Emma Turns 6

Emma had a great birthday! Thanks so much to all who called and sent her gifts or cards. She woke up to find a vase of pink carnations on the table and a Happy Birthday banner on the wall. I brought donuts for her class, and they had a mini party for her where she made herself a birthday crown. I brought her to the toy store after school to buy a certain holiday doll that she has been saving for a month to get. She finally had enough for it after getting some birthday money. For dinner she chose to have Daddy’s Crepes. He won’t let me make them, it’s too fun for him. It was like having dessert for dinner! Strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce were some of the fillings we had. We opened presents, talked to family on the phone, and Hunter went to scouts. Afterwards we had ice cream cones for dessert complete with a candle for the birthday girl. It was quite a full day, and she loved it.

Emma has an ever growing collection of dolls now. We are going to need shelves or something to house them. Aunt Jeanette gave her a battery operated ballerina doll that will dance with her. It’s so fun to watch. There are three remotes that go on her wrists and right ankle, and the doll will move when she does. Emma and Hannah dressed up in their leotards to try it out the next day. Her current obsession is with the American Girl dolls. She loves to look through the magazines that come in the mail. I don’t know how we ever got on the mailing list, but that is her new goal now. She has a miniature Samantha doll, but wants to save up for a certain full size one. At her current rate she should have enough by her next birthday! We’ll see how determined she will be.

Our New Wolf

Hunter just had his first pack meeting as a cub scout this week. It was a lot of fun. The families all came with blankets and folding chairs to a park for the first pack meeting of this year. We noticed that picnic dinners have become 90% fast food or pizza. We were part of the pizza crowd. It just seems easier than packing a basket full of sandwiches, drinks, napkins, utensils, etc. Our world is different now than it was when I was a kid. After dinner and the introduction of the new wolves, the boys all worked on earning a belt loop. I think it’s pretty interesting that Hunter’s first merit badge was for “Ultimate Frisbee.” Scouts has gone urban! The boys all ran around and worked really well together and then were awarded their belt loops. Hunter had a great time, and I think he is going to really enjoy scouts!

Six Months Old

Sabrina just had her six month check up. Can you believe it? It’s amazing how fast the first year goes. She is doing very well and has started eating solid foods and still can’t be laid down on the floor without immediately lifting her head up like she’s doing little baby crunches. She’s already had to toughen up against her sisters and brother. She has no interest in rolling over though, and will not stand on her feet no matter how hard we try. The doctor suggested an exersaucer as a means of therapy to get her leg muscles used to supporting some weight. We did have a bit of concern a couple of months ago because her feet turn inward more than usual. We saw an orthopedic and did an x-ray. The doctor said that the turning in really is an issue more with the hips than the feet and her hips measure normal and there is no popping in them, so she should be fine. We will follow up with her again when Sabrina starts walking. I hope that her delay is due to being the fourth child and getting picked up and entertained a lot. I will be forcing more tummy and exersaucer time on her now and I’m sure she will catch on soon. She is such a cutie and I can’t go anywhere without a comment on her fluffy hair. Everyone loves how it stands straight up. Rob says she looks like a chimpanzee baby, and I guess it’s true. We have taken to calling her “motorboat” lately though because she will blow raspberries like crazy when she wants some attention and isn’t getting it.

Knitting Machine

Emma has been saving her money for a while and when we went shopping last week she had a chance to spend it. We went to the toy store and she just couldn’t find anything she wanted badly enough that was within in her budget. She was upset about not finding anything, but seems to grasp the concept of saving for what you really want. The next place we went was a childrens’ consignment store and she found the greatest deal. A brand new knitting machine, never opened, for 1/3 what it would cost retail. She was so excited to get it home and try it out. We loaded the yarn, and she turned the crank and made herself a nice pink tube. It took mommy forever to figure out how to get it off of the machine, and Emma finally got it. We decided to make the tube into a purse. We stitched one end closed and hot glued a ribbon handle at the other end and a white daisy in the middle. She then got started on a scarf, but that was more difficult, mostly because you really have to pay attention and stay focused longer. So it turned out to be a small placemat instead. She let me take her picture, but didn’t want me to post any with her in it, so you can check the gallery for that. Such a great project, I wonder what she’ll make next.

STAR Pupil

We recently got a letter in the mail to report how Hunter did on the STAR test that he took at school last year. It is an acheivement test that measures the student’s progress in meeting the state’s academic standards. Hunter did extrememly well and scored as Advanced in both English-Language Arts and Mathematics. I was not surprised by this, but was very impressed. He scored 100% in all three of the reading categories, “Multiplication, Division and Fractions”, “Algebra and Functions,” and “Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability!” WOW! Rob and I are so proud of him and had a family dinner night out to honor his accomplishment. We asked him where he would like to go and he picked McDonalds mostly because it has a Playplace. Great job smarty!!

There is a list of books that are suitable for his reading level and it has books like: A Wrinkle in Time, Tuck Everlasting, A Light in the Attic, and Cricket in Times Square. All books I remember as a kid, but don’t remember being ready to read them this young. I guess it’s time to expand our home library!

Our Favorite Dinner

This is one of our family’s favorite dinners. There are a few things that everyone really likes, and this is one of them. Salmon is about the only fish we eat in our house and I usually cover it with lemon salt and dill and then broil it, but in this house with no real oven, and a BBQ that was crawling with ants, this time I made it in a frying pan on the stove. Couscous is very popular around here, but seems to end up all over the house whenever we have it, so it is a bit of a luxury. The mixed vegetables are a good compromise because I can tell Hunter to pick two vegetables that he’s willing to eat, and eat all of those on his plate. Anyway, now I have something for my recipe category!