Silly Saturday Surprise

I was scrolling through my iPhone photos with Marci the other day, and came across this little surprise...

I thought that was kind of cute.  Apparently, she was playing with my iphone while we were in the Walmarts and she snapped this picture of her American Girl doll that I didn't even know about.

And then one more.  Awwww......so sweet.

And then.  Then.

We just about fell out of our chairs laughing at these.  I had NO IDEA she put these on my phone, and to find them by surprise was hilarious to me.

What did the people in Walmart think?

She certainly knows how to entertain herself, no??

Love this one.

But by far, THIS ONE is the best.

I LOVE THIS.

Clearly, we know how to rock it in the Walmarts.

And for the life of me I have no recollection of this.  Who looks like this in the Walmarts??  Do you think I was excited about all those storage containers in my cart, or what???  Ha!!!

I'll show you this week what became of those storage containers.  It is quite an exciting thing.  :-)

I'm all happy about these silly surprise photos on my phone.  THIS IS EMMA.  Loving life.  Always happy.  Always creating a good time.  Anywhere.  In front of anyone.  I hope she NEVER changes!

The Best

The best part about Mom making homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner?

When she lets you skate in the kitchen with the cheese box.

It was speed skating by the way. With "gobbles" on.

And the dinner was delicious.

The Sock Hop

Emma's Mother's Day Out program hosted a Mommy and Me Sock Hop last week. I really didn't know what to expect, but they did a great job of hosting a fun event for the kids. We arrived at school about 15 minutes early and went to fellowship hall, which they had transformed into a soda fountain. They had juice and animal cookies and allowed the kids to stay and play as long as they wanted. The decorations were simple but fun.

Someone brought in a juke box, which was, of course, loaded with great 50's music.

I explained to Hayden what a "sock hop" was, and he was SUCH a good sport. He showed up for the party in a fetching baseball/Santa sock collaboration. Ha! He is always so good to play along.

They used 45's as centerpieces on the tables. I had to explain to my boys what "records" were!

This idea was my favorite. They covered a few of the kids' tables with black bulletin board paper, then set out fat sticks of colored chalk for the kids to draw graffiti. That is a perfect (and inexpensive!) idea for a kid party. It looked great when they were done!

They brought in three mini-bounce houses for the kids to play in.

They also had tons of hula hoops. My boys were great sports about helping the little ones learn to use them.

They allowed us to use some dress up clothes for photos by the juke box. The music was loud, so Em's wasn't too thrilled to get close to it!

A sweet and fun day with my girl! (Love the glasses on the tip of the nose.)

What's A Cowgirl To Do??

When it's time for bed and you can only find one purple slipper to match your Tinkerbell pajamas? You improvise, of course.

Evolution of a Cowgirl

Yee-Haw, today was western day at mother's day out. The excitement has been building for days, and this morning it exploded into an all out cowgirl euphoria. Finally. The day we've been talking about. The day we wear the hat and boots to school. I am painfully well aware that being this easy to please has a life span of a nano-second, so I really bask in the simple glory of western day.

Step one. Boots on. Git yer bootson. That's alloneword, in case you didn't know. The pink boots were a Christmas gift from Oma, and may I just say, since we don't care to ever take them off, it is rather handy that we happen to live in the Lone Star State, where pink boots officially go with any and all attire. Including, but not limited to, Dora the Explorer pajamas. Or a cute knitted dress with a crocheted flower that Mom scored off the clearance rack at Target.

Step Two. Grab Butterfly, the much loved Christmas present from Opa, who has been ridden approximately 7,000 miles since Christmas morn. Hoist on up there sidesaddle. Very sassy!!

When a cowgirl needs speed, she needs her stickhorse, the beloved Christmas gift from Nana and Papa. While Butterfly gets put to pasture in the den, stickhorse runs like a wild stallion through the entire house. Complete with sound effects.

Pink hat. Check. Resting right on that enormous pink flower I managed to coax into her hair. It's western day, so she was feeling rather agreeable. I took full advantage.

(Perhaps you've noticed that the entirety of western day is brought to you compliments of Christmas morning.)

The piece de' resistance?? The vest.

(Moment of silence.)

My boys got these vests when they were about Emma's age. Every single time I think back on them in the toddler years, I envision them wearing these vests. All day. Every day. Naptimes too. Oh, the miles we put on these vests! L-O-V-E-D to pieces. I packed them away in the baby box on the top of the boys' closet, and when Max came up with the idea this morning of getting one down for western day, I took my own happy trail ride down memory lane.

It's so good to see her in this little vest. I'm hoping it makes a permanent appearance for the next several years, and that it brings as much fun and happiness to her as it did to her brothers!

Little cowgirls don't stay little very long. Today they're packing up their stick horse for mother's day out, and tomorrow they're packing up their Honda Civic to head off to college....far, far away. Don't ask me how I know this. (There'll be tear in my beer.)

Here's to riding high in the saddle, and tipping our hat to Cowgirl Day.

Freestyle

Here's the big news. We have an aqua tot.

An aqua tot with a new polka dotted swim suit. With pink flowers. And a ruffle. And buttons. Because it is important to have fully decked out water wear when you are the newest scholar at the local swim school.

There are four pupils in Emmie's class. We registered late, so this was our first week. The three other tots have had previous lessons, which explains why their hair is actually damp. They do official swim stuff like go under water. Emma, who had strong opinions about her face staying dry, focused on the "dry jump". Her teacher raved about what a stellar dry jumper she was and heavily assured me that we were on target for a first day swimmer.

A first day swimmer with a dry face.

Until...........Emmie got an idea. In the very middle of her lesson, she stood right up off her assigned green foam turtle mat. She proceeded to RUN across the pool to the big water slide and shimmie right on up the stairs. Her Oma, who was observing behind the glass window, began to hyperventalate and point frantically. I flew from my seat and into the pool area, in plenty of time to see Emma shoot out the bottom of the slide and into the waiting arms of a swim instructor who abandoned her own class to come rescue the renegade aqua tot.

Bingo. Wet hair.

I was (more than just a little) embarrassed. But, her teacher seemed unnerved. She even gave Emma pink star sunglasses at the end of class as a little prize. She said it was for amazing dry jumps, but I secretly think it was for the stellar dismount from the high slide.

Look out, Michael Phelps. We're in swim school, and we're making waves.

The Grand Finale

I love this age!!

Skateboard Dudes

I found an old sheet of stickers left over from a math project of days gone by. I gave it to Emma with a bright piece of paper, thinking it would keep her occupied for a spell. She loves stickers.

Pretty soon there was a whole herd joining in on the fun. We love stickers AND farm animals.

Before long she came to me all excited and proud.

"Look Mommy!! They are wearing skateboards!!"

Free fun. It's a good thing. :-)

Someone Touched A No-No

365/Day 2

Tinkerbell

It's a big job getting out the door in the morning. When you need to have a sippy cup, lunch, and extra clothes ready to go to MDO, things can get a little hairy. Adding a fancy crown and a pair of wings is a big deal. This is why wings are only required one day a year. :-)

(The wings didn't make it into these photos.)

She even let me curl her hair for the very first time. It was a shared moment of sentiment, sandwiched between finding the right pair of ruffle socks and getting our orange food ready to contribute to the all-orange luncheon.

Tinkerbell's MDO chariot, and her two handsome escorts.

Emma did the cutest craft at school today, and I'm going to let her share it with you...

First, your teacher, Joanne, gives you a roll of toilet paper and a big orange square of fabric.

Then, she helps you gather all the fabric around the toilet paper roll.

You work real hard to stuff all the fabric into the little hole in the center of the roll. The great thing about this step is that you don't even have to pay attention to what you are doing. Instead, you can watch GI Joe and Minnie Mouse playing with toys while you are stationed at the craft table.

This next step is a definite two handed job, so you will have to find someplace handy to stow your Tinkerbell doll. Putting her down in your tote in the hallway is not an option since she should never be more than four inches from your person.

Take a scrap of brown paper lunch sack and roll it tightly into a rope. Stick this stem, along with a green scrap of fabric (the leaf) down into the center of the pumpkin.

Now wrap a green pipe cleaner around something round to make a vine to finish off your project.

Ta-Da! Show off your adorable Charmin pumpkin....
....then run off to join your friends!

A Sneak Peek

Today was dress up day at school. I have very fancy things to show you later on today. Fancy, indeed.

At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to show you photos of her costume before Halloween. However, one glance at her this morning and it was abundantly clear it would be plain criminal not to share the cuteness. It is too much for one girl to bear. :-)

Hurry back later because we will have a guest blogger. Tinkerbell herself will be here to teach you how to make fabric pumpkins.

Oh, the excitement. How will you stand the wait???

Dear Santa....

Several days ago Mom and I were in Costco, where, in a fervent attempt to cover their marketing bases, they have all manner of Christmas finery on display. The toy isle was brimming with impulse purchases including, but not limited to, life sized ponies.

Emma is a firm believer in love at first sight.

We pet the horsie and gave it a name. "Butterfly". We kissed its nose and professed true love. Then we tore ourselves away to go buy apples and rotisserie chickens. There were real tears and everything.

So, we circled back, and this time brother let a pony out of the "cage" so we could take him for a spin, right there between the Hanes underwear display and the fresh Pacific Salmon filets.

Again, parting was sweet sorrow, but I lifted up Butterfly's ear and asked her if she wanted to tell him a secret before we left. She leaned in real close and whispered, "I LOVE YOU!"

And then my heart melted into a puddle of mush and I've spent every day since deciding how to cleverly work a life sized pony into my living room decor. Just because.