graduation day

Even though she has almost two weeks left of school, Rachel graduated from preschool today!  ( I don't know why they do it when school's not done yet, but oh well!)

Each student receives a character award, such as "Caring," "Sharing," "Friendliness," and so forth.  Last year Rachel received, "Decisiveness: Able to Make Up My Mind."  I was sure it was just a nice way of saying that she knows what she wants when she wants it....in other words, she's stubborn.  This year she received, "Eagerness: Being Excited about Doing a Task," and that pretty much sums up Rachel's character to a "T!"  Here she is receiving her award.

The graduation ceremony consists of marching in to "Pomp and Circumstance," listening to the kids sing a few songs (which she's been telling us about for weeks), and handing out the awards.  Afterwards there is a reception with cookies and punch (Rachel's been talking about that part for quite awhile, too!).  Here they were singing a song.

Daddy took off work so he could come.  And this year Rebecca was there to cheer her on as well.  Last year I was one day away from giving birth at graduation.  This year we're one day away from celebrating her first birthday!  I can't believe how fast the year has gone.

We're so proud of our little graduate.  Here she is with her wonderful teacher, Ms. Lesa.

I'm still in denial about the fact that she's starting kindergarten (in a public school, which terrifies me) in a few short months!  Time, slow down.....NOW!  My babies are growing up way, way too fast.

at the zoo, round two!

Yesterday was another beautiful day and we decided to spend some time as a family at the zoo.  It was the first time we had all gone together in several years and we had a fun time. 

Enjoy the pictures!

today

Busy day here....

Ballet

Then Rachel's friend Katy's birthday party (it was a gardening party!).  Rachel had a great time--thanks so much, Katy and family!

Rebecca came along for the ride....until Daddy came and got her and took her home to nap.

Finally a beautiful day to be outside!

butterflies

On Rachel's birthday she got a butterfly cage, which she had been asking for for almost a year (she first saw them right after her birthday last year).  I sent away for the caterpillars, which arrived a few days after her birthday.  We watched them grow, make their cocoons, and then come out as butterflies.  She loved the whole process and gave daily reports on their progress each morning.

Last week, when we actually had nice weather (this week has been TERRIBLE--grey, rainy, cold, and just dreary), we let our butterflies go.

This one didn't fly right away, and I noticed that his wings weren't formed quite right.

It did manage to fly away, eventually, though, and hopefully it survived okay.

Rebecca could've cared less about the butterflies, but she loved being outside!

summer in the spring

After no spring-like weather to speak of in March, April, and most of May so far, the last two days have been very summer-y! 
Today Rachel asked to have a picnic, so we met Daddy at the park for his lunch break and enjoyed a picnic and some playing at the playground.

Rebecca takes her shoes off every chance she gets, so that's why she's in her socks.

Speaking of Rebecca, I've discovered recently that she LOVES books.  The last couple of days she's sat by herself and looked at her books forever.  Not even eating them (which is what she used to do with books).  She actually turns the pages and looks at them! 

So sweet!

(Of course, now she eats toy cameras instead!)

because I'm five now

Rachel's new phrase (since April 9th) is, "because I'm five years old now!"  As in....

*I like jelly on my peanut butter sandwiches now because I'm five years old!

*I'm good at coloring now because I'm five years old!

*I can stay up late because I'm five years old now!

*I'm a good dancer because I'm five years old now!

*I can climb this rope ladder because I'm five now!

*I can ride my bike without training wheels because I'm five years old now! (note: she still has training wheels, and it's highly unlikely that they'll come off anytime soon, judging by the trouble she has riding her bike, but she likes to think she could do it, because, after all, she's five now!)

....and on and on.  I hear this phrase at least once a day and it always makes me laugh.  She thinks she's so grown up now.

at the zoo

Rachel's last preschool field trip was yesterday--their annual trip to the zoo.  Last year I didn't go because I was in the final stages of pregnancy, and didn't want to walk around the zoo all day with a four year old, so Grandma saved the day and took her.  This year, though, I went, and Rebecca got to tag along, too. 

I took the bigger stroller, because I knew I'd need the bigger basket to carry everything.  And even then, it was overflowing!  It started out as a cold morning, so we needed warmer clothes.  But then it was going to get warmer, so we needed lighter jackets.  So those were all in the basket, along with lunches, diapers, and all of the other ten million things a baby needs for a day out and about. 

Rachel had a great time, and overall Rebecca was a pretty good girl.

Polar bears

Flamingos (Rachel hung out with her friends Blake and Seth, who you see in the picture, for most of the day)

Carousel

She loves these statues!

She was more excited about playing on the various playgrounds than about anything else....

Thankfully it was a BEAUTIFUL day, after lots of rainy ones.  Both girls got some sun on their cheeks (I guess I'm not in remembering-the-sunscreen mode yet! Oops!).  It was a tiring, but fun day.

fashionista at five

Rachel has definite opinions about what she likes and doesn't like to wear. 

*She loves "soft pants" and dislikes jeans.  Everytime I put jeans on her, she complains.  She wears them, but she complains.  She has a ton of jeans and only so many soft pants, so I can't eliminate jeans from her wardrobe.  I tell her she just has to "put up with it."  (This is a phrase I've had to use a lot with her lately--she's learned to put up with jeans, with static-y hair, and with other annoying things that can't be helped.  The other day I said I had a headache and she said, "Mom, maybe you should just put up with it.")

*She loves wearing dresses.  She only wears them to church, but she loves Sundays just because she gets to wear a dress.  Every week at some point she says, "Everyone will think I look SO beautiful!"

*She likes to match, and she likes colors.  Yesterday I put khaki pants on her for the first time (I had just gotten them on clearance for $1.24--I realized after I got them home that the reason they were $1.24 was because there was an ink stain on them!  With little effort, though, I got the stain out, and they're great pants for $1.24!).  She wasn't paying attention as I got her dressed, but five minutes later she finally noticed what she had on.  "Mom," she called, "I don't like these pants!"  I asked her why.  "Because.....they're not.....COLORFUL!"  Then she added, "They're TAN!  I don't want to match the color of our house!"

When we're in the stores, she oohs and aahs over dresses I really don't like (my tastes are simple, classic, tailored....not like what you find in the store these days much at all!).  I know that one of these days we will probably have disagreements about what she wears.  Thankfully, although she has an opinion, they aren't strong enough at this point that we've battled (the soft pant battle is the biggest, but that's not really more than, "I don't want to wear jeans.  I want soft pants," and I respond, "You need to wear jeans today.  Just put up with them," and she does.)

supercal...ummm...supercalifragil...

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! (I had to look up how to spell it....)

Last night Rachel, Grandma, and I went to see Mary Poppins, the touring Broadway show, which came to town.  (Thank you, Dad!  He bought us all tickets for our birthdays.)

Rachel was so excited to go back to the fancy theater where we saw the Nutcracker.  And she loves the movie, Mary Poppins, so she couldn't wait to see it on the stage. 

The best part was watching her get so much enjoyment out of it.

11 months

I can't believe it.  In 29 days she'll be one.  Where has this year gone?  Where has my baby gone??? She's just growing up way, way, way too fast.

In the last three days she's gotten two new teeth, for a total of four teeth--two on the bottom and two on top. 

She finished physical therapy on Wednesday and is becoming a pro at cruising around the furniture.  She can walk with her push walker and our little grocery cart, so I don't think it'll be too long before we have a bona fide walker on our hands.  In the meantime, she's zooming across the floor on her hands and knees, getting into EVERYTHING.  I can't even tell you how many times a day I say, "Rebecca, no, no!"  She now turns and looks at me BEFORE she touches the lamp cord....so she knows.  And once in awhile she'll even reach out, I'll tell her no, and she'll take her hand away before she's even touched it.  (But most of the time she goes ahead and touches it anyway.  Stinker!)

She's as sweet and smiley as ever, most of the time.  If only we all could find as much joy in every moment as Rebecca does!