We are back from vacation and recovering!

We had a wonderful time on vacation and sad to say, I have no pictures to show for it. Doesn't surprise me because it was four adults and we left all responsibility at home, including our children! Katie and I spent a few days at a great outlet mall about 2 minutes from where we were staying. I got Rachel a lot of clothes mostly 24 months and 2T and 3 pairs of shoes. They had great prices at the Stride Rite store! I did buy about 10 items for myself and have enjoyed wearing some new clothes. After pregnancy, your wardrobe seems so limited as you always hope to keep losing more weight so you don't buy a lot of clothes, but you don't actually lose more weight. I also got some stuff I can wear to work as well. Can I just say how thankful I am that HCC doesn't really have a dress code, so I don't have to look super nice and have a different set of clothes for work. Speaking of HCC, I finally decided to see what in the world was going on there and accessed my e-mail account. I always have problems with it resetting stuff at the beginning of each semester and it was no different this time. So, I called and got it fixed and actually had a few e-mails from my students. I found out that my first night of class is on Aug 25, which was a week later than I expected! Woohoo for a month of vacation left!
What did Matt do on our trip? Well, he did hit the outlet mall with me for a few hours one day (what a good husband), but him and Josiah went to colonial Williamsburg on the days I was at the mall. They helped in a court case set back in colonial times and saw some of the other historic places. We all went to Virginia beach one day and had a blast boogie boarding. We played tennis, swam, ate, slept, watched movies, played pool and corn-hole, and Matt and I visited the walk-in clinic.

Matt is looking at some more houses to buy and I am really excited about that prospect. Matt went back to work the next day after getting home and I began the catching up on my chores. The house need cleaning, laundry needed to be done, Rachel's room needed to be rearranged and reorganized, Publix was calling my name and I was behind on my week of couponing. We had very limited access to a computer up there. It is Friday and I am caught up. Whew! I haven't been able to get to the gym because Rachel came home with a gross nose. That doesn't surprise me since she was around a bunch of other one year olds for 15 hours last week.

Rachel seems to be getting clutzier by the day. She falls down a lot and when she gets up, she takes one or two steps and trips again. I wonder where she gets it from...I still run into walls and doors. She has started playing with her kitchen more, loves to play with her phones and books, and will actually sit in your lap for you to read to her. Here is a cute story. She was being pretty quiet for a minute or two and I walk out to the kitchen and I find her drinking from this plastic container she has. She is standing by the water dispenser on the fridge and then press the lever with her cup for a refill. She drinks some more. After I realize what has happened, I look on the floor at all of the water that missed the cup. I couldn't believe she knew how to do that and that is what you were supposed to do when you wanted something to drink. Unfortunately, this is not something I want her doing at her age, so she got a big "NO" and a swat. Smart cookie.

This is my new school bag that I got for free at Staples. I loved the pattern and my bag from last semester was a little too small some days, so this will work great.

Here is Rachel on her rocking horse. She "made" this cowboy hat in vacation bible school. She wants to put the hat on, but then immediately tips her head back for it to fall off. Confused.


Hannah and Kate came over to play for an hour and these are just pictures from that.


The picture below is capturing Hannah dancing. The fridge farm plays farm music and she was kicking her legs as part of her dance. It was so cute!

A New Toy!

No, this toy isn't for me...like a Honda Odyssey. I decided that I would like to get Rachel's toys out of our room. Katie, Lauren, and I went to Ikea (for a whole 30 minutes before realizing they closed like 10 minutes after we got there) and Target, which is where I found this fabric toy box. It is so cute and was only $20.


Rachel likes to play with the water bottle after I fix her hair.
She has also learned how to look under things, like the bed or under the crack in the door. I think she was looking for her ball here. She loves to play with her ball and throw it and chase it. She can also say ball now.
She has a new favorite game of "peekaboo" and will almost smack herself while covering her eyes. She uncovers them quickly and says "boo." She has started twirling and spinning in circles as part of her dancing routine instead of the usual bouncing and head bobbing. She is too cute and getting to be so much fun!

Matt and I are leaving on Saturday night along with Katie and Josiah to go to Williamsburg, Virgina for a repeat trip of our vacation two years ago. Notice that I did not put any of our children's names on the vacation roster. Well, they are not going. Woohoo! We are going to have so much fun being children-free. Busch Gardens, Water Country, outlet malls for the girls, historic stuff for the guys, and the beach our on the agenda. We are very excited and will be gone until next Sunday night. So, I won't do a post until I get back. Have a great week and I know I will.

What A Beast!

Is this Rachel's new fashion statement? I don't know, but this is how I found her when I got her up from her nap. She cracks me up!


On a super excited note: I am going out this morning with a bunch of ladies to see Eclipse at the movies! Why are we going so early? Shows before noon are only $5 and you know I like to get a good deal!

Freshly Cut From My Garden

There are some of my gladiolas that I have been growing. I rarely go outside these days just to enjoy my flowers (it is so muggy) that I thought I should enjoy them inside! So I went out and cut the best looking ones. I have no other flowers to pair these with and I have no clue how to make an arrangement, but they are just so pretty by themselves. I hope there are no bugs in them.

What a corny girl!

UPDATE: I found out yesterday that what I thought was cellulitis actually turned out to be MRSA based on my lab work. The doctor said to just make sure I finish my antibiotic. Thankfully she broadened my medicine the second time I went in to include MRSA.


I am really trying to make an effort to update the blog. There is nothing interesting happening in our lives. Rachel is getting more fun (in my opinion) and a little more obedient. She now knows the meaning of "out" and better at listening to "no." She is typically always happy and she loves to flirt with pretty much anyone at Publix. I think she loves shopping there just as much as I do!

We are currently transitioning to new renters and it seems to be going okay so far. That has been keeping Matt slightly busy and stressed the last week or so. I have been battling another case of cellulitis, but in my leg/knee this time. Months ago, I had it in my nose/face. I got on some antibiotics and things seem on the mend. I have a stuffy nose and Rachel's nose started running yesterday, but thankfully it is clear. I am putting her back on allergy medicine. She enjoys going to the gym daycare now, so I can actually work out and not have to have Matt watch her.

I was taking the sheets off our bed to wash them and she thought it was very fun to play in the pile. Her new game is peekaboo, so in one of the pictures she is covering her head.





Grandma and Grandpa Schaefer went to Epcot last Saturday and came back with a new shirt for each of the girls. The picture is glittery too and she is intrigued by it. So cute!



This past morning at Bible study, she was moved up to an older room with Hannah and Kate. They actually do crafts (or attempt) in that room and I am sure she got some help with this one.

Here comes her new favorite summertime food: CORN
Just give her a corn on the cob and it will keep her busy for a while. She eats almost everything on it too.


There is corn around her eyes because she decided it would be fun to play peekaboo and she covered her eyes. Silly girl!

On a super great couponing note: My weekly grocery trip to Publix cost me $10.59 and I saved $152.92! I am getting so good at this stuff and I am proud of it!