it's nice to have a family

I was out last night on an errand to the grocery store and when I came home I found two things ~

1. My daughter was practically sitting in the dark doing her homework (and had no idea why I found this to be a problem).

2. This super sweet and thoughtful sentiment written on our chalkboard. At the time it didn't have any other decorations around it, only the words in a box and I was quite moved by this. She came up with it on her own, out of the blue... And I think that is pretty special.

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you are all having a great 4th of July!

I know we are!

God bless you all.

our kindergartner

I can't believe my baby is in Kindergarten. The last almost six years have just flown by. I have seen my baby come so far in her growth and language development. It's been a rough road, but she continues to press on and is really turning out to be one who enjoys learning. She actually likes to be challenged. I am so very proud of her and excited for her to start this new journey in her education.

We are so blessed that we could get her into the school she is in. It's not the school we should be going to and we had to do a parent choice transfer (and lottery) to get her there. It is one of the top public schools around and has a great community. For sure this is making it harder on us as we look to buy our first home, knowing that we might have to move her when that happens. For now we will enjoy and feel thankful for where she is at.


This photo was taken the day before school started, at a sort of Kindergarten orientation day. I was so happy they did this because besides answering questions the parents had, it helped the kids get to know each other. It really helped the next day on the official first day of school.

And of course the following were taken on the first day ~


(My husband and I were not the keenest on the Barbie backback, but what can you do?)

There's something about this capture that I love ~


Hey! Can you believe it? A photo of me too!


Her first day went great and Emma LOVES going to school. How awesome is that? Even the homework, she likes that too.~

For the most part anyway. :) She started school on a Thursday so she didn't get homework till the next Monday... That day, after I got her started on her homework, she thanked me for giving her homework!

This photo was taken on the last day of the first full week of school ~

We survived the early bedtime and the early mornings with flying colors! And when I asked her what her favorite thing about school was so far, her answer was, "Doing whatever my teacher gives me to do". Well okay then! And she wasn't kidding. I've decided that she is very project-oriented so I think she likes having things to work on.

Have I said proud I am of her? Yeah, I guess I have. Oh, and one last detail about her first day of school, I only briefly cried as I stood there watching her through the fence that morning. I almost made it without tears, but they snuck up on me. :)

Emma's dance, more thoughts from mom

(photos taken in the fall of 2008)

Performance week and night had me thinking a lot about why I have Emma in dance... I think it is so very important that we put our kids into something, whether it be dance, sports, karate, whatever. Because its about so much more than learning to do something. It's about building confidence in a child. It's also about putting them in an environment where they are taught discipline, sportsmanship, and teamwork.

When I think back on my childhood I feel so grateful that my mom put us in dance and that we were allowed and encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities at school. Even that we were Girl Scouts. I'll admit I was a terrible student by my highschool years. I cared much more about my showchoir classes than I did academics. I'm not saying that I am proud of that, but I do know that being involved in choir gave me a confidence and pride in myself that I may not have had without it in my life.

In fact, the word "confidence" came to my mind a lot as I watched Emma in dance this past year... Confidence is built in so many stages. She started off the year incredibly uncoordinated and out of touch with her body. The first thing she started doing well was her birdnest. Ms. Judi commented several times on what a nice back she has for dance and how flexible she is.



I remember sometime in the beginning of the year Ms. Judi told me that Emma wasn't showing any strength in her arms - very jello-y and soft with her movements. (I knew this and it bothered me actually because I was the opposite in dance - very strong and punchy - not the graceful ballerina type.) When I told her that I saw this too she was very positive and said that soft flowy arms were not a bad thing for a ballerina. She also commented on how Emma had such a nice build for a dancer with her long legs and slender frame. I kind of snickered at the idea of my daughter being a dancer when she was obviously so uncoordinated... (how mean of me, huh?) and Ms. Judi was quick to tell me that she might surprise me, again commenting on her build and strong back.






And how wonderful that Ms. Judi remained so positive and encouraging with Emma. By the beginning of Spring, Emma was doing really well with their dance number. She was very focused and tried really hard to keep up. Ms. Judi was really noticing, but telling Emma didn't always help because we found that it embarrassed her and she didn't like the attention. Interesting about her. That's why I wasn't sure how she would perform - if she would do her routine all out or if she would look like she wanted to hide.

She put so much strength in her routine at dress rehearsal and on performance night. I didn't see all out smiles, but I saw expression which was awesome to watch. And I saw great posture and confidence. It was a joy. I am so proud of her.

Then to be showered with praise, hugs and gifts... Every child needs to experience that.

Emma has learned so much from her one year in dance. Her coordination has improved greatly, she can follow direction better and I love watching her be excited about learning something new. I don't know how long Emma will dance. But this just isn't about dancing. It's about all those things that come from the experience and how she is being shaped in body and mind for the person she will become.

"I Love Ballet" | dance recital part 2

Recital night was fabulous and fun! The girls did a beautiful job and we were all very proud of them.

Here's Emma with her dance teacher, Ms. Judi.

She's an incredibly accomplished dancer/performer, choreographer and teacher. She has really encouraged Emma in her first year of dance.

The girls before their performance ~


I just adore this shot (once again blurring out the other girls a bit) ~

I hope I didn't lead you to think I would have lots of actual performance photos. I got a few good ones of the actual performance and that's it. I would have done better but Ethan decided he needed to sit on my lap while they were on stage and I couldn't be still enough to take as many shots as I wanted.

After Emma's performance and after she was awarded with a beautiful medal for her first year in dance, Auti and I took off backstage to give Emma her first flowers. Auti was SO EXCITED to see Emma and give her the flowers.

Emma was excited to show Auti around the room ~


Emma and CeCe ~

Aren't they just adorable?

Emma had so many people there cheering her on and I was so grateful for the love and support they gave her.


We were just so proud of her. We talked about it all night... How well she did, how beautiful she looked, how proud we were. Are.


This is my FAVORITE photo of the whole night ~

Auntie Donna was telling her how well she did. Isn't it precious and look at little Auti's face in the background.

And lastly, a few close ups of the medal which I think is such a special momento of the night~

"I Love Ballet" | dance recital part 1

Emma's first year in dance. Five years old.

Recital? Performing in front of people? Wearing a costume? What does that all mean mommy? She didn't ask me that exact question. But I knew she was feeling it every time I tried to prep her for it. I knew she was just going with the flow because that's what they do at five years old. The only thing that ever sparked any interest was when there would be mention of a costume. We only knew it was going to be gold.

Let me tell you, she was "golden" at her dress rehearsal.

There were three preschool groups this year. Her group was the difficult group. Lots of behavior issues. Emma did incredibly well in class, despite everything else going on around her. I wasn't prepared for her class to do as well as they did on dress rehearsal night. But they were AWESOME.


Emma was AWESOME. And I breathed a huge sigh of relief because yes, I had been worried. I didn't know what she would do up there. I didn't know if she would be shy or embarrassed like she sometimes was in class. I didn't know if she would watch Ms. Judi or look around. I just didn't know.

It had to have been the costume.

What little girl wouldn't have a huge boost of confidence looking this cute?!




She did almost all her own posing ~


Don't know what that front arm was doing, but I am so proud to see such a confident little girl here.


There was lots of this

as my little model ran all over the place finding new and exciting places to pose for me.

Isn't that tutu too funny? It was supposed to sit at her hips, but it didn't want to stay there so oh well.





I adore this photo. It won't be the one I put on my wall, but this one just speaks to me ~


Ms. Judi would have killed me if she knew Emma was running around like this in her costume. Had to do it. This mommy had to do it. :)

Will be back in a day or two with more from recital night. Thanks for stopping by!

My little girl...

is growing up. It becomes as plain as day to me when I see her in photos. I love watching her blossom and just grow more and more beautiful. But it mostly just breaks my heart. Where did my baby girl go?



Here's the "mom, do I have to?" look ~


And here's the "I look exactly like Daddy, don't I? look ~

Well, okay. She wouldn't be thinking that, but I definitely do. Daniel expression all the way here.

A few things about Emma these days:
- Daddy is her favorite (so I'm told several times a day).
- Everything is "so very" and whatever the adjective may be. "That is so. very. cute!" "I'm so. very. mad!" "I love you so. very. much." There is definitely separation between the words, hence the periods in there.
- She is all legs.
- Her hair is suddenly thick, shiny and gorgeous. That bob really did wonders for her hair.
- She loves to antagonize her brother.
- And she loves to scream about it when he fights back.
- She handles being sick surprisingly well. Not too much whining, she does as she is told, especially concerning taking her medicine, and she sleeps well.
- She is especially bratty AFTER she has been sick though.
- Oh, and she will not blow her nose when she's sick.
- She enjoys coloring and drawing.
- Her favorite color is red.
- She will ask for applesauce at least three times a day.
- She enjoys the "vegetables" in chow mein.
- Her current favorite beverage when we are at restaurants is lemonade.
- Favorite beverage at home: chocolate milk.
- I have no problem getting her up in the morning if I tell her Dora is on.

I scanned a recent picture that Emma drew because I thought it would be fun to save here. I wish I would scan her artwork more often.



She is always asking me to draw things for her (and now Ethan is too), which just kills me because I can't draw worth anything. Am I'm not exaggerating. I really have no artistic ability as far as drawing goes. On this particular day she drew two legs and then asked me how to draw the rest. I suggested she grab a book we have about giraffes and maybe that would help her. I was super impressed when I saw what she came up with. I think it was a bit of a break through for her to realize she could look at pictures and copy what she sees. In case you're wondering, she wrote the title of the book at the top. It says "Dedan Saves the Day".

So proud of my big "little" girl.

Flashback Friday... on Friday!

Go me for posting on time!

I saved this shot from this year's apple picking because I knew I wanted to pair it with a shot from our first year.

2005 - right before turning two; 2008 - right before turning five:


When I first saw this year's pic come up on the computer it instantly took me back to this first image of our little Emma. Had to share it.

And, um, yeah, I know I have another child in the house who is being neglected on my blog lately... I commit to sharing Ethan pics in my next post.

Have a great weekend!

all kids do it, right?

I have a ton of Emma photos to share... You would think that I only have one child lately and that makes me feel bad. I never shared Ethan's birthday pics and I really need to get on that.

In the meanwhile, I have these recent Emma photos... Before and after photos, so to speak. You'll see what I mean.

So these were taken about mid September as soon as we got home from getting her hair trimmed. Her hair came out so cute. It's been so exciting watching her hair FINALLY grow and her longer hair was really quite pretty on her.









Yes, I said "was".



We found this in the trash a couple weeks later:


My husband found it in the bedroom trash the day after returning from a business trip. He recognized it to be Emma's hair and I was shocked. It was sitting there in the trash as plain as day, but I hadn't noticed it, and for how long? He had been gone for almost four days. And I got to thinking about it and how there were a couple days while doing her hair that I thought the front sides looked sorta whispy and uneven. It just didn't click with me.

Apparently her first trim wasn't enough and she needed more.

Her school photos were coming up (yeah, don't ask why I purchase those), and her birthday party was a week away. We had to cut it short. So I took her in a couple days before her birthday and a funny thing happened. When the lady made those first long snips it hurt me to see that beautiful long hair fall to the ground. Just made me so sad. Then by the time she was done I was surprised to find myself liking it. By the time we got home I was loving it. We all loved it.

Her new "do" absolutely suits her spirited little self:






I guess she knew what she was doing! Although I don't suspect she will cut her hair again any time soon. :)

Flashback Friday... on Saturday?

Am I allowed? Been wanting to do a "Flashback Friday" post for ages (along with a "Ten on Tuesday"), but dang it, I just can't get my act together in time.

So I'm okay with being a day late to post this shot of my daughter 5 years ago. She was seven days old here:



Probably one of our favorite first pics of her.

I still can't believe she was ever that small.

It is really hard for me to look at these older photos, technically speaking. The grain, the bad coloring, the UNDEREXPOSURE. Anyone else share this feeling with me about older photos? But I'm grateful we have them. I guess I'm also grateful for the ability to improve them from their original state. :) (Including the ability to blacken out boxer shorts!)