The Haircut!

About a year and a half ago, Grace decided that she wanted to grow out her hair to donate to Locks of Love. She was bound and determined to make it to 10 inches despite the daily battles (and sometime tears) over brushing all of those tangles. About a month ago, we measured, and she had finally made it! I made an appointment to go the next day to have it cut. She was so proud of her accomplishment, and the hair salon even put her picture on the wall as "Haircut of the Week." We are both loving her new and easy 'do...although she tells me she's going to start growing it out to donate again.

Before

 After

Mother's Day Teas

The Friday before Mother's Day was such a fun day! Both kids had tea parties at school that I got to attend. They had prepared songs and skits and had even practiced serving the moms! Spending one-on-one time with my kids is so rare and special these days, and I really treasured these opportunities.

Charlie's teachers

Off to Grace's school! 

 The next weekend, Grace and I got to attend the Ladies Tea with my mom. Girls can come to the tea once they are 6 years old, so this was Grace's first time coming (and a day that both she and my mom had been waiting for for years!)

Ready to go...

 Three Generations

 My mom brought Grace up on stage with her to do the announcements. Grace, of course, loved being in the spotlight!

 Grace's good friend, Clara, also got to come. Such little ladies!

sweet kids

I have no idea when or why I took these pictures (or how Grace managed to escape!), but I found them today while going through my computer. I sure love these sweet faces.

Three Piggy Opera

Grace's kindergarten performed the Three Piggy Opera back in May. It was absolutely adorable to see kids singing their hearts out in their piggy masks. Grace was chosen to play "Pig #2" and LOVED getting to sing into the microphone. Ever since the performance, Grace has been asking me if she can move to New York to be on Broadway. I love that she isn't afraid to dream big!

Go Red Sox!

Grace just finished up her first softball season. She had so much fun being part of a team and learning to play the game. It was amazing to watch the girls go from knowing absolutely nothing about how to play to making great plays and big hits. These pictures are actually from her jamboree. (WAY back in April! I'm slightly behind!!)

 This was the only day she had one front tooth missing. She lost the second front tooth later this same day!

 The whole team with Coach Mapes

Blueberries

I know I've been a bit of a blog-slacker lately, but I'm going to try to get back to recording some of the more day-to-day things from these precious days. This is about as basic as it gets, but you have to admit this messy girl is pretty cute!

Our "little" Charlie Bear is now four! It has been so fun watching him change and grow over the past year. He has become very social and loves spending time with his buddies. He has quite the imagination, and he and Grace can get completely lost in other worlds together. He has opinions and is always ready to share them. He talks, talks, talks, talks, talks. He has an amazing sense of humor and loves making people laugh. His favorite phrase right now is, "Isn't that belarious (hilarious)?!?" He has really thrived at preschool this year. His teachers tell me that he is one of the busiest kids in the class and that he loves to try everything they have out to do. He has a new found love of dinosaurs and space, but his first and real true love is anything on a screen...movies, wii games, tv shows. We have had to drastically cut back on his "screen time", but his nightly show is still something he looks forward to all day long. :) He loves his family and is very affectionate. He's my snuggler, and since he's also an early riser, we often get good cuddle time every morning. I love that he still loves to hold my hand when we're walking, and whenever I sit down, he is almost immediately on my lap. He has such a sweet heart and a fun personality. We are so thankful that we get to be his parents!

Charlie had a hard time deciding what kind of party he wanted this year. He knew he wanted to have a dinosaur party, but he also wanted an "all shows" party that included all of his favorite tv characters. We settled on a Diego Dinosaur Rescue party. It was so much fun planning a dinosaur adventure for Charlie and his friends. They played games, hunted for dinosaurs, ate a "dino dig" snack, and opened presents. Charlie has really been blessed with some great new friends this past year, and it was so much fun watching them all play together and celebrate with Charlie.