SEPTEMBER UPDATE # 2

Fall Fun. These photos were taken at Heritage Days at the Rural Life Museum. Lots of Fun

SEPTEMBER UPDATE

Cousin Fun

AUGUST UPDATE

Look 2 wheels!!

JULY UPDATE # 2

More pics!! As you can see, Emily enjoys her pool

JULY UPDATE

OK, I AM GOING TO ATTEMPT TO CATCH UP!!!

We went to the zoo with a group from the church the first of July. Pictured in first photo is Emily and her best friend Marrissa, Wiley (Marrissa's brother) and Azia. Yes, it was hot, but the kids begged me to pour water over their heads!!

MY ALL AMERICAN GIRL

She is growing up way too fast. Scroll down and compare this pic. to the ones I posted in May. There is only about a month between these pics. She looks so grown!! I will post a few more pics. Granny took both grandkids for pics. I just love this one of Emily.

What we have been doing:

Not much of anything, it is too hot. Emily of course has been swimming tons. She so loves her pool.

We have been to the splash park. That is always a hit with Emily.

We have been to jumpy place. She loves the inflatable jumpies.

Emily loves to go to the mall and play in the play area. We try to do that about once a month.

I have enrolled her in a music class. It is called Little Mozarts. She loves it. It teaches 4 and 5 year olds tons of stuff about music. She has a natural love for music. Donnie and I know nothing about music, so decided it was time to get her some formal instruction. She is learning about high notes, low notes, soft sounds, loud sounds and learning how to read music. She is so funny, we started the class 2 weeks late, so she was a little behind. for 3 weeks she has acted totally uninterested. She is so competative that she can't stand that the other kids know more than she does!! I did have to bribe her for the last class that if she would participate, she could have an Icee. It worked, she answered every question, and did most everything that she was asked to do. The studio where she is taking lessons also teaches violin lessons, which is why we are taking music lessons. She was given a real violin when she was 2 and I wanted to wait till she was a little older before we took lesson. The Little Mozart class is a great introduction to music. It is a 13 week study, so should end about August. Then we will decided if we want to do session 2 with LM or move on to something else. I just hate it that she doesn't want to do tumble anymore. She says she wants to do Karate. We will see.

Last Sat Donnie and I took her to a Chinese music concert. It was a group from Houston that played traditional Chinese instruments and sang opera....in Chinese. She really enjoyed it. Donnie and I enjoyed watching her. It triggered a memory of the orphanage for her. When we got her she had this hand sign that she did when you played music or when she was happy. They told us that it was a celabration type thing. When they began playing music, she did it. We were so amazed. She did get a little freaked out at first when they sang; it was loud and the fact that it was in Chinese. She bounced back and forth between my lap and Donnies all evening, and was very affectionate to us. We got more hugs and kisses that we have gotten in a very long time. So sweet!!

PICTURES!!

Here are some pics of Emily playing on her park. She just loves it. Notice the new short haircut?

APRIL UPDATE

I absolutely love this age. Emily is becoming very independent and growing up right before my very eyes. It is kinda sad that my baby is mostly gone, but I do love my big girl. We never have a dull moment around here!!

Daddy finished her park last weekend, and none too soon. The last 30 minutes of assembly were pure torchure for her!! She could not wait for him to finish. She was also Daddy's little helper. From day one, she whined and whined that it was going to take Daddy one hundred and one years to finish. It took Daddy about 3 weekends to put it up, he wouldn't ask anyone for help, and definately wouldn't let me hire someone to help him....all man!! The wind did knock the tower part down and broke about a dozen boards, but the manufacturer warrantied them, so we will be good as new!! Emily had a picnic lunch on her park today, she loved it!!

We got her hair cut short. She looks so cute. She looks sooo Chinese with her new haircut!!

AND HERE ARE SOME CUTE THINGS THAT SHE HAS SAID RECENTLY

Daddy is out of town for work this week, and she just doesn't quite understand. Daddy told her to take care of Momma while he was gone, and her reply was "Daddy, who is going to take your place?" As her and I were leaving the airport, she said,"I guess we aren't a family anymore." I asked her what she meant. She said, "I don't have a Daddy anymore." I then explained that he would be back next week. But she still didn't understand. About an hour after we got back from the airport she asked if Daddy was home yet!! We were playing in the backyard and she heard an airplane. She asked if that was Daddy's plane. I said, what do you think? She said it was. I had her wave and blow kisses to Daddy. When Donnie called that evening, the first thing she asked him was if that was his plane and did he get his kisses. He assured her that he got all 3 kisses and put them in his pocket. She then wanted to know what he did with the extra ones. And she can't understand why her and I didn't go with Daddy. She is such a thinker.

Emily and MawMaw play like they are talking Chinese. It is so funny. You would think they really were carrying on a conversation. And she is just a moving her hands....so funny. And they go on and on for 20 to 30 minutes at a time!! I have explained to her that it is a funny game, but it would be very rude if she were to do that in front of someone Chinese.

I asked her today where babies come from. Her answer, "China."

We have always told Emily the truth about S#nta and the Easter B#nny. The drawback is that she thinks G#d isn't real either. I tell her He is and I know because he lives in my heart. So then she she said there must be lots of gods to live in everyone's heart. I told her he is one BIG G#d. You could tell she was really thinking about that one.

PRESCHOOL

Emily is reading and recognizing more and more words. I know she can recognize way more than what she wants me to know. She has figured out what numbers to push into the remote to watch her favorite channels. She recognizes about 20 TV shows, some that we don't even watch!!

Emily can count to 100 now. She won't do it on her own, but she will do it if I say a number, she will say the next. She starts getting a little confused after 30, but I help her work through it. She can also recognize double digit numbers. I had a $20 in my hand yesterday and I asked her what number, and she first said 22, then 20 -0, then she said 20. We were out paying a bill today, and she wanted a quarter for a candy machine, and I kept telling her no. (she was asking for coins) I finally told her if she could tell me how much she needed, I would give it to her. She said 2 5. I said what number is that and she answered twenty five.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING

We really haven't been doing much of anything, just hanging out at the house.

We have 2 more weeks of tumble left, and I think we are going to give it up. She just doesn't seem to be interested, and won't listen, and she just isn't progressing. She keeps saying she wants to do Karate, We will have to see about that one.

EASTER

We had a good Easter. She dyed eggs at Granny's the Thursday before Easter. We went to Aunt Donna's for Good Friday and had an Easter Egg hunt with her grandsons. She had a good day. Then we picked Daddy up from work and went to Bu#ld A Be$r for a bear. I let her get an accessory for it (she got the green Panda Earth Day Bear) and she got the styling accessory with it (hairdryer, brush and mirror) What is the first thing she does when she gets him home.....Cuts his HAIR!! I asked her why she did it...."To make him look piddy." Then I got it....the styling kit!! She didn't ruin him, thank God!!

OK, I think this post is long enough. I know I don't really have an ending, but.....

I will try to post some pics in the next couple of days

MARCH UPDATE

Ok, I guess I need to just start doing a monthly update. Sigh. I really would like to blog more, but it just isn't happening...Oh, Well.

PRE-SCHOOL AND PRE-K

We registered for Pre-K at the public school accross the street from us on the 18th. I hope that she gets in. They take 20 students and I was number 23 when registration was 1/2 over. They take all the applicants and test them (testing will be in May) and also go by income and who knows what else, then choose the 20. I have also thought about sending her to a Montissori school for Pre-k, but it is about 20 miles from the house, and that's a little too far.



Emily is almost reading. The other day she was looking a the grocery store flyer that came in the mail and she was "reading" it out loud. She was saying "buy one get one free" and the ad did say free. I asked her to point out the word free, and she did!! I asked her to point out the word sale, and she did!! We have now started going through some of her books, and I choose a word and have her find it on every page and have her spell it when she finds it. She loves I-spy so this is a fun game for her. So far she can recognize Dad, Daddy, Mother, Nemo, Mom. I do know that at this point she is just memorizing the words, but that is part of reading...it won't be long now and she will be reading. I am as excited as she is.



Emily has also started writing her letters. She has been asking for new preschool books, but I told her I wasn't going to buy any more until she started writing her letters. Lo and behold she started writing her letters!! I have seen her write most of the alphabet, both lower and upper case letters. I knew she could do!! She loves to do the word puzzles where specific symbols stand for certain letters and it spells words. I need to get her books that have these.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING

We really haven't been doing too much. We did go to the Swamp last weekend. They were having a big geology thing going on. They had a treasure hunt in the trails, they were cutting open geodes for the kids, a rockwall (Emily did "climb" she was a little scared, but she loved it!!), the kids got to hunt for [fool's] gold, and many other educational type stuff. It was really fun. I just love the Swamp.

EMILY NOW HAS HER OWN PARK

Daddy and I finally got Emily her own "park" as she calls a swingset. We had been eyeing this particular wooden set for a long time. It has a clubhouse, rockwall, monkey bars and swings and slide. She is so active and loves to climb we felt if we were going to buy her one, it had to have all of the above. Last Friday night Donnie and I had a datenight and went to the toy store and bought her park!! Just before we went out, I checked my e-mail and I had a sale notice from THE toy store that had this set on sale for over 45% off. I am so excited on the deal that we got!!



We also got Emily a pool. Our church youth pastor just accepted a full time pastor job at another church. They are moving and offered their pool to us for dirt cheap. it is a little one - 2 1/2 feet deep and 10 foot round, but it will be perfect for her for the next 2 summers.



Between the park and the pool, we are set for the summer. Summer, we are ready for you!! Emily also has the basketball goal that Granny got her for Christmas. Emily still loves her sand table too. Mom just needs to get her a big sun umbrella, I am sure we will spend the summer outside!! Emily hates to sweat, so this will be interesting.

OTHER SUMMER ACTIVIES

Here it is, Spring starts tomorrow, and I am already talking about summer. We really don't have much spring-like weather in the south, so looking forward to summer is pretty easy to do.



We of course will be spending a lot of our time at home with our park. There are several children in the neighborhood that we plan on spending time with this summer. Some of them we already know and she plays with, but there are some that we haven't met and we plan on meeting them and playing with them.



I want to do another Swamp Tot program at the Swamp.



The zoo. zippity Zoo days is next weekend.



The next town over has a new waterpark. It is a step above a splash park and has a big waterslide. The fee to go is very reasonable, so I hope to take Em atleast 2 or 3 imes this summer.



The beach is only about 3 hours from here. I would love to go to the beach atleast for a weekend this summer. We are'nt planning a big vacation this year. we have paid off 4 of 5 credit cards in the last 18 months, and should have the last one paid out in the next 18 months. We are making a big push to get out of debt, and stay that way, so we are going to saccrifice the vacation to do it.

Emily and MawMaw

Okay, I am very technologically challanged right now. Our computer and internet are so behind that I am not able to post pics. We are working on getting out of the techno hole that we are in, but it won't be anytime soon!!!









What we have been up to:

• The weather is finally getting nice enough to go outside. Granny got her a basketball goal for Christmas, so we have been playing on that and have been to the park.




• Emily "failed" her hearing screening at her 4 yo well baby check up, so I took her for a hearing test. She passed will flying colors. I was concerned because she has always had a hard time saying words that had two constenant sounds together, and I thought maybe she couldn't hear them. Well, her speech has bloomed in the last couple of weeks, she can say almost all sounds clearly now!!

• She has also become very verbal. It is amazing some of the things that she comes up with!! And she doesn't forget anything.

• For Valentine's day, we took her to Bu*ld*Bear. She picked out the Valentines Ladybug that they had out for VD. She wanted a recordable sound in it, so I had her say "Happy Valentines Day, I love You." It so melts my hear!! We put together little goody bags for her Sunday School class, and what was left over she wanted to hand out in the sanctuary at church. So sweet.

• We didn't celebrate Ch*nese N*w Year this year. We had planned to go to see the Dr*gon Dance, but I kept checking the paper, and none of the resteraunts had it advertised. Oh well, there is always next year!!

• We don't spend much time doing preschool. I had tons of preschool books, and she has mastered almost everything in them. She still won't write her numbers and letters. I decided to back off and stop pushing her. It has just become a battle of wills, and I don't want to frustrate her to the point that it isn't any fun. She wants to read so bad. Sometimes she just cries and cries because she wants to read and can't. I do have several books and we get books from the library to help her learn to read. She likes to do math and will get frustrated when she can't do certain math problems. We tell her she will learn those things when she is big enough.

• She loves to play her Le*pster and V-M*otion video games. We only have educational games for these, and she loves them. It is amazing to watch her master new skills. She loves I-Spy things, and is very good. I got her an ISpy for her Le*apster, and it is a 5-9 year old level, but she does very well.

• We started in gymnastics again in Jan. She likes it. We are at a different place, and she is older, so it is harder. We still have some lazies to work out from the last place, but the last couple of weeks, I have really seen some improvements. This too is an area where I have to learn not to push too hard.