Smeagol & Rabie Baby, a Picture by Emma

Emma made this picture today, and I was laughing so hard I had to share. It says "I think that Smeagol is the most handsome boy EEEEEEVER...." If you are uninitiated, Smeagol is Gollum's Hobbit name from "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy...and if you are uninitiated in Emma-speak, Rabie Baby is a character Emma made up for the eponymous game she plays with Julia and Ben. I personally love how they are kissing, and how Shelob (the spider from the LOTR books!) has a bow in her hair and is acting the part of the minister for their wedding: "You may kiss the bride."

This kid is a riot!

Emma lost her tooth! + Another note to the Tooth Fairy

Yesterday morning, Emma lost her first tooth, much to my parents' dismay, I'm sure. She was very excited and promptly put it under her pillow in hopes that the Tooth Fairy would pay her a visit while she was sleeping.

Well, the Tooth Fairy was a bit lazy and didn't actually collect the tooth until after Emma had gotten out of bed. (oops!) But she did receive a dollar, so all is well....Or so we thought.

Then, Emma presented us with a picture she had drawn, and we were dumbfounded to tell the truth. Here it is:



In case you couldn't read it, she wrote: "Dear Tooth Fairy, I don't want money! I want my tooth!!!!! Thank you!" Complete with smiley faces and hearts. At the bottom, she illustrated a beautiful fairy, and her pet dog and cat.

Well, I explained to her that after the Tooth Fairy takes your tooth, you usually can't get it back. She was a little sad at this, but sprung right back into her typical cheerful mood when I reminded her that she still has plenty of teeth to lose, and next time she can keep the tooth if she likes.

A photo coming soon of Emma with the space in her teeth. (:

-Rachel

Emma's Note to the Tooth Fairy

Emma got a loose tooth a week or so ago. Can I just say I was completely unprepared for this milestone? Ben hasn't been losing teeth for very long, so I was going along, thinking that it would be another year before Emma began. She is so excited--understandably, since she has been watching the tooth fairy in action her entire life! She has been longing for a fairy visit, so now she is wiggling that tooth incessantly, wondering when it will come out. Of course, she had to write a letter to express herself:



For those uninitiated in phonetic spelling, it says: "Dear Tooth Fairy: Please collect my tooth. It is loose. I can wiggle it. Thank you." I love the smiley faces and the hearts--they really show how happy and excited she is. She didn't bother to sign it, but of course, fairies know everything, don't they?

Lake Finback Dragon, by Julia

Julia's art lesson today had her drawing along with a DVD. The lesson was on drawing from imagination, and the example was a dragon. Now, if I were taking this lesson, my dragon would be a pathetic cartoonish rendering...but not only is Julia a superior artist to me, dragons have lately become one of her favorite things to draw. While she did go along with the DVD and copy the example dragon, she really shone when she did the assignment to draw her own dragon from imagination. Her dragon is called the lake finback dragon, and he lives underwater and breathes bubbles instead of fire. Perfect! I love the way she did this so I thought I'd share.

Forest Friends, a Picture by Emma

I love the fact that my five year old draws better than I ever have!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

by Emma, 5 years old. Not quite sure what Pokemon has to do with St. Patrick, but somehow it does in her mind. I got the whole lecture about Charmander evolving into Charmillion and Charzard...but I never retain it. Just thought I'd share!

Ben takes fencing classes

He loves them! And he is so focused and determined...








Right now, it's only foil fencing. But who knows, maybe he'll move on to epee or saber one day, if he works hard and stays interested.

Vegetarian Chili

Add: beans and tomatoes,



Chili peppers,



Truffle oil,



Various spices like paprika and cumin,



Hominy (if you like it).



Chop up the peppers and some mushrooms, carrots, and onion,



Saute it a little,



Add the beans,



Stir in the tomatoes slowly at first,



Then a little faster.



Simmer over a medium flame for a long as you like, until the chili is warmed through. Enjoy!

Potato Chips

They were yummy!

Green, A Poem by Emma

Last year Julia and Ben did a writing/art assignment where they painted monochromatic abstract designs on large paper, then wrote a poem about the color they'd chosen. I liked them so much I have them hanging in my room, and this morning Emma was cuddling in bed with me and happened to focus on Ben's. She read it aloud to me, then announced that she wanted to make one of her own. She was at first disappointed because Julia had chosen blue and Ben had used red, but then brightened up and said, "That's okay, green in my third favorite color, so I'll just do that."

She had the table set up for painting before I'd even gotten out of bed, and immediately wrote "Green" across the top of the paper, then began making leaves growing from each letter. My heart sank a bit--I thought she'd probably end up thinking hers was not as good as her siblings', especially since she's never written her own poem before. I thought this might end in disaster, and I hadn't even had my coffee yet. I philosophically decided that no matter how well she did, it would be a learning experience in one way or another, and went about my business of the morning while she worked.

She did ask Julia for help in spelling a couple of words, but she made up the entire poem herself. And I have to say I am so proud of her! I think my sweet pea did a wonderful job. I took a photo because I wanted the entire piece of art to be visible, not only her words. Enjoy!

(In case it's hard to read, the words are as follows:)

Green

Green is the color of
the leaves on the trees
And the grass and the
frogs and the moss
And plants and peas
and green beans
But green is
the best
of all
of them.

By Emma 5 years old 2/4/10