4th of July Weekend





Mommy and Emily 4th of July 2011



Emily and Mommy had a great and action packed holiday weekend! Monday was a fun 4th as we did our annual trip to the Ridgefield Parade. This year we went with Auntie JuJu, Titi, Belen, another friend and her two girls. Thank goodness Auntie JuJu went Sunday night and put out our chairs. The girls had a blast playing beforehand with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, eating popcorn, licorice, shaved ice, etc. Once the parade started, it was all about the candy that they throw. Needless to say, fun was had by all. One of the best sights of the day was at the beginning of the parade. Everyone was standing for the National Anthem, and there was my sweet All American girl with her little hand on her heart doing her best to follow along.

After the parade was over, and we were back in the car, Emily was asleep before we got to the freeway to head home.

After a good two hour nap, Mommy, Emily, and JuJu had our own celebration. We had a great dinner together, and then watched one of Emily's favorite movies and had a popsicle.

Emily slept with Mommy again last night as the neighborhood was loudly celebrating with VERY LOUD fireworks. Let's hope tonight is better!

Today Emily had her third swimming lesson, and her teacher said it was her best one yet. While I watched the lesson, it appeared that the wee one was paying better attention to her teacher. Way to go babe!

After today's nap we headed to the park. Emily had a BLAST on the tire swing for the very first time. We played out in the hot heat for over an hour!

Enjoy the pictures from the 4th!

Love, Kathy

Enjoying her licorice and popcorn

Silly girl!

My Sugarplum, Belen

Hard at work with chalk

Emily and Ava

Waiting for the candy to come

Emily and JuJu napping

Tire swing fun!!

Kylie and Emily

Pictures from Emily's busy summer



Here are more pictures from Emily's busy summer. Be sure to see the previous post to hear all about her escapades!

Love,
Kathy

Beautiful Ella

Watching Ella play and run

Drinking out of grandpa and grandma's fountain

Emily learning how to make Ella sit

Now it is Emily's turn to try the command

Quite the digger with her new shovel

All ready to slide down

Big jump!

Ready to jump

Fun in the pit

Party smile

Rocket stomp

Searching for bugs













Emily's busy summer



Three precious angels

Emily and Mommy are having a fun summer so far...so busy in fact, mommy can't keep up with blogging about all of the events! So here goes...

Since our last entry we have been strawberry picking for the first time, visited with aunt Pam, uncle Bruce, and ELLA (the dog). Helped Auntie JuJu work to prepare for the new swing set, went to our friends Brynnlee and Bryton's 3rd birthday party, and got all ready for the parade on the 4th.

Strawberry picking with our friends Kira and Kayla, and their mom Michele, was a lot of fun! We go blueberry picking with them every summer, so this was new for all of us! Blueberries can't come soon enough for all of us! The strawberries were delicious, but much harder to pick than blueberries! After berry picking, the girls had a blast playing at the twins' house.

That evening we went to grandpa and grandma's house to see aunt Pam, uncle Bruce, and ELLA!!! You know how much Emily loves DOGS, and it couldn't have been more evident on Friday night. Emily played, gave treats to, worked on commands with, gave water to, and went and got a blanket all for Ella!

Saturday, after a very long outing to the park, and mommy and JuJu's hair appt. Emily helped JuJu out in the yard to help prepare for the swing set. She got to use her new shovel, rake, and broom, that are just her size!

Today after church we went to our dear friends' twins 3rd birthday party! Emily had a BLAST!! She got to PLAY, PLAY, PLAY and loved every minute of it. She also got to play some party games like ladybug, ladybug, rocket (aka duck, duck, goose), had cake, went on a bug finding expedition (fake not real), and over all had a grand time!

The smiles say it all!

Tomorrow we head out at 8:30 a.m. for the Ridgefield Parade! We will be going with Emily's Titi, Belen, Auntie JuJu, and some other friends as well! More to follow!

Love,

Kathy

Aha...the perfect berry







Swimming, Play Dates, Dentist, and 4th Pictures

LOVES swimming lessons

Well, the last three days have been quite busy for the wee one! It has shown somewhat in some of her behavior, i.e. we need some just mommy and Emily time at home without going so many places each day. Don't get me wrong. Emily has been having the time of her life each and every day of summer break so far. It is just a bit much to do so many things on the same day.

Since you last read our blog Emily has started swimming lessons, went to her first official cleaning at the dentist, had a play date with her bud Belen, fun at church, and a play date with her friend Kylie.

Swimming is going pretty good so far. She has had two lessons with her private instructor and will have four more before the next session starts. Parents have to watch from the big viewing window, but I can tell from Emily's body language, and the looks on the instructor's face, that Emily isn't always listening to every word that is being said. Although, one would think Emily didn't hear a word the instructor said, but when I ask her in the car on the way home, she knows what to do. Today was her second lesson, and the teacher was very shocked that Emily can already hold her breath for 5 seconds in the water!! Way to go BABE! The entire time I am watching her, she has the HUGEST smile on her face, and doesn't ever want to get out. But her teacher and I point to all of the other kids waiting for the next lesson, and then she will willingly exit the pool. My daughter is a fish! She is jumping off the side to her teacher, putting her head in the water, holding her breath, learning how to hold her arms, how to kick, and how to get in and out of the pool. All of that so far in two lessons! Sure did pay off signing up for private lessons!

On Tuesday, Emily and Belen had a play date at our church event for kids and then back at our house. These two play so well together, and Emily truly does love "Her" Belen and "Her" Titi.

Emily's first dental cleaning went well. She didn't actually get in the big chair, but Dr. Peter examined her teeth and counted them on my lap. He said she has 20 teeth and they looked perfect with no cavities. Next time, in January, she will have to get in the big chair. Dr. Peter said he is OK with tears if I am.

Today Emily had a play date with Kylie after swimming lessons, and she had a blast. They even ended up breaking a wheel on one of Emily's toy strollers. It was really funny though. An 18 year old and a 4 year old racing a toy stroller with the 4 year old in it and the wheel breaks. So then we have the two of them using duct tape to fix it! Too funny! There was a lot of hide and go seek as well. You just have to laugh when a 4 year old is hiding, and laughing so loud you know where they are, OR they tell you where they are going to hide! :-)

Well, grandpa is done tearing down the outdoor building, and James helped him haul it all away! So now we wait for the swing set, and then the rest of the summer will be swing/slide filled.

I did a mini 4th of July picture session with Miss Emily, and I must say, WOW...what a difference a year makes! She looks so much older than last year's picture in the big tutu, and it was way easier last year to get her to stay still for the camera!

Tomorrow we are off to pick berries with Kira and Kayla, and then after nap visiting with Aunt Pam, Uncle Bruce, and OF COURSE their dog ELLA!!!! Emily can't wait!

Love,
Kathy

Learning to float on the floatie toy

Saying their prayer

Muscle Girl

Balloon game at church

Big Girl July 2011

July 2011

July 4th 2010

The 18 year old overseeing the 4 year old



Best Buds





Water and Family Fun...

Well, the last three days have been fun filled for Miss Emily! She has helped with yard work, played in a bucket of water for hours, helped grandpa with the big building tear down, went to a family bar-b-que and tried her very first S'more. She also managed to trip and fall at the bar-b-que and get her first big scrape on her shin, and there wasn't even any tears!! Way to go babe!

Auntie JuJu and Mommy did approximately seven hours of yard work on Saturday, getting ready for summer, and most of all getting ready for Emily's new swing set that will eventually go out back. Emily started out helping a little, but once Mommy gave her a mop bucket with some water, that was it. MY GIRL LOVES WATER!!! At first she just played in the water with some toys. Then that progressed to standing in the bucket, which proceeded to her wanting to sit in it, so on came the swimsuit! Need I say more?? As you can see from the pictures, Emily fits inside the bucket, and LOVED every minute of it. This kept her busy for over an hour while we kept an eye on her and continued our yard work.

That smile just melts her grandpa's heart

Sunday we went to a family bar-b-que as kind of a goodbye to my nephew James. He and his girlfriend Cierra will be leaving for Alaska in a month for James to go to Air Traffic Controller school. We wish them all the best and safe travels. It will take them about 5 days to drive there pulling their 14ft. U-haul.

Mommy's precious silly girl

Only my 4 1/2 year old can fit in a mop bucket

LOVE this picture...my sweet girl

Watching uncle Brian roast a hot dog

Grandma and Emily looking at the pond

You'll be missed James and Cierra

First bite of a S'more

Emily loves her Makena!

Grandpa hard at work

Very intently watching grandpa working

In her kitty undies after she just dunked her head

Does the yard look like a four year old was there?? :-)

Emily had a blast with her cousin Makena as usual, as well as everyone else. She was the hit of the party again, and everyone kept commenting on how much she has grown since last summer's annual bar-b-que. She did such a good job being safe around the big campfire and had a roasted hot dog and her first S'more, which she loved by the way!

Today she had a BLAST watching grandpa tear down the building in our backyard. She wasn't sure at first, since change and anything different from her "normal" routines are hard for her. We just had her watch each step, talk to grandpa and mommy, answered any questions she had, and she did wonderful! After awhile she got tired of just observing, so then she wanted to help. She helped carry some bricks and wood over to the big pile. Any of you who know her know she LOVED carrying the "baby" pieces, aka the little pieces.

Once she asked for the water again, I knew she wanted to get wet again and sure enough, she had a grand time playing in the water. At first she just sat in her princess chair and played with toys in the water. Then she moved to putting her feet in over the edge of the bucket. This progressed to standing in the bucket, which was followed by sitting in the bucket in her clothes. She asked to take her clothes off. So, with mommy and grandpa chuckling, we stripped her down to her kitty cat panties, and she was happy as a clam. That lasted for a few minutes, then she asked for her swimsuit. She was completely happy to play in her bucket again, while grandpa and mommy were thoroughly entertained!

Tonight after dinner, we did some more gluing practice. She did GREAT!! We are really working on using little amounts of glue and getting control over the glue bottle. Maybe in the fall her teacher will be AMAZED that Emily's art projects don't have PUDDLES of glue on them! We also worked some more on tracing her name! Her best yet tonight, and she wants to give it to  her Titi tomorrow. For those of you who don't know, that is her Auntie Lisa. Titi is auntie in Spanish! Also, when we were writing her name on her art project tonight, as we wrote each letter together she said the name of the letter BY HERSELF!!!!! HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I am a PROUD Mommy!!!

Well, tomorrow is her first swimming lesson. I can't wait to see how she does listening to her teacher. When I put her to bed tonight, she said she was "so bappy" for tomorrow to "wim in a pool."

Oh yeah...one more new thing I must brag about. On Saturday, as we were going in and out of the house, a fly happened to get in. Well, while JuJu and I were making dinner, we hear Emily's first 7...yes I said 7, word sentence coming from the other room. Here is what we heard with a very serious tone in her voice..."Mommy, there is a bug in my house." The emphasis was very much on the my house part! Julyn and I looked at each other and both said at the same time, "Did you hear what I heard?" Emily's language is coming along so fantastic. I am so proud!

Enjoy the pictures of the bathing beauty!
Love,
Kathy

What a bathing beauty!!