Emma's Actual Birthday

Emma started her "real" birthday off with a couple of gifts from her cousins. What a great surprise to have gifts waiting at your breakfast spot, first thing in the morning! At school, Emma and her friends were treated to a couple of stories read by her Nana and then a cookie cake. We could tell that Emma was loving every minute of it, but was rather shy about getting so much attention!

After school, we picked up Subway subs and headed for the park. There we had lunch, played on the playground and visited the ducks and geese. We were hoping to take a boat ride, but no one was at the rental booth. Huge bummer!

Since we had already overloaded on cake a few days earlier during her party, we opted to buy a couple special desserts for the evening. Emma enjoyed a berry creme brulee with a couple of sparkly candles on top.

It was a great birthday and having Nana to share it with made it even more special.

Halloween 2007

I guess I have gotten enough inquiries about Halloween and the kids' costumes that I have decided to actually take the time to blog it. I have been so wrapped up in entertaining, holidays, birthdays, etc., that I just haven't been blogging much lately. Sorry out there!

So, I have to say that this was probably one of the best Halloweens ever! Will had early release from school, so we were able to have some time to goof off before "getting ready". We also decided to have a neighborhood party here this year. We started early, at 5:00, so the little ones in the neighborhood could have a chance to trick-or-treat before bedtime and before dark. It worked out great! Allan made his famous ginormous batch of chili in the King Cooker. We also had hot dogs and any type of beverage imaginable. Neighbors brought all kinds of snacks and yummy treats. It was incredibly warm, so we had the feast in the garage (yeah, no mess!). The kids had a ball trick-or-treating at the 13 or so houses in the neighborhood. Just the right amount for our little ones! It was a really nice evening and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. We then had the next two days off school, so it was a great beginning to our Fall Break.

Here are some pictures of the kids in their get-ups.

Will, aka Harry Potter.

Jack the pirate. And, Miss Emma as Ariel. Gotta love that long red hair!

Jack enjoys one of Miss Pat's popcorn balls. You can't tell very well from the picture, but trust me, his whole face was orange and sticky! Yes, I, Tanna, allowed sugar before bedtime. Shocking!

Emma is FIVE!

Our little princess has turned five years old! We just can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were in the delivery room with lots of nursing students watching (and crying behind their clipboards). Then, Allan and I got to hold our new baby girl. She was so tiny compared to Will. And we were worried to death about her foot being all bent up and the bright red birthmark on her chest. Little did we know what a feisty, confident little lady she would become! Well, with Will as her brother, we had some idea!

To celebrate, Emma decided to invite her neighborhood girlfriends over for cake and ice cream. Actually, she had it in her head that she was having a big party with lots of friends and activities like some of the parties that she had been to. We played the "party" up big and she was so excited, she could hardly sleep for a week! To top it all off, Nana came to help celebrate! Emma was in heaven! We had the celebration a few days before her actual birthday because Allan was going to be in New Hampshire during her birthday. It was a gorgeous day and everyone had fun playing with Barbies. In case you don't have a daughter or are living under a rock, Island Princess Barbie is just THE thing right now. Emma got the Barbie Princess, her prince and the video. I think she is set now!

Emma with her Barbie cake
I think Jack is ready to eat the cake!
FINALLY a boy Barbie to play with. No more girls kissing girls!
Emma and her friends, Jordan, Abby and Cassidy

Spiders

I hate spiders. I dislike them even more since it is believed that I was bit by a brown recluse last summer. They just aren't my friends.

That being said, Will, the bug enthusiast, came to Allan and I and told us that there was a Black Widow spider in our water meter. I obviously was not about to check things out. Allan gave Will the old "OK, we'll check it out later" response. To be quite blunt, neither of us believed the child.

The next day, after hearing about this Black Widow in our water meter a million times, Allan decided to go take a look see. Given that Will IS a bug enthusiast, I have to ask myself, "WHY did we not believe him and check it out immediately?" Lo and behold, there really was a Black Widow spider in that water meter. Scary! Allan disposed of it and life went on.

No joke, not two days later, I was working in the flower bed, donning my flip flops, when I caught something out of the corner of my eye, down by my feet. I moved on, but then came back. What I saw freaked me out. It was ANOTHER Black Widow, with an egg sack tucked into the bottom of a tree stump!!!! I quickly used an entire can of wasp spray trying to make that nasty thing die.

Now, here we are, a couple of weeks later and Will came running like a lunatic, requesting that I check out the spider on the zip line. I should have learned my lesson the first time. I didn't and put him off once again. It just happened that I went to use the zip line and found this gigantic orange, black and white spider hanging from it. Will and I did some research and found that it was a type of garden spider. It looked like the picture below.

I know spiders do good, but I wish they did it in someone else's yard.

I Played Football!

Tonight was an absolute riot at Will's football practice. As usual, I parked my chair alongside the other mom's and started up our usual mom banter (yes, I admit that it is banter). Not long into practice, the coach pointed at myself, his wife and another mom and requested our presence on the field. We women, along with about 5 dads, played against the kids. All I can say is, Thank God I wore my sneakers tonight!

We had a BIG time and the boys just LOVED it! I feel that it is only right that I divulge all information about my playing abilities - or lack thereof! I managed to knock a ball away from a receiver, miss a ball that was thrown directly at me, and lunge at a boy that only came up to my kneecap to take away his flag. The kids got a lot of giggles out of a mommy being laid out on the grass to get a flag!

This was, by far, the most fun football practice that Will and I have ever been to. And we both concurred on the way home. You bet kids keep us young!

Football Season.


We are finally into the football season (pee-wee flag football at the YMCA that is). Willster is on the Blue Bulldogs team. He is number 10, not number 4 Bruno (inside joke). Emma is on the Cheer Leading squad. Both groups are for kids from 4 - 7 years old so it is quite a hoot. This weekend Tanna had a sewing class so Dad hit the Y with the 3 munchkins. During the game, Will ran the football with an illegal quarterback sneak. He said that a boy on the yellow team, who he calls "fast legs", caught him from behind. At the same time he was colliding with his blocker and a different kid from the yellow team. Will refers to this incident as the kid explosion. Emma was as cute as ever cheering on the sidelines.

Will and the other boys involved in the kid explosion.

The Cowpokes

Today was cowboy/girl day at Emma's preschool. Luckily, we had most of the gear already. Aunt Janet had given her the boots a couple of years ago (yes, they STILL fit) and she got the bandanna from Vacation Bible School this past summer. We ran out at the last minute to buy the hat and it was the only one the closest store had. Better than nothing!

To be sure, there really isn't anything spectacular about cowboy day at school, other than it gave me a great opportunity to shoot some pictures of my little birds. Emma had the whole posing thing going on. I am beginning to wonder if she hasn't been sneaking up at night to watch that Tyra Banks model show! I sure as heck don't have those moves (anymore!).

As with all other things in life, if Emma does it, Jack has to do it. So, the hat went on him and up on the twisted tree he went. I know they are my kids, but they really were cute! A neighbor even caught us during the photo shoot. Luckily, he knows what a nut I am, so he didn't question the fact that I was taking pictures of my kids in a tree.

Here's what we came up with:

The arm in the air is Emma pretending to be throwing a lasso!