Waking up from naptime...

Grace is practicing for the next American Idol...

We had her work on her singing as well as stage presence on a table...this was taken in David's classroom at Test Pilot School about a month ago...the kids were hamming it up...sorry if the pics are small but I got them off the TPS website...

Grace Hoffman, Up Close and Personal

Toys R Us

Grace got to test drive a few vehicles today at Toys R Us...the shopping cart, a Jeep...a clown car...but all she walked away with was a pool noodle for 84 cents...she even paid for it all by herself (well she threw the dollar bill at the cashier but it's a start).

Corn, cooking with Dada, and coooooool baby

The three C's right? Found out she loves corn on the cob...had to tear it away from her before she at the cob. She felt very special helping Dada flip the omelette this morning and thought she was pretty hot stuff in her hat she got from Meemee and Pop Pop.

Cinderella

We stripped her down to her diaper and told her to get to work...mop the sidewalks, the grass, her playhouse, her car...all of it...we wanted it spotless. No, actually we thought it would be fun for her to wash her car while we washed the big truck and she apparently thought the sidewalk and grass were dirty too...

One more picture from the fair...

The Antelope Valley Fair

Went to the fair last night in Lancaster (about 30 minutes from here). Why does my child get so dirty at these things? I was foolish to put her in white shorts and then buy her a RED snowcone!!!!! We saw Chris Daughtry perform and theb went home tired and happy.

Meemee and Pop-pop's Harley Girl

My parents went on a trip to Sturgis, SD and sent Grace this outfit and dog...thanks for our shirts too, they fit perfect! And David LOVES the style of his, you did good! Grace is in love with the dog and calls him "Decko" Not sure what she is saying exactly but apparently that is his name. She is currently sleeping with him and Bunny in her crib :)

Our little daredevil

Sorry if it comes out sideways!

My little bunny rabbit

Discovered today that she likes lettuce - spinach and regular!

Grace and Gili

We babysat Gili this morning (always fun) and Grace thought it would be fun to hold him in her lap...and you'll notice on the other picture, she is patiently waiting for a kiss...actually tilted her head towards him, closed her eyes, and waited...and waited...and waitied...eventually gave up and went on her way :)

My Aunt Jemima

She is always sticking things on her head and saying "hat". This time it was a pair of shorts...Oh, and Mom and Dad and Debbie, you have to thank our good friend Carrie for letting me know that I can post the pictures here without compressing them so now you can click on them and see a larger view!

Sound asleep

Must have been a hard day at daycare last Friday because she slept for 3 1/2 hours and I had to wake her up! Took advantage of the rare moment and snapped a picture...

Ready for a bike...

The nice thing about having good friends play at the playground is they share their awesome toys and we get to see firsthand how Grace does with them. Clearly, we will be getting her a jeep for Christmas and now apparently she's ready for a bike...

The Santa Monica Pier and Carousel

Less than 2 hours from the base is the Santa Monica beach and pier...Grace got to ride the carousel but wasn't too sure about the horse that went up and down...spent the first half of the ride saying "No, no no no" and then got to where she was clapping and waving and then of course, cried when it was over. The joys of toddler's emotions.

The Santa Monica Beach

Definitely not the nicest beach I've been to - VERY crowded, practically standing room only. But Grace's reaction to the water was worth it all. She'd squeal and run from it and then run back towards it...

Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant

Typical toddler eating in a restaurant experience, but the shrimp was good...managed to keep her busy with a straw and cup of apple juice. Only one shrieking moment where the whole place looked at us :)

The Angeles Forest Parkway

We took the scenic drive through the mountains to LA...stopped a few times to let Grace stretch her legs out...

Driving Mr. Gili

Grace and Gili driving in the jeep last night at the playground...poor boy got whiplash from her stop and go driving!

Grace's first sentence...

Well ok, it may be a little bit of a stretch but it's her first attempt at putting several words together!

Thursday evening

Just wanted to say thank you to Granny/Mum (David's Mom) for the BEAUTIFUL flowers...there were enough for 2 vases!! Notice one on the counter and one behind on the table...so pretty, thank you very much, you spoil us so!

And here is Grace wearing some new pj's (well new to her) Got them in a fantastic bunch of hand me downs from my cousin Jessica...she loved them and kept saying "monkey" and pointing to them.

We're headed to LA tomorrow to the beach! Finally going to get off this base and do something! We're going to Santa Monica where they have an amusement park, carousel, pier, all along the beach...it should be fun! Look for pics soon...

A day in the life of Grace

Grace's day consists of relaxing rides in her car and finding new and innovative ways to talk on the phone...apparently her foot is just the right size. She seriously did this on her own. Crazy girl. No actually her day, today at least, consisted of daycare from 7:30 to 11:30...Daddy dropped her off since Mommy was sick in bed (just a nasty cold, yes I'm a wimp) She had croissants and fruit for breakfast at school and then chicken patty on a bun and green beans for lunch! Napped from 1:00 until 3:30 and then played with Gili at his house while Mommy got some groceries...dinner was stuffed green peppers (thanks Mom for the recipe!) well she actually ate deli turkey, cheese and some rice...then playground until 8:00, bath and bottle and bed by 8:30. That's her life in a nutshell! And mine too I guess :)

Reading in bed...

Grace reading a book in bed...

David's Test Pilot School Class Website...

http://www.tps07b.com/
They've just put this up so there's still some work to be done on it and more pictures to be posted (of the spouses and kids too!!) But this will be a good website to go to if you want to see what David's up to these days...they chose the James Bond logo/theme since they are in class 2007B (007)...that means us spouses get to be Bond girls :)

Lounging with Dada

Favorite weekend pasttime...just hanging out.

Branch Memorial Park on base

We took a picnic dinner to this park here on base Sunday evening...other than the ants that covered every inch of the place, we had a good time. Grace loved the tire swing and then we took a walk around the pond (and I tried not to be completely consumed with thoughts of snakes in the cattails or water) David took a picture of the sunset on the drive home...

Playdough

What a great little activity she does on her own (well sometimes Mommy sits with her and makes her pretty bracelets) But she loves to play with "mannow" (playdough) these days...

Splash Night

Every Friday night the Officer's Club has what they call Splash Night - you go and purchase steak or hamburgers and grill them out yourself (usually David's job - I'm off cooking duty that night!) while the kiddos can play in the pool...here is Sari and Gili, on the left, me and Grace and Katie and her daughter Aislin (more redheads!)

Grace's favorite thing to do...

is to lock herself in the bathroom and play in the toilet water. Lovely isn't it? I tried not to panick as David took awhile to figure out how to unlock the door but now it's a piece of cake...ha, ha we're still in charge. Of course it took me awhile to figure out to simply close the bathroom door to begin with and none of this would happen. Gotta learn the hard way! In this particular instance she had taken the figurine of Nanny (the little old lady that hangs above her changing table and looks just like our Nanny who passed away) and I heard her saying in the bathroom while we were breaking in ("Nanny...poo poo...potty") And yes indeed Nanny was dripping wet after we rescued her. Oye.

The Newest Member of our Family

This new addition made itself known this past Sunday morning while I was making breakfast for Grace...saw it out of the corner of my eye and for the next half hour (until David got home from his bike ride) was frozen in horror! I kept telling Grace "bug...no touch...danger" We're pretty sure it was a black widow (couldn't see under its belly and DIDN'T WANT TO either) but it looks alot like one...between the black widows and the snakes around here, both poisonous, I'm fighting the urge to pack up and move!!