Santa

I am not sure how it always happens but I find myself days before Christmas and us yet to visit Saint Nick. Thank goodness one of Santa's biggest helpers is a family member. Santa Al who is an official real bearded Santa and has been trained at the North Pole just happened to have an egagement at Great Grandma's place. He promised to hand deliver the Santa letters to his boss! Mayce thinks she is too old but I of course told her "You are never too old for the spirit of Christmas!"

My three favorite people! This photo taken downtown Kansas City in the warehouse district.

My Not So Secret Garden

Just wanted to share a few wonders from our yard! I received a humming bird feeder for my birthday it's up and ready to go but I haven't seen one yet. I also got a regular bird feeder but it needs to be relocated down to the big oak. (It was doing good attracting birds to the deck which was bad for two reasons. A. bird poo on my deck and B. Manny is sure they are there for his hunting pleasure!) I included a few pictures of flowers... first my cone flowers which were supposed to be hot pink but are white instead, not what I expected but still they are pretty. The large Sedum (sp?) is starting to bloom (Ben should be excited because butterflies will be everywhere and he loves butterflies). The Rose of Sharon is blooming great and getting taller. The dahlias are new this year and have blooms 6-8 inches in diameter. Also new is a watermelon plant they are the size of basketballs and we are playing the waiting game to pick them.

Blueberries for Mayce!

Mayce's 12th Birthday breakfast...Blueberry pancakes made with fresh blueberries, blueberry syrup and whip cream...mmm...yummy!

School Begins

August 18th marked the beginning of our school year. It was a very exciting day at the Gray house because for the first time all of the Gray children are in school!

Delaney is a full day kindergartner at Creekmore Elementary. She attended summer school and so it was no big deal. Many parents were tearful but not us we were proud and happy!

Josh is now a 5th grader and moved to a new school, Eagle Glen Intermediate School. He is excited to be a walker and only has two short blocks over the hill to get to school. His classes are in different room like middle school and he has his own locker.

Mayce also moved to a new school, as a 7th grader she now attends Raymore Peculiar Middle School. She rides the bus and isn't very excited about the 6:46 am pickup time. She is participating cross country this fall, which is the first school sport she has been able to go out for. She is doing great and comes home tired and hungry. Her picture is not from the first day of school. I didn't get home from work in time to snap one, her picture is from her 12 year old photo shoot.

A few people have asked me what will you do with all your time now that all of your kids are in school....SLEEP!

Summer!

Summer portraits at Antioch park. Mayce (12), Josh (10) and Delaney (5).

Delaney Sue Gray, 5

On July 26th 2009, my baby turned 5! We started the day off with a good long swim at the Jewish Community Center (St Luke's South family event). Then we had a spaghetti dinner, (Delaney's request), followed by cake and ice cream. We celebrated with just our immediate family (later had a large party for both Delaney and Mayce). Delaney is super crazy about Hello Kitty she got pj's, outfit, bra and panties all with Hello Kitty.

Every year I like to ask my kids a few questions...it is fun to hear what they come up with and compare the answers from year to year.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Petsmart worker

What is your favorite color? Pink and purple

Who are you going to marry? Keenan Carroll

What do you like about yourself? That I have a fake phone

What is your favorite animal? Zebra

Who is your best friend? Katelyn

Happy Birthday Delaney!

Ben

Meet Ben!

Well being without pets for so long was a bad thing and once we got started we just couldn't help ourselves! Ben is our clearance dog. He is a black lab and was one of two puppies left from a litter. He was on clearance because he was getting old (12 weeks). When we went to see the puppies (in June) Ben came and sat by our feet, his brother ran off but not Ben he would not leave us. So I guess he choose us! He is 5 months old now and is a really good dog. He is very smart and will do anything for a treat. He loves anything that flies and constantly has his head turned to the sky. He and Manny get along great, Ben loves to chase Manny. Manny acts annoyed with Ben but for some reason Manny keeps flopping down right in front of Ben. They are such good friends that Manny gave Ben his last prey to eat!

Manning

Meet Manning!

For a long time our family was without pets. What with all the diapers and snotty noses who had time for fur and litter boxes! With everyone getting older and no new ones planned it looked like the perfect time to get a pet. In April 2009 this orange tabby caught our eye and our heart! He is hilarious and we joke he is more like a dog than a cat. He loves to carry things in his mouth and will even fetch, if he is in the mood (he is a cat after all). He has all his claws but is good about using a scratching post. He is very sweet and lets Delaney drag him around the house and hold him like a baby. He loves to go outside to watch the birds, he "talks" to them with this really funny stuttered meow. The birds click and call when he is outside, it is no wonder they are wary of him as he has successfully hunted two of their kin!

I have tried several times in my life to keep a journal. I do pretty good for the first few days and then I just stop. My most successful attempt lasted a few weeks...my kids were the focus. I wrote about funny things they said. I came across it a couple of months ago and had so much fun reading it. At the end of my entries I was disappointed with myself that I hadn't kept it up. That all those "kids say the darndest things" moments had been lost. So I find myself wondering will I be able to keep a blog? I hope so, what a wonderful way to keep an account of the daily happenings that make our futures memories so I'm going to give it a shot...welcome to The "Gray" Day!