Fall Fun

Last weekend, Emmy had soccer practice and Sol and Rose spent the night the night before. Poor Emmy had to work so hard on the field and Sol and Rose played on the playground with Uncle John. Sol had to go to the bathroom so we had to hop in the car and find the nearest gas station since he said his mom told him it wasn't nice to poop outside. I am sure Evergreen Presbyterian Church is so thankful for that. I love that Rose wears her ballet outfit on the playground. These three kids are so funny. I love them so much together. 

 

 

 In other exciting news, Emmy wore socks today to school. I am so proud!!!!!!!!!!! 



Running Away

Emmy Ruth got upset with us and tried to run away the other day. We weren't sure how to handle it so we just went along with it. Thankfully, she couldn't get her Save A Lot bag on the scooter. Or ride the scooter.

Sweet Boy, Solomon is five!

I am so late going through all of my pictures! Our brilliant, kind, gentle Solomon turned five in September. Of course, he had pool party on Labor Day since he was going to be at Disneyworld on his actual birthday. I am so proud of what a gentle soul he is. He absolutley shines when he is around babies. He loves John B so much and I can't wait to see what a great big brother he is to Dean. He and Rose play so well together and we are so thankful for such a sweet cousin for Emmy Ruth.

Funny Things She Says

Emmy always has something to say that I can't believe she knows that. Tonight, she and John were going on a walk and she said, 'you know those little people, the ones that are grown but still little, let's pretend I am one of those and Daddy is my husband'.  Weird kid.

I was asking what they wanted for dinner and she said, "I'll have steak, thanks".

She has been in this whole Justin Bieber phase lately although I am sure she has no idea who he is. She has her toothbrush that sings and she rolled down the window and had it outside so that "the neighbors could hear how awesome he is". She told John she loved him sooooooooooooooooooo much. I told her I loved another JB musician. It took her a while to figure out I meant "John Burton" instead of "Justin Bieber".

Kindergarten got off to a rocky start but things are better now. There were lots of tears at first and I was getting to work at almost nine every morning. It was awful. We finally realized that we needed to push her bedtime up so she is getting some more sleep. It's awful that she is literally in bed two hours after getting home, but, it seems to be what we need to do. We fought a lot about wearing socks and eating lunch at school. I know that the lunch she gets at school is much better than the Lunchable I am sending with her to school. And she needs socks--her feet stink. But, I am not doing this fight anymore. She and her nasty feet can eat processed meat all week if they want. I have to choose my battles.

With Halloween coming up, she is eager to decorate. She has put everything out and would run out to the curb and analyze her work. She really cracks me up sometimes.

First Day of Kindergarten

Although none of her friends from preschool are in her class, Jillian and Noah were there on the staggered entry day we had. We got to take a few good pictures before school.

 

 

Such poise, such grace

We had an open house at Emmy’s school last night. These little red school houses with each kid’s picture were on the wall. Of course, I had to take a picture of Emmy’s little schoolhouse.  What is with that face???

 

Penguins 4 Life

Emmy’s last year of preschool was in the Penguins class. One of the other moms said that we were so lucky that we had such a tight group of friends and family. She was so right—I just assumed everyone did. Even though we are in different schools, we managed to get one more pool party in this summer. We parents have bonded during a lot of birthday parties these past few years.

 

It's all about the knee socks

This morning, we both were crying on the way to school. I had bought her all these absolutely adorable knee socks before school started and of course she won’t wear them. When she does try them on, she pulls them so tightly that the heel section is on the back of her calf.  She says that the socks have ‘humps’ in them.  Thanks to the sockless attire, she has quite possibly the worst foot odor ever. Sunday on the way home, she put her feet on the back of John’s seat in the car and he threatened to make her ride home with her feet out of the window the rest of the way.

 

Yesterday, she had a blister so I told her she had to wear socks today with her red Mary Janes. We got dressed and she promptly threw a fit about wearing the socks.  On one hand, it’s socks, for goodness sakes, just take them off. But on the other hand, she needs to use her words to express herself instead of throwing a fit. In the end, she missed breakfast, so she ate a pop tart on the way to school, I told her she is wearing the socks tomorrow and she wore her slip on fake Toms.

 

In the car, I asked her why things went out of control this morning and what could we do to make things better tomorrow morning. She said, “I really liked it when it was peaceful” and I asked when that was and she replied, “before you started talking”.

 

Adorable.

 

 

 

Rose Ryan is Three!

I can't believe our precious girl is three! I was so excited to celebrate her third birthday--Barbie pool party style!!! I am so lucky to have not only Emmy Ruth but to have a niece and nephew (and one on the way!) that I absolutley adore. They are both so precious and I can't help but continually laugh at them and their funny ways.  Rose is all girl--she is princess and nail polish and dance party all in one little tiny package.

It was about here when I started crying. I do this a lot. In fact, I keep a hanky in my purse just in case, but I didn't have it handy when I needed it. Just looking at Rose's precious little face and her precious little smile just about does me in. I can't help but think of how lucky we are to have such beautiful, smart children and how much Momma would have loved them. Rose looks so much like her sometimes, it almost takes my breath away. Especially when she is pouting, she has Momma's lips.

Emmy and I made cupcakes and pinata for Rose for her birthday; this was all Emmy kept saying before hand.

Emmy is showing Rose all the deocrations on the pinata.

Grandma Ruth used to give me or Neall a gift on the others birthday; it drove my parents mad. I, of course, do the same. Solomon played with one of Emmy's Ken dolls all night the last time he stayed with us, so I had to get him his own Ken doll for the party. He loved it and played with it the entire party. I can't believe how grown up he is lately. Such a big boy. I can't stand it. 

Daddy gave Rose a Barbie Dream House for her birthday; she loved it! I was so excited for her to open it and he and LynnLynn worked so hard to get it ready for her. She was a little princess when she saw it.

The final stretch of Preschool

I wrote my last check for Preschool for Emmy Ruth today—we are in the final stretch before kindergarten starts. I can’t believe it! We were eating lunch the other day and Emmy said “I am not ready for kindergarten! I can’t read, spell or whistle yet!” John and I assured her that she was would learn all of these things and more when she started. I have been working on my long, long, long list of school supplies she needs and she and John have been working each night in her Kindergarten workbook that I got her. They are quite adorable.

 

Another clear sign that she is growing up as well is the change in what she watches on TV. She has wanted to watch SpongeBob for a while and I just detest that show so I have told her she was too young. However, for her preschool graduation, that was her gift: getting to watch SpongeBob. You would have thought it was the most expensive gift in the world. No longer is she entertained with Mickey Mouse or the other cartoons, she likes Hey Jesse and Austin & Ally and Good Luck, Charlie, the more sitcom type kids shows. She can be slightly entertained by My Little Pony, but she is certainly not in love with it like she used to be. This has been one of the hardest changes for me. We have watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse in the mornings since she was a year old and I know she is too old, but I thought she still enjoyed it. This morning, she had me change the channel. I can’t stand it!

 

Such a Generous Heart

"Mama, do you have any Barbie dolls?"

"No, I gave them all to you."

"I'll give you one of mine." My heart gets all tender and mushy. Then she follows up with "but it has to be one of the naked ugly ones".

Vacation part 2: Newport, AR

These are so out of order, but, I finally went through my pictures from the rest of our vacation. We were so glad we got to go to Newport and spend the night with the Salinases. We miss them so terribly. My dear friend told me that it really was better in a lot of ways when your friends aren’t right here because when you are together, your focus is on time together and not the day to day stuff. While that is true, and our time together is so much more meaningful now, I do miss having them right here.  Another perk of them being in Newport is that every time we visit, we get to visit with Daddy too since he lives pretty close to them. It’s a two for one deal!

 

We got to see one of Lucas’s games and what a game to see—he hit a home run! Of course nothing is better than snow cones with your best friend afterwards.  

Sleepover with cousins

We love it when the Jackson kiddos spend the night. I am going to have to get a bigger piano bench and bed when Jackson Baby #3 gets here!

 

The Paparazzi

We were enjoying a lovely lunch at one our neighborhood restaurants last week. Emmy wanted to wear the dress from her Rapunzel party; normally, I don’t let her wear dress up clothes out of the house but after one to many “boy” comments over her hair, I thought it would be fine. Not that anyone cares, but I wore a cute blue tunic with a floral scarf. Emmy fell in love with the hibachi grill and now usually insists on steak for dinner. I am glad that we can get by with a good beef and broccoli meal from the Chinese place without having to actually have a steak for each meal.

 

On the way home, Emmy borrowed my scarf. I love this picture, it looks like John is her own bodyguard. On the way home, she would run and then hide behind the bushes and cars and say “do you hear that? That clicking?” She was obviously a movie star and people were following her to get a good picture.

 

Super Proud Aunt

When Neall was a little boy, he climbed every door frame he could find. He WAS Spiderman. It is probably one of my most vivid childhood memories of him. So, when Solomon kept telling me he was Spiderman the other day, I told him about his daddy could climb door frames and the he should have him show him how. Being the brilliant boy he is, nothing escapes his memory, so Solomon did just that. Becca sent me this picture of him and I couldn't be more proud. And it doesn't hurt that he is wearing Incredible Hulk pajama bottoms. I love, love, love that sweet smile.