Requests From Emma

I should be appalled by putting these pictures up so late. But the really appalling thing is that i haven't even had her birthday party yet. Fortunately my Emma is pretty easy going. This is from her actual birthday. She requested Tinkerbell cupcakes (with green frosting) and swimming. That's all she wanted for her birthday. I also came up with a chocolate cake recipe that is yummy and Liam can have. Emma loves chocolate so this was so exciting for her and she had no idea that it was "special" cupcakes. We invited the neighbors over because Emma loves Jordan, who happens to be our babysitter :) So the kids took a break from the pool to eat and then went right back in. It was hot, really hot and the frosting started melting while we were singing and green melting frosting with chocolate cake was a mess! But no one seemed to care except for me, so that was good. I am going to start planning her party this weekend so that we can recover from hers before Page turns 6! Yikes, just the thought of that makes me want to cry :( I need shrinking pills and fast!!!

First Soccer Practice

Okay, way late I know, but I am going to get these pictures up no matter how long it takes me! Here are pictures of Page's first soccer practice. I knew so little about soccer that I didn't even buy her soccer socks! I felt terrible, but she didn't care. She had so much fun. All she cared about was getting a snack after it was over. Have I mentioned that this girl can eat?

Fairy Party

The girls went to a Fairy birthday party a few weeks ago and I thought they were too cute not to post some pictures of them from the day. They had a blast! The hostess was even sweet enough to buy coconut milk ice cream for the girls since they can't have cow's milk. I thought it was really thoughtful of her. (Thanks Arica) In case you can't tell by the expression on Emma's face she really did have so much fun. It just takes her a little while to warm up to large groups of people and I took pictures when we first got there.

Butterfly Bungalow

Emma wanted a pet butterfly for her birthday. And since we had to give the cat away I figured I had better make this happen. (She says that she wants to become a vet so that she can take care of her cats again when she grows up. It is heartbreaking!) Anyway, I found this Butterfly Bungalow. It is a small tent and you send off for your caterpillars. They could hardly stand the wait for them. Once we got them it only took a few days before they made their cocoons and we transferred them to the tent. There in lied the problem. You can't move them much once they are in their cocoons. Are you kidding?! Give 3 small children a really cool tent and tell them not to touch it. NOT going to happen. So we had to lock the tent up in the master bathroom until the butterflies emerged 9 days later. The girls got to go in and sit by the tent and "check" on them each day, but Liam was banned from our bathroom for almost 2 weeks. Okay, and here is the really gross part. After they emerge whatever dye they don't use for their wings they poo out. It looks like they are bleeding to death and there are puddles of bright red dye all over the tent. I had to go in and scrub the bottom of the tent for the girls to go in and play with the butterflies. It was gross, really gross. Once the girls got into the tent it was hard to get them out. They would just hold out their finger or arm and the butterflies would land on it. They named all 9 of them (We had 11 but one did not emerge and another escaped almost immediately);Abigail, Alisha, Pearl and Marie are the only ones I can remember. Then the day came when I decided to reclaim my bathroom and told the girls it was time for the butterflies to make homes outside so that they could get bigger and have babies. I drug the tent outside and Emma and Page took one out at a time and released it. I must say it was really sweet. Until the last one wouldn't leave. It really would not fly away. Page decided that this meant the butterfly loved her so much that it wanted to live with her in her room forever and ever. (Here comes the drama and the impending meltdown.) I told her that the butterfly would die in the net without any friends or fresh air and it simply must make a home outside of the house. After lots of tears and even attempts at running into the house we made a home for it in the garden right outside the front door. Complete with flowers and sugar water. Then it was time to peel Liam out of the tent and come inside. He nearly lost a limb I had to pull him so hard. He did not want to leave the tent he had been forbidden to come near for so long. I didn't have the heart to put it away so it now takes up a bunch of space in the playroom and the kids play in it every day. But at least it isn't in my bathroom anymore :)

First Soccer Game

Page had her first soccer game this past Wednesday night. She was so adorable! It was raining and kind of chilly, but they played anyway. Her team is called the Superstars and they were awesome. Page was able to get in front of the ball and turn it around almost every time the other team got control of it. It was so fun to see her enjoying herself. This is the first sport that she has played on as a team and she is really enjoying it. After watching her run around the field for 45 minutes, I think she may have track and field may be in her future. We have a game every weekend for the next 2 months and practice once a week as well. In the pictures she is the one with the brown ponytail on the field by the referee.

The girls also started gymnastics this week at Nastia Ludkin's (sp?) gym and are ecstatic to say the least. The only problem is that with the amount of exercise Page is getting in, this hungry girl is insatiable!!! She consumes so much food every day that I now need to grocery shop twice a week. I'm not kidding. I hope to get some more pics up this weekend.

Round 7, Horseback Riding

Back to vacation pictures :) The girls also got to go horseback riding while we were in Mississippi. A friend of my parents let the girls come over and ride a sweet horse. I think the horse's name was Diablo, but I really can't remember. Anyway, Page has been begging to ride a horse for about 6 months now and she was finally able to. They both LOVED it. They didn't want to go home. Mrs. Michelle said that they were naturals and invited us back to her farm next time we visit. It was so fun seeing the pure joy in their faces as they rode. Liam screamed his head off every time we even got him close to the horse, maybe next year?