The Christmas Party

Rachel's last day of Pre K before Christmas break was Thursday. They played bingo, sang songs, exchanged gifts (a book exchange), and decorated sugar cookies. She loves parties, but most of all as we watch her she is becoming more independent and creative. Her vocabulary has exploded since school started up, just other day she told me that the red fire pull on the wall was for EMERGENCY only. Now at home, everything is an EMERGENCY. She also fascinates us with her memory. Yesterday we bought her some new Christmas jammies with feet in them, VERY CUTE. And she said, "I remember when I had red striped ones like these and I jumped on Mimi's bed with Allison and Nicholas." Okay just to fill you in, that was 2 years ago when Rachel was only 2 years old.

The Dance Recital

After 12 weeks of ballet training it has come down to Rachels recital. The kids did great and looked so cute. Rachels dance teacher even said "I think Rachel is ready fora solo :-)" Rachel's part was small, she plays an angel who does a few turns and then kneels down, but for some reason she danced the entire show with the older girls and did everyones part. It was great, and she loved it.

Tidings of Joy...

Here are some pictures of Rachel trimming the Christmas tree, and her letter to Santa. She enjoyed writing the letter, putting it in the envelope and then putting it in the mail box to be sent to the North Pole. The letter states:

Dear Santa
I want a
Jessie Doll (from Toy Story)
Love Rachel

Then she drew some pictures of presents and a few random letters. :-)

The Tea Party

Rachel loves having tea parties, she has them in the living room, her playroom, her bedroom, and weather permitting outside in her playhouse/gym set. One day she asked me to help her find more chairs for outside. I looked out the window and there were already 4 chairs set up on the patio. I said, why do you need more? She said "I need one for me." I asked who was sitting in the other 4 chairs. Rachel replied.... Andrew, Anna, Abigail and Alan. (Her cousins, aunt and uncle) so of course I got another chair. Who am I to not let the "invisible" Weaver family over for tea. She then proceeded to serve them all.

A smile that can light up a room

So a few months back I had decided to make Rachels birthday cake, so I had practiced on some different cake styles until she chose what she wanted. This has sprung into "mom what kind of cake are you going to make me now?" So for fun we will do a new one ever so often. We have done Ariel a couple of times, a teddy bear (Gran gave us), the Cinderella carriage, and now my new attempt...the Belle Doll from beauty and the beast. They cakes are not great....but you can not beat the smile she gets on her face when we make them together.

Halloween!

We took Rachel trick or treating tonight to a few houses on our block. She loved it as usual. After about the 5th house, she laughed and said, "those trick or treaties... I love them."

Fall Fun

Every year the church we attend throws a fall festival in their parking lot. They blast Christian music and have tons of food and rides. Rachel loves it. I have also included some pictures of her Pre-School party and Dorothy Gail costume.

You can see more pics via mine or Matthews facebook page. They allow me more uploading of pics than the blog.

Dance

Our church has a youth program called S.O.F.A it stands for Serving Our Father Artistically. They have all sorts of classes for music, dance, drama etc.... so we enrolled Rachel in a dance class. She absolutely loves it. She enjoys wearing her ballerina outfit each Monday. They are teaching her the different ballet positions, turns and jumps. The class is for 4-5 year old, but there is one 6 year old and a 2 year old who are siblings of others in the 4-5 age group.



In the video she is practicing her Pirouette's, but the music had stopped....oh well, we know the music is always in her heart.

That is the way it is

Rachel has survived her first day of Pre-K and is really looking forward to more. She knows a lot of the kids in her class from last year which has made the transition good. Also, on Thursdays she gets to start the day in her favorite class which is called Motor Lab. It is sort of like PE, but a lot tamer. They have big bouncy balls, a ball pit, trampoline and etc.... She got to go to the library on her first day and of course what book does she pick out???? Beauty and the Beast an older version. She spent Friday practicing her writing skills. She wrote numbers 0-9 and some letters like Z (which is rarely used). And today at lunch she wrote her name completely on her own, it was messy and yet legible all at the same time. She free handed it with a crayon after I wrote her name, she basically copied it. But got all the letters right and in the correct order. That was a first. She seems to like her teachers and was very excited that she was a good girl that day.

The disciplinary rules - The teachers have a yardstick painted green, yellow, and red. Each child has a clothes pin with their name on it. Each child starts on green. If they act up they are given a verbal warning and moved to yellow. If they act up again they move to red and a note is sent home to the parent. Rachel said "I was green all day!" I said "good girl" she then proceeded to say "Well mom, that is just the way it is."

Happy Birthday Rachel

Can you believe our BABY is 4 years old! She had a Cinderella birthday party with her cousins, aunt, uncle, and Gran. We had a great time and she was blessed with lots of goodies.

A future talent????

Not much to say, this is my Aunt Anita's piano and Rachel enjoyed sitting at it and pounding on the keys....hmmmm I would love it if she had a desire to play the piano.

Her first baseball game...

We went to Houston for the weekend, we shopped a little, celebrated our 12th anniversary and got to see the Astros play. It was Rachel's 1st game. She enjoys watching them on T.V, at the park we hit the Astros shop and she picked out a small bat and ball. She thinks it is just the coolest thing until she hit herself in the ear. OUCH. She really wanted a shirt, but her size was no where to be found. She enjoyed her popcorn, peanuts and purple cotton candy. It was great family fun.

The Little Gym

Enjoy the video of today's workout...

Mommy Daughter Time

Rachel and I spent Monday afternoon baking a cake. She did a great job helping me mix the ingredients and stirring the cake. She was very hesitant about the electric mixer, but loved the eating part.

Our own little Cinderella

I am sure many of you have heard Steven Curtis Chapmans song "Cinderella" well Rachel loves to dance to it....enjoy.

Family Fun

The Frith family came to visit us for a few days while in the Dallas area. Kids galore at the house, lots of laughter, lots of fun, lots of swimming, and lots of tears as the good bye's were said. We were able to get some family pics on the last day but as you can see the emotional toll of saying good bye was already weighing heavy on Rachel. She would not hug anyone good bye, and then broke down in huge tears and heaving after the Frith MiniVan pulled away. Then she took an incredibly LONG nap, at least 3 days worth of sleeping. We had a good fathers day, Lisa and I's dad was able to come out Sunday, we had a family lunch and visited for a while. The kids enjoyed giving Grandpa some new pictures.

How things change...

Rachel will be 4 years old in 2 months, I am sad and excited all at the same time. We have changed her room from a baby/toddler room, to a big girls room. We up'd her bed from a toddler daybed to a full size bed, updated her curtains, name sign, border and created a reading corner for her. How did she go from having a crib, rocking chair and small 3 drawer dresser to having a big bed, toy box, bookshelves, 6 drawer dresser with mirror and reading corner. She is so grown up, that she even helped me place all the circles around her name. She knew just where she wanted them and it was HER decision. Time has flown by, I was updating her baby book yesterday and I began to wonder....when did she start picking out her own clothes (and try to pick out mine),when did she start going potty by herself and not even telling me or asking for help, when did she begin to learn songs on the radio and ask for the radio instead of her children's CD's. She has even begun to pick out her own groceries at the store, what she likes and does not like. When did she learn to use the TV and DVD player, the XBOX (don't ask we don't even know that one). How does she know what Daddy's favorite song is and Mommy's favorite color? She is an observant little bug, and a quick learner. I look at her and miss the olden days so much it makes me cry, and yet I am so excited to see her grow and change.

Summer Activities

Summer is in full swing here in Rockwall. So we have taken up morning swimming. We hit the pool for at least an hour every day. We get some good exercise, a little sun (yes Andrea is tanning - a little) and some fun. Rachel gets braver and braver in the water. At first she would not let go of our necks, then she warmed up to being safely inside a flotation device for little kids, we are now in water wings which she thinks is so cool. She is kicking her legs and floating on her tummy, she just needs to learn to move her arms in sync. She also has begun the summer semester at the Little Gym, she was very excited on her 1st day and clearly remembered screaming on the high bar from last time. She tried the high bar again with a fearful face. It will take time to get used to it. We will be doing some Preschool learning with some curriculum I bought to keep her mind sharp. So we have her in physical activity and brain activity. As for spiritual activity - of course church on Sundays but she is beginning a prayer life as well. She prays at meals and I quote... "Thank you Father, Amen." Very cute. And we need to get consistent with bedtime prayer as well, but since she wants to list everyone she knows for God to bless, it takes time.

The Leg...the Porch Swing...and another Zoo....

We have returned from our week long trip to Memphis to visit the family and had a great time, a frustration of events did not hamper the good times. This will be a long post...but worth the read.

It all started on the Wednesday before we left for Memphis...Rachel had a small fever and a sore throat, we took her to the doctor immediately because if she was ill, we had to know FAST since a party was going to be on Saturday and we leave for Memphis on Sunday. Sure enough it was strep throat. Now mind you that this is exactly 2 days after our medical insurance has expired and we are paying out of pocket. The doctor advised 24 hours on the medication and she would no longer be contagious. She is feeling good by Saturday, we were torn on whether or not to let her go to her cousin Andrew's party since she was getting over being sick, but knowing how much she loves bounce houses and Andrew/Anna we went for it.

So Saturday we piled in the car and drove 90 minutes to Weatherford. Rachel was very excited to see her cousins and the bounce houses. About 20 minutes into it Rachel had a MINOR bumping incident with someone and immediately broke into tears holding her knee. We held her, gave her some ice for her knee and assumed she would be back to jumping soon. However, after 2 hours of sitting and crying....she said it still hurt. So we piled back in the car and and headed home.

Sunday I went to church while Matthew stayed home with a still wounded Rachel who advised her knee hurt and she could not walk. We felt telling her if she would walk she could go see Mr. Jason (her Sunday school teacher whom she loves) but that did not sway her. After church we headed to Memphis, a 7 hour drive. Rachel is a great traveler and never complained once. But at every pit stop....she would not walk, she would just cry and say it hurt. We never saw any swelling or bruising so we figured she most likely pulled a muscle or twisted/sprained her knee and it would feel better soon.

At Gran and Granddad's house she continued to whimper with pain and refuse to walk, we could not even get her to stand. At the doctor's office on Wednesday for her sore throat she weighed in at 35 lbs....it felt 3times that when carrying her everywhere. We wrapped her knee in an ace bandage and gave her some ligament ointment to help with the pain, but after 4 days....still no walking. She was scooting around on her bottom using her good leg and arms to get around - it was quite a site. We figure she would get tired or frustrated and would try to walk, but every time we mentioned it, she would break down in tears.

By Thursday the rain had stopped and we decided to go to the Zoo, thank goodness for strollers. She loves the Zoo and always wants to see the animals and of course ride the Carousel which is now a tradition. The weather was perfectly cool and the Zoo is great, one of the best we have seen and we have seen MANY. Really cool exhibits and the animals were awake, alert, and CLOSE. Rachel loved the Panda bears so she got a souvenir...thanks Gran! And yet....no walking.

We began to wonder if it was all in her head or if she was seriously hurt and needed to go to her doctor, but we would have to pay out of pocket and most likely for x-rays. OUCH why did this happen the week after our insurance was gone??? So we started with the bribes. "you can go to the park, eat ice-cream, go swimming, run and play if you will just walk a little" but to no avail she refused to put weight on it. But then....we caught her just a fraction of a second put a little weight on it and she did not even know it. So Granddad got her to STAND on his feet and dance around the backyard, she loved it. But when we asked her to walk...NO WAY, huge tears and now her knee did not hurt - it was her shin. We were so puzzled.

We began to wonder if she was just scared to try, scared she would fall, or scared it may hurt. I asked her outside on the porch swing - just me and her - a quiet mommy daughter moment. "Are you scared Rachel?" She said "yes" and I said... "why, of what?" And she replied "Pete" Pete is the cat character from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it is Rachel's favorite answer to the scared questions, she just laughs. We were at a loss.

We headed home on Saturday and she refused to walk. However, she had no problem riding her tricycle up and down the driveway. We took her to church on Sunday and told Mr. Jason to not baby her, she had to walk. We were hoping that in a room where nobody knows she is hurt would cause her to walk. But no...it had been 8 days of NO WALKING. That evening we forced her to put weight on her left leg, her eyes grew huge and she let out an enormous scream of pain. Big tears and sobs. I felt bad and we decided she had to go to the doctor, it must be hurt.

So Monday we went to see Dr. Chin her pediatrician from day one. Rachel told her where it hurt and of course she would not walk. We explained the accident, and the several days of events. Dr. Chin did a very thorough examination of both legs, joints, ankle, knee etc... and said it appeared fine. Rachel walked on the tops of Dr. Chins feet and put 100% of her body weight on her hurt leg as long as she was standing on Dr. Chins feet and not her own. Dr. Chin had the other Dr. take a look and all agreed. The leg is fine and she was just scared. Nobody knows how to make her walk 9 days later. Most kids would "give it up" by now and walk so they could run and play. So Dr. Chin gave Rachel a "magic" band aid and said it would make her leg all better in 3 days. Rachel loved the magic band aid idea. We took her home and she would not walk. Rachel was carried to bed Monday night.

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning Rachel was standing at our bedroom door. We looked at her and said "did you walk in here?" She immediately went down and said it hurts....that was it...we were done playing games.

Today is Tuesday and we had to practice tough love, VERY tough love. We told her should could not come out of her room unless she walked out. Several times she crawled out and we sent her back crying. The final time she crawled out and then walked on her tip toes holding on to the couch. We praised her and said if she would walk without holding on we would go where ever she wanted. She has been walking on her own ever since. She limps a little, but we think her leg is weak from not being used for 11 days, but she is walking....so she got to go to the swim park and a chocolate ice cream cone!

The Zoo...

Rachel loves the zoo we have said it many times. We went to the Dallas Zoo, it was our first time to that one. It was nice, but very spread out and they really try to nickel and dime you to death on everything. As always Rachel's favorite is the elephant. We walked miles, miles, and miles that day. We were there over 3 hours non stop movement. Rachel also liked the parrot that kept telling her "hello." She thought that was so cool.

Seriously....

Ok, it was not too many blog entries ago that I was bragging about how Rachel could dress herself and she did it so well. She has a real sense of fashion and makes good choices....but then today she busted out with this outfit.....seriously? What do I say, do you let her wear it? She just got out of the shower after getting purple marshmellow in her hair so it is a little wild, but i can handle the hair...it is the blue shirt, brown pants, black shoes and bright yellow hospital socks. :-)

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day! I must have heard that from Rachel at least one million times this weekend and it never got old. She says "Happy Mudders Day." And then she asked Matthew, when is Happy Rachel Day? Rachel's preschool had a Mothers Day Luau, it was fun, she gave me lei, a card, an "about my mom" info sheet, and a pretty geranium with a finger painted terracotta pot. We had fun. Then on Friday we all drove out to my dad's house went out to dinner, then did some boating/fishing on Saturday. Rachel had a great time and loves to be on the boat with Papa. I must say if you do a lot of water time with your kids...invest in the bathing suit/life preserver set. It does not crowd around their neck like a normal life preserver...they are great. Then on Sunday Rachel made another card for me in Sunday school and she gave me a beautiful pair of hoop earrings (thanks dad). Matthew gave me 4 coupons....2 for a free back scratching, and 2 to give him Rachel duties when it is normally my turn....you can't beat that :-)

The Little Gym

The soccer thing fell through, Rockwall Soccer Tots has been unable to find a suitable location for summer session, so we enrolled Rachel in Little Gym for the summer. It is a fun filled gymnastics class for 3-4 year olds. We took her Monday evening to a trial session that is 60 minutes. For the 1st 7 minutes she walked slowly as other kids ran and danced, she kept staring at us through the window, I could tell she was embarrassed. But then, she just sprang into action and let her embarrassment go. She ran, danced, jumped, did "baby" cartwheels, played with balls and bubbles. Then she got to complete some beginner gymnastic moves. She liked doing cartwheels on the mats, playing on the spring board for jumping, and when it came time for the balance board she was a little tense, but walked across it with her teachers help. However, when it came time to the uneven high bars the story changed....she grabbed on the low bar and hung there swinging back and forth. The teacher always kept her hands loosely around her waist and showed Rachel how to slide her hands from one side to another, and how to turn around on the bar, Rachel was very tense, but a trooper. Then came the flip, the teacher took Rachel's feet and slowly and gently rolled her over the bar. So basically Rachel's tummy rolled around the bar and her feet went over her head and then back down again, the teacher never lets go. Now this is a sound proof room and adults watch from a glassed in foyer. We could hear Rachel scream through the heavy plexi-glass. As she came off the bar her face was red and stressed. We started laughing, she looked at us and we smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She gave the teacher a high 5 and ran off. She looked at the bars all evening in curiosity. She then decided to try it one more time, but just to hang and swing. Flips will have to wait. He session begins in June so pictures will have to come later. She had a lot of fun and is already asking to go back. Yeah! Rachel also got to have fun at Anna's Cinderella birthday party, she just loves her cousins, it is always hard when it is time to go home. We are looking forward to seeing them again in May for Andrew's birthday.

Camping at Lake Tawakoni

We took Rachel on her first overnight camping trip. She had a lot of fun. Turns out she has a knack for it like her daddy. We spent sometime fishing at the lake, Rachel's bobber got action a lot and as we began reeling in her first catch....it was a turtle. I have never seen anyone catch a turtle before. She really enjoyed her pink fishing pole and we will have to go again soon. We chased bubbles, and played with water guns and we also roasted marshmallows which she thought was fun until she put one in her mouth and freaked out. It was not hot because mommy tested it first, so either the gooey part or the warm part in mouth made her scream out. Roasting fun....eating, not so much.