Adams Birthday

Adam had to work on his birthday, so all he wanted was just to relax. I kept asking him over and over, but that is what he wanted. Emilee bought him a transformer (she picked it out all by herself) and a birthday card. Since we didn't have a lot of money to spend, I made him the cake of his choice. When he got home from work we had dinner, opened the gift from Emilee, then had cake and ice cream. We want to say THANK YOU to everyone who called him on his birthday, and THANK YOU to those that stopped by. It really made him feel even better that people remembered his birthday.

Adam thank you for being such a great father and husband. We love you and enjoy celebrating your birthday, we like to make you happy. Even though there have been ups and downs in life you always try your hardest and you don't give up. You do everything you can to make make our lives better. You are always willing to help, even when you don't want to, no matter who needs the help. Thank you for being you!!! I love You!!!! Happy Birthday here's to an even better year.

Adam and Emilee opening his Gift

Adams Birthday cake, my gift to him.

Adam about to blow out his candles

Doesn't his cake look Yummy

It's Bedtime

Lately in our house when we say It's Bedtime the response is "no, I'm not sleepy". It's become such a battle that some nights end in tears, on both sides. By the time all is said and done, I'm more tired than she is. Whats really bad it's not just at night it's also if I decide she needs a nap for the day. What to do, what to do? We will just keep up with the night time routine, and eventually we will get her to look like the picture below without the battle.

No Longer a Toddler

I feel like it's official that Emilee is no longer a toddler. I know that she is only 3, but she is acting so much older. Here is a few of the ways I've noticed She loves to dress herself, wants privacy when going potty, likes doing her own hair, questions everything, makes up her own mind, paints her fingernails, and now paints my fingernails. It's exciting to see her grow up, yet I'm sad at the same time.

Twirling

Remember as a kid when you would just spin around in circles and how much fun it was. I remember when I was twirling I wouldn't be thinking, I would just watch the world spin past, enjoying the feeling it gave me. As an adult it's hard to remember why I liked to spin so much, and wonder sometimes why kids like it so much. When Emilee had me take a picture of her twirling I wasn't sure what the picture would look like. I love this picture, it reminds me of how fun it was to be a child twirling.

August Family Party

Yesterday was the monthly get together for the Collins family. It was so much fun, even when it rained. Brittany and Dad took the time to get Chance (the horse) ready for the kids to ride. Brittany was patient with the kids, even when they didn't want to ride at first. Emilee had fun riding but was scared at the same time. Christy got on and rode with her kids, Matthew was so scared. We tried to convince him he was like Woody, it still didn't work. Lily was a natural, she loved it, she even said yee haw. Robert even got on and went for a ride. Thank you Brittany and Dad. Mom set up the pool and slide for the kids to play in, she even had sand for them. We tried to keep the kids out of the water until dinner, grownups lost and kids won. Russell helped Dad cook the hamburgers and hot dogs. After dinner we did cake for Adams birthday, then we all sat around and talked. It's nice that we have these monthly dinners, to be together as a family and create memories.

Everyday Miracles

I decided to start another blog called Everyday Miracles (just click to visit). The reasoning behind my decision is posted over at the new blog. I would really love if you would visit the new blog everyonce in awhile.

Swim Lessons

We decided to put Emilee in swim lessons this year for a couple of reasons, she loves the water, and it would give us something fun to do for a couple of weeks. Knowing that Emilee loves the water, we assumed the first day would be a piece of cake, well you should never assume. Emilee was signed up for Preschool level 1, we thought that was the basic. Everything was going okay, until she met her teacher. She flipped out because she had a male teacher, who knew that would be so traumatic. We could not get her back in the pool. Thank heavens for Kim, she came along and took Emilee into the pool. While watching what the classes were teaching we realized there was a level lower than Preschool level 1, it was just preschool. Adam and I decided to make the change and have Emilee in that class. Everything went much smoother from that time on. Emilee loves the water, and looked forward to her class everyday. She blew bubbles, jumped of the edge, went underwater, floated on her back and tummy, kicked her legs, she loved her lessons. At times she was more excited to play than listen. On the last day I was ready to take pictures of Emilee doing the tests to pass the class, little did I know it was slide day. The teachers had been watching them for the last couple of days to see if they could pass. The last day was a total play day. They took the kids to the big water slides and let them go down. They did the younger kids for the first minutes and the older kids for the last minutes. Emilee had so much fun going down the slides, she went as many times as she could, which ended up being 3 times. She passed her class, on the back of her certificate they wrote that "she is soo ready for the next level". Emilee is definitely not scared of the water.