Happy (early!) birthday to Emma Grace!

Emma's birthday party was today and it was an amazing time! I actually decided to have her party a week or so early in order to take advantage of an awesome promo the skating rink was having where they offered UNLIMITED guests, skate rental, & sodas for less than the cost of a normal (8 kid) party! Boy, did we make them regret that! Lol! I think the guest list ended up being over 2 pages long. In the end, Emma had about 30-35 friends there and about 50 adults (parents, family, etc). Everyone skated and laughed and had the best time. She got so many cool new presents and she loved her One Direction birthday cake. It was an exhausting and super fun day. I'm so glad I was able to give my girl the party she wanted. Happy 6th birthday, Grace Face! :)

Another busy Saturday...

Emma & I got up early this morning and met some members of the girl scout troop at the local city hall. Then it was off to do a roadside cleanup for a couple hours. It's amazing how even picking up trash can be fun if you do it with friends and keep a positive attitude! Then we headed home to pick up Karen, Mikayla, & TJ before going out to Foxcroft Farms. There the kids got to take their first horseback riding lesson. Mikayla loved it, TJ got bucked off his pony, and Emma was mad that she couldn't control the horse and make it walk better. Oh well, it was still a new experience! :)

Mini-Vacation

I decided we needed a couple of days away, so this past weekend Jon, Emma, & I got up early and took off for the beach. We spent the day at Manhattan Beach, playing in the waves and walking the pier. There was even a small aquarium ON the end of the pier. Emma thought the touch tanks (of course) and the squid were both very cool. Then we checked into our hotel, spent some time in the pool, and went out for dinner. We ended the night with ice cream and a movie on Netflix. In the morning we had an awesome (free!) breakfast at the hotel and another quick swim before checking out. Then we headed over to one of mine & Emma's favorite hangouts and introduced Jon to the fun of the California Science Center. He really enjoyed seeing the Endeavour space shuttle and Emma loved all the hands on activities as usual. This time she even got to work with some chemicals and study reactions. By mixing 2 liquids (polyvinyl alcohol and sodium borate) she was able to make a semi-solid.... SLIME! It was a great weekend. :)

Funnies from my fashionista!

Emma has definitely developed her own sense of fashion, and there is no telling her when she is wearing something "wrong."... Like the headband in this picture. She says she knows how she is "supposed" to wear it, but THIS is how SHE likes it. Can't argue with a fashionista. Gotta love my little hippie. :)

 

On another note, I realized I hadn't shared any of the funny things this little one has said in quite a while, so here are some more recent conversations from the past few months...

08/12/13 – While driving in the car with the kiddies...

Tj: can we go to MCDonalds tomorrow?
Me: I doubt it.
Emma: whyyyyyyy??
Me: Because McDonalds is boring & disgusting.
Tj (with a gasp of horror): it is not! McDonalds is awesome and delicious!... I get to eat a hamburger, so that is the delicious part. And they have a playground, so there you go: Awesome!
Me: yeah... I still don't like McDonalds.
Emma: But they have a playground mommy! And you should think that that is awesome too!
Me: why?
Emma: because we let you relax & read your kindle while we play on the playground, so you should be appreciative of the break instead of us asking for things every two minutes! ............
I had a few important realizations based on this conversation....
1. They realize that they bug & ask for things 24/7?!? Wtf... I thought it was just automatic, but now I think they are doing it to bug.
2. These kids are smart...
- Tj was able to immediately give me pretty good descriptive adjectives to counter argue my description of Mickey dees.
- and Emma? Seriously? What 5 year old chastises people for not being "appreciative?"
3. We will most likely end up at McDonalds tomorrow night for dinner, if anyone wants to join us. :)

07/25/13 - I took Emma with me to my Book Club meeting tonight. While we were waiting, she asked if it was my turn to choose a book for next month. I told her that I wasn't sure & that it might be....
E: "Well, if it IS your turn, I think I know what book you should choose, Mom."
Me: "Oh yeah, which one?"
E: "Beauty & the Beast!"
Me, smiling: "That's a great book, Em, but I think all the ladies in the group have read it already & we try to choose new books."
E, thinking hard for a second: "Okay... Then how about 'The Color Purple?"
Lol. My kid... Such a range of literary suggestions... Lol

06/24/13 - Emma complained of a tummyache & said she had to go to the bathroom. Then Tj told Emma & I, "Do you know what girl talk is for go to the bathroom?"
We said no. He then told us, "It's ' powder my nose.'... Emma, you are a girl so you should say you have to go powder your nose, not go to the bathroom!" ...... A few minutes pass, Emma is in the bathroom, & Tj is running up & down the hall, laughing hysterically & yelling, "I hope you didn't powder your nose in your pants Emma!"
Oh my goodness... Is it bedtime yet???

05/19/13 – Laying in bed, discussing our weekend at Disneyland...

Caligirl 2013 Weekend, according to Emma...
- Best Ride? ... "Tower of Terror."
- Most exciting part? ... Getting ready to get on the bus to go to Disneyland and I didn't know what we were going to do first.
- Most Fun part? ... Playing in the waterpark & being "swim buddies" with Alison.
- Silliest part? ... When Gina kept tickling trying to make me laugh & I was trying not to.
- Happiest-in-my-heart part? ... Getting to spend tbe whole weekend with you, Mommy!
- Saddest part? ... I missed TJ.
- Best Hotel part? .. Being roomates with Jayden.
- Best food? ... My pretzel with cheese dip and I mixed in mustard too.
- Most Relaxing part? ... Going to sleep in the hotel with the fireworks lights on the wall.
- Most Exhausted part? ... Riding home on the bus today.
Best part? ... Being silly with my friends. I really like Jayden & Alison & Alivia & Rachel & Madisen & Caty & Briana, Mommy! We are all friends even though some of us are Daisies & some are Brownies...... Yep. I think this weekend was definitely a success in my little girl's mind! And I would have to agree!!

03/31/13 - I just asked Emma what was her favorite thing in her Easter basket. She said, "ummm....well, my favorite thing for Easter isn't really a 'thing'..." I said, "oh, was it your chocolate bunny?" E: "No..." Me: "was it your swim suit?" Emma: "Mommy! My favorite 'thing' wasn't anything in my basket! My favorite 'thing' is getting to spend the whole Easter day with you! There's nothing better than hanging with my mama all day!" I love this kid! I wonder how much longer she will feel like this about spending time with old mom...

02/17/13 – While at the hockey game with our girl scout troop...

Me: Emma, smile nicely while Gina takes our picture!
Em: Ha! Mom, I smiled like this! (*proceeds to squint & puff her cheeks out full of air)
Me: Emma!
Em: He he he. it was funny. I looked just like an ORPHAN!
Me: An orphan???
Em: Yep, just like an orphan.... (*pauses... Smiles) Oops! Not an orphan. A SQUIRREL! I looked just like a squirrel!
Me (shaking my head): yeah, cuz those are 2 terms that are easy to confuse! Orphan & squirrel.
Lol. My kid...

01/14/13 - Emma was discussing her upcoming science fair project with her cousins this weekend. One of them commented that she would have an awesome project since Mommy is so good at science. We laughed and said something along the lines of "the other kids will probably have models and Emma will be cloning human beings." A while later...
E: Mom, when are we going to the store?
Me: I wasn't planning on it today... Why?
E: 'Cause we need to go get the beans.
Me: What? What beans?
E: The ones I'm gonna draw people on....
Me (totally confused): What ARE you talking about, Em?
E (totally exasperated): Mo-om! For my science project? You guys said that I am going to make HUMAN BEANS!!!

01/11/13 - Me: "I'm tired!"
Emma: "Good morning, 'Tired.' My name is Emma."
...a long, withering look from mommy to Emma...
Emma: "I think you mean that you FEEL tired Mommy; not that you ARE tired."
... *sigh*... I hate when being a grammar nazi comes back in the form of a 5 year old to bite me in the ass...

01/04/13 - Watching the previews before tonight's dvd with Emma & there is a commercial about bluray/digital combo packs & being able to "have your movies on the go."
Emma: "what does 'portable' mean, Mommy?"
Me: "it means you can take something with you."
E: "Ohhh... So then I must be VERY portable, huh Mom? 'Cause you take me EVERYWHERE!"

01/04/13 - Emma: "Mom, I'm gonna need some tape, a roll of toilet paper, a leash, and a small dog."
Me: "huh? What in the world...???"
Emma: "Don't worry about it... I just have an idea I want to try..."
*should I be worried here?? Lol

I delved further & found ouut she wanted to attach the toll of tp to the leash, using the the tape, & then let the dog run. So it would unroll the entire roll all over...

Happy birthday Bubs!

Tim turned 14 years old on Sunday. We all got together for dinner and family fun at their house. He chose his standard meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, and hot wings. :) Yummy. It was a great afternoon with family. Happy birthday to my funny, smart, caring, and endlessly-patient-with-the-little-kids, nephew!

5K Colorful Run

Instead of doing the usual fall picnic to introduce fall product, this year the GSSGC decided to have us participate in a 5K color run with the theme of "Be your own kind of beautiful." While this was open to the public, it was primarily girl scouts and their families who participated. It was super hot out and we were all tired at the end, but Emma was so proud of herself for completing it. I was definitely proud of myself and my little rainbow warrior too!

Sunday Funday

Jon, Emma, & I had a nice day out today. We went to the Mary Vagle Nature Center in Fontana and then to lunch at Johnny Rockets and to Bass Pro Shop (Emma's fave!). The nature center was really neat. Emma got to interact with some animals and feed the ducks. They also had laminated sheets that we could take with us on our walk so we could identify different plants and animals. Very cool.