Annaliese is Ten!

It's official!  I'm a little late to post this but Annaliese is now double digits. We celebrated this year with just our family. Brownies, ice cream and plenty of Bryer Horses made this girls day.

Annaliese is such an amazing girl in every single way.  She is almost always in an up beat mood and goes with the flow so well.  She gets perfect report card quarter after quarter. She loves school and blew me away this year with her science fair project on the color specturm and Isaac Newton. She loves drawing pictures of animals and writing or telling stories to go with them.  She has an amazing imagination. She loves to read and goes through books faster than anybody I know.  She loves non fiction and fiction alike.  She has a broad set of interests.  She will pick up a book about anything and find it interesting and just read out of curiosity.  This year she has shown an interest in genetics.  She could spend hours making punnet squares for different horses and dogs to figure out what types of babies would be born to different parents.   She loves to look at catalogs and dream of decorating her own room someday. She joined her school chess club and has enjoyed learning to play.  She takes piano lessons weekly and has an excellent ear.  Best of all she is an awesome big sister.  She loves to teach Avrie and Adeline things that she has learned.  She is always willing to play with them.  She loves her baby sister and is such a great help to me in caring for her.

Happy Birthday Annaliese!   Olive Juice Forever!

Our girl can S-P-E-L-L

This month was an exciting one!  On March 4th, Annaliese was part of her school spelling team for a parochial school spelling contest here in town.  Her school had a spelling bee about a month ago where she came in 4th place.  That qualified her to be on the school team. 

To get ready to be on the school team she was given 8 pages of words to study.  Easy right?  Each page had at least 300 words on it!  That's a lot of words to study.  We did our best to get study them all but in the end we only made it through the first 6 pages.  Oh well.

The way the contest works is that there are 4 quarters lasting 15 minutes each.  Each school has 4 team members.  Each team member goes up for a quarter and competes against the other schools.  For every word that is spelled correctly the school gets a point.  If a word is misspelled then they are not out, just no point that round.

Annaliese was in the 3rd quarter.  As luck would have it the words she was given to spell were all from page 7.  Sigh.  Of course.  Not page 6 or 5 or 4, 3, 2 or 1 but 7.  BUT she did great!  She kept her cool and held her own.  I know she was nervous but nobody would have ever been able to see it.  The words from page 7 were the hardest of the entire night.  Fortunately all the words for all the spellers in her round were equally difficult. She scored enough points her round to keep her school tied for first.  After the final quarter it was still tied and our 8th grade star speller had to do a spell-off with the other school. Who knew a spelling bee could be so exciting?!  In the end our team won.  What a fun night it was. I'm so glad that Annaliese had this experience to be on the spelling team.  It was hard work to get through even just 6 pages of words but I think if she qualifies in the future she'll be motivated to push through all 8.  I couldn't be more proud of my girl!  Great job Annaliese!

Christmas 2013

The most wonderful time of the year!  Christmas 2013 was a success!  I was a bit nervous and wondered if we'd pull it off.  I had everything timed out perfectly but my plans came to a halt when Adeline and Avrie came down with the stomach flu on the Thursday before Christmas and had to miss their school party on Friday and didn't recover until Monday. Fortunately nobody else in the family got sick but I did have to just let some things go this year.  Like cards for example....our Christmas cards have become New Years cards....and I'm mailing them out tomorrow, January 13th. Oh well.   They turned out super cute though! I'm excited for them anyway.

The favorite gift this year were the nutcrackers you see in this picture.  I have to say that they really love their bath robes and their ice skates as well.  We are working on ice skating.  If you look carefully in the picture Avrie has a splint on her left wrist because she fell while ice skating.  She's fine now thankfully.  Next time we'll be sure to wear wrist guards under our gloves.

I think one of my favorite memories this year will be when our family went Christmas Caroling. We visited our neighbors and some older single women from our ward.  Kermit played the guitar and we sang "Good King Wenceslas" and "Away in a Manger."  Both were very cool arrangements and the girls sounded so good!  Hearing their voices never got old and almost made me cry every time!  I loved it! I definitely want to do that again next year. 

Over the break we visited a few museums and watched movies but many days were spent home in our pajamas enjoying whatever each person felt like. Some of our traditions didn't happen this year but we have the good excuse of having a new baby.  I think the thing I really want to concentrate on and set as a personal goal for 2014 is to have the shopping done by October 1st. Fall is such a busy time for our family with birthdays and holidays so I would love to unwind and focus more on service to others in December rather than worrying about if I'm ready with gifts for my own family.  I better get started! =)

Oh,and I have to mention that the girls were in HEAVEN when we got hit with a massive winter storm that dumped tons of snow and left us with crazy low temperatures.  Like  40 below!  It was heaven because school was cancelled for two days and then a third day because the pipes froze at school.  It was the vacation that kept on giving!  Thank you Chicago for the three extra days of Christmas vacation!

"Baby"

For Christmas one of the gifts that Annaliese gave to me was a booklet with writings from all her classmates.  Her class had gone on a writers workshop field trip.  Here is Annaliese's entry.  I think hers was the best. It is so interesting to me to get her perspective on the day she came to the hospital to meet her new sister.  And I have to say the details she remembers are right on. 

BABY by Annaliese

Annaliese, Avrie, Adeline...another baby was coming to our family.  Those names were hard to come up with.  One day, about a week ago, Dad, my sisters and I went to the hospital.  When I entered the hospital room where my mom was, the first thing I saw was an ivory curtain with leaf patterns on it.  Then I saw her. Just a burrito with a diaper, a onesie and a hat.  Her eyes were closed, but she had a peculiar nose.  I hugged my mom.  I stared a the TV screen with boring, soothing nature videos.  Music played quietly to soothe the patient.  "Look at the city!" said one of my 7-year-old twin sisters.  I stared at the lights illuminating the skyscrapers, the cars, the people.  A hazy purple sky spread over Chicago.  "I want to live in a skyscraper!"  I cried.  My baby sister winked at me as I held her.  Her nickname is Winkie.  Now she is home.  She is one-and-a-half weeks old.  Althea is truly the best.

Grandma

I found these photos randomly on my laptop.  They are from December 2011.  My girls with Valrea Althea Hafen King.  Kermit's mom.  Grandma.  She had just been diagnosed with lung and brain cancer over Thanksgiving weekend of that year.   We knew her time would be short and it was.  We lost her on Easter Sunday 2012.  From her diagnosis in November until her death in April we visited her in St. George 5 or 6 times.  This was from one of those visits.  Grandma had some mining property up in the mountains that she wanted to take her family to see.  Gabe and Tanc were there with their kids as well and we loaded up the suv's and climbed the steep dirt roads that lead to her mines.  We had a great time looking for fossils and rocks.  We even went into an old mine cave.  Very cool!  Grandma had been receiving her radiation treatments but still had enough energy to get out and do some things.

That is one thing I have always loved about her and miss.  She was always up for an adventure or outing.  She was never one to sit home.  She got out every day.  If somebody in the family wanted to take a hike - she'd change her shoes (or not) and join the fun.  If somebody wanted to go shopping, she'd take you off the beaten path to find the best places to shop.  If somebody wanted to go anywhere she was game to join in, always. Even when she was in pain before she had hip surgery years ago she was still up for adventure just to be with her family.  She loved to travel the world.  She loved museums and culture.  She loved life.  I hope my children will have her sense of adventure throughout their lives.  These pictures up in "no mans land" with their grandma I hope will remind them how much she loved an adventure and also how much she loved them.

February 2010 = Lots o FUN!

February brings many things. A few of our favorite things....Annaliese's Birthday for one and Winter Break for two! This year we spent winter break in warm and sunny, balmy and beautiful California. We were able to celebrate Annaliese's sixth birthday with family! Love this girl! Can't believe my girl is SIX!!!

She wanted a cat cake...so a cat cake we made, complete with six whisker candles!

We also went to Sea World...great time! (This was about a week before they had to hold all Shamu shows due to the killer whale attack. Um, so glad we missed that one. Yikes.)


And no trip to CA would be complete without a trip to the Happiest place on Earth!

And a happy time it was!

Starring.....

Miss Annaliese! She was part of her Kindergarten play and did wonderfully! The class wrote a play called "The princess and the wedding." Annaliese played the part of the good fairy. She said her lines clearly and loud enough for all to hear. Not shy at all!

Also the paper program featured her art work! Bravo Annaliese!

Dancing Queens

I signed the girls up for their first dance class. It's a combination tap/ballet/tumbling class, 20 minutes of each. They pretty much LOVE it!

This clip was taken right after their first class when we got home. Makes me laugh out loud every time. They are dancing queens for sure! Enjoy!





The girls call their leotard and tights...their "costumes". Avrie chose a black costume because it's her new fav color. Addie chose the pink with a skirt and has it on everyday at some point. Annaliese wasn't with us when we went shopping so her sisters chose for her. She likes what they picked. Pink, no skirt.

After our second class Avrie accidentally came home with two left tap shoes, one two sizes too small. Obviously we learned quickly that names written big and bold in shoes is important. We have not found her right shoe yet....but somebody in her class has it I'm sure. She has been a good sport wearing her ballet shoes for tap class until the mystery of the missing tap shoe is solved.

The class is for 4-6 year olds. Annaliese is the only 6 year old and is a full head taller than all the other girls! There is one five year old, her friend from church...the rest are four year olds. She doesn't mind though. She gets along just fine with 4 year olds. =)

I think this class is perfect for these girls! They are loving it!

All about Annaliese - 2009

(Insert here - Picture of Annaliese)

12/25/2009 - Is loving her new scooter and fur real puppy named Ruffles. Cutie pie.

12/12/2009 - Has been really into tongue twisters this week.

12/01/2009 - This girl loves her cousins. Had a blast playing with Byron's kids for thanksgiving. She and Caden have a very similar sense of humor!

09/30/2009 - Last week I found this in her own writing: "The Lord mad avretheing spashl. He love us vare mush. He mad avrething is for us so we kod have everething we wont. You no God loves you with ol his hort and wil olwas be with you."

09/11/2009 - Today Annaliese went in for her 5 year check up. (A little late but better than never.) She was soooo brave when she had to get FIVE shots! Her reward choice for her bravery was a chocolate bar...Good choice! =) Her height is 41 1/2 lbs. (50%) and weight is 46 1/4 inches (75-90%). There you have it! All is well.

09/10/2009 - We've been trying to help her practice reading...seeing as she is really really ready and is trying to teach herself.

09/10/2009 - Today I received a handmade card that read "Deer Mommy I HAD SO MUSH FUN AT SKOOL TOODA HAW WOD YOU FEL IF I WUS WITH YOU (heart) ANNALiese" Melt me!

09/10/2009 - Started Kindergarten, Loving her teacher.

09/10/2009 - My little dreamer loves to tell stories. Her sisters love to listen...so do I.

09/10/2009 - Loves to draw....still! She can't get enough!

09/10/2009 - Loves playing with her sisters. She is often the leader and tells her sisters what they need to do and of course they play right along. She also still loves to pretend she is an animal...recently SKUNK is a favorite...P.U. Kitten is also a favorite.

07/31/2009 - Miss Fidget! Has such a hard time going to sleep at night. I often have to lay next to her and remind her to keep still so that she can fall asleep! Silly girl.

07/31/2009 - Loves to play with babies. She is so captivated and interested.

07/31/2009 - Loves to make cards for people. She'll find the envelopes and want to mail them off right away. I can hardly keep up.

07/31/2009 - Has figured out how to use the breaks on her bike. Yay! She loves to ride it!

07/31/2009 - Has figured out how to count to 100.

07/29/2009 - Leader of all sorts of play around here. Yesterday she was the leader of the "Fly whacker attackers! Get ready to explore!" Game. She was cracking me up!

06/06/2009 - Last night we went to some friends' house for dinner. They live in a high rise. Annaliese said that she wishes she lived in a department. =) Also today we had the window open in the back room and she climbed out to play on the "valcony."

05/21/2009 - So tenderhearted this one. Kermit has been out of town all week. She cried when he left but kept a stiff upper lip all week. She fought those tears every night with success. When Kermit came home tonight she ran to his arms and let it all go. she was SOOO happy to see her dad. Yes, we do cry when we are happy.

05/19/2009 - "Mom, there's an ant in the house!" "Don't squish him, I want to keep him for my pet." =)

05/15/2009 - Um, she is reading. No kidding. She is amazing.

05/15/2009 - The Doodle Pad is still by far her best toy ever.

05/11/2009 - Today she decided it would be great to have a pet ant.

05/11/2009 - Love the stories she tells and pictures she draws. She has produced volumes!

05/11/2009 - Likes to talk over the fence with the neighbor boy Jake.

05/01/2009 - Loves cutting out shapes and coloring them into pictures. Tells stories with the picutes. LOVES it!

05/01/2009 - Good singer and dancer. "Avrie, Addie.....Mom & Daddy....even Annaliese too!" Very catchy. Kermit caught it on video. Classic!

04/16/2009 - This is true for all the girls but especially Annaliese...She LOVES the movie "Milo and Otis" - just LOVES it! They sing the song and play Milo and Otis all day. Kermit even made them a little play set using their little tiny animal toys. He made them a dock and a wooden box that Milo can drift down the river in. =)

04/15/2009 - Is doing so great in school. She just loves it. She loves her teacher and loves her friends. She is so over being shy.

03/23/2004 - She is doing so great with her spelling. She makes signs and posts them all over the house. She loves to read the phonics books that she got from Grandma!

03/21/2009 - Has been sick! Poor little thing has been up all night with a fever!

03/20/2009 - Earlier this week I took the girls to the little park. There we met almost 4 year old Owen. He was all boy and was showing off big time for my girls...you know like crashing the cars, pretending to fall to get them to laugh, etc. Well on our way home from the park I hear "Mom, what do you think will happen to Owen and to Annaliese? Do you think that we will grow up and fall in love? Get married? Who knows what's going to happen!" Later that night she told Kermit about Owen. Kermit told her that she was young to be thinking about getting married. She needs to have lots of boy friends before she decides who she will marry. She says "I already have lots of boy friends at school. None of them like to hug me. I wonder if Owen would like to hug me. Who knows what will happen." =)

03/19/2009 - (Actually 3/20) Last night Kermit and I had a date night. Our baby sitter reports to us that Annaliese was crying before bed which is very unusual. (Later in the night she was up w/ a fever...explains the crying.) Michele told us she was trying so hard not to laugh as Annaliese cried and told her that she really loves, no likes Owen so much. (Avrie pops her head out of bed to explain that they met him at the park.) Maybe they will get married. Just then she stoped crying and said, "who knows what will happen." Just like that stopped crying, "who knows." A funny story and preview into the years ahead when we have 3 teenage girls in the house.

02/25/2009- Annaliese has decided she can only eat brown food...ya know like chocolate milk, brownies and cookies. I like that.

02/24/2009 - Today I took Annaliese into Marshalls with me. I was trying on all sorts of weird stuff. I just cracked up when Annaliese told me very seriously that I looked posh! Thanks Annaliese! I bought the posh skirt on clearance for $7.

02/17/2009 - Had a wonderful birthday! This girl loves her new talking telescope! Learning to read and doing great!

02/08/2009 - We are busy planning her OUTER SPACE birthday extravaganza. She is thrilled with the theme!

02/06/2009 - Annaliese told me that she wishes she were a firefly....because she could stay out all night and sleep all day. We are definitely related!

02/02/2009 - Likes to make name cards for the family for dinner time. She knows how to spell everyone's name.

01/19/2009 - This girl is so helpful! She's entering the stage where she likes to make sandwiches all by herself. She also recently discovered she can work the DVD player so she likes to be in charge of movie time.

01/14/2009 - Is at school for the first time this year...she is finally feelilng better...FINALLY! She was nervous to go but then received a really warm welcome from all her friends and waved to me good-bye. Sweet, sweet girl.

01/12/2009 - Has been such a good little helper! She loves to help her sisters with things like feeding them snacks. She also likes to help me around hte kitchen.

01/12/2009 - Has been SICK! Before Christmas she had pneumonia. She was healthy for Christmas (just a lingering cough) then for New years sick again! I finally took her to the Dr....double ear infection! Poor kid. Being sick is miserable.

Last Day of School - Summer VACATION is here!

We've been gone a travelin' to and fro. We're back! Here are pictures from the official "beginning of summer vacation"....the last day of school back in June. Annaliese was so sad to not be able to go back to school. There were two things that made it okay for school to be out. 1.) She could write letters to her teachers 2) We would be able to travel to see grandparents. That was enough to make it all better. =)

Annaliese had a wonderful second year of preschool. She attended three days a week and had great teachers, great classmates and friends. Her portfolio was full of all kinds of fun photos and examples of her work. She amazed her teacher with her drawings (and I want to save them all)! She knows all her letters, sounds and numbers up to 100. She writes words sounding them out phonetically and can sound out words to read. Socially she really came out of her shell this year. She was friends with all of her classmates and especially loved to play chase with some of the boys. (Hmm.) She is a little dreamer and loves to tell stories and use her imagination. Her teacher commented to me that hours after a lesson Annaliese would still be thinking about it and would be thinking of new ways to apply what she had learned. Her ability to concentrate has always amazed me. That said, sometimes it's hard to get her attention because she is busy thinking about other things. We call it "zoning" but she's just busy....thinking. =) A special treat was when Kermit was able to take her to school in the mornings. Nothing was better than to have dad drop her off! All in all she had a most excellent school year. By golly, she is ready for KINDERGARTEN!

Flowers & Signs Annaliese Style

The other day Annaliese asked me to take her picture with these flowers that I brought home from Enrichment Night. =)
She loves flowers. Every time we go to costco she asks if we can buy flowers. I usually say, "maybe next time...." I really should buy flowers more often. Look how happy they made her. I think I will say yes next time.


Annaliese has been a busy sign maker lately. See if you can decode these messages. Answers in comments.

Junk Food Redefined

Today Annaliese decided that since she is now five years old that she should be in charge of making lunch. Without any adult supervision she made PB&J sandwiches for herself, Addie & me. (Avrie passed on the offer.) When we were just about finished eating Annaliese said,

"Wow, Addie sure does like junk food."

What do you mean junk food?

"Yeah, I dropped hers on the floor. But that's okay because it looks like she likes it."

She was cracking me up!

The sandwich pictured above was mine...not bad. I just had to add a little bit more peanut butter when she wasn't looking. It was then that I saw a 1/4 jar of jelly....smeared all down the front of the counter, on the stool where she had stood and of course all over the floor. The very place where Addie's sandwich became Junk Food. Yum! =)

Happy Birthday Annaliese!

Today is Annaliese's 5th birthday. Wow, that went fast. It really makes me sad when I think about how fast she is growing. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that she's not a baby anymore. Silly I know. She is losing those luscious chubby cheeks that I love so much. She doesn't have those cute little dimples in her hands anymore either. Sigh... She's a beautiful big five year old. The one thing I can say is I do love watching her grow. I love watching her figure out the world little by little. She may not be a baby anymore but she will always be ours. What a blessing!

We had a wonderful day celebrating. We ran errands in the morning and she was sure to tell everyone we met that it was her birthday. She brought many a smile to quite a few strangers. We came home and decorated her cake just in time for a few of her friends to arrive for a little Outer Space Birthday party. We ended her special day with a birthday dinner of her choice. Kermit and I took our big 5 year old out to Portillos for a cheeseburger and fries. All three of us were in heaven.

Happy Birthday Annaliese! We love you!

Inauguration Day

I turned on the TV this morning looking for a local traffic report. I was debating loading the kids up and heading to a suburban shopping mall to do some returns, and a traffic report would help me decide. All I could find was LIVE Inauguration coverage, no traffic reports anywhere to be found. Annaliese became immediately captivated.

"What are all those people doing?"

"Why are the all cheering?"

"Who is Barack Obama?"

"Why is he the president?"

All very good questions.

We got comfortable on the couch as I tried to answer all of her questions. She was curious about each of the former presidents that she saw on the screen and wondered why they weren't the president anymore. I got to explain that every four years America votes for a new president. Who ever gets the most votes gets to be the new president.

"Mom, did you vote?"

"Can I go with you next time?"

We watched Sasha and Malia being escorted to their seats.

"Do they have a mom?"

We watched Michelle Obama being escorted.

"Oh, I get it...they're the Obama family just like we're the K__ Family! Now their dad is the new president, right? When is he going to be on?"

We watch, we watch, we watch....She waits, she waits, she waits....

Finally she gets to see who Barack Obama is. She was thrilled to be able to know who the new president of the United States is. It was the same kind of thrill when we watched the Olympics together this past summer....patriotic.

I was glad that we had this little learning moment together. I may not have voted for Obama but I do want him to be successful for America's sake.

I thought Obama's speech was appropriate and fine. I found his choice of words interesting as they were clearly meant for the world to hear, not just the America. I am glad I stayed home to watch this historic event with my girls instead of fighting traffic. I have to admit that there was one thing that got my goat a little. I don't think it was appropriate for Mr. Preacherman Joseph Lowery to take racial jabs in the closing prayer...the closing PRAYER of an INAUGURATION! Pretty low.


Before I turned off the TV Annaliese told me, "When I get older I want to go into that show." In other words...when she grows up she wants to go to an inauguration. I hope she gets to someday.

This afternoon I pulled out my photo album. I found pictures from 1997, Clinton's 2nd Inauguration. I was there. It didn't matter that I didn't vote for him either, it was just cool to be there. Patriotic.

Lately with Annaliese.....

12/23/2008 - Got to go see "Welcome Yule" at the CSO with her dad. What a special treat! They both loved it.

12/15/2008 - LOVES the snow! I love how she is so excited to lay right on down just about anywhere to make a snow angel!
12/07/2008 - She is an amazing artist. I've had to teach her a few times that it is not appropriate to tell everyone that she is the most wonderful artist ever. =) (But it is perfectly okay for me to say so!)
12/07/2008 - She has found that coming in to bed with mom and dad at about 3am is quite nice. That's fine-whatever but I think we need a bigger bed.
12/07/2008 - She has always loved to tell stories. She has her sisters gathered around as she draws pictures on her doodle pad and tells stories about her drawings. So cute.
12/07/2008 - Is trying out some of the tactics that the twins use to get attention. What? Tantrums don't work...or do they! She's a sweetie though. Love her.
10/05/2008 - Sometimes when we take her picture, she will pose by closing her eyes and turning her head to the side and down. I always wondered why. The other day she told me that is how you look pretty. "First you close your eyes like you are asleep, then you turn your head like this mom. That's what you do if you want to look pretty."

Annaliese, you sweet little dear!

recent masterpiece

This post is long overdue! Here is my most recent list of the cute little things about my first born that I cherish and love...things I never want to forget. What a blessing this little girl is! I hope she will always know how much she is truly loved and adored.

09/25/2008 - This girl LOVES to be the leader when she plays with her sisters. The twins love following big sister around, doing just as she says.

09/25/2008 – As she has been since birth, she continues to be my little bookworm. She loves studying the pictures and loves hearing stories over and over again. She has many memorized and "reads" to her sisters.

09/25/2008 – Have I ever mentioned that this girl LOVES to tell stories! When you listen & watch her play, she is constantly telling stories and acting them out. "The girl jumped in ito the water" as she jumps off the ottoman "and swam without any floaties" as she flails her arms about. "When she got tired of swimming she decided to have some lunch" and she sits herself down for a tea party. She is a great little narrator.

09/25/2008 – Lately she has had a lot of questions about where she came from and why she is on earth. I had to chuckle when she asked if she wore a spacesuit before she came to earth.

09/25/2008 - Tonight she told me (after drawing an amazing picture on her doodle pad of a family of cats) that she was not going to draw anymore….just watch movies. “I’m going to watch movies all day and all night.”

09/20/2008 - I bought her a T-shirt that says LITTLE DREAMER on it. As soon as I showed it to her she put it on. She loves it and is her new favorite. She knows it's true...she really is a little dreamer.

09/20/2008 - Every time I trim her nails she claims it hurts! How can this be? She has gotten better at letting me wash her hair though. She likes to lay down for rinse. I think she likes to pretend she is floating in a swimming pool. =)

09/15/2008 - I heard her count to 100 all by herself for the first time! Way to GO!

09/10/2008 - Still LOVES to draw. I am amazed with her talent. Recently she drew a picture of piano hammers...yes you read that correctly. Funny girl.

09/10/2008 - Likes to ask what words mean. She never really got into WHY this or WHY that...she's a WHAT DOES THAT MEAN kind of girl. She's been experimenting this week with the word "jealous". Cute girl!

09/10/2008 - Just before school started we took her in for a cute haircut. I just love it! It makes her look a little older though.

09/10/2008 - Is turning into a cute little space nerd. She LOVES learning about the different planets.

09/10/2008 - Did I mention that a few weeks ago we watched her play soccer at the park for the first time...man, she is good. Maybe I'll end up a real soccer mom someday!

09/10/2008 - Cracks herself up when she asks me questions like, "mom, have you ever seen a cat with 7 legs? HAHAHAHA!" or "Have you ever seen a cow drive a car?" She kills me! =)

09/01/2008 - She has been enjoying the new piano. She was sitting down recently trying to pick out "Doe a deer, a female deer" and was thrilled with herself! I was too...after all that is my best song! =)

08/16/2008 - She is excited for school to start again soon. Is wanting to see her friends again. I've been watching her interact with other kids at the park and she is initiating some play. Good job Noodles!

08/16/2008 - Had a wonderful summer playing with her cousins. Really likes figuring out family relationships such as Aunt Erin is mom's sister, etc.

08/15/2008 - LOVES to sing and sing. Makes up songs, makes up words and sings them loud and strong. Occasionally she'll sing a real song like "I am a child of God" at the top of her lungs...as we stroll through the park. Thank you Annaliese. =)

08/15/2008 - For the week we were in California this summer, she took her very first swimming lessons. She was so brave. This was so difficult for her BUT SHE DID IT! She did NOT like getting her face wet but I am so proud of her! Next summer we'll go for round two! =) She wants to learn! Every bath night, she practices blowing bubbles.

07/25/2008 - Has been enjoying Art Class this summer! She loves working on projects. She gets distracted in class when she sees all the lovely confetti sparkles on the ground left over from other classes. She collects all the confetti and uses them in her own projects! =)

07/19/2008 - I woke up this morning to Annaliese leading her sisters in Ballet! So cute. Everyone was in tutus and Mozart was blasting. They were dancing all around. Too cute!

07/15/2008 - She totally gets the whole reading thing. She can sound out words. Amazing kid!

07/15/2008 - Loves making up stories. She will draw on her doodle pad and tell stories about what she is drawing.

07/15/2008 - Loved swimming in Uncle Tanc's pool. She wore a floater vest and did great! Need to get this girl in swimming lessons!

07/15/2008 - Likes to try to get me to laugh by asking things like "Have you ever seen a foot eat spaghetti?" or "Have you ever seen a reindeer wearing a necklace?" She cracks me up with the things that she thinks are hilarious.

07/15/2008 - Is loving riding her big girl bike this summer.

06/05/2008 - Today was Annaliese's last day of preschool. She was a little bit emotional about it. She perked up later when she learned to whistle! =)

06/05/2008 - Is really liking the fish that we are babysitting while the owners are on vacation.

05/26/2008 - LOVES making up songs. Today we heard her singing in the car about all the colors of the rainbow. "Yellow is the color of bananas. Black is the color of the building my dad works in. White is the color of the clouds. Red is the color of some cars. etc." Singing loud and strong. I wish I had video!

05/16/2008 - Spent most of the day today speaking another language...not sure what language though. She loves to pretend!

05/15/2008 - Clipped all 10 of her fingernails all by herself!

05/10/2008 - Cut a chunk of her own hair....luckily in the backish only half way up her hair....perfect start for her upcoming summer cut!

04/27/2008 - She was watching Kermit eat some leftover Tandori Chicken from date night. He was eating a drumstick. She examined it and asked, "Where’s the beak?"

04/24/2008 - "Mmmm....All these cookies are making me hungry!"

04/10/2008 - My picky eater has a new favorite food. Last night I put 6 grapes on her plate. "I don't like grapes!" You have to eat 4 because you are 4 years old. "I will eat three." She takes a tiny bite out of three grapes. I tell her she has to eat 3 WHOLE grapes. After she ate all three she said, "I'll eat four because I'm four years old." A minute later, “I’ll eat six because I like grapes."

04/10/2008 - Got a good report at parent conference! She is playing more and more with her friends and enjoying it. She is learning to read just from being read to! Amazing girl!

04/02/2008 - Has had a lot of questions about death lately. She started crying when on Kermit's birthday he said that he was getting old. She said, "Daddy, I don't want you to die." Too sweet. So from now on, you're not old unless you are 100.

04/01/2008 - I overheard Annaliese talking to her real friend about her imaginary friend..."Sally lives all the way to Paris. I mean, Sally lives all the way to London. Me and Sally are kind of the same. I know Rock and Blorda and Pally. Blorda has pretty bows in her hair."

04/01/2008 - Got her hair cut last week. Her second haircut ever. Very cute new style.

04/01/2008 - Enjoying school, play dates & music class.

03/13/2008 - At her 4 year check up she was 36 lbs. (50%) and 42 inches (90-90%).

I think His Tractor's.....So Cute

Here are some darn cute pictures of my girls with Kermit on the old tractor this summer. I even gave it a go this year. I found it to be much more difficult than I thought. I felt exactly like I did the first time I ever drove a car. The shifting thing is very different, so is stopping and going. Practice is needed for sure. Maybe next summer I'll be able to spend a couple hours in a field practicing. I NEVER thought in a million years, I would ever want to learn to drive a tractor. IT'S FUN, the kids loved it too. Kermit loves it for sure! Okay, I'll just say it....I think his tractor's sexy....(blush, blush).

Back to School!

It's back to school once again...my little baby is turning into a big girl right before my eyes and I'm freaking out a little. Look how big she looks! The haircut makes her look so much older...like 6 or something! NOOOOO! She's only 4 and the cutest age ever. Please don't grow anymore.

She did great on her first day back. She has her same teacher again this year. Many of the same kids are in her class again. She picked up right where she left off as if she hadn't been gone all summer. She goes three days a week this year, full day. I miss her.

Growing Fast!

A couple of months ago we bought Annaliese a big girl bike. She tried it out the first day we brought it home and then told us that she wasn't quite big enough yet to ride it. Maybe later. Well on Monday, out of the blue she announced that she was now ready to ride! We dusted off the bike and away she went just like that! She was just too cute. She was proud & so were we. She was just glowing as she rode up and down our alley. I got some video. Very sweet. She is very cautious & watchful of cars which is good. I think this weekend we'll be shopping for a few helmets. (That will complete the swimsuit biker chick image we have going, don't you think!)

Tonight (6/12/08) we worked on stopping/breaking and took a ride down the sidewalk to a little park where she practiced some more. She prefers to drag her feet to stop but she will get the hang of it soon.

Another great highlight from this week: I took all three girls to the Field Museum all by myself. They did so great! I remember last summer when the twins were newly walking and Annaliese wasn't quite independent enough to not be in a stroller when out and about. I specifically remember thinking "Won't next summer be great! I'll have a four year old who won't need to be strolled around and the twins will be two, able to climb in and out of their car seats by themselves...won't that be so great!" Well, we've arrived! I have an independent 4 year old & the twins are 2 years old... but they are doing so good! I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to be able to do this little outing to the museum single handed! IT FELT SO GREAT! I was completely self sufficient. My mothering ego soooo needed this.

I am so excited for this summer! I really think we are going to have a great time!

Schools out! Summer FUN ahead!

Today Annaliese finished her first year of preschool. She was so cute when I picked her up from school. Her class was up front singing a song for all the parents. Right in the middle of the song when she saw me come in she ran from the group to give me a hug. Melt me! Then she went back to finish singing with her class. After the songs were done she was a bit emotional. I couldn't figure out what was bothering her. I think it was just that she loves school so much and isn't quite sure what to think about not being able to go back for awhile. She didn't cry the first day of school. I didn't expect it on the last! She's just too sweet.

As a gift to her teachers, Annaliese was so excited to give them a gift card to Jamba Juice, her new favorite. It was 90 degrees or so today and humid, it seemed an appropriate gift. I told Annaliese we would go get some of our own Jamba Juice soon but couldn't today. Instead we made our own fruit smoothies here at home. I think she was very pleased...she asked for thirds. Here is the recipe. YUM! We'll be making these often I'm sure. Let the Summer fun begin!

Fruit Smoothies
6 oz Frozen Strawberries
6 oz Frozen Mixed Berries
1 ripe banana
6 oz strawberry or peach yogurt (I used lemon)
8 oz orange juice
6 oz milk

Combine in a blender. Makes 4 eight oz drinks.

Oh, I almost forgot....A great highlight... today Annaliese learned to whistle! Now I get to listen to her practice. =) She's adorable!