Kate and Mommy Time

I wonder if the thought has ever crossed Kate's 11 month old mind, "I wonder what it would be like to have Mommy all to myself?" Well, this weekend Kate got the opportunity to be an only child. Rachel and Luke spent Friday and Saturday night with Grandnanna and Grandpa in Snyder, so they could watch the fly in at the Snyder airport. Chris worked Saturday and got home around noon on Sunday. Kate and I spent a quiet weekend at home. We went shopping for something for her to wear for her birthday, but we came up empty handed. We also went to visit a friend who had a new baby. We went shopping for some new toys for Kate in our storage building. We found a rocking horse and an Elmo fun table that sings all kinds of neat songs. She just loves her recycled toys.

Kate also got to watch something on TV that did not star Scooby Doo. I don't know if she even knew our TV showed other things besides Scooby Doo and Shaggy. She was very interested in her Baby Einstein show.

We met Grandnanna and Grandpa in Big Springs to pick up the big kids on Sunday. We had not driven a block before Kate with her lightning fast reflexes grabbed Luke's toy. It took Luke and Rachel to pry it from her clinched fists with her screaming in protest at her highest octave. It has taken her almost a year to join in the bickering in the back seat of our car. All I can say is she learned it from the best!

SURPRISE Party and Water Slides!!!

Rachel had a SURPRISE party given to her by Memaw Linda for her seventh birthday! Rachel had asked to go to the water slides in Dallas for her birthday. We agreed to her request. We planned our trip for the weekend after her birthday, so she was not expecting an actual birthday party. Memaw called her the night before her birthday to see if she would come to her house on her birthday. Rachel accepted the invitation. On her birthday, she moped around asking if she was going to get cake or more important presents, on her birthday. We told her she would get her presents in Dallas before we went to the water slides. Our answer bothered her, so she asked if she could just go to Toys-R-Us and pick out her own gifts. She received several calls on her birthday wishing her birthday wishes. Everybody she talked to she asked if they were going to be at Memaw's house. Everybody told her no. She did not act too disappointed or ask questions. We left for Snyder after she got out of her summer school. We arrived to a room full of excited party goers! She was very excited and surprised to see everybody! We actually surprised her! To those of you that don't know, last year her Grandnanna threw her a surprise party too, so she has been surprised two years in a row. I don't think we will be able to pull it off again next year! Rachel had a wonderful party! We had pizza and ice cream cake. She received so many wonderful gifts. Her big gift was a water slide. We set it up in the back yard and all the kids enjoyed sliding on it. Her little cousin Tenley jumped on without any hesitation. She loved the water slide! She has no fear!

On the Friday after her birthday we headed to Fort Worth to see Aunt Cara, Uncle Beaubie, and baby cousin Ian. Grandpa and Grandnanna joined us on our trip. We had a great time visiting with everybody and eating at our favorite restaurants. I also got to meet my brand new baby cousin Julia Grace Sims. She is such a beautiful baby! You forget how little a newborn actually is. On Saturday we went to the water park. Cara and Beau joined us. Grandpa and Grandnanna graciously agreed to watch Kate and Ian while we had some fun in the sun. The kids big and small had a great time at the water park. We even snuk Luke on a slide he was a little too small for. It was an uphill water slide that is basically a roller coaster on water. He said it was a little scary but lots of fun! We stayed at the water park until it closed for the day. As always, we had a great time in Dallas and we thank Cara, Beau, and Ian for all their hospitality!

Happy Seventh Birthday Rachel!!!

It hardly seems possible that seven years ago today we were anxiously waiting for our baby girl to arrive. I can remeber almost every detail about that day, but all the days since seem like a blur. Rachel has turned into such a little lady. She is a wonderful big sister and student. She loves cheerleeding, dresses, and the color pink. I thought it would be neat to share some pictures of Rachel from all her past birthdays (thank you Aunt Cara for scanning the pictures for us).



Rachel brand new and mad!

Two days old and on our way home. We had no clue what to expect. We sure are glad she took it easy on us! Rachel was such a sweet baby!

On her first birthday she did not want to eat her cake, so she decided to put her feet in it. She was covered in icing from head to toe when she was done, but none of it made it in her mouth!

Our pretty little girl at two....

Here she is three years old and has a new title of big sister!

Dreaming of her waterslide at four....

Here she is with her friend Chuck E Cheese at five years old...

We made her a cake for her sixth birthday. She wanted a pink cake with pink icing. She did not realize in order to have a pink cake with pink icing it would mean it would be strawberry flavored, and since she does not like strawberries she would not eat the cake! Lesson learned not everything pink is great!

Happy Seventh Birthday Rachel!!!

Summer Fun

Today we had some backyard fun in the hot West Texas sun. We got out the big waterslide and filled up the swimming pool for the kids.

Rachel and Luke were having so much fun Kate and I decided to join them!!

Rachel and Luke thought it was so funny that Momma went down the big slide!! That slide is as fun as it looks!!

Happy Birthday Chris!!!

Chris celebrated his 33rd birthday on Friday. All Chris wanted for his birthday was to go to the movies. Memaw Linda graciously agreed to watch the kids for us. We watched Prince Capian, the new Narnia movie, and Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was so nice to get to see two movies uninterrupted! We both enjoyed the opportunity to get to go on a date and go to the movies again!

Field Days!!

Rachel participated in Field Day at her school on Friday. I can remember having Field Days when I was in school. It was always so much fun and it meant the school year was almost over! Rachel only has four school days left of the first grade! It is hard to believe she has almost completed two years of school! My Mom came to watch Luke and Kate so I could go watch Rachel. I also volunteered to help. My job was to pass out cookies and water. Let's just say I was the most popular person at Field Day!

Rachel can sure make her hula hoop work! I don't know where she gets her hula ability.

I video taped Rachel in the sack race. I figured this event would be the best event to catch her falling. Did she disappoint me?

Our Busy Weekend

This busy weekend started early on Friday. Rachel got to ride her bike to school for Bike Day. She has been practicing hard for almost two weeks. Well all her practicing paid off. She rode around the grass track during PE with no problems. Yea Rachel!!! Luke, Kate, and I picked Rachel and her bike up from school that afternoon and headed to Luke's preschool for their Annual Spring Musical Program and Graduation. We all wondered if Luke would participate or not. He delighted us with a great performance! He did get tired halfway through and laid back on the stage for a few seconds, but we were very excited he sang the songs and did most of the hand motions. I did mention before the program that there would be cookies and treats for all the kids who sang. He will do anything for food!! I video taped the show on the big video camera for Chris, so I only have a picture to share.

Saturday we headed to Snyder to visit everybody there. My Aunts Janice and Joyce and my Uncle Floyd were coming from Austin for a visit. We had a real nice visit with them. My Uncle Floyd, who loves to entertain everybody, taught Luke how to burp his ABC's and The Pull My Finger Trick. Luke how has a new respect for the genius of Uncle Floyd! We also got to see most of our other relatives who live in Snyder including cousins Miles and Tenley. We got several cute pictures of the cousins, but they are all on Aunt Johnnie's camera. We ended up staying the night in Snyder so Rachel could play cards with Memaw Linda, Janice, Joyce, and Floyd. She had waited all day to play cards with them. We rushed home Sunday morning just in time to get ready and eat lunch so we could go watch Rachel cheer at the Rockhounds baseball game. This was the first time our family had been to a baseball game. We had a real nice time. We had seats in the shade, and it was not too hot. We had ice cream for a treat. Kate had her first taste of ice cream, and she loved it! Below is the video of Rachel's dance. She is in the back row. Warning it is about 2 minutes long.

The picture below about sums up our weekend....

WE'RE TIRED!!!