Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

We had our Tot Class Halloween Party today. We didn't stay the whole time because That Grace was still not feeling her normal self. She's still crazy about the babies, though. She had a great time but we left after the snack, so we missed the pumpking carving. Unfortunately, we had to forego Boo at the Zoo this year. I hate that we have to miss it, because she really loved it last year, but it is just too cold for her to be out.

Hmm, this was my first hint that she might need to go home and take a nap!

Just because I don't have that many pictures from today, here's one from a few months ago.

Scenes from 2:00 a.m.

Our little sicko searching for a popsicle, the only "solid" nourishment she wants.

At 2:00 in the morning, sitting on the kitchen floor with Daddy.

Passing time in the doctor's office. It's officially an ear infection -- her 2nd one.

That Grace wanted to catch up on her reading while she was home sick.

Finally feeling better! Tonight I gave her a no spill sippy cup of milk and started cleaning up the kitchen. She went to one of her little tables and turned her cup upside down and intently started shaking it. Once she got a few drops of milk to come out, she said, "uh oh," and asked for a cloth to wipe it up!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sick Day #3

That Grace is still sick, so we've had to stick pretty close to home. We just ran a few errands today.

She likes to help unload the grocery cart.

We brought home some shells to explore and categorize.

We made suet for the birds today. It's finally cool enough that it shouldn't melt. Hopefully the birds will enjoy it.

That Grace has gotten sicker tonight. She's running a fever of 102.5.

From That Grace

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Dinner and a Show

Sunday night we had a lentil casserole and acorn squash rings. That Grace helped cook, which mostly consists of her tasting all of the food. If you're eating with us, there are some things you're better off not knowing! Here she is reaching for an onion.

Here she is after figuring out why most people prefer not to eat raw onions. After that, she decided to stick with the greens.

We weren't able to go visit the grandparents because That Grace is still contagious but Grandma sent loot home with Daddy and Caroline (who refuses to let me call her sissy, even in the blog).

Thanks, Grandma! She loved the candy, pumpkin and especially the rooster!

That Grace is too contagious to go out, sick enough to be cranky but not really sick, so I decided to put her to work. Most people only use 1 broom. That Grace wants to be sure her floors are spic and span, so she uses 2.

She loaded the dishwasher herself.

Daddy wants me to cut her hair, at least her bangs, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Mostly I try to keep it in a Pebbles ponytail. She has started pulling it out and then saying "uh oh."

We did have a big development on the language front tonight. That Grace said her 3rd word -- what did she choose after "Mommy" and "Amen," you ask? Well, Caroline was entertaining us by putting on a play that she is going to be in at school. She was performing all of the parts herself and at one point one of the characters tells another to die. So, That Grace's 3rd word was "Die!" which she shouted repeatedly as she helped wash dishes. One can hope she was talking to the germs on the dirty dishes!

Happy Birthday Memaw!

Poor Baby

That Grace has been puny all day. She started started pulling at her ears tonight.

On the Go.

On Thursdays, we go to a Tot Class. It's basically a preschool type class but the parents stay with the children. They have free play, stories and songs, snacks and an art project. The babies are always the first thing That Grace goes for during free play. She is baby obsessed these days!

She loved the markers. Unfortunately, she kept trying to draw on herself instead of on the paper.

After Tot Class, we came home for a nap and then went to The Little Gym with The Moms. One had a baby with her. That Grace kept leaving the play area to go look at the baby. She's so sweet. She kept squatting by him and making the "gentle hands" sign. She even tried to give him a kiss (we have to beg for kisses these days and still usually get a "no"). Once she got into it, though, she had a ball. She was all over the equipment. When they brought out the parachute, they didn't even have to tell her what to do. As soon as they lifted it up, she took off running underneath it.

It was a very busy day -- but lots of fun.

Quiet Day at Home.

We didn't have any activities or outings planned today, so we spent most of the day relaxing at home. It was a nice change of pace. We made pumpkin spice play dough. That Grace loves play dough and it's a rare day that she doesn't ask to play with it. We made this just by adding pumpkin pie spice and orange food coloring to a regular play dough recipe. You can't see it in this picture, but is has little flecks of spice all throughout and it smells divine. She's getting better about not eating it but I still catch her trying to sneak a bite every now and then. Then she takes her hand and rubs it over her tongue, which is her sign for "don't eat it."
The Moms are planning to go bowling next week, but I think That Grace is a little young for that, so we're not going. However, we decided to set up our own game of bowling with some empty soda bottles and a ball. That Grace has her own way of playing, though. She throws the ball and then runs over and knocks the bottles down with her hands. And then she claps.

We did run out for a few groceries today. That Grace always helps carry in the groceries. It's her job to put away the canned goods. First, though, she has to run to the fence and show Sweetie the Dog what we got at the store.

Growing Peppers and Babies!

What a difference a few months make. That Grace has loved gardening. She runs to the door with her little watering can when it's time to water the plants. We just had a few small containers this year: bell peppers, tomatoes, chives, and mint. When That Grace picks a pepper or tomato, she immediately starts eating it!

Autumn Table Centerpiece

That Grace loves to pick up acorns off the back deck when we go outside. We collected some in a little jar and used them in our centerpiece tonight. She loves to see them and run her fingers through them. The pumpkin is the one we bought to replace the poor abused pumpkin that is sitting in the refrigerator, waiting to become more pumpkin bread -- or maybe pumpkin pancakes -- or pumpkin pasta. The possibilities are endless.

More Pumpkins!

We went to the park to paint pumpkins with the playgroup today. It was the first time That Grace has painted with a brush. She caught on really quickly and was very enthusiastic (hence the blue neck)!

After the painting, the kids played in the sand for a while. She also loves the slide but I haven't been able to get a picture of that, yet. I need both hands free to catch her when she comes down! Maybe I can get Daddy to come along this weekend so I can get some pictures.

Snuggling with Daddy after a busy day!

The First Party of the Season

That Grace made her debut as a chicken at her first Halloween event this season. We had a party with our playgroup today. I had to distract her with a cookie to get her to let me put on the costume, but once she had it on, she was fine. The costume shed a little bit but not too bad. Hopefully it will hold up for the rest of the month. She has about four more events coming up.

Making Pumpkin Bread

I had all the supplies out to make cookies for the Halloween party, so we decided to go ahead and make pumpkin bread while we were baking. We used the recipe from Mommycoddle's blog. It was delicious, but very sweet. I was planning to let That Grace make cookies with me but after our pumpkin bread experience I decided to make cookies after she went to bed. Once she figured out that we were dumping stuff into the bowl, she decided to try to add a few of her own ingredients -- like the jar that the pumpkin pie spice came in and the saltshaker! You can see that she believes in tasting as she cooks!

Lunch

Lunch is our learning meal. We usually eat at home and we have the time free from distractions to focus on skills, manners, etc. It is also a lot of fun. That Grace loves getting her lunch stuff together and setting her table. We start by getting her dishes out of her cupboard and putting everything on a little tray to carry to her little table. She loads the tray but I actually carry it to the table.

She unrolls her place mat and puts her fork down. Then she sets her little cup out. I put her plate out for her and pour her a little bit of water from her water pitcher. She is learning how to pour water, but we are working on that separately, so I do the pouring at lunch.

Sometimes she has company for lunch! After lunch, I put her cup, plate, fork and pitcher back on the tray and she rolls up her place mat. After all that work, it's time for a nap!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin to paint. That Grace had a lot of fun rolling her pumpkin. I took it from her to hold and she asked for it back. I said, "Okay, but be careful. You have to be gentle with the pumpkin or you'll bruise it," at which point she dropped it on the concrete and laughed as it rolled away. Once we got home, the stem broke off completely and she gnawed on the raw pumpkin that was still attached to it while she "explored" the pumpkin by rolling it, sitting on it, stepping on it and inflicting various other forms of pumpkin abuse on it. A multisensory experience to be sure.