Oh the things they do...

So I uploaded all of the pictures on my camera yesterday and was surprised to find 800+ photos that needed to be sorted. Imagine my surprise in finding over 50 variations of this:

Then there were the 60+ versions of this:




And lots more random images from around the house and the neighborhood:

I'm glad she enjoys expressing her artistic side through photography. I am even more glad that I have a digital camera and didn't have to pay to get it all developed only to find these masterpieces.

Oh the things they say...

On the way to the pool this afternoon, we passed about a dozen yard sales which prompted the following conversation with Mitchell:

Mitchell: Why do so many people have yard sales in the spring?

Me: They have too much junk laying around the house and they need to get rid of it so they throw it out in the yard and people come buy it.

Mitchell: In that case, can we have a yard sale soon? We have plenty of junk to get rid of.

Me: Nope. I clean the house and give our junk to NESAP (local charity) on a regular basis while you are at school. You never even notice that it is missing.

Mitchell: (In a loud, pleading voice) OH NO!!! NOT MY JUSTIN BIEBER ACTION FIGURES!!!

That kid cracks me up!

My little Snugglebug

Anna is a hot or cold kid...sometimes she is super lovey and calls me her snugglebug. Other times (as demonstrated by the previous post) she likes us all a little less--even going as far as to yell through her tears: "you are not even treating me like I am your own daughter." This week has been a good one--I'm thinking Christmas has something to do with it but it's okay...I'll take it.

Her prayers at night have been wonderful. You know...the ones that make you sigh and think: Is she serious or is she trying to delay bed? Last night she was thankful for the earth and people, friends and family, shelter, the TV and the flooring, and "the entire world." (Just to name a few things mentioned in her extended prayers.)

She loves to sing and does so quite often but this week's song was the best! "I love my life! I love my life! My life is great 'cause my mommy loves me." (repeated about a dozen times as she danced on top of the kitchen stool)

Anna's art.

I think I am in for a rough road with this little girl of mine. Yesterday she was incredibly grouchy in the morning and made us quite late for church. I told her that her temper tantrum was punishable by grounding from electronics and she countered by stating "Mommy, you can't ground me. I am only a little girl." I tend to believe that one that can throw tantrums of that magnitude and then try to reason her way out is definitely old enough to grasp the punishment. The reality really sunk in after school today when I wouldn't let her watch t.v. (not that she does that every day anyway). This is the picture she drew to show her objection to my punishment:



Obviously, she is the one with the tears and tongue sticking out and I am the one with the big happy smile. One sad girl and one "very mean mommy."

Anna's comings and goings

The past six weeks have been incredibly busy for our little lady! She took the dance world by storm as part of Peter Pan, splashed the day away at her Pre-K water day, and graduated from her Pre-K program. In between, our baby turned five and celebrated with breakfast in bed and bouncing the day away in a bounce house set up in the back yard. Here's a glimpse into the life of Anna!

It's Great to be Eight.

Lexi turned 8 and celebrated in style with a sleepover party for five of her little friends. Together they decorated tshirts,made hair ties and beaded bracelets. Add a dance party and few late night movies and we had a giggly bunch of little girls. Happy Birthday Baby!

 

 

 

 

Kids know

 

Last week, Anna made this picture at school. While she is quite defensive about her snowman and insists that he isn't crying, I believe that she had a glimpse into the future: even the snowman is sick of snow and reduced to tears.

Fun in the snow

 

Melting

So the snow may be holding steady but Anna is melting. After a rough morning--fighting with anyone that she talked to-- she declared that she was moving to live with a new family. I asked where she was going. She quickly fired back that she was going to Seattle and I need to take her to the airport. When I turned for the camera, this is her response. Each picture was accompanied by a dear little four-year-old screaming, "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Over and over again.

2010 Snow Storm

I feel like I already posted this but we have had two huge snow storms in less than six weeks. Here is the February 5-6 snow storm that dumped over 2 FEET of snow across most of the state of MD (and VA and PA...but I'm not worried about them.)
You know it is a big storm when you have the view that Mitchell had out his bedroom window. The snow was even with the window ledge.

At the height of it all, we measured right around 25" in our front yard but there was a bit of blowing and so it might have been a little more or less. Anna didn't want to spend much time outside since she couldn't really do much unless the area had already been cleared. (It did come well above her waist as you can see from the front sidewalk.)

Here is our house in the winter wonderland. Our neighbor picked up his late Christmas gift on Friday morning. The snow storm tried to swallow that little thing up but in the end the snowblower won and made our lives much easier.


We've got some fun neighbors. Three of the four families on our street worked together to clear the street and our driveways. Valencias brought the snowblower and provided warm chocolate chip cookies when we finishes. The people behind us decided to have a little fun with the snow and we found this cowboy sticking out of the snow when they had finished digging out.


Here is our work party slaving away. Thanks for the help everyone!