Miss Gracie is NINE. And what a fun and energetic nine year old she is! :) I absolutely LOVE this age! So energetic and eagar to learn new things. So happy and willing to help. Gracie is sweet, fun and happy! She still enjoys drawing most of all. Continues to say that she wants to be an artist when she grows up. She is a very creative little girl. The house is always full of paper, glue sticks, sissors, markers, crayons, etc. etc. etc....always, always, always littering the landscape of our home! She also loves pretty things....frills, fluff and glitter. ;) The colors purple and pink. And TALKING is another all time favorite. The girl talks like a magpie. Whatever a magpie is?? My mom has always used this word, so I guess I do too. I need to investigate the word and see where it comes from. Ha! Is it a bird? Maybe?? Regardless....Gracie does talk like a magpie. lol! We often suggest that she give her vocal cords a rest.
Hmmm? On her list of things that she does not like would most definitely be...BUGS. (insert a big mama eyeroll here!) She is not fond of pain....who is right? but, Gracie is really not fond of it...even the slightest bit of it!....small scratches, bumps etc. You get the picture. She is also not fond of her brothers "annoying" her. And because she is so NOT fond of this, they love to do it! Oh my!! The girl is learning to defend herself against these little (or big) annoyances!! She has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year in sticking up for herself in this department. HA! She MUST stick up for herself and be TOUGH! ;)
Learning to stick up for herself has been a big deal for Gracie because Gracie is a pleaser....a peacemaker by nature. She wants everyone to be happy! This is a very sweet and lovely character trait....BUT, we have to work with her to think for herself at times. Gracie what do YOU think?? What do YOU want?? Even when picking her birthday dinner and treat she was asking the rest of the family what we wanted. No, this is YOUR day....we want you to pick what YOU want! It's very important for us to know what we think about things and stick to our guns....especially when peer pressure hits!! So, we are working on this with our sweet girl! So, in this case even though I am telling Gracie that if the annoying things her brothers are saying are untrue she should ignore and walk away, I am considering the fact that she doesn't want to a victory in her case! Make sense? ;)
I guess you could say that her personality is very unlike a few of my other children who have an extreme strong will. ha! ;) When I have to discipline Gracie I can just look at her cross eyed and tears will well in her eyes. :( She so wants to please me. I OFTEN say, "Honey, you don't need to cry!! I'm just talking to you. I'm your Mama and that's my job. I love you!" She so wants to please that she is afraid of having an opinion that might differ from ours.
We'll get there. :) I often say that parenting aint for sissies!! Isn't that the truth!!! Or...AINT that the truth!! lol. On the one hand...."HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU!!! ARRRRRRGH!! YOU BETTER DO WHAT I SAY!!" and on the other hand "Honey, use your noggin'. Think for yourself...what do YOU want" Life can be complicated huh?! Good thing I'm not in this alone. These are God's children! He has made them with such unique and diverse personalities. He needs them exactly as they are because he has unique and diverse plans for each of them! :)
Ok, didn't intend on getting into all of that in this post, but I guess I did! ;) Anyway, God made this particular child sugary sweet!! Love her to the moon and back!!
Introducing Flopsy and Mopsy. :) The highlight of Gracie's ninth birthday.
A bunny was her birthday wish. Tom and I had to get two so that they could keep each other company. We are hoping and thinking they are both girls. But, we are not positive. So hard to tell when they are so little. If you remember....our male rabbit Thumper had babies. lol! Time will tell.
We sent Gracie on a scavenger type hunt for her bunnies. SOOO much fun to watch...SOOOOO very exciting for her!! :)
She completed all of the tasks with great speed and it ended here. :)
Gracie decided on crawfish etouffee and razzleberry pie (thank you Maria Callender ;)) for her birthday treats because that is what SHE wanted!! ;)
Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!!
Love, Wendy
p.s. The strawberry is in Isaac's hand. Not as big as my hand, but still not a tiny hand. It's the biggest strawberry that Tom and I have ever seen. That is saying something. ;)
