Rachel is 10 Years Old!

I say it all the time...but I really can't  believe that my firstborn is TEN years old! Ten years ago today, I became a Mommy. It was one of the hardest days of my life and probably the closest to death I've come. But everything was worth it to have my precious Rachel in my life. I cannot imagine my life without her in it. 

She celebrated with ten good friends this past Saturday at a local cake shop. The girls all got to decorate cupcakes. It was so much fun and they all had a great time. Rachel has been blessed with such sweet friends in her life.

Today we celebrated with family. The grandparents and us all ate spaghetti and brownies - Rachel's requests. She had to be very patient today, because she couldn't open her presents until after Jon Paul got home from work. It was hard, but she persevered.

She was so excited about all her stuff. But her main surprise was her gift from us. She opened a box with three things in it: a tripod, a video camera and an envelope. Inside the envelope was this:

We bought her a domain name and created her a website/blog. She was thrilled. She loves to read, write and has taken an interest in videoing, so we told her she could do it all on her very own website: www.RachelsChatterbox.com! And she has already made her first post, so go check it out and leave her a comment, she would LOVE it!

So, my darling daughter, I hope your birthday was all you dreamed it to be. We are so very proud of you and we love you to the moon and back, again and again. To close, I'm going to list my top ten things I love about you. This might be the last year for these lists. I have some other ideas in my mind for the next birthdays. There are many, many things I love about you and I could go on and on, but here is my ten.

1. I love your heart for being the hands and feet of Jesus. I was sad we couldn't go on the family mission trip this year, and it meant a lot to me to know you were as deeply saddened because you wanted so badly to serve again. I promise you, we will do another mission trip soon!

2. I love your leadership skills. You are growing up to be a wonderful leader. I was so proud to hear that you were voted President of K-Kids this past year. That was quite an honor and great experience for you.

3. I love your creativity. You have some of the best ideas floating around in that head of yours. The workers at CAPAA have been impressed with your ideas, especially your Marlin costume for Camp Nemo. :) I can't wait to see all the creative things you do with your new blog!

4. I love your piercing brown eyes. You got those eyes from me and we all know that everyone loves a brown eyed girl!! I pray your eyes stay pure and focused on Jesus.

5. I love your thirst for knowledge. You never seem satisfied with a passive answer to your questions. Which at times can be annoying, but it just shows how smart you are and how much you want to learn. I pray you always ask questions and always want to learn - no matter how old you are.

6. I love your voice. I love to hear you uplifting your sister or your friends. I love to hear you reading to your sister. I love to hear you singing. It amazes me to see you on stage at church and hear you sing your solos. You have a gift and I'm so happy you aren't afraid to be in front of people.

7. I love that you know what is right and will take a stand for what is right, even when someone is treating you bad. You learned a good lesson this year about friendship and what it means to be a true friend. True friends don't hurt each other. I was proud you stood your ground and showed them that you weren't going to take it anymore. I pray you keep that boldness and fight in you and know that your self-esteem isn't wrapped up in friendships. You are still YOU, no matter who your friends are.

8. I love seeing the motherly instincts coming out in you. You've asked several times when you can start babysitting. I hope you keep that desire in you. You are so sweet around some of the little kids and several of them already look up to you and love you so much (Caleb!!). :)

9. I love your silliness. You can really make us laugh. I pray you never grow too old to be silly. Some of the things you come up with fills my heart with joy and laughter.

10. I love YOU. Simple. I love YOU for being YOU. I hope you will always be YOU, no matter what anyone else says or does. I know sometimes YOU don't like it when Bekah copies YOU and YOU want to be different. She just loves YOU so much and wants desperately to be like YOU. There will be a day that she won't want to do that anymore. But please keep being YOU, no matter what. YOU are unique and God's special creation. I am thankful He chose YOU for us. YOU have blessed our lives in so many ways and we cannot wait to see what the years ahead hold for YOU!

I love YOU so very much!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Bekah! (one day late!)

Wow, I've really gotten out of the blog habit. I do want to get back into it, it just isn't high on my priority list right now... :)


My baby, Rebekah, turned seven years old yesterday! I can't believe she is that old. Guess that makes me even older! Ha ha... and Jon Paul turned the big 4-0 last week too. I have a couple of years before I hit that mark!

Happy Birthday Rebekah! I hope your day yesterday was great. We had your party on Saturday, the day before your birthday. You had 19 little girls come and celebrate your special day with you. You are blessed with such good friends.


I just wanted to say that Mommy is proud of you loves you very much. So, in keeping with tradition, here are seven things I LOVE ABOUT YOU!!


1. I love your meek spirit. You don't like to have all the attention on you and are content watching others in the lime light.


2. I love your servant's heart. You are quick to offer to help me in the kitchen and are observant to see a need and do it without me having to ask you to do it first.


3. I love your silly faces you make. You sure do like making us laugh!


4. I love it when I catch you walking on your tippy toes. You used to do it all the time when you were little. And you still do it every now and then. Maybe you will be a prima ballerina someday!!


5. I love seeing you get more and more brave about doing things in front of people. You are my shy little one, but you have come a long way. You even will get up on stage at church and help lead in worship!


6. I love that you love school. You have never complained once about having to go to school and I am so happy you are happy there. It also helps having AWESOME teachers - which you have been blessed with last year and this year.


7. I love that you love to be tickled. We have some of the best tickle sessions and I love hearing your laugh so hard you can't catch your breath!!


We are so proud of you and can't wait to see what your future holds. Enjoy being seven!!

Take 2 - Pirate Style

Go Bekah!

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Rachel's Turn

Another version!

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Dinner Time Fun

We love being silly!

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Happy 9th Birthday, Rachel!!

Nine years ago today you came into our lives and we were forever changed. You made us Mommy and Daddy. We are so proud of you and grateful to God for allowing us to be your parents. We love you and we celebrate you today. We hope you have a most awesome day!!

Nine things we love about you...

1. We love your creativity. You can write the best plays, songs, and stories and we hope you will always continue to be creative.
2. We love your confidence. You are bold in your ability to get in front of people and perform. This is something your Mommy has never been confident in.
3. We love your friendliness. You have never been afraid to be a friend to anyone.
4. We love your long brown hair. We really like how just growing out your bangs has changed your appearance. Not sure about how it makes you look older.... :)
5. We love that you still have the innocence of a child. You haven't been too anxious to grow up, like some of the other girls your age have. We want you to be a child as long as you can - you have your whole life to be "grown up."
6. We love that you like to read. You've started reading longer books and that makes us happy. We hope you will always have that thirst for reading.
7. We love how smart you are. You've done great in school and you did awesome on your first benchmark test in school. You will do great things when you get older.
8. We love that you love Jesus. We pray you will always want to know Him better and serve Him in everything you do.
9. We love your bracy smile. You got braces about six months ago. You have been a trooper through this round and one day, you will see how all this work and a little pain will pay off.

Rebekah Says the "F" Word!!

 Great dinner time conversation with my six year old!

Happy 6th Birthday Rebekah!

I can't believe that you are SIX years old today!

You woke up this morning still insisting you were five because you hadn't had your party yet. It was hard for you to understand that today was your birthday - and tomorrow is your party - but you still turn six today. I think you finally got it after talking a while and eating some breakfast. You couldn't wait to get to school because you were taking cupcakes for all your class to eat at snack time. You wanted chocolate cupcakes with white icing and pink and green flowers on them. They turned out beautiful!

 

Six Things I Love About You:

1. I love your silliness - as seen in the photos above. You are a natural in front of the lense.

2. I love hearing you read. You are learning so much now and it is so exciting watching you learn something new.

3. I love that you love to go to school. I pray that you never lose that desire to go and learn.

4. I love your tender and quiet heart. You are finding your voice and I'm proud of you for that.

5. I love the fact you are not a morning person. You are like your Momma and would prefer not to talk or anything soon after getting up. But once you have your breakfast, you are usually much perkier.

6. I love laugh, especially when we get into a good tickle fight. It melts my heart.

I hope you have a wonderful day today. Mommy and Daddy are taking you out tonight by yourself! Rachel will be at a sleepover, so you get us all to yourself. You have requested to ride go-carts - so that is what we are doing. Tomorrow afternoon is your gymnastics party. I know you can't wait!

I better go now - I have a date with you for lunch at school. I love you my sweet baby!!

Bekah Funny

From a conversation over dinner this past week.

Bekah: Will I have a car when I get bigger?

Me: That depends on if you make good choices and have good grades. Why? Do you want a car?

Bekah: Well, I really want a truck!

Me: A truck! Why do you want a truck?

Bekah: So I can put stuff in the back!

Me: Good reason! What color truck do you want?

Bekah: Purple, with stars on it.

Funny girl!!

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Rebekah's Artwork Creativity

Rebekah colored this at Sparks this past Wednesday night. She was quick to inform us that the picture was originally a boy, but she wanted it to be a girl. So, she added a ponytail, bangs, glasses, makeup and earrings. I thought that was most clever for a five year old and also her design in the rug was nice!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

(I'm not sure what happened, I had this set to autopost,

but obviously it didn't. Regardless, here it is. Sorry Rachel!)

My sweet firstborn turns EIGHT years old today! Where has the time gone? She is growing into such a sweet, sweet young lady.

This year we did something a bit different for her birthday. We are actually on vacation right now and in Dallas. In lieu of a big birthday party, she chose to spend her day at someplace very special to young girls. Anyone want to guess where were are today? Yep, we are at the American Girl Store! You should have seen her face when we told her we were going!! We will be eating dinner tonight at the Bistro, all six of us: Daddy, Mommy, Rachel, her doll Jessica, Rebekah and her doll, Rebekah. :) I'm sure I'll be posting plenty of pictures in the future after our visit. She is going to have a small sleepover party at home one weekend after we get back from vacation.

Rachel, I hope this day is the best day ever, like you keep telling us it will be. Eight years old - you are growing up! So, just for you, here are eight things I love about you!!


1. I love your energy. Boy, do I wish I had just an ounce of what you have. You never want to stop or sleep. You've never been one who required much sleep and even now, you never want to go to bed.


2. I love your creativity. You love to write poems, stories and now you are working on your first fully scripted play.


3. I love your bravery. You are so much more outgoing and braver than I ever was. You auditioned for your first play and solo for the musical at church!!


4. I love your curiosity. Even though it drives me cRaZy when you ask a bazillion questions and always want to know everything that is going on, I know it just means you are smart!


5. I love that you love to read. I love to read (even though I don't have much time to nowadays) and I always hoped my children would love to read too. And you are a really fast reader too! I've also enjoyed us reading the American Girl books together - sweet memories I will never forget.


6. I love watching you do gymnastics and master a new skill. You get to excited when you get to ring the skill bell and you are doing so good at it. Keep it up!

7. I love watching you teach Rebekah. One night, I listened as you tried to teach Rebekah how to read. It made my heart so happy because you wanted her to read so bad. At times you can be so patient and caring with her. Other times, you fight like sisters. :)

8. I love your sense of humor. You love to laugh and tell jokes and try to make up your own jokes. Some of them are really funny! Your laugh makes me laugh.



Happy Birthday Sweetie and I love you so very much! I can't wait to spend it with you, watching you enjoy your day at the American Girl store!!

I'm Still Here...

Boy, getting back into the blogging habit has been hard! I really want to, but when I have time to sit and think - I'm too tired to think!! Summer is going full force around here and I'm really not sure where June went.

The girls both ended school great. Rachel ended second grade and had all "excellents" on her report card. She also completed her Gifted and Talented ISP - which amounted to her first research paper. Wow! She even presented it, with a power point presentation, to a fourth grade class. So proud of her! Rebekah ended Pre-K good and was so excited that next year she will be in kindergarten at her Sissy's school! I will be glad to have them at the same place next year.


We are getting ready to leave for our summer vacation. We are going to San Antonio for a few days then heading up to Dallas for about four days then back home. We're beginning to question our decision because it is SOOOOO HOT here right now, we can only imagine how hot it will be there!! Oh well, water will be our friend!!


Happy summer - to anyone who is still checking/reading my blog. Thanks!!

Nature is Great - A Poem By Rachel

Nature is Great
By Rachel Jones, age 7.5
Written June 4, 2010

Where ever you go, nature is everywhere.
In the mountains or on a plain, nature is in the air.

I am a flower, my petals are bright;
What I really like, is the sun's yellow light.

I am a jewel, you can find me in a cave.
Go inside, you must be brave!

I am land, I’m everywhere;
On the ground or floating on air.

I am animals, I like to roam.
It’s hard to find my natural home.

I am water, I flow a stream.
Try to make sure you stay clean.

I am sky, I show at day and night.
I live with sun, its always bright.

Now you know what nature is about,
Come on, lets shout!

Nature is cool, nature is great
Nature is never, ever late!

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

Five years ago today, my baby girl was born. I can't believe how quickly time has passed. I also can't believe I haven't blogged since Christmas!! Well, yes, I can believe it. Things have been crazy around here! I hope to start back up again and catch you all up on what has been going on around here since Christmas. But, enough about all of that and on to the star of today: My Rebekah!!

Today is her birthday and she will be five years old. She cannot wait and said she wants to be five forever! So, in honor of your birthday, Rebekah, here are five things I love about you:

1. I love your meek and quiet spirit. You don't have to say anything. You are a bit shy, and it's okay.

2. I love your silliness. You have gotten into performing for me and wanting me to video you on my iPhone. So silly - maybe I'll have to share some with everyone on the blog!

3. I love it when you want to help me. You're a good helper, especially in the kitchen.

4. I love going to the grocery store with you. You talk to me and help me with our list. I love those times with you.

5. I love to watch you dance. You love to shake your booty!! It is really cute and even better when you don't know we're watching you.

We had Rebekah's party this past Saturday. I'll post pictures when I play catch up on the blog. This past Sunday was also Jon Paul's birthday. More on that later too. But for now, Happy Birthday Rebekah! I hope your day is a special as you.

2009 Christmas Card!

Anniversary!!

Ten years ago today I married my best friend and the love of my life. If you want to read more about how we met, you can read it here. Happy Anniversary babe! I love you - always and forever. Thank you for being my best friend, a great husband, a kind and loving father and a great provider for our family. I am very blessed to have you in my life! Here's to many, many more years together!!





Jon Paul made good on his promise to take me back to Maui. For our tenth anniversary, we went back to Maui and stayed in the exact same condo that we honeymooned in ten years ago. It was beautiful, exotic, romantic and lots of fun! We stayed a week. We didn't want to leave, but were ready to come home and see the girls. I plan to blog about our entire trip, but here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week. Enjoy!

Second Year in a Row - 30 Posts in 30 Days!!

DONE!!!! I did it again - what an accomplishment. Thank God for auto-post! :) I'm glad I participated again this year and it has gotten me back in the blogging mood and habit. I really hope to keep it up, but probably not every day. Thank you for coming back and visiting and please keep coming - you are always welcome!

Cats - Volume 2

Here is random post #2. In case I'm not able to post from Maui, this will be my post for the day. This time, some pictures of Bella. She's really grown! First part of December she will be six months old.