The Adorables!

Out of the Mouths of Not-So-Much-Babes

2010-06-25T01:30:00.000-04:00

Scene: Mommy is happily congratulating Rachael on being a big girl

because she's going on the potty and wearing big girl panties all the time.

Mommy: Rachael, do you know what makes you special?

Rachael: Jesus! Jesus makes me special!

Scene: Mommy is in the kitchen doing dishes,

Grace has taken a shower and gotten herself ready for bed.

Grace enters the kitchen in tears.

Mommy: What's wrong, honey?

Grace: I was just thinking that I'm starting to do more on my own,

and I was afraid you were gonna think that I don't need you anymore!

Easter, Mother's Day & Summer, OH MY!

2010-05-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

It's been over a month!! So... what has happened?

I ran another 5K!

My actual time was under 36 minutes, so I did better than the Disney one back in March. This one was over a bridge and back for part of it, too, so that has to count for something!!

Here are the girls on Easter Sunday --

Grace was able to wear the same beautiful dress as last year,

made for her by Chris' Aunt Carol!

Gracie loves our hibiscus trees and wanted her picture in front of one that morning!

Here's Rachael, "goin' shoppin'" with her baby!

The highlight of April was a visit from

Aunt Kiki, Uncle Jerry, Blake, Savannah & Veronica!

Grace & Savannah on our playdate with them!

Rachael & Veronica were sharing a banana.

Grace's kindergarten class had a Mother's Day Tea last week. The moms waited outside the classroom, and one by one the children came out and presented his or her mommy with a flower and escorted her inside. It was so sweet! It was a good thing there were tissue boxes at each table, because they were definitely pulling out all the emotional stops! After they serenaded us, the teacher read a couple of heartwarming stories, and then we were served snacks by our little hosts and hostesses!

Rachael had her last week of preschool, and we were wondering how she was going to do at the program they had, considering she'd cried through most of the Christmas one! She had a rough start coming to her classroom and I thought we were in trouble, but once she got up on stage, she was fine! Yay! She sang, she smiled, she did hand motions, she tapped sticks -- she was great! We were very proud of her! I don't know if she understands that preschool is over for a little bit, but hopefully I'll be able to keep her entertained!

Gracie has one more week of school left! We're already looking forward to Vacation Bible School and some playdates with friends throughout the time off! I learned last year that summer "vacation" is kind of misleading -- it's going to be work to keep these girls busy while they're out of school! I'm really blessed because both girls are really amazing at finding things to keep busy, and they (usually) play very well together too!

Hope our family and friends reading this are doing well! We're hoping that we might get to see some of Chris' family in Connecticut this summer -- keep your fingers crossed!

Spring has sprung! FINALLY!

2010-03-31T00:26:00.003-04:00

What has happened in the last month...

That's me (standing, third from the left) with a bunch of friends after we ran the Disney Royal Family 5K at Epcot the first weekend in March. This was my first 5K, and even though I didn't get bit by the running bug, I did have a lot of fun! It probably helped that we were all wearing tutus and boas!

And even though I let the cold weather we had and the time change (too dark in the early morning!) further disrupt my "training," I signed up for another 5K in April. No tutus this time!

That's the girls just this past Sunday, wearing dresses they got for Christmas from their GG -- the weather was finally spring-y enough for them!

Gracie is doing great in school, her teacher has started her in the Accelerated Reader program and she seems to be loving it, and doing well! She hasn't shown an interest in any kind of after-school activity so far (soccer, ballet, etc.), but when I told her about her school's Young Authors Celebration and that she could write a book for it, she was all over it! She wrote three little books in one weekend! We picked one to turn in -- she dictated her words to me since she was having trouble fitting them on the page, and she did all the illustrations and the cover page! She was so excited to turn it in!

Rachael has turned into a total Chatty Cathy! I love listening to her talk, and she's getting much more conversational with the moms and dads of her friends! I've been told she's pretty much the teacher's little assistant in her preschool class, and that just tickles me! She's also started to sing songs in the car and during movies -- I'm already looking forward to the fall when she starts choir! Of course, we'll see how she does at the end of the year program for preschool in May!

This is our Spring Break, so I've been trying to keep the girls busy -- and we had our 2nd Annual Pajama Day on Tuesday! The girls loved going to the mall in their pajamas with their friends, and I have to admit, it was pretty comfy! Three other moms and their kids joined us this year, it was a lot of fun! We have a big playdate and picnic coming up, then a movie morning, and by next Monday I'll probably need another week to recover!

Now, for your viewing pleasure... Recently Chris got me a new game for the Wii, Just Dance, and Grace decided she was going to get in on the action. She's already topped my score at a couple of the songs! So here we are "dancing" to Wannabe by The Spice Girls:

Now that I've sufficiently made a fool of myself, I'll go! :-) Hope things are warming up where you're at!

We are here! we are here! we are here!

2010-02-24T22:12:00.000-05:00

Shame on me! I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted here! I could say that I've been really busy, which is pretty true, but it's also because a lot of my time has been spent writing at my other blog, Much More Than Mommy, and also at Mom With A Pen. And while I know that I'm not passig along earth-shattering information here, it is definitely a good way for ME to be able to come back and see how the girls have grown, etc.!

To be honest, though, not much has happened in the past month! We are all still trucking along our merry ways! I did have a birthday and had a great time celebrating with my family! Here's a picture of the girls before we went out:

I know many of you are dealing with weather conditions that are way more severe than what we've had, but I can tell you that all of us are definitely over this weather! I don't think my thin Florida blood can handle too much more!

I do have a good story, though, courtesy of Grace! The other night I took the girls to McDonald's for dinner as a treat, and when we walked it all three of us were immediately shivering! It was one of the warmest days we'd had in a while, and apparently those inside decided to crank up the A/C to celebrate! We got our food and sat down, and Gracie and I were especially chilly -- we kept sitting closer and closer and hugging to try to warm up! We started eating, then Grace suddenly stopped and said matter-of-factly,

"I'm going to go tell them it's too cold in here."

I looked at her and smiled because I thought she was just joking, but she was dead serious! And that's exactly what she did. She walked up to the counter, said "Excuse me" to the cashier, and then explained that she was very cold and asked if it could be warmer. WOW! I don't even know if I would have had the courage to do that at 16-years-old, let alone 6! Gracie came back to the table and we watched as a manager headed straight to the thermostat. She was very happy!

That's all for now! Hope you're managing to stay warm!!

Brrrrthday!

2010-01-16T12:11:00.000-05:00

Just after Christmas we took the girls to Sea World to see their Christmas stuff. They got to visit Santa -- we told him he was taking his vacation in Orlando. ;-) They told him what their favorite gifts were, and we had a great, albeit COLD, time! We were definitely bundled up as we watched their ice show!

Chris was busy over his "vacation" -- his biggest task was painting the girls' bedroom. We had picked a pink that I thought would look less Pepto Bismol and more dusty rose. I was out while Chris painted, and he called to let me know that he thought it might be a little darker than I expected. I told him to go ahead, there wasn't much we could do about it now! I came home and was greeted by the pinkest pink I'd ever seen! We also put up the toddler bed for Rachael. The girls were SO excited about their room! Here are a couple of pictures of them as they first came in, and you can catch a glimpse of the pink:

Gracie pretends to sleep for her photo op...

Rachael pretends to stretch and yawn...

January came and brought along MUCH colder weather, so we learned a lot about hats, scarves and gloves! These were taken when the girls were helping their daddy with some work on the back porch early one evening! This was before they had their scarves, which I may have run out to get that very night. I had no idea how much a scarf could help in the cool weather -- but why would I, being a native Floridian?? I was very thankful we were able to get all wrapped up every morning for school! So were the girls! (If you notice in the picture with Rachael, Chris is wearing shorts!! Even on the coldest day we had, he went outside and ran errands in shorts, it's like he never gets cold!!

January also brought Miss Rachael's 3rd birthday! We celebrated with family, and she picked the main dish -- pizza! When asked what kind of cake, without hesitation she replied, "Strawberry!" So strawberry she got! Rachael had a big week -- even though she started off under the weather, she managed to fit in a haircut, a little lunch after moms' group with her friends, her birthday party, bringing cake to school the following day, and then after we picked Gracie up from school on Friday, we headed over to the zoo. WHEW! We did manage to wear the girls out enough that Rachael told us she was ready to go to bed!

Gracie brought home her second report card -- that's still a little wild! She's doing great in school, and she's really impressing us with how well she's reading! There is no point in spelling out words in front of her anymore, she'll figure it out! Chris and I are going to have to figure out a new kind of code! Grace loves coming home and telling us what she's learned, and I LOVE that!

Rachael is also still a huge fan of school! For a little while there, she was acting like she was going to bolt after me when I dropped her off, but all it took was her sweet teacher offering to let her paint, and usually she'd be fine! :-) After the break, she was back to walking herself in and barely sparing me a wave! She is definitely talking clear enough for strangers to understand, and the funniest thing is when she gets her hands going! We are still working on the potty training thing -- and I do mean WE, it definitely takes parental involvement! She knows what to do, I think it's just going to take me being willing to give up the diapers and Pull-Ups during the day altogether, and I'm not there yet! Soon, though!

The girls are so much fun, especially when they play together, which they do fairly well! Lately Rachael has become a little bit more affectionate with Grace, coming over and sitting in her lap or randomly giving her hugs. Gracie will usually holler out, "Mama! Look!" so I don't miss it. Love them!

Things are warming up here, hope that you and your family are staying warm as well!

An Adorable Christmas

2009-12-26T01:28:00.000-05:00

After the decorating was done, we started the rest of our Christmas festivities with Rachael's preschool Christmas concert. As you can see, she got a little case of stage fright! She was quickly rescued by her teacher and thankfully her tears dried up! She stayed in her teacher's lap for the rest of the concert, and afterwards was just fine and dandy!

The very next day, the kindergarten classes at Gracie's school had their Christmas concert, and each class had their own song to sing. Gracie's group sang "Santa Bingo" -- that's Gracie proudly holding up the second 'A'. If you aren't familiar with this tune, think B-I-N-G-O, only with S-A-N-T-A. There was a man with a long white beard, and Santa was his name-o! All of the music was very cute!

Daddy got to come home early on Christmas Eve, and not long after he got in we had a visit from Papa. Later, after the church services were over, we spent the rest of Christmas Eve with Chris' parents, and Christmas morning we got to experience the joy of the girls waking up and making their run to the tree to see what Santa brought! (My favorite part was after all the gifts had been opened, Rachael pulled out a tub of blocks that they've had forever and started playing with them!) After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a delicious Christmas dinner, made it home for naptime, and then had a visit from Nana and Grandpa Ken!

This was the first year we actually really did Santa with the girls (even Grace), so we're still learning! Santa forgot batteries for the little Dirt Devil that Rachael got, and Grace is wondering how I'm going to be able to go to Target and exchange the princess tent that Santa brought them... What can I say? I'm a novice!

We have been blessed every year as a family, but this year did feel a little extra special as we celebrated in our home!

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas, especially those of you who were able to have a white one!!

Home for the Holidays

2009-12-06T00:12:00.015-05:00

See that? It's our first Christmas tree in our new home! The day after he got back from his latest trip to Texas, Chris put it up with Rachael while I was at a doctor's appointment! Before we picked up Gracie at school, we took a trip with Rachael to get some decorations, then after getting Grace, we had the girls pick out which star we would put on top. (They picked the same one!) Then while Rachael was napping, Chris and Grace did some decorating!

Today, after the rain finally stopped, Chris was busy outside. Not mowing this time, though! We have deer courtesy of his parents, and Gracie and her friend, Noah, named them all...

Meet Princess, Austin, Rudolph and Kiki!

The girls are big fans of their Frosty, greeting folks as they come to our door!

Earlier this week, the girls cooperated just long enough for one of our friends to take some amazing pictures of them! He did an excellent job with them, and I can't wait to put these up, give them to Chris to put up at work, use them for gifts, etc., etc.!

Hope your holidays are starting out happy!

Turkey Time 2009

2009-11-30T16:39:00.013-05:00

Thanksgiving is no longer something we celebrate for just one day, it's an EVENT! With Katrina and her family spending the entire week with us, it is filled with family -- and we love every minute of it! This year we had a very special treat in going to Disney World on the first day of the week -- it was Mommy, Gracie, Rachael, Aunt Kiki, Uncle Jerry, Blake, Savannah, Veronica, Nana and Papa! The little ones had a wonderful time, meeting fairies, riding rides, and being pushed or carried all the livelong day!

It was so good to spend that much time with everyone, and we definitely have to get those girls together more!

Here are some pictures of our time together...

Savannah & Gracie ready for their Disney Day!

Aunt Neener & Veronica in line to meet the fairies!

All the girls together, getting ready to watch a movie!

Rachael with her cousin, Blake at Nana's house.

Rachael, Gracie & Savannah, playing while Veronica was sleeping on Uncle Chris, then Nana.

One of my absolute favorite pictures ever!

Incognito

2009-10-31T23:36:00.008-04:00

Halloween isn't a huge deal to us, but this year Chris and I got into it a little more than usual thanks to a costume night that our friends had on the 30th! If you ever watch NCIS, you might recognize...

Abby & McGee!

We braved the heat for a really fun fall festival today. Gracie was originally supposed to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but she said the dress was just "too itchy." (That's Mommy's fault for not trying it on earlier -- it was a dress-up outfit that she's worn several times at a friend's house, but she always has her regular clothes on underneath!) She was bothered enough by it that she was willing to not dress up at all, but thankfully we had a quick fix, so she was...

Country Girl!

Rachael was the prettiest little pirate! She wasn't as cooperative in front of the camera, but she held still long enough for this one after getting her face painted!

Earlier this week, Gracie made a little card for Rachael, and she told me it was for Rachael's birthday in January -- but she wanted to give it to her right then! Of course they have their times when they fuss and fight with each other, but I cherish moments like these!!

Steady as she goes...

2009-10-20T15:14:00.010-04:00

The Adorables have hit a lull. A lovely, lovely lull. It's kind of nice to just go with the flow for a little while! Between the house hunt and the girls both starting school, I think it's safe to say that there was a little stress floating around the household. Now that we've all found our little grooves, the breathing is a little easier.

To the left you see the girls playing in the yard one evening a few weeks ago. They had the best time just chasing each other around, sometimes even daring to go barefoot. :-) We've had some interesting weather the past few days -- last Friday we spent a good part of the day at a friend's pool, and by Sunday I was scrambling to find the girls some long sleeves and TIGHTS! And today, Grace wore a sweater to school but by the end of the day she was very comfortable in her t-shirt and shorts!

Gracie and kindergarten are like peas and carrots. :-) Today she brought home her library book and her Book-It book, and she read her Book-It book to me without any help at all. I will admit that I was a little relieved that she still needed me to read her library book to her! Report cards come out on Thursday, and we have our first parent-teacher conference next week. So far, the only difficulty I've found with kindergarten is figuring out what to pack for her lunch -- she confessed to me this morning that often much of her lunch ends up in the trash. ACK! Although, I helped in her classroom today and then stuck around for lunch, and it was obvious that I'm not the only parent with this issue! Those kids threw out SO MUCH FOOD! So if you have mastered the art of packing a lunch that your kids do not waste, clue me in!

Gracie's favorite activities during the week at school are P.E. and art, and her favorite daily activity is coloring at the literacy center.

Right now the big deal with Rachael is potty training. After the (mostly self-inflicted) fiasco I had with Grace and potty training, I made the very honest statement that I would rather go through labor and delivery with BOTH GIRLS than have another potty training experience like that. But Rachael, of course, is a do-it-yourselfer. Not long after we moved, she initiated the training. She was doing very, very well, but then I think we may have had a setback after everyone got sick (Gracie came down with the flu and Rachael had bronchitis, then all of us -- Grace included -- picked up the bronchitis). Now it's hit or miss -- but I have learned from my mistakes, and I'm not pushing. She's still showing interest and doing it on her own, and I think soon we'll institute a rewards system and that might give her the extra encouragement she needs!

Rachael is still loving school, she loves any and all art that she gets to do, and she is happy to talk about what she did during the day. She talks about her friends and her teacher the rest of the week. I love how much she loves it! We have no problems getting her up and ready on her school days, that's for sure!

Nothing really new under the sun for Mommy and Daddy. :-) Well, Chris just had to do a little traveling for work -- they sent him on a very brief trip to California... first class. I could not even try to hide my jealousy! But truthfully, he works so hard, and I think he's more than earned a little upgrade like that!! They are going to be sending him out a couple more times for longer trips, but it's a good thing -- he learned their new software well and trained those in his department, and they're sending him off to do the same elsewhere! As for me, I've started walking regularly, and soon I am going to attempt running. Please note I said attempt. :-) I am still teaching Sunday school every other week at church (3-year-olds), I work in childcare, and I'm beginning to think that having a house may be bringing out the housewife in me -- and I like it! :-)

Hope you're enjoying some beautiful fall weather where you are!

Florida Fall

2009-09-30T16:26:00.015-04:00

I know some people scoff, but I think Floridians appreciate our autumn as much as anyone else. I think we might appreciate it more, considering we don't have as many leaves to rake. ;-) Anyway, today was our first day of cooler weather! Before the girls even went outside, they were asking for their sweaters! So there they are, my little Florida Girls, ready to brave the icy temperature of SEVENTY DEGREES!!!

And just over the weekend we were in tank tops and shorts at Sea World!

A couple of weeks ago, Gracie celebrated her 6th birthday. Early that week, we had a few friends over for a birthday playdate. Gracie and I worked together that afternoon to put the stage up for her friends:

The girls had a great time dressing up, and a few times the runway got some use! (It's got a sensor so that when they head out on the runway, you hear music and applause! Thanks, Papa!) One friend brought over a particular dress that Gracie tends to wear when she goes over to their house to play. We will label this "Daddy's Worst Nightmare":

Rachael found another use for the stage when the rest of the girls were back in the bedroom being different variations of princesses...

On her actual birthday, we just had family over at the house (it's so nice to be able to fit everyone!), and Gracie got to celebrate again! Publix made the cake for the gathering with friends, but since I'd bought two packages of Funfetti mix, we were able to have a cake that night as well!

Rachael loved it too!

The girls are still enjoying school, Gracie got the Student of the Week honor last week so we were proud of her for that! (Each child gets a chance to be it, but I was still pleased!) When Rachael gets to her preschool class now, she barely spares me a wave! She just puts her little bag in her cubby, and off she goes! So far, I haven't cried over this! :-) It's actually kind of fun to see her so comfortable and enjoying herself like that, and definitely better than the alternative!

The house is ALMOST done! I am hoping that when Rachael is at preschool, I can come home and tackle the office -- maybe not get it entirely done, but at least make a decent dent! We still have a few boxes that I'm ready to sort through and get rid of -- it'll be nice to not have to keep the door closed when we have company! ;-)

All in all, things are going well! Hope you're enjoying the beginning of fall where you are!

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

2009-09-16T23:22:00.003-04:00

Six years ago, this little angel with ruby red lips and a headful of thick, dark brown hair came into the world. In a year that had brought a lot of difficult change for our family, she was a bright spot of love and laughter that we needed so much.

She's a little lady, most definitely -- 110% GIRL! She is also precious and sweet, strong-willed and kind. She has a pure, sensitive heart. She is polite, fun to be around, and we are so proud of her and so thankful she is ours.

Happy Birthday, Gracie! YOU are one of God's best gifts to us!

Country Girls

2009-09-05T10:43:00.005-04:00

Grace was studying the farm this week, and as part of that they read about the country mouse and the city mouse. On Friday, they were able to dress like a country kid or a city kid, and Gracie chose to go country! She flat out REFUSED to wear overalls, but this dress worked just fine. As you can see, Rachael wanted to be a little bit country herself!

School's Cool

2009-09-02T14:52:00.006-04:00

So far, so good! Both girls are loving every minute of their school days!

Gracie has adapted to kindergarten as well as she has to any other change in her life, like it's all a breeze! (She gets that from her daddy!) Loves her teacher, loves her activities, and if you ask her what she likes about school, her answer is: EVERYTHING! She's already made some friends, and she actually did me a huge favor by being buddy-buddy with a little girl with sweet parents and a little sister that's close to Rachael's age! As an added bonus, they don't live far from us!

She has already come home and asked to show us a science experiment (we sprinkled pepper in a cup of water, then she put a drop of dish detergent on her fingertip and set it on the top -- she and Rachael were fascinated), she is thrilled that she gets to go to the library (er, media center, sorry) one day a week, and she adores the P.E. teacher! He is in the car loop directing traffic each day, and Grace has asked for me to park and walk her in because that way we get to drive by him! It's like a celebrity sighting every morning!

The other day she told me that two boys had asked her to marry them. She told them no. I was happy to hear that, until she told me it was because she was already going to marry her friend, Noah. And then today she asked me if I knew one of her classmates' last names. I didn't, so she caught up with him and asked him herself. He answered, and as we walked away she told me she was going to marry him. (It may have been because his last name starts with an M, I'm not sure.) After we got home and Rachael went down for her nap, I explained that it would be a while before she got married. She wanted to know how long, and I told her she'd probably be around 25 or so, because she had to finish college first. (I was giving her a couple of extra years in case she wanted to get her Master's right away or go to law school or something...)

Rachael is in heaven at preschool! She gets to paint! Play with Play-Doh! Play with stickers! She gets to PAINT! Today when we were dropping Gracie off, she said that she missed her teacher -- it was so cute! If you ask Rachael what her favorite part of school is, she will answer "Snack time!"

I am so blessed to have two girls that can entertain themselves so well! Rachael is really great when we're at home together. One of her favorite activities is actually helping me with the laundry! She even asks to help with it -- asking if she can put clothes in the "washing clean." (I'm sure she is trying to say machine, but it's so cute that it sounds like that!) With the front loaders being lower to the ground, it is very easy for her to put the dirty clothes in and transfer the wet clothes to the dryer, and I think my back appreciates that!

Today we spent the morning at home, and before lunch I was treated to a concert (Rachael the Musician sitting on a chair using unsharpened pencils as drumsticks while music played), went to the doctor (Dr. Rachael listened to my heart and declared, "It's working!" -- good to know!), and got a haircut (Rachael the Stylist said, "Looks good!").

Soon we'll be celebrating Grace's 6th birthday! Time definitely does fly by, but I think that's only a bad thing if you're not paying attention as you go!

Before and After, Part II

2009-08-28T17:50:00.003-04:00

So Chris and I spent last Saturday clearing this:

Until it looked like this:

And then Chris spent all of today making it look like this:

What a difference! He did a great job!!

First Day #2

2009-08-18T11:16:00.010-04:00

Little Miss Rachael has been so excited about school! Last night we went to Target, and for some reason she thought we were going to take her to school then. When we told her we were just going to a store, she started wailing! This morning, she was all excited! She was practicing saying her teacher's name, she was talking about seeing her friends -- she was thrilled!

When we got to the classroom, she immediately headed for a table with crayons and paper. There were a couple of kids who started crying (and one who bolted out the door after her mommy left!), but Rachael wasn't one of them!

Rachael was checking out one of her new friends, who was crying.

Enough of that -- back to coloring!

I gave her a high five as I left, and then she rushed around to give me a hug. Well, I thought she was coming to give me a hug. I thought she said, "Mommy! Wait!" So I stopped and knelt down to hug her, and then she looked at me and said, "Mommy! PAINT!" I had told her a long time ago that they might paint sometimes in her class -- apparently she remembered that! I told her maybe she could go ask her teacher, and as she headed towards her, I made my exit. I waited in the hall for a little bit, trying to stay out of sight. I didn't hear my girl crying, so I left.

Then I cried. Just a little! After I ran a couple of errands, coming back to the house with no one here except Snickers was a little strange! I look forward to picking her up (in just a little bit actually) and hearing all about her first day!

UPDATE: Rachael came out the door from preschool with a note from her teacher saying she went potty TWO TIMES, and she was "a great helper"! :-) As if that wasn't enough, when we brought Gracie home, she showed us how she can tie her shoes all by herself!

Before and After, Part I

2009-08-15T22:31:00.006-04:00

Chris is very fortunate to have every other Friday off from work. It is very rare that he actually takes a day OFF, though. The man is always working on something. And now, of course, with the new house, there are plenty of projects to keep him busy. The first thing on his list was the landscaping in the front yard. I posted a picture of the house before, here (scroll to the bottom). Looks nice, doesn't it? Although the tenants took excellent care of the inside of the house (it was basically immaculate), this is what the area in front of the left window looked like when we got here (I took this yesterday):

After a half day (of his "off" Friday) and basically a full day of work, here is Chris' finished product, and this was taken earlier this afternoon:

Chris is my hero!

As for next weekend?

First Day #1

2009-08-13T13:26:00.011-04:00

Amazingly enough, nobody cried on Grace's first day of kindergarten! I'm kind of surprised at myself since I got a little misty-eyed when I was making her lunch last night, but today at the school everyone had dry eyes! Daddy was able to join us, and of course Rachael came along for the ride -- asking if she could go to her school pretty much all morning! Tuesday apparently can't come fast enough!

We have heard nothing but great things about Gracie's teacher, and she was comfortable with her right away when she went in for her assessment on Wednesday. That was such a relief!

Here is Grace going into her classroom, with her teacher greeting her. The teacher wears an apron with four different greeting options that they point to and choose: a hug (heart), a smile (smiley face), fist bump (fists) or a "good morning" (sunshine). Upon meeting her teacher yesterday, and again today, Gracie chose the hug. :-)

We do it all again on Tuesday! I'm hoping for a repeat when it comes to the tears -- but sometimes Rachael can surprise us!

First Post from THE NEW HOUSE!

2009-08-11T14:20:00.011-04:00

Oh, how I wish I had some pictures to offer you! I tried to take some photos the other day, but I just don't have a gift for getting the right perspectives and everything! I hope to get some though, especially some before-and-after shots of the work in the yard that Chris will be doing! He's already made some vast improvements! The yard is in great shape, but there are a bunch of weeds in the landscaping, and he wants to make some more changes. He'll be great at it!

The week before last, I had a bunch of wonderful friends that watched Rachael during the mornings (while Grace was at a VBS at the church where she'd gone to VPK), and I packed away! The next week, Grace was at dance camp and I was helping with the arts camp (helping lead the drama class, what a shock!) at our church. That FRIDAY was closing and that weekend we had our plans to move!

Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., Chris and I went to sign a bunch of papers (that's us right after with our keys -- can you tell we're happy??), while his mom took Grace to dance camp and watched Rachael. Right after closing, I headed to the church for the last day of the arts camp. The performance for their families was at 11:30 a.m. While I was there, Chris and his mom started moving a ton of stuff over to the house! We took some more stuff over when I got back, and Chris took the first shower in the new house (without hot water, the breaker for the a/c and hot water heater was turned off!), then we rushed over to the dance studio for Grace's performance. WHEW!

All weekend I was in awe of the help we had, it was incredible! So many people came to lend a hand, and we were so appreciative!!

We still have a long way to go, of course, but we can take our time! IT'S OUR HOUSE! Yay!!

Grace has made herself right at home, she loves it! (Check her out playing her current favorite, Mario Kart.) Rachael took a little more time getting used to it, for a few days she kept asking when we were going to "the different house." (She's checking out a bagworm that was right outside the front door.) They both LOVE the space they have! We've already had a couple of their friends over for a visit, and it makes such a huge difference! I think Snickers is still getting adjusted -- she is definitely not acting like herself, but hopefully she'll realize that this is HOME, and she can get quite a workout speeding around the house! I really want to take her for a walk around the neighborhood, but she quits before I do in this heat! However, I will have more time soon since...

THE GIRLS GO BACK TO SCHOOL! Well, Grace goes back, Rachael is starting! Grace's first day of kindergarten is this Thursday (we meet her teacher and she has her assessment tomorrow), and Rachael begins preschool at the church two days a week next Tuesday! (We will also go to her open house tomorrow, right after we leave Grace's school.) I am praying that Grace will adapt this year as well as she did last year -- her first day of VPK, she didn't know anyone at all. Even though some familiar faces will be at the same school, so far I haven't talked to anyone that has the same teacher. I am excited for her, though! Rachael is READY! She has been asking to go to school! I know she's going to have so much fun!

So many changes in such a short amount of time! But so many positive changes, and so many blessings!

Lovin' Summer

2009-07-21T23:26:00.012-04:00

Swim lessons finished up the first week of July, but here are some pictures from the last lessons that I love:

Grace and Rachael, poolside.

Faith and Grace, cutest friends!

Rachael gives Miss Annamarie "smooches"
(especially nice since she cried during most of the lessons!)

My OWN proud moment!
Being able to swim across the pool, keeping Rachael's head (and mine) above water!

Last week we braved the hot, sticky weather and ventured to the zoo with some friends! Thankfully, not all that long ago our zoo improved their just-for-kids area, so now there's a place for the kids to cool off and splash around. I'm told that there's also a play area and a petting zoo, but we've never made it past the water! Once the girls get there, we're done!

This week Grace has been enjoying VBS at the church where her VPK was, so she's been able to spend some time with kids from her class and of course loves that! I have been SO blessed because during this time, Rachael has had playdates so I can PACK!!! Everything is still looking good for a closing at the end of the month! The home inspection went very well -- one thing that was found turned out to be a precaution that was taken by the owner to prevent damage, and another issue was resolved the day the owner was notified of it! And it was even a minor thing that Chris was willing to fix himself!

We were at the house for the home inspection, and I just couldn't help myself...

Hugs for the beautiful refrigerator!

Maybe I can do some before-and-after shots once we're moved in! I took some pictures when we walked through, but I don't think I was able to get the right angles and everything. We'll see! It's so exciting though!! Nearly 7 years in the making, and God clearly had a plan!

Just keep swimming!

2009-07-05T15:58:00.016-04:00

There was one week between VBS ending and our swim lessons beginning! We kept busy during those few days by having friends over so their moms could get to appointments, and I even managed to survive a couple of days with my personal worst nightmare: PLAY-DOH! As much as kids love Play-Doh, I fear it! The texture, the smell, everything! I wash my hands everytime I touch it! But Rachael had never played with it before, and I wanted to give them something fun and creative to do, so out it came. (As did the wax paper to put over the dining room table.) Amazingly, there was hardly any on the floor, and none of it went in anybody's mouth. Even when Rachael's idea of playing with it turned into this:

Swim lessons began, and Grace is still a little fish! She has some technical issues to work on (blowing bubbles while she's under water, mostly), and Rachael... Well, Rachael has to work on not screaming, crying and basically having the biggest fits EVER during lessons. She's happy as a clam when she can play on her own in the shallow part, but the minute we bring her in further to actually learn something, she goes nuts! And it's not that she's scared -- she just doesn't have control, and she hates that! (Oh, how I look forward to the teenage years!)

Here is Grace under the water (she's pretty fast!), and then Rachael, who's pouting. She wasn't allowed to play with some of the toys until she tried to blow some bubbles, or at least kick from the side of the pool. She managed to kick a few times in order to play!

Aren't these towels adorable? The girls got them for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa and I waited until now to break them out! They love them! Grace's is The Little Mermaid, and Rachael is obviously a princess! ;-)

We have two lessons left, then another week that we've already got some activities planned, and then Grace will go to another VBS, followed by a dance camp! That's going to be a good little practice for school (for both of us!), because she'll be there from about 9:30 am - 3:30 pm!

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by already, and how much we've actually had going on! It's been so much fun, and I've really enjoyed my time with the girls! I know we still have a little over a month left, but I honestly thought I would be longing for August to come around and that's definitely not the case! I'm so excited for them to start school, but I think I'm going to miss them a little more after this summer!

Oh, and one more thing... Grace and Rachael aren't the only ones keeping busy this summer! We ask that you keep praying for us as we prepare for...

Our move into OUR NEW HOME!!! Our closing date is set for July 31st, and we are definitely asking for prayers that as we come to the end of this process everything will go smoothly! Including packing!!

Thanks to those of you that have been praying as we've been looking -- it's been a learning and growing experience, and I wouldn't trade any of it! Well, I'd probably go back to fix my attitude in the beginning, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing! ;-) Thank you so much for lifting us up, we have felt your prayers!

Obviously there will be more to come! We'll keep you posted!

Daddy-Daughter Days

2009-06-13T15:44:00.011-04:00

Today Chris and his dad headed over to the Bass Pro Shop in Orlando -- and they took the girls! From what I saw on their website, it seemed like they had a lot to look at and even some activities for kids this weekend, so I hope they're having a good time! Chris is fearless when it comes to taking the girls places, and they love to do pretty much anything with him!

Last Friday, Chris and Grace went to a Daddy-Daughter Dance hosted by a church. The girls made cards for their dads, they got their picture taken, they got to make cupcakes, and there was dancing! We didn't think Rachael would be up for it this time around, so she hung out with me -- but Chris said later that she probably would've gotten out on the dance floor! Here's a picture of Chris and Grace before they left...

Last night as I was putting the girls to bed, I stepped out of the room for a moment and heard Grace calling me. "Mom, Rachael's doin' something!" Lately, it's usually, "Mom, Rachael's naked again!" Sometimes it's because she wants to try to go potty or her diaper needs changing -- either way, it could mean that potty training is on the horizon for her. But last night, it was just Rachael being mischievous. I came into the room and she had pulled herself up on their little kitchen counter and was standing up behind it. Check out her little face -- the picture of innocence, right?

VBS was last week, and everyone had a great time! Grace had a class filled with her friends, Rachael was wonderful in childcare (once again I was told how helpful she is when it comes to cleaning up!), and I had the opportunity to lead the children's (1st-6th graders') Bible story time each day. It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun -- my favorite part was reenacting a storm by turning on a box fan and squirting the kids with a water bottle! (It was their favorite part too -- every day after that, they asked me to squirt them!)

It seems like the calendar keeps filling up -- swim lessons will start soon, and Grace has activities through the church that she gets to attend this year! I think to be safe I may just schedule dates where we make a point to not plan anything!!

Hope you're continuing to enjoy your summer!

End of the Year - Beginning of Summer!

2009-06-03T21:40:00.007-04:00

Grace's last week of school brought us...

Water Day!

A little bit of (cute) attitude!

Rachael's first haircut with Kathy!

Pajama Day! (Nope, I didn't join her!)
And, of course, Graduation Day!

The girls got to go to the pool with their babysitter on Friday, a birthday party for a friend of Grace's at a community pool on Saturday, and then Sunday night was Grace's end-of-the year program at church! She sang every word to every song, she has come so far!

Today was a big day for us -- it was the girls' first real trip to the beach! Yep, you read that right -- born and raised in Florida and, at 5 and 2, today was their first time to really have a beach day! Grace went when she was 2, but it was in December and it was only so her Uncle Jerry could take some great pictures of her. The girls had a BLAST! Surprisingly, Grace was a lot braver than Rachael, bounding into the water with her buddy, Faith! Rachael wanted to hang back at first. After a while she realized it wasn't so bad and let me and Faith's mom bring her further into the water, with us helping her jump when the little waves broke!

Splishing and splashing!!

Rachael heads towards the water -- you can see the hesitancy!

Hope your summer is off to a great start too!

To Know Them Is To Love Them

2009-05-25T23:08:00.016-04:00

May has been an eventful month, and we're not even finished yet! Mother's Day, Chris' birthday, Grace's "graduation" coming up, as well as her end of the year program at church! Busy, busy! This week at school Grace gets to have water day (wearing her swimsuit to school, she's so excited!), pizza and pajama day (and yes, I'm thinking about just bringing her to school while wearing mine, ha!), and then her graduation. WOW! Then it's June and the second week of that month brings Vacation Bible School! Amazing!

For Chris' birthday a couple of weekends ago, we went to Busch Gardens in Tampa. It just so happened that they were having their first annual Glory At The Gardens event, so we not only got to enjoy a day at the park, but we also were able to hear and see a few concerts -- including Steven Curtis Chapman and Matthew West!

Originally, the plan was that Chris and I would go on our own and leave the girls with the grandparents. However, their grandparents have busy schedules too! I'll admit that I was really looking forward to spending the day alone with Chris, but I quickly warmed up to the idea of having the girls along -- and we had such a wonderful time! We hadn't been to Busch Gardens with Rachael since she was about 2 months old, so taking her was a real treat! We were able to get up close and personal views of many of the animals this time around, and the girls loved it!

The kids' section at Busch Gardens is really great -- Rachael was able to ride all but one ride, and they didn't need an adult on anything! It totally and completely warmed my heart that they chose to ride everything together, they never split up even when it was an option!

Last year, I was intimidated by the summer months approaching -- at the time, Grace was only going to school 3 days out of the week, and I didn't know what I was going to do with both girls home! This year, I am looking forward to spending all that extra time with them! I am sure that there will be days when I will be begging to fast forward to August, but really and truly, the older they get, the more fun they are!

Grace is just growing, physically and emotionally. She seems to have a really sensitive heart, reacting strongly when she sees someone hurting. She loves to draw, and anytime she does she includes her friends and family members in her pictures and tells a story about what's going on. She never wants to keep her artwork, she always wants to give it to someone -- usually me or Chris! Grace is most often given compliments regarding her excellent manners! I'm really hoping and praying that she continues with that -- it is a blessing to be around people, especially children, with great manners!

Rachael is still quite a handful, but these days it's in a more playful, fun way than a screaming, fitful way! :-) She loves to make us laugh -- and if she gets a laugh, she'll repeat what she's done over and over again! Apparently she's something of a chatterbox, but she saves that for when Chris and I aren't around! Sure, she talks at home, but I'm told she'll talk the childcare workers' ears off at church! She's definitely getting easier to understand, and she's picking up a lot from her best teacher -- Grace! It will be so fun to see how she grows when she starts preschool in the fall! I am so excited about her teacher, I know it'll be a great year!

More to come later this week -- I'm hoping that Grace will agree to wear her little cap and gown so I can snag a picture or two! Right now she's saying that she doesn't want to wear it, she said she's afraid she won't look cute!! I told her that just wasn't possible!

Hope that your family is doing well and getting ready to enjoy a fun summer!

Mother's DayS

2009-05-11T16:26:00.012-04:00

It all started last Thursday, when Gracie's class had a Mother's Day banquet in the morning! A very sweet friend let Rachael spend some time with her kiddos and I took Grace to school for the festivities -- she was so excited! We went to chapel together, and then headed back to the classroom for breakfast, which was served to the moms by their kids, and then they gave us hand massages with lotion the teachers had set out! It was precious!

On Saturday we took the girls to Sea World and just had a blast! They got to enjoy the water fun in the kids' area this time -- which was definitely needed since it was 95 degrees outside! (And it's only May!!)

Rachael playing at the smallest fountains.

Grace waited a long time for her turn with this!

Chris taking a little break! :-)

We went to church on Sunday morning and then headed over to GG's to spend the afternoon with her, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Carol. The girls had so much fun playing with Aunt Carol, she really gave them a run for their money!

Some fun faces from Rachael!

Me and my girls on Mother's Day!

Soon enough we will be watching Grace "graduate" from VPK and start our summer activities! Grace is already excited about Vacation Bible School (she'll get to go to two this year)! I hope the girls and I will find a lot of fun things to do this summer, since in just three months Grace will be starting kindergarten and Rachael will start preschool!! I'm excited about Rachael heading to school, though, because I know she's ready for it! I stopped walking Grace to her class during the week because Rachael never wanted to leave! :-) She'll be so excited to be able to go to a class of her own!

Hope the moms among my friends and family reading this enjoyed your day!

We survived Spring Break!

2009-04-12T21:47:00.012-04:00

That was one fun week! I knew I needed to keep the girls happy and busy while Grace was out of school -- so Grace wouldn't get bored, and so Rachael wouldn't be unhappy with her sister being at home so much! :-) Thankfully, on Monday we had a playdate with friends, and then Tuesday we had...

PAJAMA DAY!

Yep, we're all in our pajamas and, nope, we are NOT at home! I declared Tuesday to be Pajama Day, and the girls and I headed out to the mall. Yes, we went out in public in our pajamas. Thankfully a few other friends joined us -- although I was only joined by one other mom in the wearing of the pj's! Grace LOVED the idea, she thought it was great, and we really did have a blast! (The high was only 70 on Tuesday, so we were dressed warm -- Florida girls, remember!)

I really didn't make any plans for Wednesday, figuring we'd need one day of rest. I had some plans for things to do with the girls indoors that required a trip to the store, but Rachael surprised me by sleeping until close to ELEVEN A.M.! Not only did she sleep that late, but both girls ended up taking an afternoon nap. I got to go out with a friend that night as well, so I think Wednesday can be declared MOMMY DAY!

They had a couple of mornings with their grandma while I had Bible study and another morning was spent house hunting (nothing yet!), and then one afternoon before Daddy got home, we went outside with the pinwheels Grandma had gotten them. There was a great breeze, and it was much better than the girls nearly hyperventilating inside trying to get them to spin!

Friday evening we had pictures taken for the church directory, and RACHAEL SMILED! I almost wanted to buy a package just to have photographic evidence! She wasn't even holding her burp cloth, either!! On Saturday, we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens, and both girls will tell you they got a little scared during the movie. When you ask Rachael, she will hold up her hands in little fists underneath her chin, open her eyes wide and say, "It skeer me!"

And, of course, Sunday was EASTER! We had a great day at church, then we were at Nana's afterwards for food, family and fun! Here are the girls in their Easter dresses -- and Grace's was made for her by Aunt Carol! Beautiful!

Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming! :-)

Breaking Spring!

2009-04-06T01:48:00.019-04:00

I guess Spring Break officially started on Saturday, so we began the time with an Easter egg hunt at church! Before you could say "Peter Cottontail," the kids had collected all the eggs, but the girls (and the rest of the kids) seemed to have a lot of fun! Of course Grace and Rachael have had a blast emptying their baskets and taking out their little treasures again... and again... and again! :-)

Gracie has been on a walking kick lately! One week I think she asked us if we could go on a walk every afternoon! She's wanted to ride her bike (which she's almost too big for!!), so while we were still enjoying some gorgeous weather, we went for a stroll around the complex and ended up at the playground.

She won't stop growing, no matter how much I beg!

Getting a push by her big sister, and loving every minute of it!

On Sunday we went to a picnic (client appreciation, woo-hoo!), and we knew as soon as we got there that we were going to have to eat fast so we could get the girls on the playground! It was a great way to start the week and a wonderful time together as a family!

A photographer from the local newspaper asked to take a couple of shots of Chris and Rachael coming down the slide -- I don't blame him, it was so cute!

Rachael all smiles with Daddy after getting most of her arm soaking wet!

And while I could not talk Rachael into a posed picture,
Grace was more than happy to help!
This is just one of many she hammed it up for!

I'm hoping to have some creative fun with the girls this week so Grace won't miss school too much! It'll give me some practice for this summer!

Also, remember our little timeline that I mentioned at the end of this post? Well, some of you suggested that perhaps it was time for us to have another kid. Instead of doing that, I thought I'd go ahead and have some surgery myself! ;-) It's not a big deal, really just a test, but I would appreciate the prayers just the same!

Hope that you're enjoying your spring, and our friends and family up north will be through with their cold weather soon enough!

Respect Your Realtor

2009-03-15T23:51:00.008-04:00

Sunday was our second day house hunting with our realtor. We were prepared for an afternoon where the most exciting part of the day would be finding a great house in a great neighborhood in a great school district. We were NOT prepared to drive by and see this:

As we were heading to the second house of the day, we came across that brush fire. We've had some dry weather lately, and it was just breezy enough for this to be pretty scary. Our realtor stopped her car and I thought she was just going to dial 911. Before I knew it, she and Chris were out of the car and in the backyard.

That's Chris in the picture, the one closest to the fire. He had a hose that had very, very little water pressure and was trying to work with it. He quickly put it down and went to the house to use the large paint buckets the homeowner, our realtor and one other person were filling up.

Obviously, I stayed back. But even from where I was, it was HOT!! Thankfully it wasn't long at all before the calvary arrived. (Good to know for future reference -- that area has good emergency response time!) You can see just how close the fire was to the home here:

That was a little too much excitement for your average day of house hunting!

And now to lighten things up... The Adorables!

Now that it stays lighter longer, the guys are able to go out and play Ultimate Frisbee again! This past Friday, the girls and I went out to watch, but of course we spent a lot of time at the playground nearby. At one point, Grace and Rachael were sliding down the medium-sized slide together and having a blast! I'd had a rough week for various reasons, and they really ended it on a great note! Look at how much fun they were having together!!

Hope you have a great week! And please remember... "Only you can prevent forest fires!" Wait, I just read that that was updated in 2001! So remember: "Only you can prevent wildfires!"

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

2009-03-02T16:47:00.006-05:00

Rachael and I paid tribute to Dr. Suess by doing laundry and sorting socks! She found new socks. Two socks. Who's socks? Sue's socks. Doesn't Rachael look like she's having a blast? She loves to just toss out all the other clean clothes to search for the socks, then she sticks her hand in and pulls the end through -- even if it was already right-side-out! That's okay though, there's no way I'm going to stop her and risk discouraging her from helping with the laundry!

While we were at home celebrating in our own way, Grace's class had green eggs and ham! She would not eat them here or there, she would not eat them anywhere! She did, however, wear her Cat In The Hat hat, which she was very proud of! That, and her whiskers -- can you see them? She's hoping they stay on until Daddy gets home! Thankfully there's plenty of eyeliner around in case there's a whisker emergency!

The 4th Girl in the Family

2009-02-27T14:02:00.004-05:00

Poor, forgotten Snickers!

Here she is with Rachael and Grace, everyone smiling so pretty for the camera! Every week, Grace's VPK class has their show and tell and the items they bring in correspond to what letter of the alphabet they are studying. Grace came up with the idea of bringing in a picture of Snickers, and then we figured if Rachael was in the shot, she'd have two things representing S -- Snickers and her sister!

Snickers is a little over 6 years old now, and she's a great dog! She plays with the girls, lets them love on her, and she even tolerates their friends! She is still very much a Daddy's Girl -- she probably feels the strong "cat person" vibes coming from Mommy!

She may not get as much camera time, but we love Snickers just the same!

Mommy's Big Day

2009-02-17T15:29:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday, so we decided to take advantage of Disney's "What Will You Celebrate?" promotion since it would be free for me. What made it even better was that we had taken Grace for her 2nd birthday, so I was happy we got to take Rachael right after her 2nd also!

Chris and I are Florida natives, so we know better than to go to a theme park when it's going to be crazy busy. We realized yesterday was a holiday, but not everyone closes on President's Day (it was rare for Chris to have the day off), so we didn't think it would be a madhouse. BOY, WERE WE WRONG! I don't think I've ever been to a theme park when it was that crowded!

As crazy as it was, though -- mishaps and all -- we still had a good time!

Rachael went on her first carousel ride, without screaming!!

Grace 's favorite part:

Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty)

Cinderella Grace's favorite princess, Belle

We also waited (and waited and waited) to meet Mickey and Minnie, and Rachael was very excited before we got up to them! Once they were at her level, though, she was so shy! Minnie even tried to play peek-a-boo with her a little bit! I think Rachael must've been a bit awestruck!

It was a long day, and I think it'll be three to five years before we try that again, but we did have a lot of fun! Seeing the girls get excited over things like that is a great gift any day!

Multi-Tasking

2009-02-09T15:36:00.006-05:00

It was bound to happen. Today it did. A wee bit earlier than I expected though...

Grace got her first phone call.

Sure, she has talked to her friend, Faith, on the phone before, but it was usually because Faith's mom and I had already been talking. This took me by surprise. I answered the phone and a sweet little 4-year-old voice identified herself and asked to speak to Gracie.

It was a friend of Grace's from school, and Grace was so happy to talk to her since she had to stay home sick today!

In the picture, you'll notice a book -- Dr. Seuss' Hop on Pop. That was given to her by her Grandma when she came over for a visit. She and Grandpa came for a visit specifically so Grace could read a book to them! In school they got to pick a book from the library, and Grace brought home Dora's Picnic by Christina Ricci. She brought it home, and pretty much read it cover to cover -- I had no idea! Sure, she had to ask about a few words (I cannot explain why brought sounds the way it does when it looks the way it does, which is why she will go to public school), but for the most part she had it down!

Now she's enjoying Hop on Pop, and she even told her friend she was reading a rhyming book.

Reading books. Talking on the phone.

Check back tomorrow, when I write about Grace's first time driving...

Beautiful Lengths

2009-02-06T23:11:00.005-05:00

Almost a year to the day after Grace donated her hair to Locks of Love (click here for that post), it was Mommy's turn! I started thinking about growing my hair out around that time, and today my friend, Katye, and I made the cut!

If you're interested, before-and-after shots are here.

We are donating to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which uses the hair to make wigs for adult women who have lost their hair due to cancer. In the past year, a family friend and one of Chris' co-workers were diagnosed with breast cancer, both had mastectomies and underwent chemotherapy, so it kind of made it a little more personal!

A good cut for a good cause!

It's COLD!

2009-01-20T21:16:00.006-05:00

That would be Chris, on his way to softball. (Not to play, mind you, unless he stands in to play catcher just so he can be sure he's played enough to be in the playoffs later.) The hat he is wearing, he had to go get it on his way home from work. I don't know how any of you north of me do it!

I am just hoping I can bundle the girls up enough in the morning so that they don't turn blue just walking to the car!!

Grace received a reversible hat a couple of Christmases ago. It really still fits me, but I think she might be wearing it tomorrow morning! Before Chris left, Rachael had to try on his hat. I know I'm biased, but I think these are just the cutest little freezing Florida girls ever! Check them out:

Hope you're staying as warm as you can!!

Rachael Likes Up!

2009-01-19T11:20:00.001-05:00

This may be one of those things that's only funny to me, but Rachael gets so excited watching a partiuclar movie preview. What you see here is MILD compared to how wound up she usually gets, but it makes me laugh every time! I really think the reason she keeps looking at me while I'm taping her is because I'm *not* laughing hysterically as I usually do! :-) Enjoy! (By the way, the word you hear most is "balloons" -- I know Toddler Speak isn't easy to translate all the time!)

Happy Days!

2009-01-15T23:40:00.006-05:00

Rachael had family, pizza and cake at her birthday festivities -- what more can a 2-year-old ask for? We had one happy birthday girl! She scored some fun presents, and Papa even brought along a few for both girls, including one that I especially cannot wait to see them use! It'll have to be when they have a couple of friends over, though. They can use their new dress up clothes and either walk the runway or be rock stars -- and with how the girls have been dancing to the clock radio I put in their room, they might opt for that!

When I went in to get the girls ready on Rachael's birthday, I reminded Grace what day it was. She asked excitedly, "Can she say the ABCs now? Will we be able to understand her better?"

And actually, just today I realized how much clearer Rachael has become! She went in for her checkup today and when the nurse asked if she was saying at least 50 words, I was stumped -- am I really supposed to be counting?? Anyway, the nurse remarked that she knew what Rachael was saying when she talked. I have known what she is saying, but I figured it was because I'm around her the most! Good to know that it's clear enough for the general public (including our babysitter, who mentioned it when we got home)! She was especially coherent during her check up, even while she was screaming! And she didn't even get any shots!

Since she had such a rough time, I took her to a park before we had to go get Grace. I know all of you north of me are going to roll your eyes, but IT WAS COLD! I knew it was time to go when her nose was bright red! She had a blast though!

Now to get all philosophical (or something)... While we were at the playground, I was having so much fun with Rachael and for a moment I wished I'd brought my camera with me. Then I thought about a blog post I just read (click here). I relaxed and just watched her fearlessly tackle the slide on the bigger playground and thought about other times I was with the girls and I didn't have my camera -- and I didn't need a picture to remember. Like the time I took Grace shopping with me and we had so much fun together -- even in one store, when I was looking at purses, she would take the smaller ones and throw them over her shoulder. I'd hear, "Mommy, look!" and there she would be, strutting down the aisle with some crazy handbag at her side. I smile every time I think about that, even without photographic evidence! :-)

The post also talked about handing over the camera to actually be in the pictures. I hope that more moms (and shutterbug dads as well) will do that -- one day their kids are going to want pictures of their parents, they're going to want pictures of themselves with their parents. So thank you, Kim (and I guess John Mayer), for those thoughts!

Watch Her Grow!

2009-01-12T15:14:00.001-05:00

TWO-morrow!

2009-01-12T11:10:00.010-05:00

It was almost two years ago that I was curling up on the bed, on the couch, on the floor, telling myself that I was just overreacting and it was yet another false alarm. After about two hours of it not letting up, I figured we might want to just go ahead and get to the hospital. I also wondered how strong my resolve to not have any pain meds would be when I got there. It ended up that Rachael answered that question for me -- I was 8 cm when they checked me, and Rachael was well on her way out! After maybe 20 minutes of pushing, there she was!

God uses children in wonderful ways. Grace showed me many, many things I had to work on! God used Rachael to show me how to rely on Him through trials. As she seemed to have one something after another, I always felt a peace knowing that He was in control. Even as heartbreaking as watching her struggle with different things has been, there's been that peace that passes understanding, knowing that He has a reason for everything.

Rachael is our little comedienne. If she does something to entertain and gets a positive reaction, she will do it again and again, loving the spotlight! I think she's going to be my buddy when she's old enough to ride roller coasters -- she seems to have no fear! She is very particular about the things that she wants and doesn't want. She is independent in many ways, but still shows us that she needs us by giving the childcare workers grief when we leave her on Sunday mornings!

She has the best smile -- one friend said very early on that Rachael just looked mischievous, and that about sums her up! It's adorable when she walks out of a room and casts a glance over her shoulder back at us, giving us a sly smile and a look that says, "Don't you wish you knew what I was up to?"

Grace seemed to come out a toddler, walking and talking early, seeming like a miniature adult before we could blink our eyes! Rachael has been our baby girl, but even still, she's growing up so fast! But just like her sister, the older she gets, the more fun it is! Watching her little personality grow is exciting -- even when it just seems to be getting stronger as each day goes by!!

Right now my favorite thing has to be when she offers us 'mooches -- smooches! She picked up that word from Daddy and it is so precious when she offers them to us! Almost as good as her 'ugs!

So Happy Birthday to our Rachael tomorrow! There will be a slideshow up soon, a picture for each month -- it's amazing how she has changed!

Grace's First Babysitting Job!

2009-01-06T10:24:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was Grace's last day off for her break, so since she didn't have school we were able to watch a friend's 10-week-old son. Grace very quickly decided that she was the babysitter for the day! Rachael was a little unsure at the beginning, but she warmed up to him very quickly -- the first thing she said when she woke up from her nap was, "Baby hug?"

Grace begged to hold our charge the whole morning, so after one of his naps I got out Rachael's Boppy and laid him on it. He started to squirm and Grace said, "I think he's hungry. Why don't you get me his bottle?" So...

When Rachael woke up, of course she wanted to help:

They were both so sweet with him! Definitely my little helpers!

Welcome to 2009, and...

Happy New Year from The Adorables!

Christmas '08

2008-12-30T03:29:00.015-05:00

In spite of a one-armed man for most of the holiday, as well as two coughing little girls, we managed to have a full Christmas! The picture on the left was taken in the nursery before the early Christmas Eve service. Chris' parents, aunt, and his sister and brother-in-law took Grace in with them while Rachael and I worked the nursery. Don't the girls look adorable in those dresses? They were made with lots of love by Miss Anita, a family friend who has known me since I was in preschool! They are precious dresses, and the girls loved them!

After the early service, the girls went to Grandma and Grandpa's while Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy the 6:00 service. Then we all gathered together to open gifts. Rachael really got into opening the presents, and Grace was incredibly appreciative and enthusiastic about each gift she opened! It was as if every gift was the best! gift! ever!

Grace and Rachael getting some help from Daddy as they open their first gift of the night!

Gracie showing off her new baby doll...

Rachael looking lovingly at hers...

On Sunday, we all went to Lion Country Safari -- it was a lot of fun! We got a van so we could all ride together, and I think the girls were most excited to be in a vehicle without any kind of car seat -- especially Rachael, who didn't want to sit still through most of it! I'll admit that it did make me a little nervous, but thankfully you drive very slowly through their preserve! I don't know if I could've handled going in our own vehicle! The thought of the animals getting this close would've made me nervous!

Those horns!!
This fella was tapping at the window!

The signs at the park say "Rhinos always have the right of way!"
YA THINK?!?

The park also has a few rides that the girls were able to go on. Grace and Rachael both wanted to go on the flying elephants, so Aunt Lisa went with Grace while I went with Rachael. The merry-go-round suited Grace, but Rachael had no interest in it. She did, however, enjoy the ferris wheel! She was looking all around, looking over the edge, she had no fear!! Grace passed on that one, she would barely even look up at us to wave! All in all, it was a lot of fun! It was Grandma's great idea -- I'd never even heard of it until she brought it up, and it was great to go with Aunt Lisa and Uncle Darryl as well! The girls were able to spend a good bit of time with them this time around, and they really had such a good time with both of them!

The Christmas spirit rolled right into Monday, when Grace and Rachael finally got to open their big gift from the grandparents -- a new kitchen! And not just any kitchen, THIS kitchen! (Click on the link, really! Check it out!!) That isn't the kitchen they opened on Christmas Eve. What they opened on Christmas Eve was one I'd settled for when we weren't able to get the one I'd originally wanted. That one was sold out everywhere by the time we went shopping (and somebody -- ::cough::Chris::cough:: -- didn't want to get it when I saw it when we were out together one night, even after the associate told me it was the last one and they weren't getting anymore in), so I settled for one that was nice... but not what I had in mind.

The day after Christmas I went shopping with a friend. She needed to stop at Sam's at the end of our trip, so I tagged along. There amidst the post-Christmas sale items was the Step 2 LifeStyle Grand Walk-In Kitchen. Original Price: $238 and change. Sale price: $99 and change. The kitchen we'd gotten was $97 -- and just didn't compare to the kitchen I was staring at! After drooling over the sale price for a little bit, and after some serious thought as to how the girls' room would have to be rearranged, I called Chris and told him about it, and he said to go ahead and get it. With a LOT of help from my shopping buddy (and her husband, who came to our place with a dolly and straps to get the gigantic box up the stairs!), it was MINE! Well, the girls' really...

So Monday, yet another amazing friend came to assist me with rearranging the girls' room as well as the assembly. The girls spent the rest of the day playing in their kitchen, only stopping for dinner with Lisa and Darryl, then they were back at it! Here's a glimpse:

If you didn't click the link, it even comes with a table and chair set, as well as a small stool! And tons of accessories! It's amazing! The girls were so enthralled with it, Chris and I got a ton of cleaning done without interruption! And did I mention it was originally $238 and I found it on sale for $99??

Hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

On My Christmas Vacation...

2008-12-22T09:12:00.009-05:00

'Twas three days before Christmas, and all through the house...

At the end of last week -- the day Chris had his surgery, actually -- Rachael spiked a pretty decent fever of 103.5. The next day, it reached 104.8 -- which is .2 degrees away from a trip to the hospital. Thankfully, we have an amazing pediatrician and he did a thorough exam and the culprit appeared to be a very minor ear infection. Her body must've just been fighting hard! She very unhappily received a shot, and woke up the next morning a completely different little girl! Unfortunately, that same morning Grace woke up with a slight fever.

On Sunday morning, Chris was still a little out of it (which is understandable considering all of the medication he still has in his system) and the girls were both a little off (Grace developed a persistent cough), so we didn't make it to church in the morning. And this morning, the above pictures were taken. Neither girl has had a fever, but they were both just a little pooped.

Good thing it's Christmas break! We're praying that both girls are back to themselves quickly so they can enjoy the holiday, especially since they haven't seen Aunt Lisa and Uncle Darryl since last October!

As for Chris, he was able to go into work and is set up with physical therapy twice this week and two times next week. The first visit they day after surgery went very well, and the therapist was very encouraged with how well he was already doing! Yay!

Here's a quick picture of Nurse Rachael feeding Daddy some Fruity Cheerios yesterday:

Hopefully we'll have some much happier pictures to share in a few days! Until then...

We wish all of our family and friends a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Chris' Surgery

2008-12-18T21:38:00.003-05:00

Chris had his surgery today, and it went very well! The doctor took a great deal of time explaining what had happened, but I think that the bottom line was this:

-- There were two small tears, one was a SLAP tear, but it was not major.
-- Cartlidge had broken off when he injured it, and it was loose and moving in his shoulder, causing pain.
-- He only has to be in the sling for about a week.
-- SIX WEEKS, NO SPORTS!!
-- Two-three months before he's released for all normal activity.

We most definitely felt the prayers today! I was not as anxious as I have been before his other surgeries, and he came out of the anesthesia so much better this time!

I even had some fun, kind of at Chris' expense. :-) When he was given a sedative before they administered the nerve block, Chris was definitely a bit on the high side! When I was able to be with him right before they took him into surgery, he was asking the nurses if he could have a menu. One walked past him without looking at him, and he waved his index finger with the heart monitor and slurred, "She's ignoring me. I'm disappointed. That will be reflected in her tip!" I had tears in my eyes from giggling!

Again, thank you for the prayers!

December = Busy!

2008-12-15T14:29:00.009-05:00

Last weekend wasn't busy enough for us. This past weekend, Grace and Rachael got to go to a "Night Out" at the church while Chris and I met up with some friends from our Sunday school class to buy gifts for our "adopted" family. (Each Christmas, Sunday school classes at the church help a family in need with Christmas gifts for the kids.) Saturday, we went to a little friend's first birthday party in the morning, then came home to eat lunch, rest, and then the girls headed to Grandma and Grandpa's so Mommy and Daddy could go to their Sunday school class Christmas party -- we had to get there early to set up and we knew we'd be there later to break down, so it was wonderful to know that we could relax and take our time! (Thanks to Brian for the following pictures!)

Grace at the birthday party, wearing her little ladybug hat, in honor of the birthday girl!

Rachael, apparently doing her best Elvis impersonation...

Mommy & Daddy at the Christmas Party!

Then on Sunday, we came home from church, got changed, and left for Sea World. We wanted to go see all their Christmas lights and do the whole Polar Express Experience and we needed to do it before Chris' shoulder surgery (this Thursday), so yesterday it was. Grace was so excited that we were staying at Sea World until dark! The girls got to meet Santa Claus, and this was Rachael's first experience with him -- at first she was a little shy, but she ended up giving him a high-five on our way out!

This is Rachael checking out the steel drums as we went into the kids' area. She would hit them a couple of times, and then inspect the sticks to see if she could figure out how they were working! :-)

Daddy caught this next one as we were waiting in line for Jazzy Jellies -- it's one of those rides where you can make the car spin around as it goes up in the air. Rachael looks a little intimidated, doesn't she? I was surprised at her hesitancy considering she's been on it before. Once on the ride, though, Rachael was totally relaxed -- even looking out over the top to see below us! Grace loves the rides, too, but she seems to get a little more anxious about the heights! I think Rachael will be the one going with me on roller coasters!

Me and the girls waiting for the snow to start.

Daddy with Gracie and only Gracie, because Rachael wouldn't get out of my lap!
The closest these girls will come to snow for a while!!
Rachael wasn't fooled -- as soon as it started coming down she yelled, "Bubbles!"

Please keep Chris in your prayers this Thursday! We are praying that what they find is easy to fix and that he'll be out of the sling in about a week! That would be a great Christmas present!!

Out of the Mouths of Preschoolers...

2008-12-11T16:06:00.006-05:00

Grace wanted to watch Cinderella yesterday during Rachael's naptime. She put it in and as Cinderella was waking up at the beginning of the movie, Grace asked me if Cinderella was a princess.

ME: Not yet, she and the pince aren't married yet. You have to marry a prince to be a princess.

GRACE: You're a princess.

ME: (smiling) No, honey. I'm not a princess.

GRACE: (matter-of-factly) Yes, you are. You married a prince.

What could I say to that? She's right!

And I had my very first official parent-teacher conference today! (Never mind that it had been originally scheduled for Monday, but I had it in my head that it was Tuesday and I missed it altogether and had to reschedule it for today, with both girls in tow. Never mind that...) Anyway, real conference, "report card" and everything! No surprise, Grace is doing so well! Her teacher raved about her! She said she was the only one in the class who could count to 100, she is a great listener (hmmm, should've asked the teacher what her trick is), and the teacher said she's absolutely ready for kindergarten! She really, really had so many positive things to say about our girl. She even said the word "advanced" so hopefully we can keep encouraging her at home as well!

We were in a 2-year-old classroom for the meeting, and Grace and Rachael were keeping themselves entertained playing with the toys. (Note: after playing with a dollhouse set, Grace and Rachael both cleaned up all the parts and put everything away before moving on to something else!) Watching Rachael reminded me that in 8 months, she will be starting preschool! I know that sounds like a long time, but anyone with kids can probably agree that it'll be here before I know it!

See those precious pictures? We had the opportunity do another family photo shoot with Sonya Coates Colangelo the day after Thanksgiving! This shoot included six adults, two teenagers, and four girls -- 5, 3, 22 months and 6 months! Sonya did an amazing job, you can see some more from that shoot here, but I'll leave you with my absolute favorite:

The Christmas Spirit

2008-12-09T21:25:00.011-05:00

Nothing can scare the Grinch out of you faster than preschoolers singing Christmas songs! We were treated to it twice in one week.

Here's Grace as we went on our way to her VPK Christmas program last week. Each of the VPK classes sang three songs, and in between each one they "skated" around the sanctuary. Grace skated, smiled, and sang. And for those of you that encountered the Rachael of Thanksgiving Week, I know you will be shocked to hear that she sat through the entire performance without a whimper!! It was wonderful! The only time she made noise was to shout out to her big sister! So sweet!

Then this past Sunday, the children's choirs at church had their concert. I actually have video of that, and I may try to upload it. Grace sang her heart out, every word was clearly enunciated. Many thanks go to Miss Shannon for bringing about this change!

Here are Grace and Faith before the concert. It doesn't get any cuter than this:

Rachael was in the nursery during the performance, but afterwards she came out to visit with Grace and her friends. She was fascinated by one of the trees in the church, and had to touch almost every ornament within her reach -- she was covered in glitter when she was done!

And this picture is to produce evidence of Rachael being Daddy's Little Girl. Like Chris, she doesn't seem to get cold very easily. It was VERY cold Sunday night, and as soon as she got outside she took her little jacket off!

Hope your holiday season has begun well!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-30T14:46:00.005-05:00

Thank God it's over!

Okay, maybe that's extreme. Maybe.

This is Rachael the night before Thanksgiving. We were waiting in the car while Daddy and Grace went to get some things for dinner with everyone at Nana's. That is probably the last smile we had from her all weekend. I wish I was kidding. In her defense, it ended up that she was sick with croup. She missed church today for the second week in a row. As did Daddy, since he stayed home with her!

Here is Grace, helping me mix the ingredients for our apple pie! She was in the kitchen watching as I sliced the apples, and she was so interested. I'm not going to lie to you, my first instinct was to say, "Mommy's busy" and have her occupy herself elsewhere, but I quickly realized that my child was interested in something I was doing in the kitchen and I probably shouldn't squelch that! So I pulled a chair in next to me and she watched as I measured the ingredients and put them in a bowl, then I let her stir them up. She was happy to help! I don't know if she actually tried any of the apple pie on Thanksgiving though. I did, and I thought it was great! As were the mashed potatoes that Chris made -- YUMMY!! Everything, as usual, was phenomenal.

Here is Veronica. The last time we saw her, she looked like this. She has gotten so big, and even more beautiful! Grace loved to look at her and touch her, and Rachael liked her just fine... as long as she was with anyone other than ME! Veronica was so sweet all weekend long, and so cuddly! Next year I think she and Rachael are going to be buddying up. They're going to have to, because Grace and Savannah, well...

They are inseparable!! It was a repeat of the weekend we spent in Georgia, the two of them playing and giggling together non-stop! I'm not really a big softy with my girls, but my heart broke when we had to leave Nana's Saturday night -- Grace just fell apart! She loves her cousin so much and sniffled all the way home. I reached my hand back and she grabbed it and squeezed so hard. I definitely think we have to try to get up to Georgia in the summer again. Maybe the whole family this time. It could happen!

It was such a busy long weekend, filled with friends and family! It was fun, but exhausting! Thankfully, Chris and I had enough energy to go out and celebrate our 6th anniversary on Saturday night!

I am so thankful that God brought Chris into my life. He's an incredible man. I mean... He cooks, he cleans, he tidies up the sink after he's done shaving in the morning. :-) He will go grocery shopping, and he'll take both the girls. He's been known to take the girls shopping for clothes too! He is a strong Christian, he is faithful, he is hard-working, he cares deeply about his friends. We have our ups and downs (who doesn't?), but I always know that he loves me and our girls. He makes me smile, he makes me laugh, and I don't know what I'd do with out him.

Have you had your fill of cheese and mush? I know I have! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

For Mom & Aunt Molly

2008-11-22T22:12:00.004-05:00

And everyone else who knows my level of cooking expertise... Seeing is believing:

That would be me, in an apron, preparing food! Our moms' group had a night out where we went to one of those places where you are given all the ingredients and just put a meal together, and I'm pretty sure I was the least experienced of the bunch! One time a recipe called for chicken soup and I asked the woman in charge where it was. In my defense, the label was hidden by one of the cylinders... But to be honest, I probably would've double-checked. I mean, the stuff labeled chicken soup was really thick and almost yellow. The only chicken soup I'm familiar with is the kind in the can with the red and white label, and it has noodles in it! ;-) One of my friends heard the exchange and said, "Oh sweetie, you really don't cook, do you?"

But I really did have a great time! Just look, I'm positively glowing in this picture, even handling some raw bacon. ::shudder::

It was a really fun night, and now our freezer is full! Hopefully if I can tackle preparing 8 meals in 90 minutes, I should be able to handle a few home-cooked ones each week!

Mom and Aunt Molly, are you proud? :-)

First Feast

2008-11-21T13:43:00.006-05:00

Grace's VPK class had their family feast today! They were all wearing their turkey t-shirts and turkey hats, and there were even turkey cupcakes! Daddy was able to join us too!

Rachael came along, but was much more interested in checking out the room. She'll definitely be ready for preschool in August! She never wants to leave when we drop Grace off!

We are all very excited about Aunt Kiki, Uncle Jerry, Blake, Savannah and Veronica coming next week! It'll be so much fun to have the girls together again, especially since Veronica is going to be interacting with everyone!
As a prayer request, it looks like Chris is going to have surgery in December on his shoulder. Let's see...

2003 - Vanessa has Grace
2004 - Chris has knee surgery
2005 - Vanessa has her wisdom teeth out
2006 - Chris has the kidney stone and surgery
2007 - Vanessa has Rachael
2008 - Chris has shoulder surgery

I'm thinking this pattern needs to change! I'm also thinking no one should take the "in sickness or in health" part of the vows for granted!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We know we have been given so much to be thankful for, especially our family and friends!

She SANG!!

2008-11-17T14:48:00.006-05:00

Here is Grace in her first "performance" -- the end of the year program after her first year of preschool, May 2007. She started out just doing her pout thing and then... Well, you can see for yourself.

Yes, that's my girl with her back towards all the parents and teachers, while her classmates sang and did all the motions.

Here is Grace at the past year's program, in May 2008.

For any children's choir performance, Grace has improved in that she doesn't hide her face, but she has never actually been singing while she's been up there.

But this past Sunday morning, in both worship services...

SHE SANG!!!

And, look! A SMILE!

I'm not really an overly emotional mom most of the time, but I was BEAMING on Sunday morning, and yes, even wiping away a couple of tears! There's a Christmas presentation at her school in December, and of course her choir at church will sing during the holidays as well. It'll be exciting to see her enjoying herself like she did this past Sunday morning!

Mama's Helper

2008-11-14T15:51:00.004-05:00

That's my little helper there. Rachael can be anywhere in the apartment, and if she hears the dishwasher being opened, she'll come running. She loves to unload! One day I was in the girls' room putting away their laundry and I thought I heard the dishwasher opening. Sure enough, I walked into the kitchen to find Rachael pulling silverware out of the basket on the bottom! I double and triple check to make sure the door locks shut now!!

Last week our church had a ladies' night out, and Chris went to meet some guys to play basketball. He left early to set up and took Grace with him, and I brought Rachael when I left. She saw me grab my camera and started pointing at it. "You want me to take a picture?" I asked. She nodded. So I took a picture -- can you tell she's saying "cheeeeese"? :-)

Rachael has definitely been trying to talk a whole lot more! It's a lot of fun to watch her babbling, clearly trying to communicate something! One day we were with Nana, and Nana whispered, "I love you" to Rachael. Rachael started whispering back to her, telling her a bunch of secrets! It's so much fun!

Rachael also loves to point out who she's with, and who she likes to talk to. Mama, Daddy and "Gway" are the most popular. When I say, "Who are you?" her answer is always "Baby." She will not say her own name, and I am starting to think she's just being stubborn, or maybe she just wants to constantly remind us that she is the baby!! Of course, one time I told her she was just trouble, and now once in a while when I ask her who she is, she'll answer, "Twubble." Uh-oh! ;-)

One thing I'm going to try to get on video is a conversation I like to have with her. I ask her a bunch of questions, and her answer everytime is this sweet, melodic, "No-oooooh!" It can be pretty funny depending on the question!

Can you believe she's going to be 2 in just two months?! I can't!

Before it's too late...

2008-11-03T00:31:00.008-05:00

Halloween is not my favorite time of year. Truth be told, if I could skip it I probably would. However, there are always plenty of alternative fun activities for the kids to do and dressing up is usually expected. This year I even participated:

In case you can't tell, I was Sarah Palin, and there with me was a fella with a sign saying he was Joe the Plumber. THAT was pretty funny!

Here is our little Dolphins cheerleader -- it was difficult to get a still shot of her, because she was a wiggle worm, especially when the Chick-fil-A cow was around! She was given an award for being "prettiest" that night, awww!

Here are two of the sweetest little fairies you'll ever see. Grace and her "BFF" Faith (who was Tinkerbell).

Grace and Faith have been friends pretty much since Faith was born! That might have something to do with their mothers being as close to sisters as you can get without having the same parents!

I got to take the girls to a fall festival one of the local churches had, and afterwards I took them out for a very, very late dinner. They were having the best time hanging out, and the woman in line behind me remarked at how cute they were, and how sweet they were together. While I was ordering, I heard her speaking to them, and when I finished she said, "I just asked them if they were sisters or friends, and they said both! Isn't that precious?" That definitely warmed my heart!

If you haven't already, don't forget to...

Phillies, Pumpkins & Politicians

2008-10-29T22:10:00.011-04:00

Chris is going to be watching TV for a while to revel in the Phillies' win tonight (GO PHILLIES!), so since I'm going to be waiting for him to finish watching these postgame interviews and reports, I figured I'd update!

When I was part of my first moms' group, one of our trips was to a pumpkin patch. I did not understand what the big deal was, but apparently this is the thing to do when you have kids. Of course, we don't carve a pumpkin for Halloween or make pumpkin pie, so we have no use for a pumpkin of any shape or size. This was basically a photo op.

I have two good pictures from the past five years that have been taken at these pumpkin patches. Two. In five years. Oh well!

I do have some fun pictures of a trip the girls and I took to Sea World with one of my friends and her two girls, who are about the same age as our girls. We went on Tuesday, and it was cold!! We had a blast though, and I managed to survive the park without Chris!

When we stopped for lunch, we let the big girls sit next to us at a table by themselves, but they kept saying they were too cold to eat. I pushed their chairs closer together and tried to let some sun hit them, but it wasn't working. So I took my hoodie and put one of their arms in each of the sleeves and they cuddled together, which equaled more fun than food!

Grace & Ann Marie making the cutest little two-headed monster ever!

How could I resist this??
Rachael and Susanna saying CHEEEEEEESE!!!
And they just kept on saying it... Over and over and over again.
They thought they were hilarious!

At the end of the day, Rachael was a wee bit tired...

So I mentioned politics, right? A couple of weeks ago, Sen. John McCain came to our town for a Road to Victory Rally. The guy Chris used to work with managed to get Chris in as a volunteer, and he got to drive in McCain's motorcade! He drove a van and his passengers included two Secret Service agents and the press that was traveling with McCain. He was on a real high after speeding down local streets and blowing through stop signs and red lights!

He scored me a VIP pass, and I had a lot of fun! Especially when Carl Cameron from FOXNews set up directly to my left to do his report! Okay, so I didn't know who he was at first, but c'mon, I have two small children and the Phillies were in the playoffs, I have had very little control over what's on TV recently! But it didn't take long for me to realize that this guy was very popular among the crowd I was with, so:

I had to have my picture taken with Campaign Carl!As exciting as that may be, though, it does not compare to this:

Nope, those are not wax figures or cardboard cutouts, those are the McCains, and that is Chris. Very, very cool!

We're not big on Halloween here, but the girls (and I) will be dressing up for a Costume Night and a Fall Festival, so hopefully we'll have some cute pictures of our fairy, cheerleader, and Sarah Palin. I guess you'll have to check back to see who is who! :-D

First Field Trip & The Phillies Fan

2008-10-15T23:02:00.009-04:00

On Wednesday Grace went on her first field trip! The class met at a local fire department for a tour, then a picnic and playtime! I was a little bummed that I couldn't be a chaperone this time around, but things actually worked out pretty well! While Grace saw the station, heard the siren, and watched the hose blast some water, Rachael and I spent the morning at the playground that was right next door! Then Grace's class came over for their lunch, and after that we played some more. (Did I just rhyme?) The teacher's assistant told me that Grace was hesitant to get on the fire truck, but she went on with the assistant so she didn't miss out. She also didn't like the loud noises. That came as no surprise -- this past summer at VBS, she told me she didn't like noise and she didn't like crowds. Public school is going to come as a shock to her, huh?

Rachael is definitely her Daddy's Girl when it comes to sports! She gets excited when she sees a game on TV -- football or baseball. She even likes sitting in Chris' lap when he's watching a gamecast online! I didn't know just how important these games were to her until Monday night. We'd put her to bed and I got on the phone with one of my friends. A little bit after that, Miss Rachael started fussing in her room. We could tell she wasn't going to settle down, so Chris went in and got her. He brought her out and she just carried on -- nothing would satisfy her. She didn't want me to hold her, she didn't want anything to drink, she just kept pointing at the TV saying, "Baaaa!!" The second that the game came back on, she was silent!! My friend said, "She did not just settle down for the game." But she had! That gives Chris a little leverage when he wants to watch some ESPN! (Updated to add: GO PHILLIES!!! Rachael will be able to watch a little longer!!)

And once again, the girls did a little more heart-melting. Grace was swinging at the playground and Rachael trotted over to the little bucket swings. I put her in and Grace immediately said, "I want to push her!" So she did. Grace tickled Rachael, Rachael laughed her little head off. They have their moments of "typical" sister behavior, sure, but more often than not they are so sweet to one another! Love it!

Days like these...

2008-10-14T14:13:00.006-04:00

These things have to be documented. I mean, one day I'm going to be hearing, "Mo-ooooom, Rachael took, my shoes again!" or "Mo-oooom, Grace is on my side of the room!" I had a sister, I know how these things go!

So when there are days like these, I need to remember them!

The weather was so nice today, we had the apartment all opened up. After we got home from picking up Grace from school, we all went on the porch to blow bubbles, and we even got out the hammock chair that Chris got me for our first anniversary. The girls took turns sitting in it, then they ate some lunch, and then they just played. Grace would run through the apartment, to her room, then back out on the porch, and Rachael would either follow her or be directly ahead of her. If Grace came out first, she'd look at me and say, "Where's Rachael?" If Rachael came out first, she'd look at me and say, "Oo Gway?" (Every single time -- like there were so many different options for them!) I just sat in the swing and watched them play and listened to them laughing. It was great!

Then I went to put Rachael down for her nap. I left the girls' room and went into the kitchen to fix Grace a little snack. I looked out at the living room and there sat Grace, smiling ever-so-sweetly. She had cleaned up the living room. There was nothing in the middle of the floor. I walked out to thank her and tell her how proud of her I was, and gave her a hug. She pulled her face back and said, "I love you! You're the best Mommy!" I hugged her again and told her she was the best Gracie, then I squeezed her a little tighter and she said with a little laugh, "Now don't you start crying!" She's like 5 going on 25 sometimes!

*sigh* This is the good stuff!

Because I just love these...

2008-10-10T23:37:00.003-04:00

Found these on our other camera... More bubbles, and *gasp* ME playing with the girls!!!

This is my new favorite of Chris and Rachael -- they have the same smile!
Grace the Bubble Avenger, marching on after her latest attack!

Watching Rachael try to blow some bubbles!

Just another day!

2008-10-09T21:50:00.007-04:00

What kind of mom would I be if I didn't post as many pictures of these girls hugging as I could? We went to Olive Garden for Grandma's (Chris' mom's) birthday, and the girls shared a hug before we left! Trust me, the entire meal wasn't one big lovefest, but anything that ends like this doesn't seem so bad!

Later in the day, Chris took the girls out to play with bubbles -- they love bubbles! These days Grace has taken to attacking the bubbles instead of just running around catching them. You can see that here, along with Rachael carefully watching her big sister on the rampage:

They are always fun to watch!

The girls have been playing together a lot more lately, and it is so much fun to hear them! The other night, Grace asked Rachael if she wanted to play hide-and-seek. I said, "Gracie baby, I don't know if Rachael will understand that." She confidently replied, "That's okay! I'll teach her!" A little while later, I heard her saying to Rachael, "Okay, I'm gonna go count, but first I'll show you where to hide..." Hey, it worked for them!

Here is Grace, reading to Rachael. It just warms my heart to see moments like this!!!

While I'm here...

LET'S GO PHILLIES!

A Mommy's Dream

2008-09-29T21:43:00.002-04:00

I was finished doing dishes, and this is what I found in the living room:

Sisters coloring together, sharing the same book, content. Wow. Awesome. Not only that, but they looked up when they heard the camera beeping, and they both automatically smiled. (Rachael is saying, "Cheeeeese!")

How cool is that??

A week to celebrate!

2008-09-24T23:21:00.020-04:00

"Oh my gosh! I'm FIVE!!" I don't know why she posed like she's channeling Kevin McCallister, but it works! One day wasn't good enough for Grace, we celebrated her birthday just about every night last week! And some days too! Monday night, we went to Pump-It-Up, where she had her birthday party last year. We just went with a couple of her friends, and she had a blast! Rachael was pretty content sitting in Daddy's lap for quite a while, but soon enough she was showing interest in the big slide. With Daddy's arm in a sling (although that's gotten much better!), it was up to MOMMY to take her down! She loved it soooo much! One time, all three of us went down (me, Rachael and Grace), and that was definitely an adventure!

On Tuesday night, we had a visit from the girls' Papa (Vanessa's dad). His birthday was Monday, so he stopped by for dinner and he brought entertainment in the form of his Wii! That was a huge hit, not only with Grace, but with me too! Grace played golf (her choice, she insisted), then bowling. I let everyone stay up way too late that night!

Wednesday was her actual birthday, and although I didn't bring goodie bags for the kids in her class (I just can't get into that), I did make cupcakes. (Yes, I said make, and yes, they came from a box. You can't go wrong with Funfetti.) Grace was so proud bringing them in! We stopped by Nana's office on our way home, where Grace got the gift she'd been waiting for -- the new Little Mermaid movie! It also included a comb and hairbrush (plus a tiara) all with Ariel on them, and Grace now insists we can only comb and brush her hair with those. Chris' mom came by after she got out of school with gifts from her and Grandpa, as well as Aunt Lisa and Uncle Darryl. Lots of miniature toys (and his mom is so brilliant, she brought a Rubbermaid container to keep them all in!) that Grace plays with... while watching the new Little Mermaid movie. These toys are especially fun for her, because they remind her of the toys she played with when she was visiting her cousins in Georgia this summer! (By the way, Katrina, she wants to go back to Savannah's other Nana's so they can play Polly Pocket together again.)

But wait! There's more! A while ago we asked Grace where she'd rather go for her birthday, Sea World or Busch Gardens. She chose Sea World, so that's where we went on Saturday. Chris' mom was able to join us, and we had a blast, as usual! It was especially fun watching Rachael get so much more involved this time! She was able to ride a few of the rides this time, and I think she might've tried to touch a stingray if we'd let her! (I touched FIVE of those slimy little suckers, and Grace still wouldn't try herself!)

More pictures, of course!

Rachael comforted the Xbox controller, feeling sorry for it the night the Wii came. On Wednesday, I let her sample some frosting. (Because I was, and she caught me!) She made such a fuss when I told her it was all gone, I gave her the container to prove it. She managed to scrape every last little bit out!!

First of all, isn't this cute? Grace is poised to take Chris' position one day as tour guide at Sea World. And Rachael looks thrilled to be in the stroller, doesn't she? She was! If we were having trouble with her at all, if we asked, "Wanna go in the stroller?" she would immediately relax! This was the best. thing. EVER! It was my gift from Chris for the day. It was even more fun to watch the girls interact in it, or watch Grace sling her arm behind Rachael's shoulders as we strolled along. I don't think I can go to any theme park again without renting one of these!

Here's Grace waiting patiently for some dolphins to swim by.
Even though they changed the layout and you can't really get close to where the dolphins frequent unless you spend $7 for 4 slimy fish to feed them. I'm not bitter.

Miss Rachael checking out the sea turtles.
You can tell it's at the beginning of the day -- her hat is still on!

Rachael was willing to have her picture taken with the big penguin. Grace was not.
I wish I could enlarge this picture -- Rachael is definitely keeping her eye on the friendly penguin!

Here we all are in their version of Disney's teacup ride!
Rachael would not turn around before the ride began for Chris to get a picture of all of us,
but he snagged one while we were in motion!

It was a busy, fun-filled week! Less than 4 months before we do it all again for Rachael's 2nd birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Grace!

2008-09-17T03:21:00.001-04:00

HONK! and a Prayer Request

2008-09-12T14:57:00.008-04:00

When I tell you I live in an apartment and I've been disturbed by honking, what would your first thought be? An obnoxious neighbor? Unruly guests? A malfunctioning car alarm?

None of the above. The honking was attributed to this guy:

Here he is with a lady friend.

And this morning, two lady friends.

Today was one of Chris' off Fridays, and Rachael enjoyed some quality time with Daddy. See the black strap across him though? That is part of a sling he has to wear for two weeks. During the softball game Tuesday night, he went to make a catch and did something to his shoulder (and hung on to the ball, naturally). It was bad enough he made an appointment with the doctor without my prompting -- that has to tell you something! He has to wear the sling for two weeks, and if there isn't significant improvement by that time, he'll have an MRI. The doctor said he may have sprained it, or it could be a hairline fracture. No matter what, he has to take it easy for about 6-8 weeks. No softball, Ultimate Frisbee or flag football. No golf. No fun for Chris, basically! So please keep him in your prayers, that he heals completely and that he does rest it, and that I can manage without his wonderful assistance around the house. After all, he does his share of cooking (okay, okay, and my share too), cleaning, and this means no rough-housing with the girls. They'll get a lot more cuddle time with him though!

This girl's a little sweetheart. We went to lunch after we picked her up from school, and as we were sitting down she gave her daddy a kiss on his hurt shoulder. He smiled and told her he wished that was all it took. Rest assured that she will be praying for him. One of the things that thrills my heart is when Grace has a boo-boo that gets better, or she was just feeling a little off and gets to feeling back to normal, she'll say, "God made me better!" She knows God can make Daddy better too -- and we ask for your prayers for that as well! Thanks!

Fun Family Play-By-Play

2008-09-11T15:15:00.006-04:00

In remembrance and thankfulness...

-----------

One morning before school, I happened to get this little play-by-play on film... Or card... Or whatever you say now!

Rachael tries to sneak up on Grace...

"Can I sit with you?"

"Have a seat!"

A Gracie Squeeze!

"Ooooh, something interesting!"

"All done!"

When Grace has free time, she does this...
(She showed me how she put the letters
next to the animals that they started with. Yay, Phonics!)

When Rachael has free time, she does this...

Grace's Birthday Extravaganza begins next week! She'll be FIVE!!!

Are you ready for some football?

2008-09-02T00:12:00.011-04:00

Ask Grace what teams we cheer for and she will promptly respond, "Go Dolphins! Go Gators! Go Phillies!" (The Pirate vs. Bulldog debate rages on...) On Labor Day, Chick-fil-A provided us with an opportunity to showcase our fandom, giving free Chick-N-Strips to customers wearing any football team's logo.

Our Dol-Fan
This uniform was a shower gift when I was pregnant with Grace,
and Chris says it's not being passed down to ANYONE!
Thanks, Nicole, we are still loving this!

Gator Girl

One of the employees was also going around offering
stuffed cows or small footballs to the kids.
Guess which the girls wanted!

Daddy & Rachael
Daddy was slick and brought a coupon for a free IceDream,
and it was split four ways without any incident.
(And, yes, that's right, we went out and got free chicken strips and dessert
in the same place, we're skilled like that!)

Grace & Mommy

Here is Rachael eyeing THE COW! The girls get so excited when the Chick-fil-A Cow makes an appearance! Rachael couldn't make up her mind -- she would be squealing to get closer to him, and then if Chris took her near him, she'd squeal to get away! And I'm not sure if you can see it, but Rachael has a little bruise on her cheek. When I first saw it last week, I asked what happened and Chris thought it was from when she kind of plowed into our bed. I thought maybe I was kissing her squishy cheeks too hard! My mommy senses were on alert though, and over the weekend I casually brought it up to Grace, and it turns out it was the result of a skirmish between the two. *sigh* Grace owned up to it right away, though, and apologized for a second time, because she told me she'd said she was sorry to Rachael right after it was originally done!

Grace wanted to hug the Cow, but instead just took the photo op! She loves going to Chick-fil-A, but I think it's because when we go we're usually meeting friends there! We were actually surprised we didn't run into more people we knew when we were there today! Especially Auburn fans -- we can't swing a cat without hitting an Auburn alum in this area!! ;-) We're definitely more of a pro family, I think, and Grace told me today that she wanted another "Dolphin dress" since Rachael fits into hers now! I told her I was pretty sure that could be arranged -- I think her dad considers that to be a wise investment!

Since a few people have actually commented in e-mails about how long my hair looks, I had Grace take a picture from the back. She and I are going in for haircuts this week, and I have to admit I'm tempted to get it chopped (not like the Mom Cut shown at the end of the previous post), but I really would like to grow it a bit longer and donate it to Beautiful Lengths. I've got several inches to go, but I think I can hang on for a little while longer! (It's kind of flippy at the ends because I let it air dry this morning!)

And at the end of the day, right before bedtime,
the girls are still hanging out and having fun. :-)

Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend!

First Day: Take Two!

2008-08-26T00:27:00.010-04:00

So after last week's rocky start, it felt like we had a do-over after not returning to school for 4 days! Yesterday I got Grace to school in plenty of time, and on the way there I asked her if she wanted me to walk her to her class or if I should drop her off in the carpool lane.

"You can just drop me off!"

I tried to take a picture without her looking as she went inside, but some of the volunteers spotted me and started shouting, "Camera! camera!" (mamarazzi!), so Grace gave me one of her beautiful smiles and a wave, and off she went! Yes, it tugged at my heart, but no, I didn't cry. We might have to save the tears for next year when Grace starts kindergarten and Rachael starts preschool.

I didn't have any big plans or errands to run, so Rachael and I had our first morning alone together in a while.

Looks innocent enough, doesn't she? Casually checking out a book?

Don't be fooled!
Rachael's effort to play with every single thing that she could get her hands on:

One of my good friends sent me a picture she'd taken at the zoo a couple of weeks ago. It was right after Rachael fed the giraffe -- she's giving the little "rock on" hand gesture, notice.

The scene looked familiar to me, and I found this from 2005 (please disregard the bad hair):

Notice: 1) The girls are about the same age in these pictures! They were both right around 18 months old -- look how different they are! I don't know, it's just fascinating to me, because at the same time I see some similarities. And 2) I have the same exact expression on my face each time.

So much for no tears from Mommy though! This morning Rachael and I did run some errands -- to the church, to vote, and then to the library. As I was talking to the librarian about renewing Grace's treasured Peep DVD, Rachael made a beeline for the sliding doors. I darted after her, but the door was sliding open, and she kept her hand on the glass. Before I could grab her, she was stuck between the doors up to her elbow. :-( She cried a more scared cry than a hurt cry, but I couldn't budge her and I didn't want to tug at her, so I just held her until two of the librarians came to hold open the doors so she could slip out.

She bounced back quickly though, barely a scratch on her, and used the water they gave her to dip her hand in rather to drink. It definitely took me longer to recover, and it was all I could do to not break down right in front of the check-in desk!

All is well now though! Just a little more excitement than we're used to!

A Mom of Many Talents!

2008-08-26T00:11:00.007-04:00

I've raved about Liz's Lovely Little Lovelies, but hair clips are just the beginning for this SuperMom -- this is a woman of MANY talents! If you have a daughter, granddaughter, niece or know someone who does, and would like the chance to win an adorable dress with matching hair clips, head to her blog and leave her a comment!

This is how we roll...

2008-08-24T22:24:00.006-04:00

Or bowl.

After five days of being stuck indoors, we were ready to be anywhere other than the apartment!! We were able to find some fine family fun going bowling with Nana, Grandpa Ken and Aunt Ashley! It was Grace's first time, and she has already asked us at least 1,547 times when we can go again!

Grace was ready -- gotta love bowling shoes!

Rachael selecting the perfect ball.

One of Grace's turns -- what form!

She's pleased with her score!

Rachael didn't want to leave Ashley's side all night!

This is her reaction when Ashley had to bowl!

She could be cheering, but really what she's doing is tensing up and going, "EEEEEE!!!"

I know you probably have to be there to understand, but trust me, it's hilarious!

And if you ask her to do it, she does it over and over. Such a ham!

We went to Friendly's afterwards, where Grace concentrated on a word search.

I still can't get over this girl's eyelashes...

Rachael tried on my lipstick.

(Don't worry, she hasn't learned how to twist it up... YET!)

Grace and Aunt Ashley, so sweet!

More rolling...

We went for the first walk/ride with Grace's new helmet.

FABULOUS!

The helmet already went through its first performance test... Grace headed right on her bike and we were going left, so she tried to swivel back around. One of the training wheels went up too high and she toppled over. It was actually a pretty bad fall, but she came out of it with a very, very small scrape on her knee (that you couldn't see after her shower, but she wanted a Band-Aid nonetheless!), and we knew she bumped her chin but there wasn't anything there. BUT, the helmet's visor part was scratched up, meaning it hit the pavement. If there was ever any doubt about the necessity of a helmet for a child on a bike with training wheels, it was erased in that moment!

I had to come back to edit this post, I forgot to mention that after crying in pain, getting hugs from Mommy, Daddy and Rachael, Grace got right back up on her bike and rode the rest of the way home!

Ride safe!

Free From Fay?

2008-08-22T09:55:00.002-04:00

Remember the scene on Wednesday?

This was yesterday, already a huge difference.

And now this morning.

But this isn't the norm! Friends in the area having been wading out in knee-deep flood water, catfish are swimming across their sidewalks, cars have been submerged -- sometimes even big ol' trucks.

I'm hoping to venture out with the girls sometime today, but I'm really not sure what the roads are like. Chris did go to work today (the businesses had their employees report), so maybe he can give me an idea what it's like and where it's safe to travel!

Keep those who were severely affected in your thoughts and prayers, as well as those who are getting a taste of Fay in the northwest area of Florida!

Fay, Fay, Go Away!

2008-08-20T17:22:00.003-04:00

FAY WATCH: DAY TWO!

This is the worst of it for us. We have some standing water on our porch, but there's no real threat of it seeping in. We've had two calls with recorded messages from the police department telling us that residents are to stay indoors, roads are unsafe for travel -- even for emergency vehicles. We lost power for maybe 20 minutes earlier today (the longest 20 minutes of Grace's life, I believe), and our internet connection was a little touch-and-go.

I have seen pictures from other friends in this area and other parts of Florida, even the type they show on the news with canoes being paddled on a residential street. What we're seeing in our little neck of the wood is NOTHING compared to what they're seeing.

Apparently school has been cancelled again tomorrow, so we'll likely have another day indoors.

All in all, though, what we're experiencing is nothing. Call us blessed (that's what we say), call us lucky -- we're thankful!

Greetings from Fay!

2008-08-19T21:53:00.002-04:00

I love it when the weather is so newsworthy! After 2004, you'd think that the media would treat a Tropical Storm with as much interest as they would a politician being honest (get it? they never report that! ha!), but from what I see, Fay is getting a lot of press. So far it's been a lot of wind and rain, but nothing really exciting.

But look up at the top of the blog, where the girls are standing. I'll wait... That's our little pond or whatever on a good day, after several weeks of pretty consistent rain in the afternoons. Here it is today. Notice our lamp has been blown over.

I went downstairs and took a direct look at it. The light was bobbing up and down as the wind blew, and there were some huge fish swimming around in that shallow part.I don't know what to think about that light still working...

Look what I found! Even in my mad rush to get Grace to school yesterday, I did manage to take ONE picture -- I'd forgotten! And even in our mad rush, she managed to totally WORK IT! Seriously, when I saw the picture I remembered saying, "Grace, smile!" on my way to the car with Rachael on my arm and her bag over my shoulder, and in a split second Grace turned and posed. (Where the heck did she learn that?!) She is still using the same Dora backpack she had from her first day of preschool -- that thing has been through some serious spills in the past couple of years, but it's kept up well!

Reminder: They don't stop growing!

2008-08-18T16:47:00.007-04:00

Today began a transition for us, as Grace had her first day of VPK and Rachael and I spent some time together in the morning. Miss Rachael isn't taking morning naps anymore, so my challenge will be to keep her entertained. Thankfully she manages to entertain herself most of the time! Sometimes she uses my empty purses, hoisting them over her shoulder and saying, "Bye!" as she walks to the front door. She's started getting into playing with Grace's baby doll, and it might be time for her to have her own. (The dilemma: give her Grace's and get Grace a new one? Or get Rachael a new one? Or avoid all frustration and get them both new baby dolls??) And while Rachael and I get to know each other better (because this girl's personality is developing faster than I can keep up), Grace will be spending 5 days a week in Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten.

Here's Rachael playing peek-a-boo with a basket that usually holds various little toys. She always enjoys being comic relief for us! If she gets a laugh or a cheer from people, she'll keep doing her "act" over and over!

It would be my pleasure to show you a picture of Miss Grace on her first day of school... But I don't have one. I must've turned off my alarm clock in my sleep (I do that), and I woke up at about the time we would've needed to leave in order to get there. I rushed to throw some clothes on, pull my hair into a ponytail and decided to wear my glasses since my contacts were giving me problems, and thankfully Grace was so excited that she was happy to get herself ready for her big day without any assistance! Rachael also was very helpful when I got her ready, and didn't squirm around and try to give herself big, sloppy kisses on the mirror the whole time I was putting her clothes on.

Can you believe she's going to be FIVE next month?!? FIVE! This girl!

So instead of showing up looking like a mommy who had her act together, instead of letting Grace get a feel for the room and possibly meeting some of the mommies and their kids, I fumbled in late, and made my dear, sweet Grace even later by parking on the wrong side of the building. When we finally got to her class, everyone was already in the middle of the room counting to 20. Grace loves counting to 20! The teacher's assistant came back and welcomed us, and I had to ask a few questions about where to pick her up, and I feared looking like I had no idea what I was doing, where I was going -- basically that I was a complete mess!

By the time Rachael and I returned to pick Grace up, though, it was a different story. I had a productive morning -- I managed to take some books and a DVD back to the library, pick up a trial pair of contacts until I could get in for an appointment, go home and get Rachael a snack, take a shower (with her awake, a feat in and of itself), and then make myself presentable.

I know I had to look much different than I did when I dropped Grace off, because the teacher's assistant brought her out and honestly did a double-take. Maybe I'll just tell her the girl who dropped Grace off the first day was the nanny, who I promptly fired. Anyway, Grace had a fun day and already told me about another little girl that she played with on the playground, so she managed to make a friend on her first day. :-) This month she gets to learn about what makes her special -- they're going to need more than a month!!

Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo last Friday, our last hoorah before school got started!

I think the giraffes are the best part! At the bottom you can see the baby, Stephanie!

Grace always gets skittish around those big ol' nasty giraffe tongues! Can't say I blame her!

I don't have a picture because I was holding her, but Rachael fed the giraffe, showing no fear whatsoever!! Here she's just checking them out!

The girls were given some pellets to feed the deer in one part of the zoo, and Rachael was once again very brave. Somehow she kept being given more pellets, and she decided that she'd had enough so she kept giving hers to Grace. Awww, sharing!

Grace's turn! She had no problem feeding the deer!

This weekend we stopped for a bite to eat with the girls at a restaurant, and a mom who was there with her older daughters (both older elementary age, I would guess) said to me, "They only get more fun!" I thanked her for saying that! So often people tell you, "Oh, I miss that age," or "Just gets harder from here!" Obviously I love the girls through every age and stage, but I also love thinking about them as two little ladies! It's nice to think fondly on the times that have passed, but there's so much to look forward to also!!

Mullet, be gone!

2008-08-05T01:45:00.007-04:00

Okay, so maybe it isn't every mother's worst nightmare, but as Rachael's hair grew, I noticed the top wasn't growing as fast as the back, and the back was getting a little wild. So there she sat -- business in the front, party in the back. Grace's hair was so easy -- I was even able to cut it myself! I made the rookie mistake of cutting her bangs too far back, but otherwise it was pretty simple. Then Chris' barber took the task of keeping it trimmed, and now we've moved to my stylist for her hair. With Rachael's, though, I didn't want to make any mistakes! I also didn't want to be the one responsible if all her little curls disappeared!

I asked a friend if she knew of any places that specifically did kids' hair, and she answered, "Snip-Its." It was GREAT! It was $16.95 for the haircut, a certificate, and a little lock of her hair in a delicate little bag tied with a ribbon. That's a little steep, but in the end I think Chris and I both agreed it was worth it! The stylist was patient and was able to stay with Rachael no matter how she moved, and her hair looks so good!

The Before Shot! Rachael was remarkably happy! She had only taken a quick snooze in the car on the way up to the shop and we were afraid she'd be out of sorts. Nope! She was amazing the whole time, no fussing at all!

Here's the stylist at work, with Rachael gripping one of the two lollipops she was given while she was there, and holding a mirror she'd been given. You can also see bubbles -- there was a little girl who was there, I believe she was someone's granddaughter, and she was blowing bubbles to entertain Grace! They had a small cushioned sitting area in front of the chair, as well as a monitor that they showed their own little cartoons on. It was the same in each of their stations.

Before I could say "Billy Ray Cyrus," the cut was over, and the stylist had managed to put two little piggy tails in Rachael's hair, complete with ribbons! I think you can see the improvement! When her hair dries, there's still so much bounce!

This is Rachael giggling after the stylist dusted to get any stray hairs off of her. :-) I don't know if you can see it, but she also swiped Rachael's hair with PINK coloring! She offered to put some in Grace's hair, but Grace declined. Grace was more focused on taking the little cards that they'd given her and Rachael and putting it into the machine in front of the register that spit a toy out at them!

All day Monday I tried to get a picture of the girls together, wearing t-shirts that said "I Am Adorable!" The best laid plans... Here are the girls out in the (finally) green grass -- the only picture of them together I could snag!

Sisterly Love

2008-07-30T14:02:00.002-04:00

I almost forgot about this picture! This was when we went to dinner before The Backyardigans -- Grace asked for a hug, and Rachael happily obliged! This is something that's been happening more often lately, especially if one of them gets upset. If Grace starts to whimper or cry (which happens mostly when she doesn't get her way), Rachael will come over and hug her and give her a big kiss complete with sound effect! MMMM-WAH! When Rachael is upset, Grace will say, "Come here, Rachael," and Rachael will walk over with her arms outstretched. Grace is currently trying to teach Rachael how to give and receive Eskimo kisses, the same way our Daddy did with my sister and I. Grace even keeps the "mugga, mugga" sound effect we had with that. :-) These are the best days!!

The theater, darling!

2008-07-24T20:25:00.009-04:00

It was an overcast Wednesday night. Chris and I loaded the girls in the car and headed out to meet his mom for some fine dining (Panera) and a show at our center for performing arts. The show we were taking in (all thanks to Grandma)?

As you can see, the actors' faces were shown instead of replicas of the cartoons, I read that's so the kids can see their expressions. That's all well and good, but if you have a particular preschooler who notices things like "those are just adults dressed in costumes" (as one sitting behind us did) or cares that the voices don't sound a great deal like the actual cartoon (as mine did), you may have a slight challenge ahead of you. The show was really cute and fun, and Grace's favorite, Uniqua, maintained her cheery smile throughout the whole show, and there was definitely enough music and comedy for kids to keep her entertained! Rachael enjoyed it too! She watched all of it, only taking her eyes off the stage when she changed laps! :-) She clapped and cheered, had a ball!

Grace with her shield!

"Mommy, it's not a hat!"
Rachael thinks it works as an accessory too!

Today was another big day! While we were in California, Chris' mom took the girls to the library one day and said they really enjoyed it, so I took them to ours today and...

Grace got her first library card!

I think she was supposed to get a cute, colorful one with a turtle or something on it because she's not 5 yet (less than 2 months!!), so I'm going to have to call about that.

Rachael had fun too!
(This is what you get when you ask her to smile now! PRECIOUS!)

Grace is getting ready to go to KinderPraise next week, and then before we know it we'll be getting a home visit from her teacher at her new school, and then it's going to be time for school to start! And then she's going to turn 5! ACK!!!

Home again, home again!

2008-07-23T23:56:00.016-04:00

Did I fall off the face of the earth? Well, no, but I did almost wind up in Mexico!

While Grace and I were visiting my sister in Georgia, Chris found out that he was definitely being sent for training on a program he uses at work. Where was the training? Temecula, California -- a wine country area just one hour north of San Diego. Being the amazing, wonderful, BEST HUSBAND EVER that he is, he bought me a plane ticket so I could go too!

Yes, that means Chris and I were gone by ourselves for about a week. I couldn't believe it either! His parents lovingly cared for the girls while we were gone, and a dear friend offered to keep Snickers.

Now, you would think that I would have at least one slideshow's worth of photos to share. Nope. On the third day, I accidentally deleted all of the pictures I'd taken. Granted, there weren't that many (I was surprised, too), but I liked what I had and it was disappointing! When we first arrived, even though I was feeling pretty rotten, Chris and I took a Trolley Tour of San Diego. It was actually a lot of fun! Except when the trolley went over the Coronado Bridge. Chris' leg may still be bruised from where I had gripped it for that part of the ride!

Coronado Bridge -- scary!

The second day, Chris began training and I returned to San Diego to meet a friend at Seaport Village. After being directed to two different trolleys (the kind that are really more like trains) that were heading for Mexico rather than my desired destination, I was told by the third police officer I asked that I could walk to where I wanted to be. Walk! It was about a mile and a half away, but walking that distance in San Diego, California is much different than walking a mile basically anywhere in Florida! NO HUMIDITY! Now, the locals were commenting on how bad it was, and I just laughed. I walked the distance without breaking a sweat! The scenery was gorgeous, the weather was beautiful -- I very well could have skipped through the streets! But I didn't!

Me at Seaport Village

Very cool monument next to the USS Midway. (Taken by my tour guide for the day!)

So I made it to Seaport Village and I ate lunch with my friend and her adorable son, then we continued to just stroll down Harbor Drive and take in the sights. That evening, Chris and I went to Ladera Beach to meet some friends that had moved to California from Florida and we got to meet their adorable son after seeing him grow up in pictures for almost a year! It couldn't have been a more perfect day! Well, we could've done without Highway 74 -- forever known to us as Dramamine Drive! Thankfully our friends gave us an alternate route back!

Highway 74 - scarier!!

The next three days while Chris was in training, I busied myself doing... Well, pretty much nothing! I drove through the Temecula Valley Wine Country, I read, I slept, I lounged at the pool. It was wonderful! Chris was done no later than 4:30 each day so we had plenty of time together in the evenings. The last day we went through Temecula's Old Town with his three co-workers (they definitely made the trip even more fun!), did some light shopping and then had dinner.

We were definitely ready to get home to our girls!! The trip was amazing and I am so thankful we had that time together (and I had that time to myself), but there is a lot to be said to hearing the squeal of "Mommy!" and feeling little arms tight around your neck!!

Just Chris and I -- we were tired!!

What's in a name?

2008-07-12T10:51:00.009-04:00

Grace took dance previously and did enjoy it, but her interest fizzled at the end of the year so we didn't continue. She would talk about it, though, and show us the different things that her teacher there had taught. It obviously wasn't forgotten. When we saw that the arts academy through the church was offering this dance camp, I had my doubts as her age group would only have 6 45-minute lessons. However, Grace had a great time and really enjoyed herself -- and she wasn't half bad!

My pictures didn't turn out as well as I would've liked, and the video camera wasn't working when I tried to tape her. I used the video feature on the camera so Chris would be able to see Grace in action, and I put this together. I don't know how much you can really see of her, but it's still cute. :-) Enjoy! (She's the first one on the left, in case you couldn't figure that out. The adorable miniature ballerina in the middle is her friend, Abbey!) :-)

4th of July Slideshow - Take Two!

2008-07-07T09:57:00.001-04:00

Fun on the 4th! (And 3rd, and 5th!)

2008-07-05T23:33:00.007-04:00

Could this summer BE any fuller?? I cannot believe that July is already here and we are already almost a week through it! Chris' holiday weekend wasn't much of a holiday at all as he and his dad were umpiring every day, 2 games per day, for a tournament! He was able to join us for Princess Abbey's 3rd birthday, though! The girls were all smiles in the pictures shown above... Let's just say I was fortunate to get those shots! ;-) It was a great party with several beautiful princesses running around, my girls were just a little moody!!

Papa came to visit us on the 4th, bearing gifts! Grace has taken the Nemo-type stuffed fish with her everywhere so far! Papa knows what he's doing and also brought BUBBLES! It was a beautiful day, so we went outside and the girls had so much fun chasing them everywhere! I got some fun "action shots" that are in the slideshow below!

That evening, Rachael and Chris were completely wiped out, and at the last minute Grace and I were able to join the Campbells to go watch the fireworks. Grace has outgrown being afraid of them, and she only covers her ears during the finale! It's so fun to hear her commentary throughout the show! I snuck in a picture of she and I at the end, and someone else snuck into the shot as well! :-) So cute!

Chris and his dad finished up late on the 4th, so after they got home on the 5th we went over for a little cookout. Grandpa was in the backyard with the girls, and I took some fun pictures of Rachael, our little athlete, that I put in the slideshow. There were too many to choose from!! In a RARE moment of stillness, I grabbed a picture of she and I -- I think it's the first one I've gotten like this since she was about 6 months old! Look at those eyes!

Well, I'm going to try to show the slideshow in a separate post, it's not working in this one! Hope you and your family had fun celebrating our Independence Day!

Where did June go?!

2008-07-02T15:54:00.008-04:00

June was a blur! After swim lessons finished up, we headed right into Vacation Bible School! I taught 3rd grade again, and had assistance from Ashley for the 3rd year in a row! We had an amazing class, they were so well-behaved right off the bat and even earned this very prestigious award:
They got to carry the pink flamingo around with them for a day, I was so proud! (I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that I managed to have 15 girls and 4 boys in my class...) I even figured out a way to make sure they all got a chance to carry the flamingo as we walked around!

After VBS finished up on Thursday, we dropped Rachael off at her Grandma's, and Grace, Nana and I all headed up to Georgia to visit Katrina and her family, and meet Veronica! With a stop for dinner and another for gas, the drive took 10 hours. Mom's wonderful friend, Barbara, let us borrow a DVD player for the car and that was a lifesaver! I have a new appreciation for Color Wonder by Crayola as well!

It was so good seeing Katrina and spending time with the whole family! One of the best parts was getting to be Super Aunt for a little bit! Savannah let me brush her hair and play with it -- I braided it one night and put clips in it for church on Sunday morning! Veronica made me feel so special, because she seemed to quiet down and fall asleep when I would hold her! I loved it!

Grace would hold Veronica whenever we gave her the chance, and in this shot Veronica was starting to get fussy. Grace didn't mind a bit!

Of course meeting Veronica and spending time with Katrina, Jerry and Blake was wonderful, but the highlight of the trip was watching Grace and Savannah play, and hearing them GIGGLE!! From the time we arrived, the cousins were fast friends and virtually inseparable! Before we got there, I wondered about the age gap (Grace is 2 years older than Savannah), but I didn't need to worry! They had a great time together, and I could've listened to them playing and giggling forever!

It was hard to leave, especially hearing Grace ask if Savannah could come play this week (heartbreaking!), but Mom and I were ready to get back to our husbands, and I was missing Rachael as well! She got some quality time with Daddy and Grandma while we were gone, and they all had a blast! Daddy even took her on a date to Steak 'n Shake, where she sat in a booster seat and fed herself for the whole meal! What a big girl!

We got back in time for Grace to start dance camp (if you can call 6 45-minute lessons "camp"), and later she will go to a version of KinderMusik that the church has for a week. Before we know it, August will be here and it'll be time for her to start school!!

As I said once before, I don't know who came up with the term "stay-at-home mom," but I'm starting to think that it was not a mommy!!

They have my heart.

2008-06-19T16:14:00.002-04:00

Splashing & Splurging!

2008-06-11T15:20:00.014-04:00

Today I brought the camera to swim lessons, and one of the dry mommies was sweet enough to take some pictures while I was in the pool with Rachael. Thanks, Carrie! This is what Rachael looked like most of the morning!

She did still do some swimming, over and under water, but for the most part she just clung to me and cried! She felt a little safer on the step in the shallow end and starting copying me as I blowed bubbles. Except instead of blowing bubbles, she was just sticking her tongue in the water. One step at a time!

Grace was a little fish again! She's been a great listener and has enjoyed these lessons so much!

Last night was an exciting one in our household... After Rachael went to bed, Chris told Grace he was going to a couple of stores. I knew he'd received a check for his marathon umpiring session a couple of weekends ago, and I also hoped he was thinking a little about himself (for once!) and maybe was going to get a congratulatory gift after seeing that his hard work was being noticed at the office. What do you think he got?

Nope.

Not that.

That would've been pretty cool -- but he wasn't quite shown that much appreciation either!

No, my husband went out and got one of these:

IT'S AWESOME! He put it together last night (even looked at all the instructions, he is my hero), and we ran it in the bedroom and our bathroom. That's how excited we were, people -- we risked waking up the girls to try it out!! This couldn't have come at a better time considering the vacuum we've had since we got married officially went ka-put on us. The proof, here is what the Dyson collected today in an area I vacuumed yesterday. If you ever watched "Everybody Loves Raymond," you'll remember the phrase, "This is what's known as 'The Wow Factor'," and I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart!

NASTY! And I'm a little worried that we might be raising little neat freaks as well. Chris' mom just came over for a quick second, and Grace wanted her to come inside and see something. I figured it was going to be the drawings she was doing on the dry erase board. Nope, she wanted Grandma to see what the Dyson had collected!

Let us know what exciting things are going on in your house -- when our big news is a Dyson, don't you think we need to live vicariously through you?? ;-)

Cheap Fun!

2008-06-06T23:55:00.010-04:00

I don't want to put too much pressure on the girls, but tonight I decided to start their training for the 2026 Winter Olympics. That's right, even in Florida you can train for the bobsleigh event!

Chris came home from a game of Ultimate Frisbee to the above scene. The girls and I had somehow all managed to fall asleep late in the afternoon and none of us woke up until 7 p.m. or later (and I don't know if I would've woken up if Katrina hadn't called me -- so, really, THANK YOU!), and I needed to wear them out. We were originally entertaining ourselves by dancing to my New Kids on the Block Greatest Hits CD, but for some reason the player quit on us (maybe refusing to play that music anymore -- that would be Chris' opinion). Grace had been dancing on that blanket... And to be honest, I'm not sure how I thought zipping them around the apartment would be a great idea, but they LOVED it and I'm positive I got in my cardio for the day!

This must be done to every child at least once in their life:

We were able to do it to Grace when she was 6 months old:

And for fun, let's compare the girls at roughly the same age...

Grace, February 2005

Rachael, May 2008

Looking at that just makes me realize how fast they grow up!

And if you didn't already know it, I'm one of those parents who enters their kids in the Parents Magazine cover photo contest. I'm also one of those parents that doesn't mind asking people to go look at the adorable pictures! Here's Grace's gallery, and here's Rachael's! I was tame and only put 3 pictures for each of them -- they allow 6! :-)

One fish, two fish...

2008-06-05T00:36:00.008-04:00

Remember this? Seems we're having a repeat! Swim lessons started on Tuesday and Grace seemed to forget everything she learned over the past 3 summers!! While I was inside getting Rachael ready for her first big trip into the water, Grace was out in the pool having a mild anxiety attack! Thankfully our dear friend, Carrie, was in the water with her, and she was so incredible and stayed with her the entire time! Grace whimpered throughout, but she did everything she was supposed to nonetheless!

Rachael, on the other hand, got into the water and immediately tried to push off of me! She wasn't excited about me positioning her or trying to get her to do anything we were instructed to, but she definitely loved the water! She went under without freaking out, and when we had to bring them down from the side of the pool she did well reaching out for the wall right away -- I was impressed!

I'm sure by the end of the lessons I'll have two little fishies, one who knows how to swim again and another who knows how to handle herself when she's in the water!

Here's a couple of shots from a recent trip to the park -- because I can't seem to post without pictures!!!

I'm adding a mention of today's swim lessons -- basically read the above post, but reverse the girls! We worked with the younger kids in the water first, and Rachael was crying and hooked around me with a death grip! She did still go underwater very well though! Grace, however, got into the pool with the instructor (I told her before we left that her Aunt Carrie wasn't going to be there today) and soon shouted to me, "Mommy! I'm not scared anymore!" She did awesome! Ah, kids, so unpredictable!!

Welcome, Veronica!!

2008-05-30T08:22:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to Katrina and Jerry! Veronica Louise arrived naturally at 1:05 a.m. weighing in at 7 lb 6 oz! If you're friend or family to Katrina, I'm pretty sure she'll post more pictures at her blog, but for now, here is a sweet, sleeping Veronica!

We are looking forward to meeting you!

Goldilocks

2008-05-27T16:49:00.008-04:00

A public plea to my little sister, Katrina... You're going to help me with this hair, right?! This is Rachael after her bath, and this is how her hair stays until she lays on it. Or sits in her carseat. I refuse to mousse her baby hair... I think.

And yesterday I got bold and attempted piggy tails in that hair.

She would take them out from time to time, but would always let me put them back in until the end of the day. She had quite an interesting look going for her then, but it was easy enough to wet her hair and get the springy, bouncy curls back!

This hair is going to be fun!

The End of an Era

2008-05-22T10:15:00.007-04:00

Yesterday was Grace's end of the year program at preschool. Neither Grace nor Rachael had much fun during the ceremony... This is Rachael before the program started, she just was not a happy camper! Poor Nana didn't get to see much of anything because she graciously took Rachael out for a little walk around the entire church. Cousin It there is actually Grace. This year is an improvement though -- last year at the program she turned her back to the audience! If she has any of Mommy's inclinations for performing in public, she absolutely hasn't grown into them yet! Rachael, however, decided to try to climb up on the stage after the director of the preschool had started speaking. Ai-yi-yi!

But things improved afterwards!

Grace has had such a wonderful experience at her preschool the past two years, we are so blessed to have such an amazing school at our church! Her teachers have just shown her so much love and she's learned so much! Both teachers are women that I've been so fortunate to know throughout most of my life in the church. This year's teacher especially has a special place in my heart, she's made me feel like family since I was 15-years-old. In the fall Grace will head to VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten) at the same preschool her daddy and Aunt Lisa went to. How fun is that?

Look out Summer, here we come!

My Husband Rocks!

2008-05-19T21:47:00.004-04:00

Well, it was Chris' birthday this weekend but I'm the one that got the gifts today -- a couple of belated Mother's Day presents arrived! I heard about this website (I think from Katrina), From*me Tees, and I told many people about these great t-shirts and soon enough saw four friends wearing their own, and heard of another friend who'd received one as a gift. I was getting antsy for my own and I may have e-mailed the link to the site to Chris at least half a dozen times as a not-so-subtle hint!

He had some trouble figuring out the sizes (ladies' cut? junior cut? what's a guy to think?), so after figuring out what I would wear he went ahead and placed the order, so I will finally be proudly declaring my love and devotion to my absolutely amazing husband on these t-shirts:

Thank you, Chris!

The Big 3-0!

2008-05-16T00:25:00.005-04:00

To the man of my dreams and the best daddy the girls could ask for...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

A New 'Do & Weekend Fun!

2008-04-28T13:09:00.019-04:00

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!

I can do it myself!

2008-04-23T14:43:00.015-04:00

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! ;-)

Tagged!

2008-04-22T01:45:00.008-04:00

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

Bookworm Baby

2008-04-18T14:17:00.005-04:00

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."

Out of the mouths of babes...

2008-04-17T01:07:00.004-04:00

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!)

Spring Pictures

2008-03-27T14:28:00.004-04:00

A couple of weekends ago we had the opportunity to have our pictures taken by the wonderful Sonya Coates (whose name may be changing soon since she'll be married shortly!). Sonya and I knew one another in junior high and high school and recently got back in touch. (Hooray for the internet!) After seeing some of Sonya's work, I really wanted her to do something with us! I love these pictures! Sonya did an amazing job -- she was so patient! With two little ones and a VERY windy day (which will explain Rachael's troll doll hair), patience was more than a virtue -- it was a necessity!

It's about 2 minutes long and it is set to music -- so if you're sneaking a peek at work, turn your speakers down or off! :-) Enjoy!!

Cookies & Chickies

2008-03-07T12:25:00.005-05:00

Over the past month or so, Rachael has had some tummy issues. For those of you that are familiar with what I'm talking about, they seem to be resolving themselves -- thank you for your prayers! If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, let's just say the end result is a mommy who does a happy dance over a poopy diaper, and any further discussion would only include talk about consistency and frequency.

Anyway, the girls' Nana made some oatmeal raisin cookies, and Rachael was treated to them a few times at home because of their ingredients. In the first picture, she doesn't seem to be thrilled that I decided to turn into Mamarazzi right then, but she got over that quickly and decided to get down to business!

What a look!

Yummy! Thank you, Nana!

Aunt Lisa and Uncle Darryl, we finally got around to exchanging the Veggie Tales DVD. Grace originally wanted to find the "Bad Apple" DVD, but they didn't have it at our Family Christian Store. Grace looked at all the titles and the pictures on the cases and ultimately decided on "An Easter Carol" -- fitting, huh? Well, it was on sale so we still had some remaining funds, so I picked out an Easter book for the girls. There was STILL a little bit remaining and I was told I could find something for around $5 or get store credit. Well, Grace had been looking around and of course found some plush animals (located conveniently near the registers). They were $5, so I told her to pick one out. She did, and has taken her pick with her everywhere! She even brought it to school in the "Me Bag" that they use for show and tell. She's asked to watch "An Easter Carol" a few times already, and that's okay because I like it too! :-) Here is a picture of Grace with her "Chickie" that she loves so much...

Thanks, Aunt Lisa & Uncle Darryl! I love my chick!

Plugging Lovelies!

2008-02-22T02:33:00.005-05:00

Once again I wanted to show off the clips I purchased from the Etsy shop, Lovely Little Lovelies! I saw she had some more Lovely Minis listed, as well as a set of 4 of the flower clips you see the girls wearing in the pictures. I snatched them up! When I put the flower clip in Rachael's hair, Grace had to have one also! Thank goodness there were 4 in the package! :-) These clips do not fall out, and they are SO well made! Well, you can see how adorable they are here:

Okay, so maybe it doesn't show off the clip so well, but how could I not post this picture??

Action shot!

Grace is still very happy with her haircut and enjoys putting clips in it, especially these!

Can you hear the, "Awww?"

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T13:52:00.002-05:00

Sunday Best

2008-02-11T13:09:00.000-05:00

The girls looked cute and were acting sweet, and I managed to get a semi-precious photo of them!

Rachael & Grace - February 2008