aaron.anica.emily.isabel.claire

We spent Memorial Day weekend at the sand dunes in St. Anthony for about the third year in a row with my family. My whole family was able to go and camp out in my parents motor home and spend our days on the four wheelers out on the sand. My dad found this little three wheeler for Em to ride and it was the perfect size. Her ride was equipped with this flag (it says "DUNE PRINCESS") which you can imagine she was less than thrilled about. Em riding her three-wheeler over a "jump" Aaron had to try it out and make sure it was working properly because we didn't have anyone smaller :) We were going to let Izzy ride with Em on the back of her three-wheeler but we decided she better learn to hold her neck up a little better before she does that :) I think she was pretty content to just take naps in the motorhome, but only because she doesn't know what she's missing out on Em eating remains of my dad's delicious dutch oven cooking Em and I hangin' out...

Emily has recently taken an interest in her appearance when it comes to having leftover food on her face, which I don't mind a bit . . . most of the time. The other day she had used a corndog to sop up the heap of ketchup and mustard on her plate and ended up with a mustard mustache. I mentioned this to her and she headed to the bathroom where she spent a sufficient amount of time making sure it was all cleaned off. I happened to pass by the bathroom and glance in as she was cleaning her face off . . . . . . . . . . with Aaron's TOOTHBRUSH! I asked her why she had Aaron's toothbrush and she said, "Oh I always use Aaron's toothbrush to clean my face." How could I not laugh. Several days later she was getting ready for bed and I had told her to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After a few minutes I went to check on her and she was using her toothbrush all right - to scrub her black, dirty FEET! I asked her emphatically what she was doing and she...

I hope and pray that the words sweet, cute, angel, love, etc. continue to be in Emily's vocabulary as her little sister grows. Emily is an amazing big sister. I don't know where she got her patience as a big sister, but she loves Isabel and is so helpful with her. I don't know what I did when Emily was a baby without a gopher to grab things for me. :) I try not to let my little sister see this because it might make her jealous, especially when she remembers the time I ran over her with my bike or sold her my hand-me-down clothes or listened in on her private phone conversations to later blackmail her. Hopefully Emily doesn't inherit my genes in the big sister department. If all she takes from me is bossiness I think we can handle it, although it is a little annoying for Aaron and I to take parenting advice from a 5-year old. She is continuously reminding us to be careful with Izzy because we're making her cold, uncomfortable, etc. We love her thou gh and ar...