In My Day

We've all heard the stories that begin with the words "In my day..."  Sometimes as a child I would roll my eyes when these stories would begin but as I got older I loved hearing them.  After my last post, I received an email from my dad.  Reading my blog post triggered his memory about his childhood. 

 My dad grew up in an area that is now a developed city but was quite rural at the time.  I wanted to post part of his email because it is so amazing to see how much things have changed and because I want to have it recorded somewhere for Emily to read someday and remember how things were  "In Aba's Day"... 

-- One grocery store within 15 miles, got dressed ( in our Sunday best) to go shop.

-- 20 miles to a doctor and no way to get there during the day, the family had one car and dad used it. The doctor made house calls.

-- No TV until was 14 years old

-- No Telephone, we did get one (party line) when I was about 5 years old, it was used by the entire community.

-- We had a radio, and it was on all day, soaps, country music, and late evening westerns

--  Evening super, we all were around the table. every evening, that was our texting, we spoke in entire sentences.

-- Stores (all stores including Theaters) were closed on Sunday (all Day).

--  We all had "work" to do in the mornings and in the afternoon after school. At least 1 to 2 hours each side of the day.
--  Penny postcards, and 4 cent stamps for letters, people really wrote letters.

-- Sunday dinner after church, if we had chicken, we had to kill it , cleans it, butcher it, cook it before we enjoyed it. You haven't smelled anything until
you smell  "wet feathers" it never leaves you. WE had a large garden, my brother and I were responsible for what it produced and it was a big deal,

-- Waiting Rooms at doctors, no way to make appointments, so you went and waited.............. for your turn.

--  If you were found in the house "just hanging", ... you were given something to do.

-- I mention the "work thing" for children because that to was part of the technology. Kids were counted on to be parts of the labor force, at least in farming areas.

-- Most of them were paid as well, but their money was to be used for necessities such as jeans, shirts, shoes, school supplies, etc....

-- Later when we did have a TV, the stations (2) came on around 7:00am and went off the air at 11:00 pm, They played "Dixie" at the end of the day, had day devotions and prayers during the day.

-- Most kids would have a soft drink (soda) maybe once every week or two. Desert only on Sundays after Dinner (mid day meal).
-- Most kids got a toy every six months, on average. you were expected to use saws, knives etc to make toys.

--  We cut our Christmas tree on the farm, it was a cedar tree. We got one toy from Santa. and a stocking from mom and dad, candy, oranges , and nuts, none of that stuff other times of the year.

--  If I wanted to go to a store during the day, I walked or rode my bike, 2 miles, I often made trips downtown or to Cameron Village, 15 miles round trip. All by myself at about 8 years old.

--  We played with knives, BB guns at age 6-8 years too, we got hurt sometimes, but that was a part of life.

-- Driving tractors and riding mules at age 4 or 5. The tractor and mule was a tool not a toy, and had to know how to use them and take care of them.

-- Smoking cigarettes we made, and getting our butts kicked.

-- Walking to our baseball practice and games.

-- No preschool or kindergarten. No music classes, no swimming lessons, we learn in the farm pond with the fish and snakes.

Isn't that amazing?  Thanks Dad for sharing!!!

Emily's World

Since Jeff and I have been married we have not had a land line.  We both use our cell phones and find it unnecessary to pay an extra bill for a land line.  So Emily is used to cell phones and finds the phone at my desk at church amazing!  Emily has many play cell phones, five that I can think of off the top of my head.  

The other day Emily and I were doing a puzzle in her room.  In the middle of the puzzle she said, "Hold on, that's my phone".  She picked up her Elmo cell phone which always plays "Elmo's World" when you open it.  She listened to the song, looked at the phone and said, "Oh, it must have just been a text message".  It was so funny. 

I sometimes think about the technology Emily has at three verses the technology I had at three. Yesterday at a neighbors house Emily went to a pretend computer and said, "I have to check my email".  When I was three, we had phones with cords and a TV with an antenna and no remote.  We had no VCR much less a DVR or anything like that.  We had no microwaves or computers.  It is amazing to think about how different things were.  We had no internet or email.  Just books, phone calls and the US mail. Think about how different even TV is.  We had maybe 4 channels and the only kids shows available were a few PBS shows and Saturday morning cartoons.  Emily has constant children's television available with the ability to record any show.  She can pause or rewind the TV whenever she wants. It's amazing to think about the technology that Emily just knows as regular life.  How things have changed!  Then I think about how my grandparents and even parents grew up and it blows my mind.   What will Emily's children grow up with?  I can only imagine!

There Was a Little Girl, Who Had a Little Curl

Have you heard this nursery rhyme?

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.

Emily has a big nursery rhyme book that was mine as a child.  She loves for us to read it to her.  As we were reading one night we read this particular rhyme.  Jeff and I just looked at each other, knowing that the other was thinking the exact same thing, "That's our Emily!!!!!" 

We love our little girl more than words can even describe.  Most of the time she is such a joy....full of wonderful observations, sweet smiles and warm hugs but when she is challenging you better watch out!!!  So reading this, and talking to other parents, reminds me that we are not alone.  Curly hair, straight hair, whatever, it's universal. 

I wouldn't trade my "little girl with her curls" for anything!!!!!

Sparkle Plenty Play Date

There is a place in town that I've heard great things about it's called Sparkle Plenty.  They do play dates, birthday parties etc.  Another mom found out they were closing and quickly arranged a play date before their last day. 

What a fabulous place!!!  They have an adorable store as you walk in. The next room is the dressing room. The girls get to  choose a costume, get their nails painted, get their make-up and hair done with many sparkles and then they can choose accessories.  After they were all ready they get to go into a room where they have music, lights and a stage to dance on and a karaoke machine.  They were able to see themselves on a TV when they were on stage.  Oh, the girly-girl, sparkling fun!  Emily chose a pink dress, of course, her favorite color!

At the end they did a craft.

Emily had such a great time and keeps asking to go back tomorrow.  I'm so sad they are closing but there is a chance they may reopen at some point...I hope so! 

Kindermusik

Emily has just finished her 6th semester of Kindermusik. Emily began Kindermusik when she was 5 months old and continued until now (3 years and 9 months).  We only missed one semester due to schedule conflicts although we were enrolled in another music class at that time. 

I had been familiar with Kindermusik for many years as a preschool teacher but I was first exposed as a mom when Emily was a few months old. We started attending a Baby and Me group at Women's Hospital when Emily was about two weeks old. This was a wonderful group where we met lots of fabulous moms and babies, many of who we are still friends with today. Each week they had different guests and speakers talking about different topics related to motherhood and babies. One week a local Kindermusik instructor, Julie Davidson, came to do a sample class with us. I had already heard about Julie  and how she was one of best Kindermusik instructors in our area and we really enjoyed the demo class so Jeff and I decided to sign Emily up for the Spring semester starting in January of 2008.

The Kindermusik class was about 30 minutes from our house so it was quite a drive but luckily my baby did better driving in the car than she did sometimes in other situations so it was a good fit for us. This class immediately became something we looked forward to each week. As a new mom, Kindermusik was such a blessing in my life and a great way to reconnect with people we already knew and to meet new friends.

One of the reasons we chose to do Kindermusik with Emily is that research shows that music helps the brain make connections and develop in numerous ways. Music has been shown to improve reading and math skills. Kindermusik, and other similar programs, expose children to many types of music and musical concepts.  Kindermusik activities help children develop social skills, listening skills and cognitive skills.  It's also a lot of fun!  I naturally sang a lot with Emily but Kindermusik gave me a lot of things to do with Emily at home that I never would have thought of.  It exposed both of us to so many different types of music and songs.   Emily was able to explore a variety of musical instruments as well.  Each semester we had music Cds, books and instruments to take home.


We won't be doing Kindermusik next year because our schedule is so full. Emily will be going to preschool, childcare at church and Little Gym. Because this will be Emily's last year before Kindergarten I have decided to make sure we have one day a week without anything scheduled.  We will miss it so much!  Who knows, maybe we'll take more classes later down the road. 

Each May, Ms. Julie has a Family Night. It is a potluck dinner and then each age group performs a few songs for everyone. We attended this year for the first time. We had never been to one before because we live so far away and it was so late in the day but we decided to go this year. It was a lot of fun.
As we watched the babies do their songs at Family Night tears came to my eyes. Not so long ago,  Emily was a baby doing those same songs in Kindermusik.

Look at how she has grown!!!



May 2008

                                                                           

May 2009

                                                   
                                            May 2010

                                               May 2011



Thanks Ms. Julie for all the great memories!

Rest Time

This is rare...Emily chose to lay down during rest time and then she fell asleep! 

She said, "Look Mommy,  I'm snug as a bug in a rug".

Mother's Day Weekend 2011

I had a great Mother's Day on Sunday.  On Saturday, we started the day with a nice brunch with some friends. 

We had a great time with friends and the kids had fun playing.  The best part was when all the dads were over by the play set watching the kids and all the moms were sitting down talking together...nice!

Then we were off to Raleigh to see my dad and his wife.  As we got into town we stopped by the cemetery.  Emily had made a picture for my mom and my paternal grandmother.  I laminated the pictures and we attached them to the flowers on the graves.  Here is one of the pictures.

It was very sweet.

Sunday was a wonderful day.  Emily and Jeff gave me beautiful roses and a lovely plant. 

I even got to take a nap that afternoon!  Then we went out to dinner.  It was a wonderful day together.  I really am so thankful to be a mommy to such an incredible little girl and to have such a wonderful family.  I am so blessed!

Strawberry Sweetheart

Thursday Emily and I headed to Ingram Farm in High Point to pick strawberries with some friends.

Emily had a great time picking strawberries with her friend.  We quickly filled up two buckets full of strawberries. 

The girls did some sampling along the way.  Can you tell?

We had lots and lots of strawberries to bring home.

Waiting to be picked up by the tractor which was a highlight for sure.

This was our first time picking at this farm.  It is a really neat place because  it has more than just strawberries. 

There was ice cream.

And goats to feed.  They had pigs and chickens in the barn and honeybees to see.  They also had yummy strawberry cakes, cobblers, jams and honey to buy.  We had a great visit to the strawberry farm.  We'll be back again for sure!

Swim Lessons

Emily started her new swim lessons on April 27th.  She took a swim class with me right before she turned two.  Now she is finally old enough to do the preschool class (no parents). 

She had a very serious look on her face the entire time.  I really thought she hated it.  I expected her to refuse to do the things he was asking her to do.  You see, Emily likes the idea of water but hates to get water in her face.  For example, she had a blast at her backyard splash party when she turned 3 but didn't want to go down the water slide when the water was on.  She spent most of her party playing with other toys.  She still talks about her splash party and how much fun it was but she had most of her fun DRY!  I really didn't know how the lesson would go.  

To my surprise she LOVED it.  I was so proud of her.  She did everything he asked her to do.  She kept saying to him "I'm a little scared" and he would say, "I know you're scared but let's give it a try" and she did.

As you can see, she is the only girl in the class:)

At the end of the lesson she was so upset that she had to leave and said she wanted to go to the YMCA everyday for swim class.

The Zoo

Easter Monday, Jeff took the day off and we headed to the NC Zoo.  We hadn't been since Emily was about 19 months so she was very excited.  First, Jeff and Emily had to plan out our trip looking at the map.  Aren't they cute?

Emily didn't believe these were real alligators because they didn't move.

This polar bear so so cute playing with his tire.  Then he decided to take a little nap.

Hello Mr. Otter

If you look closely at the monkeys you will see the mommy monkey holding the baby monkey's tail.  It was so cute.  It seems as if she holds baby's tail to keep baby with her and out of trouble.  It was fun to watch.  By the way, I love baby monkeys.

We also got to see the zoo's newest attraction, white alligators or "swamp ghosts".

I think Emily's favorite animal we saw was the chimpanzee.

She is making a silly face and I love the way the chimpanzee is looking at her.

We saw more animals like elephants, giraffes, zebras and a lion but we saw them from far away so I didn't get any good pictures.

We spent much of the day right here.

Every few months Emily has a day or two where she needs to go potty constantly.  I've even taken her to the doctor thinking she might have a UTI or something but everything checks out fine.  This happened at Disney last and then the zoo.  We saw a lot of Disney bathrooms too.  Great timing huh?  Anyway, she was so excited about this.

We went potty before we got in line.  We went to the potty while daddy saved our place in line.  Then right before we went in to see the movie she said she needed to go again.  We had given our tickets to the guy working the movie line and had our glasses.  We were next.  There was no way to make it to the potty and before the doors opened for our turn.  She had just been 5 minutes ago.  We told her we would have to wait until after.  She fell apart crying.  I thought the movie would distract her.  It did for a minute (it was only a 10 minute movie) and then she began to cry again yelling, "the pee-pee is coming out" so I had to leave and take her.  Then she fell apart when we couldn't go back to the movie.  The line was really long.  We have zoo passes so I promised we'd come back soon to see the movie again. Poor girl.  She was okay once she knew we could come back again.  So after the drama we let her ride the carousel.  She rode on the polar bear.

She is still a little sad in this picture.

It didn't take long for her to smile again.