Anna Bits

Just some Anna bits and pieces I've been compiling for awhile....

Words that impress me that she uses:
perfectly, lively, discovered, interrupting, magical, opposite, online, metal detector, envelope, vending machine, creative, awfully, centerpiece, and now her ballet words: releve, plie, and 1st position

Mispronunciations that melt my heart:
Chuwocowate, Binocaweeyers, Ipsy Ipsy Spider, Pritch a fit

Sound Bytes:

• "Daddy, call me cowboy girl." 
• "Daddy, you are mommy's husband."
• "My back is firsty, my legs are sweepy."
• When her candy got taken away, she cried, "But I riwee need somefing to help my body grow!"
• "Sometimes doggies make girls happy, sometimes trees love you, sometimes people get sick, sometimes boys and girls frow up and sometimes they don't."
• "Mommy, I tell you a secret?  My boogers have germs."
• "Mommy, you don't know what comes from water?  Rain!"
• "You don't know what bananas come from? Trees!"
• "Mommy, you don't know what comes from milk?  Cows!"
• When I tell her I love her, she says, "I wuv you mooooore!"
• "My cottage is fawwin' apart!!  Stay up, you siwwy fing!" 
• Anna asked her 16 y/o cousin if she got her earrings because she was potty trained as well. 
• "Mommy, when I grow up, I wanna do laundry just like you."
• "A starts with Anna and X starts with X-ray."
• Things she says rhyme - treat and treetop, pen and pencil, melt and milk, crazy and craisins
• "It's a super duper funny Christmas day." 
• "Daddy, I wuv you be wiff me.  I wuv you.  This is a good day."
• "Dis not my favorite day anymoreeeeee."
• "I so grumpy at you right now." (with arms folded sharply around her body)
• "I'm all dried out."  I said, What does that mean?  She said, "It means I need a drink." 
• When she grows up she wants to be a cardmaker, mapmaker, tooth fairy, cowgirl, and/or ballerina.
• "Noah's my funniest brother in my whole life!"
• "I wuv all the letters ever in my whole world!" 
• Her latest song included the following lines.... "And I still love you in my life and I wuv my world and I wuv my famiwy and dog, And I wuv you mo-o-o-o-re, and God is very nice, yes, and I wuv you, tooooooo."   "Mommy, was dat a pretty song, because it was about ballerinas and princesses."
• "Dear God, please help my Daddy get these silly boogers out my nose."

In these 3 year old days of hers....

• Anna is a budding artist and very emotional about it when it doesn't go how she plans.
• She is quickly agitated at lots of noise and chaos or when she is rushed by someone.
• She has adoption envy - she wants to write to Tania and talk to her when Noah does.
• She prefers a flashlight, tape measure, and rope to any of her toys any day.
• She spends more time in her princess dress-up gowns than not these days.
• I am coming to the realization that she is one easily distractible girl.  Yikes.
• She is so bothered by any and all litter she spots that I am now roped into packing gloves and a bag in the car so we can start picking it up and praying for the litterers to stop.
• She's nap-time potty trained and does not wear pull ups then anymore.
• She's stayed dry for a solid month at night, so she's about done there, too. This is a little bittersweet, because she has passed her older brother in this milestone. :(
• She has begun playing with dolls, which makes my heart smile.
• She does not like to lose.  She gets that from me. :(
• She loves to bake with me and shop with me and check the mail with me.
• Yesterday I witnessed some very sassy and selfish little girl play/drama that caught me way off guard.  It was like she became another child altogether! 
• She is getting better and better at putting on her play make-up.  AND letting me - nay, ASKING ME TO - take her picture.

Recipe: Chicken and Gravy

I heart you, www.plainchicken.com.  This was straight up simple and yum.  

Crock Pot Chicken and Gravy

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 envelope of chicken gravy mix

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Before serving break the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Serve over hot steamed rice.

Quotes from this Week

From FB:  Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind ... and the ones that mind don't matter.

From Pinterest:  Do not promise when you're happy.  Do not reply when you're angry. And do not decide when you're sad.

From bible study: Never be duped into believing that the flesh gives and heaven takes away.

From James 1:16,17:  Do not be deceived, my dearly loved brothers.  Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.

From Kimmie's archives (still my fave quote after many, many years):  Show me a man who can't laugh at himself and I'll show you a man who takes himself too seriously. Show me a man who takes himself too seriously and I'll show you a man who doesn't take God seriously enough.   ~Ken Davis

Success on the Peanut Front

I was a happy Mommy today! Can you guess why?

We had the meeting with Union's principal and school nurse.  Now that all is said and done, I'd say we have success on several levels.

1.  We have an Allergy Action Plan in writing at the school now. 
2.  Peanut-Free table is in place and in operation now. 
3.  Noah did not have to eat alone.  His buddy Mac joined him as well as another peanut allergy kiddo and friend.

Thank you, Lord.

Easy, Pleasing Weekend

Thursday night
Kimmie's first Indian food experience with friends in Nashville.

Friday
Anna's playdate
Significant forward movement w/allergy accommodations at Noah's school.
Bunco

Saturday
Signed Noah up for Tball.
Anna and I stayed in pjs ALL day
Painted Anna's nails
CLEANED up the play room.
Garage sale score on Thomas tracks and trains.
Ordered pizza for a friend
Made chicken poppyseed casserole for another.
Noah went to a birthday party and bowled for the first time. :)
Josh brought home Frosty's since Noah couldn't have the cake. :)
Did some serious selling on GTP, Amazon, and eBay.

Sunday
Church
Lunch at McD's... which we'll never do again.  Gross, gross, gross.
Watched some great playoff games
Just enjoyed being home all day with little to do
Hunkered down for Sunday night's storms

Didn't See That Coming

While I don't know for certain how I feel about the idea of me homeschooling Anna and/or Noah, I do have a list of reasons going for why it just makes sense for our family to consider homeschooling.  I have another line item to add to that list as of today that I didn't see coming.  Noah wants to.

The guidance counselor waved me over this morning after I dropped Noah off and wanted to let me know that Noah had a small meltdown during Guidance yesterday.  She said he was crying that he wanted his mommy.  He calmed down with her sweet comforting, but she just wanted to let me know.  So when I talked to Noah about it today after school, he said it was because he wants to be with me.  He feels alone at school, he said, and he wants me not to go away from him and he wants me to teach him at home.

He said that point blank, like he has been reading my mind.  "I want you to teach me at home."  Even when I tried to gently coax him to further consider what he was saying by pointing out that he wouldn't do the things they do at school and wouldn't see his classmates, he was unmoved and reiterated with composure. "I want to stay with you.  I want you to teach me here."

Seriously?  What is a mom to do with that?  How heavily do I weigh a 5 y/o's request for home schooling?  Hmmmmm.

Still, I'll go ahead and add it to my list of pros/cons in our ongoing homeschool discussion.  That would be filed under a pro, I guess?

One More Reason

One more reason I will be homeschooling Noah in no time .... I had to send this email tonight after I picked my jaw up off the floor and recovered my breath at the news:

Hey {Noah's teacher},

Tonight, Noah let us know that at lunch today {Noah's friend} offered his pretzel dipped in peanut butter to Noah and Noah willingly dipped his finger in it and wiped it next to his mouth.  I thank God he did not actually put it into his mouth and that he decided to tell us what happened.  He couldn't sleep at bedtime because he was having bad dreams about peanut butter ... which is how the conversation came up at all.  We have discussed this at length with him tonight as a result and he knows that we cannot risk something like this happening again.  So, in light of this close call, we want to go ahead and have Noah permanently seated at a separate table at lunch from now on.  Whenever possible, it would be so nice if he could have a friend sit with him as well (with no peanuts/butter in their lunch, of course).  Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for how to handle this.  Feel free to call as well.  My number is ....

And, just to be wise about this going forward, Josh is going to contact {the principal} tomorrow about initiating a 504 plan for handling Noah's allergy at school.  Thanks for your help with this thus far this year. 

Kimberly 

Help My Unbelief

Hmmmmmmm.  I've got this song stuck in my head. 

Help My Unbelief by Red Mountain Church



I know the Lord is nigh,
And would but cannot pray,
For Satan meets me when I try,
And frights my soul away,
And frights my soul away.

I would but can’t repent,
Though I endeavor oft;
This stony heart can never relent
Till Jesus makes it soft,
Till Jesus makes it soft.

Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
My help must come from Thee.

I would but cannot love,
Though wooed by love divine;
No arguments have power to move
A soul as base as mine.
A soul so base as mine.

I would but cannot rest,
In God’s most holy will;
I know what He appoints is best,
And murmur at it still.
I murmur at it still.

Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
My help must come from Thee.

It's Been THAT Kinda Day

This morning after church, Noah declared that God told him that there would be no more snow this season.

Anna declared from the tub tonight, "I makin' bubbles wif my bootie in the bafftub!"

Anna's been getting a LOT of crusty nasty around her eyes.  And she still has remnants from the same cold that landed her in the ER last month.  And today she started saying her ear was hurting and her throat, too.  Sho' nuff, the nice nurse at CVS Minute Clinic found an ear infection - and probably strep that she didn't look into that much because that will get taken out with the antibiotic for the ear.  She said the crusty eye bit is related to the ear infection - who knew?! She also told us to watch Noah closely.  With his sore throat and diarrhea symptoms from today, she says that is classic strep.  I did not know diarrhea was related to that!  You just learn something new every day!

Took Noah skating today (before I heard the possible strep diagnosis) and he was a TROOPER, I tell you.  It doesn't come easy to him, and it keeps me on pins and needles to watch him make unsteady rounds in a big room full of people, but he stuck with it and only cried a few times when he wiped out. :)  I am going to get him some better skates so he has a better chance of doing ... better. :)

I discovered a bookshelf full of dried up nasty boogers and snot in Anna's room tonight.  Counted them for accuracy in reporting as well.  11.  Dis-gust-ing.  I let Anna know in no uncertain terms that THAT little habit better stop immediately.

Anyone besides me ever let the clutter around the house get so bad that you get to a breaking point where you just can't breath and then you go into a whirlwind of picking up and you insist that everyone else within shouting distance better join you or else ?!  Oh that was me tonight.  And it's all better now.  Noah ended up being the man of the hour and was much, much help. Bless him.

Recipe: Fruit Smoothie

I realize a smoothie is simple enough that it probably doesn't actually NEED a recipe.  But for me, it does.  My brain just does need the clear direction.   This was too yummy.  Just ask Anna.  It was her first ever "smoovie" and she said I made the best smoovies ever.  So there. ;)

Strawberry-Orange Smoothie
(makes 4 servings, 1 cup each)

• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen whole strawberries
• 1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Jello-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

Blend ingredients in blender until smooth.  Serve immediately.

Anna and I added whipped cream and ate it with spoons because it was thick enough, but the recipe also suggested adding a bit of club soda for a little fizz.  I imagine that would make it more liquidy for straw-style consumption.  Will try that way, too.

Tid Bits

I snatched up this sweetie pie swimsuit for Anna off Girlfriend's Trading Post and as soon as I put it in Anna's hands she said, "{Gasp} It's beautiful!  It's wike a giraffe's baving suit!"

On a completely different note, I am resigning from my spot in the dog loving community.  It's been coming for awhile actually.  Chewie is only still alive and with us because I fear for Noah if he were to find the dog had been burned alive while he was away at school,  which is how I would like to kill him for peeing in my bed twice in a single week. 

I think both my kiddos are having growth spurts and I love it! Just in time for spring/summer consignment season.  I signed up for one of the sales today, in fact.

Noah got his second 9 wks report card.  So pleased with how well he receives his instruction and keeps up.

Speaking of school, did I tell you I pulled Anna out of MDO in December? I did.  And she may stay by my side til Kindergarten the way things are looking.  And by then, I may just home school ... BOTH of them.  Can't even believe I am allowing it to even approach my radar, but I find that I am.  I don't know.

We got free tickets to a Predators game this weekend.  So we headed downtown and also ate out at Old Spaghetti Factory.  It was a wonderful night out with the kids!  I was surprised they did so well staying up 3 HOURS past their bedtimes, but they did.

What are Little Girls Made of?

What are little girls made of?  Sugar and spice and everything nice, is what they say.  And I believe it a little more every single day with my Anna.  

Today my girl got busy making a wish list and invitations to her own surprise birthday ... that isn't for another 9 months and isn't really a surprise if she is planning it herself. I tried to explain that to her but she just cannot be bothered with those details.  She's too preoccupied listing stuff she wants and naming what color balloons she'll need and telling her guest list that she loves them. 

She folded it up with such care and carted it to church and back today.  And then when she couldn't find it again later, she actually cried, so forlorn was she.  So much heart and sincerity had she put into her plans.

At bedtime tonight when she prayed with Daddy, she thanked God for the moon and the stars and Chick-Fil-A.

She's a girl after my own heart with the way she wields the words she learns.  I've caught her using words like - dangerous, startled, politely, impressed, certainly, actually, creative, also, sure, binoculars, and now littering.  She's even starting to get choosy about her words ... and mine.  When we went to the store to buy some supplies for a craft she wanted to do, she asked me not to call it a craft because she likes the word "project" better. Then she changed her mind and said she would like to call it both - a craft project.  :)

She has a spot on her head right where her part is that keeps getting cradle cap.  She sits real still while I work on getting it out and she says, "You getting da cradle crap out?"

She is passionate in her thoughts about people who litter.  When she spots trash on the ground, she says, "Why doze people always leave their trash on the ground?!  They are lazy and crazy and selfish!  They are making God grumpy and mad!!"  Today she went further by saying they should take care of this world God created.... which is a line I may have fed her ... but knew she would agree wholeheartedly.

My sweetie pie also turns her thoughts into songs with lyrics to the effect of, "I wuv dis day.  Dis day is bright and good.  I wike to play my keyboard. I can see da moon.  Christmas is over. Dis day is good..."  A sample of her songwriting...

Three-year-old Anna is my favorite aged Anna yet.  I hang on her every next word. :)

First First Position

Last night was Anna's 

first ever

"first position"

and all that other

ballet speak.

What a delight.

A Vision in Pink and Whiskers

Anna let me put pig tails in her hair today and I was enamored with the result.  I ♥ piggie tails and to my lament, Anna does not.  But today?  Today she did!  I had to capture the moment.

Then, Noah felt inspired by her pig tails.  Seeing them more as dog ears, he added a few finishing touches to my masterpiece.  Whiskers (among other make-up streaks)...

and many, many barrettes and bows.

Hair Wars, anyone?  Game on, Noah!

To Do in 2012

Oh 2012, I have plans for you...

1.  Organize recipe and coupon binders once and for all
2.  Start Anna in ballet, Noah in swim lessons
3. Redo master bathroom
4. Take an anniversary trip with Josh
5.  Scan pre-kid photos of our family into digital files
6.  Update/maintain Noah's Life Book
7.  Get active again via elliptical and Wii
8.  Update all online account passwords
9.  Read HCSBible chronologically in a year
10.  Join our church finally
11.  Start family bible study routine using Long Story Short
12.  Get both kids nighttime potty trained!