Too smart for her own good.

Lately, we've been dealing with more and more tantrums and death defying tricks from our little girl.

She knows how to throw a pretty good tantrum, but what is worse, is the crazy things she likes to do.

She wants to climb on anything and everything.

Including that previously mentioned shoe rack, her favorite places to climb are on the glide rocker, any ottoman that we have in the house, her little kitchen, the bench, the front porch rocking chairs, the toy baskets, into the tub, the fireplace, etc.

And of course, she likes to combine these things to create more fun.

Case in point: this morning Grace used the ottoman (which I had moved to the side of the chair to get it out of sight) to stand on, and then SLIDE onto the chair, laughing hysterically the whole way.

Then she flips herself out of the chair and repeats.

Well, when these 'tricks' become a little too dangerous, I will sometimes have to pull her down, and sit her in my lap to 'talk' to her and tell her why it is not safe. 

At the end of these little chats, I will tell her to give me a hug and a kiss before letting her crawl off my lap.

Lately, she has been trying to make these talks shorter.

How?

Before I can even begin to talk, she immediately leans in for the kiss and says "Muah!!" multiple times before turning and trying to run off.

Nice try, stinker.

She is my daughter.

A couple of weeks ago, Grace and I sat down for a snack.

I gave her some animal crackers, and I got out some Celery and Green Peppers to eat with some healthy dip.

Grace began to fuss and cry.  I looked at her confused, and said, "Grace....your cookies are on the table!"

Then, the crying began to transform into thrashing, flailing and reaching for my celery.

"Grace, this is celery. You are not going to like the texture. You don't want this."

The thrashing and screaming continues.

In order to calm the fury, I handed her a celery stick.

And she proceeded to eat TWO of them.

YAY, CELERY!!

Well, I guess I can add that to the list of things she gets from her mama.

Park with the OTHER Jennings family!

We were lucky enough a couple of weeks ago (OK...maybe it was a month or so ago) to get a surprise visit from the MB Jennings family! Since the weather was gorgeous, we decided to go to the park to play.

Ben and Grace were inseparable!

It is so nice to have not one, but TWO cousins within 5 months of her. Grace is kinda sandwiched between both.

cute cousins!

Cheese Face

Maddy

don't mind me...just climbing up the slide.

Grace has a new fascination with her diaper. I have a new desire to put onesies on her at all times.

Don't be fooled...Ben doesn't hate me. He only hates me when I tell him I don't have any gum!

Yay for a picture of Uncle Joe and Grace...even if she is squirming!

Sarah

Now, you can all see how prevalent the 'red-head' gene is in this family! We got a lot of comments that day having FOUR red-heads running around the playground. I guess that's not a sight that most people see frequently...even though WE do! 

Made my week.

The other week, I found these beautiful flowers on my front porch.

No note, no trace of a visitor, just flowers.

If fact, TWO beautiful bunches of flowers.

I've had two empty ceramic pots on either side of my front door for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to putting something in them.

I was a little worried that my neighbor must have gotten embarrassed by me and my lack of 'gardening' skills, but it turns out, that my sister got some on her porch too.

At first I tried to call and call everyone I thought would do such a nice thing. You see, I like to figure things out.  I wanted soooo much to thank whoever did this for such a wonderful surprise.

But everyone I asked genuinely told me that, although they would love to take credit, they had nothing to do with it.

I gave in. I guess I don't ALWAYS have to know everything.

I'm just going to enjoy the fact that it happened.

That someone thought of us.

 I hope that whoever it was reads this, because I want to say THANK YOU for doing such a thoughtful thing.  After having a hard couple of days, it brought some sunshine into my week. 

I am blessed to have many people in my life who are caring, and thoughtful, and who love me and my family.

And I am blessed to love those same people.

So, here's to you, our silent gift-giver.

We love you.

And we love them:

Grace's Perch

Grace has found a new favorite place in our house. 

The shoe rack.

According to her, it is not a shoe rack anymore, but instead a bench for a mischief-maker that happens to live at my house.

I even cleared off the top of the shoe rack, to make room for her new favorite place.

But, she still insists on sitting up there and leaning over precariously to throw all the shoes off the rack.

She also likes to bring random 'treasures' to her perch to play with...hence my pearls, and a church program.

Silly girl.

The look on her face as she sits there, completely proud of herself, makes cleaning up the pile of shoes 10 times a day a little easier.

A Nice Surprise

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. I don't hate it. But, I would just rather my husband show me love everyday and surprise me with flowers or what not on another day just because.

So, we decided to just keep Valentine's day low key and order take-out to have a dinner at home with Grace.

I thought I was being really smooth, and I ordered online to Chili's so that we could still have a good meal, but not have to cook it or clean up.

Stephen was supposed to get home at 5:15, so I ordered it to be ready to be picked up then.

Well, Stephen didn't get off on time(and therefore, wasn't in the best of moods), so he wasn't going to get there until 5:30.

Our food was going to be cold.

He gets to Chilis and gives them his name.

NO order.

Nothing on record online.

Stephen calls, and I confirm, that yes, I ordered it.

Maybe I didn't complete all the steps? I have no idea what happened.

But, no big deal, right?

Our food will now be hot, because we are ordering it now.

And then, all the good things started happening.

They offered us a free appetizer because of the inconvenience. 

Nice.

Then, as Stephen is waiting, they offer him a something to drink.

Soon after, our food comes out carried by the Manager.

As Stephen hands her his debit card, she says, "Tonight, you meal is on the house."

Really? Did that just happen?

Stephen gets home with a HUGE Chilis bag and we start unloading our dinner.

Included was this:

My steak with two sides

Stephen's hamburger and sides

Supreme chicken nachos

and entire bag of chilis chips and salsa

AND

they snuck in a free dessert. Brownie, fudge sauce and ice cream.

It was crazy to see the entire spread, and know that it was free to us.

The food was great. In fact, I still have an entire steak in the fridge for dinner tonight.

Grace enjoyed eating about 20 fries for dinner.

Stephen couldn't stop talking about his hamburger.

And we all were full and happy.

Happy Valentine's Day to us!

Valentines day...

I'm not one to really get into Valentine's Day, but I do love making Valentines.  

So, without further Ado...here is Grace's Valentine for this year.

And just for comparison....this was Grace last year on this day...