New Things

I have officially been on summer "vacation" for 11 days now and I am a firm believer that time goes faster when not at school. I am loving being able to stay home and spend more time with my Emmers. I did my yearly dismantling of the classroom and was able to get some closure on the school year. Yeah!

Here is Emilyn "helping" take things down.


Emilyn is now very much into crawling around, pulling herself up onto things and cruising around. Which is incredibly liberating for her, but equally nerve wracking for me. She has taken a few little spills and gotten some little bumps and bruises to show for it. I didn't realize how un-baby proof my house is! (and how dirty my floors are - yikes, we now do baths more frequently)

She has figured out that if she stands on her tiptoes and stretches she can just barely reach the top of my desk to discover all kinds of fun things.



There are all kinds of new things growing in my garden. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of some fresh peas, cucumbers, and squash later this summer. Here's to hoping I can keep things alive that long! Here is the master gardener at work, little miss green thumb.


For my birthday, Kyle got me a new camera. Yeah! I took a bunch of pictures, but when I put them on the computer quite a few of them had weird lines through them. Not so yeah. Back to Costco we go. Grrr.



With the hot weather, we couldn't resist getting Emi her own little pool. Even though the water was pretty cold, she LOVED it! She cried when I took her out.


Emilyn loves her cousins (okay so that's not so new, but I couldn't resist putting this one in).


And one last one...

My new favorite picture


Loving to stand up



Sleepy time with Teddy


Emilyn's new favorite thing is to pull herself up and stand in her crib.

Memorial Day

Brace yourselves for what I am about to say...I know this may create quite the stir and people will think I am crazy but I just have to get it out there. I don't really care for Memorial Day. There, I said it. Finally it's off my chest. I love what Memorial Day stands for. I think there should be more days to honor the men and women who have served our country and I definitely appreciate the freedoms afforded because of their sacrifices. But it bothers me that so many people see it as just a day off. A day to BBQ or a weekend to go camping. To those of you I know who have served or are currently serving, I extend my deepest gratitude. To Scott, Jeremy, Phil, Nick, Kyle's family members, my uncles, my grandpas, my dad. I thank you.

For me Memorial Day is an emotional day. As a kid we had a tradition of going to the cemetery to put flowers on my Grandpa Engle's grave. As we admired all the U.S. flags lining the roads in the cemetery we would stand there as a family and my dad would pray. Now I am the one standing over my dad's grave praying.

Even though it's been almost 10 years I still have an incredibly difficult time seeing his name written on that headstone. It's just so cold, so permanent. I know my dad and grandpas are in a better place because of what they believed, but it doesn't make me miss them less.

When I have managed to muster up the courage to go to the cemetery I end up standing there sobbing and blubbering like a baby. My eyes are red and puffy for days afterward and I get what I call a crying headache. I hate it. Last year the count of graves to visit went up again as we added Grandpa Skaufel...which made it even harder.

I didn't go this year, to the graveyard. I feel terribly guilty for not going. I know people in our family keep tabs on who has been there by the kinds of flowers or vases that are left. They are going to know I didn't go. Maybe they will understand.

Kristen sent me an email this week with pictures of various military moments. The one that got me was a picture of a boy being presented with a flag by a military gentleman wearing white gloves and a hat. the boy looks about 9 or 10 at the most, sharply dressed in a suit and tie, he is stoically standing there accepting the flag, but you can tell by the look on his face he is struggling to accept the fact his dad is gone. The extent to what people go through for our country amazes me. To the families of all our military personnel, I thank you.

Bloomsday

Contrary to what you may think from the title of this post, we did not do Bloomsday. I used to do it every year with cousin Stephanie and Grandma. We wore fanny packs filled with candy as "fuel" that gives you an idea of how long ago it was. Then it got popular and everyone started doing it. So I quit. Hey, don't give me a hard time and ask "why didn't you do it?" I put my time in people, now I get to be the one to laugh at the crazies the day after who complain about being sore. All for a shirt that you wear once before it becomes a good candidate for new pajamas.

We did however go to Uncle Neal and Aunt Jo's for the annual Bloomsday BBQ. It was fun seeing the fam. Grandma's brood of great-grandkids is growing rapidly. The number is up to 7 now! Here she is with all of them.

Reduce Reuse Recycle!

I just had to put this one up. She fits so nicely in the recycle bin and loved having Kyle pull her around in circles on the kitchen floor.

Emilyn Discovers Grass

So Emilyn and I played outside awhile back when it was super nice and warm. Until then she hadn't experienced grass. Keep in mind that she is very oral and puts everything in her mouth and what won't fit in her mouth she licks. You will just have to look at the picture to see what she thought of her first encounter with grass.

"Hi Mom! I love it outside!"


"Ooh what's all this green stuff? I am so excited, something new to discover!"


"I better check it out."


"It would probably be a good idea to taste it."


"This stuff isn't too bad."


"Actually on second thought..."


"What was I thinking?! What kind of terrible crap is this? It better do something amazing for my figure."

Easter

Emilyn had a great first Easter. Saturday we went out to my mom's for the annual egg hunt she puts on for all the nieces, nephews, grand kids, or really any kid even remotely related to our family. The entire hunt lasted all but about 15 minutes, and the kids had fun despite the rain. Emilyn stayed inside for most of it.

World's cutest nephew, Gus!



World's cutest niece, Amelia!



Sunday we got up and went to church then headed to Kyle's parents for lunch. Claire made a fabulous meal as usual. Auntie Liz took Emilyn out to the rabbit hutch to see the bunnies. She loved watching them and laughed when she would touch their soft fur.





The family




Unfortunately I had to spend most of the afternoon working on my literature review for my research paper, but not before we got some fun pictures of Emi wearing the bunny ears. I know it's cruel, but I couldn't resist. Can anyone say chubby bunny?



Serenading us at the piano


Let's eat!


The loves of my life


Everyone keeps saying just wait, next year she will be running around with all the other kids hunting for eggs. A few months ago I couldn't wait for her hold her head up, smile, sit up, eat solid foods and all the other milestones. With every new development I keep looking towards the next one. I realized the other day that although it will be exciting when she can crawl, talk, or feed herself, I will never get this time with her again. I am having to force myself to slow down and soak in what she is right now- at this very moment...to savor the little noises she makes, to pause a little longer as I cuddle with her at bedtime, to let her take things in at her own pace. Because the pace of life around her sure seems to be going pretty fast.