English Emma Blooms

 January 30 was a great MOPS night out. Our speakers, Marianne and Andy Miller, were both insightful and hilarious. The food was delicious and it was fun to have some testosterone in our MOPS room!

by them at: http://loveemmaxxx.etsy.com

Thanks to everyone who helped me pick a name for my etsy store. I decided on my signature. A couple of people recommended it. It was not my first choice but the other ones were already taken! Here is the link: http://loveemmaxxx.etsy.com

Joel makes sure he is not over scheduled. Joel informed me that he no longer wants to take gymnastics because he wants to spend more time playing at home. He does, however, want to keep on doing soccer. He is merely scheduled Here are some of his golden playing moments: He loves jigsaw puzzles as long as he has a cheering squad to help him through Lego is an obsession Joel and I share!   Solomon is the site manager and Jeremiah is the Construction Inspector (he sees how easily it will break down)   Mostly we build bat caves or justice league headquarters

After school today, Joel, Jill, Mira and I went to Brother for lunch to watch the inauguration on the boy entrancers. We thought it would be easier to watch it on the TV at a restaurant where Jil and Mira would be occupied with dipping their friends and talking to each other, than it would be at home. I don't know if we were right, but we did get to watch the inauguration on the TV there. joel said.. " Hey emma.. Barack Obama is on the TV!" What does inauguration mean? Does it have to do with "gold"? Does it mean to give value or to make golden? I don't know. We did have some golden minutes of silence though. Joel made himself some mustard juice... he put mustard in his water, mixed it together and drank it. He said it was good. At the moment Papa is here. He just finished reading Captain Underpants and the attack of the Killer Toilets. He and Aaron are talking about the book I got Aaron for Christmas To See every book on earth. Aren't we an

Here are the latest cards I made! Joel and I love to do arts and crafts

Solomon is still here. Also, today Joel did not go to time out! Not because he rebelled against it but because he did nothing that deserved a time out! WOW! This is the first time this year... Aaron had a three-day weekend because of MLK day. I think that Joel would be pretty happy if Aaron never went back to work again. so, Solomon is doing well... He loves his walks, he plays with his toys, but he can't breathe at night. Apparently, according to Aaron, I get up in the night several times with Solomon. I have a given him a pillow (Solomon) to prop up his head to aid his nighttime breathing. All night I have nightmares that he has died. It seems that the tumor in his nose causes him aggravation and nothing more. Anyway... today, on MLK day, we went to circuit city to their fake sale and then to Trader Joe's for some food. Joel napped, I took Solomon out. I made a delicious soup for dinner. I read about how our meat comes to the table from birth to slaughter... all

Here is the recommended reading list from my disparate group of friends. I have included their comments, if they made any. The winner: 1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (4) 1st runners up: 1. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (3) 2. Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (3) books about the. They’re set in Botswana and are being made into movies on HBO. I think they’re already being shown in England. 3. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (3) 4. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory (3) 5. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (3) 6. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Greggory (3) 7. Three Cups of Tea; One Mans Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (really good!) (3) 8. Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang One of the all time favorite books my Book Club liked was its nonfiction and tells the story of three generations of women from the grandmother with the bound feet to the moth

Today I am a pirate and Joel is super Joel. He is being surprisingly well behaved for being stuck in the house all day!

Do you make new years resolutions? I gave them up a few years ago as being unspiritual. Some of things I put on the list were just embarrassing… such as read the bible every day… pray every day… How shameful that I was not doing this already! In the last couple of years, I have come back to resolutions with a new attitude. My resolutions might seem frivolous but I believe that the silly things are important to God because all things are important to Him. How did I change my idea of resolutions? Through having a son. I love Joel and I think that everything about him is wonderful and important. If he were to make new years resolutions I would want them to be: Always ask mommy’s permission, always obey mommy without complaining, and stop throwing things at mommy. Don’t tell mommy I don’t love her. Joel is amazing, but at four, he is not about to write this list. However, if he did write a list, whatever it included, I would think was wonderful and charming, intelligent and amazin

Joel and I left the house as cowboys today in our matching black hats.

Aaron is on the living room floor covered in pillows and beanbags. On top of the pile is Joel. In this position, Aaron can happily watch the football game at the same time as playing. Speaking of playing... we just has our first game night of the year.... Candy land. It was the first time I had played and I won! When Uncle Greg was here, we played the games that he and Grandma gave us for Christmas and I won Operation and Snakes and Ladders! Actually, there was not clear winner of Operation. This weekend we sat down to discuss our plans for the year. These plans include preventing the house falling down and going to England. Where will we find the money for it? I don't know! as well as working more hours, Aaron will have to sell his plasma too. I can't sell mine because they won't let me. Joel is too young. Solomon is still with us. We went for a good walk today.

I changed the blog name because it is really an exercise in positivity and looking at the bright side.  Perhaps I should have a dueling blog called "Tell me something bad" where I mitch and boan about everything. I read somewhere that complaining in a journal actually makes people more depressed while keeping a thankfulness journal makes people happier.* So... this can be my thankfulness journal. I picked the name "Tell me Something Good" because that is what my brother Colin says on his answering machine. I talk to Colin's answering machine about 10-20 times as often as I talk to Colin himself.  He is 16 , so that is his excuse. Even if you are only 16 you still have an effect on the world... * I do think, however, that happy people are more likely to keep a thankfulnes journal to begin with and depressed people are more likely to complain.

I think the date is January 9.  I will find out if I am right. I have had a sore throat all year!   ON new Year's Eve the Case family came over and that is the last time I remember feeling okay.  I have sores in my mouth and the dentist says I have to have my wisdom teeth removed and 5 fillings.  He asked me if I drink sugary drinks all day and I said I was English. He was quite strict and said that it was no excuse for having teeth like mine! Aaron is putting Joel to bed. I hear happy noises.   I hope that the noises stop and he gets a good long night of sleep and I can hang out with my man. The house is surprisingly clean.   Last year was the year to try and keep the kitchen clean and this year I am adding the coffee room.  If I add a room a year to my clean room list.. in ten years the whole house might be clean every day! How miserable will my life be though if I am always cleaning the house?  I will have to get a lot of books on CD for my ipod to keep me doing it. Anyway, that

It is not a very intellectual list, but here it is! "...Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers" (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson) by Louise Rennison  21 Steps To Happiness (Red Dress Ink) by F. G. Gerson  A Girl's Best Friend by Elizabeth Young  A Hollywood Ending by Robyn Sisman  A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father by Augusten Burroughs  American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh  Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (rack): Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, by Louise Rennison  Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler  Away Laughing on a Fast Camel : Even More Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson) by Louise Rennison  Babyface (Red Dress Ink) by Fiona Gibson  Being Written: A Novel (P.S.) by William Conescu  Bless Your Heart, Tramp: And Other Southern Endearments by Celia Rivenbark  Boo! Made You Jump! (Charlie and Lola) by Lauren Child  Bookends: A Novel,by Jane Green  BORAT: Touristi

We celebrated with Jen, Jerry, Jordan and Ian Case.  Everyone was very relaxed and the kids had too much fun!