Friends

6 years old! Skip-Dancing Daddy!

Well, another year has passed and our little girl is now 6 years old! Wow! Where did the time go?!? I can’t believe that 6 years has went by so fast! Our little girl is growing up too fast! She is getting so smart and learning so much in kindergarten that I can hardly believe it! To celebrate her birthday, Emma was able to have 3 small parties. First, Emma had a Princess Party with her cousins and friends where the girls were dressed up like princesses and had lots of fun! Emma also had a small party at Nonnie and Poppie’s in Wisconsin. As is par for the course, Emma didn’t want …Read more […..]

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Life & Friendship–Enjoy it and Don’t Take it for Granted

As Emma develops friendships, several very close ones, I can’t help but think to myself whether they will be lifelong friendships or, as is most commonly the case, childhood friends. I think this because I still have close friendships with people who I met in the early grade school years. As This stay at home dad often does, I am trying to look ahead into Emma’s life and by doing so am reminded of past memories of my own life. Memories of a very dear childhood/teenage friend of mine come to mind. A life with such potential  tragically cut short. This was a very significant …Read more […..]

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The Big Boys! “Can I Tell You Something?” Privacy While in Bathroom..

Emma has become good friends with the boys down the street. There are 2 boys, Evan and Ethan, that are a year older than her as well as a boy, Nathan, that is a year younger then her. They live down the street and love to come to our cul-de-sac where they can ride their bikes, their motorized cars, and scooters with her. It is so funny to watch them playing because Emma leads the way with the puppy dog boys following along. When they are at their house and Emma is in our front yard, they are constantly yelling messages back and forth. The little guy, Nathan, is the most vocal and aggressive about …Read more […..]

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First Experience With Bullying?

I can remember the kids who used to bully me around like it was yesterday. Of course, after we all grew up(the bullies all seemed to stop growing around 8th grade, ha!) and I became a police officer the tables turned for good. Anyway, today, like most days, Emma kept asking when we were going to leave for school–did this for 2 hours. When we finally went, she was very excited. As usual she washed her hands and kissed me goodbye and then ran over to the board where all the kids write their names. Emma was there with one of the boys and she began excitedly writing her name when 3 other girls, Hannah, …Read more […..]

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School Field Trips, Best Friend Avery, Reading Books to Herself

Emma experienced her preschool field trip and had fun! As you can see she was excited to go on the school bus as they were getting ready to leave. Of course, I had a bit of apprehension with her being out of my control and in other peoples’. This is something I will constantly struggle with as most parents probably do. Emma has gotten close to a classmate who has been a classmate for 2 years. She loves to play with Avery and they seem to be best friends. When I pick Emma up, however, they goof off a bit and I have to remind Emma to behave. Little stinker… Emma has gotten into a good …Read more […..]

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Bad Behaviors,Christmas Performance

Emma has been experimenting with some bad behaviors lately and I have a feeling that she has been learning them at school–from the other kids! The first thing she has been doing is when she gets mad at me. She has decided to start saying, “Bad Daddy” or “You’re a bad Daddy.” It gets under my nerves sometimes and I don’t want to over-react so I just tell her that I am not a bad Daddy but am looking out for her–not always in those exact words! Writing this right now makes me laugh when I think of her saying this but hopefully it is a phase–a stinker phase! The bad behaviors just keep getting …Read more […..]

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Oh Nooooooo, Santa! More Parties! Choo Choo Train

When something goes wrong, even something very minor, Emma has recently been saying, “Ohhhh Nooooooo…..” It is funny how she says it. She says it in an exaggerated manner as if she is overly concerned–too funny! We went to 3 Christmas parties over the weekend, all on Saturday. The first party was a company family Christmas event that featured many attractions such as elves that painted faces and made cool candy cane balloons, crafts, karaoke, a train ride, and, of course, Santa Claus! Now, last year Emma was deathly afraid of Santa and cried when Melissa brought her by him. This year Emma …Read more […..]

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Trick or Treat! Halloween Party! New Friend Jack

Well, Halloween has always been a big holiday with me and I am pleased to say that I think it will be for Emma too. This year she got into it and enjoyed it very much. Emma was Tinkerbell and boy did she look cute! For the last 7 years I have put a fog machine in the bushes in front of our house so that I can scare/entertain the kids who come here trick-or-treating. This year we had unbelievable weather–it was 70 degrees and completely still. The fog that I made just lingered in front of our house and eventually the entire culdesac. It looked like a movie set. The kids who came here loved …Read more […..]

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“My Feet are Dancing!”, “Don’t be Silly”, “The Baby is Older”, “Let me Touch Your Hair”, Friends!

We have exposed Emma to music since she was a little baby. Hmmmm, wonder if she will like ’80s music when she is older–ha….. I like to dance with her as often as possible. not only will she see her Daddy having fun dancing at his old age but she will get more practice and enjoy it even more. Sometimes, when the music is on and Emma is listening to it, she will say, “Look, my feet are dancing” and show me how her feet are bouncing to the beat. She loves to dance as it is lots of fun! Another funny saying that she has is “Don’t be silly.” She says this to both Mommy and I and just shows …Read more […..]

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Sarah&Josh, Hi5 Stickers, Buckle, GabGab, Mini Waffles

Well, looks like we brought the nice weather back from Florida. The last couple days have been really nice. We took Emma to the park on Sunday and it is amazing the difference in her from the last time we were there in October. Looking at her in the child swing is like looking at a totally new child! She is so much bigger now! She likes to go “High” now too. She met another little girl who was there. Her new friend Sarah is 4 years old and a bit shy. Little newly “bossy” Emma talked to her for awhile then gave her a hug. That broke the ice for Sarah. Emma then grabbed her hand and off they …Read more […..]

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