Magical Mystery Tour

Rachel got up yesterday and decided she wanted to help decorate the big tree with Mommy. She searched through the ornament box till she found the ones she liked, and she then found the perfect place to put them!
We still have TONS of ornaments left to put up, but we're getting there!
After working on the tree for a while, it was time to head over to Centennial Park to celebrate Baby J & Arora's birthdays! We had lots of fun playing on the playground at the park! Rachel sure does LOVE to slide!

Oh, and it's not that she was going so fast, but by the time she reached the bottom of the slide, the static electricity built up so much that all her hair was standing up on her head! It was SO funny!

We had lots of fun on the playground until a bunch of "big kids" came and that was our cue to leave! Oh, and by the way... it was the first time we ever went to a toddler's birthday party and had the cops called on us! Oh yeah, it was a priceless moment! Apparently, another group had reserved the pavillion and rather than come talk to ANY of us, they opted to call FMPD to "handle" us. As it turns out, we were using 3 tables, they were only using 2, and there were still like 5 or 6 more tables that were empty! So once the police spoke to them, they decided "they were ok with us being there" as long as we didn't have any more guests show up! TOO FUNNY!!!

After we came home from the birthday party, we had a light dinner and then it was time for playing some more! (We sure love Sunday's when Daddy is home and we get to be a family all day!) So Rachel wanted to play on her little slide & swing set that we keep on the Lanai, but it was really starting to get chilly out... so I asked if she wanted to wear her hat! She LOVES it and even wanted to try on the mittens too! She never really got to use these last year when I bought them, but since they stretch out far enough to fit ME, well, I knew it would work out well!
Anyway, she liked them so much that today at nap time, she actually asked to wear them again, only this time to BED!!

I snapped this picture after about an hour... I guess she had to take off the mitten in order to suck her thumb!

Tonight, she will be spending some time with Mimi, while I take Aunt Margie to hear my friend Chris perform at the Naples Philharmonic! The show is called "Classical Mystery Tour" and it's a fabulous event. I am really excited to get to see this show again. Chris and the rest of the group are great, and what could be better than the Beatles music performed with an Orchestra!

A Horse with No Name

What an awesome day we had today. Thanks to Aunt Margie who told us about going to a local horse stable to spend the day riding & playing games, Rachel had her first ever experience riding a horse (ok, it was a pony, but hey, at her size, what's the difference, right?). They even had Santa ride up on horseback! (According to Arora, Margie's granddaughter, it was even the REAL Santa because he knew she liked Cats!). Santa gave each of the kids a gift bag to take home.

Oh MAN... she LOVED LOVED LOVED it. So much, that when her turn was over, she had a total meltdown because she had to get off the horse! Lucky for her, there was a really short line for the little pony, so she got to ride 4 times! I see riding lessons in this little peanut's future! Just like her Momma... she LOVES riding horseback! I am SO glad. We had so much fun, especially with Aunt Margie & Arora too! Arora really loved riding horses too! She actually rode all 3 horses! She was GREAT!

Oh, and besides all the horses, they also had a dog there by the name of Zeus... this dog was about that same size as the PONY Rachel was riding! I stood up next to him and felt like a midget! (ok, stop laughing... I know, I know... I AM a midget... but this was a freakin DOG for goodness sake! I SHOULD be taller than a DOG!!!)

After we were done riding, we all had lunch, and then it was time for the games. Rachel wasn't terribly interested in the games. She wanted to feed & pet all the horses that were wandering around the farm. She DID have fun running into the middle of the corral while the bigger kids were running the races. So she turned it into a bit of an obstacle course!

Another good thing about today was the temperature FINALLY went down! When we first arrived at the stables, it was about 66° according to the thermometer in the car. Naturally, it warmed up considerably before we left for home, but it was just a perfect day, weather and all!

By the time we got back to my house, Arora & Rachel were happy to play quietly with Rachel's art set. Good thing, since Margie & I were ready for a NAP!

Chanukah Song Pt 1

Today was a good day... Margie came over early, and helped me out. We had a big project for today. We spent today making cookies. Lots of cookies... but we still have lots more to make! This was my first time ever making cookies with cookie cutters... ok, stop laughing! First I had to make my traditional Pizzelle's. I make these every year and give them as gifts to special friends! :-)

So while Rachel was napping, Margie and I made Pizzelle's together. This is a project I didn't want to let Rach help with, since the cookies have to be made with a hot iron. NOT the kind of thing I think she is ready for just yet!

After cookie baking was over, it was time for Rachel & I to light our candles for the first night of Chanukah. Before she was even born, Margie bought this Menorah for her from Disney. She has her very own Mickey & Minnie Menorah! WooHOO!

I wanted to make Latkes with her, but after a day of cookies and flour all over my kitchen & dining area, I decided Latkes could wait! Maybe Sunday... that's when our little princess will be getting a really cool Chanukkah present... a swing set! Ok, so I posted on freecycle that I was looking for one. For the first time (I've posted this request a half dozen times over the past year) I finally got a response! Someone relatively close by actually replied that we could have the set that is in his yard! We are SO excited about this. Its not a huge set, and it's not the prettiest or anything... it needs some painting & cleaning up... but for now, this will make an AWESOME gift for her... especially after we saw just how much she loved playing on the set up at the park! I have a feeling she is going to be a very happy little girl!

All in all, I think we had an awesome day. I am SO glad she is now in bed. Because there is not a square inch of my entire body that doesn't hurt right now! LOL... I'm thinking it's going to be a relatively early night.

Eight Days a Week

Ok, so I have been a total slacker here... I didn't even post about Rachel's birthday party! At least I got the first round of pictures up.. There just never seems to be enough time to get it all done! ok, I feel better now. LOL..

So these are some random things for the week...

Let's start with our biggest milestone for the week... Today, Rachel started drinking out of a "Big Girl" cup instead of her sippy cup! Woohoo!!! FINALLY... she'd been "practicing" with the cup I give her to play with in the tub... (yeah, I know... YUCK... drinking bath water?.. but she never actually DRANK it.. )

I've been working with her on this for a little while, because she kept trying to drink from the BACK of the cup! Well, needless to say, we are very happy at the prospect of losing the sippy cup!

Last night, we went shopping with Aunt Margie. We had a terrific time but we were ALL in agony when it was over... well at least Margie & I were. Rachel, on the other hand, was ready to start playing just as soon as we got home!

She got some really awesome new toys for her birthday. You can see here how she LOVES her new Dora couch! and it folds out to a little bed too! She likes it better as a couch and she lounges (kinda looks like her Mama! LOL)

One of her other favorites is the car her daddy & I bought her... She is constantly climbing in and just sitting there to watch tv! So I joke that she's turned our living room into a drive in theatre! Looks like we scored good for our choice of presents!

Now the real fun is going to begin...

First of all, today we are going to make cookies.... at least we are going to START to make cookies. Every year I make Pizzelle's to give out as gifts (Thank you Aunt Gloria for sharing the awesome recipe!). This year is no exception... BUT... we are also going to have our first attempt at making cookies with cookie cutters! I ordered some interesting ones from Amazon and they finally arrived. So we are going to have Chanukkah shaped cookies, and then we may even make an attempt at Gingerbread Men! WOOHOO... yes, that will be an entirely different post, since I hope to get LOTS of pictures of us covered in flour!

(You Say it's Your) Birthday

Wednesday was our little angel's 2nd birthday! WOW... I still can't believe it! She's really 2 years old? ALREADY???

We are having a Big birthday party for her on Sunday, so we just did a little something at home for her birthday. My parents came over and later Margie came too... Daddy had to work but we made sure to take lots of pictures so he could share in the fun too!
I decided to just bake some cupcakes, which she REALLY enjoyed! And believe it or not, this was the first time I have made cupcakes! I think I am in for a lot of firsts now that we have this little princess around! As soon as I put the cupcakes down, she was ready to blow out the candles... but they weren't even LIT! and she sure has a good set of lungs on her because she DID blow them out... from across the table! WOOHOO!!!

She will be getting her BIG present from Mommy & Daddy on Sunday, but for today, I gave her something she's always asking for... Backpack from "Dora theExplorer"... I think the pictures say it perfectly!"Backpack". She ended up asking me to put it on her, so she walked around with it on for the rest of the night!
We gave her a couple of other little things tonight too, like the book "Where is Baby's Birthday Cake" by Karen Katz... she really loves her books, with the lift up flaps. (We are SO glad she is so into books!)

She will be getting a terrific present from her Auntie Marla too! We will go pick out her new table & chairs with the gift her Auntie sent... WOOHOO!!! She will finally have a place of her own to sit and read or draw!

She also got some beautiful clothes from her Nana & Papa, and a terrific package from Daddy's cousins, her Aunt Mary & Aunt Sue! They sent her an Abby Cadabby purse set, a dress, and an ADORABLE PJ's set Thank you Aunt Mary & Aunt Sue!

What a cool birthday! And we are looking forward to the BIG party on Sunday!