Mission Accomplished

Phew.
20 kids.  An hour and a half of gymnastics play.  Cupcakes with toxic colored frosting. Done

To start off the party was a little flustering... the employee happened to be there when we arrived, but she was told that the party was 3:30 to 5, not 1:30-3.  There was already a guest dropped off, and nothing was set up.  But it all came together quickly, and the idea was simple.  Fruit and water were there for snacks, guests were told not to bring gifts, and the kids were just allowed to play.  Emily had her heart set on brownies, but when we went to order them earlier this week (I always like convenience for things like this), Emily became wide eyed at all the cake options!  We settled on cupcakes arranged like a flower on the plate, but when we picked them up today the frosting was the sort of bright purple and pink that leaves hands and mouths stained.  When it came to cupcake time, I had misplaced the candles in the craziness of how the party started, so Emily didn't get to make a wish and blow out her candles, but there will be time for that later!  I also forgot to snap a picture of the cupcakes!  The kids played hard, and we sent them home hot, sweaty, and with tired eyes.  That's the sign of a good party, right?  

These 2 charming second graders were in my class, sisters
are friends with Emily.  They were my helpers for the day!

With phone in hand, timing turns on the rope.  

Landon and Théa

Gia and Malani

Emi, Grace, Seneca

Asher, Lexa, Sophie

I'm bummed I didn't get a good group shot, or even a picture of everyone that was there to celebrate Emily!  But it was a great time, and so thankful plenty of kids made it for the fun!

Excitement is Building!

Emily is bursting with energy lately... there's so much happening right now.  Later this afternoon is her birthday party.  We're having it a bit early, but I thought it was best to have it before summer vacation and her friends' schedules are filled with vacations and such.

The last week of school is ahead and it's a busy schedule.  She has walking trip to the fire station, post office, library, police department, and lunch at the park.  There's a field day and a BBQ.  And then there's graduation on Thursday morning.

Class of 2027

She's also excited for what summer will bring!  She's watched so many documentaries on Disney World, and she still loves her Disney Cruise Ship How It's Made Video (for the record, she's still not completely accurate on her princesses, but she knows the ins and outs of cruise ship building). 

The days are warming up, and we've had more sunny ones than rainy ones lately, so we've been outdoors a lot.

One of her favorite places to go is Emily's fun gun range.  She'll shoot her little .22 with Dad and then just really loves to play in the dirt hills around the space.  It sure is handy to have a private place to go.  

Memorial Day was a rare day with Dad staying home all day on a week day, and Emily was in heaven to have all of his attention.  It was a bit cloudy with threatening rain clouds, but they braved the park together while I took the dog off on a hike.

For the record, I told Emily we would 't get ready for the party until after lunch.  It's 9:45 AM and she's been telling me she's hungry for lunch for over an hour.  

A Break in the Rain

There was enough blue sky yesterday to run to the park for some play time before the next thunderstorm rolled in...

It's not easy to believe that in less than a month, this bright, energetic, silly, lovable girl is going to be 6. Maybe it's just me willing her to just stay little.

It's a girls' weekend here while Dad is away at a class in Virginia.  And it has been a wet, soggy weekend.  Despite that, we dared the park between showers and hid out in the library for a bit after that.  Hard to believe that there is only 13 days of kindergarten left! 

Emily's swimming buddy had her last lesson last Monday, so Emily and I made a deal that she would go the 4 Mondays that are between now and our vacation and then she could also take a break.  She's swimming so well, lap after lap of freestyle or backstroke every Monday afternoon.  I am hoping that in 4 weeks she will want to continue.  However, I did say she could replace swim with gymnastics, martial arts, or a music class... all which she has shown interest in lately, so she hasn't given me a definite answer yet.  We just signed up for the summer session at Swiftsure Ranch and tennis is still in the summer plan.  

On Thursday, Emily made the choice not to ride Stuart, so she groomed, and painted instead.  I'm sure the rain has washed Stuart Little back to white, but I'm not sure this proud pony enjoyed being a canvas!

The other night, over a discussion about the necessity of tooth brushing, Emily declared that Nadia was lucky that she didn't have to live by my rules.  And I know she's excited for her 6th birthday vacation, she watched three different documentaries on Walt Disney World this morning, but most of her excitement right now is really about the birthday bash we decided to have before school gets out and the craziness of summer hits.  We rented the gymnastics facility and will be inviting her class & a few extra friends for an end of the year/early birthday extravaganza on the 30th.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2015.
Every day I think of Nadia, and every day I'm very aware how much of a miracle it is that Emily is here.  I don't take getting called "Mom" for granted.  But lately, Emily has become more aware of what it means to have a sister, or more importantly, what it is like for her not to have her sister here with her.  She'll suddenly break down into tears about missing Nadia, or will say things like, "Nadia was only here for five minutes before she left to go play with her friends." I'm in uncharted waters once more, not sure what to say or do.  So we spend a lot of these times just being still.

That's pretty much what we did yesterday.  We went out for breakfast.  We went for a walk on a nice spring day.  We sat outside in the backyard sun.  We took a nap.  Calm.  Peaceful.  Just being still.  Emily gave herself a bath and got ready for bed.  She tried really hard to be on her best behavior all day long! It was a great Mother's Day, but it's so great just to get to mother a child.

Little Miss Smarty Pants

Emily is loving tennis lessons, she's not so much loving on Stuart Little!  Her naught little pony at Swiftsure is driving her bonkers she states.  It's a battle of will, and so far they are about even in how stubborn they both are!

Emily's school does a Word of the Month, and this month she was awarded the high academic achievement award!  Way to go, Emily!

The assembly started off with her looking like this.

Getting the award was a surprise to her, but she had spotted Dad in the crowd and was devastated that he wouldn't go sit by her.  Then as names were being announced, here she was waiting in anticipation, hoping...

 Look at that sprint toward the front of the gym to get her certificate!

By the end, she was all smiles!

I'll be the first to admit, a year ago I wasn't looking forward to being at the same school as Emily.  I thought it would be problematic, and I would have to battle her "just popping by" for things.  However,   now that we have survived an almost entire year together, I'm really fortunate that she's at school with me.  I love watching her during assemblies, like the recent TorQ percussion group from Canada, and then afterward being able to understand her stories about it.  I love knowing her classmates, and their parents, so that playdates are more comfortable (it comes in handy, especially, when their siblings are my students so that I get a truthful, honest full report on Emily's antics!) .

Yesterday was a good, fun day in Twin.  We dropped dad off at a gun range, and then headed into town from there.  We started off walking along the canyon, and watched 4 BASE jumpers go off the bridge.  Then it was off to a dog park so the dogs could stretch their legs.  Then it was lunch with Dad, a few errands, and then another trip to the bowling alley, this time it was a heated game between Emily and Aaron.  We ended with getting the RV out of winter storage, and Emily planning the first camping trip of the year for next weekend! (We'll see, there's rain in the forecast)