Space Cowboy

Yes, Rachel is still obsessed with the Solar System!  You won't hear me complaining!  She never ceases to amaze & amuse us around here!  :-)

Mother's Night

My honey gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses for Mother's Day 

We were originally going to just pool our resources with Mom & Dad, but as it turns out, they had gift cards to P.F. Chang's, so we headed there for our special Mother's Day Dinner!

It was a rainy, stormy evening, so we took our time driving over there. It actually got so bad at one point that the power went out in the restaurant! LOL...

She was so excited to wear her silks to dinner!  We had a really nice evening.  First of all, we had a good waiter which always helps. He gave mom & I each a Mother's Day card for $10 off our next visit.  Then Rach totally won over another waitress who happened to be in the area... so she gave Rach 2 more cards to give to Nana & Mama! LOL...
She sure knows how to charm em'

Naturally dinner was yummy. It may be a chain, but they are really good!

Mothers Talk

 So today, Rachel's Pre-school had "Mother's Day Breakfast" for all us Moms... It was SO nice... They served bagels and lox, fruit cups & the most adorable little cupcakes... 

One of her teachers immediately asked if we wanted her to take our picture, and this was the first "pose" Rach wanted taken... Yes, of COURSE she melted my heart as usual!

So glad she likes to give her old Mama some good squeezy hugs.

 She was SO excited to show me what she had made me for a Mother's Day gift!  A Popsicle stick flower. Also a place mat with little colored jewels glued to it, and a card.  I was thrilled to pieces, naturally :-)

Some of the other cuties at our table... These 2 little girls are the ones Rach talks about all the time lol... 

It was such a wonderful morning!  Thanks to the staff at Temple Judea Preschool for making this such a lovely Mother's Day Celebration!

She Came in Through Bathroom Window

If you think it's fun to give your pet a bath, try it with a feathered beast with talons that are more than 4 inches long and sharp as your favorite paring knife... OY...

 Rach was so funny... all she wanted to do was to come in and see Abbey in the tub... I think it was to be sure I wasn't letting Abbey play with any of her bath toys!

When the bath part was over, and I wrapped her up in the towel... she was the sweetest, cuddly little baby... she actually started purring like a kitten!

Space Oddity

 Rachel has become almost obsessed with the solar system lately... so I got on Amazon, and found a great little model for her. It was listed for ages 8 and over, so I did the painting, but she put most of it together herself!  Totally amazed me, because she knew most of the planets by location!  I had to keep looking at the names on the bar!

these are just some random pics from the past week... Our Penny Pupppy looking cute & cuddly as usual... Rach picked up a Princess ball & bat at a local yard sale, so she was having a blast playing baseball!

 Trying on some silly outfits just for the fun of it.  Sometimes, ya just gotta have a little goofiness in life, right?

She's our little shining star!

East at Easter

 So the Easter Bunny landed at our house... and it appears he is a MAJOR chocoholic!!  Ok, so it's her Daddy that provided what appears to be a lifetime supply of chocolate! Of course, that's because he plans on helping her with the challenge of emptying that basket!

After indulging in just a FEW pieces of candy, it was time to get ready for a lovely dinner at Ariani's Restaurant with Nana, Papa & "Luna Linda & Tony Baloney"...

 "Mama, PLEASE can we go eat spaghetti now"

 I love that in the sunlight you can see just how brown her hair is!  My beautiful little girl...

Finally got to the restaurant! So glad to see Nana & Papa!  Once again, taking her to a nice restaurant was not even remotely difficult!  We had a few people comment to us about what a pleasure it was to see such a well behaved little girl!  Yeah, we were totally thrilled & proud of our special young lady! 

 It's really hard to see in the picture, but this was a wonderful "self portrait" on a napkin... done by the owner/Chef at the restaurant.  Chef Dario fell under Rachel's spell and came over to our table to introduce himself.  He had our waiter bring him a new napkin, and proceeded to draw a terrific picture for Rach.  She was SO excited about it!

 It was still really nice out when we left the restaurant. As soon as we got outside, Rach asked if we could take some pictures at the flower fountain... so how could we possibly say no?

Our Happy Family 

Easter Sunday 2012

Ma Nishtana

 Another wonderful tradition continues... Passover at Auntie Ruth & Uncle Dick's house!  It was, of course, another fantastic night of wonderful friends and FANTASTIC food!

She also practiced all morning and when the time came, she even asked the 4 questions!  Ma Nishtana!!

 And for a change, Mama actually gets in on a few pictures!  (Since I'm normally the photographer, I almost never get any pictures with my beautiful girl)

 She TOTALLY adores her Auntie Ruth!

 Nana & Papa are enjoying the awesome food

We don't know what the attraction is, but every time we go to Auntie Ruth's house, Rach gets a hold of the pretty coasters that have pictures of different areas in Spain.  Here, she is explaining the game to Papa

And a little cuddle time with Nana of course! 

Family Picnic

 It was a beautiful day for a picnic, and that's just where we were heading!  It was time for my dads Bocce League Picnic once again.  Rachel is also practicing picking out all her own clothes, so she was very excited getting ready for the fun day ahead.

It was also going to be extra fun because Nana's "Cancer Buddy (who goes to Chemo the same days & time she goes) was going to come too, and was bringing her granddaughter!

Now, all that we needed to do was wait patiently for Nana & Papa to come pick us up to go to the Bocce Park!

FINALLY!!!  we get to play at the park!  Rachel just LOVES it when her Nana pushes her on the swing!  The "big kid" swings were occupied (not that her Nana would ever let her swing on those anyway! ROFL)

She REALLY enjoyed playing with her new friend, and they really hit it off!  Rach was even willing to share her pinwheel!  

And Papa was VERY happy to show his little monkee how to play Bocce! 

Fast Friends

 And MORE time on the playground!

A little sweaty, but nice to sit with Nana & Papa

And here she is with "Luna Linda & Tony Baloney"

When all was said and done, it was a really nice day at the park. Good food, GREAT fun, and making new friends... Does it get much better?

Stoned Soul Picnic

 Tommy's church picnic was held at one of the parishioners homes, across from the church.  It's actually a little compound shared by the whole family with 4 or 5 houses on the property.  Each family member has their home on the same chunk of land right next to the Edison home.

There was a clown making balloon animals so he made a parrot for Rachel.

 It was a little drizzly, but that didn't last. It turned out to be a pretty good afternoon!
The property was really nice, and many of the women were familiar from past picnics.

They also had a Barbershop Quartet playing music.  They were pretty good.  Rach really likes that style of music, so it worked out great!

Doctor Robert

 Brought Rachel to visit with Nana while she was having her chemo treatment.  She kept everyone entertained... patients & nurses alike!

After treatment, we all went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner.  She LOVES going to "the salad restaurant".  She loves the salad, but her favorite is the macaroni & cheese!