a recap of the birthday!

she's officially 15...she seemed a bit overwhelmed at just 15 candles. not that i would ever want to go back & be 15 again...but i wouldnt mind a few less candles this year (40 this year.....sheesh!).
this was just 1 of the 2 cakes we made this year. she requested a pound cake with a sugary glaze on it also. the chocolate cake was for the picture & for the little kids...& Daddy of course. but actually i have been told that the pound cake was one of the best i have ever made. i have learned with pound cakes when the recipe says to put the eggs in 1 at a time and mix slowly....well do so or you will ruin the cake.

anyway....here is a close up picture. she was very pleased with her birthday...of course she got a pig, buble' and some new earbud earphones for her ipod. she got a silver pig charm & a new book to read from us. she got money, way too much money for a 15 year old!. my mother also gave her some nice smelling perfume & lotion. she thought that was awesome. She also got a new silver necklace from my mom & dad. she got a nice hoodie and matching bracelet from her friend Candace. So all in all...she got what she wanted and then some & had a nice birthday. She's a good girl. I'm proud of her & glad she had a good day.
Here is her friend Candace.

Here is the pig! 

 now on to other subjects. We are painting in the house. lovely blues, greens & taupes. I'm so excited. here is the dining room!

that would also be the actual painter there in the picture also!

now some random shots of the other kids.....well 2 of the other kids.

Esther got busted in the homeschool cabinet pulling out markers. but man she is so cute!

a cute shot of elizabeth at rachel's birthday lunch at olive garden!

oh and here i am. annoyed at having my picture taken. i think i look like chaka chan with the hair!

rachel turns 15!!!

my big baby girl turns 15 tomorrow. i cant believe it. where did 15 years go? i was telling her tonight about the night before her birth. man she introduced me to real pain....seriously "i think i'm going to die" pain. i was only 24 and had no clue that child birth/labor was that painful. 2 of my sisters had done it so seemingly painless...especially my oldest sister - she had done labor 2 times before me and she barely seemed to wince. plus i didnt bother to read up.....back then i was a different kind of person. being a mom changes a person. i just didnt bother to prepare...i thought that having seen my sisters & listening to their tales of labor & delivery that i knew enough....that what i saw on tv back then (as there was no discovery health channel with real live births on tv at the time) was the real deal. i seriously thought i could handle delivery pain free. i laugh now as i have a low threshhold for pain & when i went into labor i thought i was going to die. plus i will confess, i took 2 teaspoons of castor oil also to put myself into labor. obviously i was already on the cusp of labor because within 2 hours of taking those 2 tsps i was in hard labor.....strong contractions every 2 minutes & my water broke.
enough about me though. rachel came out wide eyed without a sound. what a doll she was & still is. she was always a happy baby. easy to make happy. always went along to get along. i honestly only remember 2 times when she has ever really made a fuss. one time we were at a restaurant (long since closed down) called Ryan's and she started to fuss like we had never heard her fuss. she fussed so badly i had to take her out of the building & i stripped her down in the car because i didnt know if she had been bitten by a spider or what. i could not figure out what was wrong with her. needless to say, she stopped and we still have no clue what was wrong with her. then the other time i was walking with my friend, jenny, in jenny's neighborhood - we were walking our kids, and an actually spider or bee or something of that nature got a bit too close for rachel's comfort and she freaked out - the likes i have not seen before or since from her. i do remember jenny and i standing there laughing as it was unbelievable the display. she was fine also.
rachel has always been a delight. she is giving. she is fun. she has a great laugh. i'm proud she is my daughter. here she is with her gift this year - her pig Buble'. she is in love with a pig! (literally!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL! I LOVE YOU.