Rachel loves birthdays and holidays, she counts down the days until they come and loves to make a big deal out of them. So we try to follow her example and make her day as special as we can. Rachel was so excited that she got to go to school on her birthday this year (last year it was on Sunday). When she woke up she had donuts for breakfast (dad wanted to make sure he did something to make her feel special). I went around the house and left Happy Birthday notes everywhere and in her lunch box. She had a wonderful day at school, her teacher had a special sticker for her to wear and let her be the line leader for the day (which is a big deal)!! I made cupcakes for her to take to school and the kids loved them. Then later that day I made another cake to eat that night. We asked Rachel what she wanted to do for her actual birthday and she said she wanted to have a picnic at the park. So we invited one of our friends over to the park and ate dinner there and had cake too. Rachel had a blast playing on the playground and having more cake. I am glad that Rachel had such a special 6th birthday, I still can’t believe that my little girl is that old. It truly feels like she should still be Sarah’s size. Rachel has turned into a smart, thoughtful, beautiful young lady and we love her so much!
Donuts for breakfast, her favorite thing
opening presents before going to the park
blowing out the candle
opening more presents after the park
Sarah loves Josh’s baseball hats and feels big when she wears them. I love it when she puts them on with her Sunday Dresses, it makes for an interesting picture. I love her huge grin in the picture, she was so proud of herself.
So after taking the girls to the other side of the mountain and having campfires a couple of times we decided that we needed to bite the bullet and actually take the girls camping for real. We were lucky that our ward at church was planning a camp out so at least we weren’t by ourselves for the first time, though it might have been better if we had been. The girls had a great time and loved setting up our tent, Sarah even got a new sleeping bag. Rachel loved running around with her friends and getting to explore nature. The Campfire was wonderful, we roasted marshmallows, ate smores and sang campfire songs…what more do you need?
The girls stayed up way too late, playing with their flashlights, eating marshmallows, and looking at stars. When it was time to finally go to bed you would think they would be ready, NOPE. Sarah decided that she loved to play in the tent and was literally bouncing from one end to the other. We were trying to keep her quiet and still but that didn’t work. You can’t make Sarah do something she doesn’t want to, so she was screaming and yelling and not being still. She was trying so hard to stay awake that she would start taking her socks off and anything else she could (it was a little cool outside to sleep without socks and no blankets or sleeping bag, which she also pushed away from her) she insisted on not being comfortable so she could stay awake. After Sarah fell asleep she woke up every hour or less and would start screaming so lets just say no one around us slept well either. In the morning everyone kept saying “oh, Sarah is the one we heard all night long”. So sleeping with Sarah was no fun. Rachel the wonderful child fell asleep fast inspite of her sister’s efforts to keep her awake.
In the morning things were great again, of course the girls were up for the day by 6am and we had to try to keep Sarah quiet so she didn’t wake everyone else up but besides that it was a wonderful morning and the girls didn’t want to leave. All in all I am glad we did it, the girls had a great time. I just don’t know if we will take Sarah camping again anytime soon, maybe in 2-3 years!
Here are some pictures from the trip, all of them are from before we started fighting with Sarah. I guess I didn’t feel like capturing the memories as much after our LONG night.
pointing out the stars with her flashlight
Rachel and Kirra singing songs around the fire
Ready for bed
Taking a nap to recover from a long night
I can’t believe that Rachel is turning 6years old. She is just getting so big and turning into an awesome kid! I really felt old this year when Rachel picked Hannah Montana for her Birthday party theme, what happened to care bears, Dora, and Strawberry Shortcake? She is just too big to have those parties anymore (though she still loves playing with them). This was Rachel’s first party where she had friends from school and church. It was so nice because not everyone knew each other and Rachel was the only common person so she really felt special and like the queen of the party.
Birthday Girl
crazy girl
Freeze Dance
Guitar Cake
Everyone at the party
I can’t believe that my little girl is in First Grade! She is getting so big and has turned into such a wonderful lady. I was so sad to see her start school but Sarah loves having me all to herself again, it just took her a couple of days before she was ok with Rachel at school. I am grateful that Josh knows how important it is to Rachel to have him walk with us on the first day of school, she may be getting older but she still wants her Mom and Dad around (we are enjoying it while this is still the case).
Rachel is loving her teacher, Mrs. Sainz, and has made so many new friends this year.
Showing off her new Hello Kitty Backpack
Look at those sad eyes. Rachel started crying right before we left, she was sad and didn’t want to leave mom. I am grateful that my girls love me but wish it wasn’t so hard on them to be away from me. I knew Rachel would be fine when she got to school, she loves school.
I sure do love my girls!!
Off to School we go
In line getting ready to go to class
Sarah was so upset when we got back home from taking Rachel to school. All Sarah would do is cry and pout that she wanted Rachel. It was really sad to see how much she missed her sister, I knew the tears wouldn’ t last too long after she realized she had mom to herself!
Sarah crying because she misses her sister
1st day over and still smiling!
Josh and I Celebrated out 8th anniversary!! How lucky I am to have such an amazing man, who treats me like a princess and loves me inspite of all my crazy ways!! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and I look forward to eternity together!
Our last night in Missouri my mom had everyone over for dinner and some quality family time. By the end of the evening the kids were all outside playing in the backyard and a game of baseball had started. At first it was just the kids but by the end of the night everyone (even gimpy old grandpa) took a turn at bat and running the bases. I had a hard time running the bases because Sarah wouldn’t let me put her down, there were a lot of people at the house and some she didn’t know very well. Lets just say it is hard to bat and run bases with a 30# kid on your hip! Anyways, it was a fun night for everyone young and old and it was nice to be with family and do something that didn’t involve the television! What a fun night!!
Josh in the outfield, Rachel on base
Swing batter, swing
