1st grade picnic

After serving hot dogs, chips, and grapes to everyone, I joined the crowd to eat. Alli had saved me a place in the shade, her kindness was very welcomed!
Beach balls were distributed and the real fun began. Normally, the kids have to stay on the school playground, but there is a park in the same field behind the school that the kids only get to play in on special occasions such as the end-of-the-year picnic.
After getting good and sweaty, the ice cream truck rolled into town. Really, he just met us at the back side of the park so as to not upset any of the other school kids enjoying recess, but not in on our 1st grade bash. Mrs. Lamb, Alli's incredible teacher, helped her choose her ice cream. It is SO hard when there are so many yummy treats!
It was a rainbow pop today for my beautiful girl! She was very excited to get the treat directly from the ice cream truck. *Ahem*cough* I try to ignore the bell when our ice cream Jeep rolls down the street...but maybe this summer we will treat ourselves a time or two. YUM!
The heat made the pop melt fast! But it was delicious down to the last DRIP!
Oh boy, was Rachel excited when she found out I brought her home a beach ball, too!

Zoo fun

Rachel and I are really enjoying some one-on-one time these last few days before school lets out. Today we went to the zoo. She was explaining to me that the otter's pool was really for her and showing me how she would hold her breath under water. Too cute!
Quite the animal lover, Rachel loved playing with this tiger giving it hugs and kisses since the real ones were taking their naps.
A highlight was watching Rach get close up to the giraffes. This one was born just this spring and was very polite when taking it's wafers.
Despite contending with several bus loads of school kids today, we managed to see most the animals, have a picnic lunch and play at the zoo park. Then we headed out for ice cream on a cone. It was very important that it be on a cone today. I can tell she had a great time and was worn out because when we were on our way to get ice cream she was telling me how much she was enjoying her new big bed, lol. No problems with naptime today!

My Princess Mermaid

Here is the swimsuit we have searched for. This is for all those days this summer that she won't be able to "dress up", but you can find us at the pool in a tutu (plus it is really comfy. Many of the ones with a skirt had the seem inside which bothered her). Although it is warm outside, it is still a bit chilly for the pool, so Rachel had a blast playing in her water sink. We are really looking forward to using the neighborhood pool this summer!!

Bridging Ceremony

Since I had to get to the school early to help set up, Rachel got bored and tried out her own form of entertainment.
Alli's girl scout troop of 23 girls all bridged from daisies to brownies. The girls were all involved in the planning of the ceremony and decorations.
Allison is receiving her brownie pin.
In the fall, the girls adopted a section of garden in front of their school. They bought plants and mulch from the money they earned selling cookies. This spring, as we enjoyed many flowers in full bloom including over 60 tulips, the garden was vandalized. However, less than 48 hours passed when anonymously someone replanted our garden. What an awesome lesson for the girls.

Arbor complete

My latest project has been finding Double Knockout Roses for a great deal $. Last year I only found 2 on clearance plus I added 2 hibiscuses on either side. This year, I went for the slightly smaller plants at 50% off and finished filling in along our retaining wall. In a year or two, it will be a solid wall of roses. Beautiful!
My white rose plant was a gift that I transferred from my old house to this one. It almost didn't survive the winter, but seems to be blossoming fine now.
Here is the final work Darren did on the arbor. Pavers in place, and retaining stones leveled, I could finally go shopping for roses!! I had a hard time finding them since it is no longer the beginning of planting season, but settled on a yellow climber and Jacob's Robe that is multi-colored.
I also added 2 mandevilla plants to help fill in until I can get more climbing roses for the back side of the arbor next year (or this year if I can find more I like). Either way, there will be color in our back yard this year!
Mandevilla buds.
Alli and I enjoyed some time on the bench this afternoon after school. I love stealing little moments like this with her before Rachel wakes from her nap.

Monday started out dark, windy and rainy. A good day to stay home and do house work. Working on vacuuming, Rachel took refuge in my room. I went to check on her and she had found a cozy spot in my bed. I couldn't believe when she ended up taking a 3 hour nap! I think she got her fairy tales mixed up instead of being Snow White, she ended up as Sleeping Beauty.

Rachel sleeping in my room gave me the chance I had been looking for to switch her bed. I had dismantled her crib a while back, but had not removed it from her room. Her twin bed was stored in our basement. After a lot of mattress switching, I managed to get all the pieces in her room. The only thing I'm waiting for is her comforter to go in the comforter cover I'd ordered. I searched high and low to find the perfect one to match her walls so I would NOT have to repaint them.

I went to a meeting at church in the evening and came home to this. A wonderful husband who had not only put the bed together, but put all the sheets and covers on. I still don't have the comforter, but I know it is almost done (it is being hand-made by Darren's aunt) and Rachel slept in her "Big Bed" (as opposed to her "big girl bed" that we call her toddler bed).

This is a very happy 3 year old to be getting a bed just like her big sister!
Rachel and Darren perched on the bed. Great bonding time for the 2. This photo also pictures some of the flowers I made for Rachel before she was born containing her monogram.

Mother's Day

Rachel was putting her hand prints down on the walk-of-fame. I finally gave her a shovel and she was quite content playing in the dirt in a different part of the yard.
My Mother's Day gift is phase 2 of the arbor. Last year, he designed and built the arbor. This year, we are putting in the pavers and adding a bench to watch the kids play.
Darren's leveling technique included string, a mini leveler, and a scrap piece of 2x4 to level the sand and the pavers.
Rachel and I sitting on the bench that will soon have a nice new home.
My Mother's Day was very laid back after a one day trip to KC and back the day before, which included an extra passenger, Darren's Grandpa Ed. We went to celebrate Darren's cousin graduating college as an RN. We are all so proud of her! We spent the afternoon in good company playing a fun new yard game. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but Darren took measurements so I'm hoping to make the game soon and share it with friends and family.

Then on Mother's Day, we went to Darren's mom's house for home-made burgers. Rachel need to catch up on sleep so we hung around the house the rest of the day. Alli started on her first research project on cats. Can't believe they are already doing research in 1st grade!!

I sure missed my mom on Mother's Day, but that happens when her 3 kids are spread in 3 different states. We are planning a get-together before Mom and Dad leave the country. Looking forward to the company!

Fire Station

Our last Mommy-and-Me event with my MOPS group was a visit to the local fire station that is located just behind my house a couple of blocks. A few months ago, Rachel got a lesson at her Parents Day Out (PDO) about fire safety. She now points out every fire alarm in every building. She's gotten really good at spotting them! I thought she'd love the fire trucks, but not so much.
It was all I could do to get her to climb up in the huge rig to take a picture with me. Their smaller tanker gets 6 miles to the gallon and the ladder truck gets a lucky 2 miles to the gallon!
Needless to say, Rachel was NOT impressed with the jaws of life.
Her FAVORITE part was climbing on the trailer of the boats. She was fascinated by them and thought it was neat that they were "blow up" boats.


Rach was very proud of her fire station tattoo and showed everyone. After the fire station, a big group of us headed to Chick-fil-A to let the kids really play. After such a busy morning, she took a great nap for me!!

Update on Momma bird

Here is our baby Morning Doves just one day before they took flight. We saw their Momma watching over them for about two days. I even spotted the male bird a time or two. Then, low-and-behold, Momma came back to the nest with another egg. Just one this time. She knows how much more work it is to have twins! Yes, I can fully appreciate all the hard work my mom went through now that I'm a mom. I am a twin and can't imagine having to take care of more than just one at a time. So, we cleaned up the mess from the other babies and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of another (in about 3 weeks).

Duckling Sleepover

This past weekend, Alli got to take her class project home. Yes, 2 live ducklings. Their unit is on organisms so they got 9 eggs from a hatchery and saw the whole process from the birds hatching up to 2 weeks old. We named them Joe and Oreo.
Alli was very gentle and kind to the ducks. She was experienced with them since they had been in the classroom for 2 weeks.
Rachel, on the other hand, wanted to squeeze them to death. She was extremely excited to hold them. Then again, she is my bug catching, animal loving girl. I'm sure she would be extremely excited to have any type of animal living with us, but alas, she is stuck with our fish.
Yes, Rachel was loving on this duckling a little too much!
The pure yellow duck with a mohalk is Joe.
And, of course, the black and yellow duck is Oreo. He was definitely the head honcho of the two.
Playtime in the tub...needless to say, the girls took a shower the next morning instead of a bath. I needed to scrub it down good after they were in there!
Alli wrote in the observation journal at the end of the ducks stay. I asked her to write neatly and she did an excellent job!!