in the year of the porsche

^^^kids playing games, including a little Porsche racing game. many thanks to Kendal and her camp counsellor skills

Over the past year since the Ferrari cake from Emory's 3rd birthday, the boy has become completely in love/ unhealthily obsessed with/ incredibly acknowledgeable about Porsches. Naturally, when we asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday this year, he expressed his main concerns about Porsches being the garnish. And somehow out of that, we made up a few simple games that turned the entire thing into a Porsche-themed party. Needless to say, Emory went around talking about it for weeks prior, and had a huge smile on his face for the entire party. We let him have his first "friend" party this year, (he got to invite 4 friends, since he turned 4) and held a no-presents-allowed policy, knowing we would get together with family on his actual birthday. However, we couldn't resist and let him open his first gift from us the morning of the Porsche party so he could represent his favorite car with his new shirt. 

^^^pin the parts on the Porsche- thank goodness I have an artistic husband

^^^some attendees brought parents and siblings. fun!

^^^ice cream making: messy and cold, but I think the kids liked it mostly for the novelty and the bowls of toppings

^^^I couldn't resist this adorable sequence of Emory faces, leading up to the chocolate goatee

^^^Porsche wheel pinata: a total hit, thanks to my homemade paper mache knowledge and Jon's painting ingenuity, the whole project cost less than $5 

^^^lastly, Emory and his adorable friend, Eve, who brought him a present, and then they hugged. Eve is much more outgoing than Emory- priceless moment.

Hayley came down from Canada for the weekend too- what a treat! We love Hayley and her spontaneous trip-taking ability, and she was such a good sport about playing with kids. 

PS don't get me started on blogger and it's atrocious formatting these days. This post would look way better, but I've spent far too long fighting a losing battle and I quit.

first sentence

Emory made Jon (and me, of course), more than beam with pride yesterday when he busted out his first sentence. You see, the little man really doesn't talk much, and when he does, his words are usually abbreviated ("daa" for dad, "ber" sometimes "ber-bah" for Amber, "deh" for dog, "duh" for done, "buh" for book, and "beh" for just about everything else); you get the idea. So imagine my surprise yesterday as I was trying to keep Emory's cranky self happy while we spent time at the dealership when he came up with this: "gcaaah go bdzommm." Translation: car go zoom. I had been trying to get him to say "car" instead of "beh" and he took it to the next level, above and beyond my imagination. That's right, our little boy said his first words at our car dealership while playing with his Maserati quattroporte and Porsche 911 (996). He has since repeated the sentence a couple times, just so I know it was real. Jon couldn't be more thrilled with his child. During proud moments of being a mother, I forget all about the woes of toddlerhood. (More on that subject later).

emory at grand prix motors

The little man loves being at the dealership. But what's not to love? He finds chairs to push around open spaces, windows down at his level, cars whizzing past on Old Memorial Highway, a ball to chase around, and best of all, he gets to work with his dad. Jon is the greatest thing Emory has ever known. He wants to do everything like his dad, and it's a good thing, since as soon as he can, he'll be helping us make cars beautiful and ready for photo shoots. It's also a good thing he loves going to the dealership since we'll be spending ample amounts of time up there.

that's a little better

And, I don't have to disown my husband. Good thing, because I do love him. Today's song of the day: "Little of Your Time" by Maroon 5. Though I'll try to get him to draw from the song bank with tamer lyrics for tomorrow.

Something that's taking our time lately: Grand Prix Motors, LLC.

mais, oui!

For the past several years (probably since high school with the exception of our first Halloween married), I haven't really gotten into Halloween at all. But it's so much more fun with a kid. I got an idea and had a vision of Emory as a little Frenchman, and since having 3 to coordinate is even better than fussing only over the little man, you'd better believe we all dressed alike. We rocked the trunk-or-treat.

I might be pretty proud of the berets Jon and Emory wore... I couldn't find a reasonable crochet pattern so I made up my own, without having ever crocheted in the round before. And miraculously, Emory's fit perfectly, even though he was asleep when I made it.

We got really into things this year and had the perfect set up for our trunk, complete with a wire Eiffel Tower and a French music CD to play over the stereo. And then the people in charge decided that it's not okay to trick-or-treat in the rain (more like next-to-nothing sprinkle) and moved things inside. (I guess most people didn't grow up in Seattle area). We took what decorations we could inside.

Things got really crowded and loud and hot, but as long as Emory kept one piece of candy in his hand, he survived.

Oh, and his friend Abe was a redheaded Elvis. Hilarious.

Then on actual Halloween, with Emory as the only one in costume, we took photos outside. Including some in the Mercedes since his outfit matched the car.