Uncles

So, I have a big family. And in that big family, I have several uncles. I have an Uncle Jamie, Uncle Barry and two Uncle Mikes. That is just first generation uncles. My Uncle Alan passed away when I was two, but I still have a vivid memory of him lifting me over his head and playing with me.

Emma Kate has three uncles. My two brothers, Danny and Michael Alan and MikeyT's brother, Todd. Emma Kate loves them all, but she sees Uncle Michael (or UNC, as she calls him) everyday as he lives here in Eagle Ridge.

Unc and Emma Kate have a special bond. They have a special hand shake that they do every time they see eachother. They have special names for eachother, as she calls him Unc and he calls her "EmmaTate," a name he came up with before she was born. They laugh, a lot.

If Emma Kate has not seen Unc that day, she will spontaneously say,

"I wan-a see Unc."

Ashley loves Unc, too. Maybe it is because he is just a big kid himself, but Unc is "cool," whereas we are just the non-cool parents. Unc text messages and myspaces Ashley and they have little inside jokes that they won't tell us about.

It is pretty funny, because if you knew Michael Alan before he was an uncle, you may not have thought you would ever seen him dressed in a tu-tu or going on a great big bear hunt (singing and everything.)

I wish the girls saw all of their uncles (and Aunts-Melinda and Margie!!) as much as they see Unc, but I am so glad that they are both are close to Unc and he is so good to my girls!

Playing Catch Up

I think there are going to be several posts this week as I have a gazillion pictures of the past few weeks (maybe months) to put up. Here goes.....

I *Heart* Teague.

Teague is a "bassetball boy." He is not on Mike's team right now, but he was a mighty-mighty-nugget and he plays for another Raptor team so we see him frequently. He has two little sisters and he is such a good big brother. Emma Kate adores him. Teague was the first bassetball boy to read to Emma Kate. Whenever he sees her, he stops what he is doing and grabs her hand. He looks out for her. And she loves him.

We were at City Fest two weekends ago and in the big kiddie area that has 15 of those bouncy-blow-up-jumpy-things. Emma Kate has never been a big fan. They intimidate her. So when I saw my all-time favorite polisci professor, Dr. Brown (many of you have heard of him because I started talking about him circa 1998), manning one of the bouncy gigs, we headed over for a try. Emma Kate did get in, but this super-duper 4-in-one castle had more than she needed. She was kind-of wandering aimlessly through and I had that scary thought that I was going to kick off the shoes and head in after her--flashback. But then, coming from a distance like the guardian angel that he is....

He said :" Can I leave my shoes with you and just take her with me?"

I said"Ummmmmmm, YES." I hope I didn't sound too eager.

So these two went off and played for an hour.........

City Fest was a blast. We saw Nova or "Aubie's Bird," as EK calls her.

We saw a lumberjack show. Check out the axe flying in the air. We checked out an Auburn Fire Truck. And EK got to ride a pony, which is always at the top of her list as best things EVER. It was a great weekend and I must say, the City of Auburn knows how to throw a party.

The Swine Flu strikes the Thomas Clan....well, kindof

The Mighty Raptors had a huge tourney planned for this weekend in metro Bham. SEVEN of the Might Raptors, Myself, EK, MikeyT, and Unc were all scheduled to stay the weekend with my in-laws. We had it all planned. They kids were excited. Mikey T was excited. Emma Kate was BEYOND excited. MeMe and Hoppy were.......well, even they were excited (and scared!!!).

Then this text message came early this morning.....

"Tourney postponed--swine flu....."

Yep, it seems Hoover High School, one of the hosts, decided against germs from 11 year old boys from all over the state and beyond to converge into their gym, and the other hosts soon followed suit. Probably smart, but devastating to this chic......

Another Video...

Here EK sings her all time favorite, Itsy Bitsy Spider. For some reason, she loves to sing in the bath. She sings the entire time she is in there. She gets stuck in this song and sounds like a skipping record. Please excuse the end where she tries to eat the washcloth. Gross.

Bodda Getta

If you know Auburn, you will (kindof) recognize this. If not, you still cannot deny the cuteness of a two year old's voice. Just listen.

Thank you, Growing Room

I am not, and never have been, a breakfast person. Don't eat it. Don't like it. Not a fan. I generally don't even get hungry until lunch time. Look--stop yelling--I know it is not healthy. I have always known it and I am working on it, with help from the growing room.

I know I brag about this place to the point it is annoying. But come on, they feed my child two times a day. TWO TIMES. Hot breakfast. Hot lunch. That is more than she would get from me in the morning. I think two days a week of fruit loops, with or without milk, is enough. Seven days of that would get old. But thanks to the growing room, she gets a HOT breakfast 5 days a week. Included in my weekly tuition. SCORE.

But, that is not all. Growing Room feeds ME. Every morning, they offer me coffee, ice-cold OJ, and some sort of muffin, bread, pig-in-a-blanket, or fruit. I usually grab my OJ and run, but today I did a double take. Today they had these......

Warm, gooey and De-Lish. So, thanks Growing Room, thanks for feeding my child twice a day and thank you for my OJ and SINamon Rolls.

Disney on Ice

For months now my two friends, Alicia and Allyson and I have been planning on taking our tots to see Disney on Ice in Montgomery. We have talked and planned like we were invading a smallcountry. We have gotten our three girls together a lot--play dates at the park, dinner at Alicia's, trick-or-treating on Toomer's Corner. But this was going to be the first time we traveled, in one car, together with three very spirited two year olds. Emma Kate is the oldest. But she doesn't go to school every day with the other two and she sits back and watches long before she engages.

Mary McKinnon and Emma Kate share Sunday mornings together in their nursery class at church. Mary McKinnon is the spirited one of the bunch and keeps us laughing.

Ella Grace is the youngest, not quite two yet. She is sweet-natured and could give you puppy-dog eyes that would make you give her a million dollars. But, let's face it--they are three two-year olds. We were excited and anxious at the same time.
We decided that we would (of course, these are my sewing buddies) make them matching Ariel outfits. They were too cute! We met at Allyson's house and started the task of installing three massive carseats into Allyson's Tahoe. How many moms does it take to put in a carseat? Three. Two to install the carseats and one to try and keep the toddlers from running into the street.
We were successful and so we piled all three girls into the car---with poor Alicia in the wayyyy back. We popped in a movie for the girls and headed to Montgomery. We got there in plenty of time, but since the girls wanted to hold each others hands as we made out grand entrance, we missed the first part of the show with featured the Cars cast. The girls had no clue so it was ok. The usher took us to our seats and---SCORE--Allyson hooked us up with floor seats right by the ice. No one in front of use and we could literally touch the characters as they skated by. We had pre-packaged snacks but we did opt to get the girls each some toy from the over-priced vendor. Emma Kate got some three foot Ariel flashlight for $18.00 that she hasn't picked up since. She also go a $10.00 bag of cotton candy (after she spilled her animal crackers on the floor when she was watching Simba the lion do a triple axle), but it did come with a cute Tinkerbell hat.

Emma Kate knew some of the characters, but since she doesn't watch TV, she didn't really know the stories. She had never seen the Lion King or Tinkerbell, but she did know who Ariel was. She was consumed by the show---they all were---and they were perfect for the entire time.

After it was over, we headed to Red Robbin because the girls and the mommies were starving. As we were leaving, a stranger stopped me to tell me how well-behaved our girls were. HUH??? Do what? Are you serious? I had never heard that from a stranger before? I guess he didn't see Emma Kate and Mary McKinnon argue over the dum-dum suckers. Or maybe he didn't witness when EK threw her crayons on the floor and had a mini tantrum because she didn't want to sit in the high chair.

The girls were really good and we were all pleasantly surprised at how easy the afternoon was. We were sure the girls would fall asleep before we hit the highway, but much to our surprise they were still awake as we pulled into Allyson's driveway. While we unloaded carseats the girls ran inside to play. We mommies were ready for bed, but I really think the girls could have played for another two hours. Emma Kate has not stopped talking about "dose yions, dat one yion is bad wif dark hair," or "tinkerbell fly over my he-ad!"

We cannot wait for our next adventure with our double-named friends!!