Emmy is 8!

Emmy turned 8 years old yesterday! So this blog turns 8 years old today!

This year we decided to celebrate a little differently and have a small sleepover with two of her friends instead of a big party. We went to Spain last week (more about that soon), so in the end not having a big birthday party turned out to be good for Mom's planning sanity. Ha!

All in all, I think she had a great birthday weekend!

The Saturday before her birthday, she had two friends, Freja and Iza, over for a sleepover. I took them to the trampoline park nearby for an hour. Then they came home for pizza and a movie, enjoying their spa bags I'd put together and playing with make up (Emmy recently received a bunch of make up from our friend Katie, who was cleaning out her stores of beauty products). They made ice cream sundaes and watched some more of the movie and had their slumber party in the living room. The next morning, the parents of both friends (Freja's parents are some of our best friends here, we're with them all the time) and our friends Chris and Michelle and Katie came over for brunch. Of course, we had Emmy's favorite biscuits and sausage gravy, along with quiche, fruit, and grits. It was a different sort of birthday party this year but I think she had a really good time. It was fun to do something smaller.

Spa bags!

They loved their spa bags! 

As soon as they had eaten their popcorn and pizza, they were upstairs to play with their spa bags and put on make up. 

Ice cream sundaes!

Matthew LOVED having two extra big girls around. When Emmy hopped up, he quickly settled down in the middle between the other girls. Emmy made him move back up to the sofa upon her return. Also, note he also wanted a sleep mask. Fortunately, they came two to a pack so he could have his own. 

She requested carrot cake for her birthday, so I made mini cupcakes, which was perfect for brunch. 

Birthday morning! She got to open one small gift before breakfast. 

Impossible to get them to both look at me. Matty's hair is pretty typical of mornings around here. 

She wanted chocolate cake for her class. 

Pictures from her teacher! Can you tell I fell on the stairs carrying the cake up to her classroom? 

Birthday dinner, Michelle's recipe for chicken and dumplings. Fortunately Mom making it was still acceptable. 

More presents! Some clothes, a wallet she'd picked out in the Netherlands, and a new jewelry box for her jewelry, to include new earrings for her soon-to-be-pierced ears. 

Opening her necklace from SuSu and Big Daddy (they are on skype, you just can't see them). It is a pearl earring of SuSu's that's mate went missing, so she had it turned into a pendant, and the chain was Grandmommie's (her great-grandmother). 

We can't believe this girl is eight years old now! She is, by far, the best big sister any little brother could ever ask for. He adores her and she is wonderful with him. She is patient (most of the time), loving, plays with him, shows him things and teaches him things. It is delightful to see. She is smart and funny and observant. She still asks a million questions and wants to know how things work. She still sings all the time, I always say she was born with a song in her heart. She loves science and wanted a chemistry set and microscope for her birthday. She still loves babies, both dolls and real ones. She is going to be a great baby-sitter one day in the future. She is super excited to get her ears pierced soon. She still loves the beach and had a great time in Mallorca the other week with our friends, finding shells, building sandcastles and splashing in the water. She was also wonderful with their three little boys and they enjoyed being bossed around and mommy-ed by her.  Charles and I are pretty lucky we get to be her parents Happy 8th Birthday, Emmy! 

A fall day at the beach

August was a good bit cooler than usual, even for this area I think, but September brought some sunnier days and warmer weather. We were even able to head to the beach in Germany the 2nd weekend in September for a few hours. It was lovely, we'd never been to this beach. The kids had a blast, Rags had a blast, and we ran into some other friends there. We also were reminded that we should really not plan any more picnics on the beach, we always wind up eating a lot of sand, ha!

This time we headed to the beach in Ueckermünde, Germany, about an hour away. It is on the Szczecin Lagoon instead of the Baltic, so it is not only closer, but warmer and calmer than the Baltic. And it was less windy! There is a dog friendly part of the beach, so Rags was able to run around ad have a good time. Of course it is also next to the nude part of the beach. Hey, bodies are bodies! But I was glad that curious Emmy didn't seem to notice, so we didn't have to get into any discussions about that.

It was a lovely couple of hours there, we were so glad we went and checked it out!

I have long said that Emmy is never happier than when she is at the beach. Still true! 

They could walk out so far and the water was super shallow. Matthew had a blast! 

Gosh I love these two! 

Rags and her new friend.

That is the best daddy right there playing with his kiddos.

Time to build sand castles! 

Guest post by: Emmy

Getting ready for skating lessons 

Emmy and I started this post together a long while back.   She helped me pick out some things to share. She has rather lost interest in helping me with it further, so I'll share some other fun Emmy stories and news.

First time on the ice in new skates! 

Emmy's class started swimming lessons in January, finally! She loves to swim and she has been waiting for this all year. She likes going under water and she says she can now float on her back without her floatie, she has learned how to relax herself. (As of late February, I'm sure there have been a lot more strides since then!)

The primary grades also had three skating lessons. The first time we sent her with money to rent skates at the skating rink, but the skates hurt her feet A LOT. So, off we went to the sporting good store to buy her a pair of skates. They are white with pink and blue and she liked skating a lot better with her own, more comfy skates. They are adjustable, so she can wear them for a couple of years.


Recent school field trips included a trip to the candle making factory, and as a special end of term treat, the movies! The kids movies here are always dubbed, since most small children cannot read, so we don't get to take her to the movies.  The school arranged with one of the cinemas to play The Good Dinosaur in it's original language. It was a fun treat! Emmy says she really liked the movie. They also have been to a Lego exhibition where she saw an 11 meter model of the Titanic and a science exhibit. She really enjoys all the field trips.

Ready for a sleepover (18 Jan.)

Her best pal is Freja, her Danish-American pal. She is about 6 months older than Emmy but a grade ahead. They get to play together during their breaks, and since her mom, Sarah, and I are good friends (and her dad is Charles' Danish soulmate), we spend a lot of time together outside of school, too.  She also enjoys having friends in her class from all over, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Lithuania, and China!

Masks her class made for Chinese New Year.

Emmy's dream catcher.

One a recent visit to Emmy's school, her teacher showed me a a project the class had just completed making dream catchers. She pointed out how nicely Emmy had done hers, how she had carefully wrapped the wire. After she was finished, she had helped some of her friends finish theirs. She really does love doing art projects! For her birthday this year, we are having an art birthday party. It is going to be a lot of fun to plan.

Emmy is apparently a rock star speller. It was a bit tough getting used to spelling words each week when that was added to the "schedule" mid-fall, but now she pretty much memorizes all four on Monday and we just review them through the week. It's impressive!

The whole class of completed dream catchers. 

Emmy still loves babies and playing with her dolls. She loves being a big sister, and she really is a wonderful big sister. She and Matthew play together, she shares with him so well. As a parent, it is amazing to watch. I love how much they love each other and I pray that their relation will continue to grow and they become good friends. 

When baby-lover and good big sister meet: baby-wearing her little brother.

Baby wearing duo on the way to supper the last Sunday in February.

Holding our friends' baby girl, Hannah. 

I don't have any pictures to share yet, but Emmy is in a drama class at the barracks this spring, and in June they will be putting on a play, an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. She seems to be enjoying it very much. In addition to getting ready for the performance they do crafts.  It has been a fun extracurricular activity. Hopefully we'll add in some gymnastics or ballet again, soon, too.

It's hard to believe that in just four weeks this girl will be seven years old. Six has been challenging, but then we did go through a big transition. We're all working on listening more and being patient (and by all of us I mean Charles, Emmy, and me).  She is funny, smart and stubborn always keeps us on our toes!