Hopscotch!

What a Beautiful Day!

We had a great Sunday and finally had a chance to enjoy the outdoors. We met up with Dave, Kelly & Molly for lunch. Annie LOVED watching Molly and they enjoyed playing together. Later in the afternoon we took the girls for a walk so Rachel could ride her bike. We stopped and had some ice cream and spent the rest of the evening outside with our neighbors. A perfect way to end the weekend! Of course the forecast calls for rain much of next week so I'm happy we got to enjoy at least one day of nice weather!

New pictures for the week

Here are new pictures from this week. Annie was busy keeping up with her sister by trying some "poses" of her own. The other photo is Rachel's fort that she built with pillows and blankets in the basement. She intended on sleeping in her fort overnight but only lasted about an hour before she crawled into bed with us.

New Moves

Annie picked up some new moves the other night during dinner. Not exactly sure what she's doing but we laugh everytime she does it!

Another cold Saturday

Of course this means we'll spend another day indoors. We should be OUTSIDE working on the yard or the garage! I hope this is the last winter-like day because we are ready for spring. Annie is taking a nap so I thought I'd post a few pictures I took this morning. Annie took a bath and we decided to go "punk rock" with her hair and try a mohawk. Pretty sweet huh? Of course Rachel decided she should have her picture taken too and she wanted hers to be with Ruby. As you can see Ruby was less than thrilled with this idea!

She's officially on the move!

She's officially CRAWLING and we have video to prove it! Rachel had a bowl on the floor and Annie decided she wanted it...badly. She took off like she was shot out of a cannon and I think she actually surprised herself! Thankfully Rachel was there to cheer her on! We spent the rest of the night in wonder, watching our little peanut move around on her own. Hooray for Miss Annabelle!!!

Abe

This is Grandma & Grandpa Strang's new puppy, Abe. As soon as I told Rachel they got a new puppy we HAD to come back home to meet him. He's part lab, part Blackmouth Cur. He's missing his 8 other brothers and sisters but he enjoyed playing outside with Jena and Rachel today. He LOVES a warm lap and enjoyed a few naps inside. Abe has some pretty big paws so he won't stay little for long!

10 Questions for Rachel...

1. What is your favorite color? brown

2. What is your favorite movie? Horton Hears a Who

3. What are you going to do this summer? play outside on my bike

4. What do you want for your birthday? a baby doggy, a REAL one!

5. What does Mom say when your in trouble? RACHEL IRENE!!!!

6. Why does dad put you in time-out? because I'm being bad

7. What is your favorite food? pudding...and ice cream

8. What is your favorite toy? my big bear

9. What is your favorite book at bedtime? the Barbie book, the one with the velet dress.

10. Best day so far? Christmas! When I told Santa I wanted the Bratz house and he brought me my favorite make-up instead.

Spring Photos

I just got back from taking Annie to get her spring pictures taken and she looked so cute in her dress. I just couldn't resist taking more of her before I changed her clothes!

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First Communion

This weekend our goddaughter, Jena, made her First Communion in Cascade. Jena looked so beautiful in her white dress and Rachel was convinced she was getting married! Both of our girls were awesome during mass, not easy considering it was over an hour long AND it was Annie's nap time. I included a few pictures from today. I also included a pic of Annie in her new, sparkly pink shoes. SO cute!!!

Happy Easter

I was going to post some pictures from Easter weekend and realized, I didn't take any pictures over the weekend! No easter egg hunt because it was too cold out. No pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses. So, while looking for recent photos I came across some pictures of Rachel taken at the farm when she was just over a year old. Doesn't summer look nice?? I'm so ready to skip spring and go right for summer! Everytime Rachel sees a green plant or bug, she says, "Look Mom...I found some summer!!!"

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's ANNIE!

Grandma Strang took this picture of Annie while we are in Florida. She looks like a plane, ready for take-off! She loves to play on her belly and she's loves to sit up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She is so close to crawling, she is so ready...I just wish we were too!

We're Back!!!

We had an MAGICAL time at Disney World! The weather was beautiful and the girls had a great time. Rachel's favorite part of the trip was dancing with Prince Charming and Jena loved flying and swimming in our huge pool. We were anxious to get home and see Annie but I miss the warm temps already! Hurry up and get here spring!!! If you have an hour to spare and want to view the 238 pictures I posted on Shutterfly just click on the following link....

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AasXDlk0bs2LFsA&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Sunny Weather...here we come!!

We leave for Orlando bright and early tomorrow morning. Our flight leaves Cedar Rapids at 6AM and we arrive in FL at around 11am. I'm looking forward to some much needed sun, and hopefully some relaxation too! Rachel is so excited to see Cinderella again and spend time with her cousin Jena. See you when we get back!!!

Rachel and her friend next door, Sam, spent part of the afternoon building an snowman....with a little help from their dads. This is the FIRST snowman of the season! Temps were in the 60's today so they finally had some nice weather to play outside. The forecast this week calls for more snow so I'm sure Frosty won't be melting anytime soon!

Happy Spring...a few weeks early!

Princess in training....

Just a another evening at the Lester home. Rachel comes home and instantly changes into something more ...dramatic. Last night it was a ballerina in full make-up.

Lori & Baby Ella

This is a picture of Scott's sister and their beautiful new daughter, Ella Lynn Johnson. Ella was born in December but she's quickly catching up to Annabelle in size and I'm guessing she be bigger than Annie in just a few short months!

Rachel's First Dental Visit

Today was Rachel's first visit to the dentist and I'm happy to say, we ALL survived! I've been talking to her about going to the denist for a few weeks and she was actually really excited about going. She sat right in the chair and about 5 min later she made Cindy, the hygentist, her new best friend. They counted her teeth, cleaned and polished them. Then Dr. Collins came in and looked them over and NO cavities...hooray!!! Needless to say Rachel's already excited about her next cleaning in 6 months.