Emma's 11th Birthday!

 I can't do a May post without first giving Emma her own birthday post. There is SOOOO much that goes on in May, that I decided to do 2 separate posts. This post is all about Emma and her turning 11 on Wednesday, May the 4th this year. After Memorial Day weekend, I'll post the May activities. (It will be a long one!)

Emma is such a gem. She plays hard, competes harder, and loves even harder than that. She is so fun at 11! She is almost always smiling, she has a quiet wit that is hysterical, she loves to organize things, and to hoard her money. She helps me take care of everyone in the family - she makes Ellie and Mack's lunches every morning, assists with their breakfasts, and makes sure Mack has everything he needs for school that day. She makes good grades, works hard in school, and has so many sweet friends. (This year some boys have really shown interest which has been funny to hear about!)  She loves playing golf and basketball and has pretty much decided those are her two things right now. We love her so much, she is such a special piece to our family puzzle. 

Her 11th birthday this year fell in the middle of the week during GMAS testing at school. We decide the kids would need to blow of testing steam anyway, so we had her birthday party at the trampoline park here on her actual birthday. Everyone came and they had a blast. Emma didn't stop for the entire party - so my pictures are all blurs. 

the newest 11 year old in the family

Her birthday morning before school. 

She had a couple of gifts to open before school, and Ellie and Mack were all into watching. Ellie even graced us with her towel head presence:)

Emma was VERY excited to get a phone for her birthday this year. We weren't planning on giving an 11 year old a phone, but she will start middle school in the fall, and that is when Ellie got a phone.  She's playing golf so much on her own now, and especially will be this summer, that it does give us peace of mind to know that she has a way to call us if she needs us when she's out there. So, we caved and got her a phone a little before middle school starts. She was beyond thrilled and so far has been very responsible with it. 

Part of her gift from Ellie was M & Ms. 

  

Mack was super proud of his gift of purple golf balls for Emma. 

Mia sent Emma the cutest t-shirt and she wore it to school on her birthday. "Her Royal Elevenness" 

Recoil was so much fun 

Emma was  a happy little girl. They had pizza, chips, and fruit  before the cake.

Happy Birthday to our Emma "Jean" 

All of her buddies. 

End of April 2022

We finished out this month with a little baseball, some more dance parent observations, and the K-kids Children's church service.

I got to see Ellie's modern class Tuesday night. Their teacher is an amazing choreographer. The dance is amazing and I don't know how she keeps up with whose doing what because they each are doing something uniquely different through most of the dance. 

Next up was Emma's class. This was the first time I've ever seen her on pointe, and will most likely be the last time as she has told us she is going to pass on dance next year. 

There are a TON of girls in this ballet dance. I could barely get any good pictures. 

Sweet girl will be beautiful on stage. 

Jazz is clearly her favorite as she had a huge grin the entire dance. I snapped this as she was checking herself out in the mirror. 

Also this week, Mack's baseball team got to run out on the field with the VSU Blazer baseball team. Mack was pumped. He's the little short blonde in the middle during the national anthem. 

The Junkyard Dawgs were honored guests for the  game. 

The K-Kids program at church culminated today with a Children's led service. The signing was SO good!

Mack informed us that he was the best singer in 2nd grade, so I told him that I needed to hear him the loudest over everyone else. 

This is Emma's last year in K=Kids, she is off to the youth group next year! 

All of the 5th graders got to lead a part of the service. Emma read the scripture leading into Rev. Jimmy's sermon. I was SO proud of her! I just kept thinking about my little preschool Emma that would cry when the speech therapist would take her out of her class for a session. She has come such a long way since then!

Next year Mack will be on his own in the Children's program. 

Emma with 2 of her best church friends, Mary Grace and Macy.