Trying to Keep Up

Rachel is 20+ months old now, but she has to think she's 4 just like Heidi. She is trying her best to keep up with, do all the same things, etc. This can be good and bad (the party that "bad" applies to varies). Like she thinks she can drink out of a water bottle just like the rest of us do - however she's not really that good at it yet - thus, I had a very wet driver's seat one day this week ("bad" for mom).

She likes playing with Heidi - seems like a love/hate relationship at times, but I guess that's just how it goes with siblings. This last week they were both on the trampoline while I was loading the car to head to the soccer field. I was just coming back in to the garage when Heidi meets me on the stairs... "Mom, I hit my lip and Rachel hit her head." I looked at her lip and it was a little puffy, but not bleeding. Then I go check on Rachel, who is still on the trampoline crying a little and I see this...A bruise that had popped up right away and was nice and purple.

I asked Heidi, "Now tell me what happened, again?" Heidi says, "well, we were playing ring a round the rosy, pocket full of posy, ashes ashes, we all do our silly trick and I hit my lip and she hit her head." That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

I couldn't resist including this picture. Check out the curls this girl is getting!!!Finally, she likes wearing this hat (thanks cousin Lindsay!). Sometimes she'll try putting it on by herself. And when she does, this is often how it ends up. Cute as can be!!!

Circus Carnival

A few weeks ago we attended the Shriner's Circus & Carnival again. We went last year and enjoyed it so much we wanted to go again. This years Circus had fewer animals and acrobats, but the girls seemed to enjoy it anyway.And thankfully, the clowns were not as big of an issue this year (last year Heidi was petrified of the clowns) - Heidi even asked several of them to autograph our program! I wish I'd gotten her picture with one.

After the Circus we walked around the carnival midway. Emma and Rachel and I took in the petting zoo. Rachel kept her distance from the animals, but Emma was right up at the fence.Heidi enjoyed riding on a motorcycle.And Jason rode the carousel with Emma and Heidi. (Rachel was too small for any of the rides - maybe next year.)It was a fun time. They really do a great job and it's all for a great cause! If you live in the area, I'd really encourage you to check it out next Spring!

Spring Soccer

Emma has been playing soccer again this Spring in a local church league. Her team name this time is the "Blue Dolphins!" She has improved a little since the Fall, in that she participates in more of the drills at practice and she has kicked the ball in games several times. But she doesn't seem to have any desire to get in to the mix of going after the ball.She really likes being a "Blue Dolphin." Yesterday, after her game I wanted to change her in to play clothes. But she said, "no, I don't want to be me. I want to still be a Blue Dolphin." :-)However, I think we may give something else a try in the Fall. We have signed Heidi up for soccer in the Fall, so stay tuned...

Easter Weekend

It was a beautiful Easter weekend. We went to our church Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. The same family has been hosting it at their home for 26 years!!! They have games in the front yard, then the egg hunt is in the back. There is a special area for kids 2 and under and then the rest are released by age to the larger part of the yard. It's a really fun time.

Not so sure about all this...Picking up eggs as quick as she can.Heidi's full basket.And Rachel had the best time rolling her eggs down the slide on the playset in the 2 & under area.Sunday morning I tried to get some pictures of the girls all together, but it didn't go so great. But I did capture this cute one! Sisters!!!Then we went to my sister's house for lunch, another egg hunt, and birthday celebrations for my sisters and mom (gotta multi-task with so many families). We tried to get a nice family picture in our Easter attire. Let's just say, it was VERY challenging and this is the best we got.I did manage to get a cute one of the three of them.Big sis and little sis.More sisters - just different.The girls had bubbles in their Easter baskets from Grammy. Rachel LOVES bubbles. She is constantly asking to play with bubbles at home. And she occasionally is able to blow some herself.So thankful for our wonderful family! And very thankful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is Risen!

Spring Break

I am woefully behind on my blog updates. Spring Break was a month ago and I'm finally getting around to posting the details. So here goes...

The Friday before Spring Break, Heidi's school had their "3''s Spring Sing." All of the 3 year old classes sang 8 or 9 songs. They did a really great job (amazingly so when you think of the number of kids and they are all 3 or 4)! It was really cute! I tried to upload a video, but it's just not working, so here's a picture. Heidi is on the back row.Heidi's Spring Break started with her helping Jason buy new tires for the van. She learned about using a penny to check the wear on the tire - got to do it on our old tire and then on a new tire.
She seemed to really enjoy the process. She likes helping Daddy with his projects.

We had several play dates with friends over the first part of the week. But on Wednesday, we went to Zoo Atlanta with our friends Claudia & Juliette. We had quite a challenge finding a place to park (everyone who didn't go out of town for Spring Break was keeping the area attractions hopping!!), but once we did we had a great time at the zoo. Here are our little birds:We got to see Mr. Lion - which is VERY rare. He's generally hiding in the shade - a benefit to going on a cooler day. :-)And giraffes - everyone loves seeing them.Claudia and Heidi have the same kid-friendly camera and they enjoyed taking their own pictures of the animals. I should post one of those - not sure what she ended up with. But Rachel got the camera later (don't tell her she will probably never own a camera with a view finder).After our lunch break, Ms. Heather treated the girls to frozen lemonade. Yum!A visit to the zoo wouldn't be complete without going to the petting zoo. They have goats, sheep, and pigs. Emma, of course, LOVED it.And Heidi made GIGANTIC strides towards getting over her fear of animals. I didn't believe her when she said she wanted to go in to the petting zoo. And then she wanted to get a brush so she could brush them! Progress...And we topped off our visit with a ride on the zoo train (Emma and Claudia chose to go in the bounce house instead - divide and conquer!).A VERY fun day with VERY good friends!!! And now we have an annual pass - so you'll probably be seeing more zoo pictures. Maybe you can even go with us sometime!

Friday of Spring Break we met some friends at a new park - very nice AstroTurf surface and some unique things to play on! We'll have to go back again. Here is Heidi and Natalie in the "big ball" - a really neat structure for them to climb.And of course swings...Heidi & Rachel enjoyed the "bouncy car."And they had a little store front built in to one of the playgrounds. I think Heidi was selling animals. :-) Not sure what Rachel bought, but looks like a happy transaction.Then Friday evening we went to play mini golf. We have a Curious George video that shows George learning to play mini golf. (As it turns out, this is the "golf" that Heidi wanted to play in a quote several posts back.) It was fun!Rachel enjoyed being part of the obstacles.All done after the final hole...Big Finish!And we topped off the evening with our newest discovery - Rita's Frozen Custard & Italian Ice. Yummy!!!

Finally, we finished off the week with a family celebration. My grandmother turned 95 earlier in the week so we all got together for a fun, delicious lunch at Red Lobster, then on to a park for cupcakes, ice cream, presents, and playing. I didn't get too many pictures, but here's a cute one of Great Gram and Rachel.It was a fun, busy week.