Rachel turns 9

Our family caught the first wave of the flu season this past week. I was out for the count for several days. Jackson followed up with pneumonia. Allie stayed home several days with fever and Rachel stayed home as well. My parents were here this week for a vacation and all they got was nursemaid duty. Despite all the illness, we celebrated Rachel's birthday on Friday and Saturday . My mom made her a yummy cake. We ordered CPK takeout, Rachel's favorite. She got tons of presents from aunts, uncles and grandparents. The best part for Rachel was that she got to go to Magic Mountain for the first time. Lance took her and they spent the day standing in long lines going on extreme coasters. We are so grateful to have Rachel as part of our family.

The Next Barefoot Contessa?

Sometimes I am a bit of a control freak in the kitchen. So I decided to actively try to control my inner control freak and let the kids do a cooking project where I just let them do it and not try to direct them too much. They made Halloween cookies and they did turn out well. Will they make it on the cover of Martha Stewart Magazine? No, but give it a few years.

Movie Night

We have started a new tradition at our house...Friday Movie Night. The first movie up...The Hannah Montana Movie. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. First treat...Microwave popcorn mixed with M&Ms. Next week...Nightmare on Elm Street. Do you think that would be too scary? OK, maybe we'll watch The Wizard of Oz instead.