A Rite of Passage

Emily got a bicycle for her birthday and since Annabelle's has suffered some trauma since moving here we decided to fix it so they would be able to play together. We've replaced both tubes and both tires. We've spent as much as the bike cost new, but we decided we were teaching a principle by fixing her old one instead of getting a new one when it wasn't a holiday or special occasion. On Saturday when Earl was replacing the tubes, he asked Annabelle if she wanted to take her training wheels off and she said, "no, not yet". On Monday, Annabelle ran in the house to ask me if she could borrow the neighbor's "two wheeler". It turns out that in the course of about 30 minutes, the little girl down the street had taught Annabelle how to ride without training wheels. I told her that she could borrow the bike, but that I NEEDED TO SEE THIS! It was the cutest thing. Annabelle would get on the bike and her friend Ellecia would hold onto the back of the seat, give her a little push and then let go. (The same things Earl would have done if she had let him teach her two days ago). Annabelle would take off--and she was good at it! It appears she has forgotten how to use her brakes on two wheels because whenever she wants to stop she will drive off into the little ditch on the side of the road. I'm so proud of her and because I remember a neighbor girl teaching me to tie my shoes, I think it's a great memory she will have of her friend teaching her how to ride.

Cat vs. Dog, can you guess who’s the best?

This age old battle will be laid to rest.

a series of games will be your quest

Choose your side and put your skills to the test

Report to battle on the 29^th of august

3:30-5pm

at the home of Emily Bennett

in celebration of her 4^th birthday!!

We had a terrific party, complete with masks, cake in dog dishes, a new big-girl bike and even the Baha Men singing "Who let the dogs out?" while the children played musical chairs (with place mats shaped like fish and bones). My family LOVED being able to come for one of the girls' parties and to help out. I'm not used to having other people interrupt my creative process when I plan a party, but it made them so happy to contribute, so I tried something new and just let things go. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Happy Birthday little, Em!

Oh, for those of you interested: after some intense competition the DOGS were victorious!

Woof, Woof!

Emmy's Turn

Today was a special day. My little uber shy, super sweet Emmy has her first day of preschool.

I've been looking into my options since we moved to Tennessee trying to come up with something that would help get Em ready for kindergarten next year. I've even contemplated a preschool co-op which I've vowed never to do again. Luckily, through a cool gal in my new ward I was able to find a great place just a few miles from home. You might be wondering how this could possibly work seeing as how I don't have a car. Well, there is a plan in place--we are just still working out the kinks. The key part of the plan is that this cool gal I mentioned before has offered to carpool. I say she's extra cool 'cause the preschool is 1 mile from her home and she will drive 5 miles to my house to pick up Emily. Like I said, pretty cool gal, right? Preschool is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2. Yes, you read that right, 5 hours a day. The preschool has agreed to let Emily go just on Tuesdays to see if she likes it and I think that's great. Every other week the girls and I will get up and take Earl to work so that I can be in charge of taking Emily and the cool gal's daughter to preschool. This morning we all got up before 6 and were on the road by 6:15, we got Earl to work at 6:40 (he's suppose to be there at 7, so as part of our "plan" he will be getting to work early twice a month. I headed to Annabelle's school which begins at 7:15 and surprisingly pulled into the parking lot at 7:12, which apparently is too late. I was told to park the car and escort her to the office. Rats! Emmy was in a nightgown and oh goodness, my hair was CAraZy! Luckily, one of the parking lot helpers watched the girls in the car so no one saw Em in her jammies, but everyone was able to get a good look at my do! It appears that we are going to have to leave the house at 6:10 instead of 6:15. We were able to have plenty of time to get home and get Em and myself ready for the day. I got lots of cute pictures of Emily to which she said, "Can we stop taking pictures now? I'm going to be late." Precious! We were 12 minutes early.

Well, anyone who knows our little Em knows that she doesn't talk to anyone new, she doesn't even talk to people she does know if there are people she doesn't know around. So, here's hoping everything goes well today. I will definitely be thinking about her and hoping that someone thinks to take her on a potty break since the likelihood of her asking to go is slime to nonexistent.

My First Born's First Day of First Grade

Today was the day I've been anxious about for a long time. The time when my little girl--who's not so little anymore--would start first grade. In first grade the real learning begins. In first grade you are gone ALL day and in this case 8 hours! In this first grade the bus comes at 6:37AM. Which means this mom of first time first grader is in a whole new world. Getting up extremely early, remembering to put the first graders clothes in the bathroom the night before so that the little sisters of the first grader aren't woken up unnecessarily. AND coming up with a new lunch EVERY day that will last 4 hours in a lunch box.

This morning was the first day of my first born starting first grade. I actually didn't have a hard time getting up just before 6 because I was so anxious. Our little first grader must have been pretty anxious too because she was already awake when I went to get her from bed.

It being 6 o'clock in the morning, I was wearing my jammies. Annabelle asked me if I was going to walk her to the bus. I told her yes and then she said, "wearing that?" It was such a hilarious moment and a small glimpse into the future. It was as though she were 13 and already embarrassed by me. Luckily, she is only 6 and hasn't discovered embarrassment yet (hopefully she won't for a long time). She just seemed confused by the fact that I was going to leave the house without proper clothes. I informed her that at 6AM all the mommies were going to look like me.

Annabelle has an AMAZING teacher. She is SUPER organized and LOVES what she does. I'm VERY excited for this year.

Country Livin'

We had to make some adjustments to our new life in Tennessee. It's easy to say that living in this cute little house on almost an acre in southern heat is different from our third-floor Seattle apartment. Here are some of the changes we've had--in just a month.

The Sun--lots and lots of sun--and Heat

Bugs-lots and lots of bugs

On our very first night here we were all attacked by the mosquitoes. It's as though they could sense that there was something sweet and different in our Northwest blood. Annabelle and Emily have gotten it the worse. It looks like they have chicken pox most of the time.

We have also come across a very interesting insect called a Red Velvet Ant. What an interesting frightening little six-legged creature. She seems to have taken up permanent residence in our backyard. She is a female wasp who doesn't fly and has a very powerful and painful sting. OUCH! And, I'm not exaggerating when I say that there are HUNDREDS of bees in our backyard. Annabelle and Emily were both stung within the first 10 days of being here. So sad. The girls spend a good majority of the day outside collecting bugs and more bugs. We've even caught Emily letting a fire ant crawl all over her. Luckily, I was outside with the girls the day we found the Red Velvet Ant, or I'm sure she would have picked that up too!

The only good bug thus far: LIGHTNING BUGS! Yay! for the girls growing up with these wonderful little glowing bugs.

Critters--Ours and Others

Much to our surprise, our house already had occupants when we moved in. We have a five lined skink who lives under our deck. He's a cute little blue-tailed lizard that we get to see about once a week. We have also found a toad in our backyard and this is the little family that lives on the front porch:

This is the mom and dad. The babies are tucked safely inside. It so much fun watching them grow.

We also have the occasional visitor. Apparently, all animals are welcome here!

In all, we are LOVING our house. We are still undecided about our ward. We have NO friends but think it's GREAT to live close to family.