My silly girl!

Before you write us off as some crazy homeschooling family let me explain these pictures! One never knows what's going through your childrens minds as they watch t.v. Gracie has some favorite shows that she really enjoys watching. Some of them she has "learned" several new tricks that she likes to re-enact.

She loooooves "I love Lucy"! I mean, come on, who doesn't. What could possibly be harmless about that show you might say. Not much, mostly slapstick, funny, goofy, humor. Until one day when Maggie came to me saying, "Mommy, Gracie is smoking again". Alarmed I rushed to Gracie and said, "where did you learn to smoke"? she very confidently said, "Lucy smokes". Well, we "caught" her a few more times, and after explaining the ins and outs of the time period and how they didn't know it was hazardous to their health. She stopped. Although, come to think of it, it could have been my frantic rant on what lungs look like from smoking.

Next, her love for Gidget. Ahhhhh, I remember growing up and watching re-runs of Gidget starring Sally Fields. I loved her and thought she was the cutest thing(some of you probably don't even know who I am talking about..geez). That's when my longing for dimples and a round face with brown eyes started. Simply adorable. Gidget did a lot of surfing with Moon Doggy(her beau), LaRue and her little group of friends. One day as I was passing by the girls room I caught Gracie "surfing" on the ironing board(thankfully, it was folded down). Makes sense, right?

Then there was the Andy Griffith show. The week Don Knotts died was a sad one...they had a marathon of the show all weekend and anyone who came to the house was told that Barney Fife had died.

She likes all the Little House shows and more than that she is completely enthralled with the "Love Comes Softly Series" on dvd's which are set in the 1800's. She can't get enough of these shows and I think she's been watching them too much......take a look for yourself!

she's getting on her horse(that's bob's belt)

whooaaaaa!

giddddy up!

this is a common spot to find her! I had to get a picture because who knows when she will stop doing these things...they grow up too fast!

Happy 9th Birthday Grace Catherine!!

She loves her fake nails

Her best buddy....sissies!

Daddy and his girl

Showin the philly attitude..comes with being a philly sports fanatic!

Gracie is very energetic and full of life. She loves to watch "I Love Lucy," "Gidget" (she has been caught surfing like Gidget on the ironing board), "Andy Griffith," and "Love Comes Softly." She enjoys soccer and is beginning her first year on the travel team. She loves to be with her cousins and enjoys taking care of and entertaining them. She is a "nurse" by nature and has a true compassionate servant's heart. Her distinct voice, volume and raspiness adds to her unique personality!
We are so thankful for our precious "baby" girl! We named her Grace because we loved

the name and what it means. As I look back over her first year.....my eyes fill with tears. God's handprints were all over her life and His goodness to us was overwhelming. Gracie was born with a congenital defect involving her kidneys and bladder which we didn't know until she got seriously ill at three months old with a 106 fever....bladder infection.....spinal tap...and bacteria in her blood. She layed and moaned motionless looking up at us so pathetically from the pain. We felt so helpless. Over the next several months she would be admitted to Children's Hospital of Philadlephia three more times. At eight months old, Gracie had major surgery to correct the defect. We prayed, and God was merciful to us. Gracie is now a very healthy and active little girl who brings so much joy and delight to whomever she is with. Her bubbly personality and love for life is contagious! Never, will we forget, His healing in her life and how He used this experience to remind us of His faithfulness which brought us closer to Him. We pray that she will glorify Him with her life and that she will understand how special she is to God.