Wordless Wednesday #2

Doesn't every child eat breakfast while sitting on the coffee table........wait is my daughter sitting ON the coffee table while eating breakfast? And did she also sneak some fruit snacks in there too? Thankfully she can't open those....yet :) I really was only out of the room for a second - the cat wanted out, I had to let him go or else he might get grumpy.......and we all know a grumpy cat is not what we want now is it.

And just in case you were wondering - no we don't normally eat breakfast while sitting on the coffee table, and no she doesn't normally watch her portable dvd player while eating breakfast and no, even though she'd like too, she doesn't eat fruit snacks for breakfast. The sausage and eggs is more our style (of course Kix is right up there too).

So much for wordless Wednesday - I must like to talk or something :) Check out more entries here or here or here - maybe they are actually wordless too teeheeee.

Favorite Foto Friday - Spring Has Sprung

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream!!!!

I have always loved ice cream myself so it's no wonder that my sweetie does too. We love the Kiddie Cones because they are just the right size and the fact that she gets to say "hahaha mommy, kitties don't eat ice cream" every time we get one! Little does she know that I think her kitty would eat her ice cream if she would just give him the chance!

Here are some pics from this week when she and Cousin Cayman got to spend the afternoon together and just happened to twist my arm until I agreed that it was in fact a GREAT day for ice cream (really what day isn't!)!

I love that she likes to first eat ice cream with her fingers - then poke her fingers thru the cone like she's doing here. What a silly girl!
Then my silly girl wonders why the ice cream is coming out the side.
This was their "silly pose" - click look below so you can see just how much ice cream is on my girls face - Love it! (anyone know why my pics don't get big when you click on them?) To check out more FFF's go here one of my favorites is my bestest friend Jenelle's

Wordless Wednesday - my first one

My drive to work was absolutely beautiful this morning (all 2 minutes of it).

It's a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

We've reached that time of year where its HARD to come inside. It stays light for soooo long, the weather is perfect - not too hot, not too cold, we've been cooped up all winter and Riley and I just want to be outside. I wish there was some way to be outside from the time we got home until the time we went to bed, but still manage to do the things we need to like you know laundry, clean the house, fix supper and take a bath........oh no those things are going to wait for the next couple of days though (well all but the baths and I guess we'll probably still eat but you get the picture)!!!


My dad brought me some flowers at work, all from their yard of course and they smell SO good. I love lilacs, but they are only around for such a short time that actually getting to enjoy them at my desk is a special treat. I'm glad that when mom and dad tried to pick some they got a whole branch because that meant I got this treat on my desk today, aren't they pretty!

Favorite Foto Friday......siblings or um.....well cute pics at least!

I've never played this before, but its Favorite Foto Friday and Sarah's theme is siblings but like my bestest friend Jenelle my Riley doesn't have any siblings......of the human sort at least. Here are some pics I love though!!!

Here is Riley with her cousin Keeper - I love how she looks at him, so sweet!

And this is Riley with cousin Kase - they are always holding hands wherever they go :)

And here's one of my cutie, just by herself - this is really for her Daddy who is the hugest Duke fan ever

There's a Purple Potty In My Yard

I played hookie from work on Wednesday because I had a little painting I wanted to get finished, and it is kind of hard to paint with a two-year old around, so taking her to the sitter as normal and then skipping work seemed like the logical thing to do. Even more logical since I just wanted to take the day off.

Well as I was painting I thought I heard something outside but didn't really think much of it, when I looked outside though - there was a purple potty in our yard - no really a purple toilet had made its home right there in our yard - HAHAHA. I knew it was our church's Relay for Life team that had struck, but it was still a crack up to see it out there.

Riley just laughed and laughed, she thought it was quite comical that the potty was purple and even sillier that there was a potty in the yard. "We no use the potty" she was sure of that though.

I've Been Tagged

One of my bestest friends ever, Jenelle, tagged me yesterday in a little game where you get to, list seven random facts about yourself and then tag seven new people who get to do the same. Kinda cool really, that is if you really want to know random facts about me, if not, then it probably isn't really that cool at all.

The challenge for me is going to be tagging seven new people, because while there are at least seven blogs I enjoy reading when I have time, I don't necessarily know these people that well (or at all) but like Jenelle said, I don't think there's a bad luck "curse" or something waiting out there so I'll just tag seven people I like reading about and if they don't want to play that's cool.

Here are the official rules:
1) Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4) Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Random Facts about Rachel
1. I LOVE Jesus with all my heart. I wish I didn't goof up so often, but am so thankful that He picks me up and carries me when I fall or simply can't make it on my own.....this has been known to happen.

2. I like things just so most all of the time - not that my house is never cluttered (just ask my hubby who says I can't get rid of things), but I do tend to like things in order and I like my house to be clean.

2. I'm tired a lot, but who isn't, especially if you are a mommy.

3. I like to do things for people, I have a hard time going to an event and not wanting to help.....over committing is a problem of mine too.

4. I really enjoy my toenails being painted red, not sure why, just like them bright.

5. I love it when my daughter, Riley, asks me to hold her hand while she's falling asleep. I love it even more when she wants to interlace our fingers, not just hold hands like old people do!

6. I secretly enjoy Hannah Montana just as much as Riley does most times and am perfectly fine with her watching some tv everyday - not a lot, but a little is fine by me.

7. I found a new love, chocolate rice krispy treats, not like covered in chocolate which could be pretty good, but the kind made with Cocoa Krispies - Yummy!

Friends I'm tagging:
Sarah and I went to high school together but hadn't really kept in touch. Randomly like 7-8 years later we ran into each other at a hotel and have been blogging friends every since. I enjoy her blog and am encouraged by her "today I love" each day.
Barb over at A Chelsea Morning is always a great read, her family has been thru a lot lately, but I love that she always pauses to thank the Lord for getting them thru each step
I had never read this Blog until yesterday, I saw a link and it broke my heart. Don't go unless you have a kleenex, you'll need it! I treasure Angie's strength and wisdom thru it all!
Katie moved to England for work - I enjoy hearing about her days. We went to SBU together and on a couple of mission trips. Always fun to keep in touch, even if it is thru cyberspace.
Jen over at 4tunate has an amazing life - what a blessing Quad boys could be, but what a handful. Check out her cuties when you have a chance, they'll melt your heart with their smiles!
Travis is another high school friend, he doesn't blog all the time, but his boys sure are cute, and I enjoy hearing about the church they are prayerfully starting in TN
Emily over at Chatting at the Sky is cool too

Wow - long post, hope you enjoy and have fun playing the game!

A Full Day of Birthday Parties!

What a FULL day we had on Saturday!! We started the day off with a Birthday Party for my friend Gina's little boy Evan. He turned 4 and was SOOOO excited. She claims he didn't have any sugar before the party, but I'm not sure you could tell.

Riley didn't know many of the other kids there, but that never stops her. She's usually pretty good at making herself at home and joining in on the fun. She loved the blowers and Gina was the smartest mom ever and got the ones that didn't make noise (yeah Gina!). It didn't take the kids long to figure out that they could get each other with them though. Here is Riley and Evan's attempt at that.
Evan (as well as the rest of the kids) were pretty excited about the Diego cake too - I always think it is funny to see how picky kids are about which piece of cake they want. Then they never eat even half of what you give them.........ahh birthday parties!

I don't really remember what this face was about - but he wasn't happy that's for sure. It was just too cute to leave off though.
After a quick lunch with our friends John & Jenelle & Colter and a mad dash thru Wal-mart it was naptime in the car, followed by a SURPRISE birthday party for my Grandma who just turned 80. I can't believe that we actually pulled it off and no-one spilled the beans, everyone did so good.

Here she is walking in the door, how thankful we are that we didn't give her a heart attack!
It was awesome that nearly all of our family was there - some from like 8 hrs away - some that I hadn't seen in years - some that well had never met our spouses and little ones. I think there was like 79 people or so there so definitely a crowd. We ate a lot, took a lot of pictures and had a good time. Here are some random shots from the night.

My favorite quote of the night was from Grandma herself. Mom saw an idea somewhere where you come up with 80 reasons why you love someone and decorate it all pretty for their birthday. We did just that and when Mom was explaining it to Grandma she said "I bet you couldn't come up with 80 could you?" She's so silly, we had more :)

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...........

Riley LOVES baseball games. Ok, a more accurate description is, she loves being outside at our hometown baseball games where she can run and play and catch a glimpse of boys (yes boys - she loves them) playing "bat and ball" as she calls it. We've only been to two such games this year, but with all the torrential rains we've had of late, that's pretty much how many games they have actually been able to play.

On Monday, we went to a game, then of course had to go grab some dinner because who can last from 4:30 until 8:30 without eating dinner, not us that's for sure. We got back just in time for the lightning to start.......now this was odd since we literally live about 3 minutes from the school and on the radio everything was fine as we pulled out of the driveway, but either way we had a good 45 minutes of playing and singing in the car waiting for the lightning to pass, just in time for the rain and hail to start, but thankfully they did finish the game (finally) and......our boys won - yeah for them!!!

This is a great pic of Riley "giving her babies the love" as we waited in the car. I'm not sure if I should be bothered by the fact that sometimes she'll say "fight fight fight" and have her babies clapping hands.......just exactly what that means I'm not sure, but giving them "love" is actually adorable and sweet and happens way more thankfully.

This is what was going on while we were waiting - I tried to get the hail, but you can only do so much thru the windshield.

I think my favorite part of the evening was when the big stadium lights came on and Riley wanted to know if Chad had turned on the lights. Now the funny part of this is Chad is a good friend of ours (who Riley of course adores because he is a boy) and takes care of opening and locking up our church. Well in Riley's precious two-year-old mind this means that Chad must surely turn on the lights everywhere we go.......back to the story. When Donis told Riley that she had actually turned on the lights. Riley paused, looked up, and said "did you climb up there?" What a cutie, she did get to go and see the "1-2-3 BIG switches" that Donis used, but I loved her logic, she was sure that Donis had climbed up to the tippy top of the giant poles. I love this stage we are in!

I Got Dumped - a contest

Sometimes I read this really great blog called 4tunate which is all about life with quads. I always enjoy seeing the pictures of her precious baby boys and hearing all the exciting and slightly crazy things they get into together.

Today she posted a contest - download everything from your digital camera (don't cheat and take extra pics before you do) and send her your favorite that you found. This worked out perfectly since I just "dumped" my camera about 10 minutes before I read her blog. I only sent one in, but I couldn't pick just one to blog about so here are my favorites that I found this morning. (yes you'll probably see these again, because well they are my favorites).

Riley with her prize at Chuck E Cheese on Saturday - this is the one I sent in

Giving her babies "the love" while waiting on the rain (and hail) to stop at the baseball game on Monday.

The Coolest Place on Earth (if you are 2 yrs old)

Betcha can't guess who this is - it's a secret spy. Oh wait, it isn't a secret spy, it's my Riley after visiting possibly the coolest place on earth, if you are two years old that is.
Wow - does Riley love Chuck E Cheese! Until Saturday, she had only been one time, yep one time in her whole life, but she was hooked immediately. 'She loves the pizza, she loves the games, she LOVES pulling the tickets off, she loves the kids, and she loves the Big Gray Mouse - she loves it all, just ask her.

So Saturday morning when she woke up, one of her first comments was "We're going to Chuck E Cheese today." Deep down I was thinking - wow - how did she know I was already thinking about that because I kinda wanted to take her and we have something every single weekend until the middle of May so timing is kinda tricky to say the least. (that is the definition of a run-on sentence right).

Anyway, of course the place was packed (and loud) when we got there, but we had fun. I don't normally post pictures as "flattering" as this, but here's where I won 50 tickets with one token, don't you just love that face! I shot a little token all the way up to the top into a little cup or something, not even really sure what I did, but I was pretty pumped about all those tickets.

And here's a fuzzy pic of Riley collecting all those tickets that I just won. She was pretty pumped too.

Here's a pic of Aunt Sarah and Daddy doing some "surgery" on one of the games to get their token back. Haha, glad they didn't get busted by a worker!

Needless to say - it was a pretty good day. Riley only took a 20 min nap that afternoon which meant we had a fun evening, but the rest of it was great!

I won something :)

Wow - last week was really "one of those weeks." I just didn't feel myself, I was frustrated, I was grumpy (just ask my loving husband), I was thinking lots of negative thoughts, I felt guilty for being so grumpy which in turn made me........yes a little more grumpy. But, there's a blog I read sometimes called A Cheslea Morning and Barb just sent me a message that I won this cool new Stephen Curtis Chapman CD pictured below. Wow, I never win when I enter contests, and I really could use some encouragement so I thought this was perfect timing!!! Plus, well Sunday School and Church were really great yesterday too and I'm trying really hard not to be Negative Ned this week but instead think nice and uplifting thoughts, even when life tosses me another sinus infection :)

Its just a BLAH day

**Notice - I feel like a whiner, sorry, I know I'm throwing a pity party, just can't help it today***

You know how when you don't feel 100% well and then you look outside and its a dreary day how you suddenly feel a little bit worse. Kind of like you might be able to justify staying at home, in bed, and doing nothing productive the whole day. Hopefully someone out there can understand because that's how I've felt most of the week and it kind of makes me feel like a wimp. I am at work though and I'm making it.

So I have another sinus infection, for those of you who know me you know this is nothing new it seems like I have a new one every week these days, but I think I'm kinda bummed about it this time. I just wish I knew why after around 26 years of being healthy, why the last year and a half I've had so much trouble with my sinuses. Nothing changed that I can think of, they've found nothing that I'm allergic too, but well.........I'm just in a wimp out mode. I DON'T WANT THIS ANYMORE! I don't want to be sick, I don't want to take medicine, I don't want to go to the doctor who sticks a big scope up my nose all the time, and well I want to be well again, have I said that enough, I want to be well!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm so VERY thankful that I have not been diagnosed with something really scary, like cancer, which makes me feel blessed beyond belief, but I'm still just having one of those days when I need to vent, or whine, or just be a baby.

So......if you wanna say a prayer for me that would be great - I know that I'm going thru this time for a reason and that the reason is hard to see until you are completely through, or at least that is how it usually goes. I'm thankful that someday down the road I will be able to understand and help someone else who is going through a difficult time too........I just feel like I've learned enough to help already (sorry Lord, I know You know best). So, I'm appreciating prayers for patience and sorry again for whining.

PS: My doctor did say this week that he thought I might outgrow this at some point (which sounds kinda funny since I am 27 years old) but that was exciting and definitely something to look forward to!


PPS - This may not be a picture of me.......but it sure shows how I feel today

The Easter Bunny is chubby

We are kind of strange parents - we don't really get into the character part of holidays so while Riley knows what the Easter bunny looks like, she didn't necessarily get goodies from a bunny. When we went to our local Easter Egg hunt we told Riley that there would be a BIG bunny there, like as big as daddy. Her first comment......."will he be chubby?"

Here is her loot from that hunt, she was proud of her goodies!!!




Then, if you can believe it, she got more goodies at Grandma's later that afternoon........and was even a big helper with putting her new DORA scooter together. I love that it has two wheels in the back for balance!!



Of course Mommy & Daddy had to get her some treats too - Chocolate bunny before and after shots




Now the real meaning of Easter was by far the most important part of the day......I am so proud at what our little princess understands and that she wants to tell everyone around what she learns each week in Sunday School. Jesus is definitely the reason for this Season too!!