Gatti Town Birthday

My mom and I took Emme to Gatti Town on her actual birthday. She loved every minute of it! I was surprised the first time I took her there and she let them paint her face. I thought she would want to get it painted, but would actually be too squirmy. She sat as still as a rock!

She was quite independent and rode the merry-go-round and the ship by herself. It was bittersweet. Of course I rode with her the first few times, but she loved looking for me on the sidelines with the camera even more than when I rode with her.

Her favorite part was the bowling! I wonder if it is just in her blood? Her great grandfather owned Zang's Bowl.

Penguin Party: Emme is 3!

I thought the perfect theme for Emme's party this year would be Penguins! She loves them! First, I had to get the perfect cake. Luckily I met someone at church who makes amazing cakes! She exceeded my expectations!

As for the party, well, the turn out was great! I think the kids had a good time. There were bounce houses, a dance floor, bubbles, and games.

But, here is the rest of the story...

When I picked the location for Emme's party, I practiced my nonjudgmental approach to the world and overlooked the gravel road and herd of goats I had to pass in Prosper to get there.

I based my decision on Emme's joy with the dance floor, bounce houses and games. I should have listened to my internal critical parent that said "Seems like a bit of a dive...the owner seems a bit challenged...it is hot in here, even though their explanation is an unusually large pizza order in the last 20 minutes" but no, I listened to the part that said "He is trying...she is giggling...I am sure the kids will like it"

Well, the "food room" did not have enough breaker capacity for lights AND the PLUG IN AC units, yes, PLUG IN. The "party helpers" had to be the challenged owners kids by his first cousin. My pregnant friend was still recovering from heat exhaustion 3 hours later. I considered having an ambulance on standby like the cowboys do during training camp.

Half the people that came are new friends from church and they know very little about me. Having recently had oral surgery requiring a wait time for my crown, I have a slight issue...I am a toothless, single mom, new to the church with the goats and inbreds at the birthday sauna sealing the deal of the most likely conclusion...yep, white trash. I told the owner it was his fault if I had to undo the understandable conclusion that I was "white trash and the purse was fake after all!" (people talk about such things)

I ripped into him for 15 minutes, after all the church people left of course. Wouldn't want to cement the conclusion, even though I kept my bra on, and didn't cuss.

So, that's the story. Emme didn't seem to care, but I am still horrified.

Dancing in the Streets

I thought it would be fun to go to dinner somewhere in the Shops at Legacy. After work, Emme, my mother and I headed out there.

I heard about them having live music on Saturday nights and thought Emme might like that. Might was an understatement! Before I knew it, she was leading the crowd in dance moves!

I love that she is so outgoing. People just have a good time when she is around! I hope that charismatic spirit stays with her forever. This actually took place just before her birthday, so she was just 2. Pretty strong presence for 2!

Life is a Circus

I must admit I was a bit torn about whether or not to take Emme to the circus. She had never been and I had a strong feeling that she would like it. I just feel so guilty about the elephants. I watch Dateline, 20/20, Primetime and I know there have been several stories over the years about the mistreatment of elephants. Well, I decided to take her. After all, I wouldn't want to have the conversation with her one day about "Why can't I go to the circus too?" because then I would have to give her an answer and she would go to bed crying over the elephants. So, after thinking about it more than is probably healthy, I joined forces with Belinda and her friend Tommie (a girl) and we loaded 4 car seats into my van and off we went!

Obviously, someone had a good time! She enjoyed pointing out the lions and yep, the elephants!

Catch up Time

I have been documenting the happenings with Emme other ways, Facebook, e-mail, videos, etc. and I keep meaning to post to my blog, but I am vowing and declaring that I will be more self disciplined and update, even if it is short and sweet! So, I will be filling in the last few weeks with the happenings and catch up soon so my posts will be current!

Emme and Neal

Emme has had a facination with Neal E. Boyd since she first heard him sing on America's Got Talent last year. She would literally freeze in her tracks when she heard him from anywhere in the house. When I heard he was coming to the Nokia Theatre, I thought she would love to go to the concert and boy was I right! Not only did she love it when he sang, but when she saw him just prior to intermission where he was to sign autographs, she took off running to him yelling his name! He could not believe a child so young was such a fan, but she promptly gave him a "big hug" and kiss.

He was so tickled with her that he recorded her singing to him on he phone and plans to post it! Right now his profile picture is of the two of them and he said in an earlier status that she made his night.

He is such a genuine guy, just really down to earth!

It was something I think they will both remember forever!

4th of July

The fourth of July celebration were pretty awesome this year. We headed out to my cousin, Blake's, house and were in for a treat! They had lots of great food, a huge bounce house with a water slide, a lake to swim in, a DJ and dancing. The fireworks show was the best they have ever done! My brother and Blake are in charge since everyone else wants to live and they got 1/2 a ton of fireworks delivered this year!

Emme had a blast! She had never swam in a lake before so she did not even know what to think about that, but she became comfortable with the idea in a matter of seconds!

One of the things she did that she thought was fun was bring me trash. People would lay their cans down until they headed back up to the house, but Emme could not stand this so proceeded to bring me everyone's can.

She also loved the Jet Ski! I was proud of Bryan for taking her on a slow and steady ride for several minutes and she thought she was hot stuff! That is her with him in the distance.

Once they got back, I had a hard time getting her off of it!

Her favorite part was the bounce house with a water slide. She exhibited no fear and was right in the middle of the bigger kids. They were so sweet to her and assumed three stations: watch her from a side opsition go down the slide, help her off and help her up the ladder. Some of the girls were her 4th cousins!

She would always ask herself "Are you okay?" after she sat up at the bottom. It was really cute!

Here she is saying "I did it!!!" She said that at least 50 times, meaning she and the girls repeated this ritual at least 50 times!

This is right before the fireworks show began. They are getting organized. It was very moving to hear the patriotic music blasting in the background as the show went on for over an hour. Emme was not too sure she liked it, but she did not cry or want to leave the show.

Obviously she had a great time. These last pictures were taken about 10 seconds apart!

Emme and the Birdie

This was just a classic Emme moment. She had been playing dress up all day and Prue was outside terrorizing the birds. We went outside to check on her and noticed a little Blue Jay on the ground. It was scared, but not hurt. I think it saw Prue and froze because it could fly. Emme was fascinated! She loved the birdie and talked about it for days afterwards.

She loves being all dressed up and putting on a show, but I think the bird was even more fun for her, if that is possible!

Penguins and Parties

Emme was thrilled to go to the Dallas Aquarium last Thursday. Can you tell? She was so excited to see the penguins that I could barely get her to leave. We went back to them four times!

It was a lot of fun to go with Belinda, Libbie and their friends from Amarillo. I did drop my camera looking at the Sloth so these pictures are from my phone and Belinda's camera.

Emme is all about the penguins and has loved them for a few months now. She thought seeing them was the greatest, but did not understand why they would not follow her commands! She saw one jump from one rock to another and after that all she wanted to do was see them jump so she kept yelling "Jump! Jump!" Needless to say, they ignored her, but she still loved them.

I think this has inspired a penguin theme for her birthday. I am overwhelmed at the thought of it. I plan to keep it simple and just have fun. Still a lot to do alone though. It is hard to believe that she will be 3!! Wow, how time flies! I miss her being tiny, but she is still babyish enough for me to feel like I have a baby, not a big girl! She is so amazing.

This was Emme's face when I told her to say good-bye to the penguins!