OPA!

This weekend was the annual Greek Fest-good food, music, Greek dancing, and lots of people! Friday Matt was volunteering at the drink tent; so when Emma got up from her nap, I packed up and loaded both babies in the car and off we went! There was a big playground that Emma was so excited to play on and we stayed there for about 45 minutes until I bribed her away with ice cream. Beside the ice cream, a little girl was selling candy bracelets, necklaces and capri suns. That was all Emma needed to see-out went the plan for ice cream, bring on the candy! We were waiting on Matt to have a break to get some yummy food-especially the Greek donuts! Too bad the rain had other plans-the sky was getting black and our car wasn't exactly close. I decided it would be best to trek back to the car and as I was getting to the car the bottom fell out. We all got soaked and settled for some chicken nuggets for dinner and Matt brought us some donuts when he got home.
We decided on round two around 5 Saturday and I made sure to get some chicken Slovakia as soon as we got there so I wouldn't miss out again! We played on the playground a little more and Emma got more bracelets as the rain started again. This time we were under the tent with the music and dancing. After Emma finished a bracelet she wanted to dance and boy did she dance! She was spinning around and jumping all over the stage for a good 45 minutes and she was having the time of her life. Luke enjoyed the music too and they both slept very well that night!

Crawfish Broil and Mother's Day

Saturday was a beautiful day and we spent it outside at a Crawfish Broil eating way too much good food! This is an annual event put on by Matt's coworkers and we went two years ago when Emma was a newborn and had a great time-despite the LIVE crawfish crawling around! Matt and I were both curious as to how Emma would react to them and anxious to find out. Let's just say Emma is not as squirmish as her Mom-she wasn't phased by them at all. Even when Matt put one right in her face. There were a bunch of kids running around all over the place and Emma had a great time watching them and trying to keep up with whatever they were doing. Everyone was worn out after a long day, and we all went to bed early.
Sunday morning I was able to sleep in for a little while before church and I was awoken to a nice cup of coffee, two dressed and ready children, two sweet cards and some pretty pink flowers. After church we headed to Grandmommy's house for a Christmas Dinner in May. Yes, we had all the fixings-turkey, mashed potatoes, even stuffing and of course Dewey's cake squares. It was a nice relaxing end to the weekend and of course I forgot my camera! It really is amazing how much more stuff you need to get out the door with two kids these days!!

It's Starting to Smell Like Summer!

What great weather we had this weekend! Saturday, Emma got her new kiddie pool and we set it up for her after she got up from her nap. She was a little uneasy about it at first. But soon enough she was having a blast! She kept calling it her bathtub and didn't want to put her bathing suit on-so her first dip was a naked one! She didn't get to play in it until about 4; so it was getting cooler and her little lips were turning purple, but she did not want to get out. When we did finally get her out, we headed to the Dairio for some yummy hot dogs and fries. Emma ate her entire hot dog (very rare) and part of Matt's. We couldn't go to the Dairio without getting some ice cream, so we got a large chocolate dipped cone and Emma attacked it! I've never seen her eat anything the way she went after that cone. It was too funny!! We ended up having to get another cone and some crazy colored vanilla ice cream.
Sunday was a bit of a lazy day and Nonnie, Poppie, Christine and Elle came over for a cookout. Emma was very happy to see her cousin and neither one of them ended up eating any dinner because they were too busy playing. We FINALLY managed to get a family photo too!

Shoes, Songs and Summertime!

SHOES-Anyone that has spent any time with Emma, knows her obsession with shoes-especially ones that are too big. She LOVES wearing her many different shoes. So much, in fact, that more often than not she sleeps in a pair. And that means stinky feet for this little girl. Don't even think that you can leave your shoes laying around and her not bring them to you to wear. And forget about going outside without shoes on-she will have none of that! Her favorite pair happens to be 3 sizes too big, VERY pink, and she asks for them everyday. We have been able to hide them for little periods of time, until she sees them in a picture or she starts asking every five minutes for them. I found another pair of shoes in the attic that are only one size too big and they have a red trim with different colored little hearts all over them. These are keeping her mind off the pink ones-for a little while at least!
Matt has always said that his boy will never be dressed up like a girl by Emma or anyone else. I dont think he will have to worry about Emma trying to put Luke in her dresses, but I know he will have to watch out for what's on Luke's feet. Last night Emma put her very girly, very big, gold rhinestone shoes on Luke and thought it was so funny.
Hopefully we end up with the same size shoe one day, because I have a feeling I may be stealing some of her shoes!
SONGS-Sometimes our house seems like I'm living in a musical. Matt has always made up silly songs about what he's doing (dishes, cooking, getting dressed, etc) and even more and louder now that Emma is getting older and paying more attention to what he's doing. The songs are always about nothing and just makes you laugh. Well, Emma has picked up on that trait now. She loves singing songs she learns at school-her favorites are Twinkle Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus and Rock a Bye Baby. We were playing with Play Do on Monday and it was time to clean up and she started singing "Clean up, clean up..." Guess we will be having a lot more music around the house!
SUMMERTIME- Summer is by far my favorite time of year! I love the clothes, the shoes, the sun, the pool and of course being tan. :o) Last year, Emma and I spent a lot of time at our pool. She liked to sit on the steps and go back and forth from the toy closet. She probably spent more time walking around the pool, than actually in the pool. This year, I think she will enjoy it even more. I know it's going to be hard to take Luke and Emma to the pool (plus thats a LOT of stuff!!)So, I've decided that we are going to bring the Country Club to us! We'll have a baby pool set up for Emma to splash around in and shade and a fan in the garage for little man to keep cool. Of course there will be music, snacks and chairs for Mama to work on her tan! I have a feeling we may be spending more time at the Rutledge Country Club than at Pinebrook this summer

Kids Say the Darndest Things

We knew a long time ago that Emma loved to be the center of attention-now she strives for it even more with another little person around taking away some of that attention. When she's not trying to be so funny is usually when she really is. I need to start writing down all the funny little one liners she says, because when I try and remember them later, I usually cant! Here are a few I can remember:


Me: Ok Emma, it's time to take a nap
Emma: Awww man!!

Getting our plates ready for Easter lunch-Me: "We can eat our lunch outside today"  Emma: "Oh yes, that will be fine!"

Emma: "Ohh Mommy, you look pretty!" She has said this one a few times to me when I've gotten dressed up more than a t-shirt and jeans and have make-up on/hair fixed and it always melts my heart

Nana: "Emma do you want to stay here with Nana?" Emma: "No, I want to go to the beach" Getting ready to leave Nana's house after talking about Uncle Justin and Aunt Courtney moving to the beach

Horses!

Emma has never ridden a horse before (unless you count the huge hobby horse Oscar or the dog Bella) For Elle's fourth birthday we went to Tanglewood for a picnic and pony rides. She has ridden the carousel at the mall and loves it! So much, in fact, that she cries to ride it every time we go to the mall-meaning I better always have $2 if I take her to the mall with me.
We got up Sunday morning and started talking up the horse rides-not really sure how she would handle getting on a real pony. When we asked her if she wanted to ride a horse, she immediately got very excited and started saying "Ride horsey, up and down, its a white one" Uh oh! This little girl thinks we are riding a pretend horse that goes round and round and up and down! We tried explaining to her it was a REAL horse-fat chance she'd understand that.
Matt stayed home from the party with Luke, because we didn't want to expose him to all the people and all the "stuff" in stables and with horses. So Emma and I headed off to the party and on the way, we had to stop by Target and the grocery store and Emma proceeded to tell anyone who would listen "Ride horsey, go up and down, white horsey"
When we got to Tanglewood, we had about 45 minutes until it was time to ride the pony. Well, Emma could hardly stand it. There were horses all around us (we were at the stables) and she was able to pet a few of them. When it was finally time to go for a ride; I was a little uneasy still that she would have a melt down-but I thought it might be ok because it was just a little pony. And ponies are little and cute, right?
Little pony?? HA! This was a huge horse they were supposed to get on! Great!! But that did not phase her one bit-let's just say Emma loves real horses as much as fake horses!! She was SO excited to see the horse AND it was white! She had a blast!!

What are you doing...

Emma's new favorite phrase these days-about 500 times-is "Mommy, What are you doing, Mom?" or "Daddy, What are you doing, Dad?" She sometimes asks me ten times in one car ride. Where that came from I don't know, but she sure likes to know what Mommy and Daddy are doing at all times!