Emma's 9th Birthday!

Emma turned 9 on May the 4th. Unfortunately, this year, her birthday has fallen at an odd time of quarantine in our country. We had a big party planned at the local trampoline park and Emma was so excited, but it did not come to fruition. Instead, we celebrated this sweet girl the best we could at home. She got her school work done early in the day and just played most of the afternoon with her siblings. She did get some texts and FaceTime calls from friends and family that were the highlight of her day. Both sets of grandparents were able to come over and socially distance (somewhat) for dinner and cake that night. I asked Emma if it was a fun day, and she told me it was the best day ever.

If Emma is 9, it means that we bought a new house and moved to Valdosta 9 years ago, Ellie became a sister 9 years ago, we all settled back in Georgia for good 9 years ago, and Worth being done completely with all his training 9 years ago. It seems like it happened yesterday sometimes. Other times it seems eons ago. Her birthday signifies a family anniversary of sorts - our move from residency to real life.

This post is dedicated to her and her precious yet stubborn soul. She has the sweetest voice, is so thoughtful, she loves science, and prefers math over reading any day. She loves to organize things, to cook, and to compete. Competing is where things get tough for her, because she DOES NOT like to lose. The need to win in EVERYTHING is painful for her, and her stubborn personality doesn't help that out. I'm doing my best to foster this positively so that one day I can sit back and enjoy watching the great things she will accomplish.

The kids now expect kitchen "decorations" to come to on the mornings of their birthdays.  I have spoiled them, but I only have so many years of this before they are not with me on the morning of their birthdays. 

Emma doesn't waste time getting into her gifts. 

She really loves reading the cards. 

This year I taught Emma how to make an Amazon wish list. She is the hardest person in the family (other than Worth) to buy for so the wish list made shopping a breeze for this birthday. This was a Sip - n Mist that she has begged for for couple of months. 

She also got some sandals that I would have no idea that she would have ever wanted if it had not been for the wish list. 

A big part of her wish list was pool floats. We bought her the biggest, most obnoxious one on her list since there was no birthday party this year. 

She literally dives in when gift opening. 

I also splurged on a sign company to let the neighborhood joint in on the birthday celebration. She was so excited when she woke up to the sign that morning. 

Why does she look so grown up in this picture? 

The girls tested out the new pool float while Mack pulled them around. 

Sweet sisters. 

Emma got a surprise call from her best friend., Avery. They are only school friends and  other than knowing that she lived in our neighborhood, I had no way of getting in touch with the little girl once quarantine hit. I ended up finding her mom's number and we set up a call and FaceTime between them that day. Emma FaceTimed with her for 40 minutes. She misses her friends soooo much. 

Somehow, I didn't get any pictures with the grandparents that night, but they were all there for the birthday celebration. 

Ice cream cake from DQ was her request this year. 

Such a beautiful gift! 

She was officially 9 once the candles were blown out!

The ice cream cake was a hit!

Ellie's Week

This past week was a really good week for Ellie. I thought I would go ahead and share about it because next week's post will be all about Emma since her NINTH birthday is tomorrow!

Every spring at Westside, the 5th grade Discovery class puts on a wax museum. They pick a person from history to present. They study about their life, dress up like them, and act like they are the wax figure at the museum - complete with a button to push. Ellie has been looking forward to this presentation since the 2nd grade. She decided that year that she wanted to be Princess Diana, and has stuck to it since then.

Due to the cancellation of schools for the remainder of the year, the early April wax museum was put on the back burner. The kids were so upset and so was their teacher. She decided to do a "virtual" wax museum in which we filmed them doing it and turned it in. Mrs. Tone, their teacher put them all up in the Google classroom and they have been so fun to watch.

Ellie needed a little guidance with her board after her first independent attempt went south. Other than that, most of her work including her speech, research, and items she printed for her board were completed at school before they had to quit going. She did a great job, and I was so very proud of her. She was bummed when she thought she wouldn't be able to present it at all, so I'm so thankful their teacher let them do it virtually.

Other news this week, included adding a new family member - details below in the pictures.

The OT in me has come out with my homeschooling. I can't get him to focus in the afternoons that well, so I thought the ball might center him a little in order to finish his ELA lesson. 

Mack gets mad at me because I make him do the once a week writing assignment his teacher assigns. This week was opinion writing and he was very angry with me and the entire writing process if you can decipher what he wrote. I needed his opinion on; "Do you like frogs or butterflies more?" Apparently, Mack doesn't like either. 

Ellie A.K.A. Princess Di

Her board was a hot mess until her dad and I jumped in with some suggestions. 

There was definitely some creative differences of opinion, but once she saw the final project, she understood the need for some organization when displaying research and pictures. 

She did a great job and she learned a great deal about the royal family in the process. 

Her costume included a dress similar to one we found a picture of Diana in, she had a tiara, gloves and even a replica of Diana's engagement ring from Charles. 

I think the ring made the costume. 

Another surprise this week! Worth and I told the kids that they could get another kitten. Dash has never come home, and we felt it was time to add a new "Freddie" to the family. Although no cat will ever compare with Freddie, we sure think Leonard will come close.  We are all already in love with him. Ellie was freaking out holding him, because she has never held a kitten that small. The lady with us kept telling her she wasn't going to break him. Ellie warmed up to him rather quickly. 

We are getting Leonard from the Humane Society. He came in a litter all named after The Big Bang Theory characters. They were all soooo cute. Leonard seemed the most laid back and was super cute. He has to weigh 2 lbs and get one more round of shots before he can come home with us, and hopefully that will be in 2 weeks. 

I had to snap this picture this morning during livestream church. These 2 do love each other sometimes. 

 Also during our church service today, Ellie was one of several 5th graders that led the service. Ellie opened the service with the invocation: