Snow Day! (February 4, 2011)

Snow again! They had been saying it was going to snow for a few days, but I wasn't holding my breath. Well sure enough, Friday morning, February 4th, there was snow on the ground, so we didn't have school! It was so exciting! Rachel and I played out in it for just a little while, then she said she was cold so we went in. It had mostly melted by the afternoon.

Happy New Year!

We have had such a great Christmas Break! I do not want to go back to school tomorrow. I'm sure it's going to be a hard morning. Although this morning, our last day of break, Rachel has been awake since about 5:00 for some reason, and I finally gave up on her going back to sleep about 6:00, so I am sitting here drinking coffee and trying to wake up.

So a little recap of what we have done.

We went to see the Zilker Park christmas tree for the first time as a family. The weather was great, it wasn't cold at all, and we had a really good time. I'm glad we went.

On Christmas Eve, we went over to Mary and Ned's house and had lunch and opened presents. Rachel got the American Girl doll Lainey and an armoire for all the doll's clothes and a dog for the doll. It's so cute and she loves it. I got a gift card to kohl's and a nice new robe. Then we came home to get ready for Santa!

On Christmas morning, we got up around 7:00 to see if Santa came and he did! He left Rachel a baby doll, a barbie, a Hannah Montana CD, some books, a pretend flower, and a nightgown. She was very excited. Then my parents came over for breakfast and we opened a few of her presents. Then my parents went home for a little bit and then came back for lunch. Doug, Eleanor, Elizabeth and Benjamin also came over for lunch. So we had turkey and all the trimmings and then opened presents. Rachel got a bitty baby, some legos, some doll clothes and a blanket for her baby, a remote control mustang, and some clothes.

Then we all played Tabu and had a great time. Everyone left around 5:30. I'm so glad that I got to have Christmas over here.

Then the next week I was off, we slept late, at least til 8:30 every day, ran errands, played with toys, practiced reading, washed clothes in my new washer and dryer, went to see Tangled, which was very cute and although half way through the movie Rachel said she was ready to go home, she did end up sitting down and watching the whole movie.

On New Year's Eve we went to eat at Olive Garden and then just came home and hung out. On New Year's Day, we took down all the Christmas decorations, put them up, and cleaned house. I also made a ham and black eyed peas for dinner.

So we have had a nice relaxing break and I am not at all ready to get back in the swing of things, but I guess I have to.

Santa

Today is our first day of Christmas break! I am so happy to be off work until January 4th! Nana and Rachel and I went to the mall to see Santa. We had to wait in line for about an hour, but Rachel did a really good job and shared her list with Santa. On her list was a baby doll, books, barbie, a pretend flower, a nightgown and a CD. I don't know where the pretend flower thing came from. I am so excited for Christmas this year! Should be lots of fun.

Yesterday Don, Carlene, Shonda, Gary, Gavin and Priceilla came over for lunch. Gavin is 2 weeks old and it was the first time I had seen him. He is so little. We had a nice visit with everyone and Priceilla and Rachel really like to play together.

I got a new washer and dryer on Saturday. It is a front loader and it is awesome. I am actually in love with it. I have washed all weekend. I have a never had a nicer washer and dryer. So happy!

Too long!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written. We have been busy with school and Daran is redoing the office, so my computer hasn't been hooked up to upload pics. He ripped out the old carpet, it was disgusting, and put in laminate floors. He also painted the walls and put a chair railing around. It looks beautiful. He moved all the crap out, and now we just need to organize and move back in.

Rachel is enjoying kindergarten, I think. She doesn't really talk much about it, but I think she is learning quite a bit.

My year is going well, and we are all looking forward to upcoming Thanksgiving holidays.

Kindergarten!

So we are back in school! I have been so busy doing stuff to get us both back in school that I haven't even updated this in forever. We had a great summer! I am so sad that it's over. I went back to school on Aug. 11 and Rachel stayed with Nana and Papa for a week and a half.

Rachel started kindergarten on August 24th. She has done such a great job and I am so proud of her! She was a little clingy the first morning, but other than that she has done great! Her friend Bo from daycare goes there and is in her class, so that has helped her transition tremendously. If she sees him in the mornings she is okay. I think she is making other friends now too. She doesn't talk much in the evening about it, I think she is just too tired. Her teachers name is Mrs. Sanders and she seems real sweet. I know I couldn't deal with kindergartners, of course a lot of people say that about high schoolers.

Getting back in the swing of things

So we have been busy doing summer stuff; library, playing, sleeping late, reading, trying to do school work, etc. On Friday we were cleaning and I noticed a big lump on the side of Rachel's neck so I took her to the doctor, and she ended up having strep throat. Poor thing, she had never even mentioned her throat hurting. So she has been getting over that and still wanting to sleep in bed with us! I don't know what we are going to do about that.

Tonight she is at Don and Carlene's spending the night. It is only her second night away from us ever, so I hope she does okay. She was excited about it though. We'll see how it goes.

Pictures from cruise