She LOVES horses!

It all started last year innocently enough on her birthday...we spent the day at the fair. Because she loves animals, I took her through the horse barn where we ran into some friends from church. Lilly (and her mom, Andie) let Rachel give Lilly's horse Casper some treats, which led to her sitting on his back inside the stall, and from that moment on, Rachel was smitten. It was further fueled by my dear friend, Maria, and her adorable miniature donkey, Fazoli, who attended Rachel's 2nd birthday party. Forget birthday cake! Maria brought Fazoli!



Rachel "riding" Casper.
 

Maria's miniature donkey, Fazoli, which was the highlight of Rachel's birthday party.

A few months later (and a few horse toys and books later), she had a pony ride at the state park we camped at with friends. She talked her daddy into a second ride the next day.

 

And so the story goes on. I may be wrong, but I don't think this is merely a passing phase. Not only does she love to ride horses, read about horses, watch horses on TV (HRTV is part of our cable package) and YouTube, but she absorbs all knowledge related to horses like a little sponge. She knows what a farrier does and checks Pepper's (and anyone else that will hold still long enough) "hooks" daily. Her Gram has made her saddle blankets for her toy horses - the last time I counted she had about 15 and we've added a few more since then. She puts Nick and I in the barn (bathroom) and closes the stall door (pocket door on the bathroom), but not before she has lovingly provided us with hay and fresh water. Jeannie taught her how to put a horse in stall this weekend (turn it around before you leave the stall so you don't get kicked), so she is now turning me around before she closes the stall door. She knew we needed to tighten the girth on the saddle at her most recent ride and used the correct terminology. She is starting to recognize different breeds, and knows already that she would like to own a Friesian and a Clydesdale. She knows the difference between English and western tack. Shapes, schmapes. She's going to learn the important things.

 

Rachel's obsession with horses has led to a couple of other rides at Lilly's house and also a ride at Jeannie's on Preacher and Daisy (the miniature donkey). Jeannie told her she should get a riding helmet and come back for another ride. Rachel fully expected that we would be going to the store right NOW to get that helmet - a blue one - and then we could go back and ride Preacher some more...

 

 

We all have the things in life that help us relax and make us smile. For me, it's my berry patch. For Nick, it's the farm. My mom has her dogs and my grandpa his golf. I think, though, it's rather unusual to be so passionate about something at so young an age. I marvel at her confidence and lack of fear around these rather large animals.

 

So far, the cowgirl hat and stick horse that Lilly so generously gave Rachel is satiating her passion.

 

 

But the other day, when going through the menagerie of animals we have on the farm, she was quick to point out that "we don't have horses yet".

 

Stay tuned...with her determination, the sky is the limit!






Ready for summer.

It's a beautiful day here. Mid-seventies...sunny. Rachel spent quite awhile on the deck this morning playing in her sandbox, riding in her fire truck, tormenting the cat (who finally got smart enough to LEAVE), blowing bubbles, and just enjoying the sunshine. After she tired of those activities, I needed just a few minutes to get lunch ready...so I got out our biggest plastic bowl, some cups, and filled it with some water. It was wonderful...she spent probably 30 minutes just playing in the water. Of course, this meant she soaked her clothes, but it was a minor price for keeping her occupied. She came to tell me that her clothes were wet, so we stripped her down to her diaper on the deck. Well, that was an even better idea because by the time I returned with a dry diaper, I found this:

rub a dub dub, big girl, little tub.

she didn't care though.

does anyone else find it hilarious she has to take her feet out to scoop water into her cup?

it capsized a time or two...but she'd carefully get back in.

Her lunch was ready and she was starting to get a little pink. I didn't want her to get a sunburn in mid-March, so we packed it up for today. But the smile from seeing Rachel squeeze her little self into that bowl of water is going to last all day long. Probably tomorrow too. Rachel- Mama loves you! You crack me up!

And if you're wondering...Pampers Cruiser diapers can hold an amazing amount of water.

Bring it on, summer. We'll be ready!

Rachel and Great-Grandpa

Granny and Grandpa came to visit two weeks ago. (Has it really been two weeks already?!) Grandpa brought along his laptop and shared this video with Rachel. I think they watched it together at least 15 times over the three day visit. Knowing Rachel she was studying up so she could try some of these tricks this summer. :)

Move Over Rachael Ray!

This evening Rachel helped me prepare dinner. I guess it was so much fun that she wanted to continue with her own creations. After dinner, she got her little fry pan and spatula and cooked up one of her play tea cookies for Pepper. Pepper was initially excited until she realized the cookie was not actually edible. After Nick finished the dishes, I suggested to Rachel that she make a snack for her daddy. Well, no plastic cookie would do for Daddy. Only the best for him... she marched off to the kitchen and came back with the apple cinnamon Cheerios. Poor Pepper was feeling a bit jipped. She cooked and stirred and poured until they were just right. She even let me sample a few. Best Cheerios I've ever tasted. :)

We were not brave enough to let Rach pour her own Cheerios. Pepper was very disappointed. (Notice her on the left cleaning out a bowl from Rachel's pretzel snack earlier in the day. There were none left in the bowl...but she licked it out anyway. Sigh.)

Working her magic on the Cheerios. I know if the General Mills PR people saw this, they'd call us right up and ask for the recipe...

A good cook always samples her dish before she serves it.

Final plating....
(Pepper the sous chef is only to happy to clean up spills from head chef Rachel)

Cheerios by Rachel Leone! Want a bite?
Now taking reservations.

What We've Been Up To

Once again a little behind in the blogging. Good thing keeping the blog current wasn't the top of the list of my New Year's Resolutions! I'd be failing miserably! But things have been a little busy here for the last couple weeks including a trip to Indy, Nick's Birthday, a new job at the library for me, and life in general. This next week is going to be a crazy one- so I thought I'd put some pictures up to tide you all over for a week or so until I have a chance to play catch-up again!! So without further yammering- here's a picture update on the goings-on in the Held House!

Doing dishes for Mama.

She is oh-so-grateful for the help.

A little reading before bedtime. I was getting her bedtime milk ready and came in to find her reading to herself. I love that she is really starting to love reading.

BIG SMILE!! We missed Elmo on tv so Mama opened the DVD from Great-Granny and Great-Grandpa.

She LOVES the Elmo DVD. We have since watched in about 1000 more times. I am beginning to know the lines...

Rachel likes to unravel the TP while I shower. She knows this is a no-no. One morning this week, I got out of the shower to find that she had tried to clean up after her fun. Gotta give her credit for trying....

I really need to do a whole post about the church, but long story short, it's on it's way to a new home and this week it was lifted off it's foundation and turned 180 degrees in preparations for the big move. The workers were kind enough to share with me they are waiting on highway permits before they can move it to the new location about 1/4 mile away. More to come on this one, PROMISE!

And something no one tells you about Motherhood- you are not allowed to go pee. If you do, you will come out to find your 19 month old standing on top of the kitchen table.

 I promise to be back to blogging and post more frequently than every two weeks!! If you're wondering what we're up to, watching Elmo is a pretty good guess these days!

Stacking Cans

Since our plan to head to Palmyra today to see the Abner's was foiled by Mother Nature and her idea for snow, I tried to come up with some activities to keep Rachel occupied here at home. I recently checked out a book at the library full of fun ideas for toddlers that you can do with items found around the house. The one we decided on today was stacking cans. Rachel loves to stack and the idea that she got to stack things out of her favorite play spot in the kitchen (the pantry) was appealing.

She's pretty good at stacking. Look out...future Jenga player!!

Mama's ideas aren't always stupid!

The most fun to making a tower is knocking it down!!

Hopefully tomorrow there will be enough snow to try out the new snow pants!

What Month Is It?

While I made Rachel a gourmet lunch of turkey, cottage cheese, and applesauce this morning, I thought she was on the deck driving her firetruck. Instead, I saw a pile of her clothes (shoes, socks, and lightweight jacket) and found her playing in her sandbox barefoot with the cat. Normally, allowing my baby to play outside without shoes on January 9 would likely result in a call to Department of Family Services, but it hasn't been our regular winter weather recently. And I have to say... I like it!

Pile of clothes next to the firetruck.

Rachel and Boots playing. Boots left quickly after this photo was taken when Rachel started to bury Boots in the sand.

Enjoying the unseasonably warm temps.

68 degrees inside (normal). 64.8 degrees outside- not normal!

I think I'll call this her Alma Mater pose in her very cute Illini t-shirt!
Hail to the Orange... Hail to the Blue!!

In related news- Rachel had her 18 month check-up today.

She actually lost weight (1/2 lb) and weighs in at 24.6 lbs. Refusing to eat for a week will result in weight lost- not that I have this problem.

She is now 32 inches tall- which puts her just above the 50% for height.

And she does not like the doctor's office at all. Lana called her name and Rachel started shaking her head no...once we crossed the doorway into the back office, the crying and tears began. Stickers, suckers, stripping to her diaper (normally her favorite outfit) and fun games did not change her opinion...

Sous Chef

Rachel loves to help with just about any job we come up with. Now that she can push the chair to the counter on her own, she's becoming my little sous chef (whether I want her help or not). The other night, Rachel helped me with dinner preparations....and the camera was within reach.

Rachel helped get the broccoli read for steaming.

Broccoli is one of her favorites- so of course she had to sample it.

"It's better cooked, Mama."

Did you know you should whisk broccoli to enhance the flavor? Yeah, me either.

She's actually really good at whisking. The seasoning was perfectly blended in our rice.

She also enjoys stacking the spices...

Kiss the Cook!!

Coffee, anyone?

I just never know what fun Rachel will think of during the short amount of time it takes me to use the bathroom. This morning I came out to find she had pushed one of the kitchen chairs over to the counter...

She apparently wanted a cup of coffee. And she wanted it "to go" like Daddy.

I guess she needed a bit of a boost this morning since she was up late waiting for her Daddy to come home from his meeting. He'd been gone for two nights in a row. She wanted to make sure that he stilled lived here and not at work.

EDITORS NOTE** After looking at this, I realized that it looks like I allow my 17 month old to pour hot coffee. Please note that her daddy and I had already finished the coffee so the pot was empty except for a few dribbles. No need to call social services.

Snow

After days of nothing but rain, the temperature dropped enough today that it started to snow. I didn't even notice it, but Rachel did. She stood at the doorway of the bedroom, pointing at the window making the noise that she uses for everything she doesn't have a word for. We bundled up and went outside. As you can see, she was less than impressed. Hopefully it'll grow on her- otherwise, she'll have 17 more long winters until she goes to college in Florida or Texas...

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service

Apparently I'm going to have to implement a "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" policy at the dinner table. This evening, while waiting for me to serve her dinner, Rachel learned how to take off her shirt. Cue the music.

 Awesome. If she figures out her pants, she'll be running around in her birthday suit because she is also proficient at removing her diaper.