A Creative Look

Okay, I previously made mention of Matt's obsession for hats...well, here he is showing his talent for producing "original" head wear. Matt took me by surprise one morning when he proceeded by taking the wrapper from my morning Dunkin Donuts bagel and transformed it into a hat. He looked so cute and I thought it was so inventive...I had to get a picture. I had him pose so I could get a front and side shot of his creation. He stood very proudly with his "hat". It reminded me of a pilgrim's hat...although, I don't think we'll wear them on Thanksgiving day as a tribute. I've been tempted to send the pictures to the Dunkin Donuts website just for fun. I don't think they will make this a part of their apparel line but I do think it shows Matt's passion for their product.

Revisiting the Past

It is nice to know that although some things have changed others have stayed pretty much the same. To this day, Emily still loves looking at her books. She hasn't become and independent reader yet but that doesn't stop her from taking a book and making up her own story.... pretty much what she did back them. She has also started making her own picture books. Also, Emily still loves to dress up, only now her dressing up consists of "real" clothes, jewelry, shoes and lip gloss (chap stick). On rare occasions the princess gowns, tiara's and hula skirt, along with a ton of costume jewelry, come out for a little play time (Matt usually joins in too, daddy doesn't usually see this display). For all the changes that have happened over the last 2+ years, it is good to look back and see how things have stay the same but with a slight makeover.

Art 101

This is Emily's rendition of Matthew's favorite princess, Jasmine. If you've seen the actual Disney character, you will truly appreciate the details of Jasmine's hair, earrings, outfit and shoes. Emily even made sure she had a belly button. Jasmine is on a flying carpet among the blue clouds and a bright sun. On the carpet with her are Aladdin and his monkey. Of course, you can't be up in he sky without a bird flying by.

Let's Talk Turkey!

Imagine my surprise and the kids delight when we returned home last night after getting Matt from school and Emily from her gym class to see that a large bird on the neighbors lawn (which I originally thought was a Canadian goose) was actually a wild turkey. This is not a normal sight in Bergen county NJ. I think last year we had our first deer invasion (1 mind you) by our house since we moved into our home. Now the geese, they have invaded this area of NJ but have never landed or waddled in our neighborhood so when I saw the turkey my first thought was "oh no, now we are going to have geese and goose poop all around us." Upon further inspection though, I knew it was a turkey. We followed it down the street a ways, several other neighbors came out to see the rare sighting. A few of us called the local police to get animal control to come get the turkey so it could be released where it belongs. The best part of this was when I told Emily we need to call someone to take it back to where it belongs because it is lost and will get hurt, she said "we need to call a farmer". We don't know the outcome of the turkey. We do know the last time we saw it it was heading down the street to our main street where it would encounter the evening rush hour traffic. Hopefully no one had turkey for dinner last night.

(As a note: Thanks to my starting this blob I've made it a priority to carry my camera in my purse so I can capture memorable spontaneous moments on film. Without this new habit, these pictures wouldn't have happened.)

A is for Apple B is for Beautiful

Emily decided to wear her new apple dress to school on Thursday. She asked Dave and I when she came out in her dress and shoes "how do I look" and I told her you are always beautiful but today you are extra special. Dave also agreed and I took this picture just because she was so proud of her outfit. When she got home from school, I pulled out her school binder which includes a journal/note area where the teacher can make remarks regarding the day & we can remark back regarding different events that occur at home. Emily's teacher told us that during school Emily showed her principal Dr. DeFabis her dress and shoes and asked him if she was beautiful today. He told Emily that she is beautiful everyday. Emily reacted by getting somewhat embarrassed, started laughing and saying "oh my goodness". According to her teacher, Emily then asked all the custodians if she was beautiful. I guess at 6 you can ask for compliments and get away with it. She does love being dressed up, is a fanatic about skirts and dresses. Emily is very much a girly girl and we like it that way.