Vintage Ballet Costumes...

Ok, well maybe not vintage, but second generation at least. Emma is now enjoying my 25+ year old ballet costumes. My mom had the fabulous foresight to save all my costumes from my years of ballet. This is one of the littlest ones, and Emma loves to put it on and dance around. (Natalie, look familiar?) I have such vivid memories of this dance recital. We were all little witches, and had matching black hats...so fun. I'm glad it's getting a second go-around. She has years of costumes ahead of her. :)

Y por fin...

Here's a cool old tree at our campsite.



I accidentally took one picture as the camera flipped, and it was so cool! So Jake, took a bunch of pictures of AJ & Emma, and they turned out so awesome!



Here we are at Rialto again on our last day, we finally had a super-sunny day. (We were lucky to get even one). Emma loved throwing all the rocks, she could have continued forever.

Exploring at Ruby Beach

This was such a fun beach, and we hit it with perfect timing! We got there at low tide and were able to find star-fish and other sea creatures all along the beach. It was a little cold, but that didn't keep Emma from splashing in the water. My brother Jake and his wife AJ drove out on Friday, and camped and explored with us. It was so fun to have them there, too! :)

Camping Part II

Camping Part I...

So, school got out on Thursday at 9:42, and we took off immediately to go camping for the weekend. We went out to a place on the coast called Mora. It's the most beautiful campground, less than a mile from the beach, and right outside of the towns Forks & La Push (for you Twilight fans). Shane and I have been going here to camp since our dating days, and we try to go back every summer. We love it. I finished the Eclipse book on Friday afternoon on the beach at La Push...what better spot? Everywhere we went, I was looking for vampires and werewolves and Shane was rolling his eyes. So fun. I'll be posting a lot of pictures, so here's part 1:



Here are Shane & Emma at our campsite at Mora. We were worried it would be a busy weekend, but there weren't many people there. It was nice to spend so much time together. It's been a very busy spring!



My cutie-pies on the beach. Emma finally smiled for a picture when I said, "smile!" She had just gotten soaked to the bone earlier (see video below). She ran full force toward the water, and didn't stop in time. After only 5 minutes at the beach, we had a full wardrobe change. :)




Here Emma and I are at Rialto Beach. It's just beautiful, huge logs wash up on shore, and they are great for climbing and exploring.



Here's Emma...it was quite cold all weekend, but Emma was a trooper! :)

Camping at Mora...

More to come! :)

Tom and Jamie's wedding

Tom, my oldest brother got married on Saturday to his sweetie Jamie. She's so wonderful, and we are very happy that they have found each other. It was a beautiful day, and so fun to visit with everyone that was in town for the wedding. Here are some highlights. :)



Here's Tom and his best man, Matt. They met on the bus on their way to kindergarten in Utah. They're still best buds. After our family moved to Seattle, Matt moved a few years later, and they've remained friends after 25+ years. So cool!



Here's Tom, Jamie & the Folkman siblings/parents.



Our little Reckling Family.



Tom & Jamie!



My cutie-pie Shane. I think he looks so cute in the picture! I love you sweetie!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

This is what I've been up to lately. Pictures coming soon. :)

Last week of school.
Jamie's shower
Tom & Jamie's wedding.
Father's Day.
Flowers for the wedding.
Broken washer.
Family in town for the wedding.
End of school (did I already say that!)
Camping prep!

I can't wait for summer to be here!

My summer splurge...

If I can talk Shane into it, the new iPhone will be my summer splurge. I couldn't justify it at the old price ($599 for 8g), but only $199 for 8g! Who could pass this up? Coming July 11th--I can't wait! :) Click here to see how fabulous it will be.

LOVE IT!

Oh my goodness...I haven't been able to put it down. Thanks to Leslie...I finally read this book and it is so awesome! I'm so happy there are two more books, and a fourth coming out soon! You won't be able to put it down. :)

Sorry, one more!

I know I'm posting a lot today, but I have more great news. Shane just found out that his work schedule will be 4-tens this summer. Which means we will be able to have a 3-day weekend every week! :) I can't wait. He'll have Fridays off, so we can take off and go camping, or just spend time together. I can't wait for summer to come. Only 2 1/2 weeks left of school! Woo-hoo!

Karate-Chop!

We had some friends invite us to a sneak preview on Saturday to go see Kung Fu Panda! We tried to take Emma, but she got a little scared and started yelling, "Fast forward, fast forward!". So, we had to leave early, but let me tell you...for the forty-five minutes we were there, it was so funny! :) I can't wait to go back and try this weekend for date-night. Anyone that loves Jack-Black and cheesy karate movies, will love this movie! I hope you all get a chance to see it.

PS, I think kids will love it too! Emma was just a little too little...The theater was full of kids laughing hysterically. :)

I love being a teacher...

I need to be able to laugh at myself, so here goes...

So, I keep cereal at work, with some milk in my mini-fridge so I don't have to get up early enough to eat breakfast at home. I have paper bowls and spoons there also. I usually teach 1st period and then while they get started on homework, I eat a quick bowl of cherrios.

So today, I realized that I was out of spoons. I had already poured the milk on the cereal, and I couldn't go into the building to find a spoon. (I'm out in a portable--so it's a long trek). I looked around my room for anything that I could possibly use, and couldn't find a thing! I tried to just drink the cereal out of the bowl, but that wasn't working. Finally, I opened my drawer and found a plastic ruler. It was wide enough to use as a spoon. So I cleaned it off, and away I ate. It worked great, and I got to eat my cereal before it got soggy.

Sad I know. :) I guess I should have had enough self-respect to just let the cereal get soggy. But I'm a teacher, I'm resourceful! :)

My favorite phrases...

So Emma repeats just about everything she hears now, and has quite the list of cute things she says. Here's some of my fav's...

"Oh my goodness"
"Shoot!"
"Poor baby" (from Grandma Reckling)
"Yeah, well...anyways"
"No fair!"
"Look at me!" (While she puts my face in both hands and pulls it toward her).
"Dangit" (not proud of this one, thankfully we've replaced it for the most part with shoot and oh my goodness.)
"What the heck?" (again, not proud)
"I'm talkin' to Jake!" (Anytime she's playing with a phone, she always imagines she's talking to Uncle Jake.)
"I love you, mommy"
"good night"
"thank you"
"you're welcome"
"I don't need a binky..."

I'm so happy about the binky phrase, we've been dreading the time when we take away the binky, but it happened kind of naturally this week, with no major meltdowns. She still asks for it at night, but then immediately follows with the "I don't need a binky..." something I've repeated to her multiple times a day.

The thank you and you're welcome are a great addition. Last night, Emma was in bed trying to go to sleep when I turned off the hall light by her room from downstairs. I heard her over the monitor, "Mommy, can you turn on the light?". I went and turned on the light and then I heard her yell a "thank you" again over the monitor.

On the opposite side of things, she's suddenly decided that crying is a good reaction when she doesn't get her way. We're trying to nip that in the bud quickly. :)