Monday, April 28, 2008

A New 'Do & Weekend Fun!

Grace got another hair cut recently and this time I was bold enough to let Kathy take it a little shorter! I consider it Grace's summer cut, and she loves it! I was trying to get a couple of pictures of her the first day she had it, but she was being a bit pouty, as you can clearly see in the picture! Shortly after the picture was taken, Grace headed back upstairs and Rachael decided to try and follow her. She made it all the way up the stairs on her own!



Chris' company had a Family Day on Saturday, and we all managed to make it out -- we've all had a touch of this plague that has been going around and my Super Mom capabilities did not keep me from getting a taste of it this time! I opted for fresh air and sunshine and it seemed to do us all good! I think Rachael is starting to copy Grace's smile -- notice the similarities?

While we were waiting on Chris (who turns 30 on the 16th of May!) to play in his softball game (managers vs. employees), Rachael was running her little legs off! What a blessing for this little one to find such contentment just by running around, enjoying her surroundings!




Here are the girls showing off the precious dresses that their Grandma got for them:


And finally, Grace and I went to the art festival and experienced their KidsWorld for the first time! She made a TON of stuff -- next year I'll remember to bring a bag for all of the creations! Her first order of business was getting her face painted. That was very interesting considering every other event we've gone to where face painting was available, Grace was dead set against it. This year, before we even got to the booth she was intent on finding it, and she even knew she wanted a butterfly -- before she even saw the options! Didn't they do a great job?
Grace and her friend, Faith, waited patiently in line for the pottery wheel, and while they were waiting they stepped around to watch what was going on. By the time it was their turn, they knew just what to do and they each made perfect little bowls! Look at the little artist at work!

A little fun goes a long way! We're beat! Let us know what your family has been up to!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I can do it myself!

Lately Miss Rachael has been showing her independent side. There are many things she'd like to do all by herself, but slowly she's learning that she might still need some help. First, she would like to be a professional couch climber. Only problem is her adorable chubby legs are too short to get the right boost to come up. However:

Yep, that would be Rachael on the couch -- holding a working remote. (She knows which ones they are!) So how did she wind up on the couch? She had an accomplice:
That was a workout!


Grace decided to start singing, and here's Rachael saying, "Praise the Lord!"

Grace hasn't been as accomodating when I've had the camera out. She wants to be taking the pictures a lot of the time, so she gets frustrated when I tell her I want her to be in them first. When that happens, her idea of smiling for the camera often is this:



Other times though, my persistence pays off and I get one of these:


Today after we ate lunch, Rachael indicated that she was still hungry. (She does her sign for "more" when she's hungry at all, not just when she's already had something to eat.) I decided to treat her to some yogurt. When I started to feed her, she reached for the spoon and kept grabbing at it. When it became obvious that she was more interested in trying to feed herself than actually eating, I mentally prepared myself for the mess that was about to be made, and then I obliged. I also got the camera for these reasons:

"What? Too much?"

She is actually saying, "Cheese!" Except for her it's just, "Eeeeeee!"


And this one was too cute, and I thought Sarah and Sonya would like it -- not just a straight shot! ;-)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tagged!

Tag! I'm it! A very special friend from Alabama "tagged" me on her blog and I'm being daring and posting it here for everyone to see! ;-) So here we go... Getting to know the lady of this house!


What was I doing 10 years ago?
April 1998. Finishing my second year at Florida Baptist Theological College. Loving my roommate, Erica. Getting ready to work at the church as the intern to the Minister of Children at the church.


5 things on my to do list:
1) Go to bed
2) Laundry
3) Dishes
4) Application for VPK for Grace
5) Chris' softball game


5 snacks I enjoy:
1) Toasted Multi-Grain Wheat Thins
2) Green apples w/peanut butter (Sarah, I'll have to try the chocolate chips on that!)

3) Teddy Grahams
4) Cheerios (nooo, I'm not a mommy or anything...)
5) Chocolate chip cookies


5 things I would do if I were a Billionaire:
1) Tithe/donate

2) Buy a house
3) Buy a minivan
4) Put away money for the girls' college educations
5) Fill a tub up with cash just to see what it looks like


5 bad habits:
1) Clearly, staying up too late
2) Shopping on an empty stomach
3) Not exercising enough
4) Not cooking enough
5) Doing too many surveys

5 places I have lived:
1) The unincorporated area of Brevard County
2) West Melbourne
3) Graceville
4) Palm Bay
5) Melbourne


5 jobs I've had:
1) Cashier at Checker's
2) Cashier at Chick-Fil-A
3) Administrative Assistant
4) Legal Secretary
5) Wife & Mommy -- the career I've wanted my entire life!


I want to know more about (a nice way to say "you're tagged"):
1) Katrina
2) Melissa
3) Jill
4) Stacey
5) Kellie

Friday, April 18, 2008

Bookworm Baby


Just a sweet picture of Rachael with her favorite book, Love and Kisses by Sarah Wilson. This was actually a book of Grace's that she also loved, and out of all the books that the two of them have, this is the one Rachael's shown a fondness for. She will bring it to me to read it for her -- actually, she will bring it to me to hold it so she can turn the pages! Grace and I have heard it so often I think we both can recite it by heart.

The little rocking chair Rachael is sitting in is one that the girls' GG (Chris' grandma) found when I was pregnant with her. Both girls love sitting in it -- Grace has rocked her baby dolls in it, and Rachael just likes to rock in it and say, "Wheeeee!" Before I took that picture, though, she climbed up in it by herself and started "reading."

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Out of the mouths of babes...

It may or may not be common knowledge to most of you that I am not known for my mad skills in the kitchen. Chris is leaps and bounds ahead of me when it comes to preparing complete meals for our family, but this is something that I have been working on. So the other night I made an easy dinner (thanks to the Kraft website). I started cooking before Chris was home from work and once he was home and settled, we ate. As Grace started in on her meal, she piped up with one of her precious compliments. She said, "This is good, Daddy!" Yes, she said Daddy. She is so unaccustomed to her mother cooking that in spite of the fact that she saw me in the kitchen preparing the meal with her own beautiful brown eyes, her natural reaction was to commend Daddy on a job well done. *sigh*

Rachael is 15 months old now! We have a little songbird on our hands. One day when we were cleaning up the living room before naptime, I started singing the ever-popular clean up song. Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere! Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share! As Rachael was cleaning up, I heard her saying softly, "Beee-yup, beeeeee-yup..." She kept saying it over and over again, and I realized she was mimicking the song! She also obviously keeps a close eye on her big sister. Grace's preschool choir sang in church on Palm Sunday (well, the rest of the kids sang, Grace swayed side to side -- but at least she didn't turn her back on the congregation like last year!) and we like to sing the songs around the house because we usually get smiles out of Rachael when we do. Well, as we were singing and doing the hand motions to "I'm Gonna Sing" we noticed Rachael was throwing her hands in the air with us when we got to "praise the Lord!" Now if we even just say "praise the Lord," up her hands will go! A regular preschool Pentecostal.

Oh, and 29 days until someone turns 30!!!

That also means 29 days until he can stop picking at me for being 3 years older than him!

(By the way, if you thought it was me turning 30, let me know and I'll be your new best friend!)