Her First Big Girl Bath

Anya took her first big girl bath with Emma this week. She absolutely loved it.


Emma kept pouring water on her head and I was going to tell her to stop, but Anya kept laughing. Anya slipped and went under for a second and it didn't phase her in the slightest. Maybe she takes after her mom and will be part fish.

When I was a baby, we were at a swimming party with some family friends. While my mom was talking I crawled into the pool and started to sink. One of the boys that was swimming pushed me out. My mom got me, changed my clothes and put me down to play. The next thing she knew, I was crawling into the pool again. Ever since then, I have lived as much of my life as possible in the water. It is still my favorite thing to do.

My Little Ballerina

Emma has survived her first ballet class and made it through her recital. I thought for sure that she would freeze up in front of all those people, but having her friend Jo in the audience made her excited enough to go on. It was a community center program and if she decides she really wants to do ballet, I think I will try to put her in a program that is a little more involved. Here are pictures of my beautiful girl at her first recital.
I'd like to say that I know what ballet stance this is, but I don't. I was never stretchy enough to be a dancer.

I braided her hair that morning and was very silly to think that it would stay in all day with such an active one as Emma. Some friends came over to hang out that afternoon and they must have thought I was the biggest tyrant because I kept yelling at her to quit messing up her hair. In the end, I just curled the bangs that fell out throughout the day and she looked as beautiful as ever.

Speaking of having her friend Jo in the audience, this video cracks me up because she spends about half of the time waving to her. You'd think she'd be waving to mom and dad, but oh no, we are second best after Jo. I think she missed about 50 % of the actual dancing parts. What a cute little four year old.

Afterward, we gave Liz, Jo and Oliver a ride home. It was hilarious trying to fit all 7 of us in our little tiny Ford Focus with two car seats in the back. This is them squished in the back seat. All in all it was a lot of fun. Thanks for coming to support her Liz!

A Recipe to Make Her Grandmas Proud

Emma and I love to cook together. She will often help me fix dinner or make bread or a dessert for fun. Today is Emma's Kitty's birthday. I asked her what kind of cake she was going to make and she said a strawberry cat cake. I asked her what the recipe was and here is what she said:

"You melt some butter and mix it up.
Then you add more butter to make it yummy and mix that together.
You put in one cup of flour and two, no three cups of sugar.
You stir them all together and mash it with you hands.
Then you bake it. You put on ears and whiskers and then body and the tail and the feet (I found out it is a kitty shaped cake) and put frosting on."

With all that butter and sugar, I think that is going to be one deliciously fattening cake. She must take after her Grandma Chipman and Great Grandma Cheek because they are amazing cooks who make amazingly delicious food. I think they must have passed on the secret of "then you add more butter to make it yummy." Good luck with your cake Emma!