I should be cleaning my kitchen, but...

I've had demands from a reader to update the blog.

Sorry!! Since we've gotten home from our trip to IL- which was fun and successful- we haven't had much blog worthy material around here.

The weather has finally broken. We went from 100 on Saturday to about 72 on Sunday. Can I get an AMEN? You could almost hear the plants, animals, birds, even the darn weeds- sigh in relief. I opened the windows and it was actually too cold- I had to shut them!

Rachel likes the cooler weather because she gets to play outside more- however, she does NOT enjoy the fall clothing (socks, jackets, pants). We will also be making a trip to somewhere other than Walmart for some new shoes. Her big feet are pushing the limits of her current pair. Putting her feet in them with socks on is like the stepsisters trying on the glass slipper in Cinderella. We looked at Walmart on Saturday- but YUCK.

To continue the feet discussion...she did not inherit them from me. She has outgrown her 18 month footie jammies. They fit great in the leg length and arms...but I have to cram her feet in there which, I'm sure, is not comfortable. I found a pair of 24 month footies in her hand me downs. They have plenty of wiggle room in the toes but she looks kind of silly because they are a bit baggie on her. Poor kid inherited my plump thighs and her daddy's long skinny feet.

Aren't you glad you asked for the blog update, Mom? A weather update and lengthy discussion on Rachel's feet!

Alas, tomorrow will be better. I'm going to finally take some pictures of the adorableness of Rachel feeding her "moos" (known to the rest of the world as cows).

A Girl and Her Dog

Rachel loves Pepper.

Pepper is thinking "The things I do for a few Teddy Grahams and Cheerios."

Sunday Snapshot

We had a fantastic weekend. It was a girls weekend!! My dear friend, Nikki, came for a visit and we had a great time doing nothing! What I can't believe is that I only took one picture while she was here...and she'd kill me if I put it up. She was reading with Rachel on the floor and Rachel was sitting on top of her. Since I posted this picture previously (http://nickandaheld.blogspot.com/2009/11/girls-night.html)... I don't want to endanger our friendship by posting another picture she won't like.

This evening, Rachel played outside with her little wagon. She was a girl on a mission. To do what, exactly, I'm not sure. But she was going places and taking her wagon with her. She was ready to haul whatever her daddy and grandpa needed her to...as long as it didn't require walking through prickly hay. She wasn't up for that.

I had an excellent weekend! And like they always do, it went by way too quickly!

Toothbrushes and Lint Rollers

This week I bought Rachel an Elmo toothbrush. We've been brushing her teeth for awhile with one of those finger brushes and then this fancy mouthguard looking thing for awhile...but I thought we'd give the Elmo toothbrush a whirl. First I brushed, then, because she's little Miss Independent, she grabbed the brush to do it herself. She took it out of her mouth...looked at it...looked at me, and started to brush her hair. I couldn't help it, I laughed. After a minute- and me correcting her that it's for her teeth- she looked at the toothbrush and started to brush MY hair.

She's not completely wrong... and it does resemble a mini version of her hairbrush.

In other Rachel cuteness- this morning I used the lint roller to get the dog hair off one of Rachel's toys. Rachel wanted the lint roller so I gave it to her and she walked over to Pepper and started rolling her off. I tried to explain that Mommy has tried it, and there's not enough lint rollers in the world for it to work- but that it was an awesome idea...

I wonder how long until we can give the dog grooming chore over to Miss Rachel! ;)

Sunday Snapshot

Rachel had a fun Sunday. She was little miss social butterfly at church today. She was also very vocal, adding her two cents worth during the sermon, scriptures, etc. We ended up outside, since the cry room had the same temperature as a meat locker. The pastor is out of town this weekend at his daughter's wedding, and their very fluffy (and very lonely) cat was also outside. To give you an idea on how lonely the kitty was...it was willing to make friends with Rachel in order to get some attention.
After a relaxing afternoon snooze for the entire family, we headed over to Lincoln State Park for some family time. Rachel showed Daddy how awesome she is at going down the slide, playing on the swings, and continued to work on mastering the art of going up and down the stairs like a big girl. If it wasn't for the fact that the railing was too tall, I'm pretty sure she could have done it on her own. We also meandered down the lake. Much like the creek, Rachel thought the lake was pretty fun. Afterwards, we stopped at the Candy Castle for some frozen hot chocolate. It must have felt good on her sore gums because she drank about half of mine... I'm sure it had nothing to do at all with the sugary chocolate yumminess.

After Rachel had dinner, we went for a wagon ride around the farm, stopped in to visit her heifer "Moo", and she enjoyed some time in the sandbox (pictured above). It took her a little while to figure out what she was supposed to do in there. But she's got it figured out now and every time we're on the deck, she wants to play in her sandbox!!

Happy Sunday!! I wish you all a very wonderful week!

National Winner!!

Congratulations to my husband, Nick, on your distinction as THE NACAA National Winner in the Communications Section for White Paper! As always, a job well done!! Even the poster you created to showcase your paper was awesome! :)

A Much Needed Update

I realize that I am significantly behind in my blogging. We've been busy the last couple weeks. We've had visitors (Great-Granny and Great-Grandpa stopped in!!) and just gotten caught up with life in general. But I thought I'd better get some pictures up before we head to Kansas.

Rachel LOVES to rock in her rocking chair. I finally pulled it out into the kitchen when I found her trying to stand on it in her bedroom. I can supervise AND cook dinner this way.

Rachel made fast friends with her Great-Granny.

Since it was too hot to do anything else, we headed to the Children's Museum in Evansville while my grandparents were in town. Despite a minor mishap at lunch...we all had a great time!

Rachel and Great-Grandpa Dave checking out the view from the window.

Great-Grandpa Dave was Rachel's play buddy for most of the day. The ball room was by FAR her favorite. I'd guess we spent at least half our time in the ball room.

Rachel thought that the construction hat was the perfect accessory for Granny's outfit. Safety first!!

Great-Grandpa showed her how to put the balls down the chute. They then spent at least the next 20 minutes doing this and when she was done, she'd pretty much cleaned up that corner. (Rachel felt that shoes were optional at this exhibit). I honestly think that Rachel would have stayed in there all day if we'd let her.

"Where'd they go, Great-Grandpa?"

We made a second stop at the rice table on the way out. Apparently, Rachel decided shoes were optional with this exhibit as well.

Catch you later!!

In honor of summer, Rachel give sweet corn her best try with her two bottom teeth. She probably burns more calories trying to eat it than she gets from it, but she really likes it!