Cousin Time!

Karen and I took Emma and TJ to the park yesterday afternoon. The kids loved swinging and zipping down the slides, as usual. Unfortunately, there were A LOT of other kids there, most behaving rather rambunctiously ~ at a playground, go figure! :) ~ and all quite a bit older than our little ones. So we decided to cut the evening early and head to McDonalds for an easy dinner and some time on the play equipment there. Only we didn't think about the fact that it was during the "$1.49 hamburger happy meal" time, so it was packed there too! We ended up at Burger King, where the food left something to be desired, but the kids had the slide and tunnel all to themselves so it wasn't a complete waste. They both also really liked their crowns. TJ told us, "Emma's a princess!" as I put her crown on her head. He then informed us, "TJ's a princess too!" when he got his crown. We had to have a little talk about kings and princes then. :)

On a side note, my child is still stubborn as the day is long. Check out the cute smile TJ gave me... Then notice the surprised look on Emma's face in the reflection on the window. This was AFTER she refused to smile for the camera and was looking away when she realized that if she could see my camera in the reflection, then I was still going to be able to get a picture of her! Too funny!

Happy 10th Birthday Mikayla!!!

Mikayla turned 10 yesterday! She had a slumber party last night with all her cousins where we had home made grinders for dinner and birthday cake for dessert. Then the kids watched movies and we played board games. We played a game Mikayla had gotten for Christmas - The Grinch's "Sing Your Heart Out." You had to sing (aka: SHOUT) the lyrics to different songs until the Grinch's sled "hears" you and slides down the mountain. Kayla, Tim, Emma, & TJ LOVED that! They were so loud! LOL. Today the kids played all day and then we met up with more family at the bowling alley for pizza, cupcakes, and bowling this evening. Emma began the night by trying to run down the lane where she, of course, slipped and slid. So she was a bit wary of bowling after that. She eventually warmed up to it after an hour or so and had a great time! Emma & TJ both enjoyed rolling the balls and being able to do it "all by themselves" which meant the balls went REALLY slowly. But that's okay... plenty of time to snap pictures and for Emma to clap for herself as the ball meandered its way down the lane. This also left plenty of time for the little ones to tackle Bubby and wrestle around on the ground in between their turns. We all had a good evening. Happy birthday Mikayla!!! We love you!

Dress-Up Time!

The little ones played dress up this morning. Aren't they adorable? Emma got to be a genie (or "Princess Jasmine", as she calls it) and a witch. TJ was a pirate and Batman. They had so much fun and looked so cute! The dress up clothes were definitely another good Christmas present.

Disney on Ice!

I had a furlough day from work today due to all the wonderful budget cuts so I decided to take Emma out to Long Beach to see the new Disney on Ice show. We had a wonderful time! Its great when she and I can get out to do things with just the two of us sometimes. Emma & I both really enjoyed the show. There were 4 separate vignettes with characters from Cars, The Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Tinkerbell's Pixie Hollow. Emma liked the Mermaid sequence the best. Surprise, surprise considering my little water baby. She started to get a bit squirmy about 45 minutes in, but then it was time for intermission. Perfect! We took a couple laps up and down the stairs of the arena and stopped to buy a bag of cotton candy with a Lightning McQueen hat and then she was good to go for the second half of the show. We also got there early which gave us a chance to check out the displays in the "Princess Preshow" which was fun and to get snacks before we found our seats. I asked Emma if she wanted popcorn or something like that. Nope. She wanted pizza & pasta! My girl sure can eat. Lol. Oh well, at least that took care of the question of lunch. :) Emma actually did very well with her plate too. She insisted on holding her own plate, and she didn't spill at all, except for on her clothes! Lol. Still pretty good though, considering how intently she was watching the show... To sum it up... another great day with my girl!!!

Emma Can Read!!!

Okay, so maybe I'm a little bit biased, but my kid is a freaking genius!!! Check her out reading a book. Emma got 4 new "Emma" books for Christmas and this one, "Emma Loves Disneyland," is by far her favorite. I think its great how much she loves reading and how neat these personalized books are for her. It makes storytime just that much more special. And yes, I can admit that there is a chance she's just got a great memory, but that doesn't make me any less proud. LOL. Still looks like my 2 year old can read! :)

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Back to the Grindstone...

Emma & I started back to work and daycare today after having been off for a week and a half for Christmas. Readjusting to the morning schedule is always hard and today was no different. We had been sleeping in till about 7 or 7:30 most days and neither of us was too happy to be awake before 6 this morning. Emma was a bit clingy and cried when I dropped her off this morning, which made me feel HORRIBLE of course. She ended up having a good day though and was all smiles by the time I picked her up. I got there during their outside play time and she was just giggling away as she zoomed around the playground on her trike. I love this kid!

Softball!

Heading up for a turn at bat.


Team #1


Team #2

Emma & I played softball yesterday with Tim, Jen, Katie, Lucy, Tim, Kenny, Karen, Todd, Mikayla, TJ, and Matthew. Then we had a barbeque for dinner at Tim and Jen's and watched their family DVD I made them for Christmas. We had a great time and have decided that it should become an annual New Year's Day tradition... even though Emma knocked herself in the forehead with a baseball bat...