The Grindstaff's

My Tiny Dancer

2011-12-04T17:22:00.001-06:00

You know how there are those moments in life that you have dreamed of forever? This was one of mine! Adalee had her first dance program last night! She did so GOOD! I was so proud of her! She is a year younger than both of the other girls (our b-fri Hannah and Avery) and still rocked it! All three girls were adorable! Gosh, I wish she would stay this little forever, and I wish we could re-do last night one more time tonight! Love watching her dance!

My camera is having some problems. :( I am sad these are the only pics I got. I am hoping Mandy has a few good ones to share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T09:46:00.001-06:00

We started Thanksgiving Day watching the Macy’s Parade. Adalee did a little dancing like the Rockettes. She insisted I rewind it about 5 times to watch them! Then, we headed to James’s parents house for lunch and fun with the cousins.

2011-11-25T09:40:00.001-06:00

A’s Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-25T09:36:00.001-06:00

Adalee had a Thanksgiving feast at school and they sang a few songs. It was so sweet because in the first picture, she is saying, “There’s my mama!” Talk about melt my heart! I mean, usually, if Gammy and Pop are there (which they were), I am chopped live. My camera is off and on working (really frustrating and I must get it fixed asap) so I didn’t get many pics.

She made her shirt at school!

Adalee’s 3rd Birthday Roundup!

2011-11-06T16:43:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was Adalee’s 3rd birthday party. It was lots of fun! We had a cowgirl party at a local ranch, complete with a pony and petting zoo! This was actually the easiest birthday she’s had and it turned out great! A special thanks to my parents and James...thank you so much for all of your help making Adalee's party so special! I am so thankful for you three... everyday!

Keep scrolling...you might even have to click Older Posts on the bottom...LOTS of pictures!

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What a fun party! Man, I love this girl.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T16:30:00.001-05:00

For months, and I mean months, Adalee has said she wanted to be a bat for Halloween and flap her wings. I took her to the costume shop and showed her some precious princess outfits, Little Red Riding Hood, etc…but all she wanted was a bat costume with wings she could flap. I started making one and then Gammy found this one. So, here’s my girly, girl in all her bat glory! LOL!

About half way through Adalee decided she was done with the headband, so Honeybunny sported it! ha!

Happy Birthday Precious Girl!

2011-11-01T16:25:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, Adalee’s actual birthday, we planned on church while she ate breakfast with her daddy, family pictures, and dinner with Mason…no cake. When I woke her up Sunday morning, the first thing she said was, “I get to eat cake today!” I tried to explain that her birthday party was next weekend and she would eat cake then, but those puppy dog eyes got me and after church we went to HEB for cake. She spent a good 30 minutes deciding. She loved all the cakes with spiders and witches on them…good thing her bday is near Halloween! She finally decided on a witch cookie cake. We sang, she blew out candles, and we ate cake! Love, love, love this sweet girl of mine!

Adalee’s 3…well, tomorrow

2011-10-29T21:53:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is Adalee’s 3rd birthday. I can’t believe she’s 3. I can’t believe how little a 3 year old seems when it’s yours. I can’t believe how blessed I have been! It’s always a little tough for me when her birthday rolls around… I’m glad she is growing and healthy though! Her birthday party is next weekend, but I wanted this weekend to be fun for her so we met Lundy and her niece, Macie, for lunch and a makeover! Macie’s 9th birthday was October 28th, so this was a treat for both of their birthdays!

Adalee picked purple nail polish.

It was so cute because you could tell when Adalee was smiling from the back…her little cheeks would go up! She smiled most of the time!

After LOTS of GLITTER, she was looking good!

After getting all fancy, we did a little shopping! She wanted to carry her own stuff and pay for it today, too!

PS- the song on my blog makes me get teary, often…tonight it really did though! I so wish time would slow down some!

She was Supposed to be Napping…

2011-10-29T21:31:00.001-05:00

but instead got dressed in her dance clothes! I don’t know if you can tell, but under this leotard is the pair of shorts she went to sleep in, her dance skirt, and those lace tights. She did all of this so quietly that I really thought she was asleep…I just happened to look at the monitor for something as she was slipping on her tap shoes…in her bed! Haha!

Her “socks” were a baby hand mitten and one sock. Funny girl. She LOVES dance.

School pictures

2011-10-29T21:26:00.001-05:00

Doesn’t everyone have a fashion show the night before pictures to send to their Gammy and Pop to decide which outfit is the best? Ha! I didn’t think so, but we did!

We went with outfit one in case you’re curious.

My cowgirl!

2011-10-29T21:25:00.001-05:00

We took pics, trying to get a good one for Adalee’s birthday invitation. Her boots clearly do not match her dress, but we did the invite in sepia. You get to see the real, mismatched, funny pics!

Precious girl!

Smores

2011-10-29T21:23:00.001-05:00

Adalee had her first taste of smores this month…Reese’s smores! Yum!

Blast from the Past!

2011-09-18T18:45:00.001-05:00

I just figured out how to download ALL (826) pictures from my Iphone to the computer, and it’s like looking at a baby album! It makes me happy and sad…and I have about 822 pictures I want to add to the blog! These are from August and September of 2009!

I feel like these are some of the most candid, special pics I have…I also caught some really funny things with my phone, as you will see in the next posts!

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October and November of 2009

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January to July of 2010…Adalee put the popcorn in the potty…

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July to December 2010

View Full Album

More of my little dancer…

2011-09-05T12:08:00.001-05:00

Adalee did SOOOOOO much better in her 2nd ballet and tap class. I’m not going to lie, I bribed her with a sucker to listen to the teacher! She tried so hard and had a great time! I guess I need to buy stock in suckers!

Now, for all the pictures I got, trying to get one cute one of her alone and one with me…she is a poser these days!

I feel like I should also add, that is my Thursday school shirt…I do not wear it because I like it or think it’s fashionable. :)

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah and Hunter!

2011-09-03T15:49:00.001-05:00

Hannah and Hunter had a Hawaiian bithday this year! Mandy had it decorated fabulously and the kids had a great time!

Ummm, I really have no words…

2011-09-03T15:33:00.001-05:00

Yes, that hat came with the swimsuit. No, I never intended on her to wear it. Yes, she was with Gammy and Pop when this happened. Yes, she has on shorts.

Hahahaha!

Ruffles and Polka Dots

2011-09-03T15:30:00.001-05:00

You gotta dance a little before school you know!

2011-09-03T15:28:00.001-05:00

Gammy and Pop took these pics of Adalee and Minny dancing before school on the second day!

I can guess she is saying, “One more minute?”

Back to School…

2011-09-03T15:21:00.001-05:00

Here are some pics Pop took of Adalee before her first day of school. She is going 3 days a week this year and loves it! Pop even gave her a ponytail! Isn’t he the best grandpa ever!

My Tiny Dancer

2011-08-28T17:28:00.001-05:00

Adalee had her first ballet and tap class a few weeks ago. It was a preview class and she starts this week for real! She is so excited about it. She did well, but the teacher did have to tell her to listen, only spin once, stop stomping her tap shoes, etc…quite a few times! Ha! I’m hoping it continues to get better. Hannah is in her class, so it is going to be fun for Mandy and me to watch our girls learn to dance! Here’s hoping Adalee does better than her mama ever did! LOL!

The Mingoes Came to Visit!

2011-08-28T17:24:00.001-05:00

My friend Penny is a junior high cheerleading sponsor. Well, one of her old cheerleaders “flocked” her yard and then she sent the flamingoes to our house! Adalee LOVED them! She called them mingoes and wanted to know why we couldn’t keep them in our yard.

Just an Ordinary, Fabulous day…

2011-08-13T10:43:00.001-05:00

I had fun on my trip, but couldn’t wait to get home to this sweet girl! This is what we did the after I got home…danced, read, played babies, dressed up…you know, the norm!

Adalee LOVES books…to be read to, to “read” them, to look at them…everything about books and it makes this mama happy!

San Diego Girls’ Vacay

2011-08-01T09:29:00.001-05:00

Lundy has a birthday coming up, a rather big birthday, and in celebration of the big 3-0 and school about to start, we did a girls’ trip to San Diego! It was lots of fun! We are three laid back chicks for the most part, so it was always funny planning what to do or where to go…I don’t care, I don’t care either, well, me neither…someone pick. :)

We got there on a Monday afternoon, had lunch (an extremely expensive lunch…which was totally on accident), then did the ultimate tourist event….a trolley tour of the city!

We had a chalkboard in our room and got a kick out of coming up with “lessons” we learned each day! They are silly, but made us laugh!

Day 2

2011-08-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

We spent the day at Pacific Beach and enjoyed Taco Tuesday! There were lots of places to chose from, but we ended up going with Pacific Beach Bar and Grill. Most tacos were only a $1.75 and margaritas were $3. We all agreed the tacos were amazing and the peach margaritas were yum!

Later, we decided to take advantage of Taco Tuesday again for dinner. This time we picked Old Town Mexican (or something similar)…the line was long and we waited over an hour….thinking it would be fabulous. Well, it was GROSS. Terrible really. Don’t eat there.

Day 3

2011-08-01T09:15:00.000-05:00

Lundy saw a place on Man vs. Food called Luche Libre. They are known for their burritos…most of which have french fries in them! It was a tiny little place, with lots of people in and out! After lunch and a day of shopping, we got dressed up and went to eat in Balboa Park at a place called Prado. It was good! We then went to Syrah, a super cool little wine bar with an Alice in Wonderland feel! While we were there, we met Ben F. from the Bachelorette! Lauren and I had no clue who he was, but Lundy knew! Lauren has all those pics…Maybe I’ll add them eventually!

Day 4

2011-08-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

We went on a wine tour to Temecula on our fourth day. While there, we also did a cheese tasting! It was fun and really pretty…the wine tour, not the cheese! By the time we got back to the hotel, we were pooped! We had the Acura man take us to In-n- Out Burger and brought it back to our room before calling it an early night.

We should have also included on “Day 4 Lessons Learned,” that In-n-Out burger has a secret menu and you should order your burger animal style. We didn’t. Now, I’m waiting for another opportunity to try one animal style!

She is Her Mama’s Girl…

2011-07-21T16:00:00.001-05:00

I was doing my hair yesterday morning and it got strangely quiet in the house. I walked in to find Adalee, standing on her stool, eating peanut butter by the fork full..straight out of the jar!

After her peanut butter brunch, we had a popsicle for dessert. Never a dull moment with this girl! Oh how I *heart* her!

Port Aransas

2011-07-11T14:07:00.001-05:00

James, Mason, Adalee, Junior, and I went on a vacation to Port Aransas with James’s sister and her family. We had a great time! The kids played hard! Adalee LOVED everything about the beach (well, except sleeping at night). She was a big fan of the sand and waves!

I had so many pictures that I had to do a ton of posts with a few pics on each one…so stay a while and check out all the new posts!

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Hahaha!

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Adalee and mama

Jenny and Chloe

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Bird chasing…Adalee’s favorite thing about the beach!

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A pig in the library?

2011-07-11T08:07:00.001-05:00

Yep, there was a big, fat pig in the library! We have been going to Toddler Time at the library, and last week Daisy the Pig visited! Adalee wouldn’t take a pic unless I was in it, too. LOL.

My little project…

2011-07-05T13:15:00.002-05:00

My jewelry has been out of control in a drawer. I saw this idea somewhere and have been wanting to make one (really I wanted my dad or James to make me one) for a while now. First, I bought a frame at Goodwill, which was way more expensive than I expected goodwill to be.

I spray painted it. First with turquoise and then green.

This is stuff holding down chicken wire while the Gorilla Glue dried. James did help with this part.

I got a little spray paint happy and sprayed two other frames and a cross…it was fun!

Finished! I was planning on it going in my closet, but then I thought it was too cute to be hidden! It's distressed with the turquoise peeking through....

Adalee was helping hand me jewelry to hang up and she found this ring…. She kept saying, “I love diamonds! Do diamonds live in this box? (talking about my jewelry box) Ugh, sorry sweet girl, your mama loves diamonds, too, but sadly I don’t have many to pass down to you! We did decide that when she’s 15 she can have that ring and the necklace that matches it..she seemed pleased.

One of the other frames. I copied this idea from Mandy. She has one like it in her living room and I think it’s super cute! I am on a mission for a cuter frame though!

Adalee + Goggles = Funny Stuff

2011-07-05T13:05:00.001-05:00

Adalee has been wanting goggles, so I bought her some the other day. She looks so funny in them! She has had lots of fun with them though! She likes me to throw pennies in the pool for her to search for!

Our 3rd Summer of Swim Lessons

2011-07-05T10:59:00.001-05:00

Since Adalee’s first summer we have been taking swim lessons at a lady’s house. The first year was great, last year Adalee didn’t want to go with the swim teacher at all (but loved the ater), this year, she was a fish and couldn’t get away from me fast enough! She is so independent and fearless it is scary! Well, we went swimming with a girl I used to teach with and her kiddos. Her little girl is about a month older than Adalee and can swim amazingly. I asked the mom how did she teach her, she said, I just told her to swim. Adalee watched her and was bound and determined to swim, too. By the end of our swim playdate, Adalee was swimming under water from the steps to me! I was AMAZED!

See my little fish under water? Adalee thinks she is doing a handstand in this pic. She watched Katelyn do them at Gigi’s party and started doing this…as she said, It’s a handstand. My feet are out of the water! If you can’t tell, her head is also out of the water…she’s just in a v shape. lol

Miss Emily, A’s teacher, said she can be a Water Sprite if she comes to swim lessons again this summer! Yay Addie!

All American Girl

2011-07-05T10:58:00.001-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

Gigi’s Birthday

2011-07-05T10:36:00.003-05:00

Gigi, James’s grandmother, just celebrated a birthday! We all went to Columbus to James’s aunt and uncle’s house to celebrate!

Mandy’s 30th Surprise Party

2011-07-05T10:36:00.001-05:00

June 25th, we helped Kevin throw Mandy a surprise birthday party. It was lots of fun! Mandy’s mom made visors for everyone…so we wore them…for a minute. They were funny! The thing that’s even funnier, is that the picture below is probably the ONLY picture of the four of us where everyone is looking and smiling…and we have on visors that say, “Mandy’s 30th!” Haha! Frameable?

Evil Eye! Block it!

Monkey see, Monkey do

2011-07-03T17:50:00.001-05:00

James has been keeping Adalee while I go exercise. The other night, I came home to a clean baby….sitting just like James! It made me smile!

Just Another Summer Day…

2011-06-17T13:49:00.001-05:00

We played inside. We played outside. Adalee had her first ice cream cone! She was not really a fan of it dripping at first, but by the end, she was in love!

Cowgirl Addie Pie

2011-06-17T13:47:00.000-05:00

Somehow I missed blogging these pics… in April it was fair and rodeo time in C-town. Adalee is a hot mess in these pics because she had a little too much fun with her water bottle!

2011-06-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

Friday night fair and rodeo pics…

Mason won a belt buckle for being the fastest kiddo to chase down a goat and get the ribbon off his tail! Yay Mas!

We saw Addie’s Daddy and she rode the carousel with him.

Then, we met Braxtin and his rents for dinner!

Splashpad Fun

2011-06-15T09:41:00.001-05:00

We had our first splashpad day last week. We went with Ty and his mommy and some of their friends. I’m LOVING being home with Adalee for summer!

I Need Something Else…

2011-06-07T16:23:00.001-05:00

May 22nd, we were getting ready to go to Dimitri’s birthday party… Adalee always likes to look in the mirror once she is all dressed. She looked and said, “I need something else.” I asked her what and she said, “I need lip gloss.” So, I gave her a tiny dab of lip gloss. She looked again. “I need something else.” What this time? “My bracelet!” Here is the completed look…lip gloss and bracelet were definitely what she needed!

Then we were off to the Children’s Museum for some birthday fun!

So funny…

2011-06-04T14:31:00.001-05:00

I just happened to look at the pics on my camera the other day, and these were on there! They cracked me up! Adalee is lucky to have such a fun Gammy and Pop! This happened while I was at school on May 11th.

That’s one way to water plants!

Pie’s First Fishing Trip

2011-05-08T14:55:00.001-05:00

When I was little, we used to go fishing at Nana’s (my cousin’s grandma) house a lot. I loved to fish! I would even bait my own hook, which you will NOT catch me doing these days. James loves to fish, so I have been bay fishing with him a few times and enjoyed it. I did have to take Dramamine for those of you who know me well. ;) Anyway, he has been waiting for a pretty day to take Adalee and yesterday was the day! We headed to Academy to get a fishing pole and she picked out a pink and purple sparkly Dora pole. She LOVED fishing! She wanted to do it all by herself and actually did catch her 3rd fish all by herself!

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I am sure there will be lots of fishing trips in our future!

Birthday Parties are Fun!

2011-05-07T16:46:00.001-05:00

We went to Andy’s Fayle’s 2nd Birthday last weekend. For some reason, I didn’t end up with any pics of the birthday girl, who looked ADORABLE! Here are the pics I did end up with…we were busy partying and not taking pics!

30’s Not So Bad, so Far!

2011-04-27T16:28:00.001-05:00

I have said it before, and I will say it again, I have been blessed with amazing friends and family! Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming to my bday party! Thank you Mandy and Keving for hosting it. Thank you James for your part…you are so thoughtful!

I debated putting this pic on here, but I had to…Look at my Wal-Mart baby at the end of the night! Can you tell she had fun? G-R-O-S-S!

It was a great night!

Easter Eggs are FUN to Dye!

2011-04-23T14:17:00.001-05:00

Today is my 30th birthday! CRAZY how I used to think 30 sounded old…it’s nothing now! I was woken up with breakfast in bed by my sweet Addie Pie (with some help from my sweet James). It was cute because she brought it in, crawled in bed with me and said, “We can share it?” So, of course, we shared breakfast in bed! James took Addie to do some super secret bday shopping. She was so excited about card she got…it sings You’ve got to move it, move it! After opening a sparkly watch (because I told Adalee to make sure they got me something sparkly) and beautiful flowers, it was time to dye some eggs! So much FUN! After that, we had a picnic at the Princess’s request and played outside in the sprinkler. Now, it’s time for me to get off here because my amazing love and friends are having me a surprise bday party…yes, not so much a surprise. I’m too nosey. I’m excited though and lots of pics to come I’m sure! This has been the PERFECT bday so far!

Addie Pie’s Easter Egg Hunt at School

2011-04-23T13:59:00.001-05:00

Thursday at school Adalee had an Easter egg hunt! She was so excited about it! Gammy and Pop took some pics of it for me since I was at school with my other kiddos. After the hunt, Gammy brought Adalee to my school to surprise me! It was sweet! Adalee loves seeing all my kiddos, as she calls them!

Penny made Adalee’s cute Easter basket in case you were wondering!

MDO Easter Program

2011-04-22T08:53:00.001-05:00

Well, I don’t have any actual pics of the program, but here are the before and after pictures! I have to brag a little, too…Adalee did so well in the program! Most of the other kids in her class were crying, looking around, running up the stairs, etc. and she was singing and doing all the hand gestures…every now and then she would start waving to my dad and yell, “Hi Pop!” It was so sweet! I was one proud mama!

Zoo Trip

2011-04-20T05:50:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we went to the zoo with Jennifer, Charlie, Chloe, and Mason…and about 1 million of our closest friends! It was super crowded, but beautiful weather! The kiddos were all super, too!

The Making of a Perfect, or Near Perfect, Picture…

2011-04-20T05:49:00.000-05:00

I take about 50 pictures to get one decent one. These cracked me up so much, that I had to show. It only took a second or two to get all these pics…

Don’t I have patient, sweet kiddos?

More Bluebonnets

2011-04-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

We tried another bluebonnet session, this time with Mason, Charlie, Chloe, and Jennifer. It was super windy (as you can tell by the crazy hair)!

2011-04-03T18:22:00.001-05:00