Four, 4, Cuatro, IV!

Likes: Dressing up like a Princess from the tiara all the way down to the glass slippers; food - it seems to always be on your mind and from the moment you wake up you always have to confirm that you will indeed be fed for the day; puppies...no matter what the size or shape (and the ASPCA commercial gets you sad every time); dancing all crazy-like, especially with your mama ; country music that you can sing along LOUDLY to; your "grown up friends" - specifically our neighbors Jerry and Bev and high school girls Corey Christensen & Stevie Musil. We cannot keep you from popping over to the neighbors several times a week or attaching yourself to these girls whenever you see them; Twilight - yes, the movie, which you explained to us has good pirates and bad pirates, but the good pirates "winned"; the use of the word "disgusting".

Dislikes: Being rushed (or even just doing something at a pace other than slow); having to eat anywhere other than home or daycare; blood; cleaning your room (and when we threaten to take away toys to get it clean, you start bagging them up for us!); staying clean; not being allowed in your sister's room.

What we love most about our four year old: You are such a bright spot in our days. Always surprising us with random offerings of "I love you". You can't leave the house or go to bed without getting at least 3 or 4 "huggies" and "kissies". You get so much joy out of the smallest things and your face is always showing that emotion 110%. You love to run wild and can wiggle non stop, but you can also sit for hours in front your movies. We love you to the moon and back and forth and back and forth and 158 times......most of all and better than that! Happy Birthday!

6, Seis, Six, VI!

Likes: ALONE time with mom and/or dad; Her sister...at least 51% of the time; Barbies; Hannah Montana; Taylor Swift; The Food Network; Saturday morning pancakes, bacon AND coffee; dancing; girls nights (which end in her sharing my bed with me); cooking with mom; high heels, dangly earrings, bikini's with the small tops, and any clothing item that looks like something a grown up would wear; slurpees;

Dislikes: Tennis shoes; being the center of attention; her sister (at least 49% of the time); having the tv on sports; being treated like a kid (especially being sent to time out); naps (or mom and dad trying to take naps when she is awake).

What we love most about our six year old: Your growing independence - getting ready for school each morning without any help and very few reminders of what needs to be done; your love of reading and seeing you take a book to bed each night; your smile and the sound of your giggles; the fact that even though you say you don't like school, you have made several new friends and managed to come home every day this school year with a smiley face on your daily behavior report; even at age 6 you still want to hold our hands, cuddle and give hugs and kisses; the friendship we see you forming with your sister, and knowing that deep down, you really DO like her.

Happy Birthday Emma Shae. We love you to the moon and back!

Santa's on the "Bad List"

Saturday I took the girls to an annual event in our wee town, called Santa's Workshop. For kids, it's the epitomy of "FUN". Over 20 tables of crafts, glitter, glue, paint, ribbon, stickers, stamps....etc. Everything I resist them doing at home due to the impending mess it results in. For parents, it's a day of waiting in lines, keeping other kids from cutting in front of our own children, patiently waiting while our glue and glitter covered monsters make a necklace/ornament/bookmark that would take us 2 minutes, but takes our child 15. They are in heaven, and we are in need of an open bar.

Santa always makes an appearance at this event....and Sara, upon me telling her we would get to see the jolly old soul, kept saying all weekend, "We get to go to the North Pole!". Upon telling her no, and seeing the building meltdown, I had to explain that Santa was coming to Prineville to visit. She would get to go see him at his workshop, where she got to help make gifts. Nice save, mom! Whew.....

So skip to the part where Sara jumps up onto Santa's lap. She's on one knee, Emma is on the other. And just guess who is doing all of the talking. Yup, Sara. Just as I think she is done telling him all the things she wants for Christmas (which included a beach with sand and a pool?) she asks him, "You a Beava fan o' a Duck fan?". Santa pauses, looks at me, looks at her and says, "Well, I belieive I am a Beaver fan". And that, is when her face fell. Her eyes got all big, she pulled back from him....and I think a part of her, stopped believing in him. Shame on you Santa! He saw his mistake, and quickly told her that he loves both Beavers and Ducks and brings presents to all of them. That seemed to appease her, along with the candy canes he was handing out. But really Santa, REALLY. I think you may be getting a lump of coal for Christmas. That, or a dried crushed rose perhaps.....

Following in my footsteps....

Oh Miss Sara....

Last Friday was a home game. Knowing her total admiration of cheerleaders, I had ordered a blue and gold uniform for her, just hoping that she would actually wear it. You know how 3 yr olds work. One day they like something, the next they don't. Well, as we were on our way home Friday all she could do was talk about how she was going to get home, put on her cheer uniform and go to the game. It was forecasted to be a cold night, as in low 30*'s cold. We bundled Sara up in tights, a turtleneck and a coat covering up the whole "cheerleader" look and set off for the game. As we walked in she hid behind me and told me she wanted to surprise them. She very syly looked over at the girls all lined up in front of the field, again hid behind me and unzipped her coat and then WHA-LAA.....jumped out into the middle of the cheerleaders as if she was a prize they had been awaiting. And that, is when I lost her for the next two hours.

Mom? Who's mom when you have an entire squad of cheerleaders doting over you? Even at half time she didn't need me. I forgot to mention, she had packed a bag with granola bars, fruit roll ups and chocolate chip cookies that she was saving for "snack". Once halftime hit, she offered them up and before I knew it....was the squads biggest fan for bringing along snacks.

The game started up once again, and I looked down to see my Sara, sitting in the middle of the girls, in formation, doing a cheer.....while Sara sat criss-cross-applesauce getting her own snack on. For those of you that know Miss Sara, she takes her snack time very seriously. Don't deny that girl food. Anyhow, all in all her first night as a "real" cheerleader was as much a joy for her as it was for me. Only three, and I already lost her to her "other" friends.

To the moon and back...

September 10, 2009....Emma Shae Daniels steps foot into her first year of many in the public school system. And folks, she loves it. What about it does she love, you ask? Not all that sure. We only got a few details out of her. But when I threatened her with not returning if she didn't listen and behave, her eyes got all big and she begged me "NO!". Anyhow, here are the few details we did get out of her.

Nana: Did you have recess?

Emma: Yes....I mean no.

Dad: Did you read books

Emma: Yes. I dunno.

Mom: Did you make friends

Emma: One girl told me she liked my locket. She's five, when I told her I was five too she gave me a high five. She was wearing purple.

Mom: What was her name?

Emma: I dunno.

Neighbor (Bev): What's your name?

Emma: I dunno.

The day started with her crawling into bed with me at about 4:30 am. We both fell back asleep...my arms draped around my once wee babe turned 40 lb girl. I drifted back into that last hour of slumber praying for this first day of school to bring a smile to her face. I got up to shower, and midway into my morning routine heard her footsteps approach the bathroom....then her smiling face appear. "It's gonna be a good day", I said. She dressed in the outfit that had been picked out for days, then looked at me, clad in stretch cotton capri's and an Oregon hoodie and says, "You going to wear that to walk me to school?" "Yes...", I said. "How about we look at your work clothes, " she says as she opens my closet. She presents me with one of my newer work shirts and instructs me to put it on. Mind you, SHE IS FIVE. And she already cares about my appearance. I am just thankful she did not order me to also wear my peep toe heels as I escorted her the three blocks to her new school.

We spend the walk holding hands, and getting a shout out from her dance teacher that lives nearby as she yells over the sound of school buses and such..."EMMA DANIELS....HAVE A GREAT FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL SISTER!". With each step, the realization is hitting me. My baby made it to another milestone. A milestone her big sister never reached. All parents are proud of their kids...I know that. But with each moment of pride, I also have a bittersweet moment. As we are walking she looks at all the cars and buses and says, "What are they doing?" I tell her they are bringing kids to her school. "No," she says, "Only me. My school." I laugh...."Do you want friends sister?!"

We get to the building and I am strategizing photo opportunities to distract me from the importance of this moment. I figure we will get a shot of her leaning up against the school sign, in front of the classroom, hanging up her backpack, etc. Suddenly her teacher, Mrs. Hunter (a familiar face - as she is the grandma of one of Emma's daycare friends) sees us, walks up and takes Emma by the hand. In a moment of weakness, and supreme trust....I let go. "C'mon Emma...lets go get in line", says Mrs. Hunter. And off she goes. I get no goodbye kiss. No hug. Emma has a somewhat confused look, but I think I am the one more stunned with the sudden goodbye. "Goodbye Em, I LOVE YOU," I yell amidst the buzz of elementary kids. And I walk away. Alone. One hand holding a camera, the other my cell phone, a heart holding pride...and eyes holding back tears. I call Rich to give him the play by play and distract myself from the events. "Did you cry?" he asks. "No," I say with a lump in my throat.

Three hours later I go to pick her up and she sees me and runs. "Mama!". At first I think she is crying, but upon getting her stunning freckled face directly in front of mine I see that it's pure joy. Not necessarily because she sees me, but because she appears to have just had an amazing time. At least I think so. I'm not so sure why. She gets a battalion of questions about her day from me, Rich, grandparents, neighbors. She claims to not know what she did today, but she loves it. And she wants to go back. And my dear girl, you will get to. And I hope I am as proud of you every September as I was this September.

I end the day with tucking her into bed and saying these words, "I love you to the moon and back Miss E." She smiles and says,"No you love me more." Yes, yes I do.

It's a girl thing....

I got a whim last week..... I was busy at work, Rich was back into the insanity of coaching football and it was the week of Daily Doubles and yet I decided I was going to make it happen. Me + Emma + a trip to Eugene. A girls weekend to shop for clothes, shoes, etc in preparation for her first year of MANY in the public school system. I coordinated three sitters for Sara in our absence (since Rich was pretty much stuck doing football all day Friday and Saturday). My grandma was more than happy to be our food and lodging Friday night, and I was able to steal Saturday night from an old friend I hadn't been able to sit and just be girls with for over 10 years. I managed planning all of this on Wednesday afternoon at about 3:21 pm.

So, Friday Em and I set off at about 4:30pm. We were on the road, gas tank full, snacks and beverages in tow, Emma's movie player belting out "Barbie and The Pauper". Now, I continually make fun of my in-laws family tradition of stopping at all landmarks, reading the historical markers, etc....but as we neared Sahalie Falls I had this nostalgia set in of remembering stopping there when I was a kid, and how magical the waterfall seemed. So, in the span of about 4.2 minutes I pulled in, walked Emma up to the viewpoint (while I was wearing work trousers and wedge heels) snapped a picture, let her take it in (for maybe one whole minute), and then we were off again!

We got to Grandma's, had my favorite childhood dinner that she makes (chicken and dumplin's) and had a great time visiting and letting Emma explore the treasures in "Nanu's" home. The next morning we took off for a day of shopping and adventures around mom's home town. I took Em to CHS to see where I made my high school memories. I was not so kindly greeted with a giant wall of windows now blocking access to the courtyard and the infamous "Rock" that I had told Emma all about. I'm currently in the process of writing a letter to...well, someone....about how rude Emma thought it was that we could not go in and look. We hit up Goodwill and got some great finds, as well as assisted a flamboyantly gay man find a sequined belt. It made me laugh, made me miss Eugene, and made Emma's eyes about as big as saucers. We drove through Saturday market, went to campus and visited some of Rich's ex students (complete with an apartment warming gift of a bag full of Top Ramen, Mac & Cheese, Capri Sun and Microwave Popcorn...they were totally excited), and then made our way to Autzen to take part in Fan Day where we ran into two more ex-Prinevillians along with Jerry Allen. Emma was amazed by the size of it all....as well as the realization that the Oregon Duck was "real". She did comment that she didn't think he could actually swim though.

We then shopped for the next 5 hours. Emma was the recipient of all $130 made at a garage sale the prior weekend. It managed to help her acquire....one dress, three tops, 5 pair of pants, one jacket, one sweater, one coat, 7 pair of panties, 2 headbands and a stunning pair of bronze leather mary janes purchased from, where else, Burch's - which just happens to be where my parents took me to purchase school shoes. We did lunch at Baja Fresh, we did dinner at the Food Court in Gateway Mall, where she was so excited to choose which table we would sit at. I spotted a photo booth in the distance where I tried to get her to engage in silliness. All I got out of her was "MOM! I don't like that last picture...you made my face look silly and I DON'T LIKE THAT." Get over it dear, welcome to life with me as your mother.

We ended the weekend by heading over to the home of an old girlfriend of mine I hadn't been able to just sit and "girl" talk with in years. Emma played with toys, watched movies and was totally content while the older girls caught up. At midnight, I realized not only was I still awake, but so was Emma. We crawled into bed, and both passed out within minutes. Early the next afternoon we pulled into Prineville with Emma's bounty. A crazy, busy whirlwind of a weekend. As I tucked Emma in last night she left me with these words...."Mom, can we do that every year." Yes, Yes...and YES. Here's to tradition my girl. I loved it as much as you did.

Following up, Sara had a restless night a few days after I swore I stepped on a snake in her room. The next day I said, "Why couldn't you sleep, Boo?" I got this reply, "Well mom, I have to tell you something. The red snake, all red, was tip toeing through my room and he kept saying 'Sssssssss....Sssssssss' and that was why I couldn't sleep." Remember, this is the same child that said she couldn't go to sleep because her goldfish were splashing in the tank.

To end this saga, I searched the room for No Feet, and found nothing. I'm hoping he found his way out. At least that's what I told Sara. "He missed his mama so he tip toed back outside and he's not coming back."