days with grace :: 6 (pool party!)

I can only imagine what Grace is thinking!!

days with grace :: 6 (at the town hall theater)

Poppy has been the Treasurer for the Town Hall Theater since it began ten years ago. The theater has undergone a major reconstruction and the grand opening is set for the end of this month.

Poppy purchased bricks with the names of Maddy and Poppy and Rebecca and Uncle Adam as part of a fundraiser. Grace loved touching the letters.

Stage left! Peeking through the doors.

Imagine

days with grace :: 6 (wednesday morning at the middlebury farmers market)

This morning we walked down to the Farmers Market at the Marble Works by the falls. Grace loved all the colors of the fruits and vegetables. We bought yellow and green string beans and red and yellow tomatoes. We sat under a shady tree by the falls, had a snack and Grace read us a summer story. Grace greeted all the people (as only Grace can!), showed everyone Ella and said "Hi children"!

days with grace :: 5

......and here she is our little butterfly!

days with grace :: 5 (today at the festival)

days with grace :: 4 [MUFFIN TIN MONDAY]

For dinner we decided to do a Muffin Tin Monday! We put some of Grace's favorite foods in a muffin tin......melted cheese sandwich, hard-boiled egg, bananas, tofu, kidney beans and peas.

Grace found this new idea for dinner lots of fun. We'll all want Muffin Tin Monday more often! What do you think of this new idea for dinner?

days with grace :: 4 (noon at festival on the green)

We went to the Brown Bag Special today at Festival on the Green. The performers were Jeh Kulu Dance & Drum Theater. Grace fell asleep to the rhythmic beat!

PS~Due to the slightly wet weather today the secret will have to take place tomorrow.

days with grace :: 4 (morning)

This morning Grace and I made butterflies. Grace used her water colors to paint dots on a coffee filter. We hung them to dry. Then we gathered the wings in a clothespin and added a smile and eyes. Grace then chose a pipe cleaner to make the antennae. As the final step we put sticky magnets on the back of each butterfly. Grace made 10 butterflies. Don't they look beautiful on our refrigerator? The bottom picture shows Grace wanting to give a butterfly away as a thank you gift to one of my neighbors.

Our Sunday Butterfly Craft

Grace and I worked on another butterfly project today. We used fabric markers and a stencil on a white shirt to color butterflies. We had a marvellous time and Grace's concentration shows on her sweet face! Just wait until you see the finished shirt tomorrow as Grace dances to the beat of Africian drummers at Festival on the Green. Love, Maddy

PS~It's a secret but you might see Grace dressed up like a butterfly tomorrow!

days with grace :: 3 (sunday afternoon)

We walked over to the playground this afternoon. Grace had the best time playing in the house. But by far her favorite thing was to go down all the slides especially the BIG one! Grace was fearless but we think Ella was a little scared.

days with grace :: 3 (sunday morning)

Look at Grace all dressed up in Great Grandma's necklaces and bracelets!

We were all sooooo happy to have Great Grandma and Great Pop-Pop visit this morning. Great Grandma cleaned out her jewlery box before she came and brought Grace all of her beads and bangles. Grace loves to say, "I love you, Great Grandma and Great Pop-Pop. Thank you for the beads." It was a very special visit for all of us. Everyone had a "grace-filled-morning!"

"My Daddy is the Snow Cone King!"

This is what Bob/Daddy has been doing while Rebecca and Grace are at our home visiting. He has been working all weekend selling snow cones and popcorn under the Town & Country Credit Union tent. This was a weekend long event to help support ending hunger in Maine.

days with grace :: 2 (part 2)

This afternoon we made a butterfly finger puppet. Grace put dots on the butterfly. Grace loves stickers and dots so I knew that she would have fun with this craft.

This is Grace doing the "butterfly dance" with her finger puppet and of course, with her Ella.

A day with Grace would never be complete without reading some books. Grace is enjoying the book "Caterpillar to Butterfly" by Sally Symes. Grace loves the plush caterpillar that is attached to a string that chomps its way through the pages of this colorful story that ends with a beautiful butterfly. See you tomorrow~Maddy

days with grace :: 2

This morning we went to the Peasants Market on the Green. Grace was so friendly and kept saying, "Hi people" and waving to everyone! We found a new hat and a pretty dress for Grace. We went to the Middlebury Natural Foods Market and had a little lunch. We have more plans for a butterfly activity after nap time.

As a personal note ~ I am truly amazed and a little stunned by all of Grace's language. She is speaking in sentences and there isn't a word that she will not say. Unbelievable!! Grace is such a kind, sweet and happy little girl. She is the love-of-my-life! Maddy

days with grace :: 1

Grace and Rebecca are in Middlebury. It is a joy to have them here. We have been preparing for their visit for weeks now (it's Mary Ann--the guest blogger). We are having butterfly week. It is about all things...butterfly.

Grace is reading the book "Good Night Maine" with her Poppy while holding the butterfly wand that I made her. Stay tuned for a week of fantastic pictures, crafts, stories, clothes and all things BUTTERFLY!We are thrilled beyond happy to have our two girls here but we are so missing Bob. Bob, have a fun day tomorrow representing the Credit Union at the Scarborough 350th Anniversary Celebration. We'll be thinking of you.

Tomorrow also begins a week long festival in Middlebury called Festival On the Green. There is a huge Peasants Market tomorrow and then a week long music festival with children's shows at noon called the lunch-bag-special. We'll be attending these events and having lunch "on the green."

Go Daddy!

Daddy came home early from work today to spend some extra time with us before Grace and I leave for Vermont tomorrow. We had a fun family afternoon together. It was so nice having Daddy home with us. Grace finished several art projects and Daddy took Grace for a bike ride before dinner. I stood on our deck nervously watching Grace and Daddy bike away going very, very fast! I could hear Grace giggling all the way and saying "more fast" down our road while Daddy looked back and said, "Don't worry Mommy!" :)

Gracie Girl, Gracie Girl What Do You See?

Grace really enjoys the book Brown, Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? and the companion books by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle. I photocopied all of the animals in Brown Bear, colored them to match the animals in the book, and laminated them to create a fun matching game for Grace. I really love to incorporate books into as many of Grace's activities as I can so I was excited to introduce this to her. Grace easily matched all of the animals to those in her book when given a choice a four. Grace's favorite part was when I spread out all of the animals on her blanket and she was able to sort through the pile to find the correct animal match. We had a great time with this activity!

I Spy Mommy's Car

Grace and I went to her swimming lesson this morning, which was a fun way for us to cool off on another very hot day. After swimming we met Daddy for lunch and then spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Children's Museum. This has become our routine after Grace's weekly swimming lesson. In this picture, Grace is looking out of a large window at the museum. She was determined to locate my car in the busy parking lot. Grace knows all of the numbers and letters in my license plate and she kept calling them out until she finally spotted my car!

Transferring Ice

Today, I put ice cubes into into a large bowl of water and showed Grace how to scoop the ice cubes using a slotted spoon & drop them into an empty bowl. Grace LOVED this activity and she was very focused. This was a great activity for a hot afternoon and a fun way for Grace to practice scooping as well to develop her hand eye coordination and fine motor skills!

Homemade Fruit Popsicles

Here, Gracie girl is just about to take another large bite of her homemade mango popsicle. When Grace & I went shopping for popsicles at the grocery store last week and I was very surprised and disappointed to see that all of the popsicles labeled as "all fruit" had added sugar and some even had artificial coloring. Yikes. So, Grace and I decided to make our own popsicles out of fresh fruit. We had a great time making our homemade popsicles last week. It was fun combining different combinations of fruit. Our favorite popsicle combination so far is banana, mango & raspberry. We both enjoyed this yummy treat on this very, very hot day!