What Emmy Thinks About Mommy

This is a Questionnaire that I gave to Emmy today- Age 4 1/2.

1.  What is something mommy always says to you?  "You have to come to mommy."
2.  What makes mommy happy?  "Making us dinner."
3.  What makes mommy sad?  "When I say bad words."
4.  How does mommy make you laugh?  "You have funny words."
5.  What was mommy like as a child?  "You were in my tummy."
6.  How old is mommy?  "13."
7.  How tall is mommy?  "Big."
8.  What is mommy's favorite thing to watch on TV?  "A kid movie."
9.  What does mommy do when you're not around?  "You say bad words."
10.  If mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?  "For sitting in the naughty chair."
11.  What is mommy really good at?  "Lunch."
12.  What is mommy not very good at?  "Laundry."
13.  What does mommy do for her job?  "You play and work strong."
14.  What is mommy's favorite food?  "Chicken Kiev."
15.  What makes you proud of mommy?  "You take us somewhere."
16.  If mommy were a cartoon character, who would I be?  "Cinderella."
17.  What do you and mommy do together?  "Play games."
18.  How are you and mommy the same?  "We have white teeth."
19.  How are you and mommy different?  "Our eyes."
20.  How do you know that mommy loves you?  "You're happy."
21.  What does mommy like most about daddy?  "Because he's your friend & playing games."
22.  Where is mommy's favorite place to go?  "The Pet Shop."

Her answers just crack me up!!  I love you Miss Emmy!!
I will have to see what she thinks about daddy next!

2012 Year in Review

We're soon closing out the year and I wanted to go through some of our highlights of 2012.
1.  Cheering Tyler on at his swim meets.  His goal this year is to beat the school record...again!!  I know he can do it.
2.  Emmy's swimming lessons...following in Tyler's footsteps.
3.  Erin potty training.
4.  Erin's 2nd Birthday.
5.  Brad had his appendix removed.
6.  Picture with the Easter Bunny.  Emmy was too scared...anything in a life-size costume...she says NO WAY!
7.  Shopping with Mommy.
8.  Erin strutting her stuff in her new swim suit.
9.  Our Cruise to Key West, Grand Cayman & Jamaica.
10.  Erin in the hospital...Asthma.
11.  Easy Bake Oven - baking brownies.
12.  Both the girls caught Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease...I'll save you from posting a grotesque picture. Awful disease!!!  I would much rather put up with them having the flu than this ever again.  HORRIBLE!
13.  Erin's 1st Haircut.
14.  Emmy at Bible School.
15.  We bought a boat!
16.  Emmy's 4th Birthday!
17.  Emmy's 1st sleepover with her friend Marilynn.
18.  Emmy & grandpa Jerry fishing in their new pond.
19-21.  Summer Photos at Como Park.
22.  Tony's 40th, Deb's 60th, Grandma Bev's 80th birthdays!
23.  Emmy's last day at Dar's Daycare.
24-26.  Emmy's 1st day of Pre-School.
27-28.  Erin at 1st Gymnastics practice.
29.   Emmy's 2nd year of gymnastics,
30.  Pickin' Pumpkins.
31.  Helping daddy rake the leaves.
32.  Erin wearing mommy's boots.
33.  Emmy making a turkey plate at art class.

Sunday School Choir

Emmy took part in our Sunday school church choir yesterday.  The three year olds - kindergartners sang Away in a Manger & Oh What a Special Night.  Emmy did such a cute job.  She knew all of the words and gestures.  Here she is in the second row - third from the right in her red Christmas dress. 

Disney On Ice

We surprised the girls with a trip to the Xcel Center for Disney On Ice last Saturday.  They were both really excited.  Emmy asked if the surprise was in a box.  I told her that it was in a very large box with a castle. :)
We found our seats (which were great) and the show began with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy & Goofy.  I wish that I could have got the girls' expressions on camera when they came out on the ice.  It was awesome!  I just love to see the joy in their faces! 
I think the performers covered every single Disney character.  Emmy loved the princesses the best.  Erin loved Mickey, Minnie & Goofy.  Both girls were clapping their hands & tapping their toes throughout the show!  The performance was excellent and we will definitely go again next year!  Erin is smiling in these pictures...yes, that's her goofy smile! :)

Santa 2012

We enjoyed our visit with Santa Sid this year as we do every year.  He does such a great job with the kids.  Erin was a little shy at first, hiding behind daddy's legs.  As we were waiting for our turn, she came running to me.  Emmy wasn't shy at all.  She was taking it all in and watching his every move. 

When it was our turn, Santa asked Emmy and Erin to come and talk with him for a bit.  Erin hesitantly walked up to him.  They sat on the floor with Santa and he asked the girls a few questions.  Both girls gave Santa a few "high fives."  The girls shared their Christmas wishes with Santa and both asked for Barbie.  I was surprised that both girls did so well and actually sat on his lap.  I guess I had to bribe them a little.  I said, if they sat on his lap, we would take them on rides in the mall. 

It was so cute to see our little ones’ faces light up as they met Santa himself.  When we were all done, Emmy said, "Mommy I like that Santa!"   Erin started jumping up and down.  She was so proud of herself for sitting on his lap.  She yelled..."Now I get to go on rides!" 

Later that evening, we were getting a quick bite to eat when Erin said to us, "Santa lives at the North Pole."   We asked her how she knew about the North Pole.  She answered, "From the T.V." 

They don't watch a ton of T.V. but they do LOVE to watch the movie Santa Paws.  It's their favorite movie and they watch it all year long.  So I think that's what Erin meant when she said "From the T.V." 
It was pretty cute hearing her say it though.

Weekend Adventure with Abby The Wolverine

Abby the Wolverine is the class pet at Emmy's preschool.  Each student gets to take turns bringing Abby home on the weekends.  Last weekend was Emmy's chance to bring Abby home. She was really excited that she got to bring Abby home to meet the family and our cat Max.  Erin & Emmy had so much fun playing with Abby.

On Friday after school, we got to show Abby where mommy works and then went home to eat chicken strips.  Abby even went on a wild hunt through the Maple Grove Maze at the Community Center that evening. 

On Saturday, we got up early so that we could introduce Abby to the best strawberry pancakes in town at the Original Pancake House!!  Abby then joined us at our cousin Colten's birthday party where we went up and down the slides and jumped in a really big jumpy house.  On the way home, Abby rode between Emmy & Erin in the car and sat quietly in her kennel.  That night we watched Caillou, ate some popcorn, and read a Curious George book before bed.

On Sunday, Emmy & Erin showed Abby how much fun it is to have a princess tea party.  They got to dress up in princess clothes and Abby even got to wear a crown!

Abby also got to visit some of her friends at the pet store. 

To wrap up our fun-filled weekend, we had a play date with our neighbors Ann & Irene ~ They loved hearing all about our adventures with Abby!

When Emmy brought Abby back to school on Monday, she got to share her story about what she did with Abby over the weekend.  She then was able to pick the next classmate who would get to spend their next adventure with Abby.  Emmy picked her friend Lameese. 

Erin's Big Girl Bed

We are long overdue on making Erin's crib into a big girl bed for her.  We had good intentions about nine months ago. Each passing week just seemed to get busier and busier.  If I had known it would have been so easy, I would have done it a lot sooner.  I thought that we needed an expensive conversion kit which had to be specially ordered.  Turns out all we needed to do was remove a few screws and voila...a daybed.  We didn't get the guard rail yet.  I'm hoping she can get by without it. 
Erin is so excited about her new "Big Girl Bed."  She was jumping up and down and telling Emmy all about her new bed! 
The girls wanted to sleep together Saturday night, but that didn't work out so well.  All they wanted to do was play & giggle.  And then one of them started crying because the other one kicked and stole the covers. 

Candy Overload!!!

Good Lord, we'll be eating candy for five years!  Bob, Scott & Rachel decided to outdo themselves from last year with this giant tote filled to the brim with candy, coloring books, glow sticks, etc.  My mom also gave each of the girls a bucket full of goodies and new jammies. 
I can't wait to find out what happens at the girls' next dental exam.
I'm going to have to hand some of this candy out to the neighbor kids or maybe bring a stash to work every now and then.  Ummm...Unkie...Paybacks are a b*tch.

Halloween Dance Party

Last week Emmy's Dance class celebrated Halloween.  Emmy wanted to wear her princess costume from Unkie Hoda & Rachel.  She fit right in - all the other little girls were princesses too!