Rachel's School Valentine Party

Rachel's other Valentine outfit (from Target) that she wore Monday
Love those spongerollers!

Daddy couldn't get over how cute Rachel looked with rollers.

Samantha and Rachel

Rachel is making a craft at the party.

Me and Rach

Laura, Hannah, Hayla, Mimi K and Rachel

(It was a fluke that Mimi K looks like she's scooting away from Rachel,

she was about to get up when I happened to snap the picture.)

Today was Rachel's Valentine Party at school. She wore her special heart dress that I found at Target and we rolled her hair with sponge rollers last night. This was Rachel's first "sponge rolling" experience. I couldn't wait to try it out on her since my mom rolled my hair a million times when I was growing up. Rachel loved it and couldn't wait to see her curly hair the next morning. Unfortunately, I didn't quite do enough rollers, or they might should be a smaller size and/or I might should put a little bit of hair spray or mousse in her fine, silky hair. All but 2 of the rollers fell out in her bed last night and she didn't have quite the curls that I had envisioned, but she did get a little bit of body and she LOVED it! We had a great time at the party and all the kids looked so cute in their heart shirts and outfits. Ironically, Rachel and another little girl, Samantha had on the exact same dress. Of course, they loved that they were wearing the same dress and were automatically "best friends" for the day. This is ironic because Samantha is NOT one of Rachel's favorite people. Of all the kids in her class, Rachel has complained the most about Samantha. According to Rachel, Samantha has taken her best friend, Kate, away from her numerous times and not allowed them to play together. I think that Samantha has a very dominant personality and so she sometimes clashes with Rachel, who is not a pushover, but also not a dominant type, either. Anyway, it was funny that they were best friends today simply because of their dresses. Bradley stayed with Gege so I could help the other moms and have some mother/daughter time with my sweet little girl.

A little bit of Cousin Time

A couple of weeks ago, I offered to watch Thomas and Heather for Erin and Tommy. Rachel was ecstatic that her cousins, Thomas and "Hedder" were coming over to play. She had decided that she would watch "Hedder" and that I could watch and play with the boys. Thankfully, Heather loved Rachel as much as Rachel loved her and let her pick her up and lead her around and play with her. Rachel was in "little mommy heaven." Thomas and Bradley played around each other...but not together...as they sometimes do. They were both content to do their own things and Bradley mostly just wanted to be with me. Anyway, I didn't take many pictures, but got just a couple that I wanted to share. Thankfully, Pop came over this day to help me with the kids. I was grateful since I hadn't really thought about how tired I might be or that I would be pregnant AND watching 4 kids aged 4, 3, 2 and 1! Even though they were all REALLY good, it was so nice having another pair of hands to help!

Rachel Jane Photography

Nick took this one of the silly kids!
Rachel took this one of her precious daddy

Rachel took this one of her sweet little bubby!

Rachel took this picture...her special bear

Rachel loves taking pictures. So, a few weeks ago, after Nick had snapped a few of the kids, she decided to take some. I thought they were cute and I love her subject matter. Some of her choices aren't what I would consider "picture-worthy" but isn't art in the eye of the beholder?!

Gotta love this spring tease!

This is so much fun!
Layin' in the grass and gettin' some rays!

We have really loved this recent spring-like weather! We've spent more time outdoors than we have in months and unfortunately, know it's not going to last. I'm sure February and March are going to have some more freezing, unpleasant days, so we're enjoying this nice weather while we can. We recently got a new charger for Rachel's Gator, so after re-charging it, the kids have found that it's like having a new toy! They haven't ridden it since May, when the last of the battery juice finally gave out. I don't think Bradley even remembers riding on it, so he is ecstatic while riding it and squeals lots. He also likes to say, (as they are driving off) "bye ma," "bye da". He usually says this about 10 times like he's going real far real fast. Honestly, the little gator is so slow, I can walk at a comfortable pace along side them with Rachel going at full speed. Thankfully, Rachel is the driver right now, and Bradley is very content being the passenger. It's so nice for Rachel that Bradley's not aware that he could probably drive on his own if he wanted to. Anyway, they've been putting the miles on the little gator and soakin' up some nice warm sunshine also!

Little Miss Grown Up

Right before Christmas, we got rid of a lot of toys that the kids don't play with. We gave them to Goodwill. I have not regretted it for one minute and the kids haven't missed them one bit. Among the things we gave away, was an old kid's grocery cart that constantly fell apart. Well, after Christmas, Rachel decided that she wanted to use some of her piggy bank money to buy a new one. So, we looked at a couple of stores and NO ONE had one that was sturdy and under $20. Rachel was such a good sport about not being able to find one and was so agreeable when I told her we would have to wait a few weeks for the stores to restock their toys. (I was so impressed with her patience and acceptance of waiting to get a toy!) Anyway, we didn't really talk about it for a few weeks and one day we went to a special toy store, Learning Express, that has alot of things that the average toy store doesn't carry. We were just looking around and Bradley was playing with a train table and Rachel was playing with a doll house. They didn't have any grocery carts either, so I asked Rachel if she wanted to spend her money on something else. She got really excited and said, "YES!" So, we looked around and she immediately went up to a Hello Kitty alarm clock that was $18. She wanted to buy that and thought it was the greatest thing she had ever seen. I was surprised that she wanted to buy an alarm clock and showed her all the other really cool things in the store she could get with her money. But, she insisted that she wanted the alarm clock. So, she bought it. We got home, put batteries in it and it has been a huge hit! She has read the numbers to me continually; "mom, it says: 1-2-3, what does that mean?" Me: "it's 1:23, hun." Rachel: "mom, it says, 1-2-4, what does that mean?" Me: "it's 1:24 now, Rachel." She just loves this clock. She insists that Nick or I set the alarm at night when she goes to bed. We always set it for 8am, so that she'll still wake up on her own and not too early with an alarm, since she's always up between 7 and 7:30. But, I can't tell you how much she has enjoyed this clock. I would have never thought that it would be so much fun. We've even taken it in the car and she'll read the numbers EVERY time the minute changes and ask what time it is. I think it's a little aggravating, but really cute that she's so interested in the time. Now she thinks it's really cool to spend her own money on something that she picks out. (I thought it was pretty cool, too!!)

Bradley's new phrase

Recently, Bradley has started yelling, "go away!" At first, I didn't think he knew what it meant. I kinda thought it was funny, but didn't really want to encourage such a rude phrase being yelled at me. So, the other night, I was telling Nick about it and said that I wished he could hear Bradley say it. I told him I didn't think Bradley knew what it meant. So, Nick leaned close to Bradley and said quietly, "hey Bradley, go away!" I can't even describe to you the pitiful, sad look that Bradley got on his face. He turned his mouth down and came to sit in my lap like he had truly been insulted and his feelings were hurt. I thought it was hilarious, because Nick was so upset that he had hurt Bradley's feelings. He kept trying to make him feel better and really felt horrible for telling his son to go away. I just couldn't stop laughing because I knew Nick would never say anything mean like that to our kids. I guess Bradley does understand the meaning of "go away!" And, I guess I will be insulted and take him seriously and correct him when he starts yelling it at me.

What a great day!

I'm so excited that we've been regularly attending church again. I know it's the same old story, I post that we're going somewhere and I like it and we go for awhile, and then we stop. Well, not this time. I really do feel more comfortable at this church than we have at any others we've visited. And, we've been regularly going...not just sporadically trying it every so often. We had tried church service for several weeks and then tried just Sunday School for a few weeks. I needed to feel comfortable leaving the kids in their classes for the entire time period, or else I wouldn't be able to concentrate and learn anything. Last week, the kids did so well that Rachel didn't want to leave after Sunday School. And, Bradley's teachers said he did really well with the boys in his 3-year old class and didn't even get upset when the teachers transitioned. (He's in the 3 year old class because there are only two 2-year olds at the church right now and their teacher has been ill. So, he's been going to the 3 year old class and doing great!!) So, today we stayed for both SS and church and it was awesome! I'm really enjoying our SS class...it's so laidback and fun and the teachers are great. All the couples in the class have been very friendly and welcoming and we don't even feel like visitors. Also, ironically, there are 3 other girls in the class who are having babies in April...can you believe it?? So, we definitely feel like we fit in! :) Our SS class is doing a great study called: "Fireproofing Your Marriage" and I love it. I always love to hear some ways to protect our marriage from the evils of the world. And, the series gets some great discussions going and also allows me and Nick to spend some time talking and praying about our marriage. We're really excited to be a part of a fellowship of believers. I've really missed it and we both want to raise our children in church. I always loved going to church and have fond memories of being in a church family. The kids did really well today too...both did well for the entire time period and I peeked in on Bradley in between SS and church and he was doing great. He was just sitting at the table with some other boys eating a snack. He looked like such a big boy. (Of course, he had his Bay, and I'm glad that Bay helps him get through potentially tough situations.) I just love my precious kids so much and HAVE to feel comfortable that they're okay in order to get anything out of being at church! Thank goodness, I think we're finally at that point!