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.

Preschool graduation

Emmy Ruth's school didn't have the traditional cap and gown graduation ceremony, and I am so thankful! We did, however, go to the park and have a fun picnic and everybody got their diplomas. I talked a big talk, but when it was time, I was the one crying more than others. I don't know what happened to me! We are so thankful for the wonderful friends she has made at Idlewild and look forward to going to school with many of them next year for kindergarten. We were so lucky to have such awesome teachers each year!

 

 

 

The Beach!

We decided to take a quick beach trip this summer. I didn't want to drive too much so we headed to Ocean Springs, MS. We couldn't have been more thrilled with our cabana. It was adorable and nestled just between the beach and the quaint downtown district. We loved it.

The water where we were wasn't the most enticing, but we heard about an excursion that we had to try. We got to ride a boat out eleven miles to Ship Island, a national park with nothing but a snack bar on it. It was awesome.

Some of Emmy's best quotes of the trip:
As we talked about fishing, I asked what we would do with the fish we caught and John suggested just tickling them and throwing them back. ER said, "or we could just kill 'em and eat 'em. Or send them back to our friends."

I told her I needed to write down all the funny things she was saying and she told me I was gonna need a lot of paper.

"Beaches are cool except for the goblins, monsters and vampires. Yep! None here!"

Every so often, she would kick back and exclaim, "this is the life!"

We had to make a trip to Walmart one night and she was not amused, "What are we doing here? We are here to relax and we are at Walmart??"

On the island, I headed to get food for us at the snack bar while she and John were making sandcastles. I asked if she needed anything and she replied that she needed a flag, with a crown, for her sandcastle. Sadly, they didn't have one.

At the cabana, she exclaimed, "I'm bored. I guess I'll read a book".

M4 marching band

We went to see an awesome band at the Levitt Shell tonight. They were so much fun and we got to meet this stilt walker. Emmy was nervous to meet her because she is "scared of tall people". Good thing we are so short!!!

She also calls the Shell "the clam". As they were playing she told John that it was another jam at the clam!!!

 

The cut

I have many wonderful things to post about our awesome little vacation week. However, I have to get this out there. Emmy Ruth cut her own hair. I finally have stopped crying, two days later. I know that is so trivial since hair is just nothing… it’s just hair! But, it was her beautiful hair and she doesn’t even look like the same little girl. She is so grown now. She absolutely loves it. I know it will be cool for summer, I just hope her curls come back and I am afraid that they aren’t since it isn’t that baby fine hair anymore.

 

This was her Saturday. I love that beautiful hair hanging down when she is concentrating on something.

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And Sunday at church with Nana:

 

After she cut it:

 

After Mrs. Shannon fixed it:

Making her bed

I really, really hate making a bed. I see no point in it since there are a limited number of reasons we are in our bedroom and quite honestly, none of them require a made bed. No one else goes in there and the only reason I find it even remotely needed is that I have pillows that are on the floor if the bed isn’t made.

 

Regardless, I don’t want Emmy to be as unconcerned about these things as I am so I am starting to make my bed each morning and she is making hers. Today, she did it all by herself and announced to me that she was almost a grown up. I always act like I am crying when she says that and today she told me, “Mama, just like I told you before, no matter how grown I am, I will always be your baby. Even when I am forty.”

 

I certainly hope she doesn’t have this many stuffed animals on her bed when she is forty. I can say that a five year making her own bed and strategically placing all her stuffed animals each morning is one sure fire way to ensure you are late for work.

 

Last night was Emmy's first T-Ball game. I don't know that I see any scholarships in her future, but she did have fun. And she was an excellent rock finder on the field. At least she got her hat dirty... surely that means something.

Oh decisions, decisions...

“

I just don’t know how I am going to be an office girl, a guitar builder, Wonderwoman and President.”

 

“Yes, that would be a lot of responsibility for one person.”

 

“Well, I think President is most important, so I’ll just do that one.”