Emily Turns Four!

Every time I asked Emily what she wanted for her birthday she told me CAKE! That was really all she wanted. So I showed her some different cakes online and she was delighted by this one. When she woke up on her birthday she was thrilled to find this castle cake waiting for her. She walked around looking at the decorations, the cake, and the balloons and kept saying "you did this for me." She was so happy! I hope that joy for the simple things sticks with her through the years. But even if it doesn't it I will always remember the sheer joy she found in a castle cake and balloons when she turned four. It helped me to remember that it isn't the big, elaborate things that matter to our kids... it's the simple gestures and spending a little time to show we care. We love you Emmie!

Our birthday princess

Emily with the castle cake I decorated. The one in the first post is the one John decorated and totally showed me up! He is a lot more crafty than me. Luckily he's always willing to help create the cakes I dream up... and he enjoys it (I think)!

The pure joy of a birthday cupcake! I wish I still found that much pleasure in a cupcake!

Halloween

Ready to go Trick or Treating!

A frog, A cat, A princess, A Cat in the Hat

Political Lessons

Kelsie came home from school on election day. The first thing I noticed was an "I voted" sticker stuck on her shirt. I was delighted and started asking her questions. This is how it went.... (Note: My 6 year old knew none of the candidates names and had no clue it was election day when she headed to school that morning. Impressive parenting, I know!)

Me: Why do you have that sticker.
K: I voted today. My whole class did.
Me: (overly excited) So who did you vote for?
K: McCain. He's the good one. The other one is the bad guy.
Me: Really. Why is he the bad guy?
K: He's the mean one. Mom, did you vote?
Me: Weeelll.... not yet. This is the moment when my awesome neighbor, who always saves me, calls and offers to keep my kids so I can go vote.
Me: So if Obama is the mean one then why are some people voting for him?
K: Lots of people are voting for him because they think he will take care of them so they don't have to take care of themselves.
Me: Shocked. It took me a couple minutes to process. Wow! (Although I don't completely agree or disagree with the statement I was a little shocked.)
Me: Did your teacher tell you that?
K: No. I think I read it in the weekly reader.
Me: Of course, the weekly reader would say that!
K: Can I watch the news to see who wins tonight?
Me: (delighted) Sure! (A kid after my own heart!)
Me: Kelsie, you guys are going to go to the neighbors while I go vote.
K: Good Job, Mom.
(She said it with such respect that I felt like I was doing the most noble, heroic thing there was to do.) Her teacher won a lot of points in my book!

Not only did Kelsie watch the news (until she got frustrated by how much they were talking about Obama) but she also conducted her own polls in the bathtub and tallied up the scores on the bathtub wall. McCain won, of course!

Election Night 2004

As I sit and watch the election results come in, I keep thinking back to this night four years ago. I was pregnant and about 2 weeks from my due date. I was sitting with John watching the presidential election results. At about 11:00 p.m. I was dead tired and decided to head to bed and see the results in the morning. As I stood up I felt a gush of water..it took a couple minutes before I came to the realization that my water had broke (again) and then the even harsher realization that I wasn't going to bed tonight. We headed to the hospital (after packing my bags and cleaning up the house!) and proceeded to watch the all night commentary on the election of 2004. John was so excited that there would be lots of interesting updates for him to watch on T.V. while I was in labor. I also remember my OB and John staring at the latest news on the T.V. and there were a few moments when I wanted to to yell, "Hey guys! Over here! I'm having a baby." Now, four years later, it is fun to relive exactly what we were doing and thinking when our little Emily Paige decided it was time to make her debut. And I'm sure I will think of the night she was born every four years... on the 1st Tuesday in November.

John and Emily

Dr. Gordan and Emily (notice the T.V. still on)

First Hair Cut!

Carter was looking pretty shaggy with his hair hanging over his ears, so I took him to our friend Virginia for his first hair cut. She gave him this cool new do and even bribed him with a Smartie sucker to get him to sit still. Carter thinks she is the greatest thing ever now! Here are some pictures of his new do. John calls it is "cool guy" hair. I think he looks pretty cool... too bad I can't make it look near this cute when I style it myself!

Our Little Crawler

Carter started crawling right at eight months. He is our earliest crawler and it is so fun, although I was secretly hoping he wouldn't start crawling until after our trip to Disneyland. It is so cute to see him making his way across the house. I love each new stage and could sit and watch him all day. But, there is no time for that because now that he is mobile he is into everything! Within a few hours of learning to crawl he was unloading book shelves, crawling under the kitchen table, and emptying out the bathroom cabinets. He loves his new freedom... and it's definitely time to do some baby proofing!

Soccer

Kelsie and her Coach
John coached Kelsie's soccer team this season and Kelsie loved having her dad as coach. John enjoyed coaching and learned a few things about soccer since he never played as a kid. It was fun for the rest of us to go to the games and cheer on the team.
The highlight of the season for Kelsie was the second to last game of the season. It was pouring rain and freezing cold but apparently soccer is not canceled for such conditions. We play rain, shine, or snow. Very few kids came and the dad's were out on the field filling in positions. It was really fun! This was Kelsie's chance to shine. She was playing hard and got lots of chances to kick the ball and even scored a goal! It was great! Kelsie likes soccer but she is not aggressive at all. She'd just assume stand back and let the kid fighting to get the ball have it. It was totally worth standing out in the freezing rain to see Kelsie get a chance to play.