Corn Fed Country Girl

Summertime has certainly arrived because corn on the cob has been appearing on our dinner table a lot lately. Emily loves it! It is hilarious to see her chowing down on an ear of corn. She is very efficient and generally doesn't leave much behind. Aunt Amy caught these cute pictures of her pigging out at the Farr White tonight and we blogged them once Donald and I got home from school tonight. Hope you are all enjoying some good summer food during these warm days! Yum!
Maybe this angle will be better....
I love how thoughtful she looks in this one. She's thinking hard.

A BIG big girl bed!

Emily has been having some trouble sleeping through the night lately, which really stresses Mommy and Daddy. She's always been such a good sleeper (and Mommy and Daddy have started to need lots of sleep in their advanced age) that when she doesn't sleep soundly through the night, we are really out of sorts. We've decided that it's because she's getting too big for her toddler bed. Although she technically still fits, she's always got an arm or a leg hanging off the side when we go in to check on her, which seems pretty uncomfortable. So, Papa decided to create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece; he designed and built her a real big girl bed. He's already made a day bed for Abby and Emily needed a matching one, although hers is the queen-size model. He's been working for months to get it just right and we finally set it up last night. She asked specifically for purple sheets, which we managed to find, and we covered the bed with a beautiful chenille bedspread that belonged to Donald's Grandmother White. Very vintage, which I love! Add in a whole menagerie of stuffed animals and she was ready for a sleepover. She was so excited to see her new big girl bed and we got some very cute pictures to share with you. She at first thought that the sleep fairy brought it but then we reminded her about Papa working on it for so long. Don't laugh about the sleep fairy - those of you with a sleepless toddler should give it a try! Wishing you long sleep-filled nights from the White House!

So much room!

She's been practicing giving the thumbs-up sign.

Posing with Papa

I love this one - her hair looks so red and you can see every little curl!

Fabulastic

I got this shot of Emily tonight at Mmi and Papa's house while she and Abby were reading books together. I love it - her shades are an exact copy of mine, just in pink. And she's wearing them upside down! I think this picture is the definition of fabulosity!

My Sweet Girls

Emily and I were visiting with Mimi and Papa this evening and I managed to snap this sweet picture of them watching TV together. Mimi and I were upstairs looking at everyone's blogs and when we came downstairs to check on the girls (they had been quiet for a while, which is generally a dangerous situation) we found them cuddled up together under a blanket. So sweet!

Chuck E. Cheese!

In a fit of temporary insanity, Amy and I took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese today. We've discovered the secret to a successful visit - bring lots of coupons and get there before 3:00. Hardly anyone was there and the girls could run around and play without lots of confusion, plus we didn't end up spending a fortune. They had a great time shooting hoops, riding roller coasters, and playing ski ball. Abby was the big ticket winner of the day and came home with a great lunchbox and hot pink hair extension. Mim's going to love that when she gets back from her trip! Emily won a new ball and a sucker, which she considered the greatest prize she's gotten in a while. It will be a shame when she stops being satisfied with simple things like suckers! All in all, we had a great time and got lots of great pictures. I couldn't pick, so I decided to post them all. See you soon!

Random Pics

We've taken a bunch of cute pictures lately that I wanted to post and share. They don't necessarily have a theme but I just thought they were too fun not to put out for you all to see. Emily and I are at home together today and I'm taking a second to blog while she tears apart the toy basket (which I just put back together, by the way!). Hope you enjoy this peek into The White House!Having some strawberry shortcake with the Andersons over Spring Break. Notice the pink makeup on her cheek? She and Rachel played beauty shop all evening!
"Helping" Mimi by ironing blankets with the new iron Papa made her to go with her washing machine. Who knew that toy irons were so hard to find? We looked all over with no results so Papa finally made us one.
Chilling out at her new favorite place, the Kiddie Castle Park.
She's learned to dangle, which scares me to death!
I'm so glad that Emily loves to read! We've been reading The Kissing Hand for a few days. She loves to hear about Chester the raccoon going to school and giving kisses to his raccoon Mommy.

Hat Hair

Emily had fun this afternoon playing around with a cowboy hat that I wore to work yesterday. I am part of the Relay for Life team and we've been doing fundraisers all year long; this week is a dress-up week and yesterday was hat day. You all know I love a hat and apparently my daughter is cut from the same cloth. She wore this hat around all afternoon and then insisted on wearing it over to Mimi and Papa's house to deliver their anniversary gift. These pictures were too cute not to share, especially the last one. It shows the bad hat hair that curly-headed girls can get after wearing a hat for too long! And by the way, those are five of my elastic headbands that she's wearing around her neck like necklaces. Again, she wore them all afternoon and it was really difficult to convince her that sleeping in them was not a good idea. Two-year-olds!

Emily's Library Visit

Due to some childcare issues (Mimi had the stomach flu), Emily got to spend part of the day with me at school on the Friday before Spring Break. She visited with me for an hour in the morning while Donald got his students started on their lab at Northgate; then he picked her up and she spent the day with him at home before returning to me for the last hour of the day while he went on to a meeting at another school. Busy, busy! Emily loved coming to story hour with the "grown-up boys and girls," as she calls them. She got to meet the second graders' turtle and had lots of fun playing lilypad with our floor cushions. And of course, our giant Curious George is always a favorite. All in all, a pretty fun day!

Specs

We love Wikki Stix! Emily loves to eat at Zaxby's and demands her Wikki Stix as soon as the meal arrives. We snapped this picture this week of her wearing a Wikki Stix creation at Mimi and Papa's house. She loves to go around wearing her Wikki-glasses. Given her genetics, it's probably good that she's comfortable in glasses!

A Visit to the Park

Donald, Emily, and I spent the morning at Carl Miller Park in Newnan with our good friend Amy Blount. We had a picnic lunch and spent a few hours playing in the spectacular castle playground. Emily had so much fun climbing, running, and jumping! She wore herself out and fell asleep in the car about five minutes after we left. I think we're going to make this a weekly excursion because we all enjoyed ourselves so much. The weather was wonderful - cool and overcast - just enough to make me forget to put on sunblock. I have a great neckline sunburn this afternoon! Luckily, Emily stayed under the castle canopies enough that she doesn't seem to have gotten any sun. Hope you enjoy these pictures of our outing!

Mommy's Helper

Emily and I took some things to the Red Door Consignment Store in Tyrone today and she fell in love with this washing machine/dryer combo. I broke a cardinal rule - I brought home stuff instead of just dropping stuff off, but she loved it so much at the store that I had to buy it for her! She has spent the afternoon loading up the washer and dryer just like Mommy does with our new "wash-ash-asheen." We love the way she says it! I can justify buying this for her because it's a front loader and therefore eco-friendly. She's been loading it up with money, clothes, jewelry she's nabbed from the dresser - basically anything she can grab and run off with. At any rate, she's busy washing, drying, and ironing while Mommy and Daddy finish up our research papers. The end of the semester is here and everything seems to be due all at once! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Craft Mania

In a fit of craftiness, Mom and I had a marathon hairbow making session this Sunday. We've been making hairbows for the girls for a while and love to dress them in outfits with matching bows. Today we had a free afternoon (Donald's away on a trip for the weekend and the girls were playing in the basement) plus several spools of new ribbon and before we realized it, we had made 30 bows! Some blood was shed along the way - literally - and we each have several new hot glue gun blisters. Overall, the afternoon was a success. Abby and Emily should have bows to match all of their spring and summer outfits. If not, we'll have to pull out the glue gun again and bedazzle some more. Have a great Spring Break!What a mess! Who knew that two people could accumulate so much ribbon?
Our finished products - ALL of them!Our favorite creation - Each girl got one.
Pink and brown for Abby

My favorites in turquoise for Emily - too bad I always have to make two for her! Twice as many glue gun blisters!

Singing and Dancing

Emily seems to be learning a new trick or phrase every day. She's gotten really good at singing and loves all the Backyardigans songs (which I secretly play and sing along with - even when she's not in the car!). I captured her on tape singing a new song the other day and wanted to share it with you. She learned this at Mimi and Papa's house and likes to sing and dance around for us at night before going to bed. Have a great week!

Happy Easter!

Emily had a great Easter this year. We were very busy all weekend and had something to do every day. On Saturday morning, she hunted eggs in Palmetto and had a great time playing on the playground at the park. On Saturday afternoon, we went to lunch with the Whites at Long Horn. Emily entertained everyone in the restaurant by offering them candy from her Easter basket. Aunt Betty also kept us entertained by posing in her St. Patrick's Day crown. Then on Sunday we attended church with my family and had lunch at Nanny's house afterward. Emily was able to stay in church for the entire service - no small feat for a two-year-old who ate chocolate bunnies for breakfast! She also got invited to hunt eggs with my parents' neighbors, the Winkles, in the evening. She and Abby made quite a haul. We actually had to hide the candy away because she had eaten so much of it! Speaking of eating, T.C. had an unfortunate run-in with some plastic Easter grass which he almost immediately regretted. Emily ran upstairs to find Donald and told him that I was downstairs cleaning up a "big stinking mess that T.C. made." All in all, we had a great weekend filled with fun and friends, chocolate and Easter grass. Hope you enjoy these pictures of our Easter weekend!

Happy Birthday!

Donald celebrated his 33rd birthday this Friday! We went out last Saturday to Andre's in Newnan, one of our favorite restaurants, with our friends Rhonda and Adrian; however, I wanted to try to surprise him because he is always so good at planning surprises for me. I think I managed to pull it off! I arranged for our babysitter to come over at 6:00 (she lives next door - it's a quick walk!) and drove him down to the square in Newnan to La Fiesta where we met a group of our best friends for dinner. We had a great time hanging out with friends for a couple of hours and I enjoyed knowing that I put something together without him guessing it first. Emily has been very excited about his birthday and reminds us often that her birthday is coming in "about two minutes." Really, it seems that way. She'll be three in August! Hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend! Enjoy the picture of Senor Donaldo!

Winter Break at The White House

We had a great winter break at The White House. Donald and I enjoyed spending extra time with Emily; it's going to be difficult to head back to work tomorrow! I love to sleep a little later with her snuggled up beside me and it's been a treat to give her a bath every morning and dress her in something fun - always with a matching hair bow! I put together this slide show to give you an idea of what we did together this week. Though we didn't stray far from home, we did lots of great things each day and spent time with family and friends. Hope your winter break (if you had one) was restful!

Emily's Day at the Park

We took advantage of the lovely weather today to take Emily to the neighborhood park. She had a blast on the slide, "fishing" in the creek, throwing stones in the water, digging in the dirt, and generally having fun in the sun. You can tell from the pictures that she was not happy to leave; she was, however, pacified by the thought of a sprinkle cookie at the grocery store. We are both thrilled at the thought of an entire week to spend playing with our girl. Enjoy this warm weather and spend some fun time outside!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emily and Abby posed together for this Valentine picture, which we sent out to our friends and family this year. Aren't they sweet? Who would believe that it took about ten takes to get a picture where they weren't making faces or pulling each other's hair? Donald, Emily, and I spent a quiet Valentine's evening together and had a "romantic" dinner at Chick-fil-A in Newnan. Loads of fun! Hope you were with someone you love this Valentine's Day!

Snack Time

I am blessed to live in a household of adventurous eaters. Emily was spooning down the baby spinach while other children her age were flinging it against the wall; Donald and I had wild boar the last time we went out for a big night on the town. Today's snack time was no exception. Emily loves black olives. I think it's part of her White family genetics. Black olives are a staple at all White family gatherings and Emily really enjoys them. They're delicious, plus fun to eat - they make a really satisfying pop when you suck them off the ends of your fingers!

Hope your snack time is this exciting!

Bubbles

Emily has recently learned that turning on the jets in the bathtub makes bathtime exponentially more fun. We had a party this weekend for Mimi's birthday; she and Abby had a great time splashing around before everyone went home. I snapped some cute pictures of the two of them and wanted to share. Just a typical evening at the White House - crazy bubbles, overflowing bathtubs, and soggy towels all over the floor. See you soon!

I love this foggy picture - it's like she's wearing a bubble hat.

Cheese!

Everyone seems to get silly in the bathtub.

Abby kind of looks like Lawrence of Arabia - in bubbles. And check out Emily's corkscrew curl in the middle of her forehead!

Abby gets buried under a mound of bubbles.