starrfamilyband

The weirdest chicken I’ve ever seen

Lisa — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:13:24 +0000

Last week at preschool we had a petting farm come for a few hours as a treat for the kids. It was a really cool setup and the animals were all great, but they had the WEIRDEST chicken I’ve ever seen. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but it creeped me out a little that Ethan was hugging on it.

And here’s Rachel with her friend Payton checking out the animals (one of the perks of teaching there is being able to snap photos at random times of the day)

And in other preschool randomness, all of the pre-k classes had a picnic yesterday which meant I got to eat lunch with E which was fun

And here’s R cheesing it up before school yesterday

Happy birthday little Levi!

Lisa — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:39:40 +0000

SFB wanted to give a big birthday shout to our adorable nephew/cousin Levi David. We love you very much and can’t wait to see you next weekend. Happy 2nd birthday buddy!

Birthday – 2008

6 months - Aug. 2008

First birthday – 2009

1 1/2 – Aug. 2009

And here’s the rest of the (birthday) story

Lisa — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:35:38 +0000

I’m happy to say that I finally have my camera back and I feel like everything is right with the world again. I really did feel lost without it. I wanted to be sure and record the rest of Rachel’s birthday activities before she turns four and I’ve completely forgotten. It is so strange that her birthday was just three weeks ago and yet I feel like we’ve had a three year old for months now. I love making a big deal out of birthdays and this year did not disappoint.

After her donut party, we went to lunch with Aunt Ginny, Libby, Levi and Nana.

That night my parents asked R where she wanted to go for dinner and she very excitedly chose Chuck E Cheese. We had quite an “experience” there with an assistant manger who rudely told us that we could not bring outside food in (for Ethan) and she didn’t really care if he had allergies or not because policy is policy. I really wish I could have recorded Clay’s reaction to that one – awesome!

Clay and I had decided earlier in the week to get R a real bike for her birthday, and that we should probably take her to pick it out to make sure we got the right size and the right color for Miss Picky. We started off at Toys-R-Us and didn’t have any luck, made a stop by Target and they didn’t have any small enough, went to the local bike store and decided we’d rather be able to pay our bills that month than get her a set of wheels, so we ended up at Wal-Mart and found the perfect one. I’m not sure if she’s more excited about the helmet Mimi bought her or the bell on the bike, but she likes riding and that’s all that matters.

Sunday was her real birthday which meant she moved up to the next Bible class. She was a little diasppointed that Sophia wasn’t there that day and she was the only girl in this class, but said she still enjoyed being in the big kid class. (Tracy – we were loving Paige’s dress!)

We always let the kids decide where they want to eat and what they want to do on their real birthday (as if we hadn’t been doing that all weekend but whatever). She asked to eat at Chuy’s (score on that one!) and then go to Build-a-Bear so we obliged.

That day happened to be Super Bowl Sunday so Rachel got to show off her booty-shaking skills at Joe & Kelly’s house while we all stuffed our faces with a ridiculous amount of food.

And then the birthday festivities came to a close on Monday when we went to visit my Granny & Pa so they could give sister her birthday gifts.

She’s already talking about what she wants to do for her “number 4″ birthday so I probably need to start gearing up for it now!

Cotton Gin revisited

Lisa — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:37:56 +0000

I called my grandparents Thursday night and asked if they wanted to meet us for lunch this afternoon at The Cotton Gin – a restaurant about halfway between our houses. The kids and I usually just go to their house to visit, so the last time we met them here for lunch was in October 2005 when we were celebrating Ethan’s 1st birthday! I know how blessed I am to have my Granny & Pa as part of our lives and for my kids to know their great-grandparents.

Today

October 2005

Interview with a 3 year old

Lisa — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:26:21 +0000

1. Favorite color – pink & purple & orange & white & brown & black & white
2. Favorite food – oranges, teddy bears & carrots & yogurt & hot dogs
3. Favorite cereal – Lucky Charms & Cimmo Cro Crunch
4. Best friend – Olivia & Tatum & Payton & Lincoln
5. Favorite toy – choo choo
6. Favorite TV show – Mickey Mouse & Little Einsteins
7. Favorite movie – Barbie & My Little Pony
8. Favorite thing to do outside – ride my bike
9. Something you like to do with Ethan – just play the match game and Sequence
10. Favorite Bible story – Delilah
11. Favorite animal – zebra & giraffe
12. If you could go somewhere right now, where would it be – Rainforest Cafe
13. Favorite snack – teddy bears
14. Favorite princess – Barbie and the Three Musketeers
15. Something you like Mommy to do with you – play the match game and play Sequence
16. Something you like Daddy to do with you – play Sequence

In true Rachel form she had a hard time deciding on just one favorite for several of these. And I’m not sure if I should be worried or not that her favorite Bible story is Delilah. She didn’t mention anything about Samson or how God helped him…nope, just wicked and deceitful Delilah. Awesome. I took her to the doctor on Monday for her well check and she checked out pretty well. Still has this ear infection that doesn’t seem to ever really go away, but other than that 100% healthy. I think she came in around 30th% for weight and 40th% for height. A far cry from the child who was born looking like a 3 month old!

I think Maroon 5 would be proud

Lisa — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:43:35 +0000

If this doesn’t make you laugh then you need to watch it again!

Perfectly three

Lisa — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:01:37 +0000

I waited a week to do Rachel’s birthday post because I’m still trying to come out of my state of denial that my baby is three…three! That is ridiculous! When she woke up on her birthday she told me she was very happy to not be a baby anymore because now she was an adult just like mommy. And that just about sums up Rachel Ryan. I had a small breakdown after I tucked her in the night before her birthday because once you have a three year old things change and I’m just not sure that I’m ready for that. But I also love watching her grow into her personality and see what she is drawn to and what she absolutely is not drawn to. Here are a few things about her that I’d like to remember:

she likes to pick out her own clothes and does a pretty good job of matching everything
she can dress herself and use the bathroom by herself
she has abandoned her bed and sleeps on Ethan’s bottom bunk every night
she takes a nap a couple of days a week
she goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 most nights
she loves going to school and Bible class
she talks all.day.long – seriously, she can’t stop talking (My dad and I were in the car with her the other day and after about 48 minutes of constant talking, my Dad said, “Rachel, can you go just one minute without talking?” She replied in her best robot voice, “I am a robot. I cannot stop talking.” That’s perfectly Rachel.)
she wears 2T pants and 3T tops and wears a size 7 shoe
she prefers to have her hair in pigtails or a ponytail, but most days the curls win and she just wears her hair down with a bow
she prefers oatmeal for breakfast
she likes grilled cheese sandwiches with Ranch (or “white sauce” as she calls it)
when she’s not talking she’s singing
she bites her tongue at least 247 times a day
she falls down and hurts herself at least 247 times a day
she loves riding her big girl bike and is getting pretty good
she still doesn’t like going upstairs by herself
she eats all.day.long
her favorite drink is chocolate milk
she loves doing crafts and painting – and she’s done after about 3 minutes

We had her birthday party last Friday morning here at home and had a pajama/donut party and it was great! I would highly recommend it to anyone. My parents asked her to choose where she wanted to go for dinner that night and she chose Chuck E Cheese so we did that. We also took her to Toys R Us to spend her birthday money from Meme and she FINALLY chose a coloring book and some new crayons. Then on Sunday – her real birthday – she chose to eat at Chuy’s for lunch. It was a weekend full of focusing on Rachel and little miss center of attention loved every minute of it. Here a few pictures from the weekend. Unfortunately I left the camera at my grandparents house when we went last week for Rachel’s birthday lunch, and I have more pictures on there. Hopefully I’ll be getting it back soon because I really feel lost without it!

Eating her pre-party breakfast…and obviously before I had tamed that crazy hair

Playing with Mimi before the party

Blowing out the candles in her birthday donut

The spread

Part of the craziness

Making a cereal necklace

Opening gifts

Party people

Rachel – I love you with all of my heart and I am so proud to be your mom. Happy birthday sweetheart.

In just a minute

Lisa — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:23:28 +0000

Have you ever been slapped in the face (not literally) with something that you do that affects the people around you and you didn’t even realize how much it affected them? (that was really horrible sentence structure, but you get the idea) While I am perfect most of the time – excuse me while I get back in my chair and regain my composure – I realized this weekend how often I say, “In just a minute!” UGH! I won’t name any names, but the other adult who lives in this house very gently (honestly, very gently) opened my eyes to this fact over the weekend. I’m pretty sure I sighed or made a face or something just as mature, but quickly realized that I do that A LOT.

I was browsing around the blog world this morning while eating my Apple Jacks (my mature mom points just keep going up and up with this post), and I came across this – http://www.remodelingthislife.com/2010/01/31/it-wont-wait/. It’s not long and it really hit home for me so read it if you get a chance. I know that things happen and when you’re in the middle of pouring the detergent and fabric softener in the washing machine you have to finish that up, but I’m pretty sure that reorganizing the tupperware cabinet can wait until after a the lego dinosaur has consumed all of the evil witch’s lipgloss, and it can probably also wait until after the 247th wardrobe change for the resident princess, and I’m positive it can wait until after we’ve played a few rounds of Uno Moo. Just food for thought today…

You know it’s going to be a good Sunday…

Lisa — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:57:06 +0000

…when everyone is dressed and ready to go for church and there’s still enough time for one story. I’ll admit this doesn’t happen very often (Ethan has been known to say, “Mom – why do we always have to go so fast on Sundays?”), but it sure is nice when it does happen.

And I just want to brag on my mom for a minute. A couple of weeks ago we went over to her house and she pulled this little number out for Rachel that she had just whipped up the day before:

I know with 100% certainty that I didn’t appreciate the clothes she made for me when I was growing up, but I really do appreciate the ones she makes for Rachel. Thanks, Mom – you’re the best.

A little misunderstood

Lisa — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:19:38 +0000

On Tuesday the kids got their book order at school (does any other mom order those books because it’s like getting a present when they come in?!?) and Rachel got Princess Pigtoria and the Pea. It’s really cute and just the swine version of the princess and the pea story. We read it when we got home from school Tuesday afternoon and she was moderately interested. Wednesday morning we were getting in the car to run errands and she said, “Mommy – why did that prince pee in that pig’s pillow?”