Loosing Grace... Again

Field Day 2015 was a whole lot of fun. The kids always enjoy themselves so much. They run free, play with friends, get messy, play games, and they get a day off from workbooks and schoolwork.
Grace started her preschool curriculum and this was her first official Home school Field day.

Grace and her bestie

grace looking for trouble

Evie found a caterpillar 

The mud needed more water

her first solo roasting

She went all in! In true Gracie fashion she disappeared. 100 kids and 50 adults and she just vanished. She had to go to the bathroom, and rather than use the Porto potty outside she went into the house and used their bathroom. I had sent one of the daughters of the host family in and she called for her, but again in true Gracie fashion, she didn't respond. We found her in minutes and she was never in danger. Man she stresses me out.

Here one minute and gone the next.

Not long after I looked over to find grace in the mud pit... naked. She was so happy. we did require her to put something on her bottom, but we let her just play until she was done in the mud.

She had a great time playing with her friends and roasting marshmallows at the end of the day.

Totally worth it.

Frequent Flyer ER Cards?

Grace seems to have been named incorrectly. I was worried that if I named her Grace it would become a joke for a clumsy girl. Sure enough!

In the last two months she has cracked her head open and gotten staples. She stabbed her eye ball with a broken paint brush. She drank a bottle of antibiotics.

Today was no different.

She tried to go down the stairs wearing a lamp shade as a skirt. All I heard was

"HEY MOMMA! LOOK  WHAAA.... thump thump bumpity crash"

I rushed over to find her in a heap at the bottom of the stairs with the legs caught in the lamp shade. She of course was crying. Her first words were " But, I didn't know that would happen!"

this child certainly has a guardian angel on overtime right now.

Hoopa Gracie vs. the window

Grace took a late nap after visiting my mom. So it was no surprise that she was bouncy and giggly at bedtime. She bounced into Nate and Sam's room and was bouncing on Nate's bed. At some point Nathaniel kicked her. Not an "I want to hurt you" kind of kick, but a sweep your legs out from under you sort of thing. He does this to her on our bed all the time. He swept her legs and she went to fall back onto the bed. But she hit the window sill first.

There was blood EVERYWHERE.  Nate came in screaming that he heard Grace's head crack. Sam was screaming. Evie seeing the chaos began to cry and freak out. Daniel ran upstairs. I waddled over. and AJ almost passed out.
We cleaned her up and decided it was an ER trip kinda night.

 It took some convincing her that she was not going to die. Once she decided we were telling the truth she calmed down.

Within minutes of being in a pedi room at St. Lukes ( we didn't want to chance the drive to Tobey with a head injury) she was playing with the curtain, jumping on the bed, and messing with the light sensors. So much for a head injury!

Our nurse came in and Grace spoke with her. Grace notices a Cinderella picture on her tag and asked about it. The cheerful nurse smiled and showed her the sticker. Grace responded with " well... that's just creepy"

The stuck some meds on her head to numb it all up and put in 3 staples to mend her melon. The doctor we saw was great and attentive. We didn't wait long.

He gave her a Popsicle and let her choose a prize from the treasure chest. She was pleased. She came home and watched a show.

The Case of the Missing Key

Overalls - I know better than to put my children in overalls. They may look cute but hide a multitude of sins. There was the time I washed a frog ( a live frog ) in Tyler's overalls when he was about Gracie's age. Then AJ smuggled tater totts in his overalls.  Both Samuel and Nathaniel got themselves caught hopping fences in their overalls. I know better for sure. I can't help myself though and stick my kids in them every chance I get.

the overalls in question this time -

A little back story-

Daniel worked his second job on Tuesday and at the end of the night accidentally hit a curb that popped his tire. Someone felt the need to call his work and say he was texting while driving. He could have lost his job. (Thankfully, his phone showed the truth and there were no texts sent or received in the last hour.)

It was the night before Christmas Eve and it was pouring. He left his truck there for the night after trying , unsuccessfully, to release the spare.

He had to work Friday. So, Saturday we went to remove the tire. The bolts were stripped. It took hours, as well as my father's help, to get the tire off. Meanwhile , The tire place closed.

Daniel had Monday off. We were able to replace the tire. We headed up to the truck. Only after we got there did we remember that we needed new lug nuts for the tire.

Not a single shop nearby sold them. Back to Fairhaven to buy the lug nuts. We needed 5 and they only come in sets of 4? Finally get back to the truck, and realize... we can't find the key.

Sam told us that "Daddy gave Gracie the key" we turned the house upside-down looking for it.

It was well after 10pm when Sam picked up Gracie's overalls and the key fell out.

When I asked Grace this morning how she got the key she simply told me  " I found it on the floor, near the wooden door , silly"

I asked why she hadn't said anything to us even after we asked her. Her response " It was a surprise for Daddy!"

It's hard to be angry at this face

...

Introducing...

This is Grace

 This is the Gang.

With 6 kids ( 7  will be here in April *God Willing*)
These kids give me a run for my money. Gracie is my ring leader. The first girl after four boys! Everyone is wrapped around her finger.

The trouble is
GRACE  is a mischievous, sweet, bright, but intense little lady. She often finds herself in trouble. Picture Dennis the Menace as a girl and without the cowlick!

see!

Her antics, while frustrating, are a sign of a young lady with incredible imagination and gumption. I want to celebrate that.

so now we have Hoopa Gracie and the Gang.
Because while she is often the ring leader, she is never alone...