Bits & Pieces on Anna

I have such a long to do list today, but I had to write a few things before I forgot them. First, the above is a picture of some writing that Anna's teacher sent home from school. She emailed that she had something that I would get a laugh out of in Anna's folder. It's a few sentences (sorry for the bad copy, it wouldn't scan) about her latest obsession - Jumpstart world. If you've never let your child get on jumpstartworld.com, don't. My mom got her a few cd's & they are great learning games, but the online games repeated block areas & encourage the kids to "go ask your mom & dad if you can become a jumpstart member to access this part of the game". We said no to the $8 a month fee, so now we have to stick to it. She has devised so many ways to earn the money for this venture including selling lemonade for $8 a glass, having a garage sale to make money from old toys, & selling our van. We've said no to all, and a few times I've told her that she is going to make me lose my mind if she keeps talking about it.

The paper above reads: "I wish I could mack my momy loos her mid and bcume a jup strt mimbre so I could go and stop the pese pupux from tace ofre lost ilid. I luve it."

Translation: I wish I could make my mom loose her mind and become a jumpstart member so I could go and stop the pesky punk-punks from taking over lost island. I love it.

Our baby birds have hatched... Anna changes their names often. The latest have been Anastacia & Driscilla (no idea how to spell the stepsisters names).

Anna participated in a dance team fund raiser at our high school. She & Kylee spent the day learning a 20 second dance from the high school girls that they performed for the parents. Anna was set on doing it, even though she's never taken dance & usually really gets upset about having to perform in front of people. We were so proud that even with some nerves on the morning of, she danced with a happy heart & smile. You can see her on the bottom row in the middle.

Last, I have to record an answered prayer for our sweet girl. She recently came home so upset that a little girl in her class was calling her a name. She said that she had "flutterflies" about it all day & wanted me to call her teacher & explain the situation (there had been some tattling). We talked for a long time about how instead of going to the teacher, we just needed to pray that God would change this little girls heart & how He would want Anna to react to her & reach out to her. We prayed about it together & Anna prayed alone as well. It was one of those great teachable moments that I prayed so hard for God to use to strengthen Anna's faith. Yesterday she came home jumping for joy (literally) that this little girl had suddenly become so sweet. She had even given Anna some compliments that day. Anna said that her "flutterflies" were all gone & she gave the credit God for changing this little girl's heart & helping her to make good choices during it all. I was so thankful to Him for answering her prayer so quickly & obviously.

First Day of Mae's School & Anna's Grandparent's Day

Could she be any more happy that school has finally started? I think she would have driven herself there if I'd let her. To add to the excitement, Grammy was in town to help me this week & she was the "shining star" on the very first day. The next day she spent about two hours playing "turtle class" with Grammy & all of her stuffed animals.

Sweet turtle girlfriends - Katie & Camryn. Her friend Gabe got there shortly after this as well. So much fun to have church friends in class!

She has two really sweet teachers this year - Miss Kelli & Miss Melanie

Another reason for Grammy's visit was Anna's grandparent's day. I wish that all of the grands could have been here - but in just a short week & half we get to go to Disney with Nana & Pappy - yeah! Dingdaddy needed to work, but we were so glad that Grammy could come. I know it made Anna's week.

Love this silly face - these two are such sweet friends!

What we've been up to...

Daddy found a bird's nest in the backyard. The mama bird won't leave her nest so that we can get a peek to see if the eggs have hatched. Anna & Mae have spent lots of time watching for the opportune moment & Anna has come up with lots of ideas to lure the mama away. A few: scare her away with the fly swatter, lightly pinch her with tweezers, or throw some leftover spaghetti over the fence that she might think are worms. Since we don't want a traumatized mama bird, we've vetoed all the plans so far.

Mae got to go to meet the teacher at preschool on Tuesday. She's talked about becoming a "turtle" (her 3's class) for weeks, so she was very excited that the day had finally come. She'd seen me take Anna's first day pics, so she wanted to go pose on the front porch. I was glad that we got cute pics before the first day rush. Above she's playing with her former ladybug friend - Camryn. So glad that they are in class together again along with other sweet friends.

My mom came up this week to help with taking care of the girls while I had a workshop & dr's appt & for Anna's grandparent lunch (next post). She helped the girls decorate & bake this cake while I got to hang out by myself with a book - heaven! We were so thankful that she was here for such a busy week. On a side note - thank you Lord for a good doctor's report! I've gotten lots of misinformation so far, but I finally saw a great endocrinologist who was very helpful.

I had to post the cake recipe that Anna gave my mom while they baked. She said that it's from Martha Speaks (PBS)... thank goodness my mom didn't follow this too closely! :)

Anna's Cake

2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2 eggs

1 cup and a teaspoon vanilla

Set the oven for 30 minutes. When you hear the beeper, take it out of the oven & put a toothpick in to see if it is ready. Take it out, but if it's not ready, put it back in for 5 more minutes. :)