A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I discovered some more pictures on my computer that I forgot about. That always feels a little bit like Christmas. Does anyone know which Pittsburgh Pirate this is because I don't have a clue?

Justin is coming up with some really crazy Harry Potter theories. He is finally to the part where they return to Hogwarts. I just smile and try not to laugh (too obviously?) when he tries to discuss his very strange ideas.

I'm going to make a confession here. Gracie is kicking my butt. She is stretching all of my parental abilities and in our many scuffles, I am rarely the victor. I just don't know what to do with her. No punishment seems to phase her. Put her in a time-out in a chair or facing the wall? She will sit there for HOURS and will not apologize, agree to stop the behavior, etc. One day, I took away literally every precious possession she had from her beloved MooMoo down to her dress-up clothes and she acted like I was tickling her.

Today was just a hard day. I can't seem to find anything that gets through to her or matters enough to her to make a lasting impact. Tonight she was sent to bed at 6:45. She cried for awhile, sobbed actually, begging for one more chance (one more chance, one more chance) but honestly, after the first 5 minutes, she was in there giggling, singing to herself, having a good old time. Just her all alone in the middle of her bed. She just has such a vivid, wild imagination that she really doesn't need anything other than herself to have a grand old time. And it's not like I can punish her from thinking up stories in her head. This is so hard and embarassing; Charlie, with all his little quirks, is such an easy kid; look at him cross-eyed and he's apologizing and racing to rectify whatever he could have possibly done wrong. Grace on the other hand seems to revel in it. My mother-in-law says she's just like her.

And Marci, if you're reading this, darn it, you're making me want to start running. I have never run in my entire life. The days we had to run the mile in gym class stand out as some of the worst in my memory. And yet, I think I want to try. Couch to 5k sounds like something I could do. Do you think?