Noni's Emma Report - Saturday
Hi Mommy and Daddy,

I hope you had a good day today and lots and lots of people came to see you and spent lots of money in the store. I missed you today, but I had a good day.

Noni got me out of bed at 8:08. That was a long night's sleep from 7:15 last night. I was really tired. I told Noni I was.

Noni and I played and looked at books until Popi got up, the sleepy head, and then we had a nice breakfast. I had another dinner with my little people friends this morning, but this time they ate on top of the tower. They needed another place to eat. Noni sent a picture I think.

Noni cooked a really good breakfast, but I only wanted the bacon. She kept telling me I needed to eat my eggs or my muffin, but the bacon was so good that's all I wanted. She said I was just like my daddy. That's a good thing, I'm sure!!!

I found the neatest book in Noni's rec room. It was an "Emma Book". A book all about me, Mommy and Daddy. I was so surprised to see all the pictures of me. I looked at it over and over and over again. Noni asked me to be careful with it because it was a special book for she and Popi and she didn't want anything to happen to it.

We went outside while Popi worked in his garden. I asked Noni to put the swing up under their deck and she did and she pushed me on the swing for a long time. I really enjoyed that. I watched Popi work in the garden while I was swinging. After a little while we went to Grandmommy's place to have lunch. I don't think this would make you too happy, Mommy and Daddy, because it didn't make Noni very happy, but all I ate was chips and crackers. Popi said I had a grilled cheese sandwich, but it didn't look like the sandwiches I'm use to so I didn't eat it. I conned them into letting me have a chocolate chip cookie too.

I took a nice long nap this afternoon, from 2 to 4:30. Noni said that was a good, good nap. I played in the rec room with Noni while she watched a basketball game. She kept cheering for a team she called the "Hokies" and "Tech". Daddy, haven't I heard you say those names a lot? She gave me some more of those great strawberries to eat too! A good snack- yum-yum! Popi was working in his garden again but this time he was burning something in a big barrel. Noni asked me if I wanted to go see what Popi was doing, but I said "no". I didn't want to get close to it.

Noni was laughing at me again today. I went over to Popi's desk and stood on the chair and asked her to play the fish, a bunch of times. Then I looked at the desk and said: "What do you want, Noni?" She looked at me real funny. I asked her again and then she knew what I was up to. I was hoping she'd say she wanted some of the candy on the desk and then maybe I could have a piece. She got it and then I got some! It worked, Mommy and Daddy - whoopee.

Noni said she was going to have something she knew I liked for supper, so she ordered PIZZA. She was right. I was ready to get in my seat for supper. I kept eating pizza and saying "yum- yum". Noni and Popi seemed happy. I ate a whole piece and was working on the second one when I got too much in my mouth and almost choked. It scared me a little and I was finished with supper right then. I didn't want any more.

Noni gave me my bath not long after supper and then let me play for a little while before she put me to bed. I had a good day today, Mommy and Daddy, and Noni and Popi said we'll be seeing you tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I love you both bunches and bunches!.

Sleep tight, Mommy and Daddy.
Your little Sweetie Pie!






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Friday, March 09, 2007
My favorite photo of the day
Noni named it the "Dinner Host."

Noni's Emma Report - Friday
Hi Mommy and Daddy,

Popi and I had a really nice ride home last night. We talked and we sang and I just rode along quietly for a while. I think Popi thought I had gone to sleep because he turned the light on to see if I was awake. He worked very hard teaching me a new song: "Jesus Loves Me". I got some of the words and I tried. We'll work on it some more.

Noni was so happy to see us when we arrived. After we unloaded the truck, I got down to some serious playing before I had to take my bath. I was in such a good mood, Mommy and Daddy, because Noni kept telling me I was. I had a fun bath with Noni and then Popi did my hair after I put my pajamas on. You'll see the results in the pictures Noni is sending.

This morning I was calling your name at 6:35AM. I think Noni was a little surprised at how early I was awake, especially since I was up a little later last night. After I got up I went downstairs and helped Popi finish his workout. He had these great big hand weights he was lifting and I was lifting my little pink ones. That was hard work!!!

I played while Popi was getting dressed for work. The little people that you played with when you were my age are my favorites. I set a really nice table for the little people and had them all arranged in their chairs. Noni took a picture of it, she thought it was so cute. When Popi was all dressed to go to work, I sat at the counter and had some breakfast alongside him. He ate this "little" bowl of cereal and Noni gave me grapes, cereal and a piece of toast with butter. I did a good job, but I didn't eat it all. Noni and I sent Popi off to work with a big family hug and kisses from both of us.

Noni let me watch a "Dora" show while she did her hair and got dressed. Then I got all dressed and we were ready to go shopping when Noni realized Popi had my car seat in his truck and we couldn't go. She called him to let him know and while we waited we played on the rec room floor and she brought out this neat NASCAR hauler with a little car inside and the whole thing lights up. I really liked playing with it. I also watched most of the movie "A Land Before Time" with lots of dinosaurs. Good movie!! Oh, and Mommy, Noni climbed this ladder into the top of her house and when she came down she was carrying a baby carriage. She said it was one you played with when you were a little girl. She cleaned it all up, but she said it was so old and was pretty brittle and she didn't know if I would get to play with it or not. She'll ask Popi and then decide. It was a neat stroller though.

Noni was laughing at some of the things I said to her. She acted surprised to hear me say some of the things I did. She was funny!!

We had lunch at McDonald's with Popi and then I fell asleep in the car. Noni came home and put me in bed but I was too awake and never did really take a good nap. I slept maybe 30-45 minutes. She let me lay in bed for a while so I could rest. When I got up we went grocery shopping and then home to wait for Popi.

While Noni was fixing supper I was drawing on some paper on the coffee table. I dropped my crayon and when I bent down to pick it up I hit my head hard on the top edge of the table. I cried really hard and Popi was so nice trying to make me feel better - and Noni too! That kind of took it out of me for the day though. We sat down to eat supper and I wasn't much interested in the spaghetti, but Noni had this really soft nice french bread with a crispy thin crust and I loved it!! I ate several Emma sized pieces and she got strawberries too. I really,l really liked them, so I ate about 7 or 8.

After supper I was really, really tired so Noni bathed me, Popi did my hair again and I was in bed by 7:15PM. I asked to go to bed, Mommy and Daddy, because I was really, really tired. I think I played hard and maybe didn't take as good a nap as I should.

I miss you both, but Noni and Popi are taking good care of me. We're laughing and having a great time!! Noni said she would send some pictures from today so you wouldn't miss me quite so much. I hope it helps.

I love you, Mommy and Daddy and I'm sure Noni will bring you up to date on our day tomorrow too. I'll see you on Sunday.

I love you very, very much. Hugs and big kisses!!!
Emma





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A blast from my past
I haven't seen this in well over thirty years. I can remember pushing it around in the fields back behind our "new" house in the summertime. I don't even remember if I had a baby in it. Pretty stylish, eh?

Thursday, March 08, 2007
Sometimes things do go my way...
The cross has been restored to the Wren Chapel.

For context click here and here.
Library again
I took Emma to the library today to kill some time while waiting for Popi to finish work. He is taking her home tonight to spend the weekend with them. M and I will be working in the store Saturday and Sunday for the festival. Anyhoo...

Playing on the play structure...


Here she is climbing up on the stool


Sitting at the computer like a big girl...


Doing exactly what got her butt removed from that seat.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007
New toys!
We've finally gotten around to spending some of our gift certificates we've collected for a while.

First of all, (Thanks in part to Aunt Patty), we've gotten a new DVD/VCR Recorder. We are loving it. We're finally able to take all those episodes of Emma's favorite shows that we've saved on DVR and burn them to disc. That frees up the hard drive so we can collect more episodes. Bear in mind, Emma doesn't give a hoot about seeing new episodes. It's us. Once you've seen the same episode of either Mickey Mouse Club, Little Einsteins, Dora the Explorer, or Blues Clues 15-20 times you'd do anything to see something new.

Next I used some of my Christmas bonus to get this. It's a DLO Homedock. We use it to connect my video iPod to our stereo system and television. M wanted it so he could blast his Nano in the house when we're gone. I wanted it for the video feature. Now I can order episodes of Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues, and Little Einsteins on iTunes for $1.99 each and Emma can watch them on TV. That's cheaper than buying the Disney DVD's, by a long shot. I can also watch the 80's videos I've been collecting. We're pretty psyched with this new toy.

Finally, I'm using my birthday gift certificate (Thanks again Aunt Patty, in case you wondered whether gift certificates are a good choice ;) to buy the latest upgrade of Paint Shop Pro. I've needed to do this for years. I'm pretty fond of my Paint Shop Pro 6, but for photo editing it lacks one essential thing, red eye correction. I have to use a different program to correct red eye. This new upgrade looks like it will be awesome for photo editing. I may not have a super camera, but maybe I can make up for it with this program.
Monday, March 05, 2007
So what ever happened with Dell?
Well, I think we've tackled the problems at hand and come to a satisfactory resolution. First of all, nothing really changed where Noni was concerned. She still doesn't have any plans to buy from them again, that I'm aware of.

Brad, from the Resolution Expert Center kept in touch with me doggedly until my problem was resolved. There are over twelve emails from him in my Gmail box, and I know I had already deleted some. The resolution ended up with me having to resend information that I was hoping to avoid, but in the end all my information is now combined on one usable business account instead of spread out over two useless ones. Plus, they gave my business a $100 credit for the hassle I had been through in trying to resolve the issue over the phone the first time. An atom in the bucket to Dell, but I took it as a good faith gesture. Although, it did make me feel a little dirty when they first offered the money. Obviously I got over it.

The unavoidable fact was that I was going to be ordering from Dell again, regardless of past issues. The fact that they have someone who tried to smooth the vendor/consumer relationship and make it a more palatable prospect shows me that they are getting the message that their customers have noticed the decline in their customer service and that they needed to win us back.

UPDATE: If you're not sure what I'm talking about you can see my initial fit of pique here. Follow-ups are here and here.
Follow the Leader
They did a circuit around the downstairs more than fifteen times.


Sunday, March 04, 2007
Fun With Hair Day!
Emma actually asked for these to be put in her hair. We kept going until she ran out of hair.




I had to participate too.

I think Emma's ready for Spring
Although I do think she's forcing it a bit...