Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Gifts from Santa

 Santa was good to everyone at our house this year, including Gracie!

Gracie got a brand new horse, which he named Henry the Horse Scott Hayner. Santa was also thoughtful enough to leave a mini stocking filled with cowboy boots, a lasso and a canteen.
Check out these sweet boots!
Gracie has spent a great deal of time since Christmas strapped to Henry, riding around the house.



Henry the Horse Scott Hayner even sleeps right next to Aidan and Gracie's bed. I told Aidan I didn't think it was a good idea, since has been known to roll off on to the floor. I pointed out that not only would he get hurt, but he would smash Henry. This problem was solved by putting a pillow on top of him. Always thinkin, that kid!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Gracie Gets the Girls

Aidan: "Gracie has a date tonight".
Me: "Thats wierd hes only 5".
Aidan: "No hes 6".
Me: Well then how can he go on a date if hes only 6?"
Aidan: "Because he doesnt have to follow normal rules. But he has to follow police laws".
Me: "hmmmm. It's still wierd". Who is he going on a date with?"
Gracie: "Her name is Alaya".
Me: "Aliya?"
Gracie: "NO! AHH-LAYYY-AH"
Me: "How did you meet?"
Gracie: "We met at the pizza place. She won me a bunch of tickets so I kissed her. Im taking her back to the pizza place so she can win me more tickets. I like tickets".
Aidan: "I don't know if I'm going to let Gracie go".
Me: "Why not, I thought he was allowed to date".
Aidan: "He is but I just don't want him to".

Hours later...
Me: "Did Gracie go on his date?"
Aidan: "He tried but I made him stay home. I might let him go tomorrow night. He really wants more tickets".

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Away in a Manger...

Aidan was recently cast a "townsman" from the town of Bethlehem in his Christmas play.

Me: "Are you excited for your play?"
Aidan: "Yeah"
Gracie: "I want to be in the  play"
Me: "Why don't you play Baby Jesus, Gracie?"
Gracie: "I can't"
Me: Why not, you'd make an excellent Baby Jesus".
Aidan: "Gracie can't play Baby Jesus cus theres already a doll that's gonna be Baby Jesus".
Me: "Did you ask if Gracie could be Baby Jesus?"
Aidan: "No because Gracie is naked".
Me: "Well Baby Jesus was naked too they just wrapped him in a blanket. They could wrap Gracie in a blanket".
Aidan: "Well also Baby Jesus didn't have any hair".
Me: "I'm sure it'd be ok".
Aidan: "No. Gracie has hair AND it has different colors in it. Baby Jesus didn't have hair with colors in it".
Me: "Well then I guess Gracie can't be Baby Jesus".
Gracie: "Why won't you let me be Baby Jesus, its not fair".

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gracie Sighting!

Aidan has a cousin named Ellie who lives in Indiana and is only three weeks older than he is. Ellie told her mom that invisible Gracie recently visited her for a second to see the snow and to make a big snowball to bring back to California and throw at Aidan when he least expected it. That invisible Gracie, such a mischief maker! I imagine he'd have liked to stay and visit with Ellie for longer than a couple of seconds, but since I have on good authority that recent temps have dipped to -3 at Ellie's house, I imagine it was a bit to cold for a naked cabbage patch kid! If he comes back before spring, maybe she could offer him some clothes...

Titanic Update

I was informed last night Gracie's Grandpa Bob Finellar held on to Rose's leg as the Titanic was sinking because it was warm under her dress...

Tetherball and the Bully

Aidan and Gracie both LOVE tetherball. Aidan spends his morning and lunch recess on the tetherball court, as well as any time in which he is lucky enough to get to go to after school daycare.
Gracie plays tetherball at school too, most often with Old Kelly, New Kelly, Lolly and Lolly. Oh, I didnt mention that? Yes, Aidan recently found another Lolly, so now we have Lolly that plays music and Lolly that doesnt play music.
So anyway, Gracie, the Kellys and the Lollys play tetherball on a mini tetherball court. Gracie once tried to play on a regular sized court, but it was much too hard because he had to jump so high and he got really tired, and also it hurt really bad when the ball would smack him. I can picture Gracie plastered to the ball spinning round and round the pole, huge smile on his face as always.
Gracie and the Kellys and the Lollys all play nicely together but unfortuanately they sometimes have to deal with the school bully. A few days ago, the bully wrote "Boo you stink" on the tetherball and it wont wash off. Never one to be intimidated, Gracie informed the bully that he was being rude and that it was very rude to write on the school's tetherball and this made the bully cry and say he was sorry because nobody ever wants to be called rude.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Poor Grandpa Tinders

I found out this morning that Grandpa Tinders survived being ran over by Grandpa Bob Finellar's monster truck, and that my friends, is where the good news ends. Let me start off by disclosing that Grandpa Tinders has (or possibly had in this case) a scooter, on which he recently had a horrific accident.
Aidan:  "Gracie's Grandpa Tinders got in a scooter accident".
Me: "What kind of scooter, like a razor?"
Aidan: "No, the kind with a a motor that you can sit on and drive on the roads".
Im thinking Vespa, and I know you all can picture an elderly cabbage patch kid on a Vespa. I see goggles, a 70's style helmet and a scarf.
Aidan: "He was riding his scooter and he hit a curb and smacked into the side of someone's house".
So now I'm picturing Grandpa Tinders endoing, somersaulting through the air, goggles, helmet and all.
Me: "Thats terrible, is he ok?"
Aidan: "No".
Me: So he survived being run over by a monster truck only to crash his scooter and smack into the side of a house?"
Aidan: "Ya but Gracie's ok cus Grandpa Finellar is rich and gave him ten thousand dollars".
Settlement for the monster truck incident perhaps?

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I Never Say the Right Thing

Aidan: "Mom, who do you love more, me or Gracie"?
Me: "I love you more".
Gracie: "WHHHHAAAAAAAAA"
Aidan: "You really hurt Gracie's feelings. You made him cry. How can you not love your son"?

Aidan: "Mom, Gracie doesn't have a very good singing voice does he"?
Me.: "No he doesn't".
Gracie: "WHHHHAAAAAAAA"
Aidan: "Why are you being mean to Gracie? He has a great voice!"

Aidan: "MOM! MOOOOOM!"
Me: "What Aidan?"
Aidan: "Come up here!"
Me: "No Aidan, go to sleep!"
Aidan: "MOOOOMMMM! Please come up here.
Me: "I'm here, what do you need, and it better be good".
Aidan: "You forgot to kiss Gracie goodnight. Why didn't you kiss Gracie goodnight"?
Me: "You made me come in here to kiss Gracie?"
Aidan: "You made Gracie sad. He thinks you don't love him. He's not going to go to sleep unless you kiss him."

MOOMMMM, Gracie just....

As with most sibling sets there are moments of great comraderie and then there are times of grievous disharmony. They can be playing great together in one moment, and then you blink your eyes and suddenly in the next moment they are wrestling over a toy, one of them is crying, both of them are crying.
It is no different at my house. Having a little brother hasn't always been roses for Aidan. Gracie can be a bit of a pain. Aidan will be trying to relax, you know, watch some Sponge Bob or some Phineus and Ferb, and Gracie will be up in Aidan's face, getting in the way blocking his view. Aidan will be trying to walk and Gracie will be kicking his feet trying to trip him.
"MOM! Tell Gracie to leave me alone"!
Gracie is also a bit of a trouble  maker. You can't even imagine how many times Gracie has done something and poor Aidan has had to take the blame. Thats why now, whenever Aidan catches Gracie doing something, he lets me know immidiately. Like the time Gracie wrote in red crayon on the front door.
"MOM! GET IN HERE! YOU HAVE TO SEE WHAT GRACIE JUST DID"!
Or when Gracie leaves his toys all over the floor.
"MOM! Gracie made a huge mess in here and I'm not picking it up!"
Yes, as you can imagine I spend much of my time as a mom refereeing and saying things like, "Gracie stop", "Gracie don't" and "Gracie leave Aidan alone". I spend an absurd amount of time saying things like, "Well Aidan, you should have told Gracie not to do that", and "You are responsible for Gracie so you are responsible for cleaning up his mess".
While there are arguments and blaming annoyance between Aidan and Gracie, there is also a lot of love. It can be seen every day when Aidan and Gracie are reunited, each having spent the day apart while attending thier respective schools. (Gracie goes to school in the backseat of my car) Love was certainly abound yesterday when Aidan and Gracie got home and had a chance to play in the leaves.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Titanic

Gracie's grandpa Bob Finellar and his Grandma were on the maiden and only voyage of the Titanic. Luckily they survived to tell the tale. As the ship was going down, Grandpa Bob grabbed and held onto a woman's leg. This woman happened to be Rose. So Grandpa Bob clung to Rose for dear life. We're unsure if Rose didn't mind Grandpa Bob hanging on or if she didn't notice because he's so small. Yes, Grandpa Bob is cabbage patch size.
So anyway, Grandpa Bob eventually made it to a life raft, and even though they were only allowing women and children aboard, Grandpa Bob was able to hide due to his small stature. Grandma, on the other hand, didn't have it quite so easy. Once she hit the water she was forced to float on her back for days, until she landed on shore. Once she got to shore she was so full of water she had to do squats to wring herself out.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Gracie recounts his trip to the zoo

World, meet Gracie.

I can't tell you where Gracie came from or who gave him to Aidan. If you ask Aidan, he'll tell you that Gracie was born at the same time he was and that I am Gracie's mom. This, however, is where the familial relation between Gracie and I ends.

Gracie's full name is Gracie Scott Hayner Roger, sometimes known as Gracie Bob Tinders.
Gracie has two brothers and two sisters. Piggy, (you guessed it!) a pink pig, is the baby of the family. Unfortunately Piggy is no longer with his family, as Aidan explained to me the other day that "Piggy fell into the crack". I take this to mean that Piggy is somewhere between the bed and the wall for the time being. There have been no attempts at rescue thus far.
His other brother Lolly and his two sisters, Old Kelly and New Kelly round out Gracie's family. Lolly, Old Kelly and New Kelly are glow worms. You can tell that Lolly his a boy only because he has "the blue hat with horns, and Old Kelly and New Kelly have the hanging stars". Makes perfect sense. 
Gracie also has a grandfather, Grandpa Bob Finellar, who is a professional monster truck driver. Grandpa Bob Finellar was a survivor of the Titanic, a story I'll save for another time.  Gracie's other grandfather, Grandpa Tinders, had the unfortunate experience of  being run over by Grandpa Bob Finellar's monster truck last Thursday. I'm unsure of his status at this time. Gracie's grandmother, name unknown, was also a survivor of the Titanic and doesn't appear in Gracie's life all too often.

Things you should know about Gracie:
1) Gracie is a nudist. Though I have both purchased and handmade clothes, Gracie prefers to be naked.
2) Gracie is afraid of Pumas.
3) Even if Gracie is at home, he can reach us any time on the "Gracie Phone".
4) Invisible Gracie can also be with us in the absence of real Gracie, although invisible Gracie usually rides on the windshield of the car.