Counting Every Minute

Rachel & I were just goofing around tonight, and I was about to upload some of the pictures I had taken lately when she asked me to take her picture. Well, my camera can also do video, so I decided to try that instead of regular pics... Wow, was I really glad I did!  This is just a little snip from the video. I actually haven't had the time to check the whole thing & edit any more, but this was my first attempt!  I also have it posted on YouTube!  So here is that link in case you can't get this one to work!   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR4_V1UbziY  

I Don't Want to Spoil The Party

One thing Rachel loves is a good party... especially, if they are held at a PARK!  She just LOVES going down the slide!  Well today, we had a great time celebrating little Abigail's 1st birthday at a fabulous park down in Naples.  Not only did they have a few really fun slides, they also had these cool little rocking... uh... things! (No head, so I have no idea what animal it was supposed to be!).  She was also absolutely thrilled to find some really cool super balls in the beach bucket she got as a goody "bag"...

 After the party, we headed a little further south and Daddy & Uncle Charlie met us down there... we were FINALLY getting a couch!  I'd been looking on Craig's list for the longest time and finally something worthwhile turned up!

As you can see from THIS picture, Penny gave her seal of approval!  It is made of microfiber, and has 2 recliners on one side and a queen size sleeper sofa in the other section... So that's one more place for guests to sleep... IF we ever GET any guests!!!  HINT HINT HINT!

So it was a very busy weekend for us.  Tomorrow, mom has to go back into the hospital for another surgery. They are removing a mass from her colon and they are also fixing her hernia while they are in the neighborhood.  Keep prayers & good wishes coming this way please!

Daisy Jane

Today, I FINALLY put this gorgeous dress on Rach to take some pictures.  This was a gift from one of her China sisters, and I've been REALLY bad because I waited far too long to let her try it on!  So first, a HUGE Thank you Aunt Shazia for this beautiful Daisy dress! (I was a total slacker, though, and completely forgot to put the matching necklace on her!)  Oh, and thank you also to Aunt Sophie... for teaching Mommy how to put in pig tails!  I know... everyone can stop laughing... I grew up surrounded by hairdressers, spent half my life in a salon, and I couldn't figure out how to do this without step by step instructions!

But in my own defense, I never had to deal with such silky, super fine hair before now! 

 And before anyone asks, they lasted about 45 minutes before she insisted I take them out of her hair. She made me take out the pretty clips as well as the little rubber bands! I'm SO glad I got to take a bunch of pictures of her BEFORE she got her way!   As for the dress, I hung it back up quickly before she had a chance to get it dirty.  Then it was time to play, so I put her back into her play clothes... which ended up covered in cookie in no time flat!  She really wanted to go out to the BIG swing & slide, but it was pouring out all day long.  That's why I'm really glad I haven't gotten rid of the Little Tikes "castle" that we've had forever...  at least it gives her something to play with during these rainy days...

Dixie Chicken

Today, Tom's church had their annual "picnic".   The past couple of years, they had it at Lakes Park, which was perfect! Unfortunately, the weather chose not to cooperate, so the picnic was moved indoors to the church!  It was still nice, and the food was yummy.  They also had live music, with a Dixie Land Band (4 little old men... very cute), so Rachel had a great time collecting beads and dancing to the music!  She ran all around the place, singing & dancing, and just having a really good time.  Although she did spend a little too much time around that pole...  

She knocked herself out and fell asleep in the car within minutes of leaving the party!  Naturally!

Baby Let's Swing

So it's Spring Break here in Florida... ok, so it really doesn't matter since Rach isn't in school yet, but the good part of spring break is that Margie has had her granddaughter Arora staying with her for the week. So every afternoon, Margie goes for her walk around the block and Arora comes here to play with Rachel!  It's been terrific. Rach REALLY likes playing with Arora, and they get along fantastically!  They usually spend a bit of time outside on the swing set, then they run around the yard a while, and by the time Margie is through with her laps, we all go inside for a "water break" (which is more for Margie than everyone else, but it's the perfect excuse to get the girls back in the house!)

Then the kids play a while more while Margie & I get to play catch up on the days events, and when it comes time for them to go home, Rach is ready to have dinner and call it a day! It's been so wonderful all week... I'm sure she's going to miss having her friend come over every day!  But we will be looking forward to more play time with the girls this summer, since Arora will probably be spending a lot of time at her Grandma's house again!  Yay!

Easter Parade

I was going to add the Easter posting to the earlier, but decided the pictures were just way WAY too cute! These are from the Easter egg hunt at Margie & Charlie's this afternoon.. we had a BLAST... Rachel had so much fun that she actually asked to be taken home and go down for a NAP! She wore the cute dress that Tommy's cousins Mary & Sue sent her... (I added a pair of shorts just because I knew she'd be roughing it up with all the other kids :-)
So no more talk... enjoy the pictures!





After all the fun we had at Margie & Charlie's place, Tommy made an outstanding Easter Dinner for all of us! We had a beautiful spiral ham, mashed potatoes, baked apples and creamed cabbage. Everything was fantastic! Nana & Papa brought Rachel her very own little Easter cakes! One shaped like a little chicken and the other was an easter egg. Rachel just LOVED them!
So all in all, this was an outstanding weekend!

A Day In The Life

So the first thing I have to say is, we have some absolute amazing, extraordinary , wonderful friends. Last night we went to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert over in Miami. This would not have been possible AT ALL if not for my incredible girlfriend Margie. She took care of Rachel all day, while we went to the show. I felt so guilty about it because she is having a HUGE crowd today for an Easter Egg Hunt, yet she unselfishly offered to babysit. So when Rach woke up from her nap, she got to play with Margie's granddaughter and she had a blast... so here is a TREMENDOUS thank you to My Girl MARGIE!!
So... Speaking of having a blast... Oh MAN, did we have a fantastic night! We drove for about 2 1/2 hours over to Miami for this fantastic concert. Our seats were all the way up in nosebleed section, but I didn't really care. Macca was AWESOME... it's hard to believe he's just a a few years younger then MY MOTHER! He sounded terrific and we had a blast. And since I am saving this blog as a permanent memory of life, here is the set list from the show: Venus and Mars * Rock Show *Jet* All My Loving * Letting Go * Got To Get You Into My Life *
Highway * Let Me Roll It * Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix Cover) * The Long and Winding Road *
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five * Let ‘Em In * My Love * I’m Looking Through You * Two Of Us * Blackbird * Here Today * Dance Tonight * Mrs. Vanderbilt * Eleanor Rigby * Something (George Harrison tribute) * Sing The Changes * Band On The Run * Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da * Back In The U.S.S.R. * I’ve Got A Feeling * Paperback Writer * A Day In The Life * Give Peace A Chance (John Lennon tribute) * Let It Be * Live and Let Die * Hey Jude
Encore 1: Daytripper * Lady Madonna * Get Back
Encore 2: Yesterday * Helter Skelter * Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) * The End * Later, when I've had time to figure out how, I'm going to post some of the videos I took at the show too!
So needless to say, we had an amazing time. Now we are going to get ready to go to Margie's for the big Easter Egg Hunt. I will be posting more about that later, including some cute pics of the little Princess in her adorable Easter dress she got from Tommy's cousins Mary & Sue! Thanks so much you guys... It is a beautiful dress!