Happy Birthday Princess Pea!

I feel so blessed EVERY SINGLE day to have you as my little girl. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me more frustrated than ever, but you are my Rachel!
I cherish every single moment that I spend with you... playing babies, dancing, cuddling, and our new found love of creating masterpieces together with the sewing machine! Let the Owl making begin!(yes, she wants to make an owl!) I can tell you are as sentimental as your mommy! I LOVE that out of all of your "new" dolls you take your "kara" dollie to bed with you, to dance class, in the car...everywhere! You LOVE her because we made it together. You make me smile. Only YOU can melt my heart at 3:00am when you crawl into bed and sleep RIGHT NEXT TO ME because your "finger hurts" **sigh** I just don't have the heart to turn you away!
4 years ago today my dream came to to have a curly blond headed little princess of my own,
to dress up in knee high socks and shiny shoes, to shop with, to laugh with, and one day share my secrets with! I LOVE LOVE LOVE You sweet little girl! Happy birthday!

xoxo,
mommy

I finally made them bigger!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!
Well, the week the girls have been waiting so patiently for has FINALY arrived! DANCE DAY! This year Emmie is old enough to do the mom & tot class with me! It is HYSTERICAL! When Miss Kris said, "touch your nose to your toes" She plugged her nose and brought her head down to her toes! What a nut!:) When class was over she just stood on her "DOT" and said, "I NOT DONE!" I think she is in LOVE!

Rachel started yesterday and was a bit nervous when she looked around and didn't really know anyone! Her class from last year has been divided up into different days. Only 2 other girls she knew were there! We Miss you girls!!!
Once they started she warmed up and had a blast as usual! Miss kris even showed them what their performance costumes will look like! rachel says, "Thanks goodness they are sparkly and pink mom!" Yes - good thing hun!:)

PS! To all of my photo girlies...I had to shoot these through a dirty window, no flash allowed and it was dark! I upped my ISO to 1600 so I could at least get something! Hey - we can't winem all, right????

Meet Kara

Here she is....don't look too close, we had a few mishaps! I thought we were going to have to throw it away and start over, but Rachel wouldn't here of it, so i repaired her as much as I could!:) Note to self: Don't sew with a 3 year old on your lap! I am a terrible seamstress as it is... add her and I am down right pitiful!:)

Thanks for such kind words on yesterdays post - It really did make me feel better! I am going to try REALLY hard to turn this computer off and enjoy my babies while they still want to play with me! They grow up WAY TOO FAST!

And he's off once more!

I swear I just went through the torture of the first day of Kindergarten! I remember that day so vividly... I truly felt like someone was ripping my heart out! Thank goodness first grade was a bit easier! We tried to prepare Rachel lastnight about Zach being gone most of the day at "big boy school" - that didn't go over so well! The poor little thing sobbed for an hour before crying herself to sleep in MY BED!
Her heart was broken! I promised her I would do lots of fun things with her and Emily, but she said through her tears, "You always work on pictures!" I seriously felt sick to my stomach when she said it - she really meant it! Talk about a wake up call for me! I do work on them alot while the kids are playing, I felt like the worst mommy ever at that moment! Well, things are going to change! I told her that i won't work on pictures until they are all in bed! I asked her what SHE would like to do with me. She replied, make dollies!" We hunted down a pattern and went to work while Zach was at school! She picked out her own material, hair color, and button. We went to work! Mommy sewed a few pieces together that shouldn't have been...WHOOPS!!!! She is a disaster, but Rachel adores her just the way she is.
I took picutres of the first day of school and of the rag doll, but they somehow got deleted - I am so bummed! I will have to take more in the morning! well, Zach had a GREAT day, with a GREAT teacher - whew, what a relief after last year! So, let the school year begin!

fun at gateway!

The night before nana and pop pop left we rode the trax to gateway for some pictures! Here are a few of my favorites! Emily wouldn't leave the gumball machine until she got one!:) We only had 2 quartes so they had to split them! She didn't mind as long as she got something!

Oh! Aren't the skirts adorable???? my mama made them while she was here! She taught me how....watch out fabric stores....here i come!:)

Yes, I am here!

I can't believe how many emails I have gotten asking if I was alright - I haven't blogged in over a week!:) you are all so sweet! I am just fine, just madly trying to keep up with everything! I told myself I WON'T blog until I know there is an end in sight with photo editing! Whew - I think I am getting there!
Anyway, i PROMISED my sis I would post some pictures of our week of family reunions! My mom and dad came for the week and we took off for Idaho for some fun! My Uncle planned a fun outing at a big Lodge with horseback riding, swimming and LOTS of yummy food! The kids had a blast...Thanks Williams family for letting us crash your party!

Then, we were off to Idaho for the Davidson family reunion! My kids had a ball and keep asking when we can go back! It was so fun to see my cousins in person and chit chat in real life for once! My Cousin Gena was kind enough to let us ruin her beautiful lawn with this CRAZY slip and slide! Hmm... I still haven't figured out what we were sliding in, but it sure was great! Emily has a new best friend her name is Lily! They are only one day apart and the best of cousins....well, at least Emily seems to think so!

Well, thanks to all for a great trip and putting up with us! We are already missing our nana and pop pop! I will post more about them and our adventures later!

Oh, isn't my grandpa cute????? He plopped himself down and wanted his picture taken!
He sure LOVES all of his babies!:)

Last one for the week!

Whew.... I am done for the week! I am out a here tomorrow and I am so excited to see my long lost cousins, eat yummy food, and just RELAX for a few days!:)
This cute little girlie is the daughter of one of my HS friends. I haven't seen her since graduation day! Her little one has her mama's curls for sure! LOVE it!:) Have fun while you're in town - I wish I could meet up with everyone for dinner this weekend! I will be there in spirit!:)