Garage Sale

We had a garage sale last week! The girls and I handed out flyers inviting everyone on our street. Four families participated with us and that made for a great turn out! It was so nice to get rid of a lot of stuff we just don't use. I am enjoying the empty space! I am now not as embarassed when our garage door is open. I really do have the nicest husband for everything he did to help me get ready! The guy woke up at 4:30am on a Saturday, that is love!

Our favorite story from the garage sale, although there were many good ones, involved our purple "cash box". Murray and I just had a rush of people, it was the end of our sale and our cash box wasn't where we left it, we thought "oh no, it's gone". At the same time we looked at each other and said "Mary". When we looked over she was walking around wearing a backpack which we were trying to sell for 25 cents. We asked to look in her backpack and sure enough she had the purple cash box inside. Apparently she knew it was irresponsible to leave a cashbox unattended so she took the liberty of safeguarding it for us!

A Lot of Love to Give

I am pretty sure Rachel outweighs Mary by a few pounds. At least that is what my arms tell me. Despite the weight discrepancy, Mary loves to hold Rachel! I found them watching tv like this and it cracks me up.

I am not just saying it in when I say "Mary is a great big sister". This three year old surprises us all with how well she can play with, take care of, entertain, distract and meet the needs of not just her sister but other children too. Mary has been taking toys to children when they first come over or if they look sad for a while now but she has stepped it up. This week when we were struggling to feed Rachel Mary thought to start playing peek-a-boo behind her high chair and it worked miracles. When a new friend came to a water (turned to mud) party we had at our house Mary could see that she was really shy and gave her some special attention. Last night at the Church one of Mary's friends got hurt in the gym and Mary went and told her "Are you okay? I'm sorry you got hurt, I know how you feel because a dresser fell on me today. Do you want a hug?" Yes, some how a dresser did fall on Mary while I stepped out of the room, totally horrible but a bit funny she told her friend. Her nursery leader told me there is a new little girl in nursery who didn't want to play with any of the other children but Mary found a way to be her friend. Now this little girl will only hold hands with Mary. Mary can be very shy in large crowds, even if she knows the people well, it takes her time to warm up. She comes by this honestly. We are so proud of her for being brave and loving to her family and friends.

Slimey

Our sweet neighbor gave us some of her blackberry bushes and when Murray was putting them in the garden he found a worm. Being the Sesame Street fans we are I thought the girls would be endeared to "Slimey" the worm. Not so much! Rachel was brave at first but when she went to touch it and it wiggled she had a bit of a break down. I am not judging though because as I was begging the girls to touch him I was keeping some distance. It could have easily turned into Murray chasing me around the yard with "Slimey".

Rachie

I want to share a little bit about Rachel. She has quite a personality.

Rachel is
affectionate, she loves kisses, hugs, cuddles and resting her head on our shoulders.
a great talker and puts many words together.
strong and willing to stand her ground, Murray and I lift our eyebrows a lot in reaction to her.
so playful!

Rachel loves
to climb and can get on top of just about anything.
to eat fruit snacks (nack), fish crackers and yogurt.
playing with friends
music and dancing
singing songs (her favorites are abc's and 5 little ducks right now)
doing a naked run throughout the house before her bath.
taking all the videos off the shelf

Rachel dislikes
getting into her car seat
going down for "night night"
cats and dogs
the vacuum cleaner

Rachel misses
her bottles in the night

Carthage Jail

We had the chance to go to Carthage Jail while in Illinois. We watched a private movie in the visitor's center followed by a private tour of the jail. Mary got upset and started to cry, she told us she was dissapointed because she thought she was going to see Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

Circus

While in Peoria Murray got tickets for us to go see the circus. It was a small group but it made Mary and Rachel happy! We saw clowns, elephants, juggling, cats, motorcycles and a few other performers.

Just before we left for our trip Rachel broke out in red bumps. We went to the doctor and when they spread to her face and worsened we went to the doctor again and then a dermatologist (who was incredibly dissapointing, I doubt if she had ever seen a child in her office. She didn't even humor me by looking at Rachel's rash, yep she didn't even look at her. I totally wanted my $50 co-pay back! If Murray hadn't been there I probably would have asked.) A day into our trip Mary woke up with with red bumps on her face and a fever. In short-that is why they have red bumps on their cheeks. I still want to know what virus they had...

Edelstein

While in Edelstein we had to go see Mary Helen! Mary Helen's husband took care of the crops for our farm for almost 17 years! Now her son Joe does and we appreciate them so much! They are a wonderful family and dear, dear friends!

We went by the cemetery across the road from the farm. There we saw where my great, great, great grandparents, great ,great grandparents, great grandparents and grandmother on my fathers side were all buried. That was such a special experience for us!

The Farm House

We drove to Peoria and stayed at a hotel 15 minutes from the farm. The farm is in Edelstein which is VERY small. We visited the farm house and walked through it. My great, great grandparents built it over 100 years ago and for that reason I think it is beautiful! I would love to live there and restore the house, I am trying to convince Murray for just one summer!

The last time I was in Edelstein was for my grandma Gladys's funeral when I was four. Mary is almost that age and it was so special to take our daughters there.

It was planting season so we got to see our crops starting as little sprouts.

St. Louis

Murray had a semester break and that means one of two things for our family 1. House Projects or 2. Family trip. We chose number two since our weeks in Memphis are dwindling. Murray planned a fun adventure. We packed up the van and thank goodness we have it! We went to St Louis. On the way we stopped at Lamberts which is famous for "throwed rolls". The food was really good and the atmosphere was totally entertaining! Murray caught the rolls that came his way I didn't do as well and missed catching a roll thrown at me (he chucked that thing pretty hard) and it hit Rachel in the head. Poor thing she is tough and didn't even cry. Oh and everyone in the restaurant was staring as the incident happened , that made me feel fantastic. The girls ate fried okra, potatoes and rolls that they passed and tossed around. They each got a balloon (which we accidentally released as we were getting in the car). Day one was very good!

Carnival

We enjoy right where our neighborhood is situated. There is a carnival that comes into to town every spring and it is just across the way from us. It was a popular topic of conversation for our family in the car since we drove by it daily. Mary could hardly wait to go because this child LOVES rides! There was some pretty severe weather while it was in town so the day we went there was a lot of mud! I think it made it all the more of a fun adventure for us!

Rachel could have ridden this thing all day long! Her facial expressions were the best! I wish I could have captured them better on camera. We are talking wide open mouths and throw your head back belly laughs. Probably my favorite part!


When Murray saw this one he almost got sick just watching it spin so I had to go with the girls. Rachel liked it at first and then proved to be more like her father and wanted off! Mary and I had a good time though.

Rachel watching Mary ride the train. It is tough to be the little one at times. I guess I should say younger since they weigh the same.

choo choo