Back to School

10. Backpacks purchased and labeled.

9. Uniforms tried on, new ones bought, washed and hung in the closet, and ready to be put on.

8. Supply lists filled after multiple trips to Target and Office Max.

7. A yummy dinner and special treat the night before.

6. Showers, nails trimmed, hair put in curlers, and teeth brushed.

5. Early bedtime and kisses goodnight.

4. Morning wakeup with a special breakfast.

3. Lunches packed and put into backpacks.

2. Backpacks zipped and ready to roll.

1. Finally off and ready to start the school year! (even for me!)

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Buried

school starts monday. new school. new grade. enough said.

Lots of love,

The Grady's

thoughts...

There must be an age when children start to notice things about their body or how their body might be different from others. Brennan must have reached this age. This past month he has asked me two separate questions that made me realize how much he must be noticing things.

Tonight was one of those nights. He came into the kitchen while I was cooking dinner, and said, "Mommy, what are these two lines" (he's pointing to the scar on his chest/side). I said, "Bren, those lines are where the doctors fixed your heart when you were a baby". He looked down again and seeming satisfied with my answer walked away. I know he will have many more questions someday...

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Family Day at the Races

As we try to hang on to the last little bits of summer and cram in as much as we can into these last days of no schedules, we find that we are of course heading to cooler temperatures as well. We drove over to San Diego this past weekend and had awesome, cloudy, overcast weather! It was quite a treat. The kids just love the beach and just cruising around the local beach towns.

Sunday we decided to give the Del Mar racetrack a try. Who knew the races could be such a great place to send a Sunday afternoon with the family?

Face Painting

My little loves

Lots of love,

The Grady's

T-E-N on Thursday

1. Surviving...at least I think I am. I've been working pretty much each day in my classroom. I love that I can go in whenever I need to, a few hours a day. But at the same time...it is exhausting.

2. I cannot even believe that August is halfway over already. Eeeeekkkk!!!

3. I love www.amazon.com. Love being able to find the things I need quickly and have them shipped quickly as well. This last week I ordered coffee pods for our Keurig machine. Mistakenly I ordered decaf instead of regular. I realized it after they arrived. Well, on their website you cannot return grocery items so I emailed them to find out if I could just exchange. Their response? No exchanges either, but instead, they told me to just keep the product AND they will refund the cost. Crazy! I call that, great customer service!

4. Some of favorite bloggers haven't been blogging much lately for various reasons. I feel a little lost. I miss reading.

5. I want to see Eat, Pray, Love. I haven't read the book, should I before I go?

6. Thinking about adding Bikram yoga to my exercise routine. Am I a little crazy? Hot yoga. hmmmmm.

7. I made the most delicious strawberry shortcake cake this past weekend. Problem is, Jeff isnt a big fan of sweets. So guess who had a little bit each day? For lunch....and dessert....guess I really should do that bikram class.

8. Emerson cracks me up. She was watching 19 kids and counting the other day. She says Mommy, can you even imagine having 19 kids?!?! WOW! You think you have a lot of laundry now...can you imagine? HAHA!

9.

10. Kay. Done.

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Disney World...3

Day 3- Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's Castle

Haunted Mansion in the distance.

Emerson and I getting ready to spin (try to ignore the shiny faces, haha!)

Grandma and Brennan

Small World

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Disney World...2

Day 2- Hollywood Studios

Emerson walking the red carpet!

The backlot studio tour, we saw an explosion, flood, and experienced an earthquake!

Tower of Terror in the night sky.

Isn't this so cool? You stand at just the right spot and low and behold you are in SF!

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Disney World...1

Plane, trains, automobiles, boats, monorails, flying elephants, spaceships....talk about using all different modes of transportation! You might ask where we might be able to ride on all these things...well on a trip to Florida and Disney World of course!

We traveled to Florida for Jeff's work convention and took in the sites while we were there.

Day 1's agenda- Epcot

The view across the lake inside the park.

Germany...Octoberfest

Brennan getting a little squeeze from Stitch.

Soccer Fans!

Who are you calling?

Lots of love,

The Grady's

It's Thursday...

1. One of the coolest things ever? Teaching my daughter how to cook. Today she cooked cinnamon muffins from start to finish all by herself. Wow. Read all the directions, measured, mixed and was SO proud of her end result. I love that she loves to cook. I think it was right about this age I really began to "get" it too.

2. So it's HOT. Nothing new. You've all heard me complain many times before. But, the biggest issue we are having now? The one place we can cool off, the one reprieve from the crazy heat? The pool. But, it is 96 degrees itself. Gross.

3. So speaking of heat. I think I should do a little science experiment with the kids. Crack an egg on the sidewalk and watch it sizzle. I am absolutely positive it wouldn't take long!

4. Leaving for Florida on Tuesday. Hurricane on the horizon. Packing for 4...hot, humid, and wet. Should be interesting.

5. I got a new toy.

6. Emerson is getting a room makeover. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I cannot go long without rearranging furniture, redecorating, or just changing things around a bit. Sadly, Em has inherited this freakish habit. Just as I inherited it from my mom. Pics will be soon to follow!

7. I am completely struggling with keeping the kids entertained and active this summer. We have done puzzles, read books, seen movies, swam, written stories, practiced math facts, colored, played cards, cooked, cleaned, painted....I feel like an entertainer! I'm beat, exhausted! Any other ideas?

8. I miss the beach.

9. When I have a lot of extra money. Win the lottery. Inherit a bunch of money from some unknown relative. I'm buying a house on the beach. Period. NO questions asked.

10. There is nothing better than when the UPS man rings the doorbell and delivers a box of wine. I love that.

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Oceanside, Part 3

Okay, I promise...this is the last of the vacation pictures.

Things I miss:

the cloudy, overcast mornings

my view while I enjoyed my morning cup of coffee

the silliness!!! These kids are a crack up! Look closely at this pic, you can see each of them and their personalities.

crazy, amazing sunsets...wow.

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Oceanside, Part 2

Pictures, Part 2

What makes a great vacation? Great friends of course!

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Oceanside, Part 1

We just came home from a wonderful week, coast side. We spent another blissful 7 days in Oceanside this year. We just couldn't pass up the great location, perfect house, and great company! Lots of great memories once again.

Ready for the all the pics? I think I will put them in a few categories...so Part 1:

The Beach

Jeff heading out for a sunset boogey boarding trip.

Joseph filling his bucket.

Domenique focused on building her sand castle.

Haha!

Joseph catching a good wave.

One of the few times I could catch all four of them chillin' out.

Love this little guy!

My little munchkins

The girls loving the sand!

Lots of love,

The Grady's

Red, White, and Blue

Bbq, swimming, relaxing, and fireworks...perfect way to celebrate the 4th!

Lots of love,

The Grady's