Pirates

If you know Emma you know she loves pirates and has for a very very long time (uh pirate birthday party, pirate for halloween, pirate toys anyone?). So, in case you were wondering, she is still in full swing with her love of all things pirate. Her new favorite movie is Peter Pan, and one of her favorite rides at Disneyland was Pirates of the Carribbean. So, today I walked past her room and heard her playing. First she said Captain Hook, and then while holding a sword, pointed it at a pirate build-a-bear bunny she has, and told him in a piratey voice to walk the plank. She then picked up the bunny and made an eeeeeeeek type sound and dropped him into the water (onto the carpet) with a loud splash sound. She then found her costume from last Halloween and wanted to put it on. Oh dear, at this rate she will be a pirate every halloween. Admittedly she does make the cutest pirate I've ever seen. Just to show you I'm not making this up, here are some pirate pictures from the past.

Sharing

To celebrate the end of our move we went out to dinner tonight. Afterwards I wanted to get Eric his favorite treat - a DQ Blizzard. Emma of course shared with him and loved it. Not long ago Emma found a small picture of the Savior and it made its way into the car. She likes to hold it as we drive along. She was holding it as she enjoyed the blizzard treat, and said to Eric while holding out the picture, "Jesus take a bite." So, in answer to the often posed question 'what would you do if Jesus were sitting next to you', Emma would share a frozen dessert.

Finally

Well, it's finally done. We are officially finished moving! Yeah!! That doesn't mean we are organized or anything. I just mean that all of our stuff (and we had a lot) is now with us, and we have returned the keys to our previous landlord. I am so happy I could cry...again. =) I hate moving. Okay, I don't know anyone who likes it all that much, but come on! It never ends! I don't know how we got so much stuff, but it's insane. And the problem is, even after getting rid of several carloads of things big and small, the remaining stuff is all stuff we need now or will in the near future. AHHHHHH! I feel better now. And I will feel much better after everything is out of boxes and I know where my things and Emma's things are. Right now it's all a mess, but I'm trying to stay positive. So hooray for having all our stuff here and being done with moving.

Happy (late) Easter

I hope you all had a great Easter. As I mentioned in a previous post, we weren't going to be doing much. We were going to go to church, but then an hour before realized that Eric hadn't brought up his nice clothes or ties or anything yet, so he didn't have anything to wear. I know he could've gone in jeans, but we opted to stay home. Maybe we were wrong, but it's water under the bridge now. We managed to find some of our Easter stuff and put a basket together for Emma. She loved it. One of her favorite things was the Egg Filled with Bunnies (like a barrell of monkeys). She thinks it's funny how their ears hook together. We hunted for eggs in the backyard, and she wanted to stop and eat the contents of each egg before proceeding. I guess she didn't have much competition to worry about. We had a nice dinner and just relaxed as a family, which was a first in a long time for us. Now back to moving and unpacking. Yuck.

Another Post About Emma

If you've been reading my blog, by now you know that Emma loves to sing. This morning she was helping wash some dishes. She was holding a spatula and playing in the water while singing Row Row Row Your Boat. When it was time to wash some of her cups, she started singing Row Row Row the Cup. Maybe you had to be there, but it was very funny.

Bad Timing

I love celebrating holidays and trying to come up with fun things for us to do, especially Emma. Halloween is probably our best as far as decorations go, and that might be because it's Eric's favorite holiday. There was a really fun idea that I wanted to do for St. Patrick's Day this year, but wasn't able to because of our impending move (we actually started moving things yesterday). I wanted to have a mischievous Leprechaun visit our house. He would have made some messes in various places which we would have discovered when we woke up. It would have been fun, but our house is already in a state of chaos. The only way we would have noticed that anyone or anything was here is if they organized all the boxes etc. And I don't know how they would've done that...there are a lot of boxes.

I also feel a little guilty thinking about Easter. Last year we had a nice basket for Emma and we did several things to celebrate, but this year Easter comes the day after we move all our furniture and remaining small things. It's just bad timing, but we aren't really going to be able to celebrate this year. I don't mind for me - just going to church and reading in the scriptures a little will be all I need (and that's easy stuff to do, especially on a Sunday), but I feel bad for Emma. We haven't even been talking about it lately, so I don't think she even knows what it is (I doubt she remembers from last year). This move is just coming at a bad time as far as celebrating holidays goes.

I guess I'm feeling a little like a neglectful mother lately, and yes, I've been a little preoccupied with moving. Emma has been a little angel all through this process so far. She hasn't complained as the boxes have multiplied, or as her toys have been moved all around or even blocked off so she can't play with them. She is just so wonderful, and then I feel even worse about the little things that haven't been happening lately, like spending as much time reading with her as usual. I suppose it's inevitable for the short term, but the "missed" holidays are hard. I will probably still try to have a basket for her on sunday, but that'll be the extent of what I'll be able to do this year. So sad. I know that Emma probably won't notice either way, but I still feel bad. Oh well, I guess this is just one of the "joys" of moving, right?

Lucky Charms

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I hope the luck of the Irish is with you today. Just for fun here is a little info behind the most well-known symbols of luck.

Rabbit's foot: There are several versions of the legend. One derived from African-American folklore syas that the hind foot of a rabbit captured in a cemetery is believed to confer luck when carried.




Rainbow: In ancient Greek and Roman mythology, the rainbow was the symbol of Iris, the messenger of the gods. In Native American culture, a rainbow is seen as a gift from the sun god.




Pot of Gold: The Irish legend says if you catch a leprechaun, he must take you to his treasure at the end of a rainbow. (They are fabled to trick their captors into looking away, then vanishing before reaching the gold.)






Horseshoe: As the story goes, the Catholic figure Saint Dunstan of Canterbury, known for his skill in horseshoeing, held the devil captive until he agreed never to enter a place where a horseshoe was displayed.





Shooting star: An old New Orleans Creole superstition says that shooting stars are souls escaping purgatory, and if you see one and make a wish three times before it disappears, the wish will come true.





Four-leaf clover: Celtic Druids considered this rare type of clover lucky for its finder. According to one legend, the four leaflets have different meanings: hope, faith, love, and luck.

Boxes Boxes Everywhere...

I think, therefore I am...sick of packing! Packing is a horrible thing to inflict on movers. We are already moving, isn't that enough??!! Doesn't that come with enough stress and worry already?! My sister told me the other day about a list she saw with packing and moving tips, and it started something like 5 months before your moving date. Uh...we're in trouble if it really takes that long. We've been working on it for maybe a month. Before that we were getting rid of stuff we didn't want or need anymore. Holy cow - there is still a lot of stuff. How do you get rid of more? If we had a billion dollars (I bet you'd all like me more) I wouldn't worry as much about getting rid of stuff that I might someday need or want, because then I could just buy it all again. I'm not talking about being a pack-rat, but I'm talking about things that I will use (some of which I've wanted to use already, and just don't have the space to do so easily - like an electric griddle). I am waiting to have a decent size kitchen, which I am doubting exits. Until then, I have things I can't really use very easily, but don't want to get rid of. I'm talking about wedding presents people!! I have enough stuff for a full size kitchen, but I have never had one. Hopefully after our current move is done, we will be able to focus on a more permanent location. Keep your fingers crossed.

Only if you're interested...

The other day a young man in our ward told me he'd found love. I was thrilled for him. He's been looking for quite awhile now. He's been doing everything he could to put himself out there, has been doing everything he could to make sure he's a good person, and just hadn't found "her" yet. This is the case with a lot of people. My ward has quite a large number of young single adults who are awesome, and just haven't met their match yet. It doesn't mean that he's/she's not out there either. I asked this young man where he had met his girl, and he told me it was the same way his brother had met his wife...online. I was a little surprised, and yet not surprised. I asked him what site he had used, and he told me three different ones he had used. He told me he liked them, and would suggest them to anyone else who wanted to give it a try. He encouraged me to pass the word along. Not knowing where everyone is in their personal life and what anyone has or has not already tried, I decided to list the links here. If you're interested, great, and good luck. If not, just stay tuned for the next post. I don't have any personal experience with meeting people this way, so I can't say anything either way. Here are the links if you're interested:
http://www.ldsmingle.com/
http://www.ldssingles.com/
http://www.ldsplanet.com/

Cool Idea

I found this doll house idea and had to share it with you. This might even be fun for those of you with boys. You can be creative and find a way for it to work for them. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.In our March issue (making its way to mailboxes and newsstands right now), Cookie's market editor, Meryl Levin, describes how she made a dollhouse for her niece out of foam core board. She put graphic wrapping paper on the walls, cut clocks and pictures of out of catalogs and "framed" them with Sharpie, and her niece filled the rooms with her own toys. Not only is it almost as fun to personalize as to play with, it also stores flat, and can even travel with her to Grandma's house! If you want to try this yourself, here's how Meryl did it (use the diagram below as a reference):1. Start with a piece of 20"x30" foam core board (a standard size at art-supply stores), and using a box cutter and a T-square or yardstick, cut 10 inches off of the longer end to make a 20"x20" square.2. Cut the board horizontally right across the middle to create two 10"x20" rectangles.3. Measure 10 inches across the bottom of one rectangle, and cut a notch 1/4-inch wide and 2 inches tall. At the top of the second rectangle, make a notch the same size.4. At the bottom of both rectangles, measure 4 1/2 inches from both ends, and cut doorways 2 inches wide and 5 inches tall.5. Slide the notches into each other to form the x-shaped house.

A Child's Prayer

Emma has a very detailed bedtime routine. Part of it is reading and singing. She loves loves loves to read and sing. I don't know how she learns songs so fast, and her books are all practically memorized. The last thing we do before she climbs into bed is say a prayer together. Sometimes Eric or I say the prayer, but usually Emma says it's her turn. She loves saying the prayer. She always thanks Heavenly Father for books and songs, and usually thanks Him for Grandma and Papa too. She loves her grandparents!! Sometimes, depending on what we've done lately, she'll thank Him for certain other people. Usually she says thank you for Mommy and Daddy - and I promise it's unprompted! For some crazy reason she likes us. A couple weeks ago she said a couple of the funniest prayers yet. The first night she said "thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Emma, Disneyland. Thank you for red car, mommy's purse, daddy's big shoes, and Emma's diapers." The following night she said, "thank you for red, orange, yellow,..." and proceeded to name all the colors she could think of. Anytime that Eric and I are in a hurry to get her into bed she seems to say a really long prayer. I think it's just a reminder to us that some things are worth taking some extra time for. There is nothing I love more than to listen to Emma say a prayer. And the wierder the better, because it means she's thinking outside the box of what we've taught her and is really thankful for those things. She makes me laugh all the time. I couldn't ask for a better little girl. She's my little angel.

San Diego Zoo

On our last day we drove down to San Diego again, this time to go to the zoo. It's a really neat zoo. It was nice letting Emma see some animals she's never seen before. Our zoo here isn't the biggest. She loved the Polar Bears (which she had seen at Sea World), the Panda Bears, the blue Macaws, the hippos, the koalas, and the monkeys. She liked riding the sky tram and the bus. She fed a goat in the petting zoo, and we had a characature drawn of her. After several hours, we left for home. Our trip was so much fun, and well worth the time and effort. Emma is the perfect age for this, and she had a ball. When we finally got home, she was crying because she didn't want to get out of the car...that meant our trip was done. She was wonderful the whole time, even though she went without her naps and got less sleep at night than usual. I wish we could do it all again. Ever since getting home she hasn't stopped talking about the things we did and saw. To me, that's the best reward - knowing how much she enjoyed it all.

Knottsberry Farm

We decided to get together with Dave and Janna again and go to Knottsberry Farm. Jack and Ashley were able to join us too. It was definately off-season for them. The park was empty. We didn't have to wait for anything. I went on my first roller coaster where you hang from the track instead of ride on top of it. It was fun. I love coasters, and the faster the better. I'm not the biggest fan of those towers that lift you up and then drop you though. I'll do them, and they are fun, but not my favorite. The kiddie area had some awesome rides. Emma had so much fun with Ethan all day. They were so cute sitting on the rides together, almost always the only ones on them. One of the scariest shows I've ever seen was in Camp Snoopy (the kiddie area). They had Charlie Brown, Lucy, and some other girl singing songs and "dancing" on stage. Most of the kids in the audience were terrified of them instead of excited to see them. I know I was scared. There were other fun things for the adults though. Besides just hanging out (which was nice and relaxing), there were the coasters, water rides (which I didn't go on - it was kind of cold), and the boys just being boys together. David and Eric had fun together, and David even forcibly dunked Eric's head into a fountain. It was so much fun being with them for a couple days and doing so many fun things together.

The Beach and WICKED

On Wednesday we didn't go into a theme park, so it was kind of our day off. Eric's brother and family came into town so we met up with them. We went to the beach in Seal Park. It was a nice beach, and not very crowded. Of course it's February, so I'm sure that helped the crowds. It was a very warm day, and the sun was beating us to death so we didn't stay very long. Emma and I don't do too well in the sun for a long time. Our skin is too fair. It doesn't help that we weren't incredibly prepared either. Emma was being so weird - she didn't want to stand in the water herself, but she wanted us to hold her while we stood in the water. She loved the water, but it was too cold or she didn't like the waves or something. Hopefully when she gets older she'll be more like her cousin. Ethan was running and jumping and getting all wet within seconds of being there. We found starfish and shells on the beach, and Emma thought they were cool. There was a playground next to the beach and the kids played there for a little while after we left the beach, even though it wasn't a very good escape from the sun. We went to lunch, and then we had to run back to our hotel to change clothes. Thank goodness for family!! Janna's brother and his wife were able to watch the kids for us so we could all go to L.A. and see Wicked. It was fabulous. If you haven't heard the music or seen it, do. The music is great and it is so fun. It's the kind of show that would never come here. It was fun walking around and seeing some of the stars on Hollywood Blvd, but it wasn't the greatest neighborhood. It made for a late night, but it was awesome!!

Sea World

I've never been to Sea World before, and neither has Eric. So we were both excited to go. Emma loves fish and all animals, so we knew she would enjoy herself. First thing we did was to see the dolphin show. Emma loved it. She liked the dolphins, penguins, and sharks best. We saw the Shamu show, and the whales were cool, but the trainers were so cheesy. The show itself wasn't the greatest. It was literally almost too cheesy for me to handle. Apparently during peak season they have more than one show, and the evening ones are really good. Emma liked seeing the whales, but she became distracted by peeing through her diaper on her daddy's lap. Kids are so much fun. On our way home we stopped by the San Diego Temple. It's just magnificent. The day was perfect too. Someday we want to go back with someone else so we can go do a session and leave Emma outside. It was a long day, but really fun.

Disneyland

Yeah!! We are home from our trip. It was fabulous, long, and so much fun. Emma loved it. We did so much while we were in California. The next several posts will be about the different things we did. This first one will be about Disneyland (which we did over several non-consecutive days).

Last time she was at Disneyland Emma was too little to notice or remember anything. This time she went already loving Mickey and his pals, and very excited to meet them. She met tons of them, and the lines weren't even that bad. She met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Captain Hook, Captain Jack Sparrow, Mary Poppins, Sully, Winnie the Pooh, Eyeore, Tigger, Chip & Dale, Baloo, & Merlin. She met and saw tons more (just about all of them), but these are the only ones we actually stopped to take pictures with. She loved the rides, and the only crying or complaining on her part was when we had to get off a ride, never because of the ride. She's a tough kid. She even liked the Matterhorn, which we were very excited to find out she's tall enough for. Her favorite rides were the Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Pirates of the Carribean, and the Haunted Mansion. She loved all the rides she went on though. Eric andhad fun too. Who doesn't like Disneyland?!! Here are a bunch of Disneyland pictures.