People Watching

Today I took my mom back to the airport. We enjoyed a really nice visit - always too short but especially this time, with only three full days to wreak havoc on the Lexington area. It was fun.

I think she was one of about ten people leaving Louisville today, but there were tons and tons of people coming for the Derby this weekend. The best part was watching all the hatboxes come in - I have never seen so many hatboxes in one place at one time!

Marathon Shopping

Because who doesn't love a good marathon shopping day? Even Rachael had a great time. I think we hit nearly everything in Lexington that is fun shopping.

Some highlights...

Rachael got a new Cleo fish from the Disney store that her Nana paid for (Thanks Nana!)
We found Rachael a yellow shirt to wear for yellow shirt day at preschool on Thursday
Nana bought out Talbot's outlet (not really, but she found a lot of great stuff)

Fun all around!

Bubbles

A couple of days ago Rachael got some bubbles at preschool. We took them out on the deck in the afternoon to play with them. I was sure I was going to have to blow them so she could pop them, but to my complete surprise....

... she is old enough to blow bubbles herself!

Hallelujah! I have waited 3 years for this day. And she had a great time, too.

Good Help

In church today we ended up a little shorthanded. I'm just so grateful for the people in Primary that can step up and do lots of things! Everyone helped out and together we all had a great day in Primary.

One Hour Photos

We helped out at our ward's service project today and Rachael and I ended up as the project photographers. I'm so glad for one hour developing... I was able to touch up all the photos and have them printed out today, and tomorrow I will hang them up on the bulletin board.

Book Club

I love going to Book Club every month... whether I have read the book or not!

This month we read By the Light of the Moon by Dean Koontz. I have to say, it was not my very favorite. He has a gift for storytelling, and I liked the characters, but I can see why his writing is classified as horror. I didn't think it was too scary, but it definitely built that direction. I don't think I'll bother with another Koontz novel but I can see why people enjoy them.

And we had time to play Hand & Foot when the discussion was finished!

Little Old Ladies and Superheroes

This morning Rachael, Alex and I were playing flip-see-do and bonk-a-bonk with the coasters again (this involves flipping the coasters, which are pretend pancakes, with pancake turners). Alex said something about being two years old. I leaned over and told him conspiratorially that Rachael was four, and that makes her an old lady.

Rachael piped up and said, "No, I'm a little old lady."

So there.



This afternoon we were watching 'Last Cake Standing,' which I DVR'd last night. (How did I ever watch TV without the DVR?) They were building Superhero cakes.

Rachael tied on her pink princess blanket and has been running around the house shouting "Super powers!" As near as I can tell she is a Princess Super Hero. What that means, I'm still figuring out.

Sandals Weather

This is our entire family in our SANDALS. Yay for spring!

Remember When

Ryan's birthday was last week, and I spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to do a blog post on the topic, but it's been difficult to find pictures. So here it goes...

Remember when you were 3 years old and you got toy John Deere tractor for your birthday? I don't, but I know you do. The tractor is around here somewhere.


Remember when you turned 31 and we bought you a real tractor? Me too.


Remember when we went skiing for your 23rd birthday? And I forgot my wallet and you had to buy the tickets? Me too. Good thing we were engaged at the time.


Remember when we drove home from Utah on your birthday? Rachael was 7 weeks old. But she was healthy enough to go home, that was the best part.


Remember when my mom and dad visited, and it was your birthday? OK that has really happened too many times to count, but two years ago not only was it your birthday and my parents were visiting, it was Easter, too. At least you got an amazing prime rib for dinner.



Remember when we went to Savannah for your birthday and you caught a redfish? Best birthday ever, I think. Let's try for more of those.



Happy Birthday handsome. I hope in the next couple of years you get more fishing and prime rib. Maybe even a double double with onions. And a new tractor. Love you!

Catching Up

I haven't really meant to neglect this blog all week... it's just that we have been very busy!

Some random thoughts about what I have been thankful for the past week:

• Ballet and Preschool. This last week was spring break for Madison County Schools, so both ballet and preschool were cancelled. I'm glad that we usually have these events for something fun to do during the week.
• Hanging out with friends. Although it was spring break, most of Rachael's friends aren't in school, so we still got to play. One day we went to a gymnastics center with Niki and her three boys - the kids had a great time.
  
• Good weather. We had a wild thunderstorm on Friday complete with tornado warnings. Ice in the winter, tornadoes in the summer; it just makes me glad for all those days in between that are relatively nice. Or at least uneventful.
  
• Easter egg hunt. We had some friends over to hunt for eggs around the house last Saturday, which was way more fun than just watching Rachael look for eggs. We had tons of eggs and five kids - so much fun!
• Temple Trip. Our ward had a temple trip on Saturday, and even provided babysitting at the church next to the temple so we could go as a couple. Ryan and I have just not been to the temple together very often since Rachael was born, and it was a nice opportunity for us.
• My talk is over. Ryan and I were asked to give talks in church yesterday and I spent all week agonizing over it. I think it went all right and I am mostly glad to have it over. Hopefully I can go another five years without giving a talk.
• Easter Dinner. Some friends invited us over for Easter dinner and we had a great time. We split up the cooking duty (which was great) and just really enjoyed hanging out and watching the Masters with them. None of our families live very close, so we are making our own new family traditions with friends.
  

The Best Job

This stay-at-home-mom job has lousy pay, worse hours, and no end in sight. But there are a few priceless moments:


What a giggle-fest. I have another video of Rachael laughing so hard she fell down. Good stuff.

Conference Perks

I love General Conference! For all the good reasons, like hearing our leaders speak and spending quality time in front of the TV and feeling good about for the only time in six months. But there are some other perks that I enjoy, too...

-Pajamas all day. Both days.
-A chance to show Rachael what all our leaders look like.
-Sleeping in. (On Eastern time, the first session doesn't even start until noon).
-Listening to the choir.
-Lots of great food! We had caramel rolls, strawberries, pineapple, cheese & crackers, and of course Diet Coke. (and check the family blog for what we had for dinner... prime rib!)

Restful Sleep

Ahhhh.... sleep. Our mattress has been not quite right since we moved from Colorado three and a half years ago. We have tried lots of things, from replacing the mattress and box springs to putting more support under the box springs to spraying all the metal surfaces with WD40 to building a separate support frame. Last weekend he tore the bed apart again to see what else we could to to potentially fix the problem, and we decided that there was probably some structural support piece missing. He went in the basement and found the exact piece - it's been down there in the basement the whole time!

The short version of this long saga is that the mattress has never been better and we are finally sleeping better. Now if we could just get Rachael to stop screaming in her sleep, we would be all set.

Playdate

We got to have Rachael's friend Camilla over to play today. They spent most of the time going through all the dress-up clothes. They are the most adorable girls! But don't take my word for it... check out the picture.

The fun part for me is having Camilla's mom, Jenny, over to visit too. We're good friends but since the ward split last year we don't see each other as often. It's great to catch up.

Late Night Chatterbox

Things I learned from Rachael in about 10 minutes at 4 AM:

She wants to play Cootie again. The game is all set up still.
It's fun to make up little songs by yourself.
She likes to play with her friend Alex. She likes when they play basketball outside.
Daddy gets upset if you scream at night. (True.)
She still has her coughs. (She's got a little cold).
She is excited about the pizza party at preschool. (On Thursday).
Isn't it fun to play Cootie?
She likes her Cabelas bear. She can't remember if the bear is named Cabela or Camilla, and likes both names, and tries each out repeatedly.
She likes her bear blanket.
She wants to play with her friends.
Can we play Cootie again tomorrow?

And there were lots of other things - she talked for almost 15 minutes straight. I can't remember the rest, but it was 4:00 in the morning. Then I told her it was time to go back to bed.