If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

The libraries in town sponsored a one-hour children's play based on Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.  This three-member cast performed the cute tale at the community college on a Saturday afternoon.  Scott and I took Emma and Emma brought Kibby, her little kitty.  (Lauren was happily at home with her grandparents.)  We found front-row seats, which is essential for the pint-sized.  Afterward, the cast posed for pictures, which I thought was so sweet.  Emma just beamed!

First Gymnastics Lesson

 Balance Beam

(walking heel to toe)

 Balance Beam

(hopping over the stuffed animals)

 Intro to Cartwheels

Coach Kim 

 Backward Somersaults

Intro to Handstands

Bars

(squeezing the stuffed animal between feet and dropping on the floor)

Bars

(intro to bar flips)

The library summer reading program rewards participants with "book bucks," which the kids use to buy things (trinkets, restaurant coupons, activity passes).  Emma spent a chunk of her reading money on a free gymnastics lesson at a local academy.  She was an excellent listener and followed every direction given by the coach.  Emma enjoyed the 45-minute session so much that we decided to sign her up for summer lessons.  Even though they are just three years old, her classmates were wearing leotards.  So immediately following this first lesson, we went out to get Emma her own.

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, this post is a bit late.  Emma made some wonderful gifts for my Mother's Day this year.  We finally got outside to plant a begonia in the flower pot.  It was decorated with her thumbprints as ladybugs and bees.  She was proud to have not only her name on the it, but also her new baby sister's name.  How sweet!  And the MOM project above serves as a picture frame in the O.  Emma drew a picture of herself with markers until I can add a photo of us.  Her sitter is great about providing the kids with crafts for special occasions.  This girl loves art as well as the art of giving.  It makes my heart sing!

Bird Feeder

Emma made a bird feeder out of a cardboard tube, peanut butter, seed, and string at her babysitter's house.  She hung it on a tree at the back edge of our property.  (In case you didn't know, Scott detests birds.  And as the summer progresses and the robins and finches continue to defile my mulch beds and porch, I am echoing his disdain.)  Within 24 hours the seed was completely gone!  All that remained was a mutilated tube on the ground.  The string disappeared as well, likely the wall of a nest.  Emma thought that was pretty cool!

Finish

I've been a Cascade girl all of my dishwasher life.  Was there even another brand out there to consider?  I saw a commercial, actually several commercials on HGTV while feeding Lauren, for Finish.  They guarantee a brilliant, gleaming shine or your money back and tout they are the number one detergent recommended by dishwasher brands worldwide.  Noticing a dull film on my glasses for the last year or so, I decided it was time to give this "new product" a shot.  (It turns out Finish has been around since 1957.)  I was amazed by the results and had a difficult time using up my last bottle of Cascade because I knew Finish would do a better job.  If you haven't already switched to Finish, I definitely encourage you to try it and join the Finish revolution.  They offer coupons on their website, but you'll need to sign up.

Official Announcement

We'd like to officially announce our bundle of joy!  There are so many super cute birth announcement designs at fancy sites for a pretty penny.  Can you believe people will pay $1.50 or more a piece!  When you consider that most recipients put it on the fridge or bulletin board for a few weeks and then toss it, I figured this was the way to go.  I found this ladybug design at Wal-Mart for $0.44 each, and the pictures were ready in one hour.  This photo was taken when Lauren was 2 weeks old.  She's now 7 weeks old, but looks like she should be several months old!  Lauren loves her milk!  Just look at that sweet face!  We could watch her sleep all day!