It's a Jolly Holiday for Emma!

Emma's love for Mary Poppins began with a Disney Sing Along video. She started singing the songs and dancing to the Mary Poppins scenes. So, a few weeks later I bought her the actual movie. She has watched it all the way through and knows all the words to every song now. She even copies the dance that the penguins do. My mom has bought her lots of Mary Poppins things via the Internet since there is nothing Mary Poppins in stores. She has books, puzzles, a doll, etc. One time a lady at a restaurant asked her what her name was. She said "Mary Poppins." She adores Mary Poppins and when asking her what kind of birthday she wanted there was no doubt that she would want a Mary Poppins party. I steered away from this idea for several weeks because the party theme would be so difficult. I asked her if she would rather have Dora, Tinkerbell, ballerina, anything but Mary Poppins - it is just too hard!!!! But, she never let the idea go and planning this party has been super hard. However, with the help of Etsy, Ebay, several other websites and my mother it was done!

The party was absolutely perfect. Emma was so excited and Hannah loved all of the action too. My mom made them both a Mary Poppins "summer" dress. They were so adorable. This was the best birthday for Emma because she understood why she was having a party, knew everyone there, said "thank you for coming" and "thank you" for each present, she was not shy, and she is smiling in every single picture. She came over to me near the end of the party, hugged my leg and said, "thank you mommy." It brought tears to my eyes singing happy birthday to her and even now thinking of her being so happy. She is growing up so fast - starting real preschool, starting dance class, moving on with swim lessons, and just learning and absorbing so much. She is the sweetest little girl and brings us more happiness than anyone can ever imagine. This party was a ton of work, but it was worth it to look at these pictures. Happy Birthday Emma - love you so, so much! (Please see Facebook for more pics - there are just too many!)

Emma's cake

Spoonfulls of Sugar!

straws for the kids

sidewalk chalk to play

kites above the pool

Emma's sign

all the kids got to stuff their own penguin

Emma with her cake

Emma with her carousel

my parents and the girls

us four

Emma's present from mommy and daddy

my best friend dressed her son as Bert!

presents!

Emma and her friends and family

stuffing penguins

Emma and daddy

Bo, the girls and Bo's parents

singing "Happy Birthday"

Emma with her great grandmother - Mammie

Past Few Days

Mom and I picked the girls up on Thursday afternoon. On the way home Emma fell right to sleep and Hannah wanted me to take pictures of everyone, including her lamb. I felt so bad for mom since she had to drive both ways. I was not able to drive yet.

lamby

As far as the surgery I am moving around. I am bruised but feel fine. I just cannot turn, bend down and lift things very well. I still can't pick up the girls. It was hilarious trying to explain that to them the night they got back home. Emma said, "mommy's boobie hurts." Then she asked me questions like, "can you shower?" "can you dry your hair?" "can you get dressed?" I don't know what prompted her to ask those questions but they were pretty good questions and she seemed to understand that there are things I cannot do and things that are okay for awhile.

Friday was more errands for the party, again with my mom driving us around. My poor mom dropped us off and went home. Later that evening she was on her laptop in the den and heard an awful noise. Her entire cabinet in the kitchen fell, breaking every single dish including her Christmas dishes. It was an awful mess and my aunt, cousin and sister were able to get there fast enough to help out. I felt so bad I could not help out after all she had done for me.

Today I went to our clubhouse and cleaned up a little for our "Mary Poppins" birthday party tomorrow. I set some some tables and chairs. Bo and Emma did some last minute errands to get food and pick up our Chick Fil A orders. Mom came over with the cake and then she stayed to watch the girls while Bo and I got ready for a wedding. One of my favorite girls I worked with at Georgetown was getting married and I had been looking foward to her wedding since the day she got engaged. I am going to miss working with her so much. But, we did have a very nice time and she was gorgeous.

E and H hanging out this morning

Hannah put her whole cup in her applesauce - ughhhhh, the things she does

we clean up well

me and Rachel

amazing former colleagues

Mom and the girls made "spoons full of sugar" for the party with hardened chocolate. My dad also delivered the carousel horse so the girls had plenty of fun without us tonight.

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making "spoonfulls of sugar" with Gaga

working hard

PopPop bringing the carousel

Emma's turn

Hannah's turn

We are super excited for Emma's party tomorrow! She was up when we got home and I said, "are you too excited to sleep?" She said, "yeah, I'm too excited." We hope it is a very "jolly holiday" tomorrow :)

Surgery/Post Op

So.....surgery went well. I was quickly checked in and taken back to pre op. I was my usual cranky self as I am before surgery. I do not do well not being in control of something and I hate being "a patient." I hate being told what do to and asked a million questions only to have to repeat the answers to those questions again and again. As soon as they gave me the drugs they wheeled me back. I remember going into the OR and being moved to the table, but the next thing I knew I was waking up. The rest of the day I slept. Bo got me dinner and a snack and we watched "Something Borrowed" on Demand. (It was not that good). I was feeling good on the pain meds. My mom and dad stopped by later and that was about all. The pain intensified a little later, but it was never as bad as I was expecting.

Today I have just been sore. I cannot lift my right arm or turn around, twist my body, etc. very quickly. I just feel bruised but I have not even taken a pain pill today. I showered on my own and my mom picked me up since I can't drive (Bo had to go out of town) and I met a friend at a movie. We saw "The Help" and it was wonderful, but I definately recommend reading the book first. It follows the plot of the book very closely and the production and casting was fantastic. Later my mom and I went to Kohls to get some fall clothes for the girls and she brought me back to their house.

The girls are still in Raleigh having fun. I asked Hannah if she was having fun and she said, "suuuuurrree." They went to Marbles yesterday and hung out and played today. Mom and I are going to pick them up tomorrow afternoon.

picture that Cindy sent: Emma and Hannah at Nana and Dadoo's house watering the plants

Anyway, I am doing fine and glad the lump is gone. It has been sent to pathology and I will get the details on that in about two weeks. However, my doctor said by looking at it, it is benign and I should be just fine!

Portraits

When I met Bo's mom tonight to get the girls she brought me my portraits I had ordered a few months ago. They were too big to scan but here are what they look like on the wall. I think they are beautiful!

Busy, Busy

The past week and a half has been.....busy. Last Sunday I kept nursery at church for Hannah's class. We went out to lunch with Joey, Dawn and their kids. They were helping us plan our Disney trip. When we got home we saw that our hot water heater was leaking, which was fabulous. Needless to say later in the week we got a new hot water heater installed.

I went to lunch and a movie with my dear friend Carrie on Tuesday. We saw Crazy, Stupid Love. It was really good and I loved spending some time with her.

Wednesday the girls went to Beth's because I had my surgery consultation. My mom went with me and after that we went to the mall and did some great retail therapy to get my mind off of the surgery. I got some new fall clothes for me and the girls and also got a dress to wear to my friend's wedding this coming weekend. I also got to visit another dear friend of mine who was in the hospital this week. I took her some magazines and got to talk with her for a few.

Thursday the 11th was my aunt's birthday. There were 24 of us eating together and we had a nice dinner out with lots of family. Here are some pics of the girls from that night but the rest are on my mom's camera.

Friday the 12th I had to take Emma for her ENT appointment. Her doctor said her ears look fabulous and the tubes are still in place. That was great news. That night Bo and I watched a movie that we had never got a chance to see - The Ugly Truth. We both thought it was pretty funny.

Saturday the 13th was my sister's birthday. Because her husband had to work my mom kept Andy and the rest of us and Joey, Dawn and their kids went to Water Country. We had a really good time but then it started raining around 2:00. The girls went on some pretty big water slides in the riding tubes and then one ride in the family tube. They did a good job for their first time and we all had a lot of fun. Bo's and my movie night that night was Jumping the Broom. It was not good - I do not recommend it.

Hannah's first slide

us the Kelly coming out of Big Daddy Falls!!

Emma and Aunt Lindsay

Drew, Joey, Connor and Lindsay coming off of Big Daddy Falls

Sunday we celebrated Lindsay's birthday with our family and Robbie, April and Adair. We had lunch and mom's and then did some cleaning out at our family's old country store. The store belonged to my Great Grandfather and sadly it has to be torn down because it is not up to city code anymore. It is going to be very sad to see it torn down in a few months. So, all of us went in and got the things that meant something to us. Later that night we went to Outback.

So......today, finally, the 15th the girls, mom and I did some birthday shopping at Party City for Emma's birthday. We got the plates, napkins, balloons, etc. Her party is starting to come together! I have received shipments from all over the US this past week on things I have ordered for our "Mary Poppins" party. I am waiting on one more shipment though!! Bo and I took the girls halfway to Raleigh tonight to meet his mom and grandma. The girls went happily with them to "Camp Nana and Dadoo" for three days while I have my surgery and recovery time. I go in tomorrow morning at 6AM. I am so thrilled to spend my last couple of days of summer recovering from surgery. Hopefully I will be okay after a day or two because I have some more things to get done in the library this week and for E's party. Plus - obviously I need to get my hair appointment in.

I should be fine - the lump is too big to have a needle biopsy, which is what I was hoping for. Instead they need to remove the entire thing plus the cells around it, which requires sutures. At least I will have some pain meds :)

It has been real quiet here tonight. Bo and I had a late dinner at Olive Garden and then we went to Verizon to figure out what new phone I want since my upgrade is good in a few days! I'll check back when my surgery is over!

A Funny Moment

Emma absolutely cracked my mom and I up this evening. I am at mom and dad's since Bo is on an extended out of town business trip. It was a perfect evening outside with a wonderful breeze. The girls were having fun on mom's screened porch and then we went to swing. It was just after 7pm and Emma said, "look! the moon!" I said,"yes, Emma, the moon is out" (barely, but we saw it). I said, "what does it mean when the moon is out?" I had been trying to get them inside for awhile to take their bath and get the bedtime routine rolling. Emma said, "it means it's time for a nap." I said, "yes, you are right, a loooonng nap. It is time to get ready for bed." Then, she looked over and said, "well, I still see the sun." As in, mom, the sun is still out so we can play longer. It was so cute and a pretty smart comment I thought. She was right, the sun was technically still out, so it was not time to sleep yet! The look on her face and the way I saw her brain working was just hilarious. She definately gave mom and I a good laugh this evening.

This and That

This week started with cleaning out my old classroom on Monday! It was bittersweet. My mom and a few school friends helped out a lot and we managed to get everything I was keeping into the van in one load. A LMS does not need all of the class materials that a teacher needs so my school buddies got some extra goods that day! I have everything in the media center, but not unpacked or organized. I'll get to that on the workdays.

I have done so much cleaning lately. I have organized the girls' closets and got some fall clothing ready. I have also done fall shoe shopping at Stride Rite. I have done a ton of stuff for Emma's birthday party. Emma and I have already been school supply shopping and got everything for her preschool. I have also bought her dance shoes for her dance class, which will begin this fall.

Bo was out of town Tuesday night. I missed him that night. We have watched several movies the past nights - Hall Pass, Lincoln Lawyer and Love and Other Drugs. They were all really good movies. We just don't make it to the movie theater that often anymore.

Emma and Hannah have some new cute shows they are liking now. Team Umizoomi and Bubble Guppies are really cute and we have found ourselves watching them more and more. The girls also watched Peter Pan for the first time and now they are really into Tinkerbell.

Wednesday I had to get a TB test done at the doctor because of switching school systems. After that we went to the mall to get a few things done. The girls, mom and I had a nice lunch at Olive Garden. Hannah decided to try black olives and she loved them. She is the most non-picky eater in the world and willing to try anything. She ate half of my plate of salad. She really eats better than some adults. Then, we did some birthday present shopping for Emma at Toys R Us. We did let her pick out some of her things and she was begging to get them. I told her it was not her birthday yet. She said, "mommy, can it pllleeeeeeeeaase be my birthday nooooww?" It was too funny. My mom distracted the girls while I bought her things and then she did the same.

Today we went to visit Mammie and took her lunch. I have done more cleaning this evening - mopped the floors, laundry, dusted/vaccumed upstairs. Bo is out of town and I'm pretty excited for Jersey Shore starting tonight! Hannah also went all morning with her big girl panties! She is doing really well potty training. I just put a pull up on her when we left the house to go to Mammie's.

Here are some pics I took this week.

I love catching them while they dance to their Sing Along videos

Hannah a hot mess after eating an Oreo

this is how Hannah eats green beans now - she divides them and eats the "baby beans" as she calls them, then she eats the rest of the bean!

I still have a ton to do this month. The calendar is full. I have so many appointments to go to and of course my lovely surgery to look foward to on the 16th. Then, Emma's party is going to be here before I know it and then back to work. Have a mentioned how I miss July at the beach????