is my deal finding picture of the week. I went to Kroger, Walgreens, and CVS. Guess how much I spent on everything here..........

............. $20. God has definitely been good to us! He even provided us with enough pepperoni for at least a dozen pizzas, which makes my husband happy. Thank you God for your unending blessings!

Quick Update

We have had another busy week, but I wanted to update on my dad. Yesterday he went to the oncologist to find out the results of the PETscan he had last week. They determinied he has a large lump in his lung, but another area of concern is an excessive amount of fluid on his lungs. They have to now determine if the fluid is post operative or if it is cancerous fluid around his lungs. This morning he went in to get some of the fluid removed in order for it to be tested. He will find out the results next Wednesday. If the fluid is non-cancerous he will have to go in for another major lung surgery, but if the fluid does have cancer cells it is inoperable and there is nothing the dpctprs are able to do. Please pray that, though it is one of the most painful surgeries a person can have, that my dad will be able to have it. We are trying to remain prayerful and hopeful as we wait and see what is in store. Please continue to pray!
On a little more encouraging note, Lena has started taking her first steps. Last night she took 10 steps, and was incredibly proud of herself.
Grace had her last soccer games this past weekend. They didn't go that great, as it was cold, and she didn't want to play.
Hopefully we will be heading to Kroger to get some great deals on groceries before heading to work tonight.

There are a few things on my mind this morning. Last night Erik and I watched a couple of movies instead of watching the news, as we knew that we would only get frustrated and upset if we tuned in to the election results. I have always followed politics and if you know my husband, it is in his blood, but this is the first time that I have absolutely dreaded an election or its outcome. As a Christian I must view politics through my biblical worldview (oh yeah, Cornerstoners, that one is for you) and I am severely disheartened at the direction in which Americans are heading. I have a feeling that as a Christian I am going to have to take a more delibrate and outspoken stand for what I believe, in the years to come. There's my soap box for the day!
My dad goes in for his PETScan tomorrow and will find out the results next tuesday. Please continue to pray for him, my mom, and for the doctor's wisdom and guidance.
So, I have decided that I hate daylight savings time. The girls are still waking up at 6am, as opposed to 7am, and are completely out of sorts. It is amazing how children thrive on some semblance of a schedule. Well this morning, since we were already showered, dressed, and fed by 8am we did some bargain shopping. We made it to CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger, and were home within an hour. Here's a picture of all that I was able to buy for only $14.

God is definitely good to us!

Picture Post

We had a good time on our trip to Michigan. We were able to get in a ton of visiting and catching up with family and friends. Our trips back are always bittersweet because they remind us of what we miss about living in Michigan. We drove to Uncle Matt's restaurant in Livonia on Thursday night and had the best time eating out since we had kids! It was so nice to be able to relax and to catch up with him.

Friday we headed to the rumley's house where we had so much fun catching up and watching the kids play.

Here's a picture of us at the park.

The Rumley's and the Buskards. We had such a good time catching up with them. It is so much fun to see our kids grow up together!

Minnie mOuse, Daisy Duck, a Mad Scientist, and a Beauty Queen. The girls went trick or treating at the Genther's and we had fun spending the night with them.

Here is a picture of my adorable daisy duck!Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck- unfortunately this is the best picture we have of the two of them together.
Before we headed to our next stop we took some pictures with the Genthers. Here's a pic of the girls with their cousins. My girls absolutely adore them!

Here is a picture of both of our families. We used the timer on my camera- it turned out pretty good! We miss them SO much!

A picture of Erik and I!

Saturday we stopped at Brett's house and visited with family. Here is a picture of the girls, cousin Cole, and Grandma Buskard. It was nice to get to know some of the Buskard's better.

Our Family and Erik's Parents

Lena Playing in the leaves!

It was a busy but good long weekend.

Please pray!

We had a good trip to michigan and I will post pictures and details later, but for now more pressing concerns have confronted my family once again. My dad went to the oncologist today to find out the results of a recent catscan. The scan found several spots on his right lung and one on his left lung. From here he has to go for a petscan to figure out a course of action. Please keep him and my mom in your prayers. My dad has already battled and beat cancer twice, but each time it takes a little more out of him, and disheartens my mom and the rest of us. I will keep you updated as we find out more in the coming weeks. It is times like these that it is hard to trust that God is truly in control, but it is times like these that your faith has to triumph over the fairness.

I want to share my really cool, God Provides story. Well, I rarely ever spend any money on myself. If I have the option of getting something for me or the girls, I willl always buy what the girls need. Lately there hasn't been the finances to get anything extra, and I was in desperate need of a pair of jeans, my only pair tore beyond repair Saturday morning. Well, Saturday morning I packed the girls in the car and we headed to the mall to get a $15 gift card from Macy's for being one of the first 150 people there. We got our $15 and head straight to the kids section and found an adorable Disney Princess Shirt for Grace which she loved, and I loved because it was free! Then we proceeded to head to Bath and Body Works where I had a coupon to get something for free. On our way down there we passed Old Navy and a lady was handing out treat bags to the kids with candy and a coupon for the adults. I opened up my coupon and won $50!!! I was so floored and utterly amazed by God's continued blessing! So, for once I got myself something (and a little something for the girls)! I am always reminded that God provides for His children.

The weekend was a bit of a blur. I worked late Saturday night and Sunday night, and I had church nursery on Sunday morning. I had two great money nights at work, which really helped with some unexpected expenses- once again God is always in control!

Monday Grace had a soccer game, and this time instead of somersaults, she would run and then fall on the ground and just lay there. I don't know what I am going to do with this kid!

After her game we had dinner with my fam and my Aunt Emily who I haven't seen for probably 10 years. It was nice to get a chance to catch up and to show off my family.

Yesterday was a fun day. It was storytime at the library and Grace was able to wear her costume. She was absolutely adorable!

Here is miss Minnie Mouse herself! Aren't the shoes amazing?!!

Minnie mouse and Woody, or as we know them, Grace and Carson! They have a blast together!
Lena at the library! She is getting so big!

I absolutely love this picture! Grace was so tired that she fell asleep in the cart at Meijer. There are times that she seems so old, but times like this remind me that she is still my baby!

I worked last night and I work again tonight. Today I am trying to get things done around here before we head out of town tomorrow. tomorrow night we are staying with Matt in Detroit before heading to Grand Rapids for therest of the weekend. It will be great to see everyone and to catch up with family and friends. Until we go though, there is so much to do. I hate packing but once we are on the road it will all be worth the stress!

It has been a little more low key of a week for us, which has been nice.

Monday night Grace did good at her game. She actually dribbled the ball from one end of the field to the other! She also made her first attempt at goalie. She has been wanting to play so bad, I think it has something to do with the cool red shirt that the goalie gets to wear, but nonetheless she was pumped!

Tuesday I took Grace to storytime at the library. Next week she gets to wear her costume to storytime, so we definitely have something to look forward to.

Yesterday I did some bargain shopping at Meijer and Kroger. I was able to get $90 worth of merchandise for $25. Not bad! There are times when it seems to take so much of my time to cut coupons and find deals, but then I have shopping trips where I get things for free, or even better yet, am paid to buy something, and it makes it all worth it!

I didn't have to work last night, so it was nice to have a quiet evening at home.

Today has been nice and quiet. We have read a lot of books, Learned all about apples. Drew pictures. And now both girls are sleeping peacefully. I love days like today!

This evening I think I am going to take the girls to the DC Varsity Tournament game. I keep going back and forth as to whether to go or not. It is supposed to get chilly, but not until later. As of right now, I think I will do it, but I think I will wait and see how the girls are when they wake up!

This is definitely the weather that I wish I was playing soccer! Crisp fall air, blues skies, it doesn't get any better than that!

It was a beautiful weekend here. Erik had the whole weekend off, so we went to the park on Saturday morning. It is so refreshing to be able to spend time as a family. We spent the rest of the day relaxing until I went to work.

Sunday we went to church and then I had to go to work. While I was at work Erik took Grace to get a new pair of cleats. They are absolutley adorable! They are white adidas cleats with pink stripes. She has a game tonight, so hopefully they will motivate her to kick the ball!!

Today we made it the the mall for the monthly kids concert. Grace had fun dancing with the kids and getting little trinkets from the vendors that were there. She even won a Tigger spin toothbrush! And I won a large picture frame!! i guess you could say it was a productive morning!

Here are a couple pictures that were taken this weekend.

Grace decided she needed to wear my glasses. Can you tell that she is my kid? No resemblance, huh?

This is how I was able to make dinner on Friday night! Lena was having a fit because I couldn't hold her, so I took her clothes off of her, strapped her in the high chair, and gave her pudding. What I do for some peace!

Here is our latest family picture! Yesterday we dressed the girls in the adorable outfits that Aunt Karis gave them while she was in town. They were SO cute! We used the timer on our camera to try and get a picture of all of us, and it actually turned out to be the best picture we have taken together yet! Go figure!

Well, I had better start cleaning since everything is a mess from my having to work all weekend!

10 Months Old

Lena is now 10 months old. It's hard to believe that her birthday is just around the corner. She is such a joy and brings so much to our family. At times she seems to be about to walk, but for now she is more satisfied with crawling, as she is able to move around a lot faster that way. Lena has fast become an avid climber. (The other day I caught her climbing on top of our bed!) We are so blessed to have two amazing little girls!

We have had a full but fun week. Monday night Grace had a soccer game. She did better this time, as she did not do her first somersault until the second half! She did get a hold of the ball a few times during the game, so I was pleased to see that. The funniest part of the game had nothing to do with soccer. Over the past couple of months Grace has been around the DCsoccer team and has picked up on a few things, one of which is stretching. So, during the game, Grace ran over to the edge of the field (but mind you she is still on the field), tells me that her leg hurts and I nedd to stretch it. She lays on her back and lifts one of her legs in the air for me to stretch it. She absolutely cracks me up!

Tuesday we made it to story time at the library. Grace had a good time because her friend Carson was there. Later tuesday we went to a friends house to let the kids play and to watch iron man. It was nice to get out of the house and to hang out with other adults!

Wednesday we actually went to another story time. I am attempting to get Grace more used to taking direction from people other than mommy and daddy. She had fun and was good for the teacher, so I was thrilled. Later that afternoon we painted pumpkins. There are times I know I have to be crazy, but they both had fun and were absolutely filthy!

Grace with her finished product!

Here is my centerpiece!

Yesterday we got in the mail the girls' holloween costumes. They are going to look absolutely adorable. Grace is going to be Minnie Mouse and Lena is gong to be Daisy Duck. It should be fun! Pictures to come as soon as I get the finishing accessories (tights, turtlenecks, etc). Grace can hardly wait, as she is asking several times a day if it is halloween yet!

It is finally starting to feel like fall! Today was the first day that I had to dress the girls in long sleeves and pants. We have had a good day of deal shopping and playing ( I definitely have got over $100 worth of groceries for only $30 this week, OH YEAH!)

Grace riding her bike!

A sweet picture of Grace. She is starting to look so old!

Well, we are going to enjoy a nice evening at home tonight. It should be a pretty low key weekend for us, other than the fact that I have to work Saturday and Sunday night :)