And jump in the leaves…

And throw the leaves…

And if you are naughty, here is what happens…

You can read about it here.

Shame on you for thinking I would quit again! 

The pumpkin patch was a lot of fun, like it is every year.  The highlight for the girls this year was the grain bin (picture a giant bin filled with corn and wheat and sand toys).  Also, the kettle corn. 

(Thanks for the recipe Arneta.  It's going in the "hand down to the girls" recipe file.)

This is what the finished salad should look like…

or maybe this…

Now, these pictures were not taken by me.  The picture I took of the salad looked like this one (only more blurry)…  it is hard to get a good picture of this salad!

Thankfully it tastes better than it looks.

Okay FINALLY here is the recipe…

Ramen Salad

1 head shredded cabbage

1 bunch green onions (about 8 green onions or 1 cup)

1-2 shredded or julienned carrots (about 1 cup) (Arneta's recipe doesn't call for carrots, but I like them in this salad)

2 packages Top Ramen, oriental flavor

8 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

8 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1/8 cup salad oil (Arneta's recipe calls for 1 cup salad oil… I reduced it and it tasted just as good to me)

6 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (regular rice vinegar doesn't taste as good in this recipe)

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Instructions…

The first thing I do is put the sesame seeds and slivered almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven at 325 degrees.  I check them every 2 minutes and when they start to get a golden brown and fragrant I take them out and let them cool completely.  (P.S. Both are much cheaper if you buy them in bulk at the grocery store!)

Meanwhile I shred the cabbage (my sister tells me you can buy pre-shredded cabbage, who knew!) and slice the onions and carrots (again, you can buy them already julienned, if you are lazy like me).

Buy the pre-shredded cabbage or it might end up looking like this…  more chopped-ish than shredded.

Crush the two packages of dry ramen noodles.  Save the two seasoning packets for the dressing.

Mix the salad oil, seasoned rice vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and the two oriental flavor ramen seasoning packets. 

Keep the dry crushed ramen noodles, seeds, nuts, veggies and dressing separate until right before serving. Toss everything together and enjoy!

Makes 16 servings.

3 Weight Watcher points per serving (if you use 1/8 cup salad oil instead of 1 cup).

P.S.  You can hear the moms in the waiting room talking… I guess I should have added music to the video. 

Relaxing a little bit…

Looking worried again…

Getting the exam and cleaning.  Healthy teeth!  Yay!

For Tessa this is old news…  (no cavities either!  yay!)

Dear Tessa,

We spent a lot of this month in the pool.  You took swimming lessons at the YMCA every Monday-Thursday afternoon the entire month.  The progress you made in learning to swim was amazing.  It was really great to watch you start out clutching the swimming teacher or a kick board, and end the month watching you swim, even if it was only a very short way, all by yourself.

We had our hard times.  The last teacher you had was very, very tough.  She would basically just stand out in the middle of the pool and want you to swim to her.  You were scared.  You cried.  But you pulled it together and did what she asked.  You weren't afraid to tell her that you were scared and she did take it a little bit easier on you after you told her.  I was proud of you for so many reasons.  For trying your best.  For persevering.  But mostly for being brave when you were afraid.   I found this quote and thought of you…

A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. ~John Shedd

I can tell that you are going to be a great swimmer, and really love the water like I do.

Speaking of loving the water, on our annual family pontoon boat trip you got in the lake with just your life jacket on!  All by yourself!  I was very amazed at how brave you were.  You had so much fun you asked if we could go again the next week. 

You've discovered video conferencing and love to call your grandpa and grandma or lolo.  Sometimes you are lucky enough to find Rianna online.

I've noticed that you are trying to be more helpful these days.  Maybe not so much with the putting of the pajamas into the laundry.  More with the baking of the cookies.

There was recently an episode of the Hannah Montana TV show that you watched where Hannah's friend Lily sings very badly.  You've decided that singing off key is a very funny thing to do, and you do it on purpose, and very often.  My dear girl, this is the very thing Uncle Tim used to do to me when we were kids to drive me insane.  If you'd like me to be committed to a mental health institution someday soon, please do continue with the off key singing.

Your nicknames this month are…

Lovely

Tessiebear

Sessa (Emma calls you this because it is how you refer to yourself!)

A few mornings ago we were about to have breakfast and we asked you what you would like.  You said "I WANT THE TATO!"  You also still call breakfast "breakfixt" and refer to our whole fruit smoothies as "smoovies".   I will never correct you.  Our family will probably always have smoovies and THE TATO on the menu for breakfixt.  (To this day I like to refer to cereal as "cyrano" and peanut butter as "cheanut butter" like your cousin Braden did when he was a baby.)

I taught you how to make friendship bracelets.  You completed one and started another, but mostly you want me to make them for you. 

You can talk.  I really mean it.  I think you could win an award for non stop talking.  You can take a two minute story and turn it into a thirty minute saga.  My ears hurt.  You even take my old pink razr cell phone and have pretend conversations… you even will leave the room to have some privacy if you think we are being too loud while you are on the phone.  You ask a lot of "why" questions.  I find myself answering "because I said so" and "very carefully" and "because I'm the mom" just like my parents did to me, just like I thought I would never do.

First day of school!

You are in first grade now!  I love fall, love back-to-school time, love the excitement of the first day of school.  And yet, we had such a great summer, I didn't want it to end. 

New classroom!

New desk!

I wish for you the best school year ever, with plenty of friends, lots of learning, lots of recesses.  I wish for you to learn more and more every day that Jesus loves you, I love you, Daddy loves you and Emma loves you.

Love,

Mommy

P.S. Here is a picture of Snowy the Snowman Dishtowel.  Back when Cuppy was lost this was your special item you carried around.  He keeps ending up in the kitchen now, being used as an actual… um… dishtowel.  So I thought you might want a picture to remember him by.

You discovered Tessa's big bin of princess dress up clothes this month, which is good because Tessa has kind of lost interest in pretending to be a princess.  I, for one, think we still need a little princess around here so your timing could not be more perfect.  Clomp around in those plastic high heels all you want!

We started a parent/child swimming class this month.  Tessa was taking swimming lessons four days each week and I knew I couldn't take you to the pool every day but never let you swim.  During class we sing a lot of songs, learn to blow bubbles in the water, learn to kick your legs, and how to "glide".   Tessa was watching you and taking pictures, and at one point she said "I'm so proud of Emma!", which totally cracked me up.  You love the water, but do NOT want to be dunked under.  About halfway through the class each child gets to pick out a toy to play with while the teacher goes around to each child and dunks them under the water and glides them over to their parent.   You are NOT a fan of this, so I told the teacher you did not want to participate.  The teacher looked at you and said, "Emma do you want to go under the water and glide to Mommy?" and you said "Sure!" and you proceeded to do exactly that.  Um, thanks a lot.

Tessa had her first class (Romp-n-Roll) at age six months.  You had your first class (swimming) at age 2 years 8 months.  Such is the life of a second child.

You don't like to be dirty, and after eating breakfast in the morning you ask to have your face washed by saying, "I got peanutbutters!" which is to say that you have peanut butter smeared around your mouth.

August 8 was a big day for you, and not because it was the first day of the Olympics.  We have been asking you every night if you want to sleep in your crib or in your toddler bed and on that day you chose the toddler bed!  So, we tucked you in, held our breath and waited.

              Awake                                           Asleep

Ya baby!  You haven't slept in the crib since.  Of course, some mornings we find this…

A week or two later we got rid of the crib and the changing table.  I am so excited about this milestone in your life, sleeping in a "big girl" bed, but I was surprised at how I wanted to cry when the crib was gone.  I can't believe you don't need the crib anymore.  I can't believe I will never again lower your feety pajama-ed self into the crib, with its soft bumper pads and sheets.  At least I still get to tuck your feety pajama-ed self into the toddler bed, and I'm truly happy about that.

School mornings this year are so much easier than last year.  You wake up happy, jump out of bed, take off your own pajamas and diaper, throw the diaper away, and ask for your clothes to get dressed.  I cannot tell you what an improvement this is over last years school mornings.  There are no words to describe the difference.  When you are getting undressed at bath time you pull on your shirt until the neck hole is stretched over one of your shoulders and then you stick your arm into the neck hole.  I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you'll never get your shirt off that way.  (Also, you wear flip flops now.  Shoes that are easy to get off and on are a mother's dream!)

You've started climbing into the car, and then into your car seat on your own, and even putting your arms through the straps (you haven't mastered buckling the 5 point harness yet).  If I forget and try to help you, you bat my hands away and say "ALL BY MYSEFF!  ALL BY MYSEFF!" which totally cracks me up.

                            Miss Independent

You also like to wear a chef's hat in the bathtub.  (?)

One thing you are not ready for yet apparently, is potty training.  We are reading the potty books, watching the potty videos, have the potty seat set up, but when I ask you if you'd like to try sitting on the potty you say a very definite "NO!"  I'm not going to rush you, all the experts say not to rush you, but I'd be thrilled if you decided you were ready.  The other day you had a dirty diaper and you announced this by saying, "I pooped my pants!"  If that isn't enough, when I was opening your dirty diaper, never a fun activity, you said, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, there it is!"   Nice.

Your nicknames this month are…

Runtybear

Runty

Emma Yemma Ding Dong

Munchkin

Munchski

Little Moon Pie

Crabby Patty

Emmybear

Sweet Face

Pungent One

Cruddy Face

Lovely

Lovelybear

A few days ago you were playing house with Tessa.  You were the mom, and Tessa was the baby.  You would get Tessa blankets, juice, a pretend baby bottle, a pacifier, toys.  Tessa had you running all over the house, waiting on her hand and foot, and you loved it.  Tessa loves to be waited on like a princess, and you are a good helper who likes to be the boss, so this game really suits the two of you. 

Emma speak…

crocodiles/alligators are called dragons

scared is called scary, as in "I'm scary."

vitamins are called vita-nims, as in "Vita-nims, please!"

Each day you seem to pick a different toy to adore, and that makes it hard when you inevitably lose that toy.  I cannot tell you how many times this week I heard "MY PIGGY!" or "MY MONKEY!" or  "MY FISHIES!".  What this means is I get to spend some quality time searching for a lost toy, and if we are about to leave to go somewhere it morphs into frantic searching.  Good times.

You are, for the most part, such a happy kid.  Even when we were hurrying so we wouldn't be late for Tessa's first day of school, and you fell down the two steps into the garage and skinned your knee, cheer still came bubbling up out of you.  (In this picture you can still see the tears in your eyes from that fall, and yet you are joyful at the same time.)   Your good humor spreads to the rest of the family.  We are so lucky to be your family.  I'm so blessed to be your mom.

I love you,

Mommy

P.S.  Grandpa came every single day to Tessa's swimming lessons (that is 20 lessons!) to babysit you while you played so you wouldn't have to just sit on a bench and watch Tessa's swimming lesson.  You two had a blast together!