SUPERSTAR!!!

Last night was the American Girl Fashion Show Gala event at the Lincoln Presidential Museum. Rob and Adam ended up going to the Jr. Blues playoff game, so Grandma got to come with me. We dropped Emily off at St. John's Hospital where all the girls were getting their hair and make-up done. Then they were shuttled to the museum (in a pretty bad thunderstorm/tornado watch I might add!). They got dressed in one of the theatres and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks on the big screen while waiting for their turn on stage. When she walked out, she had a huge smile on her face and just did a fantastic job! As they were walking off the stage, she turned around and waved to everyone and blew a kiss! Quite a priceless moment! Grandma asked her later when did she decide she would blow a kiss to the audience? And Emily said "I don't know, that just how the show goes!" There wasn't enough time to take any video, but I bought the DVD of the whole show, so that will be fun to watch. We are SO proud of our American Girl!

The morning before the show we let Emily open up a very special gift from Mom, Dad and Adam - a brand new American Girl doll named "Emily Bennett".

Walking out on stage - the Bitty Twins!

All the models with Miss Illinois, Ashley Hatfield, who was the emcee for the event.

Emily and her friend Brooke Thompson, who was also one of the models. We wanted a picture of them in their outfits, but they changed too quickly!

Mom and Emily

Grandma and Emily back at our house after the show.

AUSTRAILA IS THE KEY TO THE WHOLE GAME....hmmmmm

THIS IS HOW I FEEL AFTER WATCHING LAST NIGHT'S LOST EPISODE!

FIRST LOST TOOTH!

Yesterday, I got a phone call right before lunch and a little voice on the other line said "Mommy, I lost a tooth!" She was pretty emotional (go figure!) but got some hugs and comfort from Miss Monica and Miss Jessica at school. She also scored a blue popsicle to help take away a few tears. I think she had a little post-traumatic stress disorder last night, as her tummy hurt at dance class and for a little while after we got home. I assured her the tooth fairy would find her when she went to sleep, so she was better by bedtime! Our baby girl is really starting to grow up!

She was pretty excited this morning to see what the tooth fairy brought her!

COACH ADAM

Last night, Adam helped Emily with some soccer drills. They had a lot of fun trying to take the ball away from each other! At one point, Emily wasn't able to get it, so she put her fingers in her mouth and made a whistling noise, and picked up the ball with her hands. We had a good laugh that she knew enough that the ref had to blow the whistle to stop the game!! I don't know how much she learned, but it was nice of Adam to try and help her out a little ("pro" that he is!!)

STARTING TODAY!!

Some friends and I are starting our version of the Biggest Loser today. We each put in $15, so there is $220 for the winner. Our final weigh in will be June 1...just in time for my trip to Cancun! That is spending money for my trip! I am going to walk on my lunch hour and Adam said he would walk with me after school every day. He promised he would help me win the money!

TOUGH GIRLS

My friend Liane emailed me a picture of Emily and Sydney from Friday night's downpour of a soccer game. It was really cute because the score when the game was called was Tigers-2; opponents-1...and both our goals were from Sydney and Emily!! I think we learned that night just how tough our girls are for sticking it out through such horrible conditions!

DRESS REHEARSAL!

This morning we had the dress rehearsal for the American Girl Fashion Show. Since only 1 of the volunteers showed up to help backstage, a bunch of us moms were recruited to help girls change into the right clothes and put back on hangers when done. Believe me, with over 30 girls, it's harder than it sounds! I just hope the other volunteers show up Friday night because I want to watch the show!


I bought Emily the special American Girl edition shirt from Eye Candy by Brandy and she got to wear it today. She loved it, and I'm afraid I'm not going to get it off her tonight for bedtime!

Waiting patiently for her turn to get dressed in her Bitty Baby outfit.

The grand finale; all the girls walk out one final time on stage to the new American Girl song.

Next time it will be the real performance!

EMILY SCORES HER FIRST GOAL - THEN RAIN OUT

Well tonight was Emily's first soccer game of the season and we got rained out. We were sure they would cancel the games (as they did the last 2 weeks), but as it was not lightening, they went ahead as scheduled. It was just a steady rain when we got there, but 20 minutes later the wind kicked up and it started coming down in buckets. The kids played their hearts out and yes, Emily scored her first ever goal!!! We were SO proud of her - especially for braving the nasty weather! I really didn't think she'd get out in the rain, as she's pretty particular about what her hair looks like these days. We'll miss next Friday's game because of the American Girl show, but the following week, she says she's planning on scoring again!!

These pictures were "pre-game - pre-rain". I should have taken a picture of us when we got home; we were totally soaked from head to toe.

NUMBER 3!!!

A HUG FOR GOOD LUCK FROM BIG BROTHER!

5.2 EARTHQUAKE!

Talk about being shaken awake!!! At 4:40 this morning, I woke up with the feeling that me, our bed and the entire house was shaking. I also heard the windows rattling. I knew I wasn't dreaming, and that I was wide awake sitting up in bed, but could not figure out why everything was shaking. I started pounding on Rob to wake him up saying "the house is shaking, why is the house shaking?" By the time he woke up it had stopped. Probably lasted only 30 seconds or so, but what a strange feeling! As soon as it stopped, Emily yelled for us. I ran in to her room and she asked why her bed was shaking. I told her it was probably the wind, but she made me look under her bed just in case someone was under there! I checked on Adam and he was still sound asleep. Rob and I had trouble going back to sleep, as we were waiting to see if it was going to happen again. When I saw it was the lead story on the Today Show this morning, they confirmed it was a 5.2 earthquake. Kind of funny it woke me and Emily up, but the boys slept through the whole thing!

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY MR. & MRS. MALOY

Happy Anniversary Stephanie & Tim!! Can't believe your wedding was 3 years ago!

Here are some pictures from your big day.....

Partying at the reception

First Dance

This was during the ceremony...Emily got tired of standing up there, so she decided to have a seat (right behind the bride and groom!) That's me in the purple dress in the corner, so there was not much I could do but let her sit there!

Awwww, look how cute the ring bearer is!

The outdoor reception, before moving inside for dinner and dancing.

Once the music started, Emily didn't stop dancing the entire night (almost 2 1/2 hours!) We literally had to drag her off the dance floor and carry her up to the room.

Honeymoon in Aruba!

First Rehearsal

Saturday, Emily had her first rehearsal for the American Girl fashion show. It was held at the Dove Conference Center at St. John's Hospital from 9-12. One of the committee members reminded everyone that the reason for the show is to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. Her daughter, plus a couple of the models, are CMN children. It was really heartwarming to see how far some of these girls have come, considering all their health problems at birth. Next Saturday will be a dress rehearsal. At least I found the red Mary Jane shoes yesterday (not as easy as it sounds!)

The BIG finish!

There was a little "down time" for the little girls, so they got to play with a bunch of AG dolls while they were waiting.

Brooke and Emily, playing with the dolls.

SUMMERTIME MEMORIES

With all the nice weather last weekend, I'm starting to get the itch for summer to hurry up and get here already! I was organizing my digital pictures and came across a few summer pictures I hadn't seen in awhile. It's really amazing to see how much the kids have changed in just a few short years!

2003 - our pool

2003 - Hobe Sound, Florida

2004 - On Papa's boat at the lake in Marissa

2004 - Our backyard

2005 - Popsicles for everyone!

2005 - Kids and Sophie

2006 - Michigan

2006 - Tarpon Springs, Florida

NOW...WHO ELSE IS READY FOR SUMMER?

Sunday, busy Sunday

Our goal for 2008 is to find a new church that all 4 of us enjoy going to each week. So far, we've gone a couple of times to St. John's Lutheran Church and today we went to First Christian with the McKeown's. The kids enjoyed the Children's Message and going to Jr. Church afterwards. It was a long service, so we rushed home to change and get Adam to baseball practice at Rotary Park. Rob left to visit open houses (for work), so Emily and I headed over to the playground at the park while Adam was at practice. Janet and Melanie joined us and the girls had a good time running around, climbing and swinging. After practice, we visited a few open houses (just for fun!) Now if we can just get the kids in the tub/shower, maybe we can call it a day/night!