
109th Month
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Rachael's 109th Month
(March
'11)
9 years old! Rachael had a great time at
her birthday party. She had 5 friends come on Saturday evening
and Mom took them all to Olive Garden for supper. Then all the
girls stayed for a sleepover. Everyone seemed to really enjoy
themselves. They put on a talent show, watched movies, ate
popcorn, and made lots of noise. The red velvet cheesecake
birthday cake was a hit with Mom and Dad, but not the girls.
Luckily, Mom had also made red velvet cupcakes.
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110th Month
|
Rachael's 110th Month
(April
'11)
The Easter Bunny made his appearance once
again, bringing lots of candy.
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111th Month |
Rachael's 111th Month
(May
'11)
Rachael had her very first dance recital
this month—and, WOW, were we impressed! She did a fabulous job!
Before the recital, she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue
dancing, but now she not only wants to continue Irish dancing,
but wants to do Jazz as well.
The gifted program at school put on a mock
trial—The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf. Rachael got to play the
part of the Wolf; Daddy took off work and served as the jury
foreman. Much to Rachael’s relief, she was found not-guilty. We
are sure daddy did nothing unethical to sway the jury!
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112th Month
|
Rachael's 112th Month
(June
'11)
And 3rd Grade is over! Rachael
is looking forward to another busy summer of birthday parties
and visits with the grandparents. She spent the first week after
school was over in NY with Maw Maw and Pots.
We had several trees taken down in the
backyard this month. The kids all had a great time watching the
guys climb way up in the trees to cut them—they really loved
feeling the ground shake when the trees finally fell.
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113th Month
|
Rachael's 113th Month
(July
'11)
We got to see 4th of July
fireworks twice this month—once at Mercer County Park and again
at Etra Lake Park. Rachael loved them.
Rachael spent a week in PA with Grandma
and Grandpa this month—she had a great time with them seeing
some sights, riding the Strasburg railroad, going to an
interactive play, and riding her bike in Mt. Gretna.
Rachael also spent several days in PA with
the Pickars. She had a great time with them, going swimming,
going to a garnet mine, and going to the Herr’s potato chip
factory.
Mom took the kids to see Cars 2 in the
theater—enjoyed by all—especially after Mom got everyone
popcorn.
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114th Month
|
Rachael's 114th Month
(August
'11)
The weekend of August 27-28 saw Hurricane
Irene hitting us here in NJ. Many parts of the state were
flooded, but we were very fortunate—none of our trees fell, our
basement stayed dry, and we never lost power. We all slept in
the basement the night it hit us because there were tornado
warnings. The following week we were supposed to go to the
mountains in Bushkill, PA to meet Grandma Mel and Pop-Pop for a
few days, but the house they had rented lost power in the storm.
By Tuesday morning the power still was not back, so they came
here and stayed with us for a few days before heading back to
LA. We had a fun time with them—we took them to the Popcorn Park
Zoo and the Jackson Jungle. Grandma Mel and Mom had some craft
time with the kids. Their last night here, they decided to stay
in a hotel so that we could all swim in the hotel pool—that was
probably the highlight of the week for all the kids—it was
actually the pool where Rachael used to take swim lessons.
Now it’s time to gear up for a new year of
school!
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115th Month
|
Rachael's 115th Month
(September
'11)
And 4th Grade has begun!!
Rachael is loving the new school year so far. She loves her new
teacher (and so does Mom) and is making new friends. She is
still in the E=mc2 gifted program and the chorus, and was also
invited by the art teacher to join an art club. She is doing
great academically and is enjoying all the new challenges that 4th
grade is bringing. Her latest favorite books are the Little
House on the Prairie books.
Rachael is continuing her Irish dance
class and has also begun a Jazz class—she is really enjoying
both.
LSU football has begun and we have
continued our tradition of watching it on the deck, grilling,
and glow sticks. And having Maw Maw and Pots come from NY to
watch with us.
Mom took the kids to see The Smurfs in the
theater.
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116th Month |
Rachael's 116th Month
(October
'11)
A new backyard addition this month—a
treehouse (well, actually, a tree platform with a railing)—it is
being thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, even the neighborhood
kids. We wrapped the trees with Christmas lights and Rachael
made a “clubhouse” flag.
Halloween weekend was busy with parties,
both birthday and Halloween. Rachael dressed as a very elegant
witch. The big surprise for the weekend was SNOW!! Two days
before Halloween we got several inches—went trick-or-treating in
the white stuff.
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117th Month |
Rachael's 117th Month
(November
'11)
Mom had conferences with Rachael’s teachers
this month, and they had nothing but wonderful things to say
about Rachael. She is great at math and reading and writing, and
they see improvement in her skills every week. We could not be
more proud of the wonderful student that Rachael is—she is
really gaining a lot of confidence this year.
Thanksgiving was a fun-filled event, with
Grandma and Grandpa and Maw Maw and Pots coming to celebrate
with us.
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118th Month
|
Rachael's 118th Month
(December
'11)
Mom and Rachael traveled to Hershey again
this year to see The Nutcracker with Grandma and Grandpa.
Rachael seemed to enjoy it even more this year.
Santa was good to Rachael this year,
bringing her Legos, books, and a 3DS. She learned quickly how to
do stop-motion photography with her new DS, and that seems to be
one of her favorite things to do with it. Rachael’s favorite
gift, however, was the membership to the West Windsor pool given
to the family by Grandma Mel and PopPop.
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119th Months |
Rachael's 119th Month
(January
'12)
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120th Month |
Rachael's 120th Month
(February
'12)
Winter is fast coming to an end, and we are
amazed at how mild a winter it has been. Of course, the kids are
a little disappointed that there hasn’t been any good snow to
play in, but Mom and Dad are quite happy.
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The 10th Birthday
Cake |
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