Reindeer in April?

Amelia loves Christmas music and listens to it all year round. She decided to break out her reindeer ears today during Jingle Bells and put them on Emery! It's very cute, but I'm getting tired of Christmas music :)

Happy Birthday Ian!

Ian's 33rd birthday was on Easter (which was a little weird to me considering Jesus died when he was 33- just a weird coincidence) Anyway, each year I "make" Ian a card. He's always loved getting cards and likes to keep them stored away. A few years ago I got the idea to make him a scrapbook card. So, each year I make a card (scrapbook page) to go in his scrapbook. I pick out my fav pic(s) from the year and write him a little note. Here's a picture of his scrapbook and this year's card. It's the first time Amelia particpated. She wrote her name on a punched out peice of paper and drew him a heart. She also made him his own card just from her. By the way, he keeps his scrapbook in his office at work which I think is really sweet.

Happy Easter

better late than never! I should be packing right now....

Easter egg hunt and the Easter Bunny at preschool




All dressed up and racing around the kitchen island.




The girls on Easter. Last year Macie had a broken arm in this pic. Glad there are no casts this time!




It took Emery about 30 seconds to figure out how to open an egg and get 5 jelly beans in her mouth all at once!




Family picture on Easter. Amelia was very confused that I did not wear a fancy dress and shoes. I explained I don' t have a fancy dress or shoes. "Go buy some," she said!

Where do they learn this stuff?

Today, Amelia had a field trip to The Court which is a care facility for elderly people with Alzheimer's. They kids went with their Easter baskets and the residents gave them candy. The kids had made them cards as well and handed those out to them. Well, the first time around the circle Emery was in her stroller and not to into it.

After one trip around the circle Amelia decided she wanted to play, so I took Emery out of her stroller and we went walking. She had a tiny chicky cloth bag from Easter last year that she was carrying. She would walk up to a resident and sign "please". Then, wait for them to put the candy in her bag, or she would take it and put it in her bag herself. She would sign "thank you" laugh and clap at herself and move onto the next resident. Did I mention her bag was drapped over her arm like a purse? All her doing. Anyway, at the end of that round her bag was overflowing.

She knew we had made it back to the beginning of the circle so she started rummaging around in her bag for candy. All of the candy was chocolate and half melted so like any good mother I took the bag and candy away from her. She pitched the biggest fit to date in her 15 month exsitence. The fit included her running away from me toward the residents because they were going to save her- HA.

I finally got her calmed down and gave her back her empty bag. One important note: the residents were giving the kids candy from cute polka dot Easter paper bags. Well, smarty pants spied one next to a sweet lady and immediately went over to her. She picked up the paper bag and handed it to the women and held up her bag with a look on her face that said, "Fill 'er up lady." The lady put the paper bag on the ground and tried to pick Emery up. Emery refused, picked up the paper bag and handed it to the lady again. Again, the same face, "Fill it up now!"

So I asked the nice lady if she would give Emery some candy, so for about 5 minutes the lady would give her a peice, she'd put it in her bag and hold out her hand again for more. Another full bag of candy. I won't even go into what happened when I took that bag away and put her back in the stroller to leave, let's just say I'm missing some hair :)

But, I was just amazed that she picked up on what was happening so quickly and that she didn't just dive into the bag herself, but "asked" the sweet lady to give her some. The residents loved having the kids and the kids loved it as well. Now if only I'd remembered my camera.....

The Skinny, The 411, Info Download

OK- call it whatever you'd like. It's been too long since I've blogged so I thought I'd get caught up.

NUMBER 1
Conversation today in the bathroom while Amelia was brushing her teeth and watching her every move in the mirror.

Amelia: My hair is getting really bright in that one spot
Me: Yeah, the sun will lighten it up.
A: My blond hair makes me special
M: Yes, what else makes you special?
A: I'm sweet, kind to my sister, and obedient
A: I love my life. I really do. I have a great mom, a great dad, and a cool sister. I love my life.

WOW- that made me smile :)

NUMBER 2
Emery has been a pill lately. She does not want me to put her down and is only content at night after a bath. I think I'm going to start bathing her every hour until her skin dries up if that's what it takes to make her happy! She insists on getting a hold of whatever Amelia has. If Amelia is playing with her Ariel Barbie Emery wants it. Amelia is being VERY patient with her and gave her the doll. Then Amelia picked up another toy. Emery threw down Ariel and cried for the new toy. Amelia gave it to her and picked up Ariel again. Emery threw down the toy and cried for Ariel. You can see where this endless cycle is going.... poor Amelia she can't win unless Emery is napping!

NUMBER 3
We took the girls to Rocky Point, MX this past weekend. We went to see the family we built for in Feb and to expose Amelia to a different country before we head to Africa in 2 weeks (call it a trial run). We had an AMAZING trip. The family was so excited to see us and we were able to take them grocery shopping which was really fun. However, I had major sticker shock. I expected the prices to be lower. Wrong. 2 dozen eggs cost $4. Everything was very comparable to what we pay here. It's crazy to me that they survive on $100/week salary with prices like that. And the father of this family is unemployed right now- YIKES. I guess because it's a tourist town the prices are high because we go vacation there and pay it. It's made me re-think my $450/month grocery budget and be very grateful for what's in my pantry!

Everyone there loved the girls. They kept saying "amarillo y azul" "blond and blue" referring to their hair and eyes. They were just blown away by how adorable they are. Amelia played with their kids age 9, 7 and 5. Games and flying kites are the same no matter your country or language!

A few funny things from the trip. Amelia asked me how to say chicken in spanish because they have 2 chickens they keep for eggs. I said "pollo." That's the only chicken I've ever known. Well the laughing and shocked faces started as they explained to me that only dead chickens you are getting ready to eat are called "pollo." Live chickens are "gallinas." So I apologized profusely to the chickens for offending them and we all had a good laugh. Guess you'll never learn the language if you don't try!

Going down to Mexico Amelia kept asking "Are we in Mexico yet?" We explained that we had to go through a big gate in a fence and then we would be in MX. Well, when we crossed the border we were both quiet, curious what she would say. Then she said it, "Wow, it's really disorganized here" HA- from a 5 year old.

One final note: I know people were worried about the border situation and our trip. Ian and I did as much homework as we could on the issue and could not ID any threats going into Sonoyta, which is where you cross the border to get to Rocky Point. We did cross the border both directions in the light. We did not see anything that made us uncomfortable or second guess our decision. That said, please don't go to MX because I told you it was safe- that's your own deal.

NUMBER 4
Emery's latest "words"

Mo = more
Mi = milk
Whifffff = woof for sound a dog makes
Head bob up and down w/smile = yes
Emphatic head shake side to side w/scowl = no

Signs she can do
Please
Thank You (latest one learned)
More
She can not grasp "all finished" even though we've been working on it for months- Oh well.