Happy Halloween & Happy Birthday Papa!!

Ahh...a few moments of quiet. A rare moment around here. Scott and Rachel are over at the neighbors, Annie is sleeping and I'm sitting here...wondering what I'm going to do with ALL of this candy. Grammy & Papa Lester took the girls trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Annie only lasted about an hour and then she was ready to get out of that costume. I'm convinced Rachel has enough sugar in her to keep her awake until Tuesday.




Rachel was a ballerina/angel/princess


Scott does not make a good looking woman




Rachel & Sam

It's about time

I'm busy!! That's the only excuse I have for waiting so long to add another post. I keep journals for Annie and Rachel and I realized it had been awhile since I wrote in them. I took Annie's out and the last entry was on her birthday, Aug 17th. Obviously this blog isn't the only thing I'm neglecting.

The girls are staying busy and we are spending more time indoors now that the weather is colder...MUCH colder! Annie has increased her vocabulary and now says Daddy, Uh-Oh, puppy and what's that. She's getting over an ear infection and cold. A few rounds of antibiotics and she seems to be feeling better. Rachel is ready for Halloween and this year she decided she wants to be a ballerina. This is her first "girly" costume so I was surprised when she suggested it. I was waiting for her to ask to be a snake or caterpillar. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and she won't freeze her you-know-what off.

Scott and I had a great anniversary. My friend Shelly offered to watch the girls so we can could out for dinner at Biaggis. Last weekend we went to the Hawk game with our friends. Weather was perfect. Cold in the morning but sunny & warm by game time. This weekend we spent in Cascade. My dad needed help patching up some holes on a barn and asked that everyone come home and help. We went to Bluff Lake for dinner (....GREAT food) and went to a haunted house afterwards. My sisters and I screamed like little girls but Rachel...she loved it. I was nervous that she was too young but as soon we came out she asked if we could go through it again. Obviously she is Scott's daughter!


Annie found a new spot to poop her pants.
I guess she likes her privacy.


....and I found her.




Stacy, Shelly and I. Not easy drinking a beer
at 8am in 50 degree weather but we were
up for the challenge.


Tom, Scott, Jason & Roger in front of "the pig"

Happy Anniversary My Love

Scott and I will celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary tomorrow...on the 11th. I can honestly say that 11 years of marriage hasn't always been easy BUT it is fun when your married to Scott. Not one day has gone by that I haven't laughed at him. Not only is he a wonderful husband but he is a great dad to our daughters. Thank you Scott for 11 amazing years and I look forward to celebrating a lifetime more together.

XOXO

Vegas Baby

I have so many posts but this is the only one I have time for right now. We left on Friday night for Vegas with our friends, Shelly, Jason, Stacey, Tom & David. Scott has been to Vegas a few times and we talked about going as a couple for months. Scott's buddy Greg decided to have his wedding in Vegas so the timing was perfect.

We landed in Vegas at around 9pm and we settled into out hotel and went out for dinner. The next day the boys gambled and the girls bummed around the pool....heaven. I gotta say, I was excited to see Vegas but I was most excited to lay out in the sun! We had dinner reservations at Bennihana's that night at the Hilton. Sunday we walked the strip and went to the wedding that night. Monday we did some last minute shopping and left Vegas at 3pm. What a LONG flight home! We missed our girls so much and we couldn't wait to get home and see them. Thanks again to Grammy, Papa and Aunt Amy for helping us out. And CONGRATS to Mr & Mrs Feldman!


Ready to go!!!




View of NY NY and the strip


Stacey's winnings


Shelly, Stacey and I before dinner


How I wish we could have these in Iowa!!!


Getting ready for Greg & Katie's wedding


Ready to go HOME!!!!

Hawk Game

If the Hawks would have won yesterday, it would have been the perfect ending to perfect day! Our neighbors, Roger & Diane, invited us to join them at the Iowa homecoming game. I've only been to two Iowa football games and I've never gone tailgating...ever. Roger assured me I was in for a good time. We arrived in IC at around 8am and our tailgating spot was literally a few feet from the stadium. We enjoyed a few drinks, ate some food and walked around before the game. We had club seats at the game and food/beer/restrooms right next to our seats, very nice. After the game we stuck around and had a few more drinks and then headed back to CR. We had a neighborhood grill-out in the evening and by 9:30 I was ready for bed. Scott and I felt very spoiled and we can't wait to do it again at the Wisconsin game next month.

This time next week we will be in VEGAS!!! Whoo-hooo.


Diane, Scott, myself & Roger


Kylee & Diane


Scott, obviously after one too many.


Drink of choice for the day




View of the stadium for our spot


View from our seats

Seriously, when will we ALL be healthy?? Rachel has been suffering from a horrible cough, and I mean suffering. We FINALLY found out today, after two separate doctors visits that she has croup. She's on some strong medicine right now and I'm hopeful by tomorrow she'll be back to normal. My mom stayed with her today and Scott will keep her home again tomorrow. She hates missing school but I know she enjoyed spending some one-on-one time with Grandma.

I went to the Parade of Homes tonight with my mom and sister, as we do every year. I love looking at houses that have kitchen pantries as big as our kitchen! I get ideas on decorating, carpet and paint colors. As much as I enjoy walking through these enormous homes, I'm still happy to call our little place home!

Not much else new this week. Rachel's sick, Annie still has a stuffy nose but I feel human again. Not sure about Scott. He has swollen lymph nodes around his gal bladder. Which essentially means he has a side ache all the time...like the ones you get after running. I'm hopeful it will heal soon and he'll feel normal too.

Looking forward to the Hawk game on Saturday, looks like it's going to be a beautiful day!

The Lazy Days of...Fall

I've been SUPER lazy lately. I've tried several times this week to update my blog but couldn't find the energy to write anything interesting or witty. I should take the girls for a walk after dinner but all I want to do is put on my PJ's and go to bed. I'm a month behind on Annie's thank you notes for her birthday. Thankfully the girls haven't slowed down which means I can't allow myself to be too lazy.

Last weekend I took Rachel to my cousin's wedding reception in Davenport and Scott took Annie to his goddaughters first birthday party. I wish we could have done both as a family but we decided it would be better to split up and enjoy some one-on-one time with the girls. Rachel had fun at the wedding playing with the other little kids there, who happen to be her cousins. I had a chance to catch up with my relatives that I haven't seen in over year. Scott said Annie had fun at the birthday party and she really enjoyed playing with Molly.

Not much new this week. Rachel has a cough, Annie has a cold, I had some sinus thing going on and now Scott doesn't feel good. Maybe this is why I've been feeling so lazy!!! Rachel decided on Tuesday that she no longer wants to take dance, and we just got her new dance costume in the mail the day before. I thought at first she didn't want to go because she wasn't feeling well but she told me she didn't want to go...ever again. She said she likes to dance but ONLY when she feels like it. We've decided to take a break from dance and try gymnastics in the spring.

Well, that's it from me. I'm going to finish watching Project Runway and go to bed.


Annie's new love...the Sit 'n Spin. She could
spend hours playing on this thing.


The really do love each other!

Almost Friday

It’s been awhile since I've worked a full work week and this week is dragging by. I've been one day ahead of myself since Monday. I've been busy trying to pull clothes together for a garage sale and I haven't had much time to update our blog. Here is what's going on with us.

Annie said her FIRST word!! She's been babbling for a few months, typical Ma Ma Ma and Da Da but no solid words. Last night I walked into her room to say Hi to her. She stood up in her crib, looked at me and said MOM! Oooh..it was so sweet. She's all into babies right now and the other night she was on the floor, holding her baby and rocking it. Another sweet moment.

Rachel has school pictures tomorrow. I HOPE I have enough time in the morning to get her dressed, her hair combed and not spill anything on her! We have a meeting tomorrow night with her kindergarten teacher and I'm anxious to find out what they are learning and her plans for the school year. My friend Mary has agreed to watch the girls for us so we can go...thank you Mary!!!! I picked Rachel up on Monday from school and as we were walking to the car and passed a boy, around 8 years old, and Rachel looked at me and said, "Oh mom, he's cute!!" Uh...what??? We are so not prepared for her to grow-up. Scott already told her she can't date until she's married.

For all of you wanting to know about Rachel's creepy-crawly bug...we let him go. I've been on her for a few days to let Harry go. She finally decided she was ready but we couldn't figure out where to release him. Our neighbors didn't want him anywhere near their houses and I was worried Scott would run over him with the lawn mower SO we walked him up the street and released him in woods. Rachel is holding out hope that Larry will come back to visit us in the spring. Could we be so lucky??

Annie ready for Balloon Glow. The weather didn't
cooperate and we ended up leaving at dusk.
But the kids had fun running around.



Rachel trying to give Harry a hug


One more close-up for all of you


Even Sam wanted to pet him at least
once before we let him go.

Annie looks like....

As a parent you're used to people telling you who they think your kids look like. When Rachel was born I would hear people say that she looked like me but I didn't see it. To me she was all Scott, especially those eyes. When Annie was born all I could see was Rachel. As the months passed I could slowly see the resemblance between her and I. Tonight I was digging around some old photos and came across a few of my baby pictures. The photos aren't in the best of shape, thanks to my brilliant idea to keep them stored in our old garage ALL year round. I would not suggest doing that. But back to my point. I was amazed to see just how much Annie looks like me as a baby! Especially in the last photo.


Seriously, I had some great hair!
I wonder what product Mom used.


Mom & Dad, looking good.


This one...I see a little of Annie


Put Annie on an ugly couch and
a plaid jumper and this is her.

Dance Class

Rachel had her first dance class tonight and she seemed to enjoy it. She took one class last spring so she knew what to expect. It was 45 min long and parents were only allowed to come in during the last 5 min. As much as I wanted to watch, I'm getting used to the fact that I can't always be by her side. We should get her dance costume in the mail in few weeks and I'm afraid I'll have to hide it from her or she'll try wearing it to school! Speaking of school, it's going VERY well. She already has two new friends that she plays with and she loves recess and circle time. Today I asked her if she had a good day and she said, "Mom, I did my personal best today!" Enough said!

Annie was busy tonight running around and wearing one of Rachel's dress-up skirts. I tried several times to take video of her but she moves too quickly. She rarely stays in one place for more than a few seconds. She also discovered that Rachel's baby doll stroller works GREAT to help her get those toys that are out of her reach. Yes, a little dangerous but it was funny to watch.


Princess in training






No babies were harmed for
this photo


Ahhh yes, that's the one I've been trying
to get.

What a nice, long weekend. Friday night we hung out with the girls and ran a few errands. We left Sat afternoon for Cascade and took Rachel on her first canoe trip. I wish I had taken pictures but canoes and cameras don't mix. We went on a short route and it only took us a few hours. The river was down and the weather was beautiful. We found HUGE millipede on a sandbar and decided we, ok me, should bring it home. I love almost all bugs but even this one made my skin crawl. I'm hoping Rachel will agree that we should let Harry go in a few days. I'm not exactly sure how to take care of a millipede and I don't want to be held responsible if he dies.

Sat night I went to my 15 year class reunion in Cascade. I didn't plan on going but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed catching up with some of my friends that I haven't seen in years. It's been a long time since I've closed a bar down but time flies when you have 15+ years to talk about.

Today we got up early and took the girls the Kids Parade downtown. This usually happens on the 4th but it was delayed because of the flood. There we a ton of people downtown for the races but not many people for the parade, which usually draws hundreds of people. BUT, we didn't want to miss it and Rachel had fun riding her bike. The rest of today will be spent doing laundry and relaxing. There are fireworks tonight and I hope we can just take the girls in their PJ's and find somewhere to watch them in the car.


Pete, Travis, Amy, Me, Doug


Kerry, Amy, Amy, Me


Harry


Ewwwwwww


Waiting for the Kids Parade to start


We found these crazies walking around


Obviously Annie LOVES parades

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.