Happy Valentine's Day 2014

Dear Em,
Happy Valentine's Day, to the little one who fills our house with more love than I could have ever dreamed of. I mean sure, there are some moments that look like this...

And there may be moments that go something like this...

But they're all worth it, because there are moments like this...

And in the moments in between there are lots of snuggles! There are tons of snuggles!

You were thrilled to head to school with your Valentines in hand to give out to your teachers & sweet little friends. We sent Daddy to work with his own little love note. I am not so thrilled to be spending my morning getting a cavity filled (which is as big of a reminder as you can get to stay away from the sweets this holiday). Yuck! At least I have tonight's annual fancy restaurant date (at Taco Bell) followed by snuggles & bedtime books to look forward to. 

Thank you and Daddy for giving me all the love I could ever need & way more love than I could ever deserve.

I love you so,

Mommy

Throwback Thursday: 7th Grade Valentine's Dance

Dear Em,
Valentines Day is tomorrow & I thought we could start the celebration a little early with a TBT photo from my 7th grade Valentines Day dance. I think I had just gotten a new camera for Christmas that year & was excited to take lots of photos of my friends (it seems that the obnoxious photo taker in me started early). As you can see, I was a fantastic photographer right from the start. I almost got half the words from the background in the photo, & some of my friends are actually making eye contact with the camera.

Of course, no middle school dance would be complete without time spent (possibly crying) in the bathroom. Ha!

Sigh, it feels good to have made it through my middle school years.

I love you so,

Mommy

Our Valentine's 2014

Dear Em,
We started thinking about making Valentines early this year. I think it was just after Christmas when our Oriental Trading catalogue came in the mail. You started flipping through the pages in search of the perfect Valentines. Of course, when you came to the page that pictured our Valentines from last year, you excitedly told me you wanted to make owl Valentines again.

I was not as excited about a repeat owl Valentine year. I know you studied owls in your classroom recently & we embraced the owl theme with Halloween Owl Cupcakes & Christmas Owl Ornaments, but I was over our Owl Valentines. I loved them, I really did, but for starters, they took forever. To add to that, you didn't get to participate as much as I would have liked. I really wanted to make your Valentines together. I saw some cute flower Valentines in the catalogue that looked fairly easy to make, but then I saw a way to make our own. I thought about how perfect the lollipop flowers would be with the picture Valentines we made & loved two years ago.

I talked to you about my idea, & you were excited about it. So, photo flower Valentines it was!

Here's what we used:
- photo back drop (totally optional)
- camera
- printed 4X6 photos with a Valentine message
- crepe paper/streamers
- lolly pops
- tape
- exacto knife
- markers

The first thing we needed was pictures of you- which meant photo shoot time. I wanted to do something a little different for the background of this shoot. I made an inexpensive & easy (but time consuming) floating heart backdrop for some heart filled fun.

I also wanted pops of color & made a backdrop out of fabric. For that I needed, 2.5 yards of five different kinds of fabric in pink & gold hues (I used mostly sheer kinds, but thicker, more solid fabrics would have worked as well. Some of the fabrics I chose were sparkly, & they made a sparkly mess throughout our house. Lucky for us, we like a little bit of sparkle), a roll of ribbon, & fabric scissors.

I cut each piece of fabric lengthwise into strips that were approximately two inches wide (it doesn't need to be exact). Once all the fabric strips were cut, I began tying them to a piece of ribbon that was approximately two yards wide (smaller if you want to cover a smaller area & larger if you want to cover a larger area), being sure to rotate the colors as I went. The finished product was a very sparkly, colorful, Valentine's backdrop.

I hung up the backdrop using tape & asked you to stand with your arm held out until we got the perfect photo. There were some times you wanted to kill me, but we were both thrilled to get the perfect shot of you for your Valentines (or maybe you were just thrilled to be done). I edited the photo with added text & had forty copies printed.

The next thing we had to do was make the flower portion of the project. I bought two rolls of streamers in red & pink for less than a dollar & three bags of Valentine themed Tootsie Pops. I knew you wouldn't be able to help me cut out the petals & waited until you were in bed to start that part of the project. I folded the streamers into multiple layers so that I could cut the petals out in bulk while I was sitting down & watching TV.

I thought you would be able to help me with the petal assembly part, but it was actually a lot harder than I thought. I ended up layering five petals on a small strip of tape, placing the lollipop on top, placing a petal on top of that, & trying to tightly wrap the tape around the lollipop. I was actually having such a tough time, we almost nixed the flower idea altogether. But I figured I already had the materials, & if we were going to reuse the same Valentine idea, I felt like we had to up the anti a little.

Except that here I was working on your Valentines without you again this year. Sigh. It was in the middle of this frustration, that I had a great idea. I asked you if you wanted to write names on the back of the cards. You were thrilled to do anything to help. So, I wrote the names of each of your friends & family in yellow on the back of each card. You happily traced over each letter with a pink or purple marker, sounding out & reading each name as you went along. I wasn't originally planning for your Valentines to be a lesson in reading & writing, but it made my heart happy to see how content you were that it was. You were so pleased with yourself each time you correctly sounded out the names of your best friends, & I was so amazed & proud to see how much you're learning & developing.

I cut 2 little slits (probably less than quarter of an inch diagonally) in your Valentine photos, one just about your fist & one just below it, with an exacto knife. Then I slid the lollipop flower stems into the slits & fastened them with a piece of pink washi tape on the back. I think they came out wicked cute. They are probably my favorite Valentines yet. Plus, your very own writing gives them that extra personalization from sweet, little you (you even wrote one out for me...all by yourself...spelled M-O-M-E for Mommy).

While you won't hand yours out at school until Friday, we mailed some to our family already. You've been thrilled to know how surprised & happy they've made some of our very favorite people. I have to admit, your Valentine makes me feel quite loved this Valentine's Day.

I love you so,
Mommy

Cheap, Easy, & Sweet little Valentine Crafts

Dear Em,
I often feel a little bad & then overwhelmed about how so often the crafts I choose for the two of us end up being crafts mostly done by me. Last year's Valentines, this year's Christmas craft, & even this year's Valentines (I'll post more about them tomorrow)- there were components you helped me with, but a significant part of each project I had to do on my own. When we scheduled a double sleepover for you & your best friend this weekend (one night at our house & one night at hers), I really wanted to give you a craft the two of you could do independently (you both love crafts).

I was in the midst of another project, when I spotted the crafting aisles of Michaels. I felt like I hit the "Em can do these crafts" jackpot. I probably spent less than $10. I bought pink foam picture frames, foam hearts with sticky backs, glittery foam flowers with sticky backs, & glue.

We've never really been glue people in our house. For the life of me, I can't really remember my mom ever giving me a bottle of glue & letting me glue away either. It always seemed to invite the possibility of a really big mess & a lot of sticky to me. The fact that you enjoy using half the bottle to glue a piece of paper the size of a dime to a larger piece of paper was deterrent enough, but then I noticed you & your classmates using glue at school. I also noticed a lot of your friends creating crafts with glue at home. It was Mommy guilt/peer pressure at it's finest. So, I sucked up my fear of a sticky disaster, & bought the glue.

Daddy helped me by cutting out ten larger hearts I had traced on white card stock. I used our heart punch to punch out hearts in a variety of different papers. Then I cut out squares of different colors of tissue paper (I was originally going to punch out hearts, but it turns out the heart punch doesn't work well with tissue paper). We took out our markers too.

I gave you & S your large hearts (five each), put bowls of decoration supplies in front of you, handed you the glue, and told you to have fun (after I showed you really quickly how little glue you need to glue a piece of paper the size of a dime to another piece of paper).

I have to admit, it wasn't easy giving you a mess in a bottle glue & walking away. I thought you would be thrilled to have the glue in your hands. Instead (& to my wild delight), you & S mostly used the foam hearts, foam flowers, & markers.

The best part? You both spent over an hour creating such sweet little masterpieces...all by yourselves.

I love you so,
Mommy

"Buh or Duh?"

Dear Em,
It's amazing to me how much a little person can develop in four short years. It's so exciting to watch you learn and grow, but sometimes it's not. Each stage you grow out of, is a stage we won't see ever again. That's a little hard for me sometimes. It's bittersweet to watch you grow out of some of your precious Emma-isms.

For instance, I will never forget how you pronounced Super Why when you were one. "Wa-Why? Wa-Why?" you would ask us so sweetly & innocently when you wanted us to turn on your very favorite show for you. How could we say no to that? We watched a lot of "Wa-Why" during those days until one day I noticed that you clearly articulated "Super Why." I'm not going to lie. I felt a little crushed. I mean, I knew developmentally it wouldn't be appropriate for you to say "Wa-Why" for the rest of your life, but was that phase of our life already over? So quickly?

It is with a heavy heart & tear-filled eyes that I tell you the "Buh or Duh?" phase is over as well. When you first started reading, sounding letters out was a new thing. Daddy & I would sit with you as you read us a Bob Book each night, & we noticed you would do the most adorable & endearing thing. When you would get to a lower case "b" or "d," you would have a hard time deciphering between the two. So, instead of making one sound you would look up at Daddy or I & say "Buh or Duh?" If you were reading the word "bed" it would go a little something like this:

Em: "Buh or Duh?"
Daddy or I: "Buh"
Em: "Buh...Ehh...Buh or Duh?"
Daddy or I: "Duh"
Em: "Buh...Ehh...Duh...Bed"

Daddy & I sometimes chuckled to each other over how adorable your "Buh or Duhs?" were, but Daddy wondered when that precious phase would end. I hoped it wouldn't be for a long, long time. And then one day I noticed it. It was after we returned home from the holidays. We were reading one of the new Bob Books you had been gifted, when I first noticed the disappearance of "Buh or Duh?". I think I struggled not to cry as you provided a lone "Buh" or a single "Duh," sometimes getting the letter sounds right & sometimes not.

I chalked it up to a one time fluke. Surely "Buh or Duh?" would return, but it hasn't. "Buh or Duh?" has become a thing of the past- a phase you've grown out of. I know I should be happy. It means you're learning & growing & developing, but I can't help missing the precious way you looked up at me with earnest eyes as you adorably said "Buh or Duh?".

At least we still have "breaf-kast." You have sweetly juxtaposed your f sound & k sound when you talk about your morning meal, & I'm never going to tell you it's not the correct pronunciation. I know that like endearing "Buh or Duh," cute "breaf-kast" will likely be short lived, but I'll hold on to it & your fleeting childhood moments for as long as you'll let me.

I love you so,
Mommy

Throwback Thursday: Olympics 1993

Dear Em,
With the Winter Olympics beginning today, I thought I would share the first Olympics I can remember- the Awana Olympics 1993. Awana was a church youth program I participated in from 4th grade to 6th grade. There were songs, athletic activities, stories, bible verse memorization, & hanging out with other fun girls my age. It was one of my favorite after school activities growing up, & the Awana Olympics were the highlight.

My Olympic events in sixth grade were tug of war & the three-legged-race. We probably won't see those events in this year's Winter Olympics, but if they do have them & need an alternate, I was a pretty great competitor. I mean, my hair alone was award winning.

I love you so,
Mommy

Your First Big-Girl Bike Ride

Dear Em,
We've certainly had a quintessential New England winter thus far. It's been frigid, & it's been snowy. We've been cooped up, & we've been sick. Last week I couldn't take it anymore. I knew that the temperatures were in the teens & we were both sick, but I had to get out.

There have been a lot of videos posted about what happens to boiling water when it's thrown into freezing air.

It's fascinating to watch, but I heard it can also be kind of dangerous. I wanted to go a safer route but also try to do something magical with the below freezing temperatures that I was starting to loathe. I saw somewhere online that if it's cold enough, you can make bubbles freeze in the air. So, we grabbed your bubble mix, bundled up & headed outside.

Although it felt plenty freezing to you & I, apparently it wasn't cold enough for our bubble experiment to work. All of our bubbles were just regular bubbles. Still, you had fun getting some fresh air & blowing bubbles outside.

After about fifteen minutes, we were both too cold to stay outside any longer. It's possible it took us longer to bundle up than we even spent outside, but I didn't care. We got some fresh air & a little bit of sunshine. I can't tell you how much my body & my soul needed that.

And then this past weekend something magical happened: the temperatures rose above freezing! I realized I am a true New Englander when it's February & temperatures are in the 40s & it feels like summer. We were so happy to soak up some outside time. You took the opportunity to take a drive with the top down.

I think the "warm" weather made me so giddy, I started to get carried away & began pulling all of your outside toys out of the garage- including your new big-girl bike. And so it was a "warm" day in February that you rode a big-girl bike for the very first time.

Once you got the hang of it, your American Girl Doll, Emma Rose, went for a ride too. I put a jacket & a bike helmet on her too before strapping her into the doll seat. Safety first!

It's a good thing we took advantage of the unseasonal weather & were able to enjoy your first magical bike riding moments when we did, because of course snow covered the ground again the very next morning. Sigh. Is it too early to start dreaming about Spring & Summer trips on the bike path? It looks like this year instead of being towed, our sweet little love will be riding a bike of her own.

I love you so,

Mommy

Sails or Sales

Dear Em,
Remember last week when I wrote about the plaguelike sicknesses that have filled our house? I was exhausted but happy that we were all on the road to recovery. Little did I know, my exhaustion hadn't even started. Daddy & I woke up to the sound of your cries again that night. You had thrown up again. At that point I was convinced your stomach bug was never going away & I would be forced to do four loads of laundry everyday for the rest of my life.

So, it was back into bed for you, my bed to be exact. Daddy got kicked out into the guest room again. Your next few days were filled with more TV, a lot of movies, the Frozen soundtrack, American Girl dolls, & barbies. There was a lot of Barbies. I quickly learned that playing Barbies with you means that you will dictate the clothing choices & activities of a large group of Barbies & I was mostly there to help you change their clothes. Shortly after I finally finished dressing the Barbies in the options you chose, it was time for the next activity-which really meant it was time for me to dress them all in new outfits. Sigh.

In your Barbie World, it is essential to be wearing exactly the right outfit for each occasion. Even when sleeping.

There are a lot of balls, fancy gowns, & dancing.

When the Barbies get bored of all the ballroom dancing, they decide they need a change of scenery & travel to North Carolina. They never travel anywhere other than North Carolina, & they travel by car, carriage, & horse.

Everyone has great jobs.

Top Row (from left to right): Nonnie "the sailor," Emma the Sofia the First, & Grandma the ninja.

Bottom Row (from left to right): Miss Julie the astronaut, Savanna the princess, Mommy the "people doctor," Aunt Jayme the "puppy doctor" holding her baby & your cousin Trey (who is naked because we don't have any little boy clothes), & Aunt Jayme's puppy.

As tedious as it can sometimes be to spend hours & hours changing Barbie clothes, it made me smile to listen to your imagination at work. First you announced that your best friend Savanna lives with us in your Barbie World. When I asked about her family, you told me that we were her only family. You had kind of a weird look on your face that suggested that given the chance, you would deviously kidnap the real-life Savanna so that she could live with us forever. After much discussion, I finally convinced you to include Miss Julie, Savanna's mom, but you would only do so on the condition that Savanna still lived with us (perhaps we need to schedule sleepover soon?).

When it came time for everyone to take a break from ballroom dancing & go to work, I listed possible careers based on the Barbie clothing options you have. You wanted to dress Nonnie first. I told you we had outfits for doctors, vets, Mommy's, sales people (like me), astronauts, ninjas...it's a pretty long list. You have a lot of Barbie clothes. "I want Nonnie to be a sailor." A sailor? I looked around at the clothes spread all over the bed & explained to you that we don't have any sailor suits. "Yes, we do. I want her to sail boats like you, Mommy." 

So, we dressed Nonnie in a top, skirt, suit jacket, & she went sailing. I had to laugh to myself. Apparently you think my job involves SAILS instead of SALES. What an exciting work-life you must imagine I have. Maybe I could get used to your Barbie World.

I love you so,

Mommy

a little bit of color & a little bit of sparkle

Dear Em,
While there are positive aspects of every season, winter is for sure my least favorite. I think that's because we spend so much of it cooped up inside. It's so grey & cold, & it gets dark before 5pm. I need fresh air. I need sunshine. I need color.

At least there are fun winter holidays to bring pops of color & a little bit of sparkle back into our lives. We mostly decorated for Valentine's Day a few weeks ago. I think it was the week after we took down the Christmas decorations & I couldn't take the dreariness anymore. This weekend, we added a few more things to our Valentine's Day decor. I love reusing what we have & adding a little something new each year.

First, we created a new door hang. I didn't start making them for the holidays until St. Patrick's Day last year. So, we didn't have one for Valentine's Day. Since you are four, this is your fifth Valentine's Day. We used five photos- one for each year that you've celebrated the holiday. To add a little bit of extra sparkle, I picked up some sparkly scrapbook paper & ribbon for the heart backgrounds.

I made three door hangs- one for Nonnie & Papi, one for Grandma & Papa, & one for us. Your Daddy's eyes lit up when I showed him the finished product. It's so fun to look at how you've grown & developed through the years in such a festive (& sparkly way).

Of course, we had to hold a mini photo shoot (it perhaps wasn't as mini as you would have liked) in order to have pictures from this year to choose from for our new door hanger (and let's just face it, I use any holiday as an excuse to stage a photo shoot). For that I borrowed a wicked fun idea from Hank & Hunt & made a floating heart backdrop for our Valentine's Day photo shoot. It was free for me to make, because I used leftover material from other crafts. I used a heart punch, paper (sparkly gold, sparkly pink, & red), clear fishing line, tape, & scissors.

It was time consuming. First you helped me punch out hearts. We punched out 120. Once you went to bed, I taped 20 pieces of 7 foot fishing line in straight lines across our dining room table. Then I taped six hearts, spaced evenly, to each piece of fishing line.

In the end, I kinda felt like it took forever to make, & those lines very easily get massively tangled (as I learned by carrying them upstairs to where we were taking the photos). But after taping them up, I loved the effect.

Plus, once we were done with our photo shoot, I cut each line in half & hung them up over your bed & our dining room table to add a little fun & whimsy to our existing decor.

In fact, the dining area looks so Fancy Nancy fancy, you decided to hold a tea party for your American Girl dolls, princesses, & baby dolls.

There were candles & real china plates for ambiance. There were cookies & cake to eat & pretend "pink chocolate milk" to drink. You even made sure that each girl had a magazine to read. You were the perfect tea party host. It was ridiculously adorable.

Mid-way through the tea party, you decided you needed a list of your guests with checkmarks to signify that they were there. You plopped yourself on the floor with a pen & paper & began sounding out their names & writing them down on your own. The first name on the left is Rapunzel (I think you confused your z's with your v's). I love how you sounded out Eral (Ariel). It took you a few tries to write your best friend Savanna's name, & you were so proud of yourself once you did. I was over the moon proud of you too. We've been doing a lot of rainbow writing, but other than you writing your name on your own, we haven't done much independent sounding out & writing.

I can't believe how much you're growing & learning & developing. You amaze me every day. We may have hung up decorations for Valentine's day, but I think it's truly you who brings a little bit of color & a little bit of sparkle to our home each & every day.

I love you so,

Mommy