The Night Before Kindergarten...

Dear Grace,
Tomorrow is your very first day of kindergarten and I cannot believe it!! Part of you still seems like my sweet baby, (especially when you pronounce words wrong, like commerical [mershical] and thirsty [firsty]), but you are also growing into such a confident girl and I am so proud of you. You are whip-smart, hysterical, headstrong and beautiful and we love you so much.
Kindergarten is going to be such an adventure, and I am so excited for you. You will make lots of new friends and you are enrolled in the Spanish Immersion class so 80% of your lessons are in Spanish. You keep asking me how you will know what your teacher is saying if you can't speak Spanish, and the truth is, it's probably going to be really frustrating for you at first, but I'm certain you will be speaking Spanish like a pro in no time.
Tonight we went out to eat at Likkit's in Cobden, Illinois for your end of summer/back to school special dinner. You had a hot dog with ketchup, applesauce and a scoop of Wonder Woman ice cream (we aren't sure what the flavor was, but it tasted like a delicious mix of bubblegum and banana, Sounds gross, but it was really yummy!). Before bed we read "The Kissing Hand" and now we're trying desperately to get you to fall asleep but you keep finding excuses to get up and come out here. You're gonna be tired tomorrow, Schmoopy!!!

A few of your favorite things:

• Hamburgers with pickles
• "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift
• "Shut up and Dance With Me" by Walk the Moon
• Playing with snails
• Spending time with Jordyn and Jessica
• Apricot Jelly
• Monster High (your backpack and lunch box this year are Monster High!)
• Going to the library
• Mango Lassi's from the Co op
• Riding in Daddy's truck/getting gum from Daddy

I love you,
Mommy

You and your "Wonder Woman" ice cream. 

Late Summer Adventure: St Louis History Museum

Girls,
Thursday was Jessica and Jordyn's last day of summer vacation, so we took a trip to St. Louis and spent it exploring the St. Louis History Museum with them, Papa Dave and Grandma Helen. None of us had ever been to the History Museum, and it was so incredible!  There was so much to see and lots of exciting stuff for you all to do. Well, all of you except Cecilia who rode along perfectly content and happy in her red umbrella stroller.
After the history museum we had lunch on the Delmar Loop, we stopped for ice cream cones at Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shop (Grace got cotton candy ice cream on a plain sugar cone that had been dipped in chocolate and rolled in rainbow sprinkles. Cecilia was too young for a scoop. Next year, lovey!)
Below are a few photos from our incredible day. What do you girls remember about this adventure?


Love,
Mommy

A giant statue of Thomas Jefferson stood at the entrance of the History Museum. Daddy loves Thomas Jefferson, so we had to get a group shot with him. :)

Looking into a 3-D photograph machine from the 1904 World's Fair. 

Heading into the Children's Wing of the museum. 

Papa Dave and Grace pulling the horn on a steamboat. 

Pressing a souvenir penny!

Bread and Buttered in St Louis, MO! 

It was a beautiful day!  Grace switched spots with Cecilia and you girls happily posed in front of the fountain at the entrance of the museum. 

After we left the museum we headed to The Delmar Loop for lunch. This is three of you posing with one of the popular Bicentennial birthday cakes that were placed all around St Louis last year. 

We ate lunch at Ranoush, a Syrian restaurant. Here, Cecilia digs into a plate of hummus, baba ganoush and tabbouleh salad. 

Cecilia's souvenir: a pioneer bonnet

Grace's souvenir: a pioneer paper doll sticker book exactly like this one. 

And the biggest surprise of the day...

Grandma Helen got her nose pierced!   Yikes! 

Betsy-Tacy

Grace,
We started reading a vintage chapter book called "Betsy-Tacy'"about two five-year-old girls who meet and become best friends. Last night, in one of the chapters, the girls were building a pretend home to live in on a hill. They spotted a chicken across the way, caught it and put it into a box so they could eat eggs in their new home. There was a small part in last night's reading that made you laugh hysterically. I love it when you laugh hysterically. It's so infectious and makes me feel happier than anything else in the world. You have a beautiful laugh. Anyway, here is the part that you enjoyed:

...Somehow it flapped and clawed, but they got it into the box.

But the hen was very angry. It glared at them with furious little eyes and opened and shut it's sharp little beak and made the most horrid, terrifying squawks. 

"Lay an egg, chickabiddie!  Lay an egg, chickabiddie!" said Betsy over and over. 

But the hen didn't lay a single egg. 

About this time, voices rose from Hill street. "Betsy!" "Tacy!" "Betsy!" "Tacy!" One voice added, "Dinner's ready."

"I don't believe he's going to lay an egg," said Tacy. 

"Neither do I," said Betsy. "He isn't trained yet."

Just reading this again makes me smile. Between giggles you looked up and me and said, "Hens don't lay eggs for a year!" (Which made me laugh even harder.)

I love you, 

Mommy

You and your guinea hen, Frankie, who hasn't yet laid a single egg. 

"My name is Cinderella, but you can call me Cindy"
Grace, age 5

Cecilia Turns 1

Dear Cecilia,
Happy 1st Birthday, sweetie!
I'm having a hard time figuring out where the time went. It seems like yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital!  You were so tiny and we were so happy to have you become part of our family. Since that day you have grown so much. Your not walking yet, but you have the cutest crawl (you sort of drag one leg and toss your other hand into the air like you are trying to lasso a wild bronco!) and you have started pulling up on things and cruising along the furniture. Any day now you'll figure it out and will be walking all over the place, I just know it.
The moment you and Grace woke up this morning, she wanted to know if you were going to be able to walk or talk and when you were going to be two now that you're one. :)  It was really sweet watching her be so excited for your birthday and when she saw what you were wearing (pink shorts and the black "I'm 1" t-shirt that she wore when she turned one) she immediately tried to match you by wearing her pink shorts and her black "What If?" shirt (backwards) that I made her to go see Wild Kratts in Paducah with Daddy.
Our day was pretty typical: we ate breakfast, you napped, you woke up and ate lunch, we ran errands and then we had cheese ravioli for dinner. Daddy had to work late so he couldn't eat with us, but the moment he got home we brought out your cake (homemade white cake with chocolate whipped cream icing), sang happy birthday and let you dig in! You picked up the entire thing and shoved it into your face, tossed chunks of it onto the floor and rubbed icing into your hair. Needless to say, I think you liked it and Sissy proclaimed it was the "best birthday ever"!
We love you Cecilia. You have brought so much joy into our lives and my birthday wish for you is that you will always know your worth and be as happy as you are today.

xo,
Mommy