From the pre-school blog...

Emma's preschool has blog (which is private, so I'll just try to repost here). This is something her teacher wrote up about her one day.

Caring for Dot

We often notice Emma caring for others. She is quick to see when another child is upset, one of the first to offer to care for another, and shows great concern for how others are feeling. She seems to be a nurturer at heart. When I introduced Dot, our 3's class puppet, Emma seemed entranced. On this day she used her nurturing skills to take care of Dot.

An observation by Teresa:

Emma saw Teacher Sue holding Dot and she was concerned that Dot looked sick. Emma used the tape measure as an instrument to look inside Dot's mouth. Emma was very concerned about Dot. She pulled out a blanket to cover Dot with and placed a pillow under Dot's head.

Emma got two rectangular blocks and stood them up vertically to represent a garbage pail because Dot might throw up.

Dot did throw up. Some spilled on the carpet but we were able to use a block as a napkin to clean up the mess. It was red vomit.

Emma used the stop sign as a light to check Dot's throat and sat on a special chair that only the doctor could use. She checked Dot's hear rate using the tape measure and found that it was beating too quickly. Emma put her face up to Dot's belly and tried to look at the heart through the fur.
And then Dot was better!

P.S. Her name was Dr. Shill.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas, filled with lots and lots of family time. Christmas Eve we spent with all the Folkmans. Grandpa got Beatles rock band for Christmas from the kids, so we spent the evening jamming out in front of the tv with everyone. Emma was quite good on the drums.

Christmas day, we spend with the Recklings, eating yummy food, and playing hand and foot. It was a fun couple of days. We are grateful for so much family and love in our life.

On Christmas eve, we read Luke II by the firelight with Emma before bed. I'm really hoping that we were successful in teaching her what Christmas is all about this month. Not just Santa, fun and presents, but most importantly Christ and His birth. Ask her, and she'll tell you what's most important (i hope). She might get a little confused and tell you its all about her pink kid umbrella from Santa, since her world has been revolving around it for the past 24 hours.


Now, we are baby-izing the house for the next week. Setting up crib, fixing some things, getting a new dresser, etc. This is our last big break before baby, so I'm hoping to get all ready now. We really can't wait for our new arrival. We just can't seem to pick a name...Ugghh.

Emma's letter to Santa

Tonight, Emma asked me for a paper and pen, and told me she was going to make a list. Afterward, she showed it to me. She said it was for Santa.




She says it says how good she is, and that she would like a pink kid umbrella for Christmas. She also drew a picture for Santa of her and Shane walking to school, using the umbrella. (PS, I love Shane's skirt). After watching Shane do so much homework, this is what all her writing looks like now. Very cute. We just put it in an envelope with a stamp, and we'll mail it out tomorrow.

She has been very good this year.

Emma singing

More Football...

More action shots of Shane playing football. All taken by Mark.

And...a video.

Turkey Bowl 2009 from mbgriffi on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is how our day started...it's only going to get better. :) Enjoy the Holiday! We are thankful for so much.
Notice how Emma didn't want to get too close to Daddy? Shane had fun at the turkey bowl, now I get to have fun doing laundry. More photos to come...

Scripture Posters

Look how cute! I found this via one of Cjane's blogs. You can choose from a bunch of different scriptures. I would love to have one for home (and I'm thinking they would be great for gifts). This one is my favorite. Click here to see the store.

Christmas Craft Wish list...

I'm so excited to get going on Holiday crafts this year...I'm trying to hold off until December, but it's hard. Here are some fun things I'd like to try. I found them all on Martha...

Last year after the Holidays, we got a little mini-tree about 3 feet on clearance for Emma's room. I can't wait to put it up and make ornaments with Emma. These cookie ornaments and popcorn ball treats look fun and easy. I always wanted to have a little tree in my room at Christmas. I think Emma will love to use it as a nightlight throughout December.

I want to add a few more Christmas Decorations around the house. These paper stars would be super cute, and I LOVE the Card wreath idea. I never know what to do with my Christmas cards. I also love the pinecones.

These look like cute kid crafts...We can make the candy stockings for Emma to give away to friends and her teachers. The gumdrop people are just too adorable to pass by, I have a big hurricane vase we can put them in. And then the button wrapping paper, just looks fun and cute to make.

I LOVE this time of year! Can't wait to get started. :)

It's a boy!

I've tried to cover all my bases, posted to facebook, texted and now my blog. We are so excited! I was thinking it was going to be a girl (so was Shane), but am thrilled its a boy. Now to think about names. We have no names that we like & agree on....it's good we have a while yet to decide. :)

Emma is excited...when I just asked her what we should name him, she said, "curtain...I want him to be a curtain". Hmmmmm.

"Pretty Dragon"

Again, our friend Mark took some great pictures at our ward activity. Here is an awesome one he got of Emma. He called it the "pretty dragon" as opposed to the mean scary dragons...

Halloween evening

So after our rainy day in Everett, we went to our ward's trunk or treat. I only let Emma do one lap and her bag was totally full...other kids were doing 6 laps and loving it. Here she is with her friends Dane & Maggie.

After the trunk or treat we went out to dinner with the Recklings, and then went to the Folkman's to hang out. Pete, Becca & Zoey were there too, so we got to get some cute photos of the lady bug and dragon hanging out together. Emma & Shane went trick or treating around my parents street for a bit, and then we carved pumpkins and made a witch house.

After two weeks of partying, I definitely think that we are done for a while. I'm glad we have a few weeks to go until Thanksgiving. :)

Corn Maze in Rainy Everett

We decided to try and find a giant corn maze to run through on Halloween. We found one in Everett. It was actually a fairly sunny day, so we thought it would be perfect. But, as we were driving north from Issaquah, the sky kept getting darker and darker, and of course, when we got to the farm, it was pouring rain. We had our boots, coats and umbrellas, so we decided to do it anyway, and just deal with being wet. I'm glad we stayed. Very few other people were there, so it was fun to run around in the mud.



Emma totally biffed it in the mud, and when I told her I wanted to take a picture, she said, "Ok Mom, but I'm not going to smile because I'm sad".



They gave you a map, and we were supposed to find a few different spots & markers throughout the maze, but after only finding four, and getting lost for a while, we gave up and just were interested in finding our way out. It took us about 1/2 hour to do so, but it was fun.


Shane was thrilled that they had pressurized pumpkin launchers. He launched a few different ones and I couldn't believe how far the pumpkins were shooting. It was amazing.


Emma did a good job with this picture.

Preschool Parade

And so our years of costumes and school parades have begun...


I should just mention how much Emma loves preschool. She loves her friends, her teacher, and loves going all by herself. Anytime Shane works in the classroom, she tells him she's fine, and that he can go home.

Pumpkin Patch at Jubilee Farms

Today was a busy day:

1. Emma's birthday party.
2. Pumpkin Patch
3. Playing at Grandma's House
4. Halloween party at Bellevue 7th Ward
5. Date Night for Carrie/Shane
6. Homework for Shane...

Here are some pictures from the Pumpkin patch. It turned out to be a great day, just a little muddy. We ran into a bunch of friends there, and enjoyed the pony rides, tractor pull, pumpkins, pigs, chickens, hot cider and hay maze. My favorite was that I got to get some fresh vegetables from the farm store. We're having yummy squash soup again soon. Can't wait.