what I need is all around me

Conversation with a toddler

AD:  What's this, Mama?
LD:  A can of corn.
AD:  What's this, Mama?
LD:  A can of corn.
AD:  What's this, Mama?
LD:  A can of corn.
AD:  What's this, Mama?
LD:  I don't know, Anna. What is that?
AD:  Lettuce.

Banners

In the past week, I've been a banner making fool.  My dear friend, Lindy, is having a baby and we're throwing her a shower in a few weeks.  She is one of my friends who really loves and appreciates my scrapbooking style.  So, it was very easy for me to offer to make her a cute banner that could hang as a decoration during the shower and then in the baby's room.  Not as easy for me to actually make it since the phrase she picked used 13 tiles.  (Just kidding...I was delighted to do it but have to give her a little guff because it was just so funny).  It turned out the be my favorite banner ever.  The colors (her choice) made it really, really easy to be creative and come up with something fun.

After completing it, I decided Anna needed one for her room.  Mary and I worked on one together last year that now hangs in her room.  It's cute and girly and true to Mary, very, very pink.  Anna, my little almost redhead, never gets pink.  She gets lavender.  And her room is a pretty mix of lavender and green.  So of course her banner is, too.  This one came together much quicker than Lindy's, partially because it was much shorter and partially because of the audience.  Anna could give a rip if it's my best work, and sometimes, taking away the pressure is all I really need.

One thing you might notice is that the banner spells out "Annie" rather than "Anna".  Done for two reasons.  First and foremost, Anna is just boring...the same two letters twice.  Hard to be ultra-creative and frankly, I run out of the A's in my stash pretty quickly these days (still cursing the fact that on my name-deciding-spreadsheet I didn't have a category detailing how the choice would impact scrapbooking since all three of my kids have an A in their name, but I digress...)  Secondly, I've determined that banners with an odd number of tiles just hang better.  Something about there being a middle tile "centered" just gives me a sense of balance.  Anyway, we try to call Anna a combo of all three of the names we think she may use in the future (Anna, Annie + Anne), but we use Anna most, and it's the name Anna calls herself.  I think Annie might be an easy transition for her once she heads to school, so I'm not feeling like a complete loser for using it in her room.  Of course, there are some of you who think I'm a complete nerd for even worrying about it (like you, Mick), so I'll remind you that I am ME, and I'm typically worrying about something stupid.

Anyway, showed it to the bigger kids (luckily at 9:20, Anna is down for the night...on the floor, natch) and Sam commented that this one was my best ever.  Cute.  Sounds to me like he's buttering me up for one in his room.  That will present a problem as I really don't have a lot of stuff to butch one of these bad boys up.  :-)  Poor Sam.

why we call...

Last night, when Anna realized Grandma Jean + Grandpa Sam were going to take her to gymnastics next week, she flipped.  Totally excited.  She cannot wait for them to come.  So we call them so she can express that to them.  But she doesn't talk.  At all.  At most, she mumbles.  Anna...the girl who cannot shut up anymore.  Weird.  Anyway, this is why we call.  Because she looks like this:

She can't wait to see them!

silly stuff

This one seems to learn new words by the minute.  Jason and I were talking about just how difficult it is to share the cuteness of her saying something like "Absolutely, Daddy!" or "It's beau-ti-ful!" when talking about cookie batter.  Our favorite these days has to be "Cho-co-laaa-te", which is pronounced a la Dora the Explorer, in Spanish.  Not chocolate.  Cho-co-laate, with the last sylable sounding like a French or Italian coffee drink.  Love it.  Love that she uses full sentences all the time now.  Love that she recites stories about herself in full detail, including fake crying when the story involves her crying.  Really, really funny.

Another bit of silly stuff?  This quote:

SL:  What is an "Oriole"? [We were watching them play the Royals]

LD:  A bird...See the little birdie on the hat?

ML:  Oriole?  I thought they were the OREOS!

my grandma anne

Yesterday, my Grandma Anne would have been 86.  I had to sign invoices + checks at work, so I wrote the date maybe a hundred times.  And every time, I thought about her.  Found this picture of the two of us circa 1978-ish and had to post...

Miss you, Grandma!

what worked for us last night

Remember those sleeping problems Anna has been having?  Last night, without speaking, Jason and I agreed that at 2:00 a.m., this way the best way to handle it...

Yup, worlds worst photo, but you try to take a picture of a dark room without a tripod and see if you can hold still for the 3 seconds the shutter is open.  Right, you can't do it either.  :-)  Anyway, this is what they looked like before leaving home this morning.  Not the greatest solution, but for last night, it's what worked...

and she even matches!

Anna is still in love with the shoes, and last night, whipped out some that even matched her outfit.  That's my girl!

She's still struggling with the sleeping thing.  Sometimes in her bed and sometimes on the floor.  Often waking in the night, not wanting to go back to sleep on her own.  It's been a frustrating thing for us all and I'm finding I'm just plain tired.

Everyone started swimming lessons this week and the big compliment comes from Sam.  Not only were they, "Not as bad as I thought they'd be", but he says that Mary is by far the best swimmer in their class.  Love that!

sisters

Growing up, I don't think I ever really wished for a sister.  My brother and I got along better than most siblings do, primarily due to my brother's immense ability to just ignore me.  I loved having girlfriends, but none of my friends who had sisters made it seem all that great.  Only now do I realize what I missed out on.  My friends Lindy and Stacy are so close, even though continents separate them.  It's like a built-in best friend for life!  And lucky for me, I get to witness it with my very own children, too.

Just a picture of my girls being girls.  Goofing around together.  They both adore their big brother (although Mary might deny that at times).  But there is something so special about sisters.  Maybe I didn't have it growing up, but I sure love witnessing it now!

what a nice weekend!

So we weren't able to see the fireworks on Friday.  Looking on my phone while at the site, we realized there was a severe thunderstorm advisory along with 60 mph winds, hail and "deadly" cloud to ground lightening.  Jeez.  So we packed up our family and headed back home.  Before we left, we saw the sky and thought it was so pretty, we took a picture:

Everyone was a bit freaked out (Sam especially), so we don't mind too much that we weren't able to see the fireworks.  Funny, but since we've lived here, fireworks just aren't a part of our routine.  And it's a shame, since unlike the midwest, there are no bugs to fight with.

Saturday was cleaning the house/hanging out at grandma's house.  I got 10 scrapbook pages done and I feel like a million bucks.  Crazy how diving in and tackling some older photos makes you feel so good about your life.  Just love it.

Today we did our grocery shopping.  Anna was a non-stop chatterbox.  Truly out of control.  Jason says this is the way she is these days while shopping.  I guess I remember this phase with Sam and Mary, but oh my gosh...it was driving me nuts (me, the other total chatterbox of the family).  She can tell a story like nobody's business, and even "pretend cries" when the story calls for it, (like when she's talking about falling off her bike and needs to add the tears in for effect...)

Last night we had a major rough night with her.  Dad got her to sleep in her bed (after sleeping with her for a bit) and we were feeling pretty good.  But then, Jason decided that he'd check one more time before going to bed.  Apparently she was tangled in her sheets.  So Jason went over, and untangled her.  Guess what?  You know it.  She totally woke up.  This was about 1:30 a.m.  I think I finally got her to sleep around 3.  No joke.  I ended up spending the entire night in her room, sleeping with her in her room.  We got up a little before six.  The only positive was that she actually made it through the night in her big girl bed.  I mean, we were with her for practically the whole night, but still...we're taking the victory!

A few pics from the 4th while at my parents:

 

What a great weekend.  Getting ready to make dinner for the whole fam.  Not very often that I get to cook for the whole crew on a Sunday, so I'm totally excited!

no fore thought...

I don't think I've changed the sheets in the kids new loft beds since they got them.  Maybe it's because I've been a remiss mom.  Mary takes a shower every night right before bed and Sam takes one in the morning so while they may not be the cleanest on the planet, their sheets just don't get "ick" the way ours do (and ours need to be changed weekly for sure!)

When we put the beds up, I was able to put the fitted sheet on before we lifted the mattress up and into place.  What I didn't really think about was how I was going to change out their sheets while the mattress was up there.

Let's just say this.  When I became state champion in the two mile, it was June.  Muggy, hot, Wisconsin June.  I didn't break a sweat.  Fast forward to this moment.  I look like I've been through Hell.  And I have.  I just managed to change out the sheets on two of my kids' loft beds.