The Biggest Blueberry

One Saturday morning, I popped in a movie and left the kids at home to go pick blueberries. Don't worry, Josh was home, too. I had called the berry farm the night before and their message said they had plenty of berries to be picked. By the time I got there, there wasn't a ripe berry to be found. So, I headed to the State Farmers' Market instead. I found a stall selling sweet baby watermelons for $4. The melon I picked out weighed in at 19 1/2 pounds! (They are usually 6-10 lbs.) As soon as I opened the door, Emily exclaimed, 

"That is the biggest blueberry I have ever sawed!" 

Bedtime Conversations

The other night's bedtime story was Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy. For those who don't know about Ladybug Girl, she has a dog named Bingo. Naturally, the conversation turned toward Emily's desire for a dog of her own. So, I gently reminded her (again) that we can't have a dog. At this point, I don't even have to repeat why.

"Okay. Mom. Okay. If Daddy dies way before you die and you are living with me, can I have a dog then?"

"...Yeees, I suppose then you could have a dog."

"And he can sleep on my bed with me."

"..."

copyright 2009 by David Soman

Where's the Fire?

Yesterday, Fireman Matt helped Emily and Kaitlyn explore a real firetruck.  They tried out the headphones...

saw all the different hoses and fire extinguishers...

and even got to sit in the driver's seat!

 What an exciting day!

Emily, Fireman Matt, & Kaitlyn

4th of July

  For the 4th of July, I decided to take the girls to the Koka Booth Amphitheatre. They had a few activites planned, such as: frozen t-shirt contest, ice cream eating contest, face painting, magician... That evening there was supposed to be a concert by the North Carolina Symphony ending in a fireworks show. Did I mention the free admission? Josh stayed home to work, but I did get him to take a few pictures before we left the house.

Emily entered Lumpy's Ice Cream Eating Contest. She was super excited about it! 

No, really. She chose the ice cream eating contest over face painting!

She wasn't expecting such a large crowd, and honestly, neither was I nor, apparently, Lumpy. They started off with only one table and had to add two more for the kids to crowd around.

I am so proud of her! She was able to work through her anxiety over the strange crowd and dig into her ice cream. She didn't eat her ice cream the fastest, but she definitely won her own battle.

Then we took a shuttle to the bounce house...

We were settling in for the show and just as the symphony was beginning to warm up, the rain started and they wound up cancelling it. Naturally, the rain  stopped before we got to the parking lot. All in all, it was a good day. 

Pink Milk

  The girls were awake until almost 1 AM again last night. You may think you have all kinds of great advice about how important a solid bedtime routine is or how putting them down earlier is the answer to my problem. 1) That's not what this post is actually about and 2) I had them in bed about 7:30 after their usual bath and story, thanks.

  I opted not to even try to wake them up, get them dressed and out the door to try to make it to church by 9. I may be a bad mother because of it, but I know my children and have gone through it enough times that I know what kind of battle I would be fighting. Kaitlyn often wakes up alot like me. If she's not ready to be awake, it's tears and screaming and meltdowns until she gets over it. If she gets over it. With Emily, it's tears and whining about how she can't get up because she's tired and how she shouldn't have to go because Daddy isn't and is still in bed. It's also much harder to forcibly dress her now that she's 5 than it was when she was 2. 

  So, even though I wasn't willing to deal with that today, I did make at least part of church since I needed to drop some things off that I had promised someone. Which is a good thing because I also found out one of the sisters I visit teach decided this weekend that they will be temporarily moving to California in nine days.

  And when I got home I found that Emily had just made pink milk for herself and her sister (and eaten about five packages of fruit snacks). Only she used an almost full bottle of strawberry syrup in about 3 cups of milk. There are about thirty-one 8oz servings in a bottle of syrup, people. The milk is actually a bit darker than it looks in the picture. So, tomorrow I will be buying another couple gallons of milk and diluting it down to a reasonable shade of pink. Cheers!

Objects in picture may be darker than they appear.

Carousels

I have possibly found one of Emily's weaknesses. Carousels. The promise of a carousel ride got her to cooperate and behave way longer than she should have had to. Don't you hate it when appointments take way longer than they are supposed to? Normally, offering incentive to Emily to do something doesn't work. It can be something she has been asking for for hours, days, weeks, even. If she has to perform a task in order to reap the reward, forget it. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture because even though I had my camera, there was no battery in it. Next time, though. If there is a next time. With Emily, you never know.