Happy Birthday, Anna June

In what seems like about 3 minutes ago, this little doll was born. Now she’s 12. I can’t quite wrap my head around that, but ready or not – it happened.

On August 6, 1998 a teeny tiny bundle of crazy blond hair was put in my arms. Up to that moment we hadn’t known if she would be a boy or a girl. I felt confident she’d be a boy, and the one thing I knew for sure was that this baby would be bald. Neither Brennan or I had any hair until we were 2. I held my furry little girl completely awed, surprised and totally overcome with love. That is how I’ve felt about Anna ever since.

Victoria, Spencer, Abigail, David and Anna, the first grandkids.

She’s always had a little gleam in her eye. Ever since she was born she loved mischief and that combined with lightning speed, a bright mind and an angelic little face made/makes for a very lively time. For 12 years she’s been outsmarting, outrunning, and surprising us.

Fortunately for us, her sweetness and compassion keep her mischievous side to innocent fun. Anna is the most affectionate girl. When she was very young before she went to bed she started saying, “Love you, you’re the best.” She still says that, and so do each of her siblings and both her parents. I smile every single time one of us says that.

Today I registered her for junior high and took her to get her ears pierced. Next week she’s going boating with all the 12-18 year old girls and boys in our ward. Ready or not, she’s 12.

Happy, happy birthday my beautiful sweet girl. We love Anna.

Partay!

We've had a busy fun week. It started off with Brennan's mom, Grandma Jamie, coming up on Tuesday to help out and join in on the birthday festivities and left this morning. She's so easy to have and so helpful, it was wonderful to have her. She watched the kids for me on Wednesday so I could go to a luncheon hosted by my friend and neighbor, Amy, who is the hostess with the mostess! She made each of her guests a fabulous glitter cup. She is so fun and does everything all the way. The food was delicious, the table and her whole house was beautiful, and the guests were great. Thanks, Amy!

As you can see Grandma stays busy around here and we all love having her.

Anna opening some presents on her birthday morning

Cupcakes that night

Now for the big Nancy Drew birthday party. There's a recent movie of Nancy Drew out that Anna LOVES. When we were shopping for clothes she kept saying, "I want something Nancy Drewish". Thanks to a birthday party idea book, the Internet and the dollar store we pulled off a fun party yesterday. She wanted a late night so we invited her friends over at 5 for some games and activities, dinner and then the movie, of course. We got a fun idea for the invitations from our idea book (thank you, Allyson!). Anna wanted to make herself one for her scrapbook so here it is, the inside anyway:

We printed the info on velum and then glued it on backwards so they had to read it in the mirror for a little mystery

The birthday girl in her Nancy Drewish outfit

I sewed 8 little bags and filled them with notepad, pen, little flashlight, ink pad, magnifying glasses and a headband (Nancy always wears a headband). The first thing they did was choose a paper clip for their pencil with string around it and then tied it to the end of the string like Nancy uses in the movie to pick up the Will by the clip. We made our own Will and the girls stood on a chair and we timed them while they took turns rolling their string down to catch the papers with their paper clip. They got really into it.

Next we worked on our keen observation skills. I put 15 random things on a tray and let them look for a minute then took the tray away and they had to write down as many as they could. I was impressed with how many they got, one girl guessed 11 correctly. Not surprisingly, Abby who was watching from a distance also managed to rattle off 11 of the 15 to Grandma Jamie.

After that I had each girl make a thumbprint (with their handy dandy ink pad) on two separate cards. We put their names on the front of one card and on the other I put a number on the front and their name on the back. Then we laid them all out on the floor and with the help of their magnifying glasses had them match up the card with a name to the one with a number they they thought belonged to the same girl. I was kind of just doing this as an excuse to use the ink pad and magnifying glass never thinking they'd really be able to match them correctly but they totally studied and concentrated and shocked me. Anna guessed all 8 correctly!

We then let each girl pick out her favorite ribbon and glued it to their headbands. She opened presents, they ate pizza and pasta since Anna doesn't like pizza, had a decorated yogurt pie since Anna doesn't love cake and watched the movie. I was so grateful to have Jamie's extra hands, she and Abby totally decorated for me and saved the day. The girls were so cute and totally game. I was worried they might be old enough to be too cool to participate, but everyone of them got really into it and made it so much fun. Also, there was a little bit of a contrast between a party of 8 5 year old boys and 8 10 year old girls. Good times.

Anna and her guests with their sleuth kits and headbands

Fearless and Fairies

Today was a momentous day for us here in our little world. Perhaps you recall my swimming lesson saga from last year with Nate. He refused to get out of the car and we both bawled all the way home. Good times. Well, guess who jumped right out of the car today at swimming lessons? You guessed it.... Natey! He requested I walk down to the pool with him and then happily waved goodbye as I left him for his lesson. Woo hoo! I'm so proud of him and so happy for him. Way to go, Nate!

Some of you know that Anna, our soon to be 10 yr. old, has a great imagination. We love that she's still young and innocent in so many ways and that she has a happy fantasy world she can escape to when need be. There are times I feel conflicted about how to help her balance that with reality and well, honesty. I'm not sure we've found that balance yet. The following may confirm that to you, but bear in mind it was very late and there was no one awake to consult. It's so revealing about Anna though that I decided to share it.

A few nights ago Anna had a tooth fall out. The Tooth Fairy came to Anna's pillow very late at night and discovered a sweet note from this sweet little girl.

The Tooth Fairy was more than a little surprised and more than a little tired. She was touched though by Anna's sweet interest and couldn't bear to disappoint her so she stayed up for quite a while answering Anna's questions. She also is normally left-handed, but to add a little mystery she used her right hand. She is also surprisingly not artistic for a fairy.

Anna and Abby were absolutely overjoyed upon discovering not just the crisp new dollars, but a whole new insight to this mysterious Tooth Fairy. They have all of her answers memorized and they are both anticipating losing more teeth very soon for a chance at continued correspondence. This makes the Tooth Fairy adore these girls even more and also really hope that she knows what she is doing, but really doesn't think so.

4th of July and More

cousins Noah, Jonathan, Ethan

I've got to catch up here. We had such a fun 4th of July; however, we grabbed the old broken camera (which I keep on hand for Ben to play with) and so I didn't get ANY pictures of our festivities. My cousin let me take some with hers so when she emails them I'll post them. Anyway, we got up and did our chores, packed up and went to our neighboring town's parade.


I have realized that the parade actually isn't an amazing parade in that there are really very few floats. It's mainly 1,407 emergency vehicles with sirens blaring and unsung heroes in fancy cars and local business owners in some kind of truck. There are a few marching bands and cheerleaders etc. too. They all throw candy which is always fun and then after the parade part there's about an hours worth of huge trucks with huge tanks of water that come spray everyone they possibly can and then it turns into one big huge community water fight. Good times. We just love it. The water part got cut short this year due to some poor boy who fell off one of the trucks and got his leg run over.


It's just so much fun to sit and feel part of a community and visit with great company (two of my uncles and aunts and their families and my cousin and her family) and watch our kids love every minute. They had some of that yellow caution tape up in an attempt to keep the kids from going into the street. All of the kids went right under the tape and happily scrambled for candy. I noticed that Anna was a solitary figure behind the tape reaching for the rare piece of candy that got past the wall of kids way in front of her and then if she did she would give it to one of the littler kids who she felt bad for even though they were all getting plenty. We finally convinced her to get out there, but it about killed her. We heard ourselves saying all the wrong things, "Anna, just do it, everyone else is doing it." "Quit giving all of it away". Great parenting.


After the parade we went home for a little downtime. Bren and Ben napped, the other kids played, and I watched 2 more episodes of the "John Adams" series by HBO. So good! I love Abigail Adams, she is definitely one of my heroes and why I've always loved that name. I highly recommend the mini-series which I know has been released to buy on DVD, but not sure if you can rent it yet.

After our nice mellow time we went to a nearby park with some of our extended family. We cooked burgers and hotdogs, had some yummy sides and played and chatted a very pleasant evening away. When darkness set in Brennan and my uncle Mike hosted our own firework show which got really exciting when Brennan lit a fountain type firework to distract the onlookers while he lit and then threw at them a flower type firework (you know those ones that spin and fly all over). I think one sort of singed Tavin's (one of my cousins) shorts and maybe burnt his leg a tiny bit. Always good fun with Brennan. Ben wouldn't let me get him within about 200 yards of any type of firework. We enjoyed the display from a very safe distance. They finished just in time to watch the nearby amusement park firework display. Even though poor little Ben was completely spent by the time we got him home around 10:30, it was such a fun day and night. It's just a great family holiday and it always reminds me how blessed we are to live in this country. We love America!!!

Saturday we kind of lazed around and then put the house back together. Brennan and I went out with our good friends, the Beechers who are sadly moving away soon. We'll miss them so much.

Sunday we had a nice quiet day and after Church my parents came over for dinner. We always love having them and the kids were thrilled since they think the three weeks we don't go over to Grandpa and Grandma's for Sunday dinner is the most tragic thing EVER.

Today Anna had her first book club. She invited a couple of friends and had them each read one of her favorite Nancy Drew books. After having to postpone several times they finally met today. They were so cute because there were just three of these really good friends but they were being really formal and serious about it all. They discussed the book for quite some time and then I served dessert. They felt very grown up and it was so cute.

Lize, Abe and Belle came over too and I couldn't resist taking this picture. Oh she's so cute!

The Things They Say (and do)

This morning I went out to water my garden and shortly thereafter Nate came out. When he saw me he sternly said, "Mom, you can't just go outside without asking anyone!" It's good to be missed. Also, lately he's in that letter phase where he'll just list random letters and ask me what they spell. It's so confusing and frustrating for him when often I have to explain that those letters don't really spell a word. He also says, "Mom, can I have a B-R-E?" which can mean anything from an otter pop to a friend over and if I have to ask what he means it's highly offensive to him. We love Nate.

We have a song we like to sing along which goes "cool, cool water running down your face". Today Nate sang that very phrase and Abby said, "Nate, it's not 'cool, cool water!'" Nate and I both looked at her and asked what she thought it said, she was suddenly sheepish and giggled as she sang, "cuckoo, cuckoo wah-wah". We love Abby.

Ben is still very much attached to his "beep" (binky) and we've recently lost several and are down to one which is just asking for trouble. To remedy this precarious situation I bought a couple more the other day, but couldn't find his usual kind and the new ones are significantly smaller than he's used to. Today after a fruitless search for the "one" I gave him one of the new ones. He put it in his mouth and then immediately furrowed his brow and said, "MOM, not wuhking! (working)" He noticed the difference. We love Ben.

Anna and Chloe spent an entire afternoon dressing up themselves and my other kids. They also carefully applied make up to each other and Abigail and then had a photo shoot. We love Anna. Here are the results:

The sporty look

Working it

Can you see the coaching in the reflection?

Quite a team

working it, part II

model gone wild

a little coaching

note the wardrobe change on Ben.

Anna's Latest

Here's a few pictures of Anna's latest design. A vest she designed, made and modeled.

Ballet Recital

Saturday night was Anna's and Abby's ballet recital. We are so proud of them for all their hard work this year and couldn't believe the progress they made. It was so much fun to watch our two girls up on stage sparkling. I managed a couple of pictures of Abby dancing and a video of Anna dancing while Brennan and I wrestled Nate and Ben.

Abby is right in the middle.
Abby is the third from the left.

Anna's Dance Recital from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

Last Day of School!

It's the last day of school for Anna and Abby!!!! Yay! I'm really excited. I know some people think I'm nuts and I'm sure I'll be plenty ready for it to start again by the time the end of August rolls around, but for now hip hip hooray!

If Anna looks a little tired, it's because she stayed up til 11:00 last night working on cards and gifts for her teachers.

Anna is done with her 4th grade year. It was a great year for her. She had Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Ihrig who job share. They each taught every other day. I loved it because they were so organized and I feel like the teachers stay fresh and focused when they have some days off. Anna did a county report, a science project, a reflections project and published her own book this year. She got to visit the new State Capitol and get a special introduction from her senator Grandpa. Brennan got to with her and her class to Pioneer Village and rode the log flume. At the end of the year talent show she got up in front of her class all by herself and sang "Popular" from Wicked. Pretty brave! She got in trouble a few times for laughing too much. Her best friends in her class have been Sadie and Robin. All in all, a great 4th grade year! We're super proud of Anna for all her hard work and look forward to having her around this summer. We love Anna!

Abigail completed 1st grade. She had Miss Anderson this year and loved her so much. She was totally on top of things and so kind and good with all the kids. She picked Abby to go to "Lunch With The Mayor" which was a wonderful opportunity for Abby. Abby is my least quiet child at home, but in big groups she can sometimes get the most shy and intimidated. This year, she totally broke out of her quiet shell and has enjoyed some new found confidence. She has been extremely social this year and has made some really great friends. Her best friends in her class this year have been Paige and Tia. They are both in her class next year and her teacher next year is Chloe's Mom. We're so excited! Abby has really caught on to reading and loves it. She also is a really good speller and it's been fun to watch her progress so much this year. We're so proud of Abigail for all her hard work and are so excited to have her around this summer. We love Abby!