Happy 5th Birthday Sophia Lilly!

One of Emma's little BFFs, Sophia, turned 5 years old this past week. We celebrated with her at a skating party yesterday. The kids (and adults) all had a lot of fun skating around and the "triplets" (Emma, Sophia, & Hayden) all loved playing limbo. When the girls decided it was time to take a break from the wheels, they were still able to entertain themselves by working on gymnastics moves on the carpet and by comparing fancy knee socks. Our girls are so cute. :) It was a fun afternoon. Happy birthday Sophia! We love you!!!

Crazy Hair Day!

This was Spirit Week at Emma's school and today was "Crazy Hair Day." We always rock this one. :) Emma decided she wanted a mohawk going across her head this time so we decided to use some more purple from last time and add in some green. Then she just so happened to have socks to match! Can't beat that! I asked Emma if anyone else in her class had crazy hair and she said, "yessss.... but no one's was as crazy as mine!" Woot woot! We rule!! :)

Back-to-School Night!

Emma's school had her back-to-school night last night. Emma was very excited to show off her classroom and and all of her work. Grandma & TJ came with us to see everything as well and it was so cute watching the little ones run around together. Emma was so excited to show him everything and they kept comparing notes about their classes and all the details.  Grandma even bought Emma a school shirt so Emma can't wait now for the next spirit day!

All About Emma!

In Emma's Kindergarten class, each child is asked to do a monthly "family project" in addition to the regular homework assignments. For August, she brought home an "It's All About..." chart to fill in. Emma had a great time working on this with me this afternoon. No surprise, the glitter glue was her favorite part. She must have lacquered that thing with about a pound of the glitter glue while on a quest to "make it look pretty, Mommy." Emma wrote her own name and age on the chart and I filled in some of the writing on the other areas where things needed to be written smaller. As of 2012, here are Emma's picks.... I am 4 years old... I live in a Blue House... The is Me consisted of a self portrait drawn in orange with a giant glitter glue heart next to it... My family: she chose 3 family pictures: one of her & I, one of her with all her cousins, and one of Karen, Grandma, Mikayla, TJ, Emma, & I at Disneyland... My friends are: Mason, Baron, Sophia, & Hayden.... I want to be a diver at the aquarium or an astronaut when I grow up... My favorite places are Disneyland, Legoland, and the Beach... My favorite color is pink.... My favorite book is Pinkalicious... My favorite foods are sushi & noodles. Emma's project turned out great and she can't wait for her chance to present it at school!

Happy Birthday Jen!!!

Yesterday was Jen's birthday so we all got together and headed out to Toby Keith's bar for some food, drinks, music, and fun. It was great to get out without the kiddies and just have a girl's night. I am so lucky to have such great friends. :) Happy birthday Jen!!

Kindergarten!!!

Emma is now officially a kindergartener. Wow, how time flies. I was so concerned about whether or not she was going to make the birthday cutoff date (as new legislation is pushing it back each year) or if she was going to be stuck in another year of Pre-K. Everyone kept telling me that she was smart enough, mature enough, etc to handle it so I spent all the time these past months getting her enrolled, transferred, registered, tested etc.
But then, last week, all of a sudden sunk in that my "baby" was going to be off starting "big kid school." Then I started getting anxious... Would she behave all day? Would she have meltdowns or be lacking fine motor skills since she was sure to be one of the youngest in the group? What if she got scared on the bus by herself? And then it was Wednesday - the first day of school-  and it was time to roll. And you know what? Emma did just fine. :) She always does.
Emma was so excited about starting school... and about her new "rainbow shoes" and "kindergarten rocks" hair bow. That hairbow was actually the starting off point for her whole 1st day outfit. I think she ended up looking absolutely adorable.
Since Emma is going to a magnet program for an intensive science curriculum, she gets bussed from our area. Yea for me not driving an hour everyday and wasting gas! :) But that means that she actually has to take TWO busses each way, with a transfer point in the middle. On the first day I took the morning off work and followed her busses to meet the drivers and see the routes. She did just fine, loading, unloading, transferring, etc. Kid never ceases to amaze me...
Once we got the the school site, Emma quickly found her nametag on the board, played on the playground while we had a parent meeting, and then lined up to head to the cafeteria where we decorated her "BEE (Bring Everything Everyday) Bag." Later we visited the onsite science lab where Emma got to pet both a King snake and a ball python. She said that was the best part of her day. :) After heading back to the class area, the kids sat down for snack and the parents were released to go on about their day. I looked at Em, waited to see if there were any tears from either of us but we were fine, gave a hug, a high-5, and was on my way. My big girl was good to go...

Double take of the Triple threat....

Erin, Jen, & I had been laughing about how our girls reminded us of the triplets from Brave... Adorable, funny, crazy, near-identical, whirlwinds of energy and excitement (with a healthy dose of drama thrown in just to keep it all real). And then Jen decided to snap pictures of Emma, Sophia, & Hayden in their matching dresses, making the triplet faces. The resemblance is uncanny...