Nov Misc

We love story time. Turns out Rebekah's swim lessons and story time overlap. I was not happy. Miss Brenda, however, rose above and beyond and suggested Rebekah come early to do her craft with her first, stay for story time, then leave while the other's are doing their craft. It works out great. She is so wonderful to do that for my little girl!

Making an owl and using paint and a piece of celery to make the feathers. 

Ingenious!

Kids hang on her every word.

She is so great with them!

Rebekah got her yearly flu shot. She gets the nasal spray and one of the side effects was cold like symptoms. Being related to me, she of course gets it. We came home from church so we could rest and hopefully get her a nap. And she did fall asleep. For 10 min. Yeah. That's my girl. 

Rebekah loves to paint. She is very serious about the craft.

She asked me to paint with her and suggested I start with a whale. I did. A white whale. Which she then suggested that it, "wasn't very magnificent. Maybe use some green." I did. She still was not impressed. 

She did, however, like this one. I was very pleased! Until she decided it needed to go on the fridge and hung it sideways. (It's an ocean sunset scene people - yellow sun, palm tree, blue water...).

She also liked this one - a Christmas tree. She even helped me decorate it!

Rebekah also takes my phone and tries her hand at photography. Some Rebekah original selfies:

Yes, that is her nose in the corner. 

Rebekah likes to hide from daddy when he comes home. Lately she has decided to hiding her face is enough. This is her latest attempt. Dad of course comes in and very dutifully looks for her. All the while she is giggling. Very fun.

We've made some good friends. They invited us over to make pumpkin pizzas. It's a recipe from a children's book. The kids had fun measuring and decorating the said pizzas. Then they had fun eating it. It was pretty good! Love how you can obviously tell which side is Rebekah's side. she does love to decorate.

Thanksgiving Crafts

Thanksgiving crafts this year were as follows:

Painting little turkeys

Rebekah being a turkey and hiding from the camera

She asked to take a picture of me and promised if I let her she would let me.

Much better.

Notice there's a turkey for dad, me, and Rebekah. 

We also made pinecones. That was interesting.

Rebekah didn't know what to make of it at first.

And the process was a bit tedious.

But she really liked putting on the powdered sugar aka snow.

Finished product. 

They were yummy but I don't think we will repeat this one unless Rebekah specifically asks for it. 

Then, to use up the rest of the pretzel sticks....

Rebekah does a great job with the sprinkles. She has had so much practice! However, in everyones life a few sprinkles may fall. Sometimes even the entire bowl. She was a great help cleaning up.

A more adorable helper I've never seen. 

Unfortunately I think I cooked the caramel too long and they are pretty hard. We will not be passing them out this year. But they were sure fun to make! Love doing this with my snugglely girl!

The After Thoughts

Who doesn't love a good comparison? Here's Rebekah's growing up montage.

Birth

1 year

2 years

3 years

4 years

Each year there is such a difference! Not only in looks but in personality.

Every year I've done this interview with Rebekah so I've included her most recent answers here.

Me: What's your favorite thing to eat?

Rebe: Cake. 

M: What is your favorite color?

R: Red. (No change there.)

M: What is your favorite thing to play with?

R: My doctor tools.

M: Where is your favorite place to play?

R: The park. Any park.

M: What is your favorite show to watch?

R: Doc McStuffins

M: What is your favorite song to sing?

R: Happy Birthday To You! (And she sang it for me loud and clear!)

M: What is your favorite book?

R: Pinkalicious. It's a series by Victoria Kann. She does love them all. 

I sit here and want to say something beautiful and wonderful about my sweet little girl. I don't have the words. I'm not poetic. After 4 years I still don't know what I'm doing as a mother but I do hope she is having fun and loving life and learning a lot. More than anything I want her to feel loved.

In the middle of prayers the other night I heard my sweet girl pray for mama's back, that it will be better soon. No one told her to do that, it was all her. And how sweet is that? 

Birth Day

We still partied the actual day. Don had to work late so we took advantage of the morning by following him out to work and stopping for donuts. Rebekah of course got a sprinkled one. 

Love a good birthday snuggle.

The night before I stayed up doing this:

Rebekah liked it. I think. She took it down right before she went to bed....

But back to the birthday. We had Miss Sarah, Grayson, and Hannah over for cupcakes and a park visit. They road their bikes to the park. It was very cute to watch.

I had to get one more picture of all of them together before they left. They are yelling, "Happy birthday!"

That day we played and played and played some more. At the end of the day I was running out of steam and activities. My friend Kelly suggested marshmallows and toothpicks are great fun. We tried it out and turns out she's quite the builder. And eater. 

Family Birthday Party

Since Don had to work late on Rebekah's birthday we decided to have her family party the Sunday before. Mom and Frank were invited for cake and ice cream. But first we broke in our new table with a celebratory birthday requested dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and salad. I wanted a picture but didn't want the traditional selfie pose so I put the time on. As soon as it started to beep I ran over and found out just how slippery the floor was. Hence the really big eyes and Don's wince as I pull on his shoulder trying to stop the sliding.

Mom and Frank arrived. A great decision was presented to Rebekah: cake and ice cream or presents? She chose the presents. I love watching her face as she opens her gifts.

She scored big.

Then it was time for cake. Not sure why but it was kind of a solo / duet thing with only me and mom singing. Then Don left and I gave him the evil - get back in there and sing - look. Ah, fun times. 

Rebekah pondering life as a four year old.

Mmmm... Cake....

Then she got to play with her new presents and toys but mainly grandma.

They made me a hot pad. I love that Rebe always picks my favorite color when making things for me.

Oh, did I mention we are moving to a high back booster? Way to get to 40 pounds Rebe!

Showing a little grandma love:

Then it was time for grandma and Frank to go. Rebekah truly has the pout down.

Pre Birthday Festivities

Someone's birthday was coming. It was time for someone's mama to make a cake. A strawberry cake. With strawberry frosting. And sprinkles. Someone wanted to help.

And help she did.

She even got a little camera happy....

Then someone's daddy decided we should go out to dinner for a pre-birthday-celebration while the cupcakes cooled. There was snuggle time and good food.

Then the cupcakes were cooled and on went the frosting. Someone took pictures.

Then it was time to sprinkle them. Someone was more than happy to help out.

And try them out.

Then someone got a birthday card in the mail. It wasn't someone's birthday just yet but someone has a hard time being patient so someone's mama said to open it. 

The little cup cake dances. It was very cool. Someone was very happy.