Rachel's UNbirthday

At Rachel's preschool, they like to acknowledge all the kids' birthdays, even when in the summer. So today, they celebrated Rachel's UNbirthday! To a three year old, it's a little confusing as to why she was celebrating her birthday at school and not coming home to presents or sending out invitations for a big birthday bash with all the family. But we convinced her this is her practice party for when it's her birthday in a couple of months.

It's funny to see how kids get used to routine when it comes to celebrating birthdays at school. Because it was her special day, she was deemed "the special helper" which means she's the line leader, she passes out the napkins for snack, she collects the trash when everyone is finished. Also, because it's her special day, she gets to go with the snack lady and make the birthday punch together. It's something the kids all love to do. At the beginning of the school year, the kids all make and decorate a special placemat and a birthday crown to wear on their special day. We also get to bring in the snack for the day. Rachel chose sliced carrots with ranch dressing and cupcakes as the special treat. We got to use the Doodlebops paper goods we had bought for her birthday party last year, but had to cancel due to Daddy being sick. It was nice to use what we had and get it out of the house!!Rachel passed out party favors to all of her friends. We used our Doodlebops party favor bags and treat boxes with a pair of sunglasses and a bag of bug shaped graham crackers. They both were a huge hit!! Rachel had a great day celebrating her UNbirthday, and so far, she seems to have gotten that it was a special day at school, and her special day at home is coming....

Memorial Day

We spent our Memorial Day hanging out at the home of some friends from church. Rachel was excited to be going to Caleb's house, aka her boy friend's house. LOL. The sun appeared for a while, but most of the afternoon it was overcast, but that didn't stop all the kids from getting into the heated pool. I tried as long as I could to persuade my kids from wanting in the pool, but eventually it was impossible and they dawned their swim suits for a while. But prior to putting her suit on, Rachel loved sitting on sidelines dipping her toes into the warm water. There was tons of food, hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, shredded chicken tacos, roasted corn, and tons of side dishes. There was enough food to feed the 50-60 people there and then some. We managed to get lunch and dinner out of it. Rachel attempted eating corn off the cob, and was that ever a cute sight. Check out all that butter on her cheeks!It was a great afternoon, Rachel loved hanging out with her friend and even the older kids. Was a nice, relaxing way to spend the day.

Disneyland in the Rain!

Hannah is officially done with her school year, so after picking up Rachel from preschool this morning, we headed to Disneyland.

The day started off overcast and chilly, a perfect day for going to Disneyland. With the long holiday weekend upon us, and the summer season not too far behind, I figured today would be a good day for making a trip before the summer crowds hit. Upon checking the weather forecast, there was no rain forecasted, but then neither was snow, hail, or tornadoes. Some things Southern California all saw this afternoon.Despite the rain, we had fun. Rachel loved wearing her rain poncho. We did a couple of our favorite things. Saw the new Playhouse Disney show. It now showcases all the shows she watches on morning television and she loved it!We tolerated being out in the off and on rain for about four hours, and then made our way to the car. There will be plenty of dry trips in the coming weeks, but we did enjoy the change of weather for today!

Baby Abigail has Arrived!

A few months back, I shared a post about a family who had learned the baby they were expecting would be born with a cleft. Baby Abigail was born on Thursday, and the ultrasounds were right, she was born with a cleft, a bilateral cleft. She was born last Friday and already had the first of many doctor appointments today.

This family has quite a road ahead of them. But Praise God they are a Christian family and knows that the Lord hasn't given them anything they can't handle. And He will help them through this journey. But I know, just as we appreciated all the prayers on behalf of Rachel, they too would appreciate prayers for Abigail. So prayer warriors, would you please be praying for the Jenson Family.

You can check out Little Miss Abigail at her own blog. Bookmark it. Follow her Journey. See God work wonders.

Mother's Day at Medieval Times

This afternoon, in honor of Mother's Day, and all the Mother's in the family, my Aunt Sandy treated the entire side of my Dad's family, and then extended the offer to include Steven's Mom and Grace's Mom, to a mid afternoon dinner and tournament at Medieval Times. It was a fun and different way to spend the day and it was a really neat opportunity to do something we've never gotten to experience.The show started off a little rocky for Rachel. It was dark, there was fog, and it was loud. She cried and was frightened. Thankfully, there was a Mother/Daughter two people down, that told us it would get lighter soon. After that, she was able to sit in her own chair and enjoyed the show.

This was the opening scene.Upon entering the castle, we were told we'd be cheering on the Blue Knight, and we each got blue crowns to wear showing our support. There were also coordinating flags (thanks Aunt Judy!!) to wave in celebration and support of our knight. Rachel loved waving the flag.There were a couple of times that our knight had flowers to give to the maidens in the audience. Here, he questions if Rachel wants a flower. It was a fun show, with all the Knights doing tournament games. There was a bit of a story to it, but I kinda got lost. LOL. Once we got past that opening scene, Rachel had fun!

A Present for MOM??

Rachel came home from preschool today with a present nicely wrapped, attached was a Mother's Day thank you poem. She was ever so excited, to open it! We kept trying to tell her it was a present for Mommy, but she kept denying it. We told her to wait until Sunday to open it, but she refused.

Inside the Mother's Day present, was this cute magnetic flower with her picture (thankfully it was a day whereas her hair was nicely done), and clothes pins as leaves where I, or perhaps she, can put post-it notes. It's very cute and brightens up the refrigerator.

One of the Best Things...

One of the best things about making cookies......is licking the beater!
Especially Mommy's new BIG beater!

Staying for Lunch Bunch!

Hannah was home from school today. She obviously didn't get the notice about not being sick on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days in which Rachel goes to school, thus leaving Mommy three hours to do housework, surf about the internet, do absolutely nothing if she so desires, etc. LOL.

Since Hannah was home from school and didn't require my picking her up, Rachel stayed for Lunch Bunch today at school. And was she ever excited!!!P.S. - I'm just kidding about the no getting
sick notice on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

March Airfest 2008

This weekend was the 2008 Air Fest at March Air Reserve Base. We enjoyed the last air show we saw at Edwards Air Force Base in October 2006, and thought since this one was so close to home we'd go and watch!

Rachel enjoyed some of the airshow. Mostly she enjoyed the airplanes and jets she was able to see from inside the comforts of her car when we were attempting to be parked. Once out on the airstrip, the loud noise was really bothersome to her little ears and she didn't pay much attention, especially because met up with Uncle Robbie and Auntie and McKenzie and Haylee. Meeting up gave the girlies all something to do. The two big demonstrations we were anxious to see were that of the F-22 Raptor and that of the U.S.A.F Thunderbirds. We made it to the airstrip just in time for the Navy parachute team, which is always fun, and quiet for little ears. Following the parachuters landing, the F-22 Raptor took to the skies and was it ever loud and phenomenal! We were really glad we made it in time to see it's first ever West Coast demonstration. Following the Raptor, there were other air demonstrations by a cargo plane that's big enough to transport Humvees and other large equipment to ground troops. Seeing something that big take off and fly is amazing.There was also a demonstration by an Air Force Reserve Biplane which was fun.The Air Fest ended with a spectacular demonstration from the U.S.A.F Thunderbirds! While we've only ever seen them twice, both times they've been fun to watch, perhaps it's the music they put to their stunts and flyovers. Unlike our last airshow, we weren't able to get here earlier in the day to explore the grounded planes on exhibit. They closed off going in the back of this aircraft just prior to us walking up. Things were closing up and it was time to exit the grounds. But I got a picture and it shows just how massive the aircraft is! We exited the grounds and made our way to our car. Thankfully, exiting the base was a lot easier than it was arriving and getting parked. We went to dinner and talked about what we liked and about the next air show we're hoping to go to. That one will be in October and will feature the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, as well as other military aircraft.

A 50th Fiesta

This afternoon we went to a 50th birthday party for my Aunt Judy. Because her birthday falls on Cinco De Mayo, the party was a Mexican Fiesta theme complete with chips and salsa, all the fixings for tacos and burritos, and what Fiesta wouldn't be complete without a pinata!!

Despite having Mexican food for lunch, Rachel was happy to sit with Papa on the picnic table and eat some more Mexican food. But it wasn't long before she was off and playing with her cousins and the other few little girls in attendance.Once everyone was done eating, it was time for the breaking of the pinata. I believe this was Rachel's first pinata and she had fun hitting the thing with the plastic bat. All the kids had a chance at hitting it, but ultimately it was the birthday girl who finished off the beating of the pinata and the candy came flying out. The pinata was packed with fruit snacks and roll ups, mini bags of M&M's, and Tootise Rolls, the pinata couldn't have been filled with anything better, all are Rachel's favorites! The pinata wasn't the only fun activity for the kids to play, they played pin the tail on the donkey and everyone walked away a winner with a regular sized candy bar!! Rachel was excited for big candy bar and as much as she wanted to eat it then, it went into the loot bag with the rest of the candy.The rest of the time was spent relaxing and chatting with family members, cake and presents, and the kids went about playing with the broken pieces of the pinata and the pinata rope. Who knew you could have so much fun with a rope!As the evening went on, Cousin Kevin brought out a portable DVD player and the girls all sat around watching a movie in the dark. Kinda like their own mini drive in, without the cars! As always Rachel loved playing with her cousins, and was so worn out that she was asleep in the car before we'd even hit the major street to head for home.

The Boots

Ever since Rachel got her pink boots for Christmas, it's near impossible to get her to wear anything else. She makes quite the fashion statement when she wears them with dresses, but she's pretty cute to say the least, and she always gets a lot of compliments from people we pass. Her little friend at preschool wore her pink boots today so she could match Rachel. I couldn't help but get a picture of the cuteness.