Holiday Joy!

Wow - two whole weeks since we last posted. We apologize for the shortage in posts...we have been enjoying the holidays with friends and family! We spent almost a week in Tell City...it was a relaxing yet fun time spent with many of our closest friends and family. Gracie had a wonderful time with Grandma and Pop, Great Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bob, Kay and Bob, the card club clan, and of course the entire LeClere family. As many of you are aware, we have an annual fondue night with the LeClere family. It is a long standing tradition and one of the highlights of the year! We decided to spice it up a bit this year, and I must admit it was a huge hit! Matthew, Vanessa and Lauren proposed a "Tacky Christmas" theme this year, and boy did we embrace it! As you can see from the pictures, we all really got into it. Dad won the "tackiest" costume though with his impersonation of Cousin Eddy from Christmas Vacation. It was absolutely hysterical. Thanks to the Ewing and LeClere families for making this such a wonderful tradition. We truly look forward to this every year and hope it continues for many years to come!

We hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful and blessed holiday season! Happy New Year to you all - enjoy the festivities today! We will be enjoying lobster and fillets with Coley, Patty, Heather, Bob, Anthony, Caroline and all the little kiddos. It should be a wonderful evening! Happy New Year!

Gracie's big day!

We apologize for not posting last week. It was a hectic week of holiday parties, pink eye (the saga continues), and shopping. We had a wonderful weekend though...Friday evening we hosted supper club at our house. We had so much fun visiting with everyone; we only wish that the Bradys would have been able to join us. Unfortunately Elly was a little under the weather - Gracie sure does hope her friend is feeling better! Grace spent the night with Nanny and Papa on Friday, and had a great time playing with Will and Drew!

Saturday we went to dinner with the Coryns and then back to their place so Gracie and Eli could play. They were so darn cute and really had a great time together. Today was kind of a lazy day, with lots of shopping, playing in the snow and finally doing our Christmas cards! We did have one big event today though...Gracie got her first hair cut. As many of you know, we weren't really sure what to do with Grace's hair. It is VERY thin and blond, a combination which proves to be a little difficult. While her hair was growing rapidly in the back, it's kind of halted on top. So, we decided to get the back cut...while she still looks like a boy at least the mullet is gone! She did very well too...she sat very still and let the nice lady go to work. Of course - this only took about 5 minutes and cost a whopping $5...well worth it!!!

It's Christmas Time!!

Scott, Grace and I officially kicked off the Christmas season yesterday. While we had decorated the outside of the house and put up one of our trees before now, we just weren't into the spirit yet. Well, that all changed yesterday!!! We picked Grace up from daycare around 2:00 and headed to visit Santa. While Gracie certainly wouldn't sit on Santa's lap alone, she did a lot better than I expected. She kept waving to him and saying, "ho, ho, ho!" It was very cute!! In the end though, we do have a photo of the entire Kidder family sitting on Santa's lap!

After our visit with the big guy, we did a little holiday shopping. While this was fun, it strengthened my opinion that you just cannot do a lot of shopping with a toddler. Rather, we ended up at Build a Bear, where Grace made her first bear, "Bree". She had a great time...picking out her animal, giving it stuffing and a heart, and finally dressing and naming it. Bree is doing wonderful in her Build a Bear box home, where she will stay until Christmas Day!

We stopped for a quick dinner at then proceeded to get our tree. Last year we did the full tree farm and cut down our own. It was very Griswold of us! This year we opted for the "tree farm" on Grape Road...precut trees that took us literally 15 minutes to get from start to finish. It was fabulous! After a quick stop at TJ Maxx to show Grace her favorite Spiderman toy (yes, she is addicted to this Spiderman toy that sings Itsy Bitsy Spider), we headed home to decorate the tree. Grace fell asleep immediately which left Scott and I to enjoy a glass of wine and decorate our tree.

It was a wonderful beginning to "our" holiday season. Now I'm off to Chicago for a weekend of shopping, time with Cooper, and Sunday sushi with the girls. I can't wait!! Cooper - here I come!!!! Oh, and here are more photos of Grace's fun night at Build a Bear!!!

Puppy Love

Gracie is battling a "potential" case of pink eye, so Scott and I split the duty and stayed home with her today. I got the afternoon, which included lots of dancing, applesauce (the girl is addicted to it), playing with Baby, cartoons (by the way - afternoon cartoons are awful), marching around the house, and playing with the dogs. Gracie just couldn't get enough "doggy hugs" today, as you can see by the photos. Both Sydney and Toby seemed to enjoy it and let her crawl all over them. It was pretty darn cute, if I don't say so myself!

Thank you Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys!

Scott and I attended the Junior League Holiday Ball Saturday evening, so Gracie was able to spend the night with Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys! She was exhausted today from all the fun...throwing snowballs, playing with Buddy, throwing rocks in the pond, reading books, playing with the alphabet blocks, looking at the beautiful Christmas tree, etc. The list goes on and on!

Tuff and Alys - thank you so much for watching her over night. Gracie always has such a great time at your house! We had a wonderful time at the ball as well; it was fun to get dressed up and enjoy a night out. Thanks again!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Only three days back from Florida and I've already got the wintertime blues. The 30 degree South Bend weather doesn't help...the cold, the wind, the snow. How many more months of this do we have?

The only upside is that Gracie LOVES playing in the snow. Sunday it snowed really large flakes for a while in the afternoon. Grace had a great time catching it on her tongue! Although Grace experienced snow last year, she wasn't old enough to react and actually play in it. I can't wait to take her sledding soon!!!

Fun in the Sun!!!

After a week spent at the beach in 80-degree weather, we have now returned to snow-covered South Bend and 30-degree bitterness! We had an amazing vacation and Thanksgiving! Gracie spent every day at the beach or in the pool and loved every minute of it. She had so much fun playing with Pop, Grandma, Uncle Matthew and Vanessa! She also learned several more words this week, including Football, Up, Bee-Bo (Sandra Boynton for belly button), IU, and Pop! She tries very hard to say Grandma, Matt and Vanessa...it's not quite perfected but she is very close!

Marco Island was simply beautiful! The beaches were wonderful and we saw dolphin every day swimming in the nearby waters. We also explored Naples, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Fort Myers. In addition to the beaches, we rented a deck boat, attended the Naples Lights Festival, rented wave runners, and ate LOTS of seafood! Matthew and Vanessa treated us to a clam bake for Thanksgiving dinner...including lobster tails, clams, shrimp, potatoes, onions, corn, and amazing key lime pie!

It was a great trip and wonderful way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are pictures of our great vacation...beware, there are lots of them!

Florida...here we come!!

In less that five hours we will be heading to the South Bend Regional Airport, about to board our flight to Marco Island, Florida. We cannot wait to relax in the sun this week with Grandma Babs, Pop, Uncle Matthew, and Dr. V! We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We may blog a bit from Florida this week, but in the event that we don't get a chance - we hope you all enjoy the holiday week!!

Now off to bed so that we can get a little rest before the big trip!

Welcome Home Grandpa Bud!

Grandpa Bud gave us quite a scare this week...he spent a few days in the hospital but was released to come home on his birthday!!! Gracie and Scott spent the afternoon with Gram and Grandpa on Saturday (Mommy was at the AWFUL Notre Dame game!). Grandpa is feeling much better now, but we were all very worried about him.

We are so glad he is back home now. Happy Birthday Grandpa Bud - we love you!!!

Congratulations Grandma Mayor!!!

Gracie would like to send a BIG congratulations to Grandma Barbara. She was elected Mayor of Tell City yesterday, November 6th! Gracie and I traveled to T.C. Monday evening. After calming Mom's nerves a little Monday evening, we all jumped right to the swing of the campaign Tuesday! We spent the day working the polls, talking to voters, calling citizens to encourage them to vote, and finally reading the results that evening. It was a very exciting evening...a little nerve racking, but amazing in the end! Mom swept every precinct and we could not be more proud of her!!

Here are a few links to her website and the Perry County News. We'll post pictures of the big night very soon!

Again, congratulations Mom...we are so proud of you and now can't wait to relax in Florida in a couple of weeks!

We love you!

Happy Halloween!

Gracie had a wonderful Halloween! We traveled to Elkhart on Tuesday evening to visit with Gram and Grandpa, Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys, and Nanny and Papa. Gracie got TONS of treats and toys. She especially liked the dancing ghosts and goblins at Gram and Grandpa's. It took her a while to warm up to them; but then she learned that she could make them dance by clapping her hands! It was hysterical! Papa Tuff also gave her a duck that moved across the floor...she loved it! She kept screaming, Duck Duck all night long!

We went to a few doors on Wednesday, but found that Gracie most liked passing out the candy to all the neighborhood kids. We spent the evening with our neighbor Amy...eating chili, drinking a few beers, and watching Grace pass out the candy. It was hysterical to see her react to the costumes!

Here are a few pictures of our little Minnie Mouse!

Elmo, or Melmo?

Last night we had our traditional Friday night family outing...dinner out followed by a trip to Barnes & Noble. Grace's newest love is books, so she typically gets one new per week. It's an inexpensive and educational "toy" that I don't mind providing! As we were walking through B&N last night, much to our surprise Grace ran up to a Sesame Street book and yelled "Melmo"! We had no idea she even knew who Elmo was.

I never really watched Sesame Street as a child, so I've never encouraged her to jump on the Sesame Street bandwagon. I suppose she's learned at school though, because this morning we turned it on and she went crazy. All morning she's been screaming "Melmo"!!!! So, I suppose Elmo has a new name and Gracie has a new love. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....move on over!!! A new favorite character is in town!

Where's Waldo?

I think this is the funniest picture! Gracie's Aunt Vic captured it on Sunday and I just laugh everytime I look at it. Enjoy!

Pick a Pumpkin, Any Pumpkin!!

Well the Kidder family survived another week of Trustees!!! It was a VERY long week, but after most days lasting from 5:30 a.m. until midnight, we made it through!! After an awful game on Saturday, we enjoyed the end of the week with a family outing to Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys's. It was the perfect fall day...we took a hayride, bobbed for apples, enjoyed wonderful fall food (yum...apple crisp!), and carved lots of pumpkins! Gracie had a great time playing with her cousins too. She was a little tired (and cranky!) upon our arrival (hence the group photo of the kids in their costumes), but warmed up within a few minutes. She LOVED the swing and had lots of fun with Lauren, Drew, Kessie, Britney, Elizabeth and Ty!

The next evening we decorated several more pumpkins and gourds...all straight from Papa Tuff's garden! Gracie really got a kick out of the faces, and laughed at every funny eye, ear, nose, mustache and hat!

Here are several pictures from our fun day at Papa Tuff's!

Poor Baby!

This face pretty much sums up our week. Poor Gracie was very sick this week...Dr. Meyer confirmed on Thursday that Gracie had a viral infection. She seems much better today, but it was a really difficult week for her (and us!). Although I must admit that I loved all the snuggling!! I really miss those days and it was fun to snuggle and tend to her this week.

On to other topics...it's a big day in the football arena! While I'm not sure the Irish can pull out another victory, we are pulling for the Hoosiers to qualify for a bowl today against the Spartans. Anyone ready to keep our promise and join us at a bowl game if IU qualifies? Fun times!!

Pumpkin Anyone?

I'm sorry it's been so long since our last post. We have had a rough couple of weeks...not that things are slowing down anytime soon but I will attempt to do better at posting! Since our last post we have had lots of fun times...Scott's 31st birthday, the Bears/Cowboys game at Soldier Field, Niles Apple Festival, and the Pumpkin Patch with the Ditty's. I'll post photos of all the events, but thought we would dedicate this posting to our Fall outing!!

Grace and Lillie had a great time playing together last Sunday. Shortly upon our arrival at the Pumpkin Patch and corn maze, we ventured into the "Storybook Maze." This involved finding various letters written by our favorite storybook characters! Although it was sweltering hot in the corn maze (no wind), we had a great time finding our way through!

The girls then enjoyed the cow hayride, followed by a pony ride. Grace didn't really like the pony ride, but Lillie LOVED it!!! She just giggled and giggled!

We ended our visit with a hayride to the pumpkin patch! Grace, Lillie, Scott and Shane thought it would be fun to throw the smaller pumpkins. Finally we redirected their attention to finding the perfect one.

It was such a fun day...ending with dinner at the Oaken Bucket and watching the Colts score another victory! The cutest thing was that little Emma just slept through most everything. She was such a great baby...extremely cute and very good natured.

Like I've said before, Fall is definitely my favorite season...especially when we spend the days with wonderful friends. Here are more pictures of our fun Fall day! Thanks for spending the day with us Lillie - we can't wait to see you soon!

Our little bully...

After reading the posts on our blog, you may have the perception that Gracie is a cute, sweet, gentle little princess! Well do I have news for you...it turns out that our little toe-head is somewhat of a bully at school!

While it's been a long time since she has picked on her friends at school, today Gracie received not one, but two, incident reports! It seems she and another friend were fighting over a toy so Grace decided to bite her...then bite her again five minutes later!

The first time Grace bit I was devastated. As a parent, you feel just awful that your child is inflicting pain on others! After a lot of research and discussions with her teachers, I've realized that it's a very normal thing for toddlers and a way that they show frustration prior to speaking. Grace's teachers assure me that the majority of toddlers go through this, and I should not worry. That still doesn't make it feel any better when it happens.

So, our sweet little princess isn't always so sweet. Hopefully we won't receive any incident reports tomorrow...we will just take it one day at a time!

Fun Weekend in Tell City!

We had a great time in Tell City this weekend! Upon our arrival Friday evening, we visited with Great Grandma Mary and Great Grandpa Bob. Gracie just loved visiting with them and was amazed by the river. She definitely learned to love water this summer! That evening we had a wonderful dinner with the LeClere family. It's always so nice to catch up with such wonderful friends.

Saturday was the big wedding for Ross and Lita Oberhausen! It was a beautiful ceremony and amazing reception. Lita was beautiful and the happy couple was glowing all day and evening! Scott and I had a great time visiting with old friends and family and dancing the night away! Gracie also enjoyed the day, as Great Grandma Ginny and Great Grandpa Dude watched her while we were at the wedding and reception. She had so much fun showing them all of her toys and reading books. It was so nice for her to be able to spend this time with them.

Sunday we all ventured to the Louisville zoo. It was a beautiful fall day and perfect to be outside! It resulted in a long drive home that evening, but was well worth it to spend the day with Pop, Grandma, Uncle Matthew, Vanessa (aka Dr. V!) and Great Grandma and Grandpa. Gracie certainly had her favorite animals, including the gorillas and baby elephant!

It was a wonderful weekend spent with family. We wish we were closer but really enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. Click here for more pictures of the weekend!

Over the river and through the woods...

to Grandma's house we go! Scott, Gracie and I are headed to Tell City this weekend. We will have an opportunity to visit with family and old friends. Ross Oberhausen gets married on Saturday. The wedding will be held at St. Paul Catholic Church (same as Scott and I!) with the reception to follow at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY. I'm looking forward to sharing in this celebration and dancing the night away! Gracie's great-grandparents will be joining us at the hotel and watching her while mommy and daddy enjoy the reception. She is really looking forward to spending time with everyone! We'll definitely post photos upon our return!

Apple Day 2007

Ever since I can remember my family has had an annual tradition with the LeClere family...Apple Day!!! I have many fond memories of Apple Day over the years, including apple orchards, pumpkin patches, hay rides, picnics, tailgating, and lots of laughter! The scenery has changed over the years, from small apple orchards in Evansville to Huber Winery to tailgating at IU and Notre Dame. Unfortunately, because of travel schedules and campaigning, we are not able to have the Ewing/LeClere Apple Day this year. However, Scott, Gracie and I did not want to skip a year altogether. Therefore, we had our own little Apple Day on Saturday!

We began with apple picking at an orchard in Southern Michigan. We were able to pick some delicious varieties, including Red/Yellow Delicious and Empire. Scott was thrilled that they also had Honey Crisp apples. These are the best apples we have ever eaten! We got hooked on them last year and now it's difficult to convince Scott to eat another variety. If you have never tasted one I would highly recommend it. Just beware - they are addicting!

After lots of apple picking and tasting, we continued on to St. Joe, Michigan (yes, we were there last weekend too). We had a wonderful dinner and then ventured out to the beach and pier on Lake Michigan. Gracie had so much fun playing on the beach playground, and just loved going out to the pier!

We had Tivod the Notre Dame / Penn State game. Little did we know it was a waste of our time to stay up until 12:30 and watch the game. We certainly enjoyed last year's Apple Day game much better, when the Irish trounced the Nittany Lions at Notre Dame Stadium!

Mom, Dad, Matthew, Vanessa and the entire LeClere clan - we definitely missed you this year but we look forward to many more years of Apple Day in the future! We also got a new game that we can play...Shout About TV. Just wait...it's barrels of fun!

Click here for lots of Apple Day 2007 pictures!

What's your favorite season?

This week has seemed a little odd...in my mind I've already put summer behind me and moved onto fall. However, the 90 degree days have not made this transition entirely easy. It's made me think a lot though about my favorite season. Hands down, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (shout out to Gayle King there) the Fall (or Autumn for you sophisticated blog readers)! Below are just a few of my favorite things about the upcoming season:

1) Crisp (but sunny!) days where you can wear shorts and a sweatshirt. Takes me back to college days walking on North Jordan!

2) Apple Day!

3) Pumpkin Patches

4) My little girl dressed in adorable Halloween costumes!

5) Fruit crisps

6) Organizing after a summer of letting everything get a little messy!

7) Back-to-school shopping (we still get to call it that, don't we?)

8) Freshmen arriving on campus

9) The beautiful colors of leaves

10) FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL!!!

Gracie has already began her love for Fall. Papa Tuff let her carve her name into a pumpkin in his garden. The pumpkin has grown to be VERY large...and Gracie's name keeps growing with it. I can't wait to see the size of this thing on Halloween!

Fun new office tools!

I am a big fan of the "solutions" pages within Parents magazine. They always highlight fun and interesting products to assist busy moms and dads. One of my favorite products was highlighted in the September issue of Parents...

The mouse pad notepad is perfect for jotting down reminders while on the phone or surfing your favorite website. I love the fun designs as well as great organizing idea! This is offered on seejanework.com, which is actually a wonderful site for working women. I love their products and it helps keep the office somewhat trendy!

Enjoy the products...more to come next month!

Farewell Summer

Wow - what a weekend we had to close out the summer season. Saturday, Gracie had a fun day with Nanny and Papa while we went to the Notre Dame game (more about that later - we still aren't over it enough to actually write anything). After playing with Nanny and Papa all day Gracie came home to greet her boyfriend, Keegan! Gracie and Keegan played for a while Saturday night and then more Sunday morning. We had a fun time visiting with Heather and Bob - we are always happy when football season arrives because that means we get to see them a lot more :> After a quick (I mean, not so quick) breakfast Sunday morning, the Glynns departed for their return drive to Naperville and Scott, Gracie and I packed up for a day in southwestern Michigan.

We began the afternoon at Deer Forest, a large petting zoo and kiddie amusement park. Scott used to go as a child (tells you how long it's been there), and had fond memories of afternoons there with his Gram and Grandpa. Gracie had a great time feeding the deer, pigs, lamas; riding the ponies; and riding the various amusement park rides. Her favorite was the ferris wheel. I think Scott was a little scared but Gracie had a great time!!!

After a few hours at Deer Forest, we ventured to St. Joseph, Michigan for dinner and a view at the sunset. St. Joseph is a cute little town on both Lake Michigan and the St. Joe River. After dinner we went to Silver Beach to watch the sunset and let Gracie play a little before bedtime. She made a new little friend and had a great time on all the slides!

Monday was spent with Papa Tuff, Grandma Alys, Vic, Perry, Great Gram and Great Grandpa. We played in the kiddie pool, celebrated Gram's birthday, and ate LOTS of great food. Summer picnics at Papa Tuff's are always wonderful because he has tons of fresh fruits and veggies from his garden. Gracie had almost a bushel of corn and baby tomatoes herself (which have already made their way out!).

Aside from the ND game, we had a wonderful weekend. With lots of time at the beach, time spent with wonderful friends and family (click here to see photos of the weekend), it was a wonderful way to bid goodbye to the summer season.

Update: Grandma Barbara for Mayor!

Well, mom's campaign is going strong. She even has a new website for those interested in learning more about her platform. Visit http://barbformayor.com/ to learn all kinds of fun facts! There is the CUTEST picture of Gracie post on the "Photo Gallery". She is saying, "Vote for my grandma!".

Busy Times...

We apologize it's been a week since we last posted (sorry, Ditty!). It's been a hectic week that has left little time to journal our various adventures. We have been very busy though visiting with old friends, spending evenings at the park/playground, and even enjoying a fun-filled trip to Lake Michigan!

We had a wonderful weekend, as we traveled yet again to Naperville, IL. We have been there SEVERAL times in the last few weeks; all worth the trips though as we have been able to visit with Gracie's new boyfriend (Keegan) and most recently visit with our good friend Shana. We left bright and early Saturday morning. After multiple detours (80 and 94 were both closed due to flooding), we arrived at the Bottarelli home for a visit with Katherine, Bryan, Julia, Heather, Bob, Keegan, Shana and Scott!!! Gracie had a wonderful time visiting with Julia and Keegan (click here for pictures of their little playdate!) The rest of us had a great time congratulating Shana and Scott on their recent engagement!!!

For those of you that may not be aware, Shana introduced Scott and I in 1999 and has been the best of friends ever since. She moved to San Francisco about 2 years ago and unfortunately we don't get to see her as often as we would like. It was great to visit with her though and hear the wonderful and romantic story of Scott's proposal. We can't wait for the wedding...just let us know the date and location and we'll be on the next flight!! :)

After visiting with the clan we then headed to New Buffalo. Steve and Becky Schuester treated us to a wonderful dinner and evening of great conversation. Gracie especially enjoyed herself the next morning when we went for a walk along the beach. Click here for lots of pictures from our 6:30 a.m. adventure!

Now it's back to the grind and preparing for the big Notre Dame / Georgia Tech game. Let's hope Charlie has some new tricks in Season 3!

Something to think about...

The Beloit College Mindset List for Class of 2011 was released today. This list identifies the events, technology and trends that have shaped the incoming class of college freshmen. It's published by Beloit College in Wisconsin and is actually pretty interesting! Just think...incoming freshmen have never "rolled down" a car window, have always grown up with bottled water, and have always known Nelson Mandela as a free man. Want to know more? View the entire list at the following link: http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php

This list prompted Scott and I to brainstorm on the things that could appear when Grace enters college, including the following:
1) She'll never remember anything but high definition television;
2) She won't remember riding in a car without satellite radio (Oprah and Friends!);
3) Navigation systems will be the norm;
4) She will never know what a tube TV is;
5) She'll assume we always had the luxury of DVRs;
6) She will never develop 35mm film;
7) She will never remember Hank Aaron as the home run leader; and
8) She will never know the emptiness of life without Chipotle!

These are just a few...what can you think of?

Happy Birthday Gram!

We had the BEST weekend!! We celebrated Gram's birthday on Saturday with a wonderful lunch and then LOTS of fun playing in the creek, eating watermelon, blowing bubbles, balloon races, and searching for nickles in the sand pile. Gracie had so much fun playing with her cousins, aunts and uncles, Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys, and Great Gram and Grandpa. Her experience with the 24 inch watermelon was definitely my favorite - her face was hysterical as she bit devoured several pieces! After an afternoon of playing at Great Gram and Grandpa's, Gracie got to spend the night with Papa Tuff and Grandma Alys. She had a wonderful time playing with them, reading books, playing with Buddy, and picking lots of fruits and veggies in Papa Tuff's garden. Click here to see more pictures from our fun day in the creek (warning: there's lots of them)!

Scott and I also enjoyed a kid-free night out with friends - thank you so much Tuff and Alys! Unfortunately we missed Eli Coryn's birthday party, but we headed to the Coryns in the evening for pizza, bon fire, and games. It was great to see everyone!

Homegrown goodness!

Gracie had her first taste of sweet pepper tonight! We have both sweet and banana peppers growing in our "patio garden". She had a great time picking and tasting them. It was funny to watch her face when she bit into them. It was even more fun to watch the dogs try to take the pepper right out of her hands! Click here for more pictures of Gracie and the dogs!

Vote for Grandma Babs!

As many of you may be aware, Gracie's Grandma Barbara is running for the mayor of Tell City in November 2007. Gracie showed her support last weekend, in her "Vote Grandma Barbara for Mayor" t-shirt! Mom, we are all so proud of you and think of you every day!!

Children...life's best entertainment

After an evening of chasing the dogs in the yard, watering the plants (Grace has her own watering can!), playing in the bath, and reading Fancy Nancy, Grace settled in for the night. Once again though, Scott and I were in awe this evening. Grace never ceases to amaze us with her new tricks, facial expressions, and contagious laughter. This is such a fun age and every day we comment on how parenthood keeps getting better and better. Can you blame us though...how could you not get a kick out of those teeth?!

Fun in the Sun!

Gracie really enjoyed herself today, as we took in both the zoo and water park! The animals were all out today and very active! Gracie and Daddy fed the giant tortoises, and we all got VERY close to the kangaroos. A little too close for comfort at one point!

We then decided to cool off at the McNaughton Water Park. Gracie had so much fun playing with all of the kids and running through the sprinklers!! Our little daredevil LOVED running through the circular sprinklers...as you can see from this photo! The water park is WONDERFUL and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who lives in the Elkhart area.

Click here for more photos from our day of fun in the sun!

Big decision...

As some of you may know, I have been frustrated with my Treo 650 for the past year. As Verizon does not offer any Treos without "stubs", I had to take the plunge into a completely new phone. Just yesterday I purchased a Motorola Q, which I am really enjoying!! I haven't experienced the complaints that others had with the Q; in fact it is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the good ol Treo. Scott just informed me though of the upcoming Samsung SCH-i760(http://www.intomobile.com/2007/07/13/samsung-sch-i760-spotted-on-verizons-site.html ). It's similar to the Q and AT&T Blackjack, but has a slide out keyboard and stylus/touch screen. Oh, decisions, decisions!!

Welcome Baby Keegan

Keegan Brian Glynn was born on August 1, 2007 at 4:24 p.m. at Central DuPage Hospital. He weighed 6 lbs. ½ oz. and is 19 ¾ inches long. Grace was fortunate enough to meet her new friend last Sunday. We had a wonderful visit with Keegan, Heather, Bob, and Jim and Ellen Glynn. We are so very happy for the entire Glynn clan and can't wait to spend many great times with them in the years to come. We love you guys!

Fun Facts about the Kidders

After prodding from our good friends Alison, Matt, Heather, Bob, Shannon and Mike, we have decided to join the blogging frenzy! We were a little hesitant at first, but everyone assures us this is MUCH easier than it appears. So far so good! We hope this serves as a forum to stay in touch with friends and family, especially those of you who are much farther away than we would prefer (e.g., mom and dad; shana!!). We'll try to post daily and provide interesting tidbits about life in South Bend (I know - right now you're thinking that this will be an impossible task!). I suppose the reality of it is that the blog will probably document the life of Gracie! We hope you enjoy and hope to see all of you very soon!