Time's a flyin'!!!!

So I just realized my last blog was the end of August, and considering we've had Emma's birthday and Halloween since then I am definitely behind!

So let's jump right in and see how much I can remember of the last couple months. Well first of all, Dani has still been entertaining us with her "isms"!
Luckily, Jeremy has been noting them down on his phone so we could remember! Here's what he had:
What's a motor mouth?
When I swallow food side to side it hurts my throat.
Baby-throw is my favorite game.
Your exercise ball smells like balls.
That noise scared me and made my mouth waddle like a penguin.
When you get a new shirt at the store that means you can't tuck it in.
Do I need to buy a Monster Energy drink?
I'm getting taller except for my pinky finger.
That shirt has skidmarks all over it.
I like Stu. That's a pretty name.
Let's play chewy cheese checkers.
I love getting pumpkins - my mom calls me a punk.
That noise is making me get blisters in my ears.
Dad you're not a person, you're a boy.
Let's play that board game where you hit really hard. You hold the board and I chop it. You can't use paper. That's not hard enough. I need a board.
Boys always have eyelashes to blink.
Don't flick water at my face. It frightens my eyes out.
A slice is when the golf ball curves right. It's like curry. That's not my favorite.

Okay... pause here for those of you that may be about to pee your pants because you were laughing so hard!

Now on to the Birthday! So Emma turned the BIG 8 on October 8th! We partied hard around these parts. For the day of her birthday, Jeremy spent the morning at her school as a WatchDog (Dads/Males who volunteer to spend some or all of the day at the school being an extra set of hands and eyes.) It's pretty fun for the kids' when their dads come and Jeremy loves all the attention the kids give him when he volunteers. Then after lunch I brought cupcakes to Emma's class to celebrate her birthday. THEN after school Emma got an extra surprise from Grandma Linda who had just flown in from San Diego. I picked her up at the airport and we hurried home to make it before school got out. Our timing ended up being perfect for us to pull up next to Emma as she was walking home and then Grandma jumped out of the car to give her a HUGE hug!! I took a "mental picture" (The Office, anyone...?) of that moment! Emma had been a little down before we pulled up, but after the shock and surprise of see Grandma jump from the car and tackle her, Emma had this look of pure joy!! Don't you love family who can do that!!!? Anyway, we had a great birthday afternoon and finished the evening off at our favorite barbeque joint, Rudy's! They have the best Texas barbeque hands down!!
The next day, Friday, Grandma and I spent the day preparing for Emma's SpongeBob birthday party on Saturday. We most of the day shopping, baking cookies and frosting the SpongeBob cake.
Saturday morning was a bit chilly and overcast, but we braved the weather for family pictures with our favorite photographer. Grandma got some great shots of us and the Checketts family. They're included in the slideshow on the right with the pics from the birthday and Halloween.
Then we hurried back to get ready for the party. Emma's friends: Braeden, Brooke, Berkeley, Lennon, Camilla, Julia and Bailey all came. We had fun doing Mr. Krabs' treasure hunt (put on by Natalie), decorating Patrick Star sugar cookies, Jellyfishing (a modified version of pin-the-tail) and a SpongeBob pinata. We all had Krabby Patties for dinner and of course SpongeBob cake for dessert. Emma's friends were very generous with their gifts. She got clothes, gift cards and craft kits. Her Grandma Susan also gave her a sterling silver charm bracelet which she'll get new charms for on her birthdays.
Sunday was birthday dinner at Grandma Susan's. Yummy stew, more cake and more gifts!! Grandma Linda was able to stay until Monday and we spent the day off of school spending Emma's gift cards at Target and Old Navy.
I'd say Emma knows how to party when it comes to birthdays! I hope this one lives long in her memory.

For Halloween Natalie suggested that we all go as M&M's. It turned out to be a great idea because it was easy, cheap and cute! We bought colored t-shirts at Hobby Lobby and then put big white M's on our chests made out of contact paper. Natalie was yellow, Emma blue, Dani purple, Jeremy red and me Green (yes, I do know what they say about the green ones!) The shirts worked awesome for the multiple parties and activities we had. Natalie and Emma wore theirs to Activity Days, two ward parties (yeah we crashed Walsh Ranch's), our block party and of course, trick-or-treating. Jer and I looked "cute" when we went to a couples Halloween party. And Dani, well we got her to wear her shirt to most of the activities, but she'd had enough of being the purple M&M by Halloween and at the last minute decide to go as a witch. She just dug the witch costume from the dress-ups and headed out to trick-or-treat. She's already informed that she'll be an M&M next year - sigh, whatever!

Hopefully, I'm pretty much caught up on the big events now. But more are a comin'! Emma's baptism is this Saturday and we're heading to Phoenix on the 20th to cheer Aunt Jen on in her 2nd Ironman race! Hopefully, I'll get those blogged before Christmas!!!