Emily's Allegro To Go-Go

Emily is in a stage where she loves to act out anything she hears from a book or sees on a TV show.  She is constantly retelling all kinds of stories.  Emily is, as she would say, a fan of the Fresh Beats.  There is an episode where one of the characters, Kiki, has a delivery service called "Kiki's Allegro to go-go".  She delivers different things like groovy smoothies and pizza to people very fast (allegro). 

 After seeing this show Emily asked for her skates.  Once I told her that was not a good idea in the house she found her Dora slippers to use as her skates.  Now she puts on her slippers, loads up the baby doll stroller, and zooms around the house delivering smoothies.  She calls her slippers her allegro skates.  She is so funny and we all have to watch out or she will run us over.  Here she is in her "allegro skates".

Organic Blueberries

Thursday night we found our first ripe blueberries on the bush we planted in the backyard.  Emily picked them and ate them right away.   She can't wait for the rest!

We would have to plant bushes all over our backyard to produce enough to keep up with Emily's blueberry consumption:)  This child LOVES blueberries!!!

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Last Saturday morning we took Emily to see "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" at UNCG.  It was really well done and Emily enjoyed it a lot.  Here she is waiting for the play to begin.

  We were able to meet the cast after the play.  They were also kind enough to sign her book.

Happy Father's Day

Saturday night we had some friends come over for a cookout.  We had planned to eat outside and let the girls splash in the little pools in the backyard.  Our plans changed as it started to rain.  We moved inside to let the girls play.  Emily was so excited to have her little friend over.  She just turned one in April so Emily knew she needed to be kind and gentle.  Emily did a great job and both girls were angels.

A little before dinner music.

Jeff ended up grilling in the rain:)

After dinner it stopped raining long enough to let the girls play outside for a bit. 

It quickly got chilly so the girls got back in dry clothes and played for a few more minutes before it was time to say good-bye.

We had a wonderful night with great friends.

Sunday, after church, Emily was finally able to give her daddy her special gift she made at summer preschool.  She was so excited:)

So sweet!

My dad and his wife, Aba and Nana, drove to our house for lunch after church.

Emily is so blessed to have such an amazing daddy and such wonderful grandfathers!  Happy Father's Day!

Staying Cool

Last Saturday Emily and I made our first trip to the water park this summer.  We were there an hour and a storm came and we had to leave.  I had such a sad little girl on my hands but we went back on Monday with friends and were there most of the day and had a lot of fun. 

 Last year, Emily wouldn't try the slides.  This year she was much more open to them.  I think swim lessons are helping.  She tried a few slides and went under and was not happy.  We did find some slides including one big one that she can do without going under or getting splashed in the face.  She loves these. 

So far, her favorite thing at the water park is still the octopus swings.  They are labeled with a sign that says up to 36 months and 45lbs. limit.  She is way over 36 months but only 35lbs so I still let her ride them since she loves them so much:)  I figure the weight part of the sign is the important part.    

Emily had a great time with her friends. We brought our lunch with us but I let Emily have some cotton candy for a snack.  She loves cotton candy and she chose pink of course.  Here are some pictures of the fun. 

We're On A Roll

It seems as if we go in spurts as far as home improvement projects go.  Jeff and I have been on a roll lately.  We started with a new rug in the living room which led to new slipcovers on the love seat and sofa.  I've had this love seat and sofa since before Jeff and I started dating.  We don't want to replace them until Emily is older.  They are very comfortable and in good shape overall.  She can jump and climb on them and we don't worry because they are so old.  This was a way to make a change without spending a lot of money. 

Then we added a few new touches to our front room/office including a new slipcover for our chair in this room.

Can you spot the litter box in this picture?  It's there, I promise.

Look a little closer...here it is.

It's in the cabinet under the book shelf.  This is in the small hallway outside of Emily's room.  We have always used this hallway as an extra play space for Emily but this is also where we have always kept Callie's litter box.  I hated her playing so close to the cat box so I asked Jeff to build me something to put it in.  He said we should make the most of the space and have some shelves on top.  We found one we liked and Jeff cut the opening for Callie to access the box.  I can easily open the doors to clean the box.  We have Emily's extra art and special learning project stuff stored in the baskets on the shelf above.  It is fabulous.  So then, I had to redo the hallway.  Emily's grandmother gave her a doll house that she had collected.  It is a beautiful doll house but it is really much to old for Emily.  She has never really played with it so we wanted to put it away for when she is more ready for it.  She is really into Barbies right now, so I found a Barbie townhouse on Craigslist for a good price and we added princess wall stickers and a special wall for her art.  I love the way it turned out.

Emily loves it and there is a lot more space to play.  We had a friend over for dinner last week and found out that there is even room enough for Emily and two grown men to play and no one is hanging out with the cat box:)

Jeff calls it Emily's room annex:)

Mudpies and Masterpieces

This was the name of the Art Quest camp that Emily attended last week.  She has always loved going to Art Quest so this summer we decided to do a week of camp.  It was for kids ages 3-5 and it was amazing.  They did lots of different kinds of art.  They painted, made play-doh, played with clay, made instruments, made movies (on paper) and put them together like film, made puppets and more.  They did a lot of art and activities based on books.  Each day when we picked up they did a little show.  They show included: plays, puppet shows, concerts, and story telling.  They only had 8 children and three adults.  They cut off registration after 8 to keep ratios low.  The children were able to hear a band and go to a real art gallery.   Every day when I picked her up she was covered in paint:)  Here are a few pictures from the last day of camp.

They had their own art gallery set up for the last day.

Emily with her teacher.

Emily taking her turn to conduct at the concert.

Here is a look at some of the art she brought home.

What a wonderful week!!!

Another Big Show

Emily continued her dance/gymnastics class at The Little Gym this past semester. She also started taking a sports class at The Little Gym toward the end of this semester. Sunday was the Big Show for dance and the Big Show for the sports class was Thursday during regular class time. Here are pictures from this weeks events. This was Emily's best dance Big Show yet. She did a great job with both her ballet and tap dance. She is really learning the steps and doing them! It's really fun to watch. I was so proud of my little dancer.

Emily with her teachers and her two friends she has known for a long time.

Emily's sports class...The Mini Jacks!

Mini Jacks Teachers

Here is a link to the video highlights:)

http://vimeo.com/24948657

Birthday Cookout

We go to a lot of birthday parties and they seem to go in cycles.  April and May were busy birthday months.  Emily loves a good party so she's been a happy girl.  Here are pictures from a 1 year old birthday party/cookout we went to in May.  It is hard to believe that this sweet baby girl is already one!!!

When I Was Very Small

                                           I miss you when we're not together
                                           I'm growing up so fast
                                           See how big I've gotten
                                           Since you saw me last?
                                           As I grow, I'll change a lot,
                                           The years will fly right by.
                                           You'll wonder how I grew so quick
                                           When and where and why?
                                            So look upon these handprints,
                                            That are hanging on your wall.
                                            And memories will come back of me,
                                            When I was very small.

When Emily was one year old, 2009, we went to a local pottery place and made handprint plates for the grandmothers and one for me for Mother's Day.  So now every May I bring Emily back to the pottery place and make a plate for my kitchen wall.  I love my little one's handprints on my wall.