admin November 10th, 2008
This blog is going inactive… because we’ve moved. We’re back on Blogger again because I’ve been feeling frustrated with some of the limitations I have with this blog host (which is actually Greg’s own hosting server thingy…whatever it is called!). I’m just not computer savvy enough and Blogger makes things easier… so we are back over there now. Just click here: Rachel Days … I hope you all stay with us!
admin November 9th, 2008
I know this blog is mostly about Rachel, but I’m stealing some blog space for myself today to talk about my new hobby.
So I’ve written before about my obsession with scrapbooking… and now I’m trying to learn digital scrapbooking. Again. Years ago I used to do some digi scrapping with a software program called Scrapbook Factory. It was fun and easy… basically all I had to do was pictures into a pre-designed page, maybe add some text, and then print it out. Not too much creativity was involved and I never liked the fact that so many of the pre-designed pages were not really my style. I’m sure there was a way to change them up with that software, but I never really learned how. Then I moved to traditional scrapbooking with paper, scissors, glue, etc. And I do enjoy it.
Lately, though, I’ve noticed some really beautiful digital layouts online on various blogs and scrapbooking sites. In fact, my friend Donna over at Double Happiness (see my blogroll) does absolutely beautiful layouts on her blog! In fact, here is my most recent favorite from her blog: Incognito. So I’ve decided to take the time (again) to learn. Oh, I’ve tried to learn before…and failed miserably! I’ve never been one who wanted to spend much time reading directions or doing tutorials, but I’m determined to give it another shot. I’m using Photoshop Elements which is an amazing program…but also has a pretty steep learning curve. Here are a few of my first attempts. Keep in mind that I’m just a beginner!
The really fun thing about digital scrapbooking is that you can find so many digital papers and elements online and download them instantly to your computer. It is amazing how many free kits are out there…and you can buy digital kits for a fraction of the cost of traditional scrapbooking supplies.
This last layout is a free ”quickpage” I found online and downloaded to my computer. Then using photoshop, I was able to just insert the picture of Rachel and Linlee. Again, this is a less creative way of doing a page, but it was quick and fun. And I could go in and add some journaling and probably should add a date.
So… if anyone out there reading this does digital scrapbooking and has any good info for beginners, please comment or send me an email! I’d love to know where you find your digital elements and any pointers on where to go to learn more about this hobby…
admin November 6th, 2008
In my last post I was worrying that Rachel may be experiencing some problems getting along with the other children in school. I talked with her teacher today after school and specifically asked about this. I feel much better now… Mrs. Hayes told me that Rachel seems to be getting along just fine with her classmates and that they all play well together. She said that sharing is an issue with all of them and that she is not finding that Rachel is having a harder time than the rest of her classmates in this area. She did say that Rachel does like to be “the one”… in that she wants to be the one who gets to pick the book, be the leader in line, etc., but again, she said that this is not uncommon in preschoolers. She went on to tell me that she is doing great in school. So… I’m feeling much better this afternoon. Thanks for all the support from my last post.
And for your viewing pleasure… another cute picture from the other day when she had her 4-year-old portraits taken!
admin November 4th, 2008
So today I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of Rachel’s preschool writing out her tuition check before going in to pick her up… when the dad of one of her classmates walked over to my car. I rolled down the window and he introduced himself. We’ve chatted briefly before in the hall at school, but never really introduced ourselves. Then he handed me a cute little envelope with stickers on it… addressed to “Maya” and told me that his daughter’s birthday party is in a couple of weeks and they would love for “Maya” to come. At first I was confused, thinking that he just had invitations for all of the kids in the class and had accidentally given me the wrong one… so I was saying “Oh great… that would be fun, etc.” And then I said, “But I’m Rachel’s mom.” I just figured he had another invitation for Rachel in his hand… but he didn’t. He stammered and looked embarrassed. Then he took back the invitation he gave me… saying he couldn’t remember what he did with Rachel’s, but that he would get one to me later… and told me when the party was and then added “But really, if you can’t come, that is okay….”
Hmmm… so yeah, that was awkward. And it made me feel a bit sad, too… because I honestly don’t think that Rachel was really invited to the party. I don’t know… I guess he could have “lost” Rachel’s invitation. But you know, he didn’t even look in his stack of invitations to see if he could find Rachel’s… and I saw him giving invitations to several other moms in the parking lot. Ugh. I’m glad Rachel is too young to know about this. I’m sure there will be other situations like this in her future, though. I don’t look forward to that. Nothing hurts my heart more than situations that I think might hurt Rachel’s feelings.
Rachel is so social. She gets along well with her friends in her dance class. But she is also kind of hyper… and struggles with the give and take that is part of friendship. Sharing is hard for her and we have been working with her on this. I think all of these factors are due to a combination of things: her age, the fact that she is an only child who isn’t used to sharing her toys, and pure genetics! She is an outgoing, exuberant child who can be a bit loud and I think overwhelming at times to quieter children. But she is also very sweet and cuddly and loving… and she adores her friends! And she is also pretty sensitive and I’ve seen her feelings get hurt before when some children didn’t want to play with her. Suddenly my normally happy, social child was standing there with huge crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks saying “Mama, those children don’t want to play with me.” And I wanted to cry, too! So anyway, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that she may be struggling a bit in getting along with her classmates at school, and I don’t really know what to do about that.
admin November 2nd, 2008
One of Rachel’s favorite activities is building elaborate Castles with her Lego blocks. She uses various other types of blocks, too, to add to the architectural detail. Then of course, she puts various people and horses in the castle… because of course all castles need princesses and ponies! Here she is with today’s creation:
And here is a close up so you can see the detail. It’s a pretty wonderful castle, don’t you think? Oh… and notice the TWO Dora’s sleeping on the “sleeping porch” of the castle. Yeah… I think her dolls are multiplying. We only had one Dora like that, and I’m not sure where the second one came from. Same doll, same clothes… it is like her original Dora cloned herself. Strange…
admin November 1st, 2008
I thought it would be fun to take a look back at Rachel’s previous Halloween celebrations:
October 2006- 2 years old… and Rachel was a chicken. A chicken? Really? Honestly, I have no idea what I was even thinking with this costume! Why not a cuddly little cat or dog… or a flower or a fairy for my baby girl? But no, for some reason, I chose a chicken? But you know, she was an adorable little chicken…
2007 - a Pirate! I didn’t have anything to do with this costume, but I really liked it! Greg and Rachel picked this one out together. She was really into pirates then and loved to say “Aaargh!”
And this year Rachel picked her costume herself… a witch!
So… my conclusion after looking at each of these pictures and thinking about who chose each costume, I think maybe I need to leave any future Halloween costume-choosing up to Greg and Rachel!
admin October 31st, 2008
What a fun night we had tonight! We went over to Young’s house for a night of pizza and trick-or-treating followed by wonderful hot cider and cookies. Rachel and Linlee were so cute and really seemed to enjoy trick or treating.
Checking out the Jack-O-Lanterns…
Rachel and Linlee… ready for Trick-or-Treating!
What a cute witch! At one house a man said “Oh, a witch!” and acted scared. Rachel was very quick to assure him that she was a nice witch…
And here are a few pictures of Rachel enjoying Linlee’s piana and her nice rocking horse. Rachel loves playing at Linlee’s house… especially when Mr. Wob is there. She even got to ride on Mr. Wob’s shoulders for a while tonight and seemed rather pleased with herself!
admin October 31st, 2008
So this morning I was sitting in our family room working with my recipe software program when I overheard Rachel say to Baby Dog: “Oh Baby Dog…. ALL you do is eat and sleep!” Cracked me up! I have no idea where she gets some of the stuff she comes up with. I asked her if she was trying to encourage Baby Dog to have a more active lifestyle and she said “Yes, Mama, because all he does is EAT and SLEEP!”
*Note: Back before Rachel was talking, I had named her favorite dog “Red Dog.” Rachel has since changed his name to “Baby Dog.”
admin October 30th, 2008
It seems that every day Greg and I find ourselves amused by various conversations we have with Rachel. It is just so fun to hear the different ideas that she has or the funny comments that she makes.
Last night I was sitting at my desk making a card. My desk is pushed up against the back of the sofa in our family room and Rachel was standing on the sofa watching me work. Here is how our conversation went:
Rachel: What are you doing Mommy?
Me: I’m making a card for Miss Colleen.
Rachel: Oh. So she’ll feel all better?
Me: No, she isn’t sick. This is a birthday card.
Rachel: A birthday card! Oh yes! We’ll give Miss Colleen a birthday card on her birthday when we give her her Barbie doll!
Me: Barbie doll? You want to give Miss Colleen a Barbie doll for her birthday?
Rachel: That’s a GREAT idea Mommy! Yes, Miss Colleen needs a Barbie doll!
The other night I was reading a story to Rachel at bedtime and she asked if I could sleep with her. I told her no, that Daddy would miss me too much…but that I could lie down with her for a little while. As we lay there in the dark, here is a snippet of our conversation:
Rachel: Mommy, we need to paint my room. Yellow. But we don’t have any paint. You need to get me some yellow paint at the store!
Me: You want to paint your room yellow?
Rachel: Yes! And I want flowers on the wall, too. But I don’t have any flowers.
Me: What color flowers do you want?
Rachel: Red. I want a yellow and red room.
I was just amazed by the above conversation because while I know that Rachel loves her room, I never imagined that she had any thoughts of decorating it… much less color preferences. I’m glad she didn’t say she wanted an Elmo room! A yellow and red room does sound nice for her, though. I think it matches her personality!
And finally, here is the conversation we had as I was putting her in her carseat after preschool today:
Rachel: Mommy, I tried to get the Blues Clues book but Andrew wouldn’t give it to me. I wanted that book, but he said no!
Me: Rachel, did you fight with Andrew over a book today?
Rachel: Yes! And he would not give it to me!
Me: Honey, you need to learn to share. If you want to make friends, you have to be able to share.
Rachel looked at me and thought about that for a minute… and then she said veeerrry slowly like she wanted to be very sure that I understood her: “But I don’t want to make friends. I want that Blues Clues Book!”
Oh my! I think we have some more work to do in the area of sharing! Thankfully, I know Rachel well enough to know that she really is a very social child who loves her friends… so I’m not worried about that last comment. But apparently that book must have been some kind of special treasure! When we got home, Greg asked Rachel if she had a good day at school today. Rachel looked at him and just shook her head saying no….and launched into the story about how there was this book… and she couldn’t have it… etc.
Rachel Days
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