Emma's 8 Was Great!

Emma took her friends skating to celebrate her birthday.  She loves to roller blade and looks like the Energizer bunny going round and round.



The roller skate cake complete with chocolate dipped Oreo wheels.

 

(New pierced ears taken on my phone!)  Emma got her ears pierced on her birthday right after school.  This is something she has been looking forward to for years.  I think it stung more than she expected, but she was very brave.  Afterwards, we got ice cream and she said, "Mom, it was totally worth it!"



And the highlight of this birthday was that Emma was baptized a few days later.  In the weeks leading up to her baptism, we talked a lot about baptism and what it means.  I told her all about my own baptism and the feelings I had and the things I remember.  Emma was so excited going into the church.  She was happy to proclaim her discipleship to Christ by taking upon His name.  She asked to say her own prayer in the dressing room right before the ordinance and vocalized her covenants out loud.  It is a wonderful thing to watch her developing her faith and personal relationship with the Savior.

We had so many family members there and the program was just perfect.  Everyone had a part: Mimi played the piano, Ryan said the opening prayer, Madeline recited the 4th Article of Faith, Emma and I sang a duet, Nana and Uncle Jakob gave talks, dad performed the baptism with Papa and Grandpa Stobbe as witnesses, and Papa confirmed Emma with the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  All in all, it was a pretty special day. 



Emma, Mom, and Nana



Papa, Mimi, Dad, Ryan, Mom, Madeline, Emma, and Uncle Jakob.



I love this age!  Emma is such a light with her enthusiasm, quick mind, and kindness.  She truly stands out in a crowd.





 Her two favorite things right now are Science and Art.  She always has a project going on the kitchen table and some sort of flower/seed/rock collection in her pocket.  We are so lucky to have her in our lives.

Home school has overtaken my blogging presence.

But just because I haven't been blogging, doesn't mean we haven't been partying like rockstars.  Mormon rockstars, that is.  So going all the way back to December- here are a few highlights from Miss Madeline's birthday.  She turned the big 5, so on her birthday we took some friends and went to the Festival of Trees.

She was excited to sit on Santa's lap.  Apparently, whatever she told him was super funny...

She and all her friends had their nails painted, their faces painted, and got to make cute little ornaments.

Ryan even stood inside a huge bubble...

And later that evening, we went home and celebrated with Rainbow Cake.

Madeline brings us so much joy.  By nature, she is a peace maker.  Her preschool teacher was amazed when another little girl had taken Madeline's toy away and the teacher had asked them to work it out.  The girl who took the toy pouted and turned her back, and then Madeline said, "I'm so frustrated!  But I can still forgive." 

Madeline loves books and being read to.  She is also quite a good reader when she feels like taking the time to sound out the words.  She loves her hair and brushing it and wants it to be as long as Rapunzel's.  She also loves having her nails painted, going to dance class, and showing us leaps, tricks, and headstands for hours on end.  She loves to pick out her own clothes, but won't put on a dress now because that would wreck the aforementioned headstand trick.  She tries to keep up with Emma's pace and wants to do everything Emma does.  For the most part, Emma tolerates it well and they are best friends.  My heart swells with joy as I watch her grow, and yet aches like only a mother knows.  Having my baby turn 5 was so hard.

Scripture Humor

Ryan as he was eating ice cream and playing his new Math DS game:

"I love this so much, I'm going to marry it."

(Mom) "What are you talking about- your math game or the ice cream?"

(Ryan) "Both. They're awesome."

(Emma) "No Ryan, you can only marry one person."

(Ryan) "Well then, I'll just have to have a concubine."

What?????? We died. But hey, at least they are getting something from the scriptures.

Giving Thanks

This is how we spent Thanksgiving at my mom's house this year...

For the month leading up to Thanksgiving, our family added our blessings to the "Thankful Jar." It was super fun to count our blessings and read everything that was submitted. We are surely blessed!

"Dear Santa" by Madeline

Dear Santa,

Thanks for all of the presents. Oh, and I want something. But what could I have?

I want a magical pen.

I actually want a real mermaid.

One more thing- a shooting star.

OK- Love,
Madeline

(Hmmm... I wonder if Santa can figure out something on her list?)

October Wrap-up

This year, we spent a day at Gardner Village with our cousins participating in the scavenger hunt, "Which Witch?" The kids had a lot of fun spotting all the different witches and Halloween displays and earned a cookie from the Bakery for their diligence. Ryan, Ethan, Abby, Emma, Jade, Madeline.

Petting zoo.

The girls and I decided to make Halloween silhouettes for our windows. I also made a big witch flying on a broom to put in the big window above the door, but I forgot to take a picture! (I love how Ryan is shooting me in this picture.)
On Halloween, Jen and her kids came down and we made doughnuts to feed friends and neighbors. This is something my mom did every year when I was growing up, and I think it's a tradition worth keeping!

I think there were 8 dozen dougnuts and lots of chocolate glaze! To be honest, this was more work than I expected. But when our kids came back from Trick-or-Treating, they were ecstatic because the word on the street was about the awesome "doughnut house" and they were proud.

Here are the costumes for the year:

Miss Madeline was SilverMist (TinkerBell's friend).

Emma got to wear a costume that Peg made years ago for one of her girls.

We added a wig, makeup, and a nose and she was the cutest clown ever. Thanks Mimi!

Both Ryan and Ethan were Harry Potter this year so they had fun doing spells together all night long.

Occupation Day

Emma decided she wanted to dress up like a Scientist for "What-You-Want-To-Be-When-You-Grow-Up day." Her favorite thing to do is explore nature, dissect something, or collect insects, flowers, rocks etc. She also loves to take notes about what she observes. Once I found a notebook where she had written her observations about a low-hanging icicle and she described it with words like "cold, glittering, hard, smooth, wet." And another time I found a notebook that she had used while "spying" on me while I was making dinner. It said: "Likes to cook, answered the phone, wearing a ponytail and earrings." Not only does she love to learn, but she is a natural whiz, so we think she would make a perfect Scientist someday.Note the sparkly purple feather pen. She was super excited about her costume until her teacher made her put her props in her desk (so they wouldn't "be a distraction") and some boys said she must want to be a Nerd when she grows up. The same boys soon had everyone on the playground calling her a nerd and the poor thing came home in tears. So at the age of 7, my daughter learned that it's no fun to be smart (something I did my best to rectify). Everyone thought the girls who dressed up like rockstars were so "cool." Yeah- it's this sort of thing that really makes me want to homeschool.