Before I forget...

Emma says and does the silliest things. So I'm posting these all together, so I don't forget what they were about. Just her 4 year old imagination. 

We tried to play checkers at chapel while I was printing off the new study. But she had to hold her baby, too.

She invited me to her baby shower. Refused my first few gifts, then told me to go get more. 

Trying to yell to daddy that she loves him.

Wearing my new rain boots. 

Trying to be Pepper's doctor. 

Pepper wanted to check out Emma, too.

She finally got her new Belle doll. We had to go to 2 stores for it, but we got it. 

New water bottle, new doll, and snacks helped us wait at the tire place. 

Back at home, playing princesses. They were at the ball waiting for the prince.

Polly in bed.

I couldn't pet kitty because I might knock off her tail skirt or mess up her makeup. 

Kitty's house. Food and water, bed, her friend the 'mouse,' and makeup. 

I always wonder where the bows go, but they are usually on a doll or animal. Usually pony gets 2.

She took kitty trick-or-treating.

She helped Lisa give announcements at chapel this morning. Today was Lisa's last day. :(

Big girl stuff

Emma is doing lots of big girl stuff lately. She is mostly helpful, and does a good job being the big kid when she is...I mean, what kid doesn't want to be the cool big kid, aka bossy with willing followers. ;) but she is also a good little kid, loves the big kids. 

Chilling with her 'daughter,' who she named Emma, of course...in new mermaid blankets knitted by Grandma Connie.

Hugs.

Natanya (2 1/2) and Emma did a great job at Mobile Meals on Saturday. If they could have closed the bags, they wouldn't have needed me. 

They were so cute. Natanya loved Emma, wanted her to be the bag holder, not me.

Finally learned how to pump her legs when she swings.

Pin the fin on the shark at Noah's 5th birthday party.

She actually hit the piñata this time!

Chilling with Mom at the dentist. I went first, while she laid on me and watched TV on the ceiling. Then they worked on her. She got a full big-girl cleaning and flossing done! 

Clean teeth!

Pumpkin smoothies for doing such a great job! 

Pepper was a brave girl today, too. She got her stitches out and her cone off!

She has been earning money. She wanted a flashlight, but in the process of looking for them at Walmart, she discovered the toy aisle and decided she wanted a Belle doll instead...except she didn't have enough money. Hard lesson to learn at 4. (You should have seen her sad face.) She put a little toy back so she could save up and get the one she wanted. :) So I'm finding chores for her to do to earn some more money. Tonight she did the dishes. 

Daddy bear

We haven't been getting mail during the Oroville Dam fiasco. So I was very excited today when we checked the mail on the way to Awana. I ordered this a while ago but didn't tell her about it. She loved it. Hugs it constantly. I asked her what her favorite part of it was and she pointed to Daddy. :)

The shirt says, "I love and miss you."

Getting out, staying in

Yesterday we went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and then to find a birthday present. In the afternoon we played at the park for 3 hours with friends, soaking up the sunshine before another week of rain. Today we stayed in, except for Awana. We just relaxed, played, etc. Emma caught my cold, and has been extra snuggly and tired. It's was kind of nice to have a break. 

She may have ended up in bed with me a night or two. Don't usually let her start out with me, she can only come in if she is having trouble sleeping. But she does sleep longer/better with in our bed.

Silly girl

Cow hat

We couldn't resist taking Pepper out for a short walk in the sunshine.it was much needed.

Sleeping Beauty

This has been a crazy week. We had lots going on with Pepper, car repairs, Valentines, and trying not to get too sick. It was good to be distracted.  This weekend we finally slowed down. Monday we cleaned and cleaned. We have been following all the news about the dam north of here. Many of our friends have had to evacuate, but we are good where we are. Mostly we are affected by facilities being closed or repurposed...no school for a week. So we are enjoying our time together...outside when we can before the rain returns or the mosquitoes eat us alive. Yesterday after our cleaning, we went to the park with Raelynn and Michelle. But both girls were having 'a day,' so we tried coming inside. But still, it just wasn't to be. They were both unusually cranky. Raelynn is probably teething, but Emma...was tired. 

Girl fell asleep at 5:30.

Update: she woke up at 9:30. Is now wide awake, chatty, happy, silly, chatty. 

Update on Tuesday: she slept from 5:30 to 9:30, woke up for an hour to chat, get Jammie's, medicine and brush teeth. Then she slept until 7! And I think we are headed for another nap!

"Talking" to Daddy on her 'phone'

She was having church.

Getting ready for Valentine's Day

We have apparently been doing lots of Valentines activities: Valentines box, pictures, cards and treats. So here they are:

My old scrapbooking stuff is coming in handy.

She was in a mood. 

Signing her valentines.

All done and ready for school!

The housing office hosted 10 minute sessions for their photo booth.

The national anthem started playing.

We brought the daddy pillow.

We always make red velvet cream cheese brownies for Valentines Day. We made it the right way this year, and they turned out great.

Usually we just dumped it all into a 10x15, but it was supposed to be in a 13x18, which I don't have, so we improvised. 

Pepper's surgery

Tuesday we dropped Pepper off at the vet before preschool for her surgery. You should have seen the look she gave me when I handed over the leash...it was so hard to leave her there. For those that don't know, Pepper was abused before we got her. She was at the animal shelter for a couple months, they said it took a long time for her to even eat (which I now know is just a Pepper thing), and be happy. When we got her she was better adjusted, but would still cower if anyone tried to pet her. :( And while she has mostly been spoiled since then, she does have bad separation anxiety and does not like moving, minus the car rides, and extra exploring. Every time we leave her, she doesn't eat at least the first night...this has gotten better over the years though (and with great pet sitters) it used to be worse. When we moved from Idaho to Texas she did not eat until we got to Texas, about 10 days if I remember. And with Steven having just left, I really hated to leave her with these strange people. She just shakes the whole time she is in there, and hides under me and anything else she can. But she survived. They let me take her back since she was not about to follow those strange people with out resistance. She did fine in surgery and was a little groggy still when we picked her up around 4. They gave her a bandage on her knee that fell off by itself, repeatedly, no matter what I tried. And she got a cone since she has a habit of tending her own wounds. Honestly I think she hates the one the most. The first night she was still out of it and would just stand there helplessly. If she walked into something with her cone she would just stand there. She just looks at her bed, but neve gets in it. Night time was interesting. Pepper usually sleeps under our bed, but couldn't even go upstairs herself the first night. I helped her up, because she just stood down there crying. So after we finally got into our room, she still just stood there crying because she couldn't get under the bed and I couldn't convince her to just lay down on the other side. So I helped back down the stairs and have been sleeping on the couch. I did try again the next night to sleep upstairs, but we went through the same routine. So I'm just going to sleep on the couch until the cone comes off on the 20th. It's not that bad...our couch is  great for sleeping and I have a new luxurious blanket from Christmas, could be worse. She seems to be getting used to the cone a little, and feeling better, but I'm still excited for her to be all better. Beware of photos, they contain pictures of her stitches.

One 

This never stayed up. (Two)

Three. 

We tried socks and suspenders, but nothing helped. Then he told me it was better with no bandage.

She has her own umbrella! We have gotten over 5 inches of rain in the last week.

Hiding at the vet