Christmas Lights

Following going out to dinner this evening, we drove downtown to admire the Christmas lights.

Because it had been raining all day, there weren't many people out admiring the lights. Which made for a very enjoyable stroll around the Mission Inn.

Parent / Teacher Conference

We have just returned home from having had our parent/teacher conference with Rachel's preschool teacher.

For the first half, you observe your child through a one way window. She was fun to watch and have her not know you're watching. She was just as busy as she is at home, running from here to there, from this end of the classroom to the other. She played dress up (her favorite thing to do) and played house. It was pretty funny when she pulled the tablecloth off the table and put it into the washer and dryer. LOL. Hmmm....must have seen that one at home.

And then after observing, the teacher comes in and talks to you and gives you this evaluation sheet she has filled out in regards to your child. Mrs. Wilson had nothing but positive and good things to say about Rachel. She is at average or above average for a normal three year old.

We were pretty surprised at some of the things she said on her evaluation sheet. For example:

In regards to social skills and relationships with peers - "Rachel is very friendly and outgoing. She readily allows others to join in her chose activity".

As far as her emotional development/temperament - "Rachel is very out going and even tempered. She is starting to show excellent self control".

And we were most pleased when we talked about her speech. It appears that all the money we put out for speech this last year, is paying off with the compliments we received on well she talks! LOL. Rachel is "Very articulate, good vocabulary, therefore she has the ability to express herself quite well." Mrs. Wilson said the times she is hard to understand is nothing out of the ordinary for a child her age. Whoo Hoo! Someone outside the family can understand her! LOL.

After continuing to talk for a while, Rachel's class was now out on the playground, so we watched her from the balcony going from one end of the playground to another, and having lots of fun.

We are very happy to have received such a good report on Rachel's progress in school!

It's Lookin like Christmas!

It's looking like Christmas at our house. While I was out Black Friday shopping yesterday, Steven and Rachel got the tree out of the attic and put it up. Steven said Rachel kept turning the lights on and off she was so excited. LOL. This morning, once I put the ribbon and gold garland on just so, I let the girls go to town at putting the ornaments on the tree. They had so much fun and Rachel loved looking at all the ornaments. This year is going to be a lot of fun with Rachel. She's so excited by all the lights and decorations we've already seen at Disneyland and in some stores. She's fun to watch because she shows her excitement outwardly which is so cute to see.

Pictures from Thanksgiving

Minnie Mouse, meet Tom the Turkey...our Thanksgiving Dinner. On Thanksgiving Day, Rachel loved to pester Uncle Bart.
She finally settled down and convinced him to read to her.

Feast Day at Preschool

With there being no school next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the preschool classes had their Feast Day today. The younger two classes, the Bouncing Bunnies and the Pooh Bear class, combined together for a large gathering. While the four older classes also combined for an even larger gathering.
The Bouncing Bunnies and the Pooh Bears
coming together to share in Feast Day. The Sunny Sunflowers, Busy Bees, Cute Kittens, and Lucky Ladybugs - aka the Pilgrims and the Indians, gathering for their Thanksgiving Feast.The tables were long and set with very beautiful centerpieces and everyone had their very own placemat that they had decorated. The younger kids had painted leaves and apples, while the older kids were more creative and their place mats said what they were thankful for and were laminated. I love what my niece was thankful for..."her turtles at home". The Feast for the younger kids consisted of raisins, apple slices, chunks of cheese, popcorn, a yummy pumpkin cookie, and what feast wouldn't be complete without black olives to use as finger puppets!After today, I've determined that Rachel will need her very own can of black olives on Thanksgiving, that girl was putting them away!! And ignoring the cheese chunks, which was a surprise seeing how she loves cheese. Declining the caramel dipping sauce for the apple slices offered by Auntie. Finishing off the preschool morning, Rachel cooperated for a picture with her turkey hat on with the large turkey. Gobble, Gobble.

No School for Hannah = Trip to Disneyland

Hannah had no school today in observance of Veteran's Day, so it was off to Disneyland for us. We left the house about 8:00 and made it to the parks just after 9:00. It was a beautiful day to be spending the day outside...beautiful blue skies and not too warm of temps.

Disneyland is just about completely decorated for Christmas. I think this year will be lots of fun to watch Rachel. She was fascinated and excited by the big Christmas tree on Main Street, and the snow atop Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Small World Holiday is up and running and we walked on that. Rachel was fascinated by all the lights and sparkle. After riding Small World, we went to Toontown in search of Minnie Mouse at her house. Rachel wore her (once was Hannah's) Minnie Mouse dress today which would make for a perfect picture with her favorite character. We found Minnie roaming the streets of Toontown and got into line to see her. Once it was her turn, she ran into the arms of Minnie. Everyone behind us in line Awwwed at the adorable site. Minnie took extra time with her young protege. She then walked a couple steps over and guided Rachel to grab hold of her dress and flare it to the side for another round of pictures. We've had moments like this happen a couple of times over the years and I love moments like this. Truly Magical. :) We continued our journey through Disneyland and eventually made our way down Main Street, browsing through some of the shops and admiring all the Christmas gifts and decorations. We crossed the esplanade and headed into California Adventure. As we entered into the gates of California Adventure, we ran into our old neighbors, they lived directly next door to us and we were sad to see them move about a year and a half ago. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with them. It was so good to see them and catch up and sadly tell them of how our neighborhood has change, etc. The girls had so much fun spending the day together, going on rides, and hanging out. We eventually parted our ways and we headed for home. Someone had karate we needed to be back for. :) But we're looking forward to returning to Disneyland and spending the day with Mommy's good friend Karen and her entire family when they come from Pennsylvania for a few days.

Watch for Falling Trees!

I was pretty surprised to arrive at Gramie's house this morning and have Rachel happy to see us. Gramie had trees she wanted cut down in the front yard, and that was Steven's job for today. It was awesome when his Dad arrived to help just as the project was beginning. The girls did a great job at staying out of way of the falling tree limbs. Lookout! Rachel has a power tool!! Two trees cut completely down and laying on the ground,
the girls survey the mess.The girls will be coming home tomorrow afternoon. They were both excited to spend another night at Gramie's and for the fun they have planned for tomorrow. And as for their parents...they are enjoying the peace and quiet and uninterrupted television. :)

Heading to Gramie's

Papa Steve saved Gramie a trip down the hill this afternoon and took the girls up to her work when he headed home. The girls are spending the weekend with Gramie. They'll see us tomorrow when we go up to help with some tree 'trimming'.

Ugh, the Time Change

Having turned our clocks back an hour over the weekend, we're starting to face the consequences of having that extra hour of sleep. Yesterday, Rachel was up at 5:30. This morning BOTH girls were in our bed by 5:45.

I hate the time change. The daylight hours are shorter, the evenings seem longer because it'll soon be dark at 5:00 and by 5:30 you're checking the clock to see if it's time for baths and bed. And for the first (hopefully) week or so...you have some very early risers!