Mouse Droppings

I almost threw up yesterday morning when I opened a drawer in the bathroom and noticed mouse turds dangerously close to our toothbrushes. I then opened all of the drawers and found mouse droppings in a couple other places. Ew ew ew!!! Steve set a few traps in the basement and one in the bathroom. So far we've caught 1. By the way, I immediately threw away all of our toothbrushes and bought new ones which are now kept in their own sealed container. 

Watch Out...She Stings

 

Help Out Steve

Steve got into this business last week and asked me to post a blurb about it in hopes that you will humor him and help him out. He's created a site that you can go to that has numerous stores to shop from online. It's the same stores you usually shop at however you get to them through Steve's site. If you do this then Steve gets commission on the sale and you get a small percentage discount on your purchase. Once you're at the site click on the FHTM Rewards Mall (which is down with all of the small icons). Then click on "click here to sign up." Then click on Join Now. It's completely free and there's no strings attached to join - it just creates a screen name and password for you. Once you've logged in you can browse the stores. There's a ton of the usuals such as: Diapers.com, Kodak Gallery, Old Navy, Target, Kohls, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Bass Pro Shops, Dicks, Dunhams, numerous restaurant gift cards and tons more. You can also book hotel rooms and flights on this sight as well! If you are interested in starting new phone plans or dish network it can be done here too. Again, it would be normal phone plans and dish plans however Steve would get commission and you will get a discount. If you're into the internet and would like to create a site like this to have as your own let Steve know. Thanks for listening to me ramble and feel free to check it out!

This Weekend...

One of the big kids...

Loving Grandpa Chupp!

There's nothing like the smell of fresh, clean babies!

Librarian Grace - She loves her books!

Motor Mouth

Grace will be 15 months old on Sunday, November 2. Here's an update on G. Marie:

New words and phrases Grace is saying:

don't

no-no (one of my least favorites)

all done

boo

baby

night-night

juice

Heidi

apple

nose

more

hat

hot

poop

book

uncle

bottle

up

woof-woof

New things Grace is doing:

blowing kisses

holding, patting, feeding and singing bye-oh-bye-oh to a baby doll

standing up in the middle of a room and walking long distances

sleeping 9-10 hours at a time :) 

stacking things

playing with spoons and dishes

fish face

every animal says "woof woof"

clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth

Latest Hobby

Whenever I am cooking or cleaning in the kitchen Grace takes all of the cans out of the hutch and stacks them as high as she is. Notice the outfit - as soon as I got home from work she had a poop explosion and I didn't think it was worth changing her whole outfit for 3 hours before bath time. Don't worry, I didn't take her out in public looking like this. :) 

Nurse or Bathroom?!

Steve had a great story when he got home from school today!

Student runs up to Steve at the front of the room.

Student (to Steve): I gotta puke!

Steve (to student): Go, go, go!

Student runs to the door, stops, and turns to Steve.

Student (to Steve): NURSE OR BATHROOM?!

Steve (to student): BATHROOM!

Student makes it to bathroom doorway and pukes all over the floor.

Gotta love second grade. 

Beautiful Fall Day

This afternoon Steve and Dad had advocates at church so Mom, Grace, and I decided to take a walk in the woods to the east of our house. We drove the 4-wheeler out (very slowly of course). It was really pretty and the weather was perfect! Our neighbor that owns the woods has made a lot of trails and has even put "faces" on a dozen or so trees for you to find. 

Grandma Chupp and Grace by one of the faces.

Good Recipe

I made this pie a few days ago and it was a nice change from normal pumpkin pie. It's really creamy and tastes more like pudding. It's one of the fastest and easiest recipes ever. :)

Creamy Pumpkin Pie

1/2 cup cold milk

1 package (6 serving size) vanilla instant pudding

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pumpkin

2 1/2 cups whip cream

1 graham cracker crust

In large bowl beat milk, pudding mix and spice for 1 minute. Whisk in pumpkin. Stir in whip cream. Spread in crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Garnish as desired.

Poooop

This morning Grace woke up at 7! She's been sleeping really well lately - usually 8 to 6. She picked a great day to sleep in an extra hour. :) Steve plopped her up on our bed. She was jabbering away and then got really quiet for a little bit. Steve asked her "Grace, do you have to poop?" She looked at him and said "poooop." It was the first time she's ever said that before. I figured she was just mimicking Steve but she actually did poop. Funny how people never give little kids enough credit - they know a lot more than we think!

Grace uses the case of Pepsi for her own personal stool in the kitchen. She stands on it to see out the window (until we catch her) and then sits on it to watch what's going on while I make supper. It must be more fun (or more comfortable) than her actual stool. 

I guess all I can hope for is that Grace and I will wear the same size so that we can share shoes. 

In-Service

I had a teacher in-service all day and during the morning session we had a speaker that did a presentation on autism and Asperger's Syndrome. I've always thought these were really interesting topics. I'm sure most of you have either seen it on the news before or heard about it from someone but I wanted to share this video anyway because I love the story. It makes me cry (tears of joy) every time I watch it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)

Busy Weekend

Steve put the swing that Jill and Eben got for Grace up tonight. She loves it! We had fun outside until the yellow-jackets and ladybugs started annoying us. They are my least favorite thing about fall.  

On Saturday Steve went with his Dad, Mom and Bret to the Michigan/Toledo game. I'm glad he got to witness history - the first time in Michigan history that they've lost to a MAC team. :) Grace was happy to see her Uncle Bret, and Grandma & Grandpa Hastings! 

While Steve and his family were at the game, I went with Mom, Dad, David, Sara, and the girls to a pumpkin patch in Napoleon. They had a lot of fun stuff for kids to do. Grace and I and Sara and Morgan rode the train. They also had hayrides, slides, bouncy castles, corn mazes, straw tunnels and lots of other games. It was unbelievably hot for a mid-October day! 

What's That?

I had to write this down before I forget - Steve, Grace, and I were all in the bedroom this morning. Steve was in the process of getting dressed when Grace pointed and said "what's that?" We both lost it when we realized she was pointing at his penis. I wasn't exactly sure what to say so I just told her that it was a penis and only boys have them. Luckily she hasn't figured out how to ask more questions about that kind of stuff yet. I'm definitely not prepared to answer them! :)

I Love Mail

Funny how getting something in the mail can make your day so much brighter. Every day I pick Grace up and when we get home we always walk out and get the mail together. I was already excited because Grace's winter coat and snowsuit we ordered were waiting by the front door. When I opened the mailbox it was overflowing (and none of it was bills)! :) We had a movie from netflix waiting for us and 2 packages...one of the packages was the cards you see below. Jill ordered them for me as an early birthday present. I think they are so cute! The second package was a pair of adorable shoes for Grace (a surprise from Jill). Grace immediately took them out and started trying to put them on. There is a picture of her holding them below. New words that Grace is saying: Jill (first time tonight!), Grandma, Grandpa, yes, no, balloon (getting closer). New things Grace is doing: Her favorite pastime for the last week or so is to sit in her chair and look at her lift-the-flap books. It has provided hours of entertainment lately!

Crazy Hair

Grace's hair is getting a little bit out of control. It's getting longer on the sides and the back but the front is still too short to put up. It doesn't look like a mullet yet because her hair is really curly in the back (thank goodness). The sides always stick out no matter what I do. I've debated cutting it, but I guess in my mind her hair matches her personality...a little nuts (in a good way) and a bit unruly. :) I wouldn't change it for a minute!

Craving Pumpkin Pie

One of my favorite things about this time of year (along with the weather) is pumpkin pie. I was craving it lately so I made one tonight. It turned out so good! Here's the recipe for anyone who is interested.

Pumpkin Pie (Quick and Simple)

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. pumpkin

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. evaporated milk

1/4 t. ginger

1/2 t. cinnamon

Mix well. Bake for 10 minutes at 450˚ then turn down to 325˚ and bake until done (roughly 40-50 minutes). It also helps if you can cover the crust after the first 10 minutes so it doesn't burn. 

Uncle Bret Visits

Yesterday I took a personal day so Grace and I went to the outlet malls in Angola. We had a lot of fun and got a few things for the colder weather that has shown up so quickly! Bret came up to visit  for the weekend. Steve and Bret are going golfing this morning - probably for the last time this year. It's great that they get to spend some time together! Bret has informed me that he wanted to "make the blog" so here you go Bret. :) We all love it when he comes up to visit! 

On the Move

Steve does this thing where he raises his lips up and plugs his nose with them. It's really gross and it drives me nuts. Guess who else has started doing the exact same thing this week? Grace is also really getting into looking at pictures. She'll point to the pictures on the fridge and say "who's that?" This weekend she said a word that sounded a lot like Benjamin and she also said "Ben-Ben" very clearly a couple of times. Mom was excited because she said "Morgan" when she watched her on Monday (we're still working on the other nieces and nephew!). She's also getting a lot closer to correctly pronouncing Grandma and Grandpa. It sounds more like "Gammah" and "Gampa" for the time being but we are really working on it! She's stubborn as she can be but when she feels like it she will point out her mouth, belly button and nose (usually shoving her finger up her nose instead of just pointing to it).  

Grace has started to take off around here. She's been pulling herself up, walking a few steps, and climbing all over everything forever but she's beginning to walk more. She walks mostly between the couches and chooses to crawl for the longer distances. :) She's really starting to motor.