Rachel’s T-ball team had a swim party for their end of the year party. Lets just say that 5 and 6 year olds should not have swim parties. It was really odd, parents didn’t want to swim with the little kids and I think only one of the kids on the team could actually swim (and his parents owned the pool). I knew that Rachel would be fine in a swim ring but none of the other parents brought swim gear for their children and we actually had one kid try to drown several times that night. WAY TOO SCARY for me, I couldn’t take my eyes off Rachel the whole night. Rachel actually looked like a pro in the water compared to the other kids.
But the kids had a good time. Rachel really liked t-ball and made some friends with the two other girls that ended up on her team. I wish that Rachel could play t-ball again next year but she will be too old and gets to try machine pitch softball next year. 
Sabrina, Rachel, and Sonny
Rachel and Sonny
Getting her trophy from Coach Ronnie
This is the 3rd year that my friend Sharee has ran a summer Children’s Music Theatre. Rachel participated in the program the first year with the performance of Stone Soup and then again this year in Welcome to the Jungle. Rachel loves any kind of performance, she loves to sing and dance and practices doing both in front of the mirror on a daily basis.
The performance was so cute!! All the kids wore cast t-shirts and had their faces painted like jungle animals. Several of the parents agreed to help paint the kids faces and they did an amazing job. None of the kids got to pick what animal they would be, Rachel got to be a Hippo. She really wanted to be a Cheetah, it is her new favorite animal but she was happy to be a Hippo. She was the cutest (skinniest) Hippo I have ever seen!
Getting her face painted for the performance
Rachel the Hippo!
Sarah has graduated from her toddler bed to a ‘big girl bed’. She loved her little toddler bed but wanted a big bed like Rachel. So when Sears had amazing deals over Memorial weekend on mattresses we went ahead and bought a new one for us and gave Sarah our old mattress. She loves her new big, big girl bed and keeps telling us it’s big, soft, and bouncy. What more do you need in a bed! She loves her pink quilt and polka dot sheets, but I think the best part for Sarah is that she finally has room for all her stuffed animals to sleep with her!
Sarah's pretty new bed
I think that Rachel was just as excited as Sarah was about the new bed. They have spent lots of time jumping on it, reading together on it, and playing anything they can on it. I sure love these crazy girls!
Rachel has been very jealous of the fun activities that I started doing with Sarah, so I promised her that when school was out she could come too. Rachel was really jealous because I was doing these fun things with my friend Tania and her children, it really had nothing to do with having fun with mom. Rachel just adores my friend Tania and her two little girls, of course they are amazing and I can totally understand why she loves them so much!!
So once school was out we set a date to visit the aquarium and botanical gardens with Tania and her girls, it was a fun day and Rachel just loved spending them with them.
Rachel, Sarah, and Gina at the aquarium
Inside the giant tree
Rachel going down the tunnel slide
Giant Carrot
How can my baby girl already be done with first grade and officially now be a second grader, that just sounds SO OLD!
Lets see how much she has changed from the first day to the last.
First Day of School
Last day of School
I just can’t believe how fast they grow, what happened to my baby?
The first grade classes decided to hold a picnic lunch on the grass field at the school for all the kids and parents this year. It was fun to eat lunch with Rachel and see her play with the close friends that she made over the school year. It was also nice to spend some time with their parents and get to know them better too. I am very grateful for the two girls that were always loving and kind to Rachel this year and were true friends. It seems like those kinds of kiddos are hard to find these days.
Rachel and Jordan
Jordan, Rachel, and Magdalena
Life is always a little crazier when Sarah is around
Rachel and Mrs. Sainz
Rachel and her first grade teacher, Mrs. Sainz
The first grade classes at Dennis Chavez end the year with a Buggy Wuggy Ball. It is too cute!! The kids learn about 11 songs/poems that all have to do with bugs and then perform them for their parents. Rachel loves any kind of performing and has been practicing for weeks in front of her bedroom mirror. She practiced so much that Sarah learned about half of the songs!! It was funny to hear them fight over who was going to sing which song, Rachel would always tell Sarah that they were her songs but Sarah loves to argue and would tell Rachel ‘No, my songs’. They are crazy but cute!!
Rachel’s piano teacher had an end of the year party for all of her students. Rachel did a wonderful job on her three songs she played! Afterwards her teacher had games for the kids to play, which would have been great except that Rachel was exhausted and wouldn’t play any of them. When I finally convinced her to play she got out the first time and started crying in the middle of the party. What a crazy little girl!!
Getting Ready to Play
Every year Rachel’s school has an end of the year Line Dance day. The kids preform line dances that they learned in music class through out the year. It is cute!! The kids line up one grade at a time on the grass field and perform their dances. They all pair off in partners, Rachel had the same partner this year that she had last year. 
Rachel, Madagen, and Haily
Tracy, Magdalena, Jordan, Rachel and Sarah
Rachel really made some great friends this year in Magdalena and Jordan. They are both such sweet girls!!
crazy girls!
My life's treasures
I am the luckiest woman in the world!! I have these two amazing daughters and the most wonderful husband ever. Rachel is just the sweetest most giving child I have ever seen. It gives her so much joy to give to others. She is such a joy, and I can’t believe that she is mine!!
For Mother’s day she had a huge list of gifts that she wanted to give me. Poor Josh had to convince Rachel that I couldn’t get all of them. But I did get flowers, chocolates, lotion, a pink rubber ducky, a new watch, and many home made pictures and cards. She is just so thoughtful and sweet. I can’t wait to see what I will get when Sarah voices her opinions too.
I am so proud to say that I AM A MOTHER!!! and there is no greater joy in life than this!
