Well, now it's time to lock the cabinets and put up the gates, as Emma is into everything!! Emma's on the move!! She started walking on her own about a week and a half ago. It was so funny because for the longest time she would just take a few steps back and forth to Steve and I....then all of a sudden she started walking around the house! Not only would she take a bunch of steps, she'd stop, turn and go another direction. I don't remember the boys learning to walk like that. I think they just went straight for quite awhile before learning how to turn. She loves being able to go. In fact, most of the time, instead of playing with toys, she chooses to wander around checking things out.
Noah celebrated his 10th birthday with his friends on September 7th. We had pizza and cake at our house and then loaded up the gang and took the boys to see Evan Almighty. The movie was really cute and the boys seemed to enjoy it. It is amazing how much easier a 10-year old party is in comparison to a 7-year old party!
In lieu of gifts, Noah asked his friends to donate money to the Fuling Orphanage (where Emma lived). He raised $120 and asked that $60 be used to fund a few months of foster care for a baby and the other $60 be used for other needs at the orphanage.
We asked the boys to wrap their donations creatively so that Noah could still have fun opening gifts. John and his dad scanned a whole bunch of $5.00 bills (and marked them as "copies"), then mixed in some real $5.00 bills and had Noah search for the real ones. Eric made a map to show how to get from his house to our house and attached the donation to the map. Sam and Tom wrapped boxes inside boxes so Noah had to unwrap a whole bunch of boxes to get to the donation.
All in all, it was a fun night for Noah and his friends...and mom and dad, too!
