We're a bunch of losers

Today was the Kentucky Derby. We had a Derby Party at my in-laws' house. In keeping with tradition, we each drew the name of a horse in the Derby. Then we all have a horse (or 2) to cheer for. The winner gets a prize, the person who comes in 2nd gets a prize, the person who comes in 3rd gets a prize, and the person who comes in dead last gets a prize. Well, Gabi's horse (Comma to the Top) came in dead last, but what was really funny is that Rachel's horse (Watch Me Go) came in 2nd to last, mine (Twinspired) came in 3rd to last, and Jeff's (Midnight Interlude) came in 4th to last. The four of us managed to get the last four horses. What are odds of that happening?

Just in case you missed the race, here it is:

Finally!

We have had a pretty miserable spell of weather. Rain, severe weather, more rain, cold, more rain, more rain, more rain. Yesterday the rain finally gave way to sort of blue skies, but it was pretty cold. Today, though, it was a BEAUTIFUL day.

This afternoon we started by going for a bike ride.

Next we did some work in the back yard. I prepared my garden boxes and planted my tomato plants.

Jeff came home early (Derby Parade), and he helped finish the garden.

Then we got out the sprinkler for the girls to play in. It was maybe a little too cold for that, but they didn't seem to mind.

Swimming Lessons and some other items.

Rachel started taking swimming lessons at the YMCA yesterday. She was in the group for children ages 3-5. Each child took a swimming test to place them at the appropriate level. Rachel really did a great job. She loves swimming. Okay, when it comes to listening and following directions maybe she wasn't exactly perfect, but all things considered she did great.Sorry for the horrible pictures. My blackberry does not impress me with its camera. Next time I'll bring my real camera (if I remember) and get some better pictures then.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Lexington to Jeff's sister Trish's house. The recently completed their basement, and they had a combined open house/birthday party for their daughter, for Brian (Jeff's brother) and Amber (Brian's wife), all of whom celebrate birthday's within the same week. Anyway, the new basement is BEAUTIFUL. Rachel and Gabi had a really good time. They have a work-out room with a heavy punching bag. Rachel and Gabi enjoyed beating up on the punching bag.
A few more pictures: Last Monday on our way to piano lessons, Rachel fell asleep in the car.

At the home of our student, Gabi managed to acquire a red vine licorice. Her clown lips are evidence of her enjoyment.
That evening we went to Chuck E. Cheese for Brian's birthday party. That was my first time ever going there. Rachel and Gabi both enjoyed it a lot, and Rachel professed her love for Chuck E. Cheese for the next few days.

They couldn't save his ears

Yesterday I took Scout to the groomer for a haircut. This was his first haircut since the end of last summer. His hair was getting very long, and I have to admit it was also getting pretty matted. What can I say, with toddlers around, the dog just doesn't get the attention he used to. I haven't hardly brushed him at all. For one thing, he doesn't like it, and makes it kind of a hard job, and for another thing, I've been emotionally depleted with all of the rain. It is taking all of my energy away.

When I went in to pick Scout up in the late afternoon, the girl at the desk said "we couldn't save his ears or his tail." My first thought (which I did verbalize) was "what, did you have to amputate his ears and his tail?" Turns out all that meant was that they cut his hair totally short everywhere. They did leave some long hair on the end of his tail (which looks kind of silly, actually). I'm glad. I think he looks cute.

The Creek

A week ago Wednesday Rachel and Gabi and I had the opportunity to go wading in a creek near by a friend's house. It was pretty fun.

The next day after their naps I took the girls to a park. We brought Rachel's bike so she could ride around the path.
Just as we were arriving a local field hockey team ran by us. Rachel said "hi," but all of the girls ignored her. That made Rachel sad, so when a couple of ladies walked by Rachel said "nobody will play with me." It was so tragic! Anyway, we proceeded around the bike path with Rachel riding her bike, me walking and Gabi alternating between walking and being carried. A little past the halfway point the field hockey team ran past us again, and Rachel again tried to get someone to say hi to her, but they didn't.

As we nearly completed our circuit, we came across the field hockey team doing some callisthenics. Rachel boldly joined them and did lunges with them. She didn't seem to be too much in their way, so I let her stay. Pretty soon Rachel started tagging along with the assistant coach, and she participated in quite a bit of the practice.

As the afternoon wore on I texted Jeff to find out what time he was planning on being home. By the time I had contacted him he had already been home for a half an hour. The girls did not seem inclined to want to leave, so Jeff picked up a bucket of chicken from KFC and joined us at the park.

After we ate and played some more we took the girls to the woods which had a creek running through it, so we had the chance to do some more wading in the creek. It was really a wonderful afternoon and evening.

I realized that we might spend a lot of time playing in the creek this summer, so I decided to buy the girls some water shoes to protect their little feet from the sharp rocks. On Friday we went to Walmart and bought some. I got some for me too. As we were on our way home Gabi fell asleep in the car. That is pretty unusual for her, so it should have given me a heads up, but it didn't. Rachel fell asleep too, but for her that's not as much of a surprise. Anyway, we went home and I put them down for their naps, and when they woke up I gave them lunch. Gabi didn't eat much, which was a little unusual, although as she is approaching 2 years old she is getting a little more unpredictable. I still didn't recognize any warning signs. After that we went to the house of a friend for the kids to play. While we were there I was holding Gabi, and before I knew it, she threw up all over me. And all over the dining room floor of my friend. We got her cleaned up, but she seemed okay. Rachel and my friend's little boy were playing Hungry Hippo, and Gabi meandered around, occasionally being held by me, occasionally lying on the floor, occasionally playing. I was holding her again, and again she threw up all over me. I finally decided that we had caused enough havoc and mayhem at my friend's house, so we packed up and went home.

I am happy to say that by the very next morning Gabi was totally fine again.

On Monday afternoon we headed back to the park again. This time we were armed with our water shoes, so we headed to the creek for some wading. Two mallard ducks swam past, so that was pretty fun. After a little while we decided to go for a walk. I don't know how far we walked. That was our first exploration along those paths, but the girls walked for a solid hour. They were both pretty wiped out by the time we were done.

Aside from Gabi's unfortunate emesis, it was a very nice week.

Gabi loves balls - so much that she gave that ball a ride on the swing.

The Storm

On Tuesday night we had some severe weather come through. After the fact I found out that 11 tornadoes touched down in the area (Kentuckiana). Fortunately, we came through the entire ordeal unscathed.

As it was approaching midnight we saw that there was a tornado warning for our county. We brought the girls out of their room (upstairs) and brought them into our room (downstairs) to ride out the storm. Rachel slept the entire time. Jeff carried her down to our room and she slept like a rock. He put her in our bed and she didn't move. Gabi, on the other hand, was very upset to have her sleep disrupted. She refused to be held, and she flopped around on our bed, so much that I was getting worried that she would fall off the bed. She didn't, but I worried. (That's what I do.) At 1:00 the worst of the storm had passed, so we brought the girls back upstairs to their room. Gabi took a little while to settle back down, but pretty soon she was back asleep. Rachel slept as Jeff carried her to her room, but within 5 minutes she came back downstairs and said "Excuse me, I don't have any room." (Meaning she needed some room in our bed.) I was too tired to make her go back upstairs, so I let her climb in bed. I meant to wait until she fell back asleep, then take her to her room, but I fell asleep, so she spent the rest of the night in our bed.

The best news of all, we didn't lose our power.

Conference Weekend

It has been a wonderful weekend. It was General Conference, and we enjoyed many wonderful messages. Also, we had nice weather. Saturday was just slightly cool, but Sunday was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! (I've been needing that for quite a while.)

I took the girls for a walk around our cul-de-sac. They found a nice big puddle, and walked back and forth through it. Our recreation ended when Gabi fell and ended up wet and muddy up to her thighs. Then we went into the back yard to play.

We watched the Saturday morning session (12:00 noon local time, but it's the morning session because it is at 10:00 a.m. Utah time) at home, then between sessions we went to Jeff's parents' house to spend time with them and then watch the afternoon session. Of course the girls took the opportunity to play outside. The guys went to the Priesthood session, and we had a girls night in. We got pizza and KFC and watched Tangled. Also I made soft-serve ice cream with my new (well, technically refurbished) Cuisinart soft serve ice cream maker. We got home fairly late, so we went straight to bed.
Sunday morning we made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We again watched the morning session at home and went to Jeff's parents' house for more fun socializing and to watch the 2nd session. Today's weather was beautiful. Mid 70s, breezy (actually windy, but breezy sounds more pleasant). We played outside for quite a while, then I made soft-serve ice cream again. Then it was time to go home.

Dentist Appointment

Today Rachel had a dentist appointment. This was her second visit to the dentist. She did FANTASTIC! She was 100% cooperative. And the best of all, no cavities!
A couple of other things that happened today: it is still pretty cold. Winter is leaving, but it is kicking and screaming. So to have a little fun we set up our little tent in the living room. We put all of the couch cushions on the floor of the tent and Rachel and Gabi jumped and flung themselves around the tent. Both girls' hair was standing on end because of the static, and I managed to get a picture of Gabi.
I'm not sure what Rachel loves more, her dog Scout, or playing in Scout's kennel. Today she managed the best of both when she locked herself in the kennel with Scout.
Dear warm weather, I really miss you. I don't know what I did to drive you away, but I am extremely sorry. Please forgive me and come back.

Build and Grow

About a week and a half ago we were at a friend's house. Rachel, in her wanderings, came across an apron which she put on. Rachel likes aprons. It was cute because it was just her size (compared to my apron which she likes to wear but is way too big). So my friend told me where they got the apron. As it turns out, Lowe's, the hardware store, has a free clinic for kids every other Saturday, and they give the aprons away there. We found out that the next free clinic was today, so we registered and went. They built a little fortune teller toy, kind of like the precursor to the magic 8 ball. The kits were all put together, and all they had to do was nail the box together with the die inside. They gave (loaned) each kid a little hammer and the kit.

Both Rachel and Gabi seemed to really enjoy it. It was interesting watching Rachel's hammering skills improve with each nail, although her arm was getting tired toward the end. She also hammered her finger once, but took it quite stoically. She also hammered my finger. I only cried a little.
Gabi was devastated to have to give up the little hammer. Even though she got an apron, a badge and the toy, she really wanted to keep that hammer. They give a badge for each completed project. One little kid there had his apron covered with badges.
I think we'll do that as often as we have a free Saturday morning that coincides with their clinic. It was a lot of fun.

Immediately after the Build and Grow activity, Rachel had a birthday party to go to. The theme was the movie Tangled. The little girl's mom did a great job with all kinds of fun activities and decorations. Rachel had a lot of fun. She came home with a goodie bag. As she was going through her loot she found that she had several chocolate coins. With one of them she opened it up, broke it in half and gave half to Gabi. She is a very sweet little girl, and learning how to share very well.

We belong to Netflix. We take turns getting movies for Jeff and/or I, and for the girls. We recently had, for the girls, a DVD of Mickey Mouse Club House. One of the previews was for Winnie the Pooh. Rachel decided that she really wanted Winnie the Pooh, so I put it next on our Netflix list and told her that we had to wait for it to come in the mail. She has been asking every day if "Winnie and the Pooh" is here yet. I keep telling her no, but it will be here soon. It finally arrived today. She did a good job of waiting patiently for her movie to come in the mail.

Planes, trains and automobiles (and bikes and trikes)

Today was the first sunny day we have enjoyed this week. I was really needing it too. All this rain is starting to get to me.

After Jeff came home from work we took the girls to the cul-de-sac at the end of our road and Rachel had her very first bike ride. She got a bike with training wheels from Santa Claus for Christmas, and today was the first time we have used it for real. She actually did okay. She needs a lot more practice, but she had fun.

Gabi got Rachel's hand-me-down tricycle.