Six is Super!

Rachael as a baby

• she weighed 4 lbs 11 ounces
• she was 18 inches long
• she ate 3/4 of an ounce of formula at every feeding
• she was too small for newborn size clothing
• she barely fit preemie size diapers

Rachael at six:

• she weighs about 42 pounds
• she stands about 42 inches tall
• she wears a size 5 in pants and 6x top and dress
• she is growing her six year molars
• she can walk, run, skip, jump and ride a bike (with training wheels)
• she loves ballet

Six things she knows:

• how to write all the letters of the alphabet and numbers 1-100
• how to write her first and last name, in upper and lower case
• her phone number
• her street address, city and state
• her birthday
• Articles of Faith 1-9 and 13

 Six things she likes to eat:

• pizza: by picking off all the toppings and eating them, then the cheese, then licking the sauce off her fingers, then she eats the crust
• anything with chicken and cheese
• fruit - almost any kind
• cheese - almost any kind
• cupcakes
• corndogs

Six things she likes to read:

• Fancy Nancy
• Pinkalicious
• Dr Seuss
• Star Wars (well, she likes for Daddy to read that to her)
• any Disney Princess book
• any book that is an early reader book so she can read it herself

Six thing she is excited for this year:

• Nana and Grandpa coming to visit
• her ballet recital
• learning Articles of Faith 10, 11 and 12
• visiting family in Utah
• her cousin Anika's baptism
• losing some teeth

Happy 6th Birthday Rachael!

(Prepare yourself: this a long post with a lot of pictures of Rachael!)

Sunday

We started celebrating on Sunday by making Rachael's birthday cake - a giant cupcake! It was chocolate on the bottom half and Valentine Funfetti on the top.

Because we had plans to go out for dinner on Wednesday (her actual birthday), I let Rachael choose the menu for dinner on Sunday evening.  No hot dogs here: her favorites are parmesan chicken and cheese potatoes.  (Cheese potatoes is more of a category around here.  We like them on the BBQ with cheese, loaded mashed or twice baked.  These are twice baked so I could melt cheese on top, too.)  And of course, pink fruit salad.  I think I many have added a little too much raspberry Jello - it even tasted pink.

Monday

Wednesday is a busy night for most of our friends, so we invited a few over on Monday night to have cupcakes and ice cream.  And the giant cupcake.  It was lots of fun!

She blew all the candles out on the first try - I think that is the first time that has ever happened.

 

Clockwise from Rachael: Jenny, Blake, Benson, Alex, Jackson,
Tyler, Clark and Aiden

Her friends got her lots of great presents, including lots of books. She has some amazing friends with amazing parents.

Wednesday - Birthday!

She was delighted to find balloons all over the floor of her bedroom and presents all over the table on her birthday.  I ran out of pink wrapping paper, so one is wrapped with white paper from her easel. 

She wanted to go out to breakfast for her birthday, and originally she chose Bob Evans.  That morning she had a change of heart and decided to go to Krispy Kreme, so we headed out early to Lexington.  She got a chocolate doughnut with creme filling and thought it was the best breakfast ever.  I got a hot doughnut right off the line, and it's the best breakfast, too.

After breakfast we went home and loaded up the car with her cupcakes for her class.  She wanted pink for girls, and blue for boys because she didn't think they would like pink cupcakes.  (She was totally right about that).  They are Valentine Funfetti cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

I had lunch with her at school with her whole kindergarten class.  It was an eye-opening experience to say the least, complete with five-year-old girls singing Justin Bieber.  (Ewww.)  Rachael got to have a Lunchable (one of her favorites!) and I brought a salad. 

After the kids went to gym, I got to help out in the classroom with "centers." They split into three groups and move from table to table working on different assignments.  Today was a tooth craft activity with Mrs Wilburn (it's dental hygiene week), phonics with Mrs Evans and addition at my center.   After centers we had the birthday party! Her friends all sang Happy Birthday, and Mrs Wilburn gave her six hugs and a spankin' to grow on.

L-R: Mrs Wilburn, Madi, Rachael and Emily

Clockwise from Rachael: Kosei, Conner M, Jonah, Connor P and Alex

Clockwise from Rachael: Gwen, Madison, Cassidy, Kali and Claira Beth

Right after school we went straight to the movie theater, where we met Ryan and went to see the movie Gnomeo and Juliet in 3D.  We weren't sure what to expect from a movie about garden gnomes based on Shakespeare, but it was kind of cute.  The funniest part for me was right at the beginning when the Touchstone logo came up - Rachael said, "Look, Doritos!"

After the movie we went out to one of Rachael's favorite restaurants - Q'doba! For chicken and cheese quesadillas.

Finally home to unwrap presents!

Happy 6th Birthday to our favorite Rachael!

Cutting the Cord

We have gone wireless.  Cut the cord.  Joined kids half our age who only have cell phones.  (Well, maybe three-quarters of our age).

PROS:
-It leaves a phone at home for a babysitter if we both have our phones with us.
-We were able to "port" our home number to a cell phone.  This saves me from calling the school, doctors' offices, and anyone else with our home number, because the number still works and dials a phone at our house.
-The cost.  The phone, with caller ID and long distance, was about $40 a month.  The cell phone is an additional $10 on our wireless bill.
- The convenience.  I can be on the phone and go anywhere.  Literally.
-Voicemail.  Now if I'm on the phone and someone else calls, they can leave a message.
-And don't you love this cute red phone??

CONS:
-Power outs.  A regular phone does not need power, but the cell phone will eventually need to be charged.  (Short term solution: charge in the car with the power inverter, long-term fix will be when we buy a generator.)
-One phone.  If I'm upstairs and the phone rings downstairs, odds are I won't make it before it rolls to voicemail.  Not that I won't still try to sprint down the stairs.
-911.  It's harder for emergency responders to find you on a cell phone than a home phone.

As a bonus we got a deal on our DSL for the next year.  Life is a (wireless) bed of roses!