Happy Birthday Grace!!!

Grace's favorite thing to do... ART! She had her birthday party at Bristles this year. It is an art studio just for kids!

Birthday Girl in her art smock

Nana and Marion, doing their own art!

Let the chaos, ahem, painting begin!!

Back at home after a long day, I made the girls pose for a few pictures!

How cute is this?! A canvas stamped and signed by all her party guests!

Pink Kitty Masterpiece!

Ballerinas

This is Grace's latest painting. So sweet!!

Ballerina Sisters

Nana and Paw Paw

This week we celebrated Father's Day and it was also my mom's birthday. Grace drew pictures of both Paw Paw and Nana...

Uh oh dad, she's noticed your bald spot! Grace has the attention for detail! She didn't ask how to spell Nana or Poppa... smart girl!

Nana got a rather glamorous off the shoulder dress, of course in her favorite color :)

And yes, that's snow in both pictures... she said it was Christmas time, I think she just likes to draw snow.

This is a drawing she left to try to appease "The Clean Up Fairy" who swiped a few of her toys earlier in the week that she left out overnight ;)

Dexter... immortalized

This is Dexter, pictured in my mom's office - his usual hangout spot. I got him as a kitten way back in junior high school, when my friend Allison's cat had kittens. When I went away to college, he stayed behind. He is currently summering in Asheville :)

Dexter isn't the most kid-friend cat, but Grace likes him anyway. He was the inspiration for her painting today.

Mama Bird

Today was one of those yucky, pouring rain days. We went to St.Thomas for mass this morning and Grace worked on this masterpiece all afternoon. She named it "Mama Bird."

Grace loves to see her work framed and hung :)

big sister's gift

"Grace Releases a Ladybug"

Grace drew this picture and gave it to Marion for her First Birthday. She even wrapped it herself. It has a number 4 because Grace is 4 :), and the other arrow shows how she is releasing her ladybug. Such a sweet gift!!!

little masterpiece

If you know Grace well, you know that she LOVES art. Drawing, painting, cutting, pasting, decorating... it's her thing! Yesterday she took an art class at Bristles, a local art school that's just for kids. She went with a little friend her age, and they were the youngest in the class. They both did awesome! In fact, when I walked in to get her and looked at the paintings lined up on the wall, I couldn't place which ones were theirs. They looked just as good as those done by the older kids.

After she went to bed last night, I framed it and hung it. I was so excited thinking about how excited Grace would be when she saw it on the wall this morning. She was excited, although not quite as excited as I thought she should be (isn't that always the case as a parent though??). She told me that she wasn't surprised because she already knew I was going to hang it. At least she knows I think she's fabulous!!

"Petunia, A Girl Owl"

from the pantry door...

First, you have to see Grace's family portrait...

Mommy, Grace (she even gave herself a bow!), Daddy and Marion

The lesson at school for the past 2 weeks has been winter and mittens.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has had many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my beautiful family and for a healthy pregnancy. I feel so very blessed to have a child that I completely adore, and blessed to have the opportunity to spend my days with her.

Some of Grace's Turkey Day art...

Handprint Turkey

T is for Turkey

from the pantry door....

From the pantry door... some schoolwork from their unit on "A is for Apple"

Apple Tree

Practicing the Letter A

A is for Alligator

A Snowy Number 5