Puppies!

Aunt Marla and Uncle Greg have puppies. They will be 3 weeks old on Tuesday the 29th. This morning Todd took Emma over to see them. Just as much as Cathy loved cats from an early age, Emma loves dogs. Please don't ask what kind they are... All I know is that they are black and we are not getting one!

Open House

We went to an Open House at Emma's school last night. Our school system has the children start a journal in Kindergarten and maintain it through 5th grade. At the end of their elementary school journey, they will have highlights of every year chronicled.

Emma's journal had an entry for May 26, 2009. I found the entry to be humorous. She wrote about a rib party, fishing, and swimming with cousins. It's good to be a kid (except for the being thrown in the pool part)!

The hallways were lined with bulletin boards full of children's assignments and artwork. Emma's class did posters that had self-portraits and information about themselves. I had a feeling it would be coming someday. Click to enlarge and read the last line!

Insane Mom... Thank you!

Someone posted comments regarding Reed vs. Beloit. I honestly expected it to be Todd's mother or my sister. NO! It was an anonymous mom who has a son at Reed and a daugther at Beloit. Oh my goodness. This anonymous mom made me feel much more comfortable regarding Beloit. I went back to the Beloit website and watched the You Tube student interviews.

One comment that this "insane mom" made is that Beloit teaches for the "real world." Most schools do not acknowledge reality/practicality when they are teaching theory. That was my experience and Todd's as well. Another comment that she made is that Beloit is great for students with many interests. Colleges generally guide students into a discipline rather than being inter-discplinary. At Beloit you can earn a double-major with a minor, a major and a double-minor, or just the basic major. Heck, if you're motivated enough, you could probably pursue a double major and a double minor.

Christopher would be as comfortable in an English, Art, or Music class as he would a Biology, Chemistry, or Physics class. I could really see him earning a degree with majors in Anthropology and Chemistry with a minor in Music. I think Pher may actually be able to find some of his left brain & right brain dominant cohorts at this campus. I also read somewhere that being different is normal at Beloit. One student played ping-pong because is wasn't cool and he went on to win a championship just to make his point. Sound like anyone we know?

Emma's 8th birthday

Emma Carole Meyers
Born September 20, 2001 at 7:50 a.m.
Weight: 7 pounds, 10 ounces
Length: 19 3/4"
8 years later she weighs in at 46 pounds and her height is 48".

She had a great birthday weekend. Pretty much the whole weekend was hers to celebrate. The grand finale was getting to attend church ON HER BIRTHDAY and have the congregation sing Happy Birthday to her. After church we made the trip to Angola for the baptism. When we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house after the baptism, Uncle Scooter and Aunt Rebecca gave Emma her birthday cake... made in their bakery.The cake decorations were a complete surprise for her. She takes after her daddy, and she is a Steeler's fan. I asked Todd's Aunt Johnni (who lives in Pittsburgh) if she could please find Steeler's cake decorations. She found them, she mailed them, the cake decorator designed the cake around them! Emma was elated with her cake.

More rushing around... We had to get back to Fort Wayne to be at a friend's house to watch the Steeler's game. Kickoff was at 4:15, and we had to hustle. Oh, I almost forgot, on the way to church, Emma asked if we could please get her a new Steeler's shirt for the games. Little did she know that Aunt Johnni sent her a new shirt for a birthday gift (she also sent a little teddy bear wearing a Steeler's sweater). When she opened that present after church, she let out a shriek. I like to think it's all a joke and next year she will ask for a Colts t-shirt!
Another picture of the awesome cake without the plastic cover.I can't believe I did not take a picture of her in the shirt with the camera. I did take one with my phone that I sent to Aunt Johnni, but I don't know how to e-mail that picture to myself. Rats!

Problems with Emma

Emma has been complaining of headaches while reading. She first complained when they had to read on the computer for 45 minutes for district standardized testing. She complains when she reads books at home. I made an appointment for her to get her eyes checked. Turns out her vision is perfect. The doctor did put reading "magnifying glasses" on her and she proclaimed that they really helped make the words easier to read.

For a little girl that didn't want to wear glasses, she sure did have fun picking out her frames. She even told the young man who charted her eye measurements that her baby blue frames, "Match my eyes!" She spent quite a bit of time in front of the mirror admiring herself.
Her second grade teacher tasked the class with reading for 20 minutes, 5 nights a week. They have a full 7 days to get the reading done, but this is how much the students are required to read. The headache complaints made me a little relaxed with mandating Emma's reading. What kind of mom would I be sitting my daughter down to read knowing that she would suffer from a headache?! Now she has the glasses, and she still doesn't want to sit down and read. I think she's just a kid that wants to play. We have to set some guidelines now that the busy weekend is over.

Busy, busy weekend

Why do I do this to myself? I seem to cram too much into weekends from time to time. This past weekend was one of these times. Friday was our anniversary, Saturday and Sunday were the Johnny Appleseed Festival, Sunday was Maya's (Todd's cousin's daughter) baptism, and Sunday was also Emma's birthday. Somehow, someway, in our family if your birthday is on a weekend we end up celebrating all weekend.

Emma had a friend spend the night Friday night. Todd and I went out with friends to celebrate our anniversary. Saturday morning Todd and Cameron had to be at the park for the Johnny Appleseed Festival at 6 am. They worked until 6:30 pm. Cameron went back for more work on Sunday. The Boy Scout Troop makes cinnamon caramel corn and presses apple cider. The boys earn money for their scout accounts by working at festivals.

The caramel corn is made over open fire and the cider is pressed by hand.
I took Emma and her friend to the festival and we walked around for a couple of hours. The girls ate and played in the children's area.

Sunday was Emma's 8th birthday and also the baptism of Todd's cousin's daughter. Emma will get her own post.

Todd's cousin Lonnie and his wife Barb wanted Don to baptize their daughter... in the lake. Parents, Godparents, Pastor, and baby Maya all got in the water.

Grasshoppers playing around... hmmm

When Emma got home from school Friday afternoon she blew into the house stating that I needed to, "Come outside, RIGHT NOW. I HAD to see something." She was so excited about the playtime she witnessed that she blurted out what I "HAD TO" go and see. Two grasshoppers were playing out front and one of them was giving the other a piggyback ride.

Hopefully it will be many, many years before she realizes what kind of ride the grasshopper was giving!