Open House

Thursday night was open house. Emily's teacher Mrs. Baum is an answered prayer. Thank you Lord, for sending Emily the best first grade teacher ever!

On the walk down to the school, Emily kept on talking about this little boy named Grayson. Well, here is none other than Grayson. It turns out that he and his family go to the same church that we do. How cool is that?
They sit beside each other during the days and here they are reading a book together. Aren't they cute?
Here's Emily and Sarah. Sarah was in Emily's Kindergarten class.
After the open house, it was time for a serious bath.
Her hair is a little wet, so I think she did get into the bath water for at least a dunk.

Super Girl - Follow up

For some reason, I am unable to send comments from my office computer. Hmm, maybe the powers that be have done this on purpose. My time with my home computer has been non-existent lately. I wonder where my priorities are at times. LOL

Anyway, inquiring minds what to know if Emily a.k.a. super girl made a safe landing. Yes, she made a safe landing and in Emily's own words, "it was a perfect landing." I took several pictures to get one that actually looked like she was flying. I know that it isn't the wisest thing to let a child go flying from the cedar chest to the bed. It's a battle that unless it gets too wild, I don't fight.

Luckily, Emily has only suffered one broken bone and she wasn't even flying at the time.

We Pray for Children By Ina J. Hughes

We Pray for Children

We pray for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere,who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,who sneak popsicles before supper,who erase holes in math workbooks,who never can find their shoes....

And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bounce down the street in a new pair of sneakers,who never "counted potatoes,"who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,who never go to the circus,who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off key,who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,who slurp their soup....

And we pray for those who never get dessert,who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,who watch their parents watch them die,who can't find any bread to steal,who don't have any rooms to clean up,who pictures are not on anyone's dresser,whose monsters are real...

We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,who like ghost stories,who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,who love visits from the tooth fairy,who don't like to be kissed in front of the school bus, who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone....

And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime,who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist,who aren't spoiled by anybody,who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried, for those who must, for those we never give up on, for those who don't have a second chance, for those we smother....and those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.

~ Ina J Hughes

Swimming Lessons

Saturday marked the first day of a 6 week swimming class. Here's the class. Emily had anticipated having a time of her life.
It wasn't too long into the lesson that Emily realized that this class required hard work. Her expression tells me that it's going to be a long 5 weeks.

Craft

During the summer, I mentioned to Emily that it would be nice of her to make something for her new teacher. She thought that was a great idea, but wanted to wait until she met the teacher and saw the theme of the room.

During orientation, we met the teacher but there wasn't a theme for the classroom. However, the teacher handed the parents a packet that had useful information in it that even included some information about her. It included that she had two cats.

Since the teacher gave out goody bags to the children, I told Emily that it would be nice if she wrote Mrs. Baum a thank you note and decorate it with cats since the teacher had two of her own. That's exactly what she did

After the first day of school, Emily informed me that the room was full of penguins and she wanted to make Mrs. Baum a penguin. Finally on Sunday afternoon, we found time to do a craft. She made two penguins for the teacher and she decided to keep one for herself. I'll give you one chance to figure out which penguin Emily decided to keep for herself. Yes, it was the fancy manciest. It even had earrings.

Apples

Last year our we didn't have enough apples to make a pie, this year however, we have enough to feed an army. Here are just a few that Hartford picked to make cider. Here's Emily working hard to press the apples. Please note that she did far more work with the standing water in the drive way and a stick than she did working with the press. However, she did help a lot with throwing the apples into the press so that Hartford (mostly) and I could crank.
Yum, oh! Fresh cider from a machine from the late 1800's.
By late afternoon, I had about all I could handle of apples plus the laundry was yelling for my attention so Emily happily took my place and helped Hartford to peel some.

Luckily, we have been able to share the apple wealth with Mom and several members of our Church. This Saturday a couple from our church is coming over to make some cider. I believe that after the cider making on Saturday, the rest of the apples will be left for the enjoyment of the wild animals from our backyard.

A.K.A. Princess Super Girl

Introducing the one, the only, Princess Super Girl:
Up, Up and Away

I've been tagged

I’ve been tagged! My cousin from http://www.frugalbookworm.com/
has tagged me.

First, here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you

2. Mention the rules on your blog

3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them

5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.


Six Unspectacular Quirks About Me:

1. I don't eat chicken just because I don't like chicken however, I adore chicken flavored items such as rice or noodles.

2. My two front teeth are fake.

3. Before Lasik surgery, I wore bifocals.

4. I have double jointed elbows.

5. I would rather clean the bathrooms than to wash the dishes.

6. I have been 5 foot 3 and 1/2 since the 5th grade.


And tag! You're it!

1. Karen from http://alwayscarin.blogspot.com/
2. Staci from http://maddiboo.blogspot.com/
3. Beth from http://beth-amomslife.blogspot.com/
4. Jennifer from http://jennwa.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=50
5. Antique Mommy from http://antiquemommy.com/
6. You!

1st day of 1st Grade

Back to school:

Tribble Mill Park

Saturday was a beautiful afternoon and since Emily was getting a little cabin feverish, we headed to Tribble Mill Park. First she just wanted to just hang around:Luckily, Dad was there to catch her when she had had enough.Next, she swung:
Then she played on the side:Before we left, we walked down to the water and I asked Emily is she wanted my camera. She took about 80 pictures before the memory card was full. Here are just a few:


:)

Creative Memories - Thank you cards

I have had an itch to do some homemade thank you cards. Therefore when Emily was working on a a card for her new teacher Saturday afternoon, I made these:

Reading

I read to Emily a lot. I started reading to her early because I wanted her to have a love for books. I didn't love books as a child. Actually, I hated them. Even in my tween years when I read a few books, I hated them. How I made it through college without the love of reading in way beyond me.

It wasn't until after college and I was married that that I began reading for enjoyment. The first book that I read and truly enjoyed was "To Kill a Mockingbird". It took Hartford months to convince me that I would love it, if I read it. Reluctantly, I finally agreed and it is one of, if not, my very favorite book. Since then, I have found a love for reading.

However once Emily came along, there wasn't much time to read all the best sellers. But I discovered a blessing with sharing my love for reading with her. We have bonded even more by not only sharing time together but also sharing a common interest that I hope that will continue for a lifetime.

From the very get go I picked out books that appealed to me. I wanted her to feel my excitement and not my dread in reading them. For the most part, it has worked out wonderfully. However, it doesn't matter how much a person enjoys a particular book, it will not be a pleasurable experience every time you read it when you read it a million times. Luckily, Emily knows better than to ask me to read books about dinosaurs, trolls, or Sponge Bob. She knows to go directly to her Daddy for those books. Likewise, I don't force Hartford to read books to her that don't appeal to him.

Mrs. Bliss, Emily's Pre-K teacher introduced the children to first chapter book. I am so thankful for Mrs. Bliss for this as well as so much more. Since then, Emily and I have stepped up our reading level. It has become our mission to seek out books. Mrs. Bliss would always go the the public library and check out a bunch of books. Emily would tell me or show me the titles and I would also check them out from the library.

A new stage has developed in our book time since Emily is now reading books to me. I am so proud of her and I enjoy seeing her confidence grow as she learns new words. I will admit that there are times that she absolutely drives me bonkers when her mind and mouth wonders wildly. I try to never make her read a book that she doesn't want to read. Reading at home should be fun. Currently, we are making a reading chain. She is very proud of this and keeps her more focused.

I plan on reading to her as long as she will allow me to read. I don't foresee me reading to a teenager every night, but I plan on trying to sneak in a book here and there every once in awhile and maybe even a snuggle. Wish me luck. I know that only time will tell.

Creative Memories project

I've had this project on my mind for months but I just couldn't put it together in my mind until Friday afternoon. It was a quick project that I done Sunday afternoon. I used one punch from Creative Memories that had six settings on it. It is perfect to hang above my scrap booking table.

Cutie Pie

While searching for the perfect pocket book this morning for church, Emily drug out the items in her dress up drawer. After church I asked her to change clothes and put everything back in her dress up drawer. This is the results from her cleaning up and it's doesn't it any cuter than this:
Since she was looking so darn cute, she wanted to go into my room and take a picture. I told her o.k., but I wasn't going to drag out the sheet. So, she suggested that we go outside. Well, it's been hot and dry down here in Georgia and our pretty flowers have seen better days. I suggested that we walk to school. We did, but we nearly melted it was so hot. Thank goodness Emily thought about taking a bottle of ice water or we would have melted.