Cha

Our family got out and about tonight and it was good. :) Daddy went down to the neighbor's house to help them do some yard work and left me at home with the girls. That was fine, but Libby wouldn't eat supper. After what seemed like an eternity she finished up and so the girls and I decided to go visit too. So, I got a chance to know the neighbors a little better. It was quite nice.

Then, we came home and I was saying something to daddy and he responded with, "Yeah right!" Libby didn't miss a beat, she chimed in with, "Cha, yeah right!" WHAT? She's 3, not 13! And just a little bit ago? She told us she was going to go do something to make her pretty. Daddy asked her what she was going to do and she said, "You'll find out." Sassy! Where did our baby go? She's growing up so quickly!

Our Friend

We have a friend on our front porch. Her name is Grobber, per Libby (must be a 3-year old thing). Anyway, we aren't sure what type of spider she (or he...or are they unisex?) is, but she hasn't tried to harm us yet. She usually runs to her resting spot when we come to visit, which we do daily. Here is a picture of her eating lunch. Hey Val! Here is a question for Tuesday Tips? How can I take this picture with a Canon PowerShot SX100IS to make her web stand out more? I guess that we need to get to the library to find out all about Grobber!

Edging Out

We have had a wonderful weekend at our house...NOT! Poor Gracie is trying to grow some teeth and it's not treating her real well. With Libby it was fairly straight forward: a low grade fever, some snot, lots of drool and some fussies and then, voila, teeth. Not so with Grace. She's been running a fever anywhere between 100 and 102 since Friday. Not too mention you can just tell the girl is in pain the way she whimpers when she's awake. Most of the time, she just sleeps. She's been sleeping a good 18 hours a day. I've noticed that this is how she deals with stress. None the less, we have the edge of one tooth sticking it's little head just through her gum. It hasn't popped out yet, but you can see it and feel it's edge. In the long run, Grace will be glad...she's REALLY itching to eat real food! Poor baby girl.

In other news, Libby is itching to get to grandma's house. She has been asking several times a day when we get to go. I finally got tired of it on Saturday and decided to be proactive and make a visual for the girl. Thus, the picture below. Every morning as soon as she wakes up she reminds me that she needs to take a clothes pin off. It has REALLY cut down on the asking about it and Libby loves to take the pin off FIRST thing when she wakes up. I haven't found a place to hang it up yet, but she seems to enjoy it anyway.

I think that's about it in the Tucker household for the moment. Hopefully I will have pictures of Gracie teeth before the week is out.

FOUND!!!

Grandma finally found the keys yesterday! They had fallen back further in the couch than we had looked. It was, as I suspected, Grace who deposited them there. I always (haven't since returning from Ohio) give my keys to Grace to play with and they usually end up in her seat. This time grandpa swooped her out of her car seat while she was still playing with them so they were carried over to the couch. So, lesson learned...don't let Grace play with the keys just to make her happy. Thank you grandma for being diligent and persevering in looking for those crazy keys! I appreciate it.

Science Experiment

Chris gets to do a "Mr. Wizard" type show at work today because he is partnering with our local boy scouts in a program about "Mr. Wizard" type stuff. He was very excited (and very nervous) when like a bazillion people signed up to come check it out (ok, less than that, but still I think at least 100 people are going to be there...I'll have to ask him). To get prepared he obviously had to line up some cool experiments and he was trying them out at home last night just to make sure everything was in working order and there would be no surprises. (Thus the last post with the lightning globe.) Anyway, I'll get to the point here.

In one of his experiments he put a lightbulb in the box that normally would hang it on your ceiling and had two long screws sticking out the other side. The point (and normal hypothesis) would be that until something connects those metal screws you can't conduct electricity. The results are supposed to be that you stick the screws in water and nothing happens because water doesn't conduct electricity. Then, you pour salt into the water and, voila, you have light because salt DOES conduct electricity. Then, there is our house. Chris stuck the screws into the water and...wait a minute, it's lighting up! What? He decided to try it with our RO (reverse osmosis) water. Guess what? No light...just the way it's supposed to be. At this point we know that his experiment is going to work just fine, but we are still questioning why our water conducts electricity. Oh yeah, we have a water softener, with what? Yeah, salt. Chris decided one more test. We'll get water from the spigot that comes straight from the well. Sure enough, we had light. So, I don't know if it's iron or what, but our water conducts electricity! Needless to say, I am more impressed with RO systems than ever now and I think anything that will be consumed by my children or myself (yeah, Chris too) having to do with water, will come from the RO. I don't want to know what else is in our well water...or maybe I do.

*Update: Of the 120 people that said they would/or would try to be there, 16 showed up. What a bummer!

More New Toys

This really isn't a new toy. It's one of those hand-me-down toys, which are still great fun! Today was Grace's first time trying it out. She wasn't real sure about it, but she was real sure she wanted her sister to leave her alone and let her play.

Although she's doing well standing, it's still hard for her to do it for long periods of time. She'd go into the splits, but she didn't want to quit playing so she would fall and then pull herself back up again. She did this four or five times before she decided she was finished.

Grace thought that daddy's lightning globe was something else. She was afraid to touch it at first, but then she got the hang of it. She did fine until she wanted to pick it up and eat it. No kiddo, no yummies there.

My Angels

The girls' naps were off on timing today (which was fine because I didn't need a nap today). So, once Libby went to sleep, Grace woke up and I snagged the camera and had some fun...without Libby trying to be in EVERY picture. I did decide to grab one picture of her though. Isn't she an angel? Well, until she wakes up. :)

Grace's NEW Favorite Toy

Thank heavens for Les Fons and their chintzy, but given in love, prizes. Hannah won a few things this year at Les Fons camp and I think she was mighty glad that her precious nieces were in town to unload on (I mean, spoil). This little ducky was the big winner! He has totally replaced the McDonald's snake and is Grace's new side kick. She likes to chew on his head and keep him with her at ALL times...including while she is crawling across the floor, crying for mommy.

Momma's Big Girl

Yes, she is angry in both of these pictures, she wants out and she wants out NOW! But, that isn't why I posted them. Look at my big girl! She will be 8 months old tomorrow and Sunday she started pulling herself into a sitting position and today she started pulling herself up to standing in her crib. It's SO fun to watch her learn new things so quickly, but at the same time, I'm already losing my little girl. I love my Gracie and I am glad that she is very healthy and meeting her milestones. :)

Differences Emerge

Back when the girls were wee little wanes I thought that they looked quite a bit alike. Now that Grace is starting to grow up a little though, she is really starting to take on her own looks...and personality. Here are 7 month pictures of the girls. Libby is at top and Grace is at bottom. Oh yeah, and Grace STILL can't (strike that, WON'T) hold her own bottle. I suppose I shouldn't whine about that. It gives me more Grace time. :)

Isn't It Ironic?

In the 18 months that we lived in town we had one specific road that took us to the main area of town. We took this road literally hundreds of times...and it STUNK! It was a fairly busy thoroughfare so it had pot holes galore and, well, it just stunk. I was always saying, "I wish they'd just repave this darn thing!" Well, somebody listened to me. As we were moving all of our stuff out to our brand new house...they started the repaving process. :) It's so nice to drive on now. And do I get to drive on the nice new road? I've driven on it ONCE since we've been out here. :D Ha ha ha! I love life! Isn't it ironic?

She says she's not a baby...

...but I certainly do wonder sometimes. Yet one more crazy Libby picture.

Last, But Not Least

Crawling just isn't good enough. I thought Grace might enjoy the musical walker the other day so I pulled it out. I stood her behind it and she took off. I think it was just dumb luck though. After that, she couldn't do it. She'd just stand there and look at me. Then she'd start to push it forward and just about fall. If she pushed it forward and I caught the wheels she would take the necessary step and we could do it that way. I think that was Thursday. Last night after church? No problems! She would just do it...that is, of course, until I got the video out. Therefore, Libby is helping her out, but yes, she can run the crazy thing on her own. I'm in for some trouble soon. I'm going to have two "on the move" before I know it.

CrAzY LiBbY!

Wanna ride? Jump in!

Yeah, even worse...Grace's 3-6 month overalls. The straps even buttoned. They look like shorts and they are probably uncomfortable, but hey...who's askin'!

My Girls!

Aren't they so adorable?

Yet again. Such sisterly love...until Libby asks to take Grace back to the hospital because she whines and cries. She's eight months old, why wait until now!?! Crazy kid!

Just having fun!

Yeah! We found the cutest little hat and jacket when we were unpacking. Libby wanted to wear it, so I let her. I noticed the arms were short so I knew it wasn't "her" size, but it still looked cute so I let her wear it. Once she took it off I checked the size: 18 months. I can button it up if I want too. Wow!

Yep! I'm an Idiot!

I wanted to get pictures of us girls getting ready for the wedding. I got this shot squeezed off (yes, she is talking to her soon-to-be husband) and the batteries went dead. I was so frustrated. I got home and where do you think the batteries were? Yep, in the side pocket of the camera case. All I had to do was change them out. :S Grr!

Visit to Sandusky

We went up north to visit with my mamaw and my Aunt Bessie. Neither of them had gotten to meet Miss Grace yet and it's always a special treat to see Libby (at least for Bessie) seeing as she (Libby) was named after her (Bessie) mom. While we were up there mom thought Libby might enjoy the lighthouse. She did really enjoy her trip, although she was a bit scared when we got to the top of the tall lighthouse. Grace enjoyed her time with Dibbers down on the ground.

Here Libby is walking on the rocks at the edge of Lake Erie.

Mom and Grace are sitting right beside the tree at the top (in the middle) of the picture.

And here is where I would have rather been. :) CEDAR POINT!