words emma says

So, since most all of you aren't near her to hear her growing vocab, I thought I'd let you in, I'll start with her favorites:

"Tubtubbies": you all know this one...usually said while handing the remote control over.
"Stuck": if she can't get to anything, it is stuck.
"Un-gy": hungry
"Snack": another word for hungry.
"LaLa": Yes, the Teletubbie
"Apple": officially apple, but will do for any fruit
"Goggy": officially doggy, but will do for any animal (even the dino on Night at the Museum!)
"Fuff": in a high pitched voice and usually repeated twice, the sound a "goggy" makes.
"Mamma": Pretty much when she wants something this is the first thing she says.
"Mommy": mommy
"Daddy": Daddy
"A-b": Abigail
"Be-ya": Bella
"Banky": Blankie (formerly this was baby, but she's added the 'K' sound now ;) )
"Baby": officially baby, but used for any doll or stuffed toy
"Nigh nigh": goodnight
"El-ya": Elliot
"Dere Dis": There it is
"Dat way": That way
"Da dada doe?": Where did they go?
"NO!": usually done with a pointing finger and a very serious look....where did she get it??
"Yeah": yeah
"Yes": yes
"hey! ...hey!": used almost all the time....for anything
"duce": juice
"Pease": please
"shoe": shoe
"ice": eyes
"Nahno": no no
"Beepee": This is for peepee or poopoo....nice.
"nice": nice ;)
"ah da do": I love you
"eek": look
"babboes": bubbles

that explains it

I know you guys only come here for the pictures- so here's one from yesterday. The girls wanted to dress Emma up like a farmer- so they put her overalls on her and tried to make her wear a hat- which she immediately took off when I pulled out the camera- what a stinker! (It also explains her crazy hair!)

Anyway. The mystery has been solved. What mystery, you ask? If you belong to PETA, please stop reading now. We won a beta fish OVER a year ago at a baby shower. I barely ever, if at all this year have changed the water in the bowl (I just add more if it starts getting low) and MAYBE feed it once a week. I said to Todd a while back- why won't this fish die? I don't mean to be cruel, I just forget about the thing. Well, as it turns out, beta fish live in swamps in their natural environment and actually like murky, stagnant water. As it turns out, I am prolonging it's life and happiness by neglecting it! "Fish" is at home in it's nasty dirty bowl! So gross....but good for the fish, I guess!

my lemon tree

"LIFE!!" That was my exclamation today as I was examining my lemon tree in the backyard. Over the winter, with the all the cold, all the leaves and branches had withered and browned. I cut it all back with the hope that they would grow again, but ever since then they've just gotten even more dry and brown. (...The leaves on the oak tree, hold on for the winter, they're brown and they're withered and they clatter together....my OtR obsession, I digress) ANYWAY! I've been so sad about this, too, because my lemon tree was a gift from my first real California friend, and for some reason I fell in love with this little tree. And it has been through so much with me- and it has grown, it bore fruit, it was badly damaged and made a beautiful come back. So, that it was dead made me really, really sad. In fact, I think I was in denial, because I had yet to get rid of it. I had lately been thinking I should tear it out of the pot and replant something in it's place. I just haven't had the heart. (I know, it is just a lemon tree, believe me!) And then today I saw them! The tiny little green growths sprouting out from the side of the trunk! "LIFE!" I exclaimed (and loudly)! And the girls came running over to see. About 3 or 4 tiny little new branches growing. And I almost started crying with happiness, even though it seems a little silly. But it is alive!! I thought it was dead! And now it is alive!

Such joy from a little tree. And because I am me, I search for a deeper message, a deeper meaning. I didn't need to look far. Isn't that what God has done for me, for us? Taken what is utterly hopeless and caused something beautiful to grow right there? Taken what looks dead, only to bring forth HIS life. Amazing. Taken that which has overcome into yet another battle and overcome again. Yes, from the lemon tree in my yard. ;)

wild child

We went to a friends b-day party on Friday night. When I left it got a little wild! Does it start this early?? :) ;)

oh, basil

Random and odd pregnancy craving for the day: Fresh Basil. Like in my salad. But with no lettuce. Just basil. And dressing. And dried cranberries & almonds. Mmmm. SO delicious!!

My good friend brought me a basket of goodies from her garden. In it was baby lettuce, radishes, I think nasturtium (some kind of edible orange flowers) and......basil! Mmmmm.

What was I going to tell you about Abigail??.....I can't remember what it was! Darn! So now I have been sitting here for at LEAST 30 seconds trying to remember, but I can't. Maybe tomorrow!

Aren't they beauties? These were from Saturday afternoon when we took a quick jump to the beach. Emma was freaked out because Ab and Bella kept screaming at the waves and Todd kept pretending to fall in. She gets so worried about those kinds of things! Anyhow, do you like Isabella's bangs? She is so proud of them! And a little embarrassed, too! (Before we left for church, she had to look in the mirror one last time to make sure they were perfect!) Ab got her hair cut too. She actually got like 2 or 3 inches cut off- I can't believe how long it was!

Well, Spring Break is over. I thought that it was going to be awful, so much work to get done, no more breaks....but today was amazingly fun and easy!! -And I looked ahead through the phonics curriculum, which is the one that stresses me the most- and I am happy to say I think the rest of the year is just mastering the things she's already learned instead of introducing new concepts! That is exciting because she mostly understands the stuff she's already learned!! So now we will just cruise through- and that means we won't be behind when we start in the fall! Yay!!!

it's a beautiful day (don't let it get away)

Today was a beautiful day. We headed over to a friends bright and early- she's offered to watch the girls on Tuesday mornings. Blessed I am! So I dropped them off around 9ish and the sun was warm and bright!

So I finally went to a real doctor for a real pregnancy test! You guessed it- it's positive! So officially, the due date is Oct 2. Then, I treated myself to some myself time. Just me, the massage chair, the jets on my feet and a People magazine. For about an hour.

And then we hung out in my friend's garden of paradise and ate salads and watched the kids dump sand all over each other. It was relaxing.

And then I took the girls to the park where we met another friend for a play date. It started off rough, but then the kids found their groove and we got a chance for a nice chat. It was a great day altogether. I love Spring Break!! A few more days to be carefree before we head into the crunch time. I am just going to change the subject right now! (We don't need to think about that until next week!)

it's already 4:15??

Here's Abigail painting faces at the Easter egg hunt/picnic Saturday. It's not enough to just get your face painted! This boy let both of the girls paint his face! It looked....well, splotchy! But is was incredibly cute. So they hunted eggs. They got some treasure. They had a blast.

Emma was sick last week with an infection of sorts. She is currently on anti-biotics and is feeling better, but still the past few days she has been extremely tired and therefore clingy. But we cut her a little slack, since she is sick and all ;)

Today we are on Spring Break, which is such a relief! We needed a break!!! We are in the process of deciding what to do about next year's schooling. Do you want to hear my statistics for the local school she would have to go to? Ready? On the 1-10 test scoring scale from greatschools.com, this school scores a 2. 90% of the kids receive the free lunch program, and there is a 2% non-Hispanic population. Oh, and to top it off, 87% are English-learners. Amazing isn't it? She would definitely be the only little blonde girl in her class! So we will see.

Teletubbies love to roll

Yes, the obsession continues! Emma woke up this morning saying "Tubtubbies!" And I think I had a dream last night that she was playing with some little Teletubbie action figures....how funny! Well, they are on PBS at 10:00 every day- so she can get her fill. :)

And as we were watching, Abigail was pretending she was an emperor penguin carrying an egg between her feet. If nothing else, it's always entertaining at our house!!

Bella doesn't seem to be feeling very well today. She is tired and cold. I hope she doesn't get the stomach flu- that is not fun!

The weekend went too fast, as usual! The highlight was a really fun BBQ last night with a bunch of friends. Santa Maria style tri-tip, beans, bread and salad. So good. And the salsa. I can't forget that. One of my friends makes the BEST salsa. I am going to try to get the recipe and can some- then maybe I can send it out to everybody! That would be fun- except....ever since I have had it, no other salsa even compares!

Well, better log in to school and get started. I never knew how much work Kindergarten would be!! :)