Biking!

Big news - Emily has finally learned how to ride a bike! She rarely practiced and often claimed that she didn't want to learn how to ride. However, this past summer, it hit her that kids much younger than nine able to ride like the wind. That got under her skin so she set her mind to the task. Of course, setting her mind to it and actually practicing proved to be two different things. For a long time it was too hot to attempt biking. Now that the weather has improved, there has been more opportunity.

She and her friend, Ansel, worked together on Saturday and that was all it took. Ansel was super-supportive and that is what gave Emily the boost that she needed. She was a little wobbly on Saturday, but by Sunday she was officially riding (and we have video to prove it)! I would never have predicted that she was just a day or two away from knowing how to do it. Not surprisingly, she is very excited and proud of herself. :)

Halloween 2019!

As I mentioned, Emily had two Halloween costumes this year. There was her non-scary white witch costume for school and then there was her Other Mother costume.

Apparently, she was not the only white witch (as you can see)! Also, it was a very cold day so she had to bundle up with clothes under her costume, etc. They went trick-or-treating through school during the day and she had a pretty big haul, which gave her a head start for that night. As you can tell, she was very not scary for school, but that all changed for her actual Other Mother costume.

Abbie did her make-up for her. There was a YouTube video that they tried to follow, but it is always easier said than done. It took them over an hour, but it turned out really well. Multiple people thought that it must be a mask, which of course it was not. Frankly, I was really impressed with how it turned out. Also, it was definitely more on the scary side, which Emily was pleased with.

Showing off her button eyes!

Emily's goal was to scare some little kids that were out trick-or-treating. She was exceptionally pleased because she literally had a kid run away from her while yelling, "I'm not scared of you." She also overheard a couple of kids saying to each other, "Don't go near her." LOL. She noted that scaring kids is a delicate balance - on the one hand, it needs to be late enough that it is dark enough to be spooky, but on the other hand, it can't be so late that the little kids have gone to bed. Rough life. She also had some disappointment on Halloween in that we went to the usual neighborhood party and as we left she lamented that she was the scariest one there. I couldn't disagree with her. Poor thing - nothing is ever quite scary enough for her!