Color with me Mommy

I sprained my toe on Saturday afternoon and have found myself sitting with my foot propped up ever since. At first this seems like a welcome respite from the frenzy of everyday life, but it soon grows tedious and you begin to seek new things to do so that you don't feel quite so isolated and immobile.

This morning I thought it'd be a nice change of pace to do my reading and related writing at the kitchen table while Cora made artwork. We'd have some together time and would both have engaging activities that would develop us mentally.

I gathered up the required items, got Cora ready for more potty training (she is taking to it quite well with the others at school), and sat us down at the table.

Cora's enthusiasm was contagious. I found myself fully engaged in helping her glue foam stickers to her coloring book page and helping her to color. It was fun to watch her learn from what I was doing and attempt to color like I had. She's such a sponge for information! It was a real thrill. We must've sat there for an hour or more, her attention span never waning. I didn't end up doing any of my book work, but having that time with her was priceless. We colored the "cat queen" (Cleocatra) for most of the time. She kept coming back to that picture over and over again. I loved each and every minute of it.

Afterwards I turned on a Between the Lions dvd and did my book work on the couch while she watched. She was in heaven. She loved that I was sitting there with her. And she came back to me again and again all day long "Mommy, will you color with me?". I am flattered. :D

Slideshow

Special Time with Mommy

Cora and I are settling into a new arrangement. It's just the two of us from 9am until 4pm on school days. On day one she thought she was going to be quite unhappy at home with me, however, I think she's starting to think this might be fun. (She does still talk at regular intervals about going to "Gillian's School".)

Yesterday morning we needed to run over to Oma's house for vacuum cleaner bags, we're borrowing hers while she's in China as ours broke. Cora woke up maybe 8 minutes before we left to drop off the other two at school so I loaded up sweet bed-head Cora in her cute Elmo pj's with no shoes and off we went.

We dropped the other two off and headed to Oma's house. I thought she'd enjoy having something to eat so I stopped on the way back and picked up two donuts for her. She picked them out, they had star sprinkles. She was so excited about them. She held them tightly in her lap until we got home, I guess she didn't want to eat them in the car. (And I forgot to take them out and give them to her.)

It's so much fun to get to be with her one on one and get to know her better.

School Begins

Yesterday was the first day of school in McKinney. I had two children going to school this year. Liam began kindergarten yesterday, it was completely natural to him. He's been wanting to go to school at "Gillian's School" for several years now, he was beyond excited. He barely even said goodbye.

Gillian was as excited as ever, I think I sensed a little nervousness on her part about who would be in her class and who her friends would be. She was great though, when she had a friend at her table when we dropped her off.

Cora came to me before we left and requested that I dress her. Then let me know she needed a backpack, and then a lunch in her backpack. It was adorable.

However, on the way home as she realized she wasn't going to school she was completely pitiful. I felt so bad for her. She just sort of sobbed. She will go to school without turning around and looking back too, one day. I'm so not ready to have them all gone.

It's odd to just be here with her and no one else. It's a huge contrast to this summer when they were all here every day. It'll take me some time to get used to.

Dinnertime Questions

I almost died laughing this evening at the dinner table. Gillian decided she needed to know:

What language do people in Okalahoma speak?

I love kids!

Pink Eye

I'd love to say that after almost two weeks of Pink Eye presence in our house that it's all gone. It's not. I took one look at Liam this morning and he's definitely still got it. Either twice a day isn't often enough for the medicine to work or the medicine isn't beating it. Gillian is back at school today for the first time since last Monday. I didn't see her this morning so I am hoping they don't send her back home.

The kids have definitely been enjoying the sunny weather and have been spending hours upon hours outside. They really love the sandbox that Pop & Grandma got them for Liam's birthday. Cora mostly likes to empty it into the rest of the yard (and into my plants).

Our Alpha Wolf

Gillian was honored as Alphawolf this morning. We had a great time congratulating her on her success. Papa even demonstrated the newest family trick for instant giggles. Simply hit head hard with sticky spider so that it stays on and wait for laughs. It's great medicine for anything that ails you.

Doesn't Papa look great in his new clothes? And Cora was walking backwards in that first shot.

Perfect Spot

The Emonts family isn't going to lie to you. We prefer fall weather. In fact, we only seem to do parks in the fall and the spring. We just don't believe humans were meant to be outside in 100 degree weather unless we're in the water. Ha ha. So, here are some more pictures from Finch Park. Cora has decided she'd like to stay in the swing the WHOLE time we're there, but Mommy doesn't enjoy that all too much.

Taken Monday, November 3, 2008.

Many thanks to Papa who got Mommy to slide again. We had the whole park to ourselves until 5 minutes or so before we left. I am in awe of how beautiful the trees are. I think they were in there prime Sunday and Monday. In fact, our tree out front has shed most of its leaves on Tuesday alone.

Liam	Cora
Liam and Cora swinging
Wahoo!	Who can resist that smile? (I know I can't, with either of my men.)
King for a Day!	Running for hugs (Mommy just missed it)
Cora on a Mission	Boy! That climbing wall is tough.

Park Weather

Since the weather today was so unbelievably perfect, we headed over to Finch Park for some fun (and to tire out little children). They all had a great time. We even learned about not following bad examples, for the older two. Cora discovered that swinging is great for when you're tired. She stayed in the swing for 10 minutes or so, when usually her average time spent in swing is 90 seconds - 3 minutes.

Cora	Gillian on the Slide
Liam walking Sideways	A Beautiful Accidental Photo of all Three

Aren't the trees just GORGEOUS!

Scene of the Crime

Cora Madison Emonts has not yet come to a full understanding of the rules of the house. She feels that any activities which are permissible outdoors must also be allowed indoors.

Example One
At Oma's house the number one activity is fishing. Fishing consists of tossing floating objects into Oma's pond and fishing them out with sticks or other items found in the proximity. At home, Cora seems to feel that this activity is easily duplicated by putting one's arms into the aquarium and tossing things inside. She often ends up quite wet this way.

Example Two
Digging in the sandbox is so much fun. Why not also dig in the potted plant in the living room? Below you can see a picture of the crime and the perpetrator. Gillian did not notice this event taking place until one side of the room and Cora were covered in potting soil.


The Crime


The Perpetrator
doesn't she just look guilty

Halloween

Halloween night has never been so much fun!!

The kids were all dressed up and ready to go at 6:30, just like we planned. They were all excited about getting their costumes on, which is a new thing for us. We usually have one or two that don't have any desire to get into their costumes.

Cora was great fun to watch. She quickly figured out trick or treat and her cute little 'thanks' as she walked off was sweet. She often trailed behind the other two and began to walk of with them before receiving her candy. One home on our street received a long visit from Cora, as she walked straight inside to see the dog in the next room. Luckily, the couple who lived there found her adorable. Most of the people we saw seemed to be in agreement.

Liam was really freaked out by the scary sounds playing outside one of the houses. He talked about it the rest of the evening. Gillian was very brave and walked through a scary maze with me, that luckily the teenage boys didn't jump out at her and scare her. I was quite thankful for their charity.

We trick or treated together for and hour and a half and I think the parents were more tired than the kids. At the end Cora couldn't hardly hold her pumpkin anymore, but she wasn't about to let go either. At the last house she couldn't raise it up for the candy to be put inside. It was so sweet. She also started chit chatting with people towards the end, like she thought it was more important to socialize. This saying only trick or treat thing just wasn't cutting it.

They all got to eat a few pieces when we got home and didn't make it into bed until 9:30, at which time they were angels and didn't complain one bit about it being time for bed.

Morning Sunshine

Cora was so precious this morning when she woke up, 9:30am. She could smell the waffles that Patrick was so sweet to make me for breakfast. She calls them wapulls as I'm not sure she's mastered the f sound completely. She's such a joy to us and so readily embraces everything. Just a few minutes ago she was out trying to catch honeybees. She has no fear.



We've discovered that she really enjoys being home alone. She almost seems to do better without any siblings around. She seems to play longer and more imaginatively. She's our sweet ray of sunshine! My favorite part of the day are my morning cuddles with Cora. And she's such a cuddle bug.

Live and Learn

I am nervous even to type these words. I'm scared to make the committment of doing this again. I fear to fail. I want to use this blog as an outlet for me. I look around and see so many well written blogs and feel the competitive drive in myself gear up and then I want to quit. I do not know why I would rather not try then try and fail, but that's honest. That's me. That's where I am. I can acknowledge that and I can go from there.

So here's to posting about our life through a blog for personal history purposes. My goal is to make a small update every day for one week.

Peter Pan Returns

I have always wanted to do a group theme Halloween and never have gotten to do so. This year, about two weeks ago I had an idea that we could do Peter Pan. We all love the story and it's got enough characters that we could make it work.

I had to sell it to my picky 4 year old and the 7 year old who had said she wanted to be a witch. At first the 4 year old resisted and then he embraced it. Now he just wants to know where his costume is.

So, I've never made costumes before and now I have several to make in only a month. Eek!

We're going as:

DH: Captain Hook
Me: Wendy
DD: Tigerlily
DS: Peter Pan
DD: Tinkerbell (bought)

So now I have four costumes to make and another one that needs a little embellishment. I figured at $25 that I could use the less stress of one bought costume. Hers was the only one readily available in stores.

Captain Hook's costume will be based on a discontinued pattern:




Wendy's will be based on a McCall's pattern 4948 that I scored for $.99 yesterday and I'm thinking that the bottom of the dress is too full. I'm not sure if I should modify it or not. I can't see the worth in using that much fabric to do this costume.




I'm going for Disney's Wendy. Here's a picture that someone else took at Disneyland Paris, I think.




Question: Is this pattern going to look like Wendy even though it is somewhat different? Does it matter?


For Tigerlily I bought some microsuede yesterday for half price that will be embellished with some native indian looking ribbon. I went ahead and purchased the simple McCall's pattern for a basis. I like the triangle bottom look I've seen on some pre-made costumes and I like it longer like a dress. Probably with something tied around the waist to give it shape and form.




My son's Peter Pan costume will be based on Disneyland cast picture above. I'm trying to decide how to do it. He's picking about fabrics so I wanted something soft, which seems to also mean expensive. So I bought a misses t-shirt from Goodwill yesterday, v-neck and green and I'm hoping that we can modify it to be his shirt. I'm not really sure how to do it, as I'm a complete novice, but hopefully my mil can help me make all my dreams come true.

I think he will be wearing pants and not tights, as I do not think my picky little 4yo will agree to wear them. He has a thing for clothing be done the "right" way. I'm pretty sure he will not agree that tights are something that little boys wear.

Tinkerbell I bought, she just needs a little bit of wire for her wings so they'll stand up and I'm hoping to cover a pair of her shoes with lime green fabric or something. Maybe a fluffy ball for the end of her shoes.

"I am a Turkey" ??

I found this while putting away laundry this morning and it really made me laugh. This was Monday nights art project and I'm curious if it was Gillian or Samantha who added the 'a'. At any rate it's a beautiful turkey. The back is fun to read as well. I might scan it too.

I love Jane Austen!

I have always been such a fan of Jane Austen. I remember the first lengthy report I got to do on an author and book of my choice was on Pride & Prejudice. I love that book. I've read it many times. So, when I saw this quiz, I just had to take it. I was pleasingly surprised at the result. For those who know me you'll be amused as well.



Take the Quiz here!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little to vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

What a day!

My rose decided to have one last bloom before it gets cold. It is the most beautiful it has looked since I planted it this summer. It never had this many blooms all at once until now. I think I'll be in for quite a treat next summer. The pity is that they really fade fast. The blooms on the left of the plant really only opened yesterday. By tomorrow they will have lost all of their petals, but they sure are gorgeous while they're there.



Yesterday I spent my birthday gift card to IKEA on a new sideboard for my dining room. It was tough to choose something from there. It's where I do all of my furniture dream building. In the end the number of drawers on this bad boy won me over. Nine new drawers have now been added to my kitchen! I'm so excited!! Now my table linens, trivets, and other goodies for setting the table and serving will have real homes. And that nasty free shelf will be gone from my dining room.

The only thing left to do is to put up chair rails, paint, and change the chandelier out. Oh, and move the larger table over. It'll be splendiferous!

Patrick and I spent almost all day getting this put together. Neither one of us realized the amount of work that would be needed to finish. I think I counted 14 different things that had to be done to each of those nine drawers before they were completed. The drawers alone made us rethink our policy on having someone else assemble our furniture.



Last, but definitely not least ... The best behaved children in the world! I'm biased, I know. They were all so wonderful today! And Oma told us that last night not a single one of them complained about going to bed. They were all even more delicious today than usual, listening, cooperating, cuddling. I don't think we could have gotten through the six hours of labor on that shelf without these three to keep us smiling. Thank you Gillian, Liam, and Cora for making each day so very special. It's an honor being your parents.

How many bites ...

How many bites does it take to get to the center of a Nerf ball? And why are they so yummy? I bought the kids some small Nerf balls yesterday, by evening Cora had discovered she could hold it up without her hands by only using her mouth. She was so proud! She was giggling about it and showing off until time for bed.

Inseparable

I had a friend say to me that I was lucky because I was going to be having another girl while I was pregnant with Cora. We were talking about not having sisters and I thought, yes, but I don't have a sister. She told me that I was lucky because I'd get to see a sister relationship in my own home and family and experience it that way. I didn't really think that she was right. Now I know she was.

Watching Gillian and Cora together, even with their 5 years in age difference is an amazing thing. The way they relate to each other is so different than the way that Gillian relates to Liam or Liam to Cora. They have this special bond. They enjoy just being in the same room together or sitting together.

Just before I took this photo Cora had been in Gillian's chair with her, of course, once the camera was in the room she never did it again. It was quite sweet. They really enjoy each other's company. It is one of those things that makes a parent smile. They played alongside each other until it was time for prayer last night.

My Baby Doll

Another bugger of a day today. Cora got some sort of stomach virus this week. It began on Wednesday with diarhea and shortly before bed she threw up. She did this once more and hasn't gotten back to solidity yet. Her poor little bum is so blistered. She's still quite upset today. I'm feeling like I have my own baby doll and I just hold her and she's limp. She only wants to be held. She doesn't want to eat anything.

She seems to be teething as well, so the poor thing is having such a tough time.

She Does Get Mad

Cora is an absolute joy. We are so happy to have her as part of our family. She really does lift us all up with her happiness and fun loving spirit. Here's a photo of Cora upset, which many people seem to believe never happens, it's just pitiful, isn't it? It's hard to not give in to such a damsel in distress.