Someday

Someday by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds:

"One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one.
One day the first snowflakes fell, and I held you up and watched them melt on your baby skin.
One day we crossed the street, and you held my hand tight.
Then, you were my baby, and now you are my child.

Sometimes, when you sleep, I watch you dream and I dream too...
That someday you will dive into the cool, clear water of a lake.

Someday you will walk into a deep wood.
Someday your eyes will be filled with a joy so deep that they shine.
Someday you will run so fast and so far your heart will feel like fire.
Someday you will swing high - so high, higher than you ever dared to swing.
Someday you will hear something so sad that you will fold up with sorrow.
Someday you will call a song to the wind, and the wind will carry your song away.
Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me until I no longer see you.
Someday you will look at this house and wonder how something that feels so big can look so small.
Someday you will feel a small weight against your strong back.
Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair.
Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun.
And when that day comes, love, you will remember me."

Emily doesn't yet appreciate books that make tears come into my eyes. She tries to be silly and make me laugh. Just another reason that I love her. I tell her that some tears are happy and she looks at me as if I really have gone bonkers.

I love children books that touches my heart and makes tears come to into my eyes. I love sharing these books with Emily. One day, I believe that her mind will remember my tears and her heart will finally understand them, understand the love, the happiness, the joy, the everything that fills my heart because of her. And then, we will be bonded together even tighter. This is just one of the many dreams that I have when I dream of her. God willing, it will come true.

Polar Bear

The instructions states that this craft is a polar bear. However, I am not quite sure what it really turned out to be. With it's cotton tail and long ears, it could be a rabbit. However, the head sort of looks like a rat. Oh well, Emily and I enjoyed making it so it doesn't matter what it really is.

Lake Hartwell

Saturday Hartford, Emily and I spent the day at Rob and Linda's house. It has been way too long since we had visited them. We were so excited to get to see them and spend the day with them and double excited that Courtney, their granddaughter would be there too. We think the world of all three of them!

Emily tries to be a little shy at first but as soon as she spotted Boots and the his toy, her shyness was no more.

It wasn't long before she was heading down to the lake with Rob

and feeding the fish. This translates that in between feeding herself, she gives some to the fish.
It wasn't long before Hartford had her in the water.
And soon brave Emily was jumping into the lake and having fun. However, every once in a while Hartford would pull the float away and then we would hear her disapproval in her squeal "Dad--dy!".
Courtney and I took the paddle boat out for a paddle. Boy oh, it was fun! I let Courtney do the driving and the instructing. We had an awesome time talking and remembering the past.

Well, Emily was not to be left out and since paddling a paddle boat is a lot like exercise, I thought that I better rest a little while. Luckily for Emily, Linda and Courtney took her.

Once back from the ride, Emily hits the water again.
After a while, Emily decides that she will join Courtney and catch a few rays.
The rest was short and it was back to the water. Here's Courtney, Hartford and Emily relaxing in the lake.
Here they are again:
And here's one of Emily and her new best-est friend Courtney.
Time for food. Here's a picture of Hartford grilling:
Yes, he is sticking out his tongue. I am posting it even though I just may get tickled for it.

Poor me, I'm helpless when it comes to anything about preparing food. The food was delicious! Linda and Rob always feed us well. Thank you Linda and Rob!

After we ate, Emily watched a little Sponge Bob. I hate Sponge Bob. I was so thankful that Courtney was on my side and we both did the happy dance when the TV was turned off. Besides it was time to take a ride in the boat.

Here is Emily feeding the fish while in the boat:
Here's Emily looking for the bread she just tossed overboard. I'm not sure who ate more bread, her or the fish.

After the boat ride it was time for us to leave. Emily just didn't think she got a full day's worth and wanted more. It took her about 15 minutes to fall asleep on the way home which is 15 minutes longer than Hartford and I thought that it would.

Linda, Rob, and Courtney, thank you all for a wonderful day! We love you guys!

Courtney congratulations on graduation and best of luck with high school.

Sunday Dress

Here's another beautiful dress that Grandma purchased for Emily. Thank you Grandma!

Since, I'm a little worn out with putting the white sheet up as a back ground, I decided to try to go outside and snap a picture. Well, the Georgia heat is getting to the roses, but we were able to find two. Emily wouldn't let me tie her dress because it was more beautiful if she posed like this:

Talking about the Georgia heat, it was getting the best of me so I decided to head back into the house. I turned to ask Emily if she was coming inside and she says, "Shh! I see something."

"Look Mom, it's beautiful!"

"Mom, don't scare it away!"
I agreed 100% with Emily, it was beautiful.

Baths

Emily loves to take a bath. She has always has. And sometimes, she actually gets a little wet.
She tells me that I should be proud of her artwork. I am. Her imagination is something else. See the duck in the shower cap? Well, the shower cap represents Heaven and the duck represents God and He is looking down upon the two horses that are going to get married tomorrow night and Sponge Bob is just a statue and Buzz and Jessie are married and just had a little baby. I forgot to ask Emily what the two bottles of shampoo and the two bars of soap represent. Knowing her, they are just that two bars of soap and two bottles of shampoo and if I had asked, she would looked at me as if I was crazy for asking such easy question.

The Journal

Sunday morning, I wrote the following note to Emily:

Dear Emily,

Dad will be out of town this week. Do you want to go to IHop one night?

Love,
Mom

Under my note she wrote as large as possible the word yes.

Then, I wrote her a note asking her want she was going to get. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know."

I replied, "What? I thought that you always got a pancake!

Again, she shrugged her shoulders. I told her that's OK, just write that she didn't know on the paper. She stated that she had a better idea. A few minutes later she hands me this:

Translation: Have a tea party and play baby dolls.

I softly laughed.

"OK", I thought "this journal may not be working out quite the way that I thought that it would." Don't get me wrong, I love having tea parties and playing baby dolls but I was hoping to get something different each time we wrote to one another.

Later, I found this letter:
Translation: Let's go on the computer and look up arts and crafts.

I replied, "OK, that's a good idea and we will try to have a tea party and play baby dolls too this week."

The tea party and fashion show

I looked forward to our tea party that Emily planned for us and of course playing baby dolls afterwards. Apparently she had it on her mind as well because when I picked her up from the YMCA yesterday, she mentioned that she was glad that I was the one who picked her up so that we could have our tea party. Being the mean parent that I am, I broke the news, "Honey, you'll need to eat dinner and take a bath before we have the tea party." She took the news as obvious and happily agreed.

To be honest, I was a little worried that we were going to run out of time because I went shopping during my lunch break and I wanted her to try on the items. And of course, I wanted to take pictures. When we walked through the door, I was so thankful to see that Hartford had supper on the table. Therefore, things really moved quite nicely. Hartford is a awesome husband and father but I'll save that for another blog. But, I want to mention that he is very understanding that his girls need their time to play dolls. Let's just say that our house wouldn't be pleasant without dolls.

Immediately after supper, I explained to Emily that time was limited and it was going to be hard to get everything done that she had planned for us to do. I asked her if I could make the muffins while she was taking a bath. She agreed only if she could pick out the muffins. She handed me the chocolate muffins with a sly smile. She knows me too well, I dislike chocolate muffins and wouldn't have picked them.

While taking her bath, she decided that it would be best if we invited guest to our party so that we would definitely get to play baby dolls. She is a smart girl.

Emily invites Nikki:
Nikki was America Girl's doll of the year for 2007. My little stinker admitted a couple months ago that she only picked Nikki from the catalog because she liked this outfit. Good Heavens, this outfit wasn't even the outfit that came with the doll. But thanks to Connie, she wasn't disappointed at Christmas. Connie even purchased the cowboy hat for her. By the way Nikki's horse either wears the hat or uses it to carry things in it.

Now, when I play dolls, I play by changing the doll's outfit and giving the doll a new hair do. Occasionally, Emily will allow me to change Nikki's outfit only to make me put this outfit right back on her.

Wherever Nikki is, her no name horse is with her. The poor horse has to carry all of Nikki's pets which at this moment included three dogs and a cat. He got a carrot to eat. The pets got nothing. In my opinion, the lazy pets didn't deserves anything. However, they were very well behaved at the party.
Here's a picture of Emily trying to convince Nikki to eat her muffin. I suppose she doesn't like chocolate muffins either.
Emily finally gives up and eats Nikki's muffin for her.
What is a tea party without tea? A snow cone party.
Yum!
Double yum! She went back for a second helping.
Just as I was beginning to think the party was ending, Emily announces that it's time for dessert. The parent inside me was thinking that I should stop the party. But since we were having so much fun, I decided to cut her a very small piece of Hartford's Boston Cream birthday pie. She added a few more chocolate chips on her plate just to make sure that she got enough sugar. As she was eating the cake she raved about what a good job that I did on the cake. Finally, I looked at her and said, "Honey, you know I didn't make it, don't you?" She answered, "I know Mom, you don't cook, but you did an awesome job picking it out and buying it!" I thought to myself, "Well, yes I did and I am very proud of myself and I think that one day soon I must do it again because I love the praise."
After eating a good supper, and her muffin, Nikki's muffin, the horse's carrot, two snow cones and dessert, she announces that she is hungry and wants a banana. She normally doesn't eat this much, she is in the midst of a growing spell, thus the reason for the new clothes. As soon as the banana was gone, the fashion show begins and the sugar hits hard!

First up is the poodle skirt that I purchased from eBay. The little shirt was from Ross for only $4.99. It was a perfect match.
While Emily was eating the banana, I begged her to let me dress Nikki in her poodle skirt. She agreed. Poodle skirts are fun, they twirl wonderfully. At this point in time the sugar is at it's peak and there was a lot of twirling and giggling going on and she made a number of movies.

After killing two sets of batteries and filling up one memory card, I decided to put a stop to the movies. Plus, we had more things to try on and bed time was approaching fast.

This shirt came from Ross for $5.99 or $6.99, I forget which. It is different from anything the is currently in her closet.
This shirt came from The Limited Too. Oh my goodness, the styles and the prices! Luckily, this one had been marked down and had an additional 30% off so I got it for $17 something.
Here's another shirt from The Limit Too. It was on sale $9.99. I thought that it looked very first grader-ish. Plus, Emily is so into hearts and rainbows. Plus, she adores pockets.
This is yet another Limited Too shirt. This one is my favorite and it is Emily's least favorite. This doesn't surprise either of us. We just giggle about it and I pray silently that we will still be able to giggle a little during her teenage years.
After all this activity, she still had time to find her pajamas in the pile of clothes, take her allergy medicine and gummy vitamins, brush her teeth, and listen to me read a book before it was time to say our prayers and turn off the lights at 8:45.

I really enjoyed our evening together, but I have to admit, it wore me out.

The journal, day 1

This morning, I asked Emily if she wanted to keep a journal this summer and write notes to each other. She excitedly exclaimed, "yes!"

This afternoon, I found a notebook and wrote:

Dear Emily,

Have you seen the little apples on our big tree in the back yard?

Love,
Mom

This was her reply:
Translation:
Dear: Mom
I do not see the apples (apple is a drawn apple)
Love E.H.

Then, she wrote me this letter:
Translation:
Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you want to have a tea party tomorrow

I replied, "Yes, I want to have a tea party tomorrow.

Then she wrote:

Translation:
After the tea party lets play baby dolls!!!!!!!

I then wrote:

Dear Emily,

Ok, playing baby dolls will be fun.

Love,
Mom

The socks says it all

This morning, I told Emily that is was time to go and get a pair of socks. She comes downstairs carrying her favorite pair of purple knee highs. I stare at her orange outfit and wonder if I can possibly keep my mouth shut. Surprisingly, I did.

During work today, I often thought of her and her socks and wondered if she was teased. I decided to stop worrying and take a picture when I got home and blog about it. Here's the picture:

I realize after looking at the picture how darn cute she is with her purple knee highs that matches the butterflies on her shirt. Who could possibly tease such cuteness?

Hartford's Father's Day

I believe that I could possibly be the worst gift giver on this planet. Although I try my best, it never fails that whenever I purchase Hartford a gift he either returns it for something that he wants or it eternally hides on a shelf collecting dust because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings by taking it back. However, I think I gave him the best gift that I have ever gave him today. He opened his drawer and found them. He grabbed one in each hand and leaped into Emily's room where we were and smiling ear to ear, he exclaimed that he was over joyed to finally have clean socks in his drawer. I smiled and said, "Happy Father's Day, don't get used to it."

He had an awesome home cooked meal tonight with steak and potatoes and garlic bread. Too bad he had to cook it himself.

Feeling a little guilty, I asked Emily to help me baked some brownies for him. Since they didn't end up in the trash can,I think the day was a successful.

Next year I think he may reconsider not telling me what to buy him and just go ahead and tell me. Won't he ever learn?

Fun in the Sun