anniversary trip

We just celebrated our 15th anniversary by taking a trip to Northern Michigan to Sleeping Bear Dunes. Beautiful!!!

picture update

I found some pictures I haven't put up on here, so I decided to do an update.

Rachel and I went birthday shopping one Sunday afternoon to get some presents for her sister.  We had lunch together, a rare occurrence.  As we're starting to eat she says, "So, Mom, what's going on in your life?"  It made me laugh....  We had a fun afternoon.

School ended in May....can't believe I'm going to have a fifth grader and a first grader!  The last year they will both be in elementary school.

This is from Rebecca's birthday

National Donut Day at Krispy Kreme

I took some pictures to give to their Daddy for Father's Day.

This was actually taken on Mother's Day, when we went walking at a new park, but I used them on Father's Day to show how much fun and adventure he adds to their lives.

Since the last pictures I have of my dad and me together are on my wedding day, 15 years ago, we took some new ones this year on Father's Day.

SIX!

This happy, talkative, toothless one turned six yesterday!!

We spent the day with friends at COSI, she got a new scooter, graduated to a bigger bike, and she chose to eat at Red Robin because she wanted them to sing to her.  She insisted on wearing her birthday crown all day because, "How will people know it's my birthday if I don't wear my crown?"  

She likes being noticed.

Love this funny girl!

brief photo update

Rachel was in Drama Club this year.  They put on their play this week, called "Shakespeared."  She played Moth, a dancing fairy.  Her friend Taylor, pictured here, was also a fairy.  Love these sweet girls!

I couldn't get over how old she looked with her hair up....like she went from age 10 to 15 overnight.  Yikes!!

For Mother's Day the girls and I went to see my mom, along with my brothers.

Me and my brood on Mother's Day.  Oh, how I love them!

party time

Rachel wanted a Harry Potter cake for her birthday.  We looked at pictures of possible cakes I could handle making, and this is the one she decided on.  Not one of my best cakes, but she was happy with it, so that's what counts.

TEN!!

TEN?!?! How did that happen? I blinked, and suddenly she's in double digits!! Oh, this sweet, wonderful girl...lover of books, history, art, sparkly things, and celebrating special occasions...she has sparkled and imagined her way through each day since she first entered our lives, and I couldn't be more thankful to be her mom. Happy 10th Birthday to my dear Rachel!!

catching up

Does anyone read this blog anymore, besides my friend, Allecia, who isn't on Facebook and hasn't seen any pictures in awhile and asked me to update it?  If not, then this is just for you, Allecia!

This is before we left for Disney World, while waiting at the airport.  I like it because it's a good picture of all of us, which never happens!

Christmas Eve....so excited!

Rachel wanted her picture taken, and Rebecca decided to join in.

Rebecca lost both bottom teeth in the last couple of months.

A Christmas present from my parents was to go see The Sound of Music with Rachel, her cousin, Emma, and my sister in law, Leslie.  We had a great time!

For Valentine's Day we went to the art museum, where they had a Lego exhibit

Today was 67 degrees and sunny in February!  We spent the afternoon at the park.

And that's a bit of an update.....hope you enjoyed the pictures, Allecia!  ☺️

Joy

Last night was the talent show at Rachel's school.  She wanted to be in it in the worst way, so she came up with this idea to do a skit based on her current favorite movie, Inside Out.  It kind of evolved, but ended up being an interview between her, playing the main character, Joy, and Disgust, one of the other emotions.  

She and her friend wrote the script, with my husband's help, and practiced lots, and they did a great job!  

Proud of our little actress!

a runner

Earlier this fall a couple of moms in Rachel's class decided to start up a chapter of "Girls on the Run" for the girls in her class.  It's a national organization, but there weren't any groups at Rachel's school.  I really wanted Rachel to try it because 1) I'd heard really good things about the program, 2) I thought it would help her get to know the girls in her class a little better, and 3) she's never been very athletic and I thought running was something simple she might be able to do.  She didn't want to do it, but when she found out almost all of the other girls in her class were doing it, she reluctantly decided to give it a try.

So all fall she's been practicing twice a week after school--they do running practice, but they also do different bonding sorts of activities and learn about things like friendship and standing up for yourself and so forth.   She's really enjoyed it, and glad she tried it, except when it comes to the running.  She's struggled all along, something always seems to hurt, and she can't seem to keep up.  

So yesterday I picked her up from practice and she had spent most of the practice in tears, apparently, because her heel had been hurting the whole time and she could barely walk.  She was upset that she might not be able to run in their big 5K race today.  Her heel has bothered her off and on, and we don't know for sure what it is, but it seems like growing pains, as I've read about it.  

So anyway, we went to bed last night not knowing if she'd be able to run today.  

This morning it still hurt, but after icing it and taking ibuprofen she wanted to try to run.  We got there and found out they wanted some parents to go along and help, so Daddy got to go with her to make sure she made it, since we weren't sure she could.

Rebecca and I walked over to part of the course to get pictures and I got a call when they were getting close so I'd know to look for them.  She was running strong and SO excited.

Rebecca and I then booked it to the finish line, but sadly, not quite fast enough (Rebecca has little legs and we couldn't move as fast!).  So I didn't get a picture of her crossing the finish line, but this is just after she finished.  She was so proud of herself.  And I couldn't have been more proud of her.

Apparently she said halfway through the race, "Dad, when's the next 5K?  Can we sign up for another one?"  

Her heel hurt the whole time, but she kept going--that's a big deal for my child with a low pain tolerance who cries when she brushes her hair with a snarl in it!

This is her team....they all finished.  She was in the first group from her school, and they waited at the finished line and cheered on the rest of her classmates as they finished several minutes later.  

One of the coaches told us the story today about how early on in the practices Rachel was upset about her struggle and said, "I'm not really a runner."  The coach, who was running with her at practice, told her, "Well, you're running now, so that makes you a runner!"  Today she gave Rachel a big hug and said, "See?  I told you you are a runner!"  

So proud of our runner, who pushed through her pain and persevered.  She's so proud of herself and has been wearing her medal all day.  She's told me about five times, "I can't believe I did that!"  

catch up

I realized the other day that I didn't post the whole month of September.  And here it is over halfway through October without a post, too.  Does anyone even read this blog anymore?  I guess I can't blame anyone if they don't, since I never post!  I don't think there are many, but I guess for the sake of my family's history, I do want to keep it up....

The girls just finished the first quarter of school.  They both like it and are doing fine.  We had parent teacher conferences this week and received good news about their progress.  We are very proud of them both.  

Rebecca loves doing her homework!  

This was taken at a social event at Rachel's school.  I wish it wasn't blurry, but I love how excited Rachel looks.  Definitely something I love most about Rachel, is her enthusiasm and zest for life.

Rachel became a Junior Girl Scout this fall.  This is the first time I'm not leading her troop.  

The original plan was that I would lead a troop for Rebecca.  But then cancer came on the scene and I decided this wasn't the best timing for that.  We're still waiting for a troop to form for her.  

I finished radiation a couple of weeks ago, so I'm enjoying some freedom in the mornings while the girls are at school.

Brian took the girls to Mammoth Cave with Rachel's friend, Taylor, her sister, and their dad.  They had fun, though they were all exhausted when they got home!

And next week we go to Disney World!  We surprised the girls recently with the news, and they are beyond thrilled.

Today and tomorrow there is no school because of conferences.  I took advantage of the day with most kids in school and took the girls to COSI.  These was a visiting Lego exhibit, which they loved.

Oh, and this picture makes me laugh--it's in the "Progress" section at COSI, where you go back in time.  Rebecca has never seen a real phone booth or pay phone, but here she looks like an old pro at using one, doesn't she?

So that just about sums up October, September and August in the World of Weed!