La-la-la-la... La-la-la-la... Emma's World!

A new sampling of Emma's artwork made at preschool. They have been studying earth lately and I love this glittery, watercolored, cotton ball festooned, masterpiece! Emma was quick to let me know that, even though they may look like it, the clouds were NOT made of marshmallows! Makes me wonder how arts and crafts time went at school today and exactly how many cotton balls were tasted before the kids came to this realization...

Emma & Her Boys!

There are a few kids at preschool that have been with Emma since they were teeny tiny babies together. Funny enough, its always the little guys that Emma is BFFs with. She can be girly, but definitely has her tomboy side. These pictures were from last week on picture day. They all looked so cute! I had to snap a couple shots of Emma with her buddies Mason & Jaden that morning.

Dance Dimensions...

Emma has been asking me lately if she can take dance classes. Last Thursday we drove out to Grand Terrace for a free trial class at Dance Dimensions. Under the (accurate!) assumption that Emma is a little more rowdy and active than most ballerinas, I signed her up for a Jazz/ HipHop/ Tumbling combo class. She was so excited and did well for the warm up stretches. As soon as the music started though, she covered her ears with her hands and refused to participate. She later told me that it was "too loud and NOT how dance class should be." And once they began the actual dancing routine? Total no-go. It was supposed to be a little hip hop routine that started with one arm outstretched and the other hand over their mouth beat boxing. Emma just stood still and would not participate. One of the teachers tried to help her and she shrugged her off. The teacher asked if she wanted to come out in the lobby with me and watch through the window and she did. Later, when I asked why she had refused to do the dance, Emma was very indignant. She looked at me and incredulously asked, "With the spitting? You want me to spit in my hand?! That's germs Mom!!" Lol. Too funny. Once the teachers brought out the gym mats, Emma wanted to go back in. She did great for the remainder of the class and LOVED all the tumbling. Maybe gymnastics classes will be the way to go instead...

Fun Saturday!

We had a busy weekend this week! We had a birthday party for Gavin, a baby shower for Chris and Maria, dinner at Tim & Jenny's, and shopping all on Saturday! Whew. It was a lot of fun though and the Katie & Lucy agreed to babysit to let Karen & I go the shower sans midgets! It was a fun, busy day!

Emma's School Picture ~ Spring 2011

This is one of Emma's new school pictures. Technically, it's actually a scan of the teeny tiny proof that they attach to the "in case your child is lost or kidnapped" card. I didn't think they turned out that cute, and we had just done photos with Jenny Trent the weekend before, so I didn't actually buy any. Now I am getting grief from people who want a copy and can't believe I didn't get any. *Sigh*... such is the burden of beauty I guess... Even when you don't look that cute, you are still pretty darn cute! Must take after her Mama. :):)

President's Day!

We had a great day today! We started the morning off with a mini photo shoot - Emma's 1st! Although we didn't win the Valentine's Day photo contest on Facebook, the photographer (Jenny Trent) was generous enough to give out a mini-shoot & 8x10 consolation prize to all the runners up! So we spent an hour or so hanging out around down town Redlands this morning taking pictures near the train tracks, on some stairs, and against some architecturally interesting building. I absolutely cannot wait to see how these pics turn out. They are going to be so good, I can already tell.

Then we met up with Karen & TJ, TJ's friend Robert, and his mom, Jill, at JumpZone. Karen had never been there with us before and she wanted to scope it out as a possibility for TJ's upcoming 4th birthday. This place was crazier than I have ever seen it today. Apparently they often get like this on a school holiday, but holy moly, it was crowded. The kids had a blast bouncing themselves silly. The only issue was when Emma came up to me with a red mark on her arm & told me some kid bit her. I was ready to go all Erin on some kid but, of course, Em couldn't point the kid out. Figures.

Then we headed to Claim Jumper for lunch. Yum yum! Karen took the kids home while I finished the day up with a stop at JC Penney. I was SUPPOSED to be just picking up an internet order I had placed a while back but (surprise, surprise) I ended up picking up a few other items as well. I got the kids outfits for their Easter pictures (Emma's dress is especially gorgeous), a birthday outfit for TJ, and a couple shorts & tees for Emma for summer.

What a fun way to spend a Monday off from work!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Yesterday was Grandma's 66th birthday. I took TJ with me to pick up Emma and then the kids delivered flowers to Grandma for her birthday. They were so sweet singing "Happy Birthday" and carrying the flowers together. Grandma loved it. Then we went to the park for a while since the rains were supposed to start in the evening. The kids love this park. I think the trails, bridge, and rocks are bigger hits than the actual playground though! These imaginative little ones even fashioned a set of makeshift bongo drums out of cut off logs. How cute!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emma is old enough to finally "get" Valentines Day. She told me it was a day all about love. Too cute. We also talked about all the red and pink and hearts and how we should be nice to everyone and love all our friends. Emma was very excited to bring her Valentines to school and pass them out to all her classmates. She chose Skittles valentines and they were quite the hit, I hear. They also had a little party at school, resplendent with goodies and sugar of all sorts. When we got home, we took the time to build her heart shaped music box that we had missed out on Saturday. An old friend of mine had taken a trip to another Lowes after our ran out of kits and she picked up extras for Emma, TJ, and Mikayla. Then it was dinner time. So I whipped up a Valentines Celebration meal fit for the preschool sect... red tomato soup, pink strawberry milk, heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, red grapes, and heart shaped cucumber slices! She loved it. :)

Aurantia with Friends...

We had planned on spending Saturday morning building heart shaped music boxes with our friends at Lowes. Well... Lowes was poorly organized, overcrowded, and basically just a hot mess. So we bailed and all went to the park. Emma, TJ, & Mikayla had a good time playing on the playground and in the adjacent rock field. They love "exploring." The little ones exchanged valentines and goodies as well. It was a nice way to spend the morning.

Disneyland 02/11/11

Friday was a holiday in our school district. Apparently, we now celebrate Lincoln's birthday on a Friday. Odd, but it worked out nicely for us in that we took advantage of anotehr Disney day. Karen was able to request the day off of work as well and we took Emma & TJ and met up with some of our friends. TJ is quite the hit with his little "ladies" - Emma, Sophia, & Hayden. We went on lots of kiddie rides and even the Matterhorn. Emma dressed up as Belle and TJ dressed up as Buzz Lightyear. They looked so cute! We even made it over to the "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" hall and got some shots of the kids in front of the scale models. And then they fell asleep during the show. Of course. They always do. Too cute. Emma has also been on a mission for the past few months to meet Daisy Duck. We never can seem to find that elusive bird! This time, we at least found a drawing of Daisy and Donald to pose alongside. Emma was not appeased but she agreed to take a picture none the less.

I'm a big kid now!

Emma dressed herself this morning. I'm talking underwear, pants, socks, shirt, shoes... everything. And it was all put on right-side-out and everything! And then she insisted on brushing her own hair as well. I had to take another pass through with the hairbrush, but this newest accomplishment has the potential to save me soooo much time in the mornings!

Hammie

This little gal is Hammie and no, unlike most of the free world, she does NOT live here in this house. Lol. Actually, she is Emma's class pet and was in need of a home. But just for the weekend. So Hammie came to stay with us for a couple days. Emma & TJ love running around after Hammie when she is in her ball and they kept asking to hold her but I was SO concerned about them dropping her and her making a run for it. And a lost rodent is the LAST thing we need around here. So I told the kids that they could hold Hammie, but only if they sat in the bathtub to do so. There's no way this lil hamster can scale the tub walls. Emma was all for it. TJ changed his mind once it was actually an option, which is fine. I would rather he be comfortable with the animals on his own terms. I'm afraid I may have set a precedent here though. I fear that one weekend may not have been enough and I fully expect to hear "Mommy? Hammie needs a home for the weekend again!" soon enough...

Park & Fountain Fun!

After we finished building at Home Depot, we decided to head to the park for an hour or so. IT was great. Since it was barely 9:30 at that point, we had the entire park to ourselves. A few more kids showed up but it never got terribly crowded. Then we all picked up some fast food and headed to the courtyard fountain for an impromptu picnic. These kids love those fountains! They are so silly and Charlene was able to get some great shots of them. Emma was supposed to be in the final group shot before we left but, as you can see by the last picture, she was in no mood to smile anymore. She was fine again by the time we were driving but transitions are often hard. She just has so much fun & it is often difficult to leave our friends. My (small) consolation is that this moodiness is not exclusive to my child. Between Emma, Sophia, and Hayden, we had one pouter, one cryer, and one yeller when they were told it was time to leave. C'est la vie. There's always another playdate coming up soon...