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.

Jill Went up the Hill

As most of you know, B just started really talking about a month or two ago, so everything she says to me is so cute and funny. About 2 weeks ago, Brooklyn and I were at the grocery store and ran into a friend of mine. Her little girl, Jill, was with her and we introduced Brooklyn and Jill.

B and I strolled off and B looked up at me and said, "Who that girl?
I said, "Her name is Jill."
B asked, "That went up the hill?"

Hilarious and something I wanted to make sure that I remembered.

B's Prayer

Emma learned the "slugbug game" from her friend, Davis, and now whenever she sees a slugbug she gets so excited and keeps track of her points during the day. The whole game has caught on in our family. In fact, today, after dropping B off at her school, I passed a slugbug and without thinking said outloud to myself, "SLUGBUG!"

I explain all of this as a preface to Brooklyn's prayer this morning. B is really talking (Praise the Lord) and I am in complete awe of how cute her voice is and all the cute things she notices and points out to me now. I love it! She has been wanting to have her turn praying on the way to drop Emma off at school, before dinner, and going to her school. She always prays for all of us, her friends at school (specifically Alyssa whom she loves), her teachers, her school, etc....This morning as she was praying in the car this was the last sentence of her prayer:

(imagine all of this in the most precious 2 3/4 year old little girl voice)
And God, let Emma see a slugbug today. Amen.

PRECIOUS! And as John said, "Such a little prayer with such sweet intentions behind it." She wanted Emma to get her points for the day. :) Love it. Love her.

Mother Daughter Date

My good friends, Jayme and Brooke, both have little girls. Elle, Molly and Emma were born within a month and a half together and they have been best little buddies from day 1. In honor of them going to kindergarten, we took them on a date. We ate dinner out in pretty dresses, made cookies, watched a movie and spent the night over at Jayme and Molly's house. It was a fun night and one that I hope can become a tradition. They are all at separate schools, but our prayer is that God will keep their friendship strong.
Brooke blogged about our day too and since she took the pictures, I will link you to her blog to check it out.
Here is a picture of the three of them a year ago and then the one from a few weeks ago.

Brooklyn's First Day

Brooklyn started school today and she is going to a new school this year. Emma went to this Kid's Day Out when she was Brooklyn's age and I loved it. I was excited that it would work out this year for us to go back there. Not to mention it is so much more convenient than where the girls were last year.

She will be going on Mondays and Thursdays. Mondays will be my day to get stuff done around the house, run errands, and volunteer at Emma's school. On Thursdays, I will be working for this lovely lady, who just so happens to be my sister in law. I'm super excited to spend my Thursdays with her.

Brooklyn has been so excited to go to her school. I think all the hype of Emma starting school made her want to be a part of "this school thing" that everyone has been talking about. She was dying to leave the house this morning, but as soon as we got to her class, she wigged out. For the most part, Brooklyn has never had trouble separating from us, so it threw me for a loop. I eventually passed her off and waited around the corner until I could tell she had calmed down. (maybe 3-4 minutes) When I came back this afternoon, they said she had a great time and took a great nap. She talked non-stop on the way to pick Emma up and told me the highlights of her day. The highlight for her was seeing her friend, Alyssa (who was in her class last year and her little buddy), on the playground.

The highlights of my day were:
#1-going to eat lunch with Emma at school. She seemed so big eating in a cafeteria with all her friends. I was proud to be her Mommy as she introduced me to EVERYONE! :)
#2-picking Brooklyn up from school and hearing about her great day.
#3-picking Emma up from schoool and seeing her smiling face.
#4-having our whole family at home for dinner.

First Day Recap

I could hardly wait to pick her up from school! I got there early and then I waited for what seemed like eternity in the pick-up line. Guess I should get used to that! I spotted Emma sitting down waiting with her class and she looked exhausted. As soon as she got in the car, she perked right up. She had a great day! Praise the Lord!

Emma told me all about her folder that she brought home for me to sign, the rules of the class, the books they read, what games they played in the gym, and all about the awesome climbing wall on the playground. She also told me that she made some friends, but could not remember their names. She said she would ask tomorrow. :)

She really liked her teacher. I was able to quickly ask her teacher how Emma's day was and she said, "She had a great day. She is a very creative little girl." Creative is one of the best characteristics to describe Emma and it thrilled me that her teacher picked up on that in one day of being with her. I pray that she will help spur that creativity on more as the year goes on.

We got milkshakes at Sonic after school (thanks to Zia and family's giftcard to Emma) and drank them outside in the front yard. Amy, Grace, Luke and Isaac came by to visit and tell us about their first days of school and that was fun!

Before I knew it, it was time to make dinner, take baths and get ready for bed. It was a good day. Lots of tears from me, but lots of smiles too. I'm thrilled that she had such a fun day! I'm excited for her and I'm anxious to get involved in her school, so I can be a little fly on the wall. :)

Thank you to everyone who called, texted, emailed, and commented on facebook. Your prayers were felt. Keep them coming!

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!

Kindergarten Eve

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one."
John 17:15

Emma starts kindergarten tomorrow and I have been praying this verse over her for many months now. Tomorrow our whole family will enter a new phase of life. To me, it seems like I'm sending my first born child into the mean, scary world. As someone much more wise than I pointed out, "it is not the grown up real world, it is the kindergarten world." So true, yet she will be exposed to more things than she ever has before. She will be choosing friends at school that I know nothing about.

Emma is ready. She is excited and I am excited for her. She is eager to learn and I am so excited to watch her learn things like reading. She will do great.

I have prayed for many months that God would place her with the teacher that she will learn best from and connect with best. She has her teacher and she is excited about Mrs. Norris. Emma and I have prayed that God would bring a friend that loves Jesus into her life. The friend that I thanked God for during JumpStart is not in her class. I don't understand why right now, but I know it is for a reason and I'm praying that there will be another little girl in her class that she connects with easily and loves Jesus. I also pray that the strong friendships that she has with kids she has spent the last 5 years with will stay strong.

Emma is memorizing James 4:8: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
At dinner tonight, Emma prayed an amazing prayer completely unprompted from us:
Dear God, please draw near to me tomorrow at school. Please help me meet new friends so that I can tell them about you. Amen.

She is a pretty sweet gal and I'm going to miss her during the days more than I can really imagine right now. Brooklyn is going to miss her even more. That is my rant for today. I will be back tomorrow with updates and pictures!

Kindergarten Jumpstart

Conversation with Emma on Tuesday morning:

Emma: Mom, sometimes I get a little nervous when I go to a new place. Do you ever get nervous when Daddy takes you somewhere new?
Me: Of course.
Emma: I'm a little nervous about going to my new school today.
Me: That is perfectly normal. And you know what?
Emma: What?
Me: Mommy is also a little nervous about taking you to your new school today. The great thing about kindergarten is that everyone is new at going there and is probably a little nervous along with us.
(Um, so sweet that she was in tune enough with what she was feeling to say it out loud and call it "nervousness". Precious)

Starting on Tuesday, Emma began going to a Kindergarten Jumpstart thing at her new school from 8:30-10:30. They have been up at the school getting to know the 4 kindergarten teachers, meeting new friends, playing in the classrooms, playing on the playground, and doing some screening for class placement. John asked me on Monday night if I was ready for Emma's first day of school tomorrow and I immediately responded that "it was NOT the first day of kindergarten". More or less, it seemed like it walking into school that day. Tears welled up in my eyes as soon as we walked through the door. I tried hard to bat them away so that Emma would not see. I don't think she did. We found the teacher she would go with for the day and that sweet teacher said to Emma, "Give your Mommy a hug and you will see her in a couple of hours." Emma gave me the tightest hug ever and more tears came to my eyes. She looked so nervous, but bravely walked away and sat down with her group for the week. I reached for B's hand (for comfort) and we walked away and I began frantically looking for a my lifelong best friend, Allyn. She was also dropping off her son, so we were in this thing together.

10:30 came quickly and we went back to pick Emma up. She came out of her class smiling so big and ran to hug me. This was our cute conversation:

Me: How was your day?
Emma: Great! I made 2 new friends!
Me: Awesome, what are their names:
Emma: Um.....I don't know. Hold on. (she then turned around and ran back to the little girls to ask their names)

It was so cute! Long story short, but this is such an answer to prayer. One of the little girls that she became friends with in her group lives 3 doors down from our lot. Plus, she is a little girl who my sister in law knows and they are a good Christian family. I prayed for a sweet girlfriend for Emma and specifically for one who's family loved the Lord. As an added bonus, He put them 3 doors down from where we will eventually live. (by the way, our house is still for sale and the price has been lowered. We are not sure if this price will stay if we have to list it with a realtor, so make an offer quick! :)) We don't know if they will be in the same class next year or not or what will come of the friendship made this week, but for now, what a blessing!

This week has been a great ease into kindergarten starting in 2 weeks. I do think it will help Emma not be as nervous on the first day. As for me, I will still cry. Guarantee it.

2 Years and 10 Months......

I realized that today is Brooklyn's 2 year, 10 month birthday. No, I don't celebrate months at this point, but this one is significant. Brooklyn was born when Emma was 2 years, 10 months and 1 day old. Thinking back, Emma seemed so much bigger than Brooklyn seems right now. Honestly, I can't imagine having a baby right now and Brooklyn being old enough to be a big sister. I guess that is a good thing because according to John she never will be a big sister. :)

Here is a picture of the girls about 2 days after Brooklyn was born and Emma was 2 years and 10 months. I guess Emma had been crying before this picture was taken. It was the best one I could find that showed both of their faces.













This picture was taken this week while they were eating breakfast at their little table in the living room. Sorry for all the food in Emma's mouth. :)

Open House

We have spent our day cleaning, organizing, and making piles. Tomorrow will be our first Open House! I have to admit that I have not loved today. It is hard doing all that it takes to get ready to show your house and make your childrens' lives enjoyable too. :) John was awesome to take the girls our for a few hours this morning. They went to the mall to play and eat lunch. The best thing about their time out was that they were Chickfila's 100th customer! Hooray!

We still have a few more things to do for the house tonight and tomorrow, but overall I feel good about how it looks. I did a lot of organizing that I wish I would have done a few years ago. Our girls are going to go over to John's sisters house tomorrow to play while we show the house. Honestly, I'm looking forward to those 3 hours of not having to clean and it being quiet in our house. Is that sad?

Open House tomorrow from 1-4. Tell whoever you know that might need a cute, little house that is in an ideal location. (I will miss this location most of all!) If you are just out and want to come say hi to us, that would be great too. Pray that at least one person comes to look. I will be sad to have cleaned everything for no one to come to admire. :)

Congrats to Brooklyn!

I don't think I have ever blogged about Brooklyn and the speech therapy she started this summer. When she turned 2, I noticed that she wasn't talking as much as most of the 2 year olds I was around. Our pediatrician didn't seem concerned since her understanding of language was so good. (she understood everything at an early age and used that to get by instead of talking) A good friend who is a speech therapist did an informal evaluation and it was determined that she was a little below average, but not severe enough to qualify her for therapy. She suggested giving her until she was 2 1/2 and then re-evaluate. We also did a hearing test at that time and her ears were perfect.

I did not see a big improvement between 2 and 2 1/2, so I contacted the Early Intervention program (which is free to those who qualify) to ask if she could be evaluated. I chose Children's Therapy TEAM to be her provider (after some recommendations from friends) and they evaluated her speech and language skills. Brooklyn was placed with an awesome therapist named Jessica, who I ended up recognizing from college and we had some mutual friends. She was nothing but great with Brooklyn over these past 3 months. Brooklyn has been going 2 days a week for 45 minutes each day and has loved it. Jessica made it so fun for B. There was never a day that Brooklyn hesitated going back with her. I can't blame her. She got to color, paint, play with bubbles, and use chalk during her therapy. As rewards after, she would get to choose between the swings, trampoline or ball pit. This place is fun! Emma asked every time we dropped B off if she could go back there and play. Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed back.

As of today, Brooklyn graduated from speech therapy! We are so proud of her and the progress she has made. I believe part of it is age and the decision to begin talking, but a huge part has been the therapy. She is talking in partial sentences now and asking questions. Her progress in numbers is amazing too. She had a 78 on her expressive score in May and today scored a 114. She went from being below average for her age to normal. Her articulation scores are still a little low, but leaps and bounds above where she was. She had scored a 65 in May which was considered "severe" and she is now at a 84 which is just slightly below the normal for her age. She is doing great and I can hear her speech improving daily. It is so fun to finally hear her sweet little voice!

Thank you to all my speech friends and to Jessica. I have a new respect for therapists in all the different areas after being up at that clinic 2 days a week. They all seem to have a passion for helping people and really work hard to do their job and make it fun.

4th of July

I was determined to post this before July was over and I have barely made it. I still have our Mtn. Home Retirement weekend to post and that was in June. I am behind. My spare time during the day is spent balancing cleaning up and organizing our house to sell it and having fun with my girls.

We went to Branson over the 4th of July weekend with John's parents. We got there on Thursday night late and went straight to bed, so we could get up early the next morning and hit the parks. We went to Silver Dollar City Friday morning and stayed for about 3 hours. (Ah, the joy of season passes is that you don't have to feel guilty when you go for a short time) The crowds were surprisingly low, so we were able to ride the rides quickly. We also went to a magic show. We went back to the condo for Brooklyn to take a nap and the most unusual thing happened! Emma fell asleep on the couch! I say surprising because this girl gave up her nap when she was about 3 1/2 and has maybe taken 5 naps between then and now. (that's 2 years) 3 of those naps were at Disney World. It worked out great because we knew we would have a late night.








The girls (and us) woke up and we went to White Water. It was our first time there this summer and we had a great time. Emma went down her first "big" waterslide with me. At the end, she said she didn't like it, but just the other day she told me she wanted to try it again. We'll see. We stayed there until they closed and then had dinner at the condo.

John's parents watched the girls that night and John and I went to Branson Landing (along with everyone else in Branson that weekend) to watch fireworks and listen to some bands. It was fun, but I'm not sure the traffic back home was worth the night out.

On 4th of July, the weather was a little gloomy. Before the rain started, we went to a park to play. There is also a creek there, so we played around in that for a while. B took a nap and then we headed over to the swimming pool for a little while before dinner. Ate some yummy burgers and then went to a parking lot for John and his Dad to show off the fireworks they bought. Most of you know that I'm petrified of fire and fireworks are on the top of list of things I really really dislike. I sat in the back of the car and tried to keep my mouth shut. After the people next to us shot a rocket right past John's head, I insisted we pack up and leave. :) There were about 4 major firework shows going on that night. From the condo balcony we could see 2 of them. We had great seats and no traffic to get through at the end. Just straight to bed.

Art Camp

Last week, Emma went to Art Camp at the Nadine Baum Studio in Fayetteville. It was from 1:30-4:00 each day and she loved it! It was a mixed medium class, so they sculpted with clay, painted, made sketch books, etc....For anyone who knows Emma, this was right up her alley. And for anyone who knows me, you know I was jealous that Em was getting to go to Art Camp and not me. :)
I was in Little Rock for their "Art Show", but John went and took pictures for me.




Emma's description of the island was this, "It is an island where the turtle and princess live. They also have a slide and a diving board."





The canvas is what they worked on all week. Each day they would learn how to draw the next part of the picture. At the end, they had drawn mountains, grass, trees, sunshine and the sky. Not bad for a 5 year old.

I did ask Emma what the red was (thinking parts of it kind of looked like blood) and she told me some were flowers and some were the apples on the apple trees. I should have known that!





As much fun as the Art Camp was on its own, I think it helped that all of these fun friends were there too!

One on One Time

My sister will turn 40 tomorrow, but I was able to celebrate with her and Terral, my parents and a few of their friends last Thursday night. Brooklyn and I went down to LR on Thursday afternoon. We went to dinner that night (and Cathy and I shared a sitter) and then the next morning Terral and Cathy left for Memphis while Claire stayed with my Mom, Brooklyn and me at Cathy's house. We had a great time! Claire still takes 2 naps, so during her morning naps I got to take Brooklyn swimming in the backyard. It was awesome having the pool right there. It was so easy! It was great to do that with just her since usually my time at the pool is split between 2 girls. My Mom and I ventured out with both of the girls and went to a neighborhood park on Friday. Then headed home for both girls to take a nap. After naps, we played, gave them a bath and went to bed! That night, my Mom, B and I all slept together in a king size bed. Hillarious, but actually was manageable. Saturday was much of the same day. When T and Cathy got home that aftenoon, B and I headed back home. She is our late sleeper, so I took advantage and slept in until 8:30 on Sunday morning. She got up at 9 and we went to the grocery store quickly and were back home when John and Em got there! I loved my time with Claire and loved watching B and her together. They are only 15 months apart and will be best of friends growing up. I also think B likes the fact that she is bigger than someone! My time with B got me excited for the school year. It won't be long from now that B and I will be hanging out alone every day together while Em is at school. AH, can't believe its almost here.








Emma did a fun little Art Camp at the Nadine Baum Studio in Fayetteville last week. It was for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon each day and they played with clay, painted, crafted, etc....She had a blast. Since her Art Camp was all week long, she was not able to go to Little Rock with me and Brooklyn. It worked out really well because it enabled John and I to have some good one on one time with each girl. John went to Emma's "Art Show" on Friday and then they headed up to Branson. They ate dinner out at Branson Landing on Friday night together. Apparently had a good time throwing their leftovers into the water to the ducks. John's Dad was in Branson at their condo, so they went back there to spend the night. The 3 of them got up the next morning and went to Silver Dollar City. John has been wanting to take Emma through the cave there, but we never could with Brooklyn in tow. It is just to much walking for a 2 year old. They did that on Saturday and Emma loved it. They rode a few rides and then headed back to the condo to practice snorkeling in preparation for our rescheduled Mexico trip in November. John said she did good, but really just wanted to swim normal, so they did. John's Mom and Grace came up to Branson that afternoon and they all ate dinner together. John ventured out that night with Grace and Emma to The Track to ride go-carts and play putt putt. (unfortunately, no pictures to document the occasion)
It was a great weekend for Emma and John. I love when we are able to have one on one time with each girl. I think they need it and we do too!

For Sale by Owner!!

We finally have the house sell-worthy and everything is ready to go! We have created a website for showcasing the house, which makes getting the news out much easier. Plus, being able to see color images helps a lot, too. And all our neighbors won't steal our flyers trying to see how much we're asking. Call it environmentally-friendly FSBO real estate. That's the way we roll, yo.

Anyway, the house site can be found here. Please share it with friends, family, or yourself to help us get the word out. Between the blog, Facebook, & Twitter, surely we can find SOMEONE to buy the house, right? Once we sell the house, we'll get a rent house and break ground on the new house in Harber Meadows! Rockin'.

Our Family

I am so behind on blogging, so at this point, I will start backwards and catch up that way. Today, Emma wanted to go outside during her "quiet time" and paint with water. She was out there for a while before she ran back in to tell me to come look fast. (in this heat, the water drys quick!) This is what she painted: Our little family of 4. Pretty cute, huh?

As for Emma's outfit, you never know with her. Jeans and a leotard over the top in 90 degree weather. Go figure.....

Happy Pink Barbie

Everyone else might see this picture and say, "Oh, that is Ariel from The Little Mermaid." For our family, her name is "happy pink Barbie." This title was given to her by Brooklyn and it has just stuck. Brooklyn does not talk a ton and does not say many things completely clear, so to hear her say this clear as mud is hilarious. "Happy Pink Barbie" has become a necessity at bedtime and is always close by Brooklyn. We finally rented The Little Mermaid a few weeks ago and let her watch the actual movie. She loved it, but still does not want to call her Ariel. You might notice she is missing an eye. Brooklyn was very concerned about this at first, but now doesn't care. She is still her "happy pink Barbie".

Have I mentioned that I love this age so much? I could squeeze Brooklyn to death over all the cute things she is saying right now.

Layton Faye Elleman

On Thursday, June 25th, Allyn gave birth to Layton Faye Elleman. I was in Little Rock, but was able to make it back to NWA in time for her arrival into the world. On my 3 hour drive back, I counted up that Allyn and I have been best friends for 26 years. Our friendship is one that I treasure so much. The older I get, the more I realize what a gift it is to have a best friend that has known you your entire life. We have been blessed with being able to live in the same town even as adults and watch eachother's children grow up.
I knew I couldn't miss Layton's arrival. The Elleman's are family to us. We are hoping that Davis and Emma will make us actual family at some point! :)

I took a lot of pictures, but I just loved this one of Carley and Davis holding Layton for the first time. They were both so excited!

Sweet Sisters

I have a slew of pictures to post and blog about from our fun weekend in Mountain Home with John's family. Both of his parents are retiring after 35 years of work in the same place. It was a fun weekend, but overwhelming to blog. So, I'm starting with the easier blog.

We left Mtn. Home yesterday and traveled to Conway to drop Emma off with my parents. She is going to spend the week with them in Little Rock and go to Vacation Bible School. Brooklyn and I have a few appointments to be here for the first part of the week (and we are hoping Allyn will have her baby too), so we are going to go down to LR towards the end of this week.

Emma has been looking forward to go to GG and PaPa's house and going back to VBS. She was a little unsure about going alone, but she got over that quickly. Brooklyn, on the other hand, has had trouble warming up to the idea of Emma being gone. Sweet little girl loves her big sister so much. She did not get to upset when we left Conway yesterday (as you can see, she fell fast asleep in the car), but I really think she was thinking Emma would be back in a few hours. We got home and Brooklyn and I went to the grocery store. This was our conversation going home:

Brooklyn: Emma home now?
Emma: No B, Emma is spending the night with GG and Papa for a few days.
B: NO, Emma, my home, NOW.

B had a hard time going to bed and after going in there the third time, she asked if she could sleep with Emma's "baby purple bankies". I think she might have just needed something of Emma's to help her through the night.
She has asked for her multiple times today and after getting a new leotard, wanted so badly to just show Emma.

The love goes both ways. When I talked to my Mom today, she said that the first thing Emma prayed for at dinner last night was Brooklyn. When they went outside to play, Emma picked a flower specifically for B to have when she gets there. My Mom said that Emma mentioned today that she missed Brooklyn. My Mom took Emma to the $1 store after VBS to pick a few things out and my Mom said that on the way there, Emma said, "GG, can I pick something out for Brooklyn too?" So, when I briefly talked to Emma today she told me all about the little white bear she bought for B at the $1 store.

I knew kindergarten was going to be an adjumstment for all of us, but I'm begining to think it is going to be even harder than expected. It is amazing to me how much I miss Emma and how much I miss hearing E and B play together during the day. Yes, they fight sometimes, but more often they play really well together. Brooklyn seems like a lost duck around our house today. John reminded me that B has never really been without Emma.

I love sisters!

Anniversary Date

After going back and forth on where to eat for our anniversary, we went with our regular special occasion restaurant. We went to Bordino's, which is a fun little place in the heart of Fayetteville on Dickson Street. The food is always so good and the atmosphere is great too. We had a great dinner and when we walked out, the sky was amazing! It was a pinkish, redish, blueish, purplish color with a full rainbow across the sky. (those of you in NWA will understand my grammatically, incorrect colorful description) John was dying that he did not have his camera to take some shots. We had a great night together and did something kind of fun in honor of our anniversary that might be revealed later if the details work out.

The girls and I did sit down on Wednesday afternoon to look through our wedding album. Brooklyn kept looking at me in my big white dress and saying, "Mommy, white Barbie!" She thinks anything that wears a dress (stuffed animals included) is a "Barbie". I love it.

The last picture in our album is John and I dressed in more casual clothes leaving the reception. I told them that we were about to leave for our honeymoon. Emma asked, "What is a honeymoon?" I told her it was a vacation that you sometimes take after your wedding. Without hesitation, she responded, "I want to go to Chuck E Cheese for my honeymoon!"

That little story will make for a great rehearsal dinner story later in her life!

Happy 9th Anniversary to Us!

9 years ago today at 11:00 AM, John and I were married. It was the most fun day of my life. The first thing John and I talked about in the limo after our reception, was how fun our wedding day was and how we wish we could rewind 3 hours and do it all over again. To this day, we still say that. It was so fun and so wonderful to have all of our favorite family and friends all in one place for just a few hours.

When I look back at pictures, I still love every detail about the day. The bridesmaids' flowers and my bouquet were EXACTLY how I had them envisioned. They were my favorite detail of the day. I still remember the nervousness I felt at the back of the church listening to Leah sing Amazing Grace acapella a few moments before I walked out. (Sometimes I watch our video, just to hear her sing that very song) I remember hearing the trumpet in the balcony and I remember seeing John at the end of the aisle. I remember the words that Sam and Dr. Horne said. I remember the feelings running through me when John sang. I remember lighting our unity candle and hugging each of our parents. I remember kissing John and nearly skipping out of the church. The reception was just as great. A dreamy wedding cake. An amazing ice sculpture with votive candles lining each tier. The icing on the cake was getting to be with our favorite friends and family. Although we didn't get to talk to each one, or spend near the amount of time as we would have liked with them, they were what made our day what it was.

Our wedding video is on VHS and our VCR has been broken for probably a year now. I love watching our video on our anniversary and will be sad to not watch it tomorrow. In fact, last year Emma watched with me. This year, we will just have to replay the memories in our head. Maybe this will make us take our video and have it copied to a DVD.

9 years later, I still love John like I did that day, but about 100 times more. Isn't it amazing what can change in 9 years? 1 apartment, 2 houses, a dog, 6 jobs between the two of us, fun vacations, much laughter, some tears, and 2 precious girls later, here we are.
I could not ask for more.

Fun Family Weekend

We went into this weekend with not very many plans, but ended up staying pretty busy. I got up early on Saturday morning and did our big grocery run. It was nice being able to go before the crowds. I came home and as I was putting groceries away, John decided to take the girls down to the creek in Johnson. Emma and John have been down there before exploring, but Brooklyn did not get to go last year. We got them dressed and put their rain boots on so that they could wade through the water. They headed off and I spent about an hour and a half at home alone catching up on things that needed to be done.








On Saturday evening, we went over to the Hannon's house for a 40th Anniversary party for John's parents. They were in town with John's aunt and uncle because they were flying out of XNA the following morning to go on a cruise. How fun is that? We took advantage of them being here the day before their anniversary and had a fun family dinner for them. Amy and Sam just had a fun patio built in their backyard, so we spent the whole night out there. It was really fun.










John and I heard that the Drive-In was playing UP, so we decided to be brave and try the girls out at their first drive in movie. John and I used to go there all the time, but have not been since Emma was born. The price per car has doubled to $11, but it was still a bargain for all 4 of us to get into a movie for $11. Plus, we had popped our own popcorn at home so we saved in concessions too! The girls loved that they were in their pj's and watching a movie in the back of my car with their pillows and blankies from home. It was a late night, but they both did great and enjoyed the movie. We didn't get them in bed until about 11:00 and figured we would pay for it today with grumpy attitudes, but they did great today. I hope it is not going to catch up to them tomorrow! It is not normal that they get to stay out that late, so it was a treat for all of us.








Today, we slept in a bit and then went to the late service at church. We ate pizza with some friends after church and then headed home for B to take a nap. Around 5:00, we headed out to the pool with the Robinson's and stayed until it was time to get home for baths and bed. It was a really fun weekend full of family, friends, and being outside. I love summer.

Silver Dollar City with the Walker's

We spent the day at Silver Dollar City on Saturday. The drive to Branson is only 2 hours, so it makes for an easy and very fun day trip. John's parents gifted us with season passes for Christmas, so when you pack your own lunch it is almost free. (although you have to spend a little money on the yummy frozen lemonade, kettle corn, ice cream, etc...) Along with our season passes, it comes with a few guest passes to use during certain dates of the year. We invited the Walker's to go with us and we had a blast. Molly and Emma are both 5 1/2, Brooklyn 2 1/2 and Morgan 1 1/2. Sweet Morgan was a trooper all day and poor thing was not tall enough to ride some of the rides. She wanted to so badly!

This was a whole new year for B. She reached the 36" in heighth that most of the rides require, so she was able to ride almost everything Emma could. Brooklyn's favorite thing were the big swings. She really wanted to do them and I wasn't sure it would go over well, but at the end of the ride, she looked up at John and said, "More please!".

Emma decided she was ready for a roller coaster. Bret, John and I took Molly and Emma on Fire in the Hole first and they were not to crazy about it. Surprisingly, Emma still wanted to try Thunderation. This did not go over well. Poor Emma was crying at the end and John felt terrible. It was very jerky for a little body and she actually has a little bruise on her back. She has told us a few times that she does not want to do that again.

John's parents were in Branson too, so they met us out there for the last few hours we were there. We were able to eat dinner with them and ride a few rides.

We had arrived at SDC around 11:30 and we left the park at 7:00. It was a full day and a no nap day for B. She did great and for some reason stayed awake for the ride home. We gave a quick bath and then put them in bed. Never heard a peep!

Thanks Walker's for going with us!!