Nursery Rhyme Day

The K4 classes at Rachel's school have been studying nursery rhymes this month. They ended their study with a nursery rhyme dress up day today. Rachel went as one of the "3 Blind Mice".

Our weekend...

On Friday, I kept a friend's daughter while she was working since her husband is away on a mission trip. The little girl just turned two, but she loves playing with Rachel. And, Abigail loved having her here so it worked out quite nicely. While she was here, we spent some time outside on the swingset. It was Abigail's first time to swing. Here's a picture of Abigail swinging.



After my friend picked up her daughter, we loaded up in the car and headed to visit Jeremy's family in Searcy. Jeremy's younger brother, Micah, just graduated from Marine boot camp and was home for the week. We wanted to visit with him before he had to head back to San Diego. Also, Jeremy's parents were unable to make it to the girls' birthday parties so they had presents waiting for them. We had a nice visit and headed back home. We got back sometime after midnight. Here is a picture of Micah, Jeremy and Rachel.



Since we had such a late night, we all slept in on Saturday. When we got up, we spent some time outside. Jeremy wanted to work on painting our storage building. I gave both dogs a trim and trimmed their nails. Abigail played in the grass for a bit and napped inside for a bit. Rachel had gotten a bug net, bug box and magnifying glass from her Nana B. and Papa D. the night before and wanted to try them out. She spent most of the day catching different kinds of bugs. Here is a picture of her with her first catch, a butterfly.

Out of the mouths of babes...

Rachel just came in from playing outside to ask me about putting on some sunscreen. Since it is so late in the day, I told her that she didn't need any now. On her way back out she stopped and raised her arms with hands above her head and said, "I'm just praising the Lord." I said, "Baby, why are you doing that right now?" She said, "Sometimes, I just have to stop what I am doing and praise His name."

Rachel's Birthday

Today is Rachel's birthday. Jeremy took the day off from work to spend time with us. We took the girls to the zoo. It was a cool, but beautiful day. After the zoo, we came home to let the girls get a nap. While they rested, Jeremy worked in the yard and I ran some errands. After I got home, we got the girls ready and headed to have dinner at Rachel's favorite place, Olive Garden. We had a great day together. I can't believe that my baby is already 5!

Rachel's 5th Birthday Party

Rachel will be 5 on Monday. It is very hard to believe that she is already about to be 5 years old. How time flies! We had her 5th birthday party today at our home. She wanted to have her party here so that her friends could play Mario Kart on the Wii and play outside on her swingset. Her only other request was that she have a pinata. In addition to playing inside and outside and breaking the pinata, the kids also played bingo and enjoyed pizza, cake and ice cream. I know that Rachel had a really good time and I think that everyone enjoyed it.

We were surprised by Gramsy and Gramps (my Mom and Stepdad) who weren't supposed to get to come to the party. Rachel was excited to see them. They stayed the night her and after the party, we went to have dinner at On the Border.

Easter Weekend

After we had the portraits made on Friday, we took the girls to see the Easter bunny at the mall. On Saturday, we took the girls to the Southaven Easter Egg Hunt. Abigail didn't care much about it, but Rachel had a great time. She played at the park and when it was time for the hunt, she got so many eggs that she actually came back to get Abigail's basket to fill, too. Saturday evening, Rachel and I dyed eggs and made resurrection cookies. On Sunday, we took some pics before we headed to church. Rachel got her Easter basket before church and Abigail got her basket after church. We enjoyed the weekend together.

Birthday & Easter Portraits

These are the portraits that we had taken today at Sears. The poor photographer was left totally by herself on Good Friday when her coworker decided not to show up. I am sad to say that we had very few pics that I was "in love with". Normally, we end up with so many good portraits that it is hard for me to choose which ones I like the best. That wasn't the case today. There are a few good ones in this group, though. Sadly, our attempt as Easter pictures didn't really happen. We did get a few birthday poses that I like, though. Hope you enjoy.

Rachel's Easter Party & Egg Hunt

Today, Rachel had an Easter party at school. Abigail and I stayed at the school all day, too. Rachel and her classmates had a fun day of crafts, an egg hunt and a special lunch. Here is a slideshow from the day.

Abigail's One Year Checkup

I took Abigail for her one year checkup today. She was off the growth chart for height. She is 31.5" tall and weighs 21 lbs, 2 oz. I was sad to find out that ahe has yet another ear infection so she is starting another 10 day round of antibiotics. After her appointment, we went to the mall for a little fun and shopping.