Evening Prayer

I knelt with Rachael this evening as she said her evening prayer.

...and please bless mommy that she will do what I ask...

Apparently Kristin has not been listening to her daughter during the day. I guess I will have to talk to her about that...

Flashback Friday

Fall 2008

Let's hope we get some spectacular color this year, too!

Pink Blankets

Apparently, you can never have too many pink blankets.

Flashback Friday

Still Broncos Fans!

Preschool Part 2

Today was the first day for Building Blocks Preschool, our Tuesday preschool. Clark's mom and I are still working out our carpooling for this one, but for now we are taking turns by days so I got to drop them off and pick them up. This preschool goes from 9 am to 1:30 pm - that's a long time!

Here is Rachael getting started on the letter of the day. Her teachers are Mrs Joan (pictured; who introduced herself as Joan, like Joan of Arc, so now I will always remember her as Joan of Arc) and Mrs Frances.
They both had a great time and can't wait to go back! I'm excited for two days a week of preschool. And I have no idea what to do with myself for two mornings a week now!

FHE

Tonight for FHE we played Cootie. When we were finished, we noticed that Rachael looked a lot like her Cootie bug (no surprise, she almost always builds the pink bug with a yellow bow, eyes with eyelashes, and lips). Aren't they cute together?
Ryan and I also took pictures to match our bugs, but Ryan has threatened me with bodily harm if I blog his. Just because his bug had crossed eyes and bug teeth... sheesh... I guess you will just have to use your imagination.

Rachael's pets

Here are Rachael's imaginary pets this morning:

A duckling named Donald
A sheep named Sally
A kitten named Austin
A dog named Sparky
A giraffe named Rosie
A butterfly
A friend fairy holding a butterfly
And an animal shaped like an orangutan (but not an orangutan) named Rama-Buddy.

Preschool

Here is our big preschooler on her first day! She's going to two preschools this year, one on Tuesday mornings and one on Thursday mornings. Today was the first day for Little Hands (the Thursday one). We picked out her clothes the night before - not realizing it would only be 63 degrees this morning. Thank goodness for fleece jackets. She does have super cute new brown shoes with ladybugs that make going to preschool even better.

And here she is at the end of the morning with her friend, Clark.

Everything is Bigger

It's Big Spider Season.

Big Spider Season, I have discovered, starts in about August and doesn't end until the weather gets really cold. It's probably the one thing I don't like about fall here in Kentucky. This is the South, and everthing creepy and crawly is bigger. Right now there is a tomato hornworm on the tomato plant that is bigger and longer than any of my fingers... but I haven't worked up the guts to pick him off yet, because he is blocked by not one but two gigantic spider webs, guarded by two different varieties of spiders that are both bigger than a fifty cent piece.

Not only are the spiders bigger here, but most of the bugs are as well. And, we discovered tonight, so are the toads. Ryan saw this big fellow by the garage when he got home from fishing.

For a size comparison, here is where he was at. Seriously, he is bigger than my fist.

He can stay if he eats all those big bugs out there.

Wild Weekend

My birthday frequently falls somewhere on Labor Day weekend, and this year was no exception. Ryan decided it merited not only a day off from work but an entire overnight trip - to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. I happily agreed! Rachael is happy to go anywhere.

First stop: a detour through Knoxville to see the Sunsphere. It was... awesome. Ryan blogged about how it was probably the highlight of the year 2009 for him. I didn't share his very high opinion but it was still fun to see. And since it has an elevator it was fun to ride up to the top. (Well, the bottom of the top... that's as far as it's open to the public. The rest is a bar [no surprise] and believe it or not some offices.)

Our next stop: something fun for dinner. We pulled together all our Dining Out money and went to Johnny Carinos, where I had some superb lobster ravioli. I ate it all. Mmmm.... yum. Maybe that's why I look like such a big goofball in this picture. Or it might be the monkey around my neck.

Something fun for Mommy: a stop at the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge. So fun!

Something fun for everyone: we drove on in to Great Smoky Mountain National Park and took pictures of the sunset.

Rachael snapped this picture of Ryan and I. I wish you could see how positively adorable she looked; perched on a post with her ankles crossed, holding up the camera and telling us to "Say Cheese!"

Here's how adorable she is in front of the mountains.

Last stop for the evening: Krispy Kreme. Hot off the line glazed doughnuts make a tasty birthday cake.
Next morning, something fun for Ryan: we shopped at Bass Pro. Rachael fell in love with a four wheeler; now she just needs to talk Grandpa R into buying it for her for Christmas.

Last stop: Outlet shopping in Pigeon Forge. With ice cream from Ben n Jerry's for lunch.

Flashback Friday

September 2003
The view from the top of Pike's Peak - 14,100 ft