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I stole these off of my sister's blog. They're from our trip to CA. Emma is totally fearless. Before this shot she actually had her hand inside the duck's mouth. The three girls. It was actually pretty funny because no one wanted to take this picture. So we just told Charis to "hold them tighter". It's nice to have a big girl! Daddy & his girls. Daddy & Maddie
(Although for the record I must say that Maddie was smiling at me!) Maybe she has a future in bowling? or swimming?

Friends & Baseball

Last Sunday we met up with some friends that live in Dallas and were driving through to California. The kids had so much fun playing at the park! Last Friday night we took a new adventure for our family. We took the girls to a baseball game and rode the light rail all the way there and back. This pictures loaded backwards so we'll start at the end of the night.
Ben & the girls watching the fireworks. Emma cheering. She didn't know which team she was cheering for so she just got excited for both! The Dodgers & the Diamondbacks were playing. Daddy is a big Dodger fan. Emma and I spent a few innings walking around the park...the whole entire park. Mimi explained the game to Charis. All in a row...Charis, Mommy, Emma, Papa & Daddy. Waiting for the train. I didn't take any pictures of the train ride back. It was so crowded I probably couldn't have taken my camera out if I wanted to. It was standing room only and squished standing room at that. The girls had fun though and stayed awake until 11pm!

My Purse

I saw this entry on a friend's blog and thoroughly enjoyed it so I thought I would copy and post a similar entry here. So apparently a woman's purse should not weight more than 5 pounds. Hearing that I just had to weigh mine! It came in at 5.2 pounds...not bad! So, just what are the essentials that make my purse weigh 5.2 pounds? I'll show you! 1 wallet, 1 pink container of baby wipes, 1 size 5 diaper, a pack of tissues with 1 lonely tissue, 2 packs of gum, 1 pink lip gloss, 1 very important pacifier, hand sanitizer, 1 bottle of Advil which contains 3 Motrin & 4 Excedrin Migraine, 1 Target dressing room number 4 that I inadvertently stole, 1 video ipod with pink ear buds, 2 pens (1 of them pink), 1 pink cell phone, sunglasses, 2 peppermints which Emma ate by the time I finished posting this, an extra camera battery, 1 set of keys & my planner.
(Oh, and I am planning on returing the Target number.)

The Value of Looking Fabulous!

After we dropped Charis off at school it was 8:30am and we had no clue what to do. So we headed off to the mall to kill some time and play in an empty play area until speech therapy at 10:30. This is Emma's independent walk. It's when she doesn't want to hold anybody's hand and wants to walk at her own pace. Papa was copying her.
I couldn't pass up this picture. Look at the words above her...hence the title of this post.

Charis' First Day of School

Kindergarten is here!That backpack is almost as big as she is!She's such a big girl walking into school.Charis did great! She sat right down next to her friend Eli and started in on drawing a picture of herself. She was also supposed to write her name. She started to, then stopped and said, "I think I'll write it in script."Her sweet teacher, Mrs. Shelberg.Mommy did ok too. I only shed a few tears.
When we went to pick Charis up (4 hours later) she was all smiles! She told us that she had a "really fun time". Tomorrow is her first day of homework. We'll see how that goes!

Last week Charis, Emma & I went shopping for Charis school uniform. They must wear khaki bottoms (skirt, shorts, jumper, etc.) and then a school issued polo. We purchased 2 khaki skirts & 1 khaki jumper for Charis. They are typical uniforms (polyester, bad fitting, etc.).When Ben came home from work that evening Charis was so excited to show him her new uniforms. She held each one up carefully so he could see the details then she excitedly told him, "They even sell tacki bows to match!"

Our Trip to California (July/August 2009)

(The pictures loaded backwards...so bear with me.)
One of the big highlights of our trip certainly was watching Ben & his dad play Twister. Charis was going to play but accidentally got bumped on the nose by the back of Emma's head. Needless to say, watching Daddy & Grandpa brought a big smile to her face in spite of the pain.
Grandma & Grandpa took us all fishing and Charis caught her first fish! She was so excited and grossed out at the same time! (I love the look on her face in this picture!) Grandpa, Charis & Grandma. Grandpa bought a princess fishing pole for Charis and Emma took a turn holding it. She wasn't too interested in the fishing part of the day so most of my time was spent keeping her out of trouble. Grandma caught the first 2 fish! Then Charis caught one then Uncle Marc. We grilled them up and ate them for dinner. I wasn't a big fan or trout but the girls seemed to like them. Very serious fishermen...Uncle Marc & Charis. Grandma stopped fishing after she caught her first two so here's the rest of the group. Grandma tried to help Emma fish. She didn't last long but it made for a cute photo op. I love that little crazy girl! I love this girl too! She's much more on the serious side of things. Daddy & Emma (It looks like he's hugging her but I think he's actually physically restraining her from going in the water.) Charis & Papa Charis took this picture one night while on a walk. We had Klondike bars for dessert one night. I think it was a good thing we ate outside. But don't they look so good! One night we had the Steinmeyers over for dinner. Danny & Ben were roommates in college, then we were neighbors after Ben & I got married, we were all in each others weddings and close friends! It was so nice to see them and meet their newest baby, Bethany. One day we went to Griffith Park and climbed on all the big trains then rode the antique carousel.
Maddie & Auntie Deidre
Mimi & Daddy Charis Emma
Finally, a family picture Paradise Cove, Malibu.
A vacation is not a vacation until you've been to the beach! Beach bums Maddie ate more sand that day than I've ever seen! It must have been tasty. The waves were out of control that day. The news said that someone died the day before by being slammed on the rocks by big waves. We didn't go in too far. As much sand as Maddie ate...Charis ate cherries. One afternoon Papa put on a tea party for his granddaughters. It was so cute to watch! Look at Emma's little hands in this photo. They had Beatrix Potter strawberry tea & toast.

Everyone was really sticky after. But tea in a fort built by Papa? Tea just doesn't get much better than that! A lot of our time was spent out by the pool. Aunt Dottie sat and watched all the shenanigans. According to Charis, Emma drowned 2 or 3 times. In reality, she simply assumed she could swim and stepped into the pool fully clothed in the deep end. Thankfully, I wasn't there and didn't see it. Uncle Jesse rescued her from the pool and we all hoped that experience would put a little fear in her...it didn't. She continued to walk into the pool over and over again. I'm glad she made it back to Arizona alive! Of course, Mimi & Charis spent some special time together. As did Papa & Emma. (She's doing his hair.) Papa holds a special place in both girls' hearts. Emma took to calling him "Bapa-pa".

Thank you to Mimi, Papa, Aunt Dottie, Aunt Deidre, Uncle Jesse, Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Marc for your hospitality and patience with us!