A Day in the Life of a 3 Year Old...

Gracie's day started with balloons... lots of them. Daddy did a great job of blowing up balloons before bed the night before and left them throughout the house for Gracie to play with all day.

After a busy day of playing with friends at church and with her brother at home finally, daddy came home and she got to open her presents.

Her two favorite things: her ballet outfit and her new Barbie and horsey. Now that Gracie is finally 3, she can take ballet classes (and she's been waiting for this for awhile).

Talking to Aunt Jen on the phone and being serenaded with Birthday wishes from Jonah and Julia.

Birthday dinner at Smokey Bone's.... she ate none of it... go figure.

And finally, the cake!

It wasn't fancy, but it still tasted great... and she was tickled pink!

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

My First Attempt...

Coconut Custard. Yummm....

2 1/4 c. milk

3/4 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 c. coconut

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. baking mix

Mix all ingredients together and place in a greased pie plate or other 9" baking dish. Cook at 350* for 1 hours.

*we ate it hot, then tried a bite after it was cooled completely... I prefer it at room temperature*

Just had to share it with you all! Have a great week!

Introducing Silver Lady...

Last night when we got home, Nathan hugged Red Lady. He didn't understand why we can't have 3 vehicles. We asked him who was going to drive the third one, and he told us "me!".

So, out with the old...

And in with the new...

27 weeks...

Yesterday, I was 27 weeks pregnant. So, on average at this point the baby is 14 1/2 inches long and weights 2 pounds... the weight of a head of cauliflower. I think Eli is more like a large head of cauliflower!

And... after 10 years I finally have all my wedding stuff out of a tote and into a curio cabinet!

Rainy Day Fun...

My day started this morning shortly before 6am when I got out of bed and started getting ready for some good ol' consignment shopping. And boy oh boy did I find some GREAT sales! High chair, car seat, exersaucer, sling, play gym, some clothes.... and some amazing prices! Woo hoo! I just compared what I payed to Amazon's prices, and let me tell you I'm feeling pretty good right now!

After I got home, we headed to swim lessons... Nathan is doing great. Next week he continues in the next class higher.... Preschool Level 2.

Then, off to the movies. "The Princess and the Frog" was showing one last time at the movie theatre on base, so we took advantage of it. The kids were so excited but, there is so much Voodoo-ism and spirit stuff in it that the kids have lots of questions now. They have been watching only Veggie Tales lately, and so this movie was a bit over the top for them. I understand why all of that was in the movie, after all it is set in New Orleans.... but, for a kids movie... maybe it's just a bit much for some youngin's.

Even though, we weren't that thrilled with the movie... the day was fabulous... because of my awesome shopping experience!

10 Years Ago Today...

Happy Anniversary Dear!

Crown of Flowers...

"Daddy, you are Prince Phillip and I am Aurora. And I need a crown of flowers."

So, Prince Phillip found a lovely bouquet of flowers (that was just purchased this morning) and made Aurora her crown.

And lastly, while downloading the previous video and photos onto the computer tonight we came across this video.... clear evidence that the camera needs to be kept in a different location.

The Backyard...

Our backyard consist of.... a little patch of grass with a driveway in it, followed by an alley way and then a very nice park! So, today when the weather was wonderful... we just walked outside and over to the park!

Sooo grateful for spring weather!

Some updates...

Nathan has been taking swim lessons the past few weeks, and is really enjoying them. At his first lesson the instructor told the parents to buy goggles that covered both the eyes and nose (they have some at the pool, but they aren't in very great shape). So, Nathan got his goggles and loves them..... but, the other parents just got their kids normal goggles, so Nathan looks like he's wearing safety goggles compared to the other kids... oh well, he doesn't care!

Gracie's favorite movie: Sleeping Beauty. And her favorite song: the song from Sleeping Beauty... "I know you, I danced with you once upon a dream...". She is always going to Nathan or Bryant and asking them to dance while she sings the song.... AND holds her shirt or dress out just like Aurora did in the movie.

And finally today, we learned a little lesson here at the Treacle house. It was one that we've always known, but never thought really mattered. Well, it does! I was out of real butter and we were getting ready to make rice crispy treats. I tried to convince the kids that we needed to go to the store to buy some, but they said "no mommy, we have butter it's right here". Well, good ol' Country Crock is NO substitute for real butter other than spreading on your toast! Trust me. Take a look at these treats (as you can tell the kids really didn't care that I messed them up)..... luckily after dinner they were thrown away and this momma made a trip to the grocery store for some real butter and more marshmallows and now we have white rice crispy treats.... that taste soooo much better!

Parent- Teacher Confrences...

Today was Parent- Teacher Conferences. And I have to admit that I was slightly nervous.... BUT, Nathan's preschool teacher couldn't have said anything nicer about him. We are just pleased as peaches to hear that our little boy is one of the smartest and brightest kids in his class. He pays attention and listens well, gets along with all the other kids and is not right on target intellectually... he is beyond where a four year old should be, she told me he is right up there with the five and six year olds! So, pleased to hear all of the good stuff! In fact there wasn't anything that she could tell us to work on with him.... we are so thankful. Nathan has always been a very adventurous, spunky, determined child, one that usually has to be told several times to do something (at home). So, to find out that he is wide eyed and mesmerized when learning things at preschool is well, just awesome! Mrs. Light said that he is VERY ready for Kindergarten.... I said, "yah, well I'm not sure if momma is!".

This does explain his choice of literature that he brings home on library days: encyclopedias. Literally, Children encyclopedias about dinosaurs, reptiles, space.... you name it, it has been in his school bag! I have yet to see any type of fictional story book in there.

A Few Thoughts...

• Gracie told me yesterday that she can't wait for baby Eli to come out of Mommy's tummy so that baby Sarah can go in!

• Nathan whispered a secret in my ear last night before bed, "I love video games!"

• I told Bryant last night while playing Gracie's new Barbie game for the Wii, "I actually kinda like this..."

• And thank you Bath and Body Works for being my children's cure to not wanting to wash their hands.... they love the soap! Nathan comes out of the bathroom and tells me to smell his hands... reluctantly I do, and they smell good!

• Oh, and we've discovered that baths on a lazy morning make the evening so much easier!

• And March on average for our area is supposed to start in the high 40's and end in the low 60's... today it is 39* and rainy.