Remember how much Rachel wanted to see The Nutcracker last year?
Well, the commercials started on TV and the radio a week or so ago. As soon as they started she started asking if we could go this year. I told her we'd only go if we won tickets (there are different places that give away tickets, and I always enter).
Last year I wanted to win them so badly, but we didn't. Then my dad saved the day and bought her tickets so we could go see it.
Yesterday on facebook one of the places that gives away tickets (and the same place where I won tickets to go to the water park this summer) started their giveaway. They had 10 sets of tickets to give away. I emailed everyone in my family and asked them to enter for us. They said they'd announce the winners at noon today.
And I just found out that my dad won!!!!
So we'll be going to see The Nutcracker!
Now I just hope it's a day that we can actually go....they didn't say whether it's a specific day or whether we can use them any day. Oh, she would be so devastated if we couldn't use them! I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Hooray!!!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
giving thanks
We spent a great few days celebrating Thanksgiving with my family last week. It was lots of fun with lots of family and lots of food.
Rachel and Rebecca had the best time playing with their cousins and grandparents.
Unfortunately I don't have much in the way of pictures. We were too busy enjoying ourselves to take them, I guess. Here we are during Thanksgiving dinner:
My husband and I got to see a movie and do a little Christmas shopping, and I even got to shop with my mom and aunt, something we used to do every year on Black Friday, but hadn't happened in years, so that was fun.
Rebecca and Grandpa playing dominos:
I can't believe that with Thanksgiving over, we're already in the throes of Christmas preparations. It seems like it's SO early this year. I have a huge chunk of my shopping done, which is a good feeling.
Monday night we had our Girl Scout meeting at the community center so that the girls could climb the climbing wall there. Rachel was pretty afraid, and there were tears involved at first, but I was really proud of her for continuing to try and each time she got a little bit better. She still couldn't climb up near the top like a few of the other girls (she told me, through tears, that it was because she doesn't eat enough meat, so she's not strong enough!), but she stuck with it, improved, and she ended up having a great time, which is progress for Rachel, who is fearful of new things.
Here she is:
Rachel and Rebecca had the best time playing with their cousins and grandparents.
Unfortunately I don't have much in the way of pictures. We were too busy enjoying ourselves to take them, I guess. Here we are during Thanksgiving dinner:
My husband and I got to see a movie and do a little Christmas shopping, and I even got to shop with my mom and aunt, something we used to do every year on Black Friday, but hadn't happened in years, so that was fun.
Rebecca and Grandpa playing dominos:
I can't believe that with Thanksgiving over, we're already in the throes of Christmas preparations. It seems like it's SO early this year. I have a huge chunk of my shopping done, which is a good feeling.
Monday night we had our Girl Scout meeting at the community center so that the girls could climb the climbing wall there. Rachel was pretty afraid, and there were tears involved at first, but I was really proud of her for continuing to try and each time she got a little bit better. She still couldn't climb up near the top like a few of the other girls (she told me, through tears, that it was because she doesn't eat enough meat, so she's not strong enough!), but she stuck with it, improved, and she ended up having a great time, which is progress for Rachel, who is fearful of new things.
Here she is:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
tidbits
There's not been a lot of exciting news around here, so I feel like the blog has been a little lean lately. Life is full and busy and good, though...just not that exciting to write about! But I thought I'd share some little bits and pieces of life around here.
*Rebecca is the little social butterfly of the bus stop. Every adult knows her, since she engages them all in conversation each morning. Now the bigger kids know who she is, too, and several of them (mostly girls, but sometimes a couple of boys, too), talk to her. At the end of the day there aren't many other adults at the bus stop (I guess parents think it's okay to let their elementary students walk home alone?!), but there's always one other mom there waiting, and she and Rebecca carry on conversations each afternoon. Yesterday the woman's older daughter was there waiting instead (she's college-aged). Rebecca went right up to her and started talking to her. What did they talk about? "This is my foot," Rebecca would tell her. "Yes, it is!" the girl would respond. "There's a diaper on my bottom," Rebecca declared. After laughing the girl said, "Oh, okay!" And on and on, one statement after another--mostly about body parts. Oh, that girl....
*Rachel lost another tooth this week--her seventh. When I was her age I hadn't lost my first tooth yet! Crazy!
*We decided not to let Rachel sleep over at the party I wrote about last week. She's going to the party and staying until close to bedtime. She is pretty okay with the whole thing, so I'm thankful. I expected a much bigger reaction when I told her she couldn't stay, but she was pretty nervous about sleeping somewhere else.
*Rachel and Rebecca fight like cats and dogs. Whatever one has, the other one wants. Rebecca's in the non-sharing phase of being two years old, so I expect it, but Rachel? She's supposed to be past that stage. But she's also in this really frustrating tattle tale stage, though, so even if sharing isn't the issue with her, she's constantly telling on Rebecca who's not sharing. It's constant, and so annoying to listen to! They play well together for short periods of time, and those moments are heavenly, but sadly, they don't last very long most of the time.
Tomorrow we head north for Thanksgiving with my family. Usually we'd be there by now, but because my husband started a new job last spring, he doesn't have much vacation time built up yet, so he has to work today. Thankfully he was able to take Friday off--we originally thought he was only going to get Thursday off. So that means we can spend a few days there, which is much better than I was expecting. But I wish I was there today!
Happy Thanksgiving!
*Rebecca is the little social butterfly of the bus stop. Every adult knows her, since she engages them all in conversation each morning. Now the bigger kids know who she is, too, and several of them (mostly girls, but sometimes a couple of boys, too), talk to her. At the end of the day there aren't many other adults at the bus stop (I guess parents think it's okay to let their elementary students walk home alone?!), but there's always one other mom there waiting, and she and Rebecca carry on conversations each afternoon. Yesterday the woman's older daughter was there waiting instead (she's college-aged). Rebecca went right up to her and started talking to her. What did they talk about? "This is my foot," Rebecca would tell her. "Yes, it is!" the girl would respond. "There's a diaper on my bottom," Rebecca declared. After laughing the girl said, "Oh, okay!" And on and on, one statement after another--mostly about body parts. Oh, that girl....
*Rachel lost another tooth this week--her seventh. When I was her age I hadn't lost my first tooth yet! Crazy!
*We decided not to let Rachel sleep over at the party I wrote about last week. She's going to the party and staying until close to bedtime. She is pretty okay with the whole thing, so I'm thankful. I expected a much bigger reaction when I told her she couldn't stay, but she was pretty nervous about sleeping somewhere else.
*Rachel and Rebecca fight like cats and dogs. Whatever one has, the other one wants. Rebecca's in the non-sharing phase of being two years old, so I expect it, but Rachel? She's supposed to be past that stage. But she's also in this really frustrating tattle tale stage, though, so even if sharing isn't the issue with her, she's constantly telling on Rebecca who's not sharing. It's constant, and so annoying to listen to! They play well together for short periods of time, and those moments are heavenly, but sadly, they don't last very long most of the time.
Tomorrow we head north for Thanksgiving with my family. Usually we'd be there by now, but because my husband started a new job last spring, he doesn't have much vacation time built up yet, so he has to work today. Thankfully he was able to take Friday off--we originally thought he was only going to get Thursday off. So that means we can spend a few days there, which is much better than I was expecting. But I wish I was there today!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
best night of her life
Rachel declared last night, "The best night of my LIFE!" In 6.5 years, that means it ranked first out of approximately 2,372 nights. Wow!
So aren't you dying to know what made it the best night of her life?
We went to the tree lighting ceremony at a local shopping center.
I know, it doesn't sound very exciting, but we had heard from quite a few people that it was really neat, so we decided to give it a try, since it wasn't too terribly cold and it was a weekend, and it started at 6:00, which wasn't too late for our girls.
We had to wait outside for about a half hour to save our space on the parade route (there's a Christmas parade beforehand--Santa comes in at the end of the parade on a horse drawn carriage and goes up to the tree to do the lighting, and then he's there for the rest of the Christmas season to allow thousands of children to sit on his knee and tell him what they want for Christmas.
Here we are waiting for it to get dark and for the parade to start.
I didn't get many pictures of the whole event. I only took my little camera, and the battery was practically dead, and the pictures were taking VERY slowly. I was lucky to get anything.
Rebecca watching the parade
One of the characters in the parade
Rachel jumped and squealed with glee. She LOVED it all. Rebecca didn't quite know what was going on, but she liked it.
When Santa lit the big tree there were fireworks. I couldn't get any good pictures of it because of the timing issue with my camera, but here's what I got. You can kind of see the fireworks on the left, just starting to go up into the sky.
Rachel was squealing with excitement during the fireworks. It was worth the hassle (and it wasn't a huge hassle, but a little one, fighting traffic, waiting out in the cold, dealing with Rebecca's fussiness because she wanted out of her stroller the whole night....) just to see Rachel so excited.
On the way out to our car she declared it the best night of her life. Guess we didn't have to take her to Disney World a few years ago and see the fireworks there over Cinderella's castle. We'll just take her down the street to the shopping center every year from now on!
So aren't you dying to know what made it the best night of her life?
We went to the tree lighting ceremony at a local shopping center.
I know, it doesn't sound very exciting, but we had heard from quite a few people that it was really neat, so we decided to give it a try, since it wasn't too terribly cold and it was a weekend, and it started at 6:00, which wasn't too late for our girls.
We had to wait outside for about a half hour to save our space on the parade route (there's a Christmas parade beforehand--Santa comes in at the end of the parade on a horse drawn carriage and goes up to the tree to do the lighting, and then he's there for the rest of the Christmas season to allow thousands of children to sit on his knee and tell him what they want for Christmas.
Here we are waiting for it to get dark and for the parade to start.
I didn't get many pictures of the whole event. I only took my little camera, and the battery was practically dead, and the pictures were taking VERY slowly. I was lucky to get anything.
Rebecca watching the parade
One of the characters in the parade
Rachel jumped and squealed with glee. She LOVED it all. Rebecca didn't quite know what was going on, but she liked it.
When Santa lit the big tree there were fireworks. I couldn't get any good pictures of it because of the timing issue with my camera, but here's what I got. You can kind of see the fireworks on the left, just starting to go up into the sky.
Rachel was squealing with excitement during the fireworks. It was worth the hassle (and it wasn't a huge hassle, but a little one, fighting traffic, waiting out in the cold, dealing with Rebecca's fussiness because she wanted out of her stroller the whole night....) just to see Rachel so excited.
On the way out to our car she declared it the best night of her life. Guess we didn't have to take her to Disney World a few years ago and see the fireworks there over Cinderella's castle. We'll just take her down the street to the shopping center every year from now on!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
another look-alike
We've always thought Rachel looked just like me.
But here's proof that Rebecca's definitely mine, too....
But here's proof that Rebecca's definitely mine, too....
Monday, November 12, 2012
to sleepover or not to sleepover...
Rachel just got her first invitation to a sleepover. It's a birthday party for twin girls she's friends with (who I watched this summer for a couple of weeks) and who are in Girl Scouts with her. She's thrilled.
I'm not.
I just think six (well, the twins are turning seven...but Rachel and many of the girls are still six) is too young for a sleepover. But maybe I'm a stick in the mud. I don't want to be the only mom who makes her daughter come home early and not sleep over. I haven't decided yet what to do.
I don't remember how old I was when I first slept over somewhere else. Rachel's done it before at Grandma's house, but that's it. I don't know how she'd do--whether she'd be scared or sad or homesick, or maybe she'd be perfectly fine and I'm just afraid to let go. I don't know. I remember the slumber parties I went to in elementary school for a girl who had them every year, and I really didn't like them much, once late night came and there were no longer organized activities. But that's because I never quite fit in and wasn't comfortable. Rachel doesn't have that problem yet.
It's right down the street from our house, so I tell myself that if she needs to come home, it's not a big deal to go get her, but do I really want her to have to go through that yet?
I don't know what to do. What would you do if it was your six year old?
I'm not.
I just think six (well, the twins are turning seven...but Rachel and many of the girls are still six) is too young for a sleepover. But maybe I'm a stick in the mud. I don't want to be the only mom who makes her daughter come home early and not sleep over. I haven't decided yet what to do.
I don't remember how old I was when I first slept over somewhere else. Rachel's done it before at Grandma's house, but that's it. I don't know how she'd do--whether she'd be scared or sad or homesick, or maybe she'd be perfectly fine and I'm just afraid to let go. I don't know. I remember the slumber parties I went to in elementary school for a girl who had them every year, and I really didn't like them much, once late night came and there were no longer organized activities. But that's because I never quite fit in and wasn't comfortable. Rachel doesn't have that problem yet.
It's right down the street from our house, so I tell myself that if she needs to come home, it's not a big deal to go get her, but do I really want her to have to go through that yet?
I don't know what to do. What would you do if it was your six year old?
Friday, November 09, 2012
true love
Oh, Rachel...my little drama queen. I'm always a little nervous to go pick her up from the bus stop at the end of the day because I never know what to expect. Sometimes she gets off the bus crying, sometimes she comes running to me and tells me something shocking she said or did at school, but it's always dramatic, no matter what it is. So though I'm always happy to see her, I'm always a little scared of what I'll find out when she comes home.
So yesterday she came off smiling--always a good sign--and came running to me. First she told me that M, a friend of hers from down the street, was a car rider this morning, and that's why she hadn't been on the bus, and then, out of nowhere, she declared, "Mommy, I found my true love!" After my initial shock, I said, "WHAT???" and she repeated herself. I asked her a few questions, though I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I found out she doesn't know his name, he's older than she is, he has black hair, and he's really funny. He rides her bus and is at her bus stop. I told her she could show him to me sometime. "Only, he doesn't know he's my true love, Mommy," she told me. I told her it would be better if he didn't know. That boys didn't like to hear things like that.
And then I dropped it, because I really don't want to encourage that sort of thing by making it into a big deal, but I couldn't stop laughing about it to myself. I couldn't wait for my husband to come home so I could tell him. That girl is hilarious. My sister in law commented on facebook, "She's a living Disney Princess!" That she is. She reminds me of Giselle, the main character in that movie, Enchanted. A real, live Disney Princess. She hasn't seen that movie yet, but I'm sure that when she does, she'll have found a kindred spirit.
In other news, I found a Doc McStuffins doll! They were in stock on the Toys R Us website today (I've looked every day for a week, since I first found out that this was the hottest toy of the season). I'll feel better when it's actually in my hands, but I'm thrilled to have found one. Yay!
So yesterday she came off smiling--always a good sign--and came running to me. First she told me that M, a friend of hers from down the street, was a car rider this morning, and that's why she hadn't been on the bus, and then, out of nowhere, she declared, "Mommy, I found my true love!" After my initial shock, I said, "WHAT???" and she repeated herself. I asked her a few questions, though I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I found out she doesn't know his name, he's older than she is, he has black hair, and he's really funny. He rides her bus and is at her bus stop. I told her she could show him to me sometime. "Only, he doesn't know he's my true love, Mommy," she told me. I told her it would be better if he didn't know. That boys didn't like to hear things like that.
And then I dropped it, because I really don't want to encourage that sort of thing by making it into a big deal, but I couldn't stop laughing about it to myself. I couldn't wait for my husband to come home so I could tell him. That girl is hilarious. My sister in law commented on facebook, "She's a living Disney Princess!" That she is. She reminds me of Giselle, the main character in that movie, Enchanted. A real, live Disney Princess. She hasn't seen that movie yet, but I'm sure that when she does, she'll have found a kindred spirit.
In other news, I found a Doc McStuffins doll! They were in stock on the Toys R Us website today (I've looked every day for a week, since I first found out that this was the hottest toy of the season). I'll feel better when it's actually in my hands, but I'm thrilled to have found one. Yay!
Sunday, November 04, 2012
time for your checkup
I mentioned a week or two ago that Rebecca's newest obsession is playing doctor because she loves watching Doc McStuffins on Disney Jr. Our toy stethoscope is the most played with toy in our house right now.
About a month ago I saw a toy while browsing at the store that I knew would be PERFECT for her for Christmas. I told Rachel about it and she said she wanted to give it to Rebecca for Christmas. Well, I didn't buy it, because I wanted to wait until a time when Rachel and I could go together to buy it, since she would be giving it to her.
Today I was looking for it online and realized that it's sold out everywhere online. Then I read that it's now the #1 toy for girls for this Christmas and it's going to be very hard to find. I'm so mad at myself--why didn't I buy it when I saw it last month?????? I know....I didn't know it was going to be the hottest toy of the season, but still, I'm so mad.
So if any of my local friends happen to see one, will you call me????
It's called the Doc McStuffins Time for Your Checkup doll--it's a full sized doll and it comes with a plush Lambie (Doc's stuffed animal). Doc has a stethoscope around her neck and you push it and it talks and plays music from the show.
Target carries them, as do Meijer and Toys R Us. I haven't seen them anywhere else (except Amazon and ebay for a MUCH higher price). Keep your eyes peeled for me!
Here's what it looks like:
http://www.target.com/p/doc-mcstuffins-time-for-your-check-up/-/A-14107287#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=time for your checkup
About a month ago I saw a toy while browsing at the store that I knew would be PERFECT for her for Christmas. I told Rachel about it and she said she wanted to give it to Rebecca for Christmas. Well, I didn't buy it, because I wanted to wait until a time when Rachel and I could go together to buy it, since she would be giving it to her.
Today I was looking for it online and realized that it's sold out everywhere online. Then I read that it's now the #1 toy for girls for this Christmas and it's going to be very hard to find. I'm so mad at myself--why didn't I buy it when I saw it last month?????? I know....I didn't know it was going to be the hottest toy of the season, but still, I'm so mad.
So if any of my local friends happen to see one, will you call me????
It's called the Doc McStuffins Time for Your Checkup doll--it's a full sized doll and it comes with a plush Lambie (Doc's stuffed animal). Doc has a stethoscope around her neck and you push it and it talks and plays music from the show.
Target carries them, as do Meijer and Toys R Us. I haven't seen them anywhere else (except Amazon and ebay for a MUCH higher price). Keep your eyes peeled for me!
Here's what it looks like:
http://www.target.com/p/doc-mcstuffins-time-for-your-check-up/-/A-14107287#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=time for your checkup
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