Heaven is For Real

Brad shared a touching story with me the other night.  As he was putting Erin to bed and saying their prayers, Erin told him that there were two heavens.  She said Grandpa Harley & Grandpa Bernie are up in heaven and we have a heaven downstairs.  Brad was curious so he asked her to show him where heaven was.  She pulled him downstairs and pointed to this photo shown below.  Awe...She's such a little sweetheart! 
The girls have been a little curious about heaven lately since both Brad and I have recently lost our grandfathers.  Emmy told me in the car yesterday that when you get to 100 years old, you die and go to heaven.  She also said that when she goes to heaven, she's going to eat a lot of Skittles. 
She then went on to talk about Grandpa Harley and him being in heaven.  I asked her if she remembered seeing him and she replied, "Yeah, he was laying down with his eyes closed but he didn't eat his Hot Tamales." 
I don't know how she even remembers some of these things.  There was a box of Hot Tamales placed in his coffin because it was one of his favorite candies.  She has such a memory on her.  Bless her little heart!

Mother's Day

We spent Mother's Day relaxing & playing.  Brad and the girls treated me to a day spa package & an inversion therapy table for my back.  I can't wait to experience both of them.  The table should be arriving in the mail any day now.  Emmy wrote me a special letter with the help of her teacher at school & she also gave me a cookbook which has all kinds of yummy recipes from her Four Star Express Preschool friends.

I'm so lucky to be these girls' mommy.  They are so special to me & bring joy to my life every day.
We spent the afternoon at the park with our neighbors and ended up running into a cousin of mine - John Lauritsen & his family.  It was nice catching up with him.  He only lives two blocks from our house!  Small world!

Dance Trophy

Last Thursday Emmy received her 2nd year trophy at Dancin' on Broadway.  She was so excited to hold her trophy.  I asked her again if she likes to dance.  She replied, "I just like dancing on the big stage." 

Three Generations

When my mom was four years old, my grandmother had my mom's pictures taken with this little white lace collar.  My grandma Hazel handed the collar down to my mom at some point and then my mom kept it all through the years.  When I turned four, my mom arranged to have my pictures taken dressed in the same little white collar, ironically at the same studio. 
So, now it's fitting that I have Emmy's pictures taken with this collar since she is four years old.  This 60+ year old collar has made quite the journey. 
I was on the hunt for the perfect little dress to go with the collar.  I searched EVERY store possible with no luck and then ended up finding someone on Etsy who handmade the dress for Emmy.  It turned out just perfect. 
We will do this again next year when little miss Erin turns four.  I can't wait!  Now we're on the hunt for the perfect frame. 
I hope that some day if Emmy & Erin have any daughters of their own that they will continue this special tradition.

Pictured from left:  My mom Linda, Me, Emmy.

Dance Rehearsal

Saturday was a little hectic.  We attended a birthday party for Emmy's friend Izzy in the morning and then came home to get hair & make-up done for Emmy's dance rehearsal.  I think she was pretty pooped out from the birthday party because she really didn't want anything to do with make-up that day.  I did my best and away we went.  She still looked pretty cute.  She has two outfit changes...One for ballet and one for tap.  She knows her ballet routine pretty good.  None of the girls danced their tap routine...it was actually pretty cute though watching them all stand on stage and look at each other.  Not fun thinking about how much we pay for it, but oh well...still cute.
Our neighbors have their daughter in the same class as Emmy. 

After dance rehearsal, we hurried home to get ready for "Parent Night Out."  This time it went a lot better...nobody came home sick...just a lost shoe.  While the kids were having fun at Parent Night Out, we headed down to the casino again.  This time we lost our money within about an hour.  Brad & I ended up going to Lowe's after the casino.  Not my idea of a "date night" but it was still fun to look around and get some ideas for our house.

School Carnival

Last Friday we attended Emmy's school carnival.  There were lots of games/activities for the kids to participate in.  The whole gym was filled with bouncy houses.  The girls both won a prize during the "treat walk."  (like the old cake walks from the band carnival)  Emmy picked out her favorite treat...Skittles and Erin picked out a princess treat.  They won lots of prizes during the kiddy games and enjoyed getting tattoos & face paintings.  They even got to dress up in silly clothing and get a crazy photo taken.  I don't have those pictures yet, but when I do, I will post them.

Kitty

So far kitty is still alive.  The girls have been giving him lots of attention.  However, Erin is a little rough with him.  She usually picks him up by his neck or feet and I don't know how many times I have told her to put the kitty down.  So far we have found him locked inside her Hello Kitty tin (which is just big enough for him to fit inside) and the other day I asked her where the kitty was.  She replied, "He's in my 'tootcase.'"  Yep, there she was wheeling him around in her little princess suitcase.  He wasn't in these places very long.  I'm always keeping an eye on them.  Poor kitty.  Max & Harley love to wrestle...they are pretty good buddies. 
We've had him checked over by the vet and will go back in next week to get him changed to an "it."  He's still pretty little. At his first check up he only weighed 1 lb 12 oz.  He's growing like a weed though.
We tied a string to Emmy's belt loop and got a good chuckle watching the kitty chase her around the house the other night.