I've got SUNSHINE, on a cloudy day

When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May
Well, I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way?

My girl....talking 'bout my girl

I've got so much honey, the bees envy me

I've got a sweeter song, than the birds in the trees

Well, I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way?

My girl.....talking 'bout my girl

My girl turned 4 last Sunday. It is one of my most favorite ages. I am excited about this year ahead with her. While thinking about this blog post I couldn't get those song lyrics out of my head, I thought they were fitting. She truly does bring sunshine to my cloudy days, and is sweeter than honey.

My baby goes to pre-school

It is a strange feeling when you go from feeling like your hands are full of kids, to actually have 5 kidless hours a week.....in just a few short years.

But here we are, my baby in pre-school.....

Showing off her long, "Rapunzel" hair for this shot......
Looking like a big school girl in this one....

So excited and ready for the day with dainty bear......

She seemed to love everything about this day. Said, "by, mom" and plopped down on the carpet. Had a big smile and hug for me when I came to pick her up. Told me how she didn't cry cause she knew I was coming back.

Wow, she's getting so big.

Flower Girl

About a month ago Craig was honored to be the best man in a good friends wedding. Although Anna wasn't REALLY the flower girl, it was only the second wedding she'd been to, and she had a good time getting all prettied up for the event.

She even went outside and picked flowers for me to put in her hair.

She was completely captivated by the "princesses" aka bridesmaids, and of course the bride herself. She could hardly leave the bride alone during the reception. She was very much in her element.
Here's our handsome daddy with his little "flower girl". And, if you happen to need a real flower girl, I'm sure Anna would be more than willing to play the part :)

Wordless Wednesday: Butterfly

Makin' the coffee

Most mornings I wake up to these two....

Makin' the coffee.
Anna is often our earliest bird. During the school year Craig let her help him make the coffee one morning. Now, it has become a routine, in her mind. Every night before bed she reminds daddy about their coffee makin' ritual. It's a special, sweet little tradition between the two of them, that just warms my heart.

Not to mention my coffee cup.

The Bubble Rocket: as seen on TV

If your kids watch any amount of TV (which mine do) they have most likely seen the commercial for the "Bubble Rocket". Wyatt REALLY wanted the bubble rocket for his birthday so I passed along the idea to my sister. We had an early b'day celebration for him at Easter and he indeed got the bubble rocket. Here are two short clips of the bubble rocket in action. As advertized in real life by Wyatt and Anna.

Will's comment after asking him how the bubble rocket on TV compares to the actual bubble rocket was:

"On TV the bubble rocket goes really high, but in real life it doesn't go that high."

Enough said.

Rag Curlers

Another fun book I picked up at the Library is The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life by Jennifer Worrick. I browsed through it one evening and while I probably won't actually do 99% of the ideas in the book, it was again, inspirational. I came across a section on rag curlers and I was immediately reminded of my own experience with rag curlers. As a little girl about 8 or 9 years old, my grandma would dampen my hair with beer (I know gross, but true) and wrap my hair up in rag curlers. For this little girl with fine, straight hair, awaking to a head full of tight curls was quite exciting. I had never done this with Anna, so I thought I'd give it a try:

First, you need a little girl with shoulder length or longer hair. Then, about 20 1-2'' x 10'' pieces of flannel strips. Start with freshly washed, damp hair and roll up your hair around the strip in 1-2" sections starting at the neck line and working your way up. When you reach the scalp, tie each in a tight knot. When you are finished your head will look like this. Too cute!

It you happen to have a sleeping cap, that would be even more adorable. But here she is ready for bead and a head full of curls in the morning.
Untie the rags in the morning and gently loosen each curl with your fingers (I used a spray or two of de-tangler, just to soften the curls, they will be very tight!)

Admire your pretty hair in the mirror!

And as the author of the book writes, "Tie back with a ribbon if you want to look your Sunday best. Leave your curls loose and messy if you're planning to hit the saloon instead."

my sweetheart...

Yesterday afternoon the sun was shining and we were in need of some fresh air. I was also overdue to take some 3 year old pictures of Anna so I snapped a few of her while we were outside playing in the yard. Here are a few of my favorites...

Annie is hard to photograph because she is contantly moving and doing fake smiles. The only way I could get her to act natural was to have her sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Frosty the Snowman". It distracted her enough from the camera....here are a few silly ones that capture her personality.

I wanna cook with you mom...

(nice "smile" Anna!)

Cooking with mom can be anything from stirring pudding, putting dollops of whipped cream on the top of the pudding (and sneaking licks off the spoon), to dividing out fruits and veggies onto lunch plates. It can mean topping sandwiches with bread, adding forks and spoons to plates and carrying things over to the table. See, "cook" has a very different definition to a 3 year old. It can be anything you want it to be! Anna is my little cook in training everyday and it makes me happy to hear her say, "I wanna cook with you mom"



Thank you Ama for the apron you made. She wears it everyday!

Anna's first haircut

Saturday evening Wyatt and Anna were playing in her room together. He had a brush and wanted me to take her braid out of her hair so that she could be a princess. I said sure and though nothing of it. A while later I walked back down the hall to find Wyatt with a pair of scissors in his hand and a chunk of Anna's hair in his fist. I am very embarrassed to say how I reacted, but lets just say there was yelling, tears, and a worried husband rushing back to find out what in the world had happened. Wyatt claims he was trying to make Anna "beautiful princess" by cutting her hair, and Anna was crying saying that she didn't want her hair cut and to put it back. I was on my way out the door to pick up Will so I left Craig to deal with the situation, and it was probably a good thing because I was able to calm down a bit.

When I got back home and surveyed the damage I realized it was not all that bad. The section of hair he cut is underneath her top layer so it hides pretty well. However I was still kinda shaken up so Craig offered to call my friend who does my hair and see if she could come by and give her opinion. She was so sweet and stopped by, and agreed with us that not much could be done. But while she was here I decided to have her give Anna a little trim anyway since she has never had her hair officially cut (by anyone other than me). Anna loved it and I'm so glad I thought to pull my camera out and take pictures. She was giddy with excitement and it turned everything around into a fun experience!

And yes, these pictures posted in reverse order. And yes, Anna is really into the fake smile with squinty eyes right now. And yes, I knew I would be getting off lucky if nothing like this ever happened! And yes, I know I am really anal about my daughters hair.

Braids

One of the many things I love about having a little girl.

More on Annie....

I would love to post pictures of Anna's birthday party. I would love to show you how hilarious she looked in her sleeping beauty wig. How precious she was in her new dress up clothes blowing out the candle on her cake with Disney princesses on it. But instead, I have only this one picture of her unwrapping her first gift because right after I took it my battery died.

My sister's each had their cameras out so, not to worry, I will get some copies for her scrapbook. We celebrated with Craig's fam on Thanksgiving Day at our house. We hosted Turkey dinner and I had made this princess cake for Anna the day before. She was so excited about the cake. Her reaction when I first showed it to her says it all:
Then we had a joint party with my side of the fam on Sunday evening for Anna and her cousin Halle who is turning 8. The girls had a blast opening presents and Anna got so many nice new things, which she is enjoying greatly.

I am so thankful for my little girl. Parenting Anna is so different than the boys, and it can be challenging, but she is so full of love and brings joy to my heart everyday. She's sweet and spunky and loved being the center of attention on her special day. I'm still in awe of how fast she is growing. I am so excited for all we'll get to experience together as mother and daughter in the years to come....yet I can't believe she's three already!

In my heart I knew I wanted another baby about a year before I became pregnant with Anna. The Lord worked on Craig's heart and I'll never forget the day he came to me and said, "let's have another"...it was Thanksgiving Day 2004. Anna was born 4 days after Thanksgiving 2005. She is indeed an answer to my prayers. She blesses me daily and completes our family perfectly!

We love you Annie-Beth!

This is my "new" red table. It was free because I spotted it in my in-laws garage and asked if I could have it. For nearly a year it had a white cracked coat of paint on top with black showing through. I liked it. I thought it added to my miss-matched, shabby-chic, kid friendly home. And I didn't have to worry about nicks, scratches or permanent black sharpie. Those all just added to it's "character". But I'm guessing other people just thought it looked like a crappy, paint chipped table. So I finally decided on a color...."ready to dance" red. Craig, my painter, put 7 coats of paint on this baby and two coats of sealer.

It turned out really nice and adds a good amount of color to our kitchen/dining area. I used to like to say I had a yellow, red and blue kitchen. But in all actuality the only red I had in my kitchen was this red bowl, which was my inspiration color for my red table. Now I can honestly say I have a yellow, red and blue kitchen.
Speaking of bowls....these are my fruit bowls and they are one my most prized possessions. They are something I really wanted but would never buy for myself because they are expensive and frivolous, but a good friend of ours knew I liked them and surprised me with them. So nice! Tuesday afternoon I went grocery shopping and filled these with produce. About 10-12 apples, 6 pears, and a big bunch of bananas. Today, less than 48 hours later there are two pears and two apples left! Does anyone else constantly hear, "mom, I'm hungry??" I feed my kids, I tell you but they devour this fruit.


On, another note. I cut bangs. I was getting frustrated with my hair, and have no patience so I grabbed my scissors and went to town. I'm liking them, but It's always a little awkward to have to explain to my hairdresser next time I go in that yes, it was me who tried to cut my hair and not some ill-trained professional.




And last, but not least. I had this great idea to video the kids doing something cute at the new red table. I must have taken 10 out-takes, deleting them, and I finally just decided to stop with this one. One of my problems was trying to manufacture the spontaneous cuteness, another was I only have 30 something seconds on my memory card to record something. But this one turned out a little humorous as Anna "christened" the new red table with water, and then she gets really distracted, and the time runs out. Note: notice how nicely it beads up on the new table.

Enjoy! :)

crashed

Monday's are early release days for Will so he gets out at 1:40. I love having a longer afternoon at home with the kids, but it sure messes with Anna's nap schedule. Sometimes I put her down a little early and she squeezes in a nap before we leave. Or sometimes she'll fall asleep in the car for a bit if we have to run into town after picking him up. But yesterday her and Wyatt were playing well together and time got away from me, so I never put her down for a nap. Craig had to ref a volleyball game and then go straight into Salem so he wouldn't be home til late, anyway. So, I decided to let her skip the nap and put them all to bed early and have a night of peace and quiet to sit on the couch and read my book. Around 4:00 I came out to the family room where the 3 were watching a cartoon and found this.......

She likes to lay under the coffee table and watch TV....
But apparently she is not quite ready to give up her naps!

My plan didn't work out like I'd hoped. While the boys watched TV and banged around on the piano....Anna slept. I woke her up around 5:00 and she was crabby! She's one of those kids who I try to avoid waking up from a nap! So, much for my quiet evening with kids in bed at 7:00. She finally fell asleep around 8:30 or so. But I did get some cute pictures of my sleeping beauty!

Better luck next Monday!

my sweet stubborn girl

I don't think I realized just how stubborn Anna was until we began toilet training. If you recall I blogged about my gearing up to potty train nearly NINE months ago. Try I did, a handful of times, none of which were very successful. We've been back and forth between princess panties, pulls ups and diapers! Finally, late in July I decided it was time. All or nothing, baby. Three months and I don't even know how many accidents I cleaned up or pairs of poopy underwear I opted to just throw away, but it is FINISHED! She can do it! She's trained, in fact I just had to pause and go wipe her bottom. And only a mom could relate to how excited I was to do it!

Of course she'll still have an occasional accident, I'm sure. But I no longer have to fight the stubbornness or keep tabs on her all day reminding/persuading her to go to the bathroom. She's growing up and this is one milestone I am not the least bit sentimental to have crossed off the list. If I learned anything through this process with my kids it's no two are alike!

Anna can be a mix of sweet and stubborn. Every day I hear at least 15 times, "Mommy, I love you sooooooo much" sometimes it's said in all sweetness with a hug and a kiss. Sometimes it's used as a ploy to get her way. Some days we have the best time together, carrying on conversations, and running errands in the mornings, when she's fresh and more likely to be obedient. But sometimes her stubbornness weighs out......

We were out a couple evenings ago playing at a park. It was surrounded by a chain link fence that had periodic breaks in it for people to pass through, like little door/openings. When it was time to go I was heading down the street and called for Anna to come through the little opening in the fence down where I was. I used a little tactic I hoped she would fall for saying, "c'mon Anna, it's short cut" and she started heading down to where I was. But instead of coming through the opening she stopped about 10 feet back and started climbing OVER the chain link fence. I decided to act like I was ignoring her, and see if she could make it over. I would venture to say the fence was nearly as tall as me and up she went, over, and down the other side. All to exert her independence and show her mommy that she has her own way of doing things.

It's just a small thing really, just a small example of a little thing called stubbornness. But it's amazing how when I really look inside my kids, see their challenges and struggles, try to understand what's going on in their little minds.....how often I am reminded that I can be a lot like them. God has a special path for us to take, our own special "short cut". He sees the bigger picture, and knows the easiest route. Yet, so many times I stop before I even get to the opening he has all laid out for me, and struggle over that fence. Sure, we ended up at the same place. But the process could have been so much easier. It was a real life example of how surrender and trust in Him is what He wants from us, just as we desire that from our children. I mean, wouldn't life be SO much easier if our kids NEVER disobeyed and ALWAYS did what we asked them? Ya, I'm sure that's what God has thought about me a time or two! But just like a loving parent, He is patient with us. And it inspires me to press on in my parenting Anna. To be diligent in teaching and training her. And to be more patient with my sweet stubborn girl.

dress-up

One of these two's favorite things to do is play dress-up. I get such a good laugh out of their imagination and creativity in their costumes. The entire trunk they are sitting on is full of dress-up clothes and costumes we've acquired over the years, but they still find ways to come up with their own ensembles, and inform me what each one is called.

Like the one below. It's the Egyptian. Yes, Wyatt is wearing a dishtowel and Anna is topless. That's just what they do in Egypt.

Then there's the Australian I thought this one was pretty good--and the kid hasn't even seen Crocodile Dundee. He's got his dagger (fake!!) ready to slay the crocs. (Anna just had a princess dress on for this shot.)
Then there's the Chinese. If you haven't noticed Wyatt is really into geography right now! An inside out sparkies vest, one of Anna's church dresses, and the doll my dad brought me back from Korea (which they scaled closet shelving to dig out of a box) complete this one. The reason their faces look funny is because they were trying to squint. I made them open their eyes.
But wait, it doesn't stop there! We also have weddings. They of course have to wear coordinating outfits and this time they went with the traditional white. Then they go outside, Wyatt picks a bouquet for his bride and they kiss "standing up". 'Cause that's just what you do at a wedding. Anna calls Wyatt her "lovey prince" and they finish the ceremony dancing away in the backyard.
I love those two! I'm so glad they have each other.

a sweet moment

Last night the boys went to bed early and Craig took Anna to the store to pick up something I needed. When they got home I was busy cleaning the kitchen, but I heard their hushed voices in the other room. So I peaked around the corner and saw this:

I had to grab my camera because it was just too cute. Anna absolutely LOVES having her nails painted....and daddy did her fingers AND her toes!
BTW....Craig is an excellent nail painter. I usually pick a light color and quickly brush it on making sure each nail has a little color, but he's a perfectionist and takes his time. He even used hot pink!

What a dad!