Emma's First Art Show

Emma's art class is divided into three sessions a school year and she just finished the second session (her first session to take). At the end of each session, the teacher holds an art show at a local restaurant where all the students work is displayed. They can price their art to sell as well.
This all took place last Friday night and it was really neat. I LOVED seeing all the other students art. The ages range from 3 years old to adult and there was some amazing stuff. Emma was so proud to see her art hanging on the wall and loved showing it to those who asked what belonged to her. They even had biography pages with a picture next to their pieces. So professional! These pictures are from my phone so they are not great. I will have to add the pictures from John's camera later.

Congratulations Emma! We are so proud of you and the way you are using your creativity that God gave you!

Christmas Programs and Parties

Tis the season for precious little children doing Christmas music programs. This was the first year for Brooklyn's school to do a music program and it was AWESOME! Brooklyn's favorite part of her school day is when "Miss Jillybean" comes to her class to do music. This lady has a gift with teaching music to little ones and I am so thankful B gets to benefit from it. The program consisted of all 3-5 year olds singing 6 songs, all with motions. There was narration in between the songs and the older kids dressed the parts of Mary, Joseph, and all the animals. I love Brooklyn's sweet face right here and she likes that I got a picture of her new friend, Dennis. :) Did I mention that they also all wore Christmas pj's. Nothing cuter, in my opinion.

Emma's school had a school wide Christmas sing-a-long before their class parties on Friday. Nothing like cramming kindergarten-5th grade into a cafeteria and letting them sing their hearts out to Christmas songs. Kindergarten sat in front and you might notice that a certain 3 year old had no problem plopping herself down next to sister to sing songs.







Brooklyn and I stayed for the party too. Pinatas, yummy food, making reindeer food, and a few other games was a great way to finish their first semester of kindergarten. Hooray for a break!!

Happy 6th Birthday Emma!!!

Today is Emma's 6th Birthday!! I say it every year, but I can never believe it when my girls are a year older. A little travel back in time:


Ultrasound





2 weeks old








1 year






2 year







3 year




4 year






5 Year








6 Year



Emma,
You havve grown and matured so much this year. Maybe more this year than any other year! You are really growing up and turning into such a beautiful little girl. You started kindergarten and are doing great. You are reading like crazy and loving to learn new words. You love to write and most of all, like to illustrate your writings. I think you might be an author and illustrator when you grow up. You also think you might like to do this or be a veterinarian. ;) You started taking dance this year and were not crazy about it, so we stopped that about 2 months into it. I finally found someone that taught art classes and you jumped at that opportunity. You go every Wednesday for an hour and get to do what you do best, create things. You are still super creative, very active, curious, and one of a kind. You love Brooklyn so much and consider her your best friend. You enjoy school most of the time, but when you don't want to go, you really don't want to go and make it hard on all of us. This breaks my heart, but I know going to school is best for you. You are learning so much and having fun with all your new friends. Ms. Norris is your teacher and truly a blessing from the Lord. She loves Jesus and she loves you. You are a rule follower. (something I didn't know until this year!) You are so curious about Jesus and knowing more about him. You ask great questions and are really starting to grasp Jesus and your need for Him. You are a great friend and really try hard to treat others like you would like to be treated.
Emma, thank you for being so sweet. I pray that you always stay sweet and remember that God made you exactly how he wanted you to be. I pray that you will be a girl that stands for what you believe in and make good choices. I feel so blessed that God has entrusted you to us on this Earth.
We Love You,
Mommy and Daddy

Emma's First Report Card

I can't believe that we have a child that is old enough to get a report card. Crazy. I say report card loosely because she does not actually get letter grades yet.

Emma got all E's, which according to the report card means Advanced/Proficiency above grade level. She is doing awesome and is so interested in what she is learning. They studied the solar system this past week and I have to admit that Emma taught me a few facts that I was unaware of about space. She has wanted to know how to read for so long and she is doing it! She knows about 100 sight words and is working on a new list now. I checked out a few Beginner Reader books from the library for her and she is reading them to us, along with quite a few Dr. Seuss books. It really is amazing how it must have just clicked with her one day. She loves to write and she is loving math. She counts EVERYTHING and is using some addition and subtraction at times too. She really is doing amazing and we are so proud of her!

She still has some days where she just does not want to go to school, but all in all she looks forward to going. She has made a few good friends in her class which is an answer to prayer.

Way to go Emma!

4 Weeks into School....

We have been doing this school thing for almost 4 weeks now and we are starting to get in the groove with the schedule. The things I dreaded about Emma starting school have been blessings (mostly) which is ironic. I love hearing Emma's take on school, new friends, her teacher, etc....I am completely in AWE of how much Emma has learned in just a few short weeks. Things (like days of the week and months) that I tried to teach her at home and I know they went over in preschool have clicked. How you might ask? Well, I'm convinced that Kindergarten is a musical. Seriously. I think everything they learn is put to song and it clicks for them. Here is a list of the funny things and blessings of kindergarten. This is going to be a long post, but I wanted to make sure that I documented these things for myself and the girls.

1. I dreaded, most of all, having to get up every morning and get E ready for school. It has been the biggest blessing. I still don't love when my alarm goes off, but I have loved getting up 30 minutes before everyone to read and spend time with the Lord. I love B getting up earlier in the morning, laying down earlier for a nap and thus going to bed peacefully at bedtime without much of a fight. What a change! A blessing.

2. Really not funny at all. Really. Emma came home on Friday telling us that her class (mainly 2 specific boys) had made their student teacher cry. Bless her heart. I have no idea what happened, but I felt so sad for her. Then for some unknown reason, it became very funny, but I hid my laughter from Emma. We love Mrs. Gardner and I actually feel like I click more with her than I do E's actual teacher.

3. Emma also told us on Friday night at dinner that a boy and girl in her class kissed on the lips at P.E. SERIOUSLY??? (A wiser, older Mom had once told me that her biggest rule for herself was not to react to anything her children say. She was to remain calm and cool as if it was no big deal. Not that she didn't talk to them about it, but she did not react. She always wanted her children to confide in her and she knew that if she reacted they would stop talking.) As soon as E said this, I thought, I must not react. I tried to stay calm, but asked a million questions. Apparently Emma and her little friend told on them. We are working with Emma on not tattle-telling, but honestly, I'm glad she told on these kiddos. Seriously, in kindergarten???? We went over again not to kiss until she was 30. :)

4. We love carpooling with our best friends!! Allyn and I have been best friends since first grade and now have the chance for our kids to go to school together and carpool. We take turns picking up after school and it is so fun! Every now and then, we get fun after school treats.








5. Eating lunch with Emma at school is really fun. I have been able to eat up there with her a couple of times. My Dad (Papa) came one day with Brooklyn and me up there. Today, was Grandparents Day and John's parents (GDad and Nana) plus John's Grandma (Granny Dill) ate lunch with Emma. They strongly encourage family to eat up at the school and it is fun to be there and get to talk to her friends and meet some of the teachers.










6. The funniest thing that has happened so far was also one of the more sad days for me. Last Thursday, Emma broke down and decided that she DID NOT want to go to school. John was out of town, so I took her to school. She was nearly in tears the whole way there. We prayed for her day and I tried to encourage her. When asked why she didn't want to go she said, "I have to work to hard." Another time she told me, "I want to stay home with you." I assured her it was almost the weekend and we would have plenty of time together. Once to the drop off line, she would not get out. Was not going to budge, so I went to park. I got her out of the car, but she wouldn't go in. Two sweet friends came over to try to walk with her, but she told them, "I am NOT going to school today!" I walked her in, hugged her, kissed her and handed her over to her teacher. I walked so fast out of the school. I was dying to get to my car so I could let my tears go. I prayed for her the whole way home and then emailed her teacher in hopes that she might reply before the end of the day. This was my email to her:

Ms. Norris,
I'm sorry to bother you and sorry about having to leave Emma with you crying this morning. It started last night with her not wanting to go to school. We were gone all last weekend and I think that is the problem. She didn't get her time at our house + my husband being gone this week. I just wanted to make sure that she recovered fairly quickly and was okay for you the rest of the day.
Thanks for all you do!
Allison Nelson

I went to work over at my sister in laws house and told her all about it, tearing up a bit while explaining. About an hour later, I got a reply to my email and again started crying because I was laughing so hard! I will preface the email by telling you that Emma had already told her teacher on Tuesday (when John left town) that her Daddy would be gone for 2 weeks. Her teacher asked me about it and I told her it was only for 2 days. This is her email back to me:

Mrs. Nelson,

Yes. She did recover quickly. However, knowing she was worried about dad being "on the airplane for two weeks" (smile!) I asked Mrs. Brown, our counselor, to visit with her. Mrs. Brown reported that they bonded, and Emma is excited to go at 2:30 to Mrs. Brown's treasure box. Thanks for checking on her.

Ms. Norris

My little kindergartner went to talk to the school counselor. HA! I love it! Emma had already met Mrs. Brown once before and talked about how nice she was and what a neat office she had, so I knew that she probably thought it was such a treat to get to go hang out with her for a bit. I really was so glad that they were sensitive to her feelings and let her talk about what was going on and her sudden feelings of not wanting to go to school. John got back that night and she was completely fine on Friday morning.
I should note that I emailed with Mrs. Brown and thanked her for chatting with E. I told her I thought she was just sad about John being gone. She emailed back and said, "That is funny because she never mentioned anything about her Dad being gone. All she said was that she missed her Mommy." Kids! You never know what they are thinking.

7. Weekends are really weekends. I have always loved weekends because John is home and we can all be together and do fun stuff. It has also always been a time that I can run a few errands without the girls. I can't explain how it is different now, but Fridays are truly TGIF for me and the weekend is treasured for a different reason. I get my whole family for the weekend. I could honestly care less if I'm by myself for one second. I have been soaking up my time with John, Emma and Brooklyn. Friday night is officially family movie night and this last Friday, John built an awesome tent for the girls.








8. I have loved my one of one time with Brooklyn. I have never been alone with Brooklyn for a consistent amount of time. I did not know what we would do with just each other at home. We have had a lot of fun running errands, eating special lunches, playing Barbies, learning letters and numbers, crafting, etc....She is talking up a storm and soaking everything in.

I am not going to lie and say that the past 4 weeks have been easy. They have not, but they have been good. It has been a good change in our routine. I also won't lie and say that I don't still miss Emma during the day. It is still weird for me to be at home while B naps and not have E nearby. It is still weird for me to watch her walk through those big school doors in the morning. It has been super hard to learn to "really" hand my child over to the Lord. I never knew what that meant until 4 weeks ago and it took me a while to realize that I was struggling with that very thing. I have had to learn (and I'm still doing it) to release a bit of control and trust God to carry her and to guide her decisions. Not that I am no longer her Mom, but that I can't be there every minute. God can. This is the one thing I have to pray for myself every morning. I have a feeling I will pray this for the rest of my life.

Emma's First Day of Kindergarten

I realized yesterday that I was going to have a harder time with this "Emma going to kindergarten" thing than I thought. I savored every moment with her yesterday as if I would never see her again. I woke up at 6:00AM this morning with a pit in my stomach and occasional tears in my eyes as I got myself dressed. I had amazing friends and family texting me, emailing, and calling just to tell me that they were praying for Emma and for me today.

John and I got both girls up at 6:45 and settled them on the couch for their morning chocolate milk and cartoon. Emma had requested chocolate chip pancakes and bacon for breakfast, so that was what we had. We got dressed, fixed hair and took a few pictures before heading out the door.

Emma prayed for her cousins who were also starting school today and John prayed for Emma (and for his wife who was already a bit weepy) on our way to the school. We got out of the car and headed towards the front door with all the other families. I was doing okay until I spotted a new friend who also has a little girl starting kindergarten. The tears welled up.

Emma wanted to say hi to Davis (her best little boyfriend and my best friends little boy), so they got together for a cute picture. They have been in the same class since they were 1 year old, but this year they are not together.

We went into Emma's class and her teacher greeted her with a hug and showed her where to put her lunch. We found her desk where the teacher had play-dough out for them to play with while everyone showed up. All this time, I'm doing great. Then the teacher tells Emma to give me a hug. She wraps her arms around me and I completely lose it. Ugly tears. The teacher gives me a hug too. Bless her. She offered to take a picture of our whole family which was so nice even though I'm obviously crying. I recovered and was telling Emma goodbye. I kissed her hand and wrapped the kiss up. (The Kissing Hand is a must read book for sending your kids to school) I was doing okay.
Right before Emma was about to go sit down, Brooklyn ran up to Emma and gave her a huge hug and said, "I will miss you Emma." I completely lost it again and decided we should leave. We left, John hugged me and the 3 of us walked to the car.









Luckily, Brooklyn and I had plans with all of my awesome friends with kindergarten kids. We had a "Boo Hoo Breakfast" together at Chickfila. All of our kids did awesome going today, but the Moms were the ones that were still a bit weepy.

Brooklyn is laying down for a nap and my house is strangely quiet. I'm counting down the minutes until I can go pick Emma up! I hope she tells me details! I will let you know!

Jesus Loves Me

I shot this video last Tuesday when Molly was over at our house playing.

How cute are they? And don't you love the outfits they put on themselves!

Is it really time?

Today is a big day in our house. I am taking Emma to register for kindergarten! Seriously? Can she really be old enough for this? I get knots in my stomach every time I think about her being at school 5 days a week, 7 hours a day with a bunch of people I don't know. The real world.

There will be many blogs to come over the next 5 months about all of this. For now, I'm trying my hardest to not be anxious and trust that God will take care of her and protect her. I am also diligently praying for the teacher that God has for her next year and that they will be perfectly matched. I'm holding on to the word from God that we have received in that this is the school she should go to for now. It does not mean it has to be forever.

Love Languages

As you know from previous posts, we have been working on potty training Brooklyn. Emma has been so helpful, so encouraging and super patient. I kept feeling like she wasn't getting very much attention through all of it, but it never seemed to phase her. She just kept being an encouragement to B.

I told Emma that I would like to reward her AWESOME attitude over the past week and gave her the option of picking out a new dress up outfit when we went to get one for Brooklyn's reward or I would take her on a Mommy/Emma date. Her eyes lit up and I figured she would jump on the dress-up outfit, but instead this came out of her mouth, "I want to go on a date with you!"

My response was, "Really?"

Being that my love language is "quality time", my heart was full! Those of you that know Emma, know that she is the queen of dress up, so for her to pick me over a new dress is huge. She made my day!

I asked her what she wanted to do and she said, "I just want to go to McDonald's with you and get a Happy Meal."

So, last Thursday, I picked her up from school early and took her to McDonald's. Then we went back to pick up Brooklyn a few hours later.

I have been reading the 5 Love Languages for Kids and have had fun analyzing what category Emma falls in. I still feel like Brooklyn is a little young to tell. I learned with Emma through potty training, that she loves words of encouragement. I do believe that "words" is a strong second to her primary love language which is "quality time". Isn't it so interesting how we all feel love so differently?

Artsy

We have been being artsy around here and I love it! Painting is therapeutic for me, even if it is done with a 2 and 5 year old. Jayme and I had planned for the girls to paint canvas' on New Years Eve, but we just did not get around to it. On New Years Day, I let our girls paint their canvas'. This might become a tradition every New Years Day. The girls loved it and I think it would be neat to see how their art skills change each new year. I picked the colors I wanted them to use (so it would match their room) and then they did what they wanted. I did paint some swirls on B's to get her started, but they were soon painted over. :)









I have also been working on a canvas for a while now. I say "a while" because I worked on it one night at Lindsey's and then finished it up the other day. It really did not take to long, but hard to do with 2 little ones under foot. I see a million things wrong with it, but it is what it is for now, and it is hanging in our living room. I love trees and birds and 1 Cor 10:31 is one of my life verses.










I also have to give a little promo for B's new Dot Paints that she got for Christmas. I highly recommend the investment into them. I bought them at a teacher supply store in Fayetteville and they were not cheap for kids paints. About $15 for the big package. They are so easy for little ones to use and not that messy either. They are not just little kids. As you can see, I enjoyed myself. This blog that I reference uses them a lot for crafts.

Mud Creek Trail Bike Riding

After dinner last night, we decided to take Emma to the Mud Creek Trail in Fayetteville to practice riding her bike. The whole family went, including Belle. Lord knows that dog loves a good walk! Last time we tried taking bikes to a trail, Brooklyn ditched hers after about 15 feet and walked the rest of the time. This time, we put her in the stroller, which she pleasantly enjoyed. Emma rode her bike like a champ, with only one little fall after doing figure 8's. I took my camera and caught the highs and lows. Pictures at the end.

The Mud Creek Trail is a really fantastic trail! It's 2.1 miles long, and winds around between Paradise Valley Golf Course and the Target store in Fayetteville. Also, the actual creek is pretty cool. It's now on my places to visit with my camera (I'm getting a pretty long list!). Anyway, if you're looking for a nice place to stroll, jog, ride bikes, or explore a cool creek, give Mud Creek Trail a visit...you won't regret it!

Old Photo Shoot

A while back, Allison posted about Brooklyn's 18-Month photo shoot. While trying to get some good pictures of Brooklyn, we handed her a dandelion in hopes of getting a sweet "smelling the flower" shot. What happened was not so sweet, but pretty darn funny! She immediately opened her mouth and chomped down on the weed, filling her mouth with those little white seedlings. She didn't like it very much. Click on the picture to see a larger play-by-play...it's a good time.

Of course, with Brooklyn getting so much attention during the shoot (I use that term extremely loosely), Emma was feeling a little left out. She kept asking for me to take her picture, so after giving up on Brooklyn, I turned the lens toward Emma. This actually proved to be my favorite time taking pictures of her! She was hamming it up for the camera and threw in a real smile every now and then. Here's a series of her multi-faceted smile...I love it!