Puppy...

Guess what Emma decided to be for Halloween. A puppy... amazing right? I'll be so glad when this phase is over. Now to find a cute puppy costume. :) Any ideas?

These two are cute that I found. The first is Pottery Barn, the 2nd Old Navy. I'm trying to decide if I could make one for cheaper...

Tutus!

Thanks to Halloween, my tutus are selling like hot cakes on etsy! :) I'll have a lot to do in the next few weeks, but it's fun to see them sell.

Busy, busy, busy...

So, no pictures or videos this week. To be honest, I can't find my camera so who knows when there will be pictures again. Here are some highlights of the week.

Emma LOVES school. She was so happy to finally go to school this week without Shane there helping. She thinks she's such a big girl. Her best friend is a little boy named Jacob. They always run and meet each other to play.

Emma and I had an interesting conversation in the car this week. We were getting off the freeway and a police officer had someone pulled over on the side of the road. As we passed, Emma said, "Jerkface!" While trying not to laugh, I told that was not a nice thing to say, we don't say that about anybody, because it's not nice. I told her we need to use nice words. (A hot topic in our family prayers, is to help us remember to use nice words--since it's occasionally a struggle.) She was quiet for a few minutes and then asked me. "Does Heavenly Father hear what we say?" We had a little chat about Him hearing everything we say, and even things we think, so we need to say and think only nice words. She then got her really sad voice and said, "I'm so sorry....". That night in her prayers, she told Heavenly Father she was sorry for not saying nice words. I thought it was so sweet to hear her think of it on her own, and be worried about what Heavenly Father can and can't hear. I guess some of what she's learning in church and FHE is sinking in.

Bellevue College classes started this week, so life for me is busy on Mondays and Wednesdays. I have one huge class, and one small class. This is my first quarter teaching two classes. I'm looking forward to the $, but not the busy days. Emma gets to go to Uncle Pete's house on those days to play with Zoey and Bugsy. She loves it.

Shane spends every spare minute he has on homework for school, so life is busy for him, too. I'm sad that our next big break won't be until December. I could use some good time off to relax and play. Oh well, it'll make it all the more sweet when it comes at the end of the year.

Life moves on at the Reckling house. Baby is doing fine, I haven't been sick for a few weeks now, and I've started to feel the baby move a little which has been fun. Only about a month until we find out what we're having. I can't wait. I'll be excited for a boy or a girl.

Video

Here is Emma on her first day of preschool and dance. All of the music from the video are her favorite songs right now (her musical choices are heavily influenced by Shane). Look for the puppy at dance, and a bonus of her slow-motion bike ride at the end. Enjoy!

Warning: 7 min video... long but worth it, if you're addicted to Emma like me.

A better than average day...

1. I had a dr. appointment this morning, so I didn't have to go to work! Got to sleep in.

2. It was Emma's first day of preschool and dance today. She burst into our room first thing in the morning and announced, "I gotta go to school today, hurry we're going to be late! I'll put on my clothes, hurry!" We had laid her clothes out the night before and she was so disappointed when she realized that she had a couple of hours before school started. She got dressed all by herself.

3. Shane & Emma drove me to my appointment, and then went to Emma's first day of school. Sad I missed it, but I got to have the most amazing ultra-sound. I'm only at 13 weeks, so the baby is only 3 inches. I haven't felt any movement yet, but little mr./mrs. reckling was waving, rolling, kicking, sucking on fingers, and just playing around so much. It's not like I forget that I'm pregnant, but I forget how much the little kiddo is moving around. It was so fun to watch. I was sad that Shane missed it. The baby really looks like a baby now, and not so alien-like, so it was just great to watch. I had the NT test done today, and everything looked good, which was a relief.

4. Emma LOVED school. Since it was the first day, it was only for an hour, and Shane got to stay and watch. She played with stamps, painted, drew on a canvas bag that she gets to use for her school bag, and play in the water tub. When she left, the only thing she said was, "I didn't get to play with the blocks yet!" I think she'll look forward to all the fun activities she gets to do in such a short amount of time.

5. After school, Shane & Emma came to pick me up. We dropped Shane off at work, and then sped to Emma's dance class back in Issaquah. Emma looked so cute in her little pink leotard and tights and ballet shoes. She spent the first 10 minutes of the class, pretending to be a PUPPY! I had to physically restrain myself from opening the door and yelling, "No puppies allowed in dance class!" But she finally got over her nervousness and danced around with the teacher. There are only 4 girls in the class, and it is going to be SO FUN for Emma. She has her friend Caylee in the class too. She loved it. She even got to put on her tap shoes for a little while and stomp around with the teacher. Emma's favorite: She got a shiny sticker at the end. Her teacher is Miss Robyn.

6. Bike ride before bed...Emma finally has gotten over her fear of the bike. She still only rides in slow motion, but she is making progress. She'll ride all by herself. She looked at me and asked, "Mom, am I doing fantastic?" I guess I say fantastic too much.

A good day right? I'm grateful that I have good days like this. I'd do this day over again in a heartbeat.

Video to come...of school, puppy at dance class, and the big girl riding her bike.

Picking Huckleberries

Emma
Originally uploaded by Mark Griffith

We went with some friends up to pick Huckleberries for the first time. We had a great time, and huckleberries are delicious. Emma's called them "Purkleberries". We went to the very top of a mountain, and went to a secluded spot where I'm sure many a bear roam, since they love huckleberries. Our friend who took us there called it "huckleberry heaven". Lots and lots of yummy goodness. Emma only got like 5 in her little bag, since most of them went straight to her mouth.

On a fun note, I got to use the 4 wheel drive for the first time ever, as we were going up old logging roads that were ridiculous. (Probably not bad at all, but I felt really brave). Shane had to work, so it was just up to us. It was such a fun trip. The next morning we had huckleberry pancakes for breakfast....yummy!

Again, our friend Mark took a bunch of amazing pictures, here's the link to his whole set on flickr. So fun and as you'll see, so beautiful!

Stake Conference

We had our stake conference over the last couple of days, and it was just amazing. Last night had some of the most beautiful musical numbers that I've ever heard. Today, we got to hear from President Monson, and Elder Nelson along with others (It was one of the stake conference broadcasts from SLC). I'm feeling very spiritually fed and I'm loving it. Elder Nelson had the primary kids stand up and sing the words to a few verses of "Follow the Prophet". Emma thought it was so cool. And while she really only knows the chorus, she sang loud and proud. I hope she always loves to sing.

After conference, we took a picnic lunch and sat on the grass at the temple to have a picnic while all the cars cleared out. It was a beautiful sunny day, and so peaceful. I looked around at all the places that Shane and I had our picture taken on our wedding day, and couldn't help but think of how far we've come. I feel very blessed to have a sweet husband and daughter, and another child on the way. I feel like we are in a really good place right now, and I'm so happy. Now we've just got to put all that instruction we've received over the last 2 days into practical use. Looking forward to it.

I'm ok with the speech...

So amid all the controversy of the President's speech today to students, I had to make a decision. Our district let us know if was up to the individual teacher to decide whether or not to show the speech in our classrooms. I read the text online last night, and found it in my view to be totally appropriate.

To make sure that it wasn't just my liberal-self with my rose colored glasses on, I had my not-so-liberal husband (complete opposite actually) read the text also, and let me know what he thought. We were in agreement, the speech was appropriate, and seemed to be a proper way for the leader of our country to start out the year. Encourage students to be their best selves. Show them that they are important, especially to the leaders of our country. Ask them to be responsible for their own learning, and encourage them to be the leaders of tomorrow. If you missed it, read the text here...or watch the videos below.

After the speech, we had a great class discussion, about what the point was, how students felt about it, etc. I'm so impressed with my 8th graders. What wonderful students they are, and I'm excited for what their future brings.

Blackberries vs. Recklings

I think it's a tie. We left with a bunch of berries, but my arms and legs show the battle wounds.



I tried my first batch of blackberry jam today, but it didn't make much, so Emma and I headed out this evening in search of some good bushes. We found the jackpot at the church across the street, and hope they don't mind we picked their wild blackberries. I don't feel too guilty since blackberries are like weeds here.

The first batch turned out yummy, but I only got three jars, so with what we picked tonight, I should be able to get another 8-9 jars of jam made tomorrow. I'm feeling very domestic-goddess like today. Picking berries, and then preserving them. Very fun...and it feels good. Emma and I enjoyed a yummy snack of bread with fresh jam before bed. A nice way to spend the day.

Picking

Picking
Originally uploaded by Mark Griffith

We had a great time at the Country Fair on Saturday. We should have gotten there a little earlier to give Emma more time to play, but it was fun. I'm grateful for such a great Stake, with inspired leaders.

A friend of ours, Mark Griffith, takes his camera with him everywhere he goes, and is our ward's unofficial photographer. I love his pictures, and loved this shot that he caught of Emma. :) Thanks Mark, we'll save it to show her future boyfriends someday.

Needless to say, we've had a problem with nose-picking lately. It's been driving me crazy!