kismet art

Six

Dear Emma Rose,

I looked at the changes in these two photos side by side last night and had a "happy-tears" cry.  That sweet tiny baby is gone and the sweet girl who is growing and changing so very quickly has taken her place.  I feel so very lucky to be able to be here to watch it happen and be here to guide you along the way.

I have delighted this past week in hearing you declare to anyone within earshot that "I am going to be six in ___ days!" (psst... you are 6 now.) Never before have you been so overjoyed and aware of your upcoming birthday.  The last thing you told everyone last night before bed was "to be sure to remember to sing Happy Birthday to me in the morning."

Since starting kindergarten in September I have noticed so many things about you:

You pick out your own (mostly pink) outfits in the morning, dress on your own, brush your teeth/ pick out stories/ ready your room for sleep, you are beginning to read, you know your numbers/ letters, you help out more around the house, you have a fierce streak of empathy for others, you are vocal and demonstrative with your love of your friends and family, and you like a good, long belly laugh.

You have an overwhelming love of all things pink or filled with stuffing, you enjoy learning and going to school, you draw and paint constantly (hello multiple storage bins filled with art), you need the sound machine set to the sound of crickets chirping to fall asleep, you remember minute details and often upon waking you often finish the conversation you began at bedtime, you have the ablility to leave a hurricane-level mess in your wake, a certain level of joy you express most often when playing pretend/ dress-up/ dolls/or in the dirt, you fear being alone in the dark, and you can't help but sing and dance when you hear your favorite songs come on the radio.  

When I think about the day you were born I always think of how quickly Ben took to being your big brother. He had the biggest smile on his face when he held you for the first time and you have always been much more at ease when he is close by.  So many times Ben talks about how it is hard to remember life and our family before you were in it and how glad he is that you are his sister.  Ditto, Ben, ditto.

You, Emma Rose, are my sunshine, my bouncy, bubbly, energizer-bunny, my question asker, my constant talker, my go until you drop, cheerleader for the world, stuffed-animal loving little sunshine, and you most definitely make us all happier when skies are grey.

May the world continue to fill you with wonder, and may you continue to light up the world on this, your sixth birthday.

Love,

Mom

 

FIVE

Emma at 2 months old.

Dear Emma Rose,

It has only been 5 short years since you became a part of our family.

Five.  

Oh how those years have gone by in a flash of various shades of pink.

Five seems so big, yet you are still little enough to need help (even when you think you don't). Big enough to pick out your own clothes and dress yourself, and brush your own teeth, and play by yourself, yet small enough to need me when something makes you feel uneasy.

Five, the year that the dark was scary, the year school was amazing, the year you learned to write your whole name, the year we had to go to the library at least twice a week to keep you in books, the year you tried ballet and hip-hop.

At Five you love to cook, get dirty, garden, take baths, not brush your hair, make big messy projects, play dress-up, pet kittens, sleep with all your stuffed animals, play with your friends at school, swim, talk to babies, run, jump in puddles and try just about anything once.

You start each day with unbridled enthusiasm (and often end it that way, much to my chagrin at bedtime.)

Five, Monday- Friday, the days you count down until the "stay-home days" when the whole family can be together.

Five, the number of outfit changes you would go through every day if I pretended not to notice.

At five you keep our home filled with music and dancing and stuffed animals and high-pitched squeals of delight and stickers and art projects and various open lip balms.  

At five you say "I love you" and give and receive kisses and hugs with joy in your heart and a huge grin on your face.

At five your best friend is still your brother (in fact much of your world revolves around Ben and what he is doing.)

At five you make this world a sunnier place and make me feel so very lucky to be your mom.

I love you Emma Rose,

Mom

Emma, age 5.

You Are My Sunshine

I know spring is officially here but day after day of dark, rainy days has been getting me down so I decided to make a little piece of scrapbook art to brighten my mood, as well as the wall in Emma's room. Since her birth I have sung "You Are My Sunshine" to her- it was the song that soothed her when she cried and the song we now sing together nightly as part of her bedtime routine. The lyrics, that have become such an important part of our everyday life, seemed like the perfect choice to make into a wall hanging.  To make this project I cut 7 one-inch wide strips from different pieces of yellow 12x12 patterned paper as well as 1 piece of grey to use for the rays of the sun.  I cut the sun from a piece of yellow cardstock, glued it on a piece of patterned craft paper, then glued down the 8 strips at different intervals.  I used random yellow letter stickers, some chip letters painted grey, and my own handwriting to put the lyrics onto the rays of the sun.  Now all I need to do is slip it into a frame and hang it up in Emma's room.And I'm hoping the sun takes the hint and comes out a little bit more.

Clean Bill of Health

 I believe that there is nothing quite as sweet as going to the doctors office and hearing that everything is fine.  No more ear infections.  No more pneumonia.  No more illness left in your little body.  Today was a really good day.  We love you Emma.

Message In A Cookie

So very happy that Emma loves to have fun in the kitchen, and her current favorite thing to bake is cookies, chocolate-chip, gingerbread, oatmeal butterscotch, and now sugar cookies using this cool Message In A Cookie   set that she bought using some of her Christmas money.The set comes with several words and 3 full sets of alphabet letters so that you can write anything you want on your cookie (up to 2 lines per cookie.)  I can see these coming in handy all year round!  Now if I can just keep enough flour, sugar, and butter in stock...

Green Thumb

Despite the fact that the garden beds are empty and the flowers long gone my little green-thumbed helper is hard at work, rain or shine, at keeping her garden going.

Four

Dear Emma Rose,

On this, your 4th birthday, I wanted to take a moment to write down a little bit about what you love right now, before you move on to your next, new loves.

You love Hello Kitty, Dora, monkeys, and the color pink, and often all at the same time.

You love purple if pink is not an option.

You love tea parties, with real tea and china cups with saucers.  And a cookie. I sometimes think the cookie is the real reason for the tea party.

You love to play dolls, doctor, school, cooking and dress-up.

You love to sing out loud, and dance, dance, dance (even when there is no music- my favorite.)

You love to sing "You Are My Sunshine", "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider", "ABC", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", and "Single Ladies" by Beyonce.  I don't know how that last one got in there.

You love making art whether it is with crayons, markers, paint, chalk, pencils, playdough or anything else you might come across.

You love to be loud.

You love carrots, raisins, grapes, bananas, pepperoni pizza, black olives, celery, broccoli, pasta with cheese, salami sandwiches, chicken, ham, donuts with sprinkles, bacon, apples, milk, water, hot cocoa, toast with a "mama egg"- aka over-easy, crackers, Tillamook cheddar cheese, tacos, pickles, and trying new foods, even when you spit them back out and declare "I don't think I like this kind of food."

You love babies, new people and your family. And you love to tell everyone that your "best friends" are the younger sisters of Ben's friends.

You love anything Ben is doing, anything Dad is doing, anything Mom is doing, not doing what you should be doing and doing what you should not be doing.  You are a doer.

You love to go places.  You always ask if we can go to "one more stop".

You love to come up with new reasons that you don't need sleep.

You love books.  We go to the library at least once a week and four books quickly multiply to a dozen.

You are a loving, kind, spunky, spirited, funny and unique girl and my wish for you is a year filled with love and laughter and discovery and joy.

You are my sunshine.  Even when the sun is  already shining.

Love,

Mama.

Just Another Reason Why Grandparents Are Awesome

Because when you go to the library they take all the time in the world with you to look at books, explore the toy area, answer your questions, stop and read, look in all the display cases, draw pictures, and they will always hold your hand to and from the car.

Sandbox Joy

Sandbox, circa summer, 2008.Sandbox, circa summer, 2011.All this girl needs is a bag of sand, some warm weather, and an excuse to run around barefoot to be happy.

Come Back Sunshine

The sandbox is clean and full of fresh sand, now all we need is the sunshine to come back...