I Am Thankful for...

For the last 3 years, I've had Emily do a list of things she is thankful for during the month of November leading up to the ultimate day of thanks Thanksgiving. This year instead of doing a tree with "thankful leaves", Emily did a banner where on each pennant she drew a picture of what she was thankful for. So, here is her list:

* a friend, Gianna

* candy

* toys, girl toys

* a cat (there's a surprise Pettyball made the list)

* a gingerbread house

* animals

* Veterinarian Barbie & Emily

* Jesus, who loves the children

* Powerpuff girls

* taking care of animals

* Wowee toys

* Halloween

* Miss Lisa, my teacher

* homework (she's only in first grade, give her a few more years)

* Thanksgiving Pilgrims

As you can see, Dave, Matt and I didn't make the list but we figure it is because she tells us every day that she loves us (numerous times). Maybe next year we will all be mentioned.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful day in spite of being up almost the whole night Wednesday on to Thursday with Matt. Matt got one of his classic colds where he gets congested and rids himself of all the yuk by spitting up - that event happened at 3 in the morning. Thankfully it was only once and not too yucky. Knowing that his sickness was just from the cold we kept with our plans for the day. Dave however ended up having a cold come on and wasn't feeling good - the lack of sleep didn't help either of us. We spent the morning at home and headed to our friends Jack and Dawn Switzer's mother's (Dawn's) home for lunch at 2pm. I took this picture of Matt there. We had a wonderful time with the family. This was our fourth year having dinner at her home. The food was yummy. We left there around 6:30 and headed to see our friends, Travis and Kathy Watson and their kids, at Kathy's parents house. The Watson's recently moved to Williamsburg, VA and our last time seeing them was at a wedding this summer. It was wonderful catching up with them. Matt loved playing with "the boy in the orange shirt" their son Nathan. Emily and Kailey were busy playing too. We all came home very tired. Dave and I put the kids to bed and headed to bed too -all asleep by 9:45. Thankfully every one slept through the night.

Oh the things he says......

Lately, Matt has become the boy of many classic/funny one liners.

We have been going through toy catalogs with the kids to get their ideas for Christmas presents. One morning, Dave was looking through one with Matt and I heard Dave say that the one toy was too old for him and he would have to wait until next year. Matt's reply was "oh bummer". This is one of his classic lines for when he is disappointed. He continued to show Dave other things pointing out a few he was too old for stating "that's for babies, I'm a boy". Then as I was busy in the kitchen I heard Matt say to Dave that he couldn't get a toy "because I'll shoot my eye". I thought I heard him correctly and it was only when Dave repeated "yes, you could shoot your eye out" that I realized my ears weren't deceiving me. Dave loves the movie "The Christmas Story" so you know where Matt heard that line from, his dad.
His most recent one liners happened Friday night as we were getting into the van after going to Walmart. It was pretty cold outside and Matt does not like the cold so he was going slow. His seat is on Dave's side of the car and Dave was telling him to hurry up and get in. Matt turned to Dave and said, "you're killin' me". Dave and I both started laughing at his comment and Matt was still taking his good old time sitting down once in the van, so Dave told him to sit in his chair. Matt then said "you're starting to make me angry". Needless to say the car was filled with smiles and laughter after that. Only recently has Matt started using and understanding the word angry so it was funny to hear him say it and in the appropriate context. Matt is definitely making up for all the verbal "funnies" and "faux pas" we missed with Emily. I think that is why we find these one liners so amusing because we didn't have this experience with Emily. I'm sure I'll have more "funnies" to share in the future...he seems to be full of them.

Art 101

" Flintstones, meet the Flintstones...." Here is Emily drawing of that prehistoric family. I only had to look at Wilma's hair to know exactly who the family/people in the picture were. Of course, there is Dino. He's a bit of a "scary" version but you have to give her an "A" for effort and originality. You have to love Wilma's hair and her short dress. Fred is a little on the thin side, I think he would like this picture. Then, Pebbles appropriately has her out of the top of her head ponytail. The outfit is a little more modern than what she is use to but I don't think Pebbles minds. Good job Emily!

Revisiting the Past

Sorry , I'm a little behind in my entries. It was a busy end of the week last week, weekend and this week is a little hectic too with the Thanksgiving holiday. Not that I am complaining because this is my favorite holiday of the year. It is less crazy than the whole Christmas holiday, although I do enjoy that holiday and of course the real reason for the season most of all.

So, in honor of Thanksgiving, her is a picture of Emily's first Thanksgiving dinner where she was able to eat all of the traditional feast.

This Thanksgiving we are headed to our friends (Dawn & Jack Switzer & son, Jonas) mother's house for dinner. We've been going to her house for dinner the last 3 years. We always have such a great time. So, if I don't say it another time this week, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What a List.....

First, let me say that this picture is from last year - we do not have our tree up, that is done the weekend after Thanksgiving. The picture is just for "Christmas season" effect!

So, we asked Emily to compile a list for Christmas and boy is it a list. Some things obtainable, others not quite. In the end, these are the items she dictated to me.
* Bratz Diary - We don't condone Bratz items but this item has just the logo on it and Emily likes it because of the password system
* a fashion pup - its a stuffed animal (are you surprised)
* a cat - you knew that was coming if you've been keeping up with the blog
* a my meeba - too hard to explain, it is a toy
* a play kitchen
* T-rex
* Triceratops
* My Little Pony - toy pony
*Polly Pockets
*Rudolph Slippers
*new dresses
*lemurs, 1,000 of them
*raccoon - a toy (also a stuffed animal)
*the girl Star Wars figure
*toy ice cream truck
*toy cat (hey, if you can't get a real one)
*toy dog
*trophies, pony ones ????
*new wedding dress
*pony jacket
*pokemon toys
*American Girl - Mia
*ladybug vase - another ????
*gumball machine
*Dora snow princess & horse & talking house
*Barbie animal helper with a panda
*Tinker Bell jewelry box
*Tinker Bell bike - the Barbie one she has is old school
*fish tank with 1,000 fish (she's into the 1,000 figure)
*Barbie Christmas toy
A pretty exhaustive list but that is what you get when you ask a 6 year old what they want for Christmas. We haven't done Matt's list yet but I'm sure that will consist of fire engines and trains with a few other things inter meshed.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Every year Matt's preschool (Puzzles Academy) does a "field trip" to NYC for the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City. This was our second year attending and we had a great time. Emily loved the "Rockets" - Rockettes. She has decided that that is what she wants to do when she grows up. I don't have the heart to tell her that she probably won't meet the height requirement and that she should already have a few years of dance classes under her belt if that is her desire. Matt loved Santa. When we asked him what was the best part of the show, that was his reply "Santa". I love the live nativity scene they do at the very end of the show, with real camels, sheep and a donkey. The show started at 11 and lasted until 12:30 and we planned on spending a good part of the afternoon in the city. We did get to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree before it was put up...it was erected by the time the show was over but we had other places to go and will go back to see it lit up. After lunch, we went to Time Square and into the Hershey and M&M stores. Emily got a pair of green M&M socks that she absolutely loves....she would wear them with every outfit if she could. She also got a stuffed bear (a stuffed animal that's a surprise -NOT) from the Hershey store. Matt got a M&M fire truck snow globe. Both kids did really well in the city. Matt only sat in his stroller when we went to Time Square, which was good because of the amount of people. Emily was the one who decided when it was time to leave, she was tired of walking. We took the ferry over from New Jersey so we had to wait for a bus to take us to the ferry. It was a long wait for the bus because the time Emily decided she wanted to leave was right when the non peak and peak hours for the bus were changing. All in all it was a great day. No nap for Matt but he did great considering. It was a wonderful family day starting the Christmas season for us.

Revisiting the Past

This picture of Emily was taken in the summer of '04. It was technically her last summer as an only child. I love how her hair frames her little face and naturally curls in the back. She seemed so little then - I can hardly believe she is in 1st grade. Her cheeks always get red from being out in the warm sun. I remember that summer we had a pool set up for her on the back patio. She loved being in the water. I think she went in just about every day. It is so hard to believe that these days are over....thank goodness I have pictures to prove that this time of her life existed.

Art 101

Emily's artwork is starting to constantly reflect her desire to have a pet, not any pet mind you - a cat. I would say that 80% of Emily's drawings which included her in them have a cat in the picture too. Now, her "pets desire" is being made evident in even her schoolwork/artwork. The kids were told to write a sentence using "I want" and draw a picture showing their request. Well, it was no surprise to Dave and I when we got the picture what the "request" would be - a cat for a pet. What I love about her picture is that Emily is holding a purse and look who is holding the cat's leash -ME!! At least she provided the cat with a food and water bowl. By the way, the cat's full name would be - Pettyball Pumpkin Wessel. Now there's a name for ya!

A Great Report

Monday afternoon we had our first Parent Teacher conference for the year regarding Emily. Dave was able to get off work early so we could both attend and hear of her progress. Emily is doing very well in school. She absolutely loves to go. At the beginning of the year, she was immediately placed in the mainstream 1st grade class for Language/Vocabulary. She is doing well in the class and is also doing well with sounding out words which has helped her start to do simple reading. Her teacher also advised us that within her special ed class they have separate those kids who are progressing at a faster rate of learning from those who need more assistance while working on subjects such as math and additional language and vocab work. Emily is part of the more advanced group. There was a slight concern on her teacher's part regarding putting her into the mainstream class for math. Emily's special ed class is still completing some of the Kindergarten math book and the other class is already 100 some pages into the 1st grade math book. We reviewed the curriculum and the beginning of the book seems to be review of the past years learning but there is definitely an increase in math skills. We also learned that the 1st grade teacher has several methods of teaching addition and subtraction that Emily's special ed teacher thinks may cause some confusion to Emily seeing she has not been a part of that class from the beginning. After discussing all the points of this area, we made a unanimous decision that Emily would complete the work in the Kindergarten book with her special ed class and then be place in the mainstream class. This will happen the first week of December. We will monitor closely Emily's ability to grasp the material and determine if she needs to be brought back into the special ed class if she is struggling. We figure we will give her until the Christmas break to see how she does that way if she needs to come back into the small class it will be done after her vacation and she will still have time to readjust with a good part of the year left. Emily is doing very well in speech. She is also doing well in all her other non academic subjects. The only area of concern, which really isn't a concern is that she does need to be brought back into focus on occasion. Emily is our detail girl so when a story is being told, she will go off on tangents like wanting to give the cat in the story a name, a color, etc. Although, she does get distracted she is able to refocus quickly when she told to do so and does complete all of her work. It is an area that we feel is just a result of her "creative" personality but the teacher will keep an eye on it to make sure it does not become an issue. Emily is quite the little sociable girl - everyone knows Emily - that is so strange to say after her PreK experience. She loves to be silly and funny - kind of the class clown. We are so pleased with the program and especially the school she has been placed in. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as the school year continues that she will do things to the best of her ability and for her future placement.

"I find no pictures"

When we recently visited our "local" (it is 20 minutes away) Christian bookstore, Matt stole a private moment of "reading" while we were making our purchases. I saw him sneak behind the front register area into the front window while we were standing in the checkout line....after a few minutes I realized he was still back there and a little too quiet (you know what happens when kids are too quiet -TROUBLE). So, I peeked around the corner of the checkout area and found this. Matt was all cozy looking at a book....mind you this was not a children's book so when he realized I was spying on him and taking his picture he immediately came over, book in hand, and said, "I find no pictures". I told him that the book he had doesn't have pictures. When I finished my explanation we were ready to leave the store. I'm positive that if he had had more time Matt would have found a new book and sat back down to "read". Of course this time, he would have chosen a book with pictures.

Side by Side

Finally, here it is - a side by side comparison of Emily and I at the same age. I found this school picture of me when I was 6 and this is Emily's school picture that was taken just last month. So, what are your thoughts....do you think we look alike? It is a little eerie that we are both dressed in the exact same colored dresses - navy, red and white (I promise I did not see this picture prior to Emily's photo day). I think we can definitely pass as family!

Revisiting the Past

This is one of my all time favorite photographs. The baby is Emily. She was just 7 days old when this picture was taken. I love how she "fit" right on me when she was sleeping. I can vaguely remember that feeling - now if she lays on me, she pretty much covers a good part of my entire body. I can't believe how little her arms and legs were, and look at those little feet. It seems like only yesterday and yet a lifetime ago.

Art 101

Today's drawing is that of dancing butterflies. Emily drew this picture during a recent visit to the Bergacs house. This is such a "happy" drawing. What is cute is that not only do the butterflies have wings but arms and legs - which are poised in different "dance" positions. You'll also notice that each butterfly has their own flower. I love that they are smiling and that sun just feels warm and bright. I do think the grass could use a little bit of a mowing job though. Good job Emily!

Growing Up with Lesson and Love

I took this picture of Emily this past Saturday morning. I was having her take pictures of me, so I could add a new picture to my Facebook page. Of course, after taking a few of me, she insisted that I take one of her. This is the picture.
I look at it in amazement because I see a little girl now - not my baby, not a toddler, not a preschooler. A girl with strong opinions and tastes (loves pink, jewelry and skirts), a girl who is emotional and so loving (she'll hug anyone if they will let her and I can't tell you how many kisses I get a day), a girl who has changed so much in a few years time (she was so inside herself due to language and social barriers - those barriers are broken, shattered), a girl who actually likes her brother (she introduces him to everyone she meets - even if they already know him), a girl who does look a lot like her mom at this age (yes, I admit she is a little Minnie me). Another thing that shows me how much she has grown are the lessons she's learned and started applying. An example would be the other day I asked her if she made a knocking noise, prior to checking at the outside doors, she said no. I don't think she realized that she actually made the noise with her chair until I opened both doors. As I sat back down at the dining room table, she came in and said "I'm sorry mom". I asked her why and she said "I lied, I did make the noise". As a parent, I was pleased that she had come to realize that by saying no she had lied, we had been talking to her about how when you say you didn't do something when you did, or did do something when you didn't, is really a lie a few months ago. Of course, I knew she was grasping the concept of lying when I told her one morning to tell Matthew she had school, when she didn't, so that he wouldn't be upset that we were dropping him off at his school. Yes, she looked at me and said, "But I'm not going to school, isn't that a lie". I was happy she learned the "lying" lesson but sad I got caught not "practicing what I was preaching" to her. What struck me about this door/noise instance was that Emily felt compelled to apologize for doing so. It reassured me as a parent that the lessons we are teaching Emily and Matt are getting in and making them into moral people. There are days as a parent you wonder if anything is getting through, if your are making huge mistakes, will your kids pick up all your bad traits and overlook the good, will they ever learn to be grateful for what they have, etc. You get the idea. As I see the little girl in this picture, I see the good that has been produced and know that there are many sources (God, mom, dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins -related by blood and those chosen as family -, teachers, friends, church teachers, babysitters, etc.) that contribute to her being the person she is and will become. To all of you let me say "thank you" for loving her, caring for her, praying for her and being a part of her life. I know that she is going to be a great person, one that will make mistakes, but is going to have an unbelievable teaching and support system for all her life. Thank you again for all you do for our little girl, Emily

Revisiting the Past

It is hard to believe that these pictures of Matt are from 2 years ago. He was only 16 months old. It seems like such a long time ago and yet just like yesterday. Matt is growing up so fast. It is hard to keep track of how fast he is growing because of Emily being older. When it was just Emily, I wrote down every action and special and not so special moment that happened making time seem to go by slower as she aged. With Matt, life is so busy with the both of them that I miss the moments of growth that I took notice of with Emily. I guess I understand now why I only had 2 pages of individual pictures of me in the Papp family photo album compared to my siblings (yes, I still remember this inconsistency). I find it hard with two capturing their individual moments, so I can only image how it was with 4 in a time when pictures weren't something so conveniently produced. When I look at these pictures of Matt, I see his sweet nature, how easy he was back then (he's all boy and 3 now...UGH, no terrible 2's it is 3) and his blonde hair. The hair is kept pretty short now but it definitely has grown in darker. Emily's preschool teacher use to call him "her little beach bum". Just to show how quickly he has grown into perspective, that same preschool teacher, Mrs. Santos, that called him her little beach bum will be his teacher for PreK4 this coming September 2009. Our little Matt isn't so little anymore - gorwing up is inevitable but not always wanted.

Art 101

To me, this is such a "kids" picture Emily drew. It is of her sitting on a hill among the stars and moon at night. I think I may have helped with the stars (showing her the star pattern while she held the pencil) but I can't remember if I helped her with this picture or another. I love her crescent moon... it reminds me of a Pillsbury crescent roll. What I find most endearing is that she made sure that her pet cat (which she is hoping to get when she turns 10), pettyball, is there with her sitting watching the stars. I believe this is the first picture she has drawn with the person and animal sitting. She definitely enjoys drawing, just about every day she brings home 2 -3 pictures she drew during her earned free time at the end of the school day. It is getting hard to decide what pictures to put in Art 101. This weekly entry may go on for quite a while. Enjoy!

Wall Art

Emily drew this banner of characters and has had it on her wall for quite a while now. I wanted to share it on the blog because it has great detail and shows how much she loves the Disney characters. From left to right these are the characters: Alice and the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and her Prince, Sleeping Beauty and Donald Duck, Jasmine from Aladdin and a toy soldier from Toy Story, Emily and Mickey Mouse and finally Ariel (with legs) and Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid. Emily's walls have become quite a little art gallery comprised of pictures she has drawn and some she created on computer programs. At least, she isn't drawing directly on the walls.....we do go through a lot of paper though. Oh well, it is a small price to pay for creativity.

Gentlemen, start your engines........

I know what your thinking...... Matt has a new race track but that would be incorrect. This is Dave's race track. That's right our NASCAR crazed fan has a race track which in all honesty was purchased even before Emily was born. So don't let him make you think this is them....it was for his obsession. Recently, the race track was risen from the depths of the basement and the dust blown off to be played with once again. I remember it being out a few times when Emily was younger but it has made a big hit with Matt, so I highly doubt it will become lost in the basement again. Matt loves charging the cars and sending them racing along the track. I even have him saying "Gentlemen start your engines" and "Boogity, boogity lets go racin' boys" when he starts the cars off on the track (if you know racing you'll understand these two sayings). Dave's favorite driver was Dale Earnhart Sr. and when he died in the crash Dave put his support in his son Dale Jr. Both Matt and Emily can spot anything Jr. a mile away but the funny part is if you ask Matt who his favorite driver is he'll tell you Tony Stewart the #20 Home Depot car. And if by chance you take Matt to Home Depot he'll tell you it is Tony Stewart's store. I guess you can only influence you kids so far in your own likes and dislikes - pretty much the same as in life issues.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Truck or Treat

The church we have been attending has an annual Halloween event called "Trunk or Treat". This is where people donate the trunks of their cars, decorate them and pass out candy for Halloween. The event took place last Sunday night and the kids absolutely loved it. Even I was part of a "trunk" for the MOPS group. It was a Gilligan Island theme and we called it "MOPS Island". I'm the Gilligan sitting in the beach chair in the back of the truck. In addition to the trunk or treating they had a bounce house and an air slide -- so the kids were in their glory. Not only do church kids come but people throughout the community. At the end of the night, they hand out 3 trophies - our MOPS one didn't earn and award but it was a lot of fun.

There are more pictures in an album on Facebook.