Emma's sleep habits

Emma is weird when it comes to sleeping. I love checking on her at night because I never know what I'll find. These pictures are just from the last month. I have many more somewhere in my stash. Usually she has this odd desire to make sure everything else in her bed is more comfortable than she is. Notice the bears using her pillow.

Yep, completely out on this one too.

This one was awesome-I went to check on her and she had put all her blankets and pillow on the floor and put a laundry basket over her head, then draped it with her blanket so it was like a "tent" on her head. The next night she asked to sleep like that again because she loved it so much. We let her for a few more nights, then had to stop that nonsense.

A few updates

I did an impromtu birthday party for Emma with a "flower" theme-turned out okay. Nothing to rave about. I need to step it up with the party thing. :)

Emma had her end of the year "Kindergarten Sing" which was pretty cute. She loved the "Apples and Bananas" song that gets stuck in your head, and it was pretty cute to watch them sing the turtle song with hand actions. Then at the end they did a great song to the tune of "New York" about moving on to first grade. What a big girl.

And Bree had her little preschool graduation. I'd rather they refer to it as an end of the year program instead of a graduation, because she isn't graduating from anything. She's going back next year. Oh well. It was super cute. Each kid in the class had a solo song that they had been rehearsing for a while. One cute little boy was doing GREAT on his song-very enthusiastic and you could clearly understand what he was saying. And right at the end he finishes his last line while digging in his nose for a booger. Classic-we were all DYING. You could tell his parents were very proud :) Bree's song was called Haley Heart and sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb. She's so tiny and had to reach her head up to the mic, but she did a great job and looked so adorable up there. Couldn't really understand much of what she said, but that's mostly because she didn't know much of what she was singing! She came into the class around March, so she didn't have the whole year to work on the songs like the rest of the class. But she still loved getting up there and singing in front of everyone. That child isn't afraid of public performances AT ALL :)

This girl has a hard time NOT talking or looking away while she knows someone is taking her picture...

This is what happens when Bree wants to put on her jammies "all by my-THELF!"

And Emma spent the good majority of her day wearing these and playing outside. When I went to check on her in the middle of the night she still had outlines around her eyes...

Spring Break

Yes, this is LOOOOOONG overdue. But we did have a Spring Break and Easter celebration that hasn't been documented. All of Dave's family came into town and it's the first time we've all been together in about 5 years! We had a ton of fun and cousins got to get reaquainted. The kids are all hilarious and have their own funny things that crack us up.

We celebrated Isaac's baptism and took family pictures and the guys had a movie night, of course. We spent a lot of time playing at the Latham playground (grandma & grandpa's backyard) and we went to a few movies and mini golfing. Emma definitely had a little crush on Isaac :) She kept asking if he was going to be there so she could chase him. And he was so great to play along with her.

We had a killer egg hunt for Easter. We had filled eggs, then little trinkets all hung around the yard. We had names on some of them and all the kids were so helpful with the little tiny ones.

After the hunt we headed to our house for Easter dinner. Grandma Kris did the lesson with the eggs filled with something to represent each part of the Easter story. Kade was so sweet at one part. There was something in one egg that represented Christ dying on the cross and Kade (the normally mischevious, into everything, crazy, funny Kade) cries out, "But no Grandma, He LIVES! Jesus LIVES!!" He was so fervent when he said it and it was a great reminder of how sensitive children are to the truths of the gospel.

Here are the girls in their Easter dresses. It wasn't until I saw these pictures that I realized how much more red Bree's hair is than Emma's...

It was a little chilly and rainy one day, so we ran to walmart and picked up a bunch of wrist rockets and nerf balls and had a war in the cultural hall of the church. So. much. fun. We were laughing so hard. It was a great workout! Emma didn't appreciate that I nailed her in the head. It was a complete accident! You never know what direction those nerf balls are going to go in! We also played some dodgeball with the younger kids, which they loved :)

MAN DOWN!!

Battle wound

And we ended the week at the park to say goodbye. I know this sounds sappy, but we love our family so much. Each person brings something unique to our family to make it complete. We miss them all so much and can't wait to see them again.

this was just funny-we were all standing around waiting to give each other hugs and we see these two off in the distance...

My teenager

When I picked up Emma from her last day of school she was really excited that she got a little phone book for all the kids in her class. Well, we were home for about 30 minutes and the phone rang. There was this little boy who was so timid on the phone, but he wanted to talk to Emma. I asked who it was, then he shyly said that his mom wanted to talk to me. So she gets on the phone apologizing, saying that she told him he couldn't call because they were heading out the door, but apparently he wanted to talk to Emma, so he didn't listen :) Then about 5 minutes later the phone rang again, another little boy asking for Emma. I gave the phone to Emma. She didn't quite know what to do :) She's not used to talking on the phone. This little guy wanted her to come over to his house...did the mom know? nope!

It's super cute to see that Emma has all these little people wanting to be her friend. But it doesn't surprise me. She's so gentle and kind with people (she DOES have her moments sometimes when she's not her normal happy self!) and for some reason kids are drawn to her. I love that she's so willing to be friends with everyone. I'm just wondering when the phone calls from boys will turn into a "liking" thing, instead of a "little buddy" thing. So cute.

I hate coming up with a title for the post

so there isn't one.

We've had a lot going on lately, and since I never use my desktop anymore I never want to blog b/c a blog post isn't any fun without pictures and I don't have any pics on the laptop. So unless I decide not to be lazy, there won't be any pictures.

We finished off April with helping Adrienne's fam move into another house, I had youth conference and Dave went to a dental conference, then he turned the big...let me think...32? I think he's 32. Haha-we celebrated and I can't recall how old he is. But he's old enough for THIS BABY:

It's an airsoft gun and he's like a kid in a candy shop with this thing. Very cute to watch his eyes light up when he talks about it and lets all the guys shoot it.

My sisters, mom and I got so go to Gardner Village to celebrate Mother's Day-holy cow I had heard good things about that place, but WOW! So much to look at. I got Dave's Father's Day present while there...you'll have to wait and see what it is. Pretty awesome. And there was a fabric store that I wanted to convert into my bedroom. I made a promise that I wouldn't buy any more fabric until I used up my stash, and let me tell you, that was STINKIN' HARD in that place. So now I've gotta get sewing so I can get all the new stuff out there. We saw some pretty funny quotes while in there that totally apply to us:
"Sisters are like ladybugs. They are little ladies that bug each other" and "Blessed are the children of the quilters, for they shall inherit the quilts" When Mom dies we might just fight a little bit about who gets which quilts :)

Emma turned SIX! And she's still just as sweet as ever. She loves to play with all the kids in our neighborhood and be outside all the time. Her little face and arms are already starting to tan from being outside-I've got to remember the sunblock. She loves Hannah Montana and got the soundtrack from the movie for her birthday and a "real microphone that works", so she spends a lot of time in her room now dancing and singing along. Reminds me of me and my Whitney Houston tape and radio when I was her age :) She was determined to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday and pretty much invited the whole neighborhood. I had to reign her in a bit, and when I reminded her that the big mouse will be there, she decided that she'd rather have a pinata at home and go there when she turns 7. So, a party later this week that I've got to plan.

And Bree is potty-training!!! I know, she's how old??? But it's been an easy process, only a few accidents on Saturday and now she's good to go. Except for #2. We're working on that. She's fought me so much on it before so I didn't push the issue, and she came to us on Saturday with her underwear, so we jumped on that real fast. I'm glad we waited until she was ready. And about a month ago the binky fairy came and took her binkies and left the Barbie Mermaid Tale movie. It's a little hard to let go of my "baby."  But that's not why she had the binkies for so long, I promise. She is still so funny and making us laugh all the time with her made up songs and dances and the silly faces she makes.  

The end.

that's my girl!

And just so you don't think Emma is the only one making us laugh lately...

I went to walmart this morning with Emma, Bree and my niece Eden. I'm in the produce section and Emma keeps saying "Mom. mom. mom." I keep saying what and she just keeps saying my name and I'm getting aggravated that she won't tell me what she wants. So I'm spending all this time paying attention to her and Eden and getting my stuff that I don't even notice the 2 women cracking up. One of them lets me know that my other child is going from vegetable to vegetable, licking each one.

Nice.

Raised from the dead

Emma just ran in the house. She got a cup and filled it with water because she found a dried up worm outside and was going to pour water on it to bring it back to life. I don't think I've ever talked to her about reconstituting dried food...

Dinosaur teeth!

I had to take Bree to the dr. today and when we walked into the room I sat her on the exam table. She was being all fussy and whiny b/c her knee hurt. So in an effort to cheer her up I pretended to be angry and try not to smile, then I started laughing. Her eyes got all huge and she exclaimed, "Mommy, you have dinosaur teeth!!" (lisp included) and started examining my mouth and "pointy" dinosaur teeth, which she would NOT touch b/c she thought they would cut her.

Emma's thought process...

"Mom, what are the magic words I can say to make me grow wings so I can fly and have a pink unicorn and a dog that doesn't grow big?"

Our latest happenings

I know I'm a blog slacker. Don't be a hater.

One highlight of January was that Matt & Kyla came to visit us!!! And we're lame. The only picture we took of the whole weekend was one I took of them in front of their old apartment in Wymount. It's hard to take pictures when you're LAUGHING THE WHOLE TIME! They came in on a Thursday evening and we made sure to get them to Tucanos quickly :) Friday we went to BYU campus to see the old stomping grounds, then we headed up to SLC to meet up with Paul and Anna for a date. The three musketeers together again!! There's something magical that happens when we're all together. We've hung out with P & A a couple times since we've moved back and I feel like I'm cheating on Kyla or that I'm betraying her or something :) Do you feel like that Anna? We went to Macaroni Grill and there were moments that I thought I might pee my pants we were laughing so hard. Guys-I can't wait for our "cruise" (wink wink). Then on Saturday Dave & Matt went skiing and Paul was nice enough to watch the kids while the girls went to the outlets! Then we all met back up at the Jackson family condo in Midway. Of course, it was the weekend of the blizzard! So we were surrounded by a TON of snow! It was so gorgeous. The condo was a great place for the kids to play (aka, not sleep) and we stayed up sooooo late. M & K had to leave early the next morning-boo. Thanks for coming you two! These 2 couples are lifelong friends and I just love them so much.

We also had a great valentine's day, complete with awesome cookies I made. I found a great glaze recipe. Now if only I can remember where I found it. And I made some more clothes for the girls and a shower curtain which I LOVE. We've gotten together with a lot of friends and family and I've even gone to a few girls nights (and totally looking forward to a girls trip!!). We're finally getting into the swing of things here. I'm serving in the Young Womens at church and it is so much fun and I love the girls and women I work with!

Bree started preschool and gymnastics-she's a big girl...and I have a couple hours on tuesdays and thursdays ALL TO MYSELF! I cleaned today. yay. But I'm so happy that she's doing this-she needed some sort of stimulation. She is so funny. We have a walmart down the street, which I frequent quite often. It's a quiet, unbusy walmart. The second we walk in she starts performing. People just start laughing when she walks by...or I should say "prances" by. She does shoulder shimmies and struts and does twirls all down the aisles. All while singing made up songs at the top of her lungs. I love this girl.

And Emma came home from school with a new story. I didn't know about it until we were doing something in the kitchen and she randomly asks me if I knew that we all have invisible buckets. She goes on to explain that some people are bucket fillers and bucket dippers. When you do nice things and are kind and respectful you are being a bucket filler. When you are mean and rude then you are a bucket dipper. She is quick to point out when we are being bucket fillers or bucket dippers. It's become her new way of scolding Bree. Bree "aggravates" Emma quite often, and Emma has now resorted to scolding Bree with, "BREE!! You are being a bucket DIPPER!!!" She is growing up so fast. She's already started learning about doing the splits (remember those days on the playground??) and she's constantly talking about wiggly teeth and learning to tie her shoes. I don't think I'm quite ready for this yet...