Last Girls Day

Our last Girls Day Saturday before Daddy comes home from China... Rachael is a little bittersweet about it, but I'm ready to have him home.  I ended up working on the church computer for much longer than I anticipated, so after she picked out her own hula hoop at the store we got a new movie - and a matching Barbie! - for pizza and a movie night.  She picked homemade pizza for the event. 

We have managed quite well just the two of us but we can't wait to see Daddy next Friday!

Spa Day 2

This is part 2 of our continuing Spa Days.

Of course, we need to set the mood:

Candles and chocolate! And of course a tasty refreshment:

 Chocolate covered strawberries! Yum.  They were so good.  (Quick note: the leftovers do not store well in the fridge.  Only make as many as you can eat.  Which will be a lot.)

And finally, facials.  With a fancy magazine.  And hair wrapped in a towel with fancy pins.  The money shot:

Garden Update

Everything is growing!

Saturday is a Busy Day

I know it's been a busy day when I have to get pictures off my phone, my point and shoot camera, and my xTi!

First order of business today: Dance Recital!

We worked on recital hair and makeup in the morning.  We are getting much better at hair, but we could still use a little work on mascara. 

Rachael's tap class danced to "Pinkatastic" (from Pinkalicious the Musical) and they were fantastic.  Rachael remembered all the steps and even remembered to smile.

(I video taped the performance but my firewire cable is broken, so I will have to get a new one this week. )

Rachael was so excited to get two flowers after the show this year! We also got a picture with her teacher, Ms. Ashley.

Up next: Birthday Party! 

After the recital we went changed Rachael's clothes and went straight a birthday party for her friend, Connor Pressly.  They met on the bus on the first day of school and have been fast friends ever since.  Connor had his birthday party at KidZone, somewhere Rachael has been dying to go since she heard about it.  (I should have brought some cold cream too; she had to go to the birthday party in full recital makeup.  I think she had more eye makeup on than I did!)

The kids got to play for about an hour on the inflatables, then there was a magician.  His sleight-of-hand was pretty good but his stage presence could use a little work, but the kids loved it and thought he was hilarious.  He had a trick where he kept producing golf balls from his mouth, and they just laughed harder and harder every time he got another one out. 

After the magician there was pizza, then a cool solar system birthday cake.  The kids all looked great with black frosting - there was a Kodak moment I missed. The kids all got some tokens to use in the game area.  I also taught Rachael how to play ski ball.  She didn't do so well with that but she got pretty lucky on a couple of the other games and ended up with 62 tickets all together.  She got a temporary tattoo, a candy bracelet, and a necklace for her tickets.  The magician was also out making balloon animals and he did a purple poodle for Rachael.  She was enchanted.

I was dying of thirst after the party, so we stopped by Sonic for a drink and an ice cream cone.  I bought a Route 44 sized drink.  And finished it.  

At home Rachael asked if she could play in the new sprinkler, and I figured since she would need a bath anyway that she might as well have some fun.  She only lasted about 45 minutes but she had a good time.

And finally: Haircut! 

After dinner she had a bath we decided we would cut her hair.  I had been planning to do that anyway at some point after the recital, and Rachael was excited about it so I figured we should jump on that.

Before:

After:

And with a cute smile:

Whew! What a day! I hope next Saturday isn't half this busy.

Spa Day

One of the things Rachael wanted to do when Daddy was out of town was to have a Spa Day, a la Fancy Nancy in Ooh La La Beauty Day.  Here are some of the things she wanted to do:

• facials
• manicure, with lots of choices for polish
• pedicure, with marbles in the water
• have relaxing music
• read fashion magazines with fancy French names (maybe Elle? or Vogue?)
• towels with 
• brooches pinned on to wrap our hair
• fruit and yogurt parfaits, with granola

We shopped for a few things we would need, like facial masques and magazines.  We ended up with a bridal magazine because we couldn't find any fancy fashion magazines. (Cosmo does not count and is not available to a 6 year old).

I have figured out that she wants to do a spa day, but she gets bored of being a grown up quickly, so we are doing the spa day in pieces.  Today we had pedicure day - even though we never found any marbles to put in the water.

We started with a spa treat: strawberry and yogurt parfaits (with strawberries from the garden!) and Shirley Temples.

 Then we soaked our feet in warm water with eucalyptus bath salts.  Then I showed her how to exfoliate her feet, and after we dried off I massaged her feet with lotion. I painted her toes with sparkle pink polish.

She even returned the favor!  We had a lot of fun... two more spa days to go!

Dance Rehearsal

Rachael's tap class is doing "Pinkatastic" from the musical, "Pinkalicious" at her recital next week.  They had the rehearsal yesterday.

Here she is warming up with everyone doing the Twist.  (That is the instructor for her class, Ms. Ashely, in the green shirt onstage).

They are #7 of about 18 numbers that day.  Everyone danced twice for the rehearsal, so it was almost an hour before her group took the stage.  They did a great job! 

And here they are! She has eight in her class. I videotaped one performance, but I'll wait until I tape the recital before I post one version.

They are a sparkly bunch of girls!  (Rachael is on the front row on the right).

Garden Progress

It's looking great! We planted corn, beans, and carrots.  The onions seem to have decided to grow (hooray!) and the peas are quickly going to need somewhere to train.  And we already have lots of strawberries!

Derby Picks

Rachael made her hat in kindergarten this year so we are saving the one we had planned for next year.  (Secretly I'm glad; this one is purple and very cute, the one I had planned was pink.  Again.)  Our picks for this year:

Rachael - Pants on Fire

Ryan - Much Macho Man

Kristin - Dialed In

None of us did very well... there's always next year!

School Days

I think I have been over at the school more than I have been at work lately.  Here are some of the fun things we have been doing:

Talent Show

Rachael danced to Swan Lake.  She made up most of her own dance moves.  I don't have the video posted anywhere yet - I'll try to put it on YouTube later.

With her friends - Savannah, Rachael, Madi, and Cassidy.

Horse Farm Field Trip

This was a fun field trip, just a few days before the Derby.  The kids had a great time. It rained cats and dogs that day (like almost every day lately!) but we spent the whole time in the barn so we didn't get too wet.

One of the girls in the class, Claira Beth, has been riding horses here since she was two years old.  She rode Flash - the horse in the background - through the Poles and around the Barrels.  Fun to watch!

Rachael got a chance to sit on Flash, too.  Not all the kids wanted a turn, but she jumped right up.  We also got to watch a furrier shoe a horse, and we learned lots of new terms about horses.  (Did you know the girls are called fillies?)

Derby Race

The kindergarten kids made their own horses and the girls got to make their hats, too.  Then they went outside and raced their horses!

She came in 15th of 16 competitors... but she's #1 in fashion. She was the only one in a dress. You have to go with your strengths.  (She insisted that was what she wanted that morning - who am I to argue).

We are looking forward to Kindergarten Graduation in just a few weeks!

More Easter Fun

The City of Richmond always does a fun Easter Eggstravaganza, usually the Saturday before Easter.  This year it got pushed out a week because of the rain - which wasn't all bad, it was less crowded than usual.  We had time for Rachael's favorite thing to do at any of these festivals: the inflatable slide.

The egg hunt isn't so much of a hunt, it's more of a candy free-for-all, but it's still fun to watch all the kids grabbing everything they can.  Rachael spent more time running than grabbing, so I redirected her efforts.  She picked up candy for awhile, then stopped.  When I asked was was wrong, she said, "the basket is too heavy!" so I held the basket so she could collect some more candy.

And we finally got a chance to take a picture of her in her Easter dress outside, without the rain. (Of course my favorite hardly shows the dress!)

The Garden

This year's garden so far! We have snow peas, two kinds of lettuce, onions, peppers and  tomatoes planted so far.  In a few more days we will plant the warm weather seeds: carrots, beans, and corn.

Can't wait for fresh vegetables!