In prep of Emily's 4th Birthday

there are some twins in emily's MDO class she really loves. max and erik. max and erik can't have whey, milk and canise. to make emily's party at school max and erik friendly, i went on a quest to find a cookie mix they were allowed to have. surprisingly enough, there was a good amount of products to choose from. i got some cookie mix and muffin mix. man, it was yucky. i feel sorry for these kids!! but anyway, i wanted to include them. when kids in her class bring things for birthdays and such, the twins can't participate. being the giver i am, i decided that must suck for them, thus my quest. anyway, emily's class had the "special" cookies tuesday. all emily would say was she shared her cookie with ethan (he got to come in her class for the party), which pretty much meant to me she thought they were gross. poor emily.

while searching for the healthy aisle, i ran across this product:

i thought it was kinda funny i saw such a HUGE can of whey protein when i was searching for things without whey...

also, i took these pics with my new camera phone! i'm digging it.

stay tuned for another post about emily's 4th birthday, which was saturday.

MY birthday is tomorrow...thanks for the early shout-out mrs. elly, but don't make me 35 before my time!! :)

Mrs. Elly's visit and the BSU Reunion '06, or aka Amy's Shower

i had the greatest weekend. it started when i picked mrs. elly up at the southwest baggage claim at 1:40 thursday afternoon, and ended, sadly when i dropped her off at the airport this afternoon. i was so happy to see her!! it had been since my wedding in 2000 since i'd seen her last, and that's TOO LONG! we laughed and cried together - just like old times. i got a good dose of counseling from her. she's not afraid to tell me what's what. and i respect and love her enough to know she's saying it out of love. my kids just loved her. earlier tonight ethan was calling for her. i don't think they'll soon forget her, especially since she brought them presents! :) it was so cool to have her around here, loving on my kids and folding my laundry! i hope i don't have to wait another 6 years before i get to see her again.

the time we spent in the metroplex was just as fun. i loved catching up with you girls. i lauged so much - and cried a little too! :) i'll leave it to someone else to post the details of the shower; i spent most of it in the bedroom nursing elliot! he had fun as well. he'd like to apologize for all the spit-up! thanks for the good times girls!

jessica and elliot - the hostess with the mostest

thursday night i felt like i needed to share elly. so davy and jaime turner came over with their two boys, eli and lucas. our older two and eli had a great time. jenny also stopped by later to catch up with elly!

emily was putting the moves on eli. i guess she gets her taste for younger men from her mom!

God's handiwork

visit magnoliaalley.com

**as to not annoy anyone about a particular website, i referenced God instead of the person who created the birth announcement.**

MDO!!

FINALLY! a new year of MDO has arrived! it's been a long summer. i know they are glad to be back, they love school.










i feel really comfortable with elliot's teachers; ms. nancy took care of ethan when he was in the nursery class, and ms. nanine was in emily's room last year. it was hard for me to leave him today, i cried a little when i dropped him off! i felt totally stupid, but it was the first time i've left him other than at church, and i've never left him for 4 hours before! when i picked him up they told me he was very happy all day. he did not drink much of his bottle, or nap, but he was okay! her are a couple of pics i took when i picked him up. he's holding his burp cloth and has his extra outfit on. i guess he spit up a bunch! when he saw me walk in he started smiling - he made me choke up! i'm just glad he was happy today.

ethan has the same teachers as last year, and that's great for him. he has some separation issues. he really bonded with both his teachers last year and he was excited to see them. he cried, of course, but the director let me know he calmed down soon after i left. this is ethan right before he went in his class. he loves his lunch box. he sometimes carried it around during the summer!

emily's teachers are new to the program. i like them too! ms. sarah holds a masters in education and has a lot of goals for them this year. that'll be good for emily. we think she needs to be challenged. really though, she just needs to learn she's not in charge all the time. there are 21 kids in her class - that's a lot of 4 and 5 year olds. we hope a couple of them have stronger personalities than she does. not likely, but we can hope! also, i took my first shot at sewing clothes for her. my mom was here for a few days. she walked me through this dress, and surprisingly it was not as hard as i thought. i'm not used to reading a pattern. i just kinda think about what i want to sew and do it. i think the next dress i'll make will be denim with a monogram...

i've realized for me to be the best mom i can be to them, i have to have a break. even elliot. not having any family around makes it hard for dan and i to have any time for ourselves. dan get's the raw end of the MDO deal; he still has to work on those days and help with the kids when he gets home. at least he gets to have lunch with me alone sometimes! :) i go through this every year, doubting the reasons why we pay money for someone else to watch them - but they really do love to go, and i really need them to go!

well, that's it! they had a great day, and i had an even better day! i sorta just took my time doing things. i actually got to eat lunch AND go to the bathroom all by myself!! i can't wait until i get caught up on my housework so i can sew while they are gone. my website, cutesycloths.com is about a month or so from being up and operational. i love MDO! tuesday's and thursday's are my new favorite days!