Christmas Night

On Christmas night, our friends Dan and Natalie came over to revel with Emmy about her new toys. Emmy loved showing off her dance moves to the new Muppets CD Santa brought her.

The Salinases came over and we had so much fun with them. Lucas loved loved loved Criss Cross Crash that we got him. Actually Dan and Natalie loved it a lot too. There is nothing like a best friend that plays with your new Barbie mansion with you.

The next day, we got up and went to the Zoo to go ice skating. John was pretty cute at it.

Afer all, it was such a beautiful day for a trip to the zoo!!! We had the whole place to ourselves.

And the Buddha picture....

Santa did come!!!

The one thing that Emmy was insistant that she wanted was the Baby Alive. Of course, every new mommy has to check baby's diapers.

And feed and wipe Baby's mouth. And give Baby kisses.

Emmy kept asking for Baby Alive, that potties and eats. John told her that she had Puppy Alive and Kitty Alive so she was pretty certain she wouldn't get it. She was so happy to see her when she woke up!!!!

I will never understand about Squinkies. Emmy loves them and was so happy to find two sets from Santa.

Santa left a nice thank you note on Emmy's easal.

She was soooooooooooooooooo excited when she got in the living room. Emmy woke up and said she was still tired and then about five seconds later, realized that Santa had come and she was ready to go. Momma and Daddy would never let us in the living room to see our toys until we all went together so we had to do the same thing. She had to hang out in the living room while I brushed my teeth and I thought she was going to lose her mind!!!

Poor John was still wiping the sleep from his eyes...

Santa brought Emmy a Barbie mansion. She said "I didn't even as for this, how did he know I would like it?" Oh, Emmy, Santa can be pretty smart sometimes!

It turns out that Daddy is a pretty good Barbie playmate too.

Christmas Eve

Each and every year is more exciting than the last. Having Emmy makes each Christmas so very precious. The Jacksons came to our house for brunch this year on Chrismas Eve and then John's side of the family came over in the afternoon to celebrate. We had so much fun. Well, poor Sol, he might not have had as much fun. Bless his heart, he fell coming into the house, then I smashed his finger in the door. I felt so horrible!!! He seemed to recover quickly, but my heart is still so hurt that Tawa was the one tha hurt him. In all the excitement, I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I should have.

Sol and Rose gave Emmy an easel. She loved it and drew this picture of Rapanzul.

We gave Rose this tent and she loved it!!!!

Daddy gave Emmy and Rose Princess coloring kits. Rose loves, loves, loves to color. She was content to lie on the floor and draw the rest of the day. She didn't even want to stop to open any other gifts. I love that she is left handed. It is so adorable to watch.

You can see her excitement as she opened the coloring set!

There is no sweeter song than the one Emmy and Rose belted out on the piano.

Emmy stayed in her pajamas all day. Thankfully Rose and Sol wore theirs as well. We really had no excuse for the afternoon though.

Beginning of the wonderful season!!

Just a few pictures of the weekend I wrote about earlier. Rose was determined to wear her nightgown. She's pretty cute in it:)

Emmy was pretty proud of her gingerbread house!!!The beautiful birthday girl!!!

What a face!

I love this precious picture of Neall and Rose.

This must have been a frightening movie!!!

My handsome Solomon.

Elf sightings

Overnight, the Elf arrived. Emmy was so thrilled to wake and find her Elf was here. He brought a note that he had hoped Emmy would like his Elf cousin, Elfina, because they both had blond hair but since she didn’t, he was here to watch here this year. She has decided to name him “Pretty”.  Pretty and Elfina have no idea what they might see at the Burton house this year.

It's Christmas Time!

I can’t help but sing about the most wonderful time of the year. I have always loved Christmas but this is just the best one ever, with our precious girl. We have the trees up, Emmy has decorated and hung the stockings with care.

 

We have Friday night craft night and she wasn’t much help this Friday night, which is unusual. When I asked her what was going on, she patted me on the back and said, “Mama, I just don’t like this, but don’t worry, I got ‘ya next week”. I ended up making moustaches on a stick alone; what a sad thing.

 

Saturday night, we went to the awesome Smith party in Birdeye. I am so thankful that they invite me and I love getting to go to a grown up party each year. The food and company is wonderful and we have so much fun. Emmy and I stayed the night with the Jacksons. Sunday afternoon, Nana’s family was having a Christmas party for the kids. They do this each year but AunTee was in charge this year so you know it was something special. She rented a suite at a hotel in Jonesboro with an indoor pool and invited us along as well. Of course, I couldn’t leave my Sol at home so he joined us. Rose was not happy to be left, but Becca bribed her with ornaments to paint. We had so much fun!! The best part was Santa showing up at the pool! He looked so funny with his Grinch swimming trunks over his red suit and a swimming ring for a hat!!! But, he brought Emmy a Wubbles making kit and she was delighted. Sol got a transformer, which he loved, but he did tell Santa, “I thought you knew I wanted Beyblades”. So, hopefully Santa is holding out the big stuff until the big day.

 

On the way home, Cherry Valley had Christmas lights up in different shapes, like Santa, Rudolph, gifts. The kids would yell out what they were, but there was a little confusion. The holly leaves were mistaken for cherries, and Sol saw the exaggerated cross and said, “look a transformer!”

 

We got to Julia’s house just in time to celebrate her 4^th birthday party with an awesome gingerbread decorating party. Mrs. Joy is just so very cool. We love all the fun stuff we get to do with them. And Emmy loves that Julia’s daddy is named John like her daddy.

 

I tried to pull off a generic elf instead of the official Elf on the Shelf and I got shot down. I told Emmy this morning it was in the living room and she rushed in there. When she saw it, she rolled her eyes and pointed at it and said, “THAT is not an elf.”  She was not buying it for a moment. I have to go today at lunch and buy the real, overpriced version if this is ever going to work.

Pictures

We had some family pictures made recently (actually twice…) and here are some of the sneak peek pictures we got. I am in love.

 

She's one Funny Kid.

With the holiday approaching, we have been talking a lot about what Emmy is going to ask Santa for this year. I suggested she tell Daddy she wanted Santa to bring her a baby sister. She said, “Mama, Santa can’t make that!”, much to John’s delight. Then, we got to work on the list. She put “money” on it. Interesting child she is.

We have let her back in our room and we are trying to get her back in her bed. But it is so hard! John and I both love having her there with us to snuggle. I told her that she needed to learn how to sleep in her room. She said, “you remember when you went to that wedding and that lady stayed with me? I went to sleep in my room that night. I know how, I just don’t want to do it”. Touche!

Every Friday night, Emmy and I have Friday night craft night. This week, I came home and she and John were working on a Grinch wreath together. I asked in horror, “are you crafting without me???????” She turned to John and WHISPERED “what day is this?” then told me “it’s Tuesday night craft night!” with great flair.

I do love that kid.

Cutie Marks

Emmy Ruth loves loves loves My Little Pony. On the show, the ponies get their cutie marks that shows what their talent is. Emmy always asks when she will get her cutie mark. Now she thinks that mine and John's tattoo are our cutie marks. Pretty silly.

She loves playing with the Nutcrackers that we have out for Christmas. And Momma's nativity scene. I love hearing her in there talking with the figurines. It's pretty awesome.

Ahhh.. that girl.

We have a lot of trouble getting Emmy and going in the mornings. She has started saying she can’t wake up because her eyes are controlling her and won’t let her wake. This morning it was her ears. I told her she needed to be in control of her body and get up. Now.

Last night as we were going to sleep, Emmy had a blanket that Grandma Jackson made. I was telling her about Grandma and how they had birthdays so close together and she asked where she lived. When I told her heaven, she said, “really, is there anyone NOT in heaven?”

Every day, she has asked her teacher at school to braid her hair. When I do it, she tells me I don’t do a good enough job. She wanted to sleep in her braid the other night and I told her it would make her head hurt. The first thing she did when she woke was to come and shake her head around and say “see? I told you it wouldn’t hurt me to sleep in my braid!” We also have had to deal with a little build up on her scalp. She asked me this morning if it was all gone and then asked what it was. I told her it was gone and it was shampoo build up. She is convinced this means she never needs to shampoo her hair again.

uh-oh

We carpool during the week with a boy in our neighborhood. This morning, I overheard Emmy telling him “My mama says she has eyes in the back of her head, but don’t worry, she doesn’t. When she is driving and I ask her to  help me she says she can’t because she has to watch the road.”

 

Funny, funny, funny!

I sat down on the couch and Emmy said, "you won't believe what Bill did there". Bill, the dog, was not around, and I was slightly worried, thinking that she should have told me whatever it was before I sat down. But, she ended up telling me that Bill pooted so badly that it "got in my eyes!!!!"

She often starts with "you, my friend...."

This week, someone was baptised in our church. When Emmy saw her go under water, her eyes got huge and she said, " WHAT IN THE WORLD???" The entire sanctuary looked at her!

Halloween is officially here!

Well, its been a long long Halloween season for us. We will have to work backwards. :)

Nana brought Emmy a bag of dress up clothes and she had this wedding gown in there. She was so excited about it. We put it on this morning for school and then tonight to trick or treat. I grabbed a bouquet of flowers with a matching pink bow and a pair of Grandma Jackson's pearls, and we were in wedding business. Emmy said she was a wedding girl. Here she is with her friend Lathan aka Harry Potter.

We got to hang with the Jacksons at Zoo Boo Sunday night Emmy took Grandma Jackson's pearls (Rose was wearing them) and said, Look they can be boobies too!

Julia loved showing off Baby John B. We were so happy we ran into them!And we saw Emmy's friend Alex from school. We love him and he was a super Batman.

It never dawned on me that Rose wanted to ride the airplanes and I got in big trouble when the other kids got in without her. She yelled at me!!!! But once I got her strapped in, she was delighted.

My favorite monsters.

You cant tell much, but I was the Fairy Godmother. I asked Julia if she knew who I was and she said, "Yes, you are Tara!" However, the cape is one Momma made for me for a princess costume in college. It was perfect for keeping Sleeping Beauty warm!

Emmy is so very protective of her Baby Rose. She loves her dearly. She let Rose use her Barbie trick or treat bag but told Aunt Becca to email it back to her after she emptied the candy.

They had a maze of recycle buckets. This was Emmy's favorite. Go figure.

Poor Alex lost his front tooth at school this week while we were gone. He looks like a big boy now!

On Saturday, we went to Trunk or Treat at our church. Emmy was Little Red Riding Hood. She had so much fun doing crafts and bouncing!

Her basket was very carefully selected with foods that a grandma would love. Initially there was an onion, but she took it out. She decided on a potato, an orange and a cupcake. The little napkin kept falling out and she would have to stop and reorganize it each time.

On Friday night, I came home from a business trip in Orlando. We were so lucky that Emmy has Aunt Becca and Uncle Neall who love her so so so much. They let her spend the week with them even though they were moving and spoiled her rotten. She got home and told me she didn't like her house because it wasn't like Aunt Becca's. But, she did get to play like crazy and I think she missed me a little. Nana picked her up and brought her home and the sweet girl didn't get out of my lap. It was quite lovely. When Nana got her, Emmy said, "nana, I don't want to spend another night away from home". Oh that sweet girl.