Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I tried to upload this video to go with my post last night but I couldn't get it to work. I think it is one of the most beautiful songs ever. I must say she may have a promising future in the music business(haha)!

See what I mean...It is an excellent version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!!!

Kicked Out

Last night was the first time Gracie has officially been kicked out of Hayden's room.  They were in Hayden's room playing very sweet or at least I thought they were.  I was sitting in the living room and the next thing I hear is GET OUT OF MY ROOM and then the door slammed with Gracie on the other side crying and wondering what in the world was going on.  The good news is that they made up and were playing sweet in a matter of minutes.  I guess this is the start of many of those fights.  I couldn't help but laugh, even though I had to explain to Hayden that it wasn't very nice.  Although Gracie isn't always innocent either, so I will probably never know what really happened.  The only thing I am worried about is when Gracie starts fighting back or being able to talk enough to tell her side of the story, instead of just crying...It could get real interesting at the Stancil house in the next couple of years. 

I thought every one could enjoy a good little laugh:

The other day I went into my bathroom and noticed the shower door was opened and that Gracie's new little snoopy puppy dog was in there(one of her favorite Christmas presents).  I asked Hayden why Snoopy was in the shower and she says "I don't know, I didn't do it".  So I asked her "who did it then" and she says "Gracie did it".  I told her that was funny because Gracie isn't even tall enough to open the shower door and she says "yes she is too" so I called Mark into the bathroom and told him the story and  he told her the same thing I did and anyway she still will not admit that she hid Gracie's snoopy from her.  Gracie was very pleased to get her Snoopy back.  Hayden has caught on that she can blame Gracie for every thing right now.  You would be amazed at some of the things Gracie does around this house!

In fact as I am updating blog they are being hiliarious.  I could post a story every minute for every one to enjoy.  The best one this afternoon is that Hayden is playing school in the living room.  She brough her princess stool in here and set up places for all the kids to sit and she is reading to all the students.  Gracie must have felt a little left out, so she went into the bathroom and came back in the living room carrying her a stool too!  She is sitting right beside Hayden just watching and learning!  Hayden is singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Gracie is just watching!  It is seriously one of the cutest things ever...I know I think everything they do is cute!

Look at that little stinker:

Playing School:

Returning Back to Normal

Today was back to normal for the Stancil family.  The girls and I have been able to sleep in for the past two weeks, but today Hayden had to go back to school.  I must say she was very excited, she has missed it lots...Hopefully she will always love school, but somehow I think that may change later.  I wasn't as excited about having to get up and get dressed so early, but I did get a lot accomplished today.  After I dropped Hayden off at school, Gracie and I went to the grocery store...I didn't want to have to get her out in the cold, but unfortunately it is going to be COLD everyday this week!  I sure do hope it SNOWS, Hayden is wanting to play in it so bad.  Gracie usually takes a morning nap, but for some reason today she decided not to, and I knew that she was going to try to go to sleep in the car when we went to pick up Hayden.  She stayed awake all the way there, so instead of sitting in car pool, Gracie and I went in to get Hayden.  I was going to do every thing possible to keep her awake until we got back home, so she would take a nice long nap.  Hayden was very pleased to see us, but informed me very quickly that it wasn't walk in day!  It always makes my day to hear her say "Hey, that's my Mommy", and then she runs straight to me and gives me a hug.  Hayden managed to keep Gracie awake all the way back home and believe it or not they played together until about 3:00 and BOTH of them took a nice LONG nap.  Gracie slept in her bed and Hayden enjoyed a peaceful nap with Ms. Sue(the dog)she wanted to make sure every one knew it her dog and not her teacher(she is helping me write the blog today).  Ms. Sue should feel very special, Hayden even shared TIRED with her.  I cleaned and got every thing ready for tomorrow while they were napping, and then I watched a little TV(figured I deserved to enjoy some down time).  Gracie woke up first and she joined Hayden and Ms. Sue on the couch, they are all so sweet!  The good news is that tomorrow is the last day this week Hayden has to go to school, so if it snows Thursday we are going to have lots of fun!  I bet Gracie will be a sight, she was too little last year!

Hayden napping with Ms. Sue:

Gracie loves Ms. Sue too:

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Gracie striking a pose:

Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year every one!  Mimi and Pop came to our house last night to watch the girls while Mark and I went to a wedding for one of our friends.  The wedding was at 5pm and it was outside, so needless to say I was frozen by the time it was over.  We didn't stay long, it was a small wedding and we decided since we didn't have the girls, we would go somewhere good to eat dinner.  Well, everything was packed, so we ended up eating Mexican, which was very good.  Then we came home to bring in the new year with our girls.  Well, they went to sleep before the new year, so Mark and I watched the peach drop while sitting by the fire!  Yeah, I know we are getting old, but that is exactly what I wanted to do last night! As far as new year resolutions...I am going to try not to be so obsessive about cleaning the house(I know it will never work, but I am going to try a little) and Mark is going to lose weight.  He is going to do the Biggest Loser with his friends, they are actually going to weigh in each week to see who is winning.  Good luck to all the players. 

Happy New Year!

Mommy and Hayden Day

I took Hayden to the movies, for the first time today.  We went to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks!  We dropped Gracie off with Nana and Steve, I don't think she is quite big enough for the movies!  When we first got there Hayden was very confused.  We purchased our tickets, which by the way have gone up a good bit since the last time I went to the movies, and then we stood in line for what seemed like forever to get our popcorn and cherry coke!  It was all about the expierence though!  Then we went to find our seats, we ended up getting some of the best seats in there.  They weren't to close or to far away, and there was no heads right in our view.  She was a little bit impatient while watching all the previews, but I much admit I was too.  It seemed like there were 30 minutes worth of previews.  Once the movie actually started, her eyes got really big and she sat there and watched the whole thing.  There were only a couple of times I looked over and she wasn't paying attention, I think she was almost asleep.  It made me very sleepy too, I think that is the calmest I have been since before Christmas. Of course we drank a huge cherry coke, and she had to get up and go potty one time, but the restroom was right outside of the room we were in and we didn't miss much at all.  All in all it was truly the perfect day for us!  I don't get to spend a whole lot of time with Hayden by herself anymore, but I have a feeling there will be lots more movies in our future for the two of us, although she says we have to let Daddy go at least one time.  I think we may try to go see the Princess and the Frog, maybe Stephanie and Kierstin can come along.  Stephanie and I may have to sit in between them so they don't talk the whole time though. 


Thank you Hayden for being such a sweet girl! I loved spending the day with you!!!

Christmas 2009

Wow, what a Christmas. I don't think there is a toy out there that we don't have at our house. We have had the most fun this year with Hayden and Gracie...Hayden was very excited about every gift she recevied! Gracie wasn't really into opening presents this year, but she has enjoyed all of her toys now that they are set up in her room.

Well lets see if I can remember everything...Christmas Eve, we spent with my Mama and her family. It was the first set of presents this season. Hayden didn't even want to eat...she wanted to go straight to opening presents. I bet if I heard one time...I heard it a thousand times...Hey, Mommy I'm ready to open presents! I finally convinced her she had to eat something first, so she picked at a little bit of food and proceeded to tell every one else to hurry up so she could open her presents. Mema says she is just like me, I used to do the same thing every year. I mean as a child, who cares about food! Hayden was so excited about her gift from Nana and Steve. They gave her the fancy Snow White dress, shoes, jewelry and purse. Her face was totally priceless when she saw it in the box!!! Gracie got a baby doll and bottle from Nana and Steve and while every one else was opening their presents she sat on Mema's foot stool and pretended to feed her baby! It was a great Christmas. After we got done at Mema's house we came home to prepare for Santa Claus!

We had a lot to do to get ready for Santa. We put all of new stuff up that we got from Mema's and then the girls took a long bath and put on their Christmas pajamas! After the girls got out ready for bed, we opened presents just the four of us. Mark gave me a really nice wine cooler and stuff for a nice hot bubble bath(to use all by myself). I gave him a remote control car and helicopter. I think he was happy...I didn't know what to buy for him this year. The girls got matching newborn baby dolls, Hayden's has blue eyes and Gracie's has brown...I am pretty sure Gracie's eyes are turning brown like her Daddy's. Then we made Santa a buttermilk pie and put it on a special Santa plate and poured him a big glass of milk. After that we hung our Santa key outside, because it was very cold and raining so we had to have a fire! Last, but not least we read Twas the night before Christmas and Hayden liked it so much I had to read it three times. Gracie went to bed and we told Hayden it was time to go get in bed and well she refused and ended up crying and getting very upset! She kept telling us "I'm not tired!" I told her to come back in the living room and she sat in my lap for a little while and then decided to go watch TV in bed. Anyway, at about 11:30pm she finally fell asleep. Unfortunately by that time Santa was ready for bed too, but he got his spirit back and had so much fun setting up all those exciting toys. Santa just smiled the whole time thinking of those precious faces the next morning!

Christmas morning came very fast being that Santa didn't leave until about 2am. We had the clock set for 6:30am so that the girls would have plenty of time to play with their new toys before we left to go to Grandmama's house. You should have seen those little smiling faces Christmas morning when they realized what was under the tree. Hayden even told us "Wow Santa left me lots of presents". They didn't know what to play with first. Hayden loved her scooter and skates...those were the things she continously asked for. Gracie was so excited about her pink car...It has a remote control for Mark and I to control so that she can ride around while Hayden drives her Gator. They had so much fun going from toy to toy saying look Mommy and Daddy. Don't worry we got it all on video and I tried to take lots of pictures, but well I was so excited I forgot about pictures! Oh and Hayden was so excited to see that Santa ate the whole piece of buttermilk pie and drank all of his milk!

Mark cooks breakfast for every one on Christmas morning...It has been a tradition for many years! Mark and Pop did an excellent job on the omelets, they were the best this year, or at least mine was(Hayden ate about half of it). Grandmama opened her presents and of course Hayden helped her. Hayden was having lots of fun, until she realized that all of her presents from Mimi and Pop were still at Mimi and Pop's house, so then it started. I think it went like this...Mimi I am ready to go to your house...Pop I'm ready to go to your house...Mommy I'm ready to go to Mimi and Pop's...Daddy I'm ready to go to Mimi and Pop's. I guess you get the picture, this continued for a good hour or so. Once Mark and Pop finished eating their breakfast, the cooks always eat last, we told her it was time to go. She gave very fast hugs to Grandmama and Linda and was at the car door ready to go! She could hardly wait, and she knew she had 11 presents to open at Mimi and Pop's. I don't think I have ever seen so many presents for two little girls in my life. Kim and Artie had bought as much or maybe even more than Mimi and Pop. Hayden had so much fun and got lots of special gifts. Mimi and Pop gave her all the stuff to completly decorate her room in Princess stuff(bedspread, sheets, curtains, and even a trash can). The also gave her the Princess castle and dolls, which we still haven't even opened yet, but we are getting to it! Kim and Artie gave her lots of great gifts including a new Snow White tent and Pink Cowboy Boots! I really don't remember everything there was so much! Gracie got lots of great toys too! Mimi and Pop gave her a giraffe that you pedal and it sings, which I know she is going to love. Kim and Artie gave her lots of bath toys and the silly town, which is where the blocks move up and down and sing. She really likes it too, even though it is still in the box. Mark and I lucked up this year too! Mimi and Pop gave me a new camera that will do everything I need it to do, I am so excited...I should be able to put some videos on the blog now! Mark got the GUN that he has been wanted for awhile! He was very surprised and excited! I love all my new clothes I got from Kim and Artie and well I don't even know what they gave Mark(Sorry). Oh I almost forgot Mimi and Pop gave Mark and I a picture of us from our wedding! We never bought any and in April we it will be our 5 year anniversary! It is in a gorgeous frame and hanging in my kitchen for every one to see(I LOVE IT)!

I think Mimi was very surprised by the gift that we gave her, it is been a well kept secret this year. I had two canvas paintings done from the beach pictures. There wasn't a good picture of the girls together, so I did one of each! In fact when they came from Shutterfly...I told Mark I might need to keep those for myself(just kidding)! I couldn't believe Hayden didn't tell because she was very excited about them too!

We had such a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to every one for all the gifts! This family is truly blessed and we love every one so much!!!

Randy and Gracie:

Santa's buttermilk pie and milk...her Daddy taught her how to make faces while taking pictures:

What a beautiful family:

Santa's key:

Hayden - Christmas Eve:

Santa left lots of presents, and there were more on the couch:

She loves her scooter:

Gracie's car:

Hayden likes the car too:

Going for a ride in Kim's present:

He got his GUN:

Hayden and Kim:

Gracie and Artie:

Hayden was so exited about her castle, Mimi got a big hug and kiss:

New hats from Kim and Artie...Cool Babies:

Gracie - Christmas Eve:

Hayden singing our favorite song that she has learned at school. It is so sweet!

Cooking at Grandmama's House

I took the girls to visit Grandmama today. Hayden was supposed to help make all the goodies with Mimi, Grandmama, Aunt Vickie and Aunt Linda but instead she made her own little cookies with Aunt Linda and they were excellent. She even put lots of sprinkles on them and they were snowflakes, snowman, and star shaped. Mimi had even bought her the perfect little Christmas apron to wear, as usual she adorable. Gracie thought that they were one of the best things she has ever eaten and Hayden brought plenty of them home for her Daddy! Aunt Vickie and Mimi cooked all the other goodies with some assistance from Grandmama. Hayden was more excited about going back and forth to Aunt Linda's house. The first time they went were to get the cookie cutters, the second time they went was to get Hopper(Linda's rabbit) so that Gracie could see him, and the third and last time was to see Linda's fish...Apparently Linda's house was very exciting and every time they came back Hayden had another surprise. She ended up with play doh, pencils and a Christmas coloring book.

Gracie had lots of fun playing in the rocking chairs and she even colored for the first time today. It was very cute, she was concentrating very hard to make a pretty picture. Gracie seemed to like Hopper pretty well, although she wanted to hold him instead of pet him and when she was done she wanted to just push poor little Hopper in the floor...Thank goodness Linda and Hayden were there to protect him. Gracie spent the majority time walking around trying to figure out what every one was doing.

When we all got ready to leave Grandmama's house, Hayden wanted to go play with Tiger(Mimi's new kitty). Gracie fell asleep on the way to Mimi's house, so Hayden only got to play with Tiger few minutes. I finally convinced her it was time to go home, but I think she is planning to spend the night with Mimi and Pop tomorrow night, so she will have plenty of time with Tiger!

We had a good time today, I wasn't much help in the kitchen...I'm not very good at cooking the goodies! I only make buttermilk and coconut pies! I stick to the things I know I am good at!!!

I can't wait until Christmas! Santa is coming SOON! I can only imagine Hayden's face Christmas morning, I am sure it is going to be priceless!

Hayden and Grandmama:

Hayden's cute apron:

What a beautiful smile:

Gracie found some toys:

Aunt Linda and Hayden making special cookies:

Gracie being silly:

She looks like a professional:

Look at that concentration:

Rock, Rock:

Gracie and Hopper:

Hayden and Hopper: