The First Day of Kindergarten

All is well at the Lester house! I'm actually glad this day is over. Now we start adjusting to early bedtimes, packed lunches and HOMEWORK!!!

Rachel did so well this morning. She woke up, got dressed and ate breakfast, no issues...which is rare most mornings. Sam came over early so we could take pictures of both of them before they left for their schools. We took Rachel early and met up with her teacher while we were putting her backpack away. Mrs. Utterback took Rachel by the hand and walked her all the way to the cafeteria. They enjoyed a nice discussion about bugs and butterflies and Rachel was all smiles. All the kids lined up with their classes in the cafeteria and they left for their classrooms after the first bell. Rachel got right up, looked at us, gave us a kiss & hug, waved and off she went. She never looked back, not once. I of course was left standing there, in tears. Scott assured me she would be just fine and it would only be a few hours. I had no doubt she would have a great day. It was just this overwhelming feeling that I was losing my little girl. I know Rachel is independent but I couldn’t believe how much bigger she seemed today.

I picked Rachel back up at 12:15 and I was anxious to hear all about her day. She gave me a kiss, told me and missed me and when I asked how the first day of school went, all she said was "Mom, we didn't even go outside today!!!!" That's it. That was her WHOLE day. She will have a full day tomorrow so I'm sure she'll have more stories to share.

Sam & Rachel


Ready to go!!!!





Rachel & Mrs Utterback


Even Annie was ready to see her go.

Well, tomorrow is the day we've been talking about since Rachel was born. Her FIRST day of kindergarten. I'm excited but I don't think I'm ready to let her go yet. She went to preschool for two years but only a few days a week and only a few hours each day. This is ALL day, five days a week!! We took her in tonight so she could meet her teacher and drop off her supplies. Her teacher is Mrs. Utterback and she's new this year at Madison. Rachel introduced herself and said she was very excited about starting school tomorrow. I actually started to tear-up when we first walked into the room and we saw her cubby with her name on it. I think it just finally hit me, she's growing up and there isn't anything we can do to stop it. I can only imagine what kind of mess I'll be tomorrow morning when I drop her off. I'm sure she'll give me a hug, tell me she loves me and off she'll go. I guess I should be thankful that I'll be the one crying and not her!!!!

Zoo Weekend

Scott and I took Friday off and took the girls to the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley with my parents. We took Rachel to this zoo when she was two an it's the perfect size for small kids. Thankfully it was overcast and cool out and it didn't get hot or humid until we left.

Rachel loved the new exhibits, especially the chance to feed exotic birds. Annie liked everything, especially riding on Scott's shoulders and the carousel. After the zoo we stopped for a late lunch at Granite City and headed back to Cascade. We spend the rest of the night playing outside at the farm and going on golf cart rides. Thanks so mom and dad for feeding us for three days, especially the awesome birthday dinner on Thursday night. GREAT meatloaf mom!!!

I'm going out tonight with my girlfriends. No husbands. No kids. Rachel has a birthday party tomorrow afternoon and that's about it. I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing on Sunday...as usual.


Everyone, except Scott


Rachel & Grandma


Annie & Grandpa


Annie liked riding on Scott's shoulders, and
holding onto his hair for balance.






Annie was not thrilled with the goats


Rachel's favorite part of the day,
feeding the birds with Grandpa

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Rachel & Annie.


Very fitting, don't you think?


Yes, the Strang name is totally awesome.

Last Weekend

I was organizing photos and realized I forgot to add a post from last week. We spent last weekend in Manchester with Scott's family. His sister Lori and her family were home and the kids enjoyed playing together. We took all the kids to the Manchester pool on Saturday and had a great time. The pool wasn't at all busy, which is usually not the case here in CR.

Saturday night we grilled out and had our own "dance party" for the kids...and Aunt Lori. Let's just say Lori has not lost any of her dance moves and I laughed until I cried watching her. Hey Lou, maybe can pass on your "running man" skills to Rachel!


Scott & the girls


Annie and I


Lori, Mike, Ella & Trey


Annie & Ella

Happy Birthday Miss Annabelle!!!

This time last year we were in the hospital, preparing for our lives to change yet again. It's been such an amazing year Annie has been such a blessing to us. She's such a happy baby and Rachel enjoys being her big sister...most of the time! We had our families over yesterday afternoon for her party and we had friends over later in the evening for a get together. It was a long day but Annie was champ for all of it.

She had fun walking around and going from lap to lap. Her favorite part of the day was the CAKE. We had a feeling she would prob eat half of it. We had no idea she would instantly dig into it and eat the entire thing. It was 30 minutes of non-stop eating. She was covered in cake from head to toe and she enjoyed every minute of it, and we did too. After taking a bath and playing it was time for nap #2 of the day. She slept a few hours and got back up around 8pm, had some pizza and went back to bed for the night.

This morning we got up early (ok, 8am but that's early for us on the weekend!) and to have breakfast at Hy-Vee. Annie enjoyed some pancakes and then we came back home and cleaned, cleaned...and cleaned some more. Scott's running errands this afternoon and both girls are napping. After I finish this, I'm prob going to take a nap too!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!!! A BIG thanks to the Felbers for taking Rachel on Friday night so we could get ready!


ready to go!


approx 2.5 seconds later









...and she finally hits a wall.


Annie and Papa


Quinn & Rachel

Annie's One Year Pictures

My friend Stacey took these on Friday night for us. It only took about 10 min in her backyard and we LOVE them. She turns one in just ONE week...where has the year gone???

End of the week

What a week. Thankfully tomorrow is Friday because this weekend can't get here soon enough. We plan on spending most of this weekend in Manchester. We haven't been home since the beginning of summer and Rachel's been begging us to take her to the Manchester Pool again. We are going to spend some much needed time with our friends and family there.

Annie is back to normal again. She's sleeping, eating AND smiling. She still has her two top teeth coming in but no more high fevers or crying fits.

Scott took Rachel to Adventureland today with our neighbors Roger & Sam. Everyone had fun, except Scott. He doesn't do so well on rides that move in circles so he was sick after one of the first rides the went on. The Balloon Race. I remember taking my niece, Jena, on this ride when she was two and she loved it. Basically you climb inside a small hot air balloon and go around and around at a very slow pace. Perfectly harmless, for most humans...except Scott Lester. Scott did not enjoy it and spent the rest of the day sick to his stomach. The girls had fun but I think it will be a LONG time before Scott goes back.


The Balloon Race. Can you see the small
children screaming in horror???


Rachel and Sam after they put together their
new puzzles, with minimal fighting.

Happy 45th Anniversary Mom & Dad

My parents celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary on Sunday. They were in the Amana's yesterday for brunch and stopped by to visit us on their way home. I'm not exactly sure at what point during the visit that I realized that it was their anniversary...I know, horrible! 45 years is a big one and I totally dropped the ball! I promise I will never forget again!!!

Rachel and I went with my family to the water park in Waterloo yesterday. She is too short to ride the slides but was content just swimming around the wave pool so she could show off her new skill, swimming under water. We were both exhausted when we got home but it was really nice having some one-on-one time with just Rachel.

Annie is suffering from her first official ear infection. She's had a fever on and off for the past few days and with two front teeth coming in, we figured it was because of that. She woke up at 2am this morning with a temp of 102.6 and we knew it was time to call her doctor. We took her in this morning and they put her on antibiotics. I hope they kick in soon because not only do I miss my old Annie, but I miss sleep too!

Scott is off to Bluesmore with his Dad this afternoon and the girls and I are going to stay at home and enjoy the air conditioning. Nothing planned for tomorrow. Just take it easy and let Annie get better.

Scott's Blog

Hello all, this is Scott, Jenny has asked me to try my hand at writing captions for this weekends photos.

What a magical Saturday!

Our day began with a trip to Beaver Park Petting Zoo. Rachel's life long dreams and ambitions were fulfilled when she was given an opportunity to sit on a cement pig.



Rachel was eventually asked to leave the zoo after several of the chickens issued formal complaints against her for harassment.



Later in the day we made our way to Cherry Hill park where the girls were given a chance to blow off some steam!!!

Here is an action shot of Annabelle gazing longingly at a pair of random parents across the park, wishing they would adopt her.



At the park there were several uncovered power lines running along the ground. Flood damage has caused several safety cut backs in the city. Rachel's experience at the park was "electrifying" to say the least.



"Daddy, please make me puke."



After the park, we drove to Marion to Squaw Creek campgrounds, where Grandpa and Grandma Strang where camping this weekend. Unfortunately Jenny accidentally ran these deer over while trying to take a picture and drive at the same time.

Rachel is scheduled to start group therapy to deal with this traumatic event next Tuesday.

I've been trying to load videos of the girls but it takes forever just to load a 2 min clip. The first video is from Father's Day. Rachel is reading the card she made for Scott. Keep in mind this was just a few days after the flood.



This video is of Annie playing with Ruby. Her face lights up whenever she sees Ruby. It's obvious Ruby doesn't enjoy Annie very much but she'll let her do this for a few minutes.

Rachel PASSED her first swimming class last Friday. She did a great job listening to her teacher and paying attention during class. She put her entire head under water several times during the last week and she's certainly more comfortable in the water now. She started the next level yesterday and once she finishes that session that will be it for this summer.

The rest of the weekend was spent mostly at home. We had our little buddy Maclain's 1st Birthday on Sat night and the girls enjoyed swimming for a few hours. Sunday we bummed around and Scott took Rachel to playground at her new school. Rachel is so excited start kindergarten and I plan on taking her to do a little "school shopping" this weekend. I never thought the day would come when I would be taking MY kids to buy school supplies!!!!

Annie continues to work on her walking skills. I've caught her walking across the entire living room a couple times. I've tried getting her on video but it seems she does better when your not paying attention to her. I guess all that added pressure gets to her. She has her two top teeth coming in so sleeping has been interrupted the last few nights. Hopefully these teeth will come in quickly so we can all get some much needed sleep again!!

I took a few days off in August and we hope to take the girls to the Niabi Zoo before Rachel starts school. With gas prices so high we haven't ventured too far from CR this summer. The zoo is the perfect size for that age and we can easily see all the exhibits in one day.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MARK & KARA!!!!

Who-hooo...she passed!!!!

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I don't even know where to start with this one.

Go Cubs!!!

Ok, so Scott and I are not huge fans of any sports team or sports in general but we are fans of drinking beer and eating hot dogs at a sporting event! Our neighbors, Roger & Diane, invited us to join them this weekend to watch the Cubs play San Francisco on Saturday. Great seats, great weather and a great game. Thanks to Scott's parents for watching the girls so we could go!!








Fans from Cedar Rapids across the stadium
"Cedar Rapids Flood Victims Love the Cubs!!"

Here is a video of Annie taking a few steps last night!