I love this one

This one is just cute. Shows her fun girlie playfulness right now. Oh how she LOVES her 'clappy' shoes, necklaces, purses, scarfs, 'pretties' in her hair, fingernail and toe nail polish, etc.

Of course this picture was taken just before that cute little blue necklace that Annaka's grandma (my mom) wore when in high school, went into her mouth. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth which has lead us to adopt the rule that whatever I catch in her mouth gets taken away for 24 hours. Sad day for her.

When will we ever get over this putting stuff in our mouths???!!!

Snooze

This is what happens when you play in your bed for an hour before falling asleep. You fall asleep in the middle of some deep thought, or in a conversation with your (fill in the blank with any of the following....stuffed animal, imaginary friend, the wall )

Oops...

Papa lost his head:(

Sad to say our little WillowTree figurine made it all the way to Asia only to fall over while on our dining room table.....and the husband/father's head fell off. Well, at least we get to learn where to buy super glue now.

Photo Ramblings....

A big fat prize to whoever can tell me what this is a photo of.
Bueller.....Bueller....Anyone....

It is the base of our bathroom window.

Ok, you can scroll back up and look again. See it now? Talk about insulation huh. I can almost fit a shoe out the crack between the window and the window sill. Well, maybe not a shoe but definitely something. It was a problem when an army of hundreds of aunts would come invading inside and would make their way to my kitchen.....and now is an agent of letting HOT air inside! Yes, it is supposed to be 40 degrees on Sunday. Celsius that is. (110 F) We are only at the begining though. I wont even bring up what it will be in May.

There is the top of it.

On a cuter note...

Here is our little Picasso eating. Ha! Whats new! She LOVES to eat.....somedays. On those days her repeated phrase is "I wanna snack" or "I want Bob" (she calls ALL fruitsnacks 'bob' because grandma got her some veggie tales fruit snacks over a year ago) Other days it is applesauce smapplesauce nothing is going down the hatch without a fight. Usually on these days I can make some Dal and that is about all I can get down her. That or if she happens to find a fruit snack packet in my purse when I am not looking. Mealtimes are NOT fun on those days. She fights as we require her to eat a bare minimum. (Yep we are mean)

Oh well, it all evens out huh? And vitamins help on the tough days.

(p.s. She typically LOVES applesauce)

Happy Birthday Clinton!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! 32 years young....when does old start? My perception of this changes almost daily.

Anyway, I love you and am excited to see what the Lord brings in the next 32 (plus more) years!

Here is the birthday boy's cake....

Whoops, not done yet.

Final product.

Time to eat cake!

Happy Birthday Clint! I love you!

C Week

Each week we feature a different letter, make something that begins with that letter.....cook something that starts with that letter....talk about an animal that begins with that letter.....

... well, that is our intention...

Because we have been busy, and have had guests, it has been more like a letter every three weeks. In this case it will take a year and a half to get through the alphabet. We better speed up!

B week (or weeks) were filled with Bumble Bees and Bubbles....this week its cats, caterpillars and cake!

We colored the body circles of the caterpillar....
Annaka like to play with them along the way.....so many things you can pretend random colored circles are......here are some eye glasses

Colored and glued on the legs....

Final product....Today (tuesday) we will eat carrots and Thursday we will make a cake!
(I have no idea why my webcam gives me mirror images.....Oh well, this is what Annaka cut and glued(pasted as my grandmother would say) today.....

Fun day.

Until there was a tantrum because it was time to put the glue away......

Catching an artistic moment....

Catching an artistic moment is not always that easy. Especially for me who is not the photography pro like my hubby. One day we were sitting on the couch talking and saw Annaka at the dining room table 'drawing'. Before we knew it she pulled the note pad to the bench, stood on the paper and began tracing her feet. I grabbed the camera and Clint got some good photos from under the table!

Tracing her toes....

What would any girl do next?

Color her painted toenails of course! She colored them blue....to match her dress. Maybe we will have to get some real blue toenail polish as well:)

Too bad we did not get a photo of her little tongue that sticks out when she is concentrating.

Trouble

Scheming little two year old friends.

What are they scheming?


Maybe the pile of toys I found on the playground below will explain....



Not only were they throwing toys over the edge of porch.....they did it in style! (Note the 'clappy' shoes and tutu)

Annaka enjoyed having her friend Haprer visit. It was fun to see them play together.

Friends for life....

Friends in the womb....(only a month apart)

(7 and 8 months old)


And continues even at 2 1/2....

Sweet Moments

Most days, one of my favorite times is reading Annaka her bedtime story. We get her Bible storybook out and have been reading one or two stories a night. (I say most days because I am human and am some days flat out exhausted....or its Clints turn that evening) I lay beside her and we read and converse. Most days she listens well and talks about the story. One day last week we could not get through the story at all. We were reading about the good Samaritan. All Annaka could focus on was the fact that in the picture the man was laying on the ground and there was a donkey beside him so *obviously* there was a problem...."The donkey ate his clothes!"
She would not even let me read the story. I eventually was laughing so hard I had to stop and call it a night. She was so worried about that man's clothes. We still have not gotten through that story. Maybe in a couple weeks or with a different little Bible story book ... with a different picture... I will try again with the good Samaritan. :)


On another note...

it has been fun to see these times in the Word shape her little heart and actions. She was having a difficult time obeying one day. Many times she got in trouble for not obeying and then refused to say 'thank you' or 'Im sorry'. Even just before bed Papa told her to 'come here' and she said no, stomped her foot and threw a fit. In the last moments of the day the Bible story we read was the Prodigal son. We were talking about how he came back and said he was sorry to his Papa and his Papa forgave him and gave him a big hug. She immediately said "Oh, I need to go say Im sorry to Papa" , hopped off her bed, ran into the living room, jumped on top of her Papa, gave him a hug and said "I sorry for disobeying Papa!" No prompting. Simply putting two and two together. I love watching how the Word shapes her little heart.

Picasso

Memories. Nicknames. Sweet moments.

Sweet moments that we look back on with a smile come quite often. Many of these are times when we were trying to 'punish' Annaka yet end up trying hard to disguise our smile/laugh. For example last week when Annaka was having a hard time falling asleep. I went in and did not see her in bed. After searching, I found her hiding behind my bedroom door, my lipstick all over her face and cotton balls in both hands and a gigantic sleepy....past midnight...smile.

But this next one...no....this was not one of those moments.

This was a moment of my pure disappointment a moment where Mama is purely upset. Annaka has yet again taken a crayon to something other than paper. No, this is not her first offense. I went in her room two months ago to find purple crayon on her wall. When I asked her if she colored on her wall her reply was "Yes, and my floor too" This time I looked in her room to see brown crayon on her floor, dresser drawer,
side of her dresser,

and on the toilet seat in the bathroom(I will spare you a picture of that one). First of all, yuck, why was she even in the bathroom in the first place....and with a brown crayon...coincidence? Hmm?

(do you see she even moved a little box beside the dresser to stand on to 'color higher'. Creative)

This situation has brought two things to mind.

1. I am thankful marble is the local lineoleum. Cheap and covering the floors of every house/apartment/store/etc. It may be tough to stand on all day but crayon wipes right off with a wet rag, Yay.

2. I am also thankful I brought a magic eraser with me from the states. Most of it (from other locations) is gone!

Even though this was an event to boil my blood....Clint seems to help me keep my perspective (remember THIS post?) He, after giving her a stern talking to, began laughing and decided to give her the nickname Picasso. He helped me to enjoy the little moments. (after the punishment time that lasts all of two minutes for a two year old) Thank you honey!

I am working on another post about this. About enjoying the sweet little moments and savoring every blessing. Some things the Lord is working on my heart about etc. Maybe another day or two.

p.s. She calls herself Picasso sometimes now.

What is she eating?

Cold peas. Yuck.

She is my little local lady who loves rice, dhal, veggies, rice, and cold peas!? Well, ok, I dont know where people really eat cold peas but had to throw them in somewhere. Did I mention Rice? She loves rice.

More coming hopefully tomorrow.....thought I would get one photo up now.

And please dont mind the wild hair. She may not like this photo in 12 years.

All in one night....

There are many moments that I wish we had a video camera or at least a voice recorder on Annaka. It seemed like there was a couple hours tonight that I wish we could have captured what she said and talked about.

1. Clint’s Mom, Sister and Grandmother sent Annaka one of those Hallmark books where they can record their voice on each page reading to her. Annaka loves to listen to it over and over again repeating....or rather saying with them....every word. Tonight she had a friend over who was listening to the book. Annaka told her friend “That is my Papa’s Mom, Mudder (Mother), and other Mudder.” It was said quite matter-of-fact.

2. When reading a story at bedtime we were talking about how God provided with a gold coin in the mouth of fish Peter caught. The following was the conversation that directly followed the story.

Me: Annaka, God provided for their needs. Do fish normally eat gold coins?
Annaka: No.
Me:Do you know how the gold coin got there?
Annaka: Mommy, they ate goldfish.

Matter of fact.

On another note.....We visited a stepwell that was beautiful.....

Does it look familiar?.....

3 and a half years ago we stood in the same spot:) Minus one cute little girl......and a few pounds!

Im in the club....

Yes, I am officially 'in the club.' No, not some club that gives you high social status or a free pool to swim in. I now have the accepted 'in' to my little girls special blankie club. When snuggling last week I was enjoying my little moments of holding my little girl close and thinking of how these days of her being this little will not last long. She was (as ALWAYS while snuggling or going to sleep) rubbing the silky ribbon lining of her blankie on her nose when slowly her eyes looked at me, her hand quit rubbing it on her nose and she rubbed it on mine. Sounds like a simple thing but this is her sacred blankie. There is nothing as calming or soothing to her as the feel of this blankie being rubbed on her face. Amazing how she can be having the worst moment and instantly is calmed. For the first time, she allowed me to join in:) I love being a mom!

*Someone* (you know who you are) complains that there are not enough pictures posted of Annaka. Ok, so lets play a little game......

What can we see in a photo.....Lets see.....

1.Annaka LOVES to play with her dolls/stuffed animals. She also loves to steal my dish towels and washcloths. I find her dolls and stuffed animals in many places around the house 'tucked in' for a 'nap' using a dishtowel or washcloth as a blankie....again everyone should have a special blankie to rub their nose with.

2. One would think that a two year old would get their shoes on the correct feet 50% of the time. Hmmm, I would venture to say the more accurate percentage is 5% of the time. How does this happen? Anyone? Anyone?

3. Can we say "Crop the photo mommy!" Yes, that is the potty seat in the back ground. The potty seat she will NOT use. Anyway...I will save this for the next post.

(Does anyone see that she is actually holding Elmo's hand? Sweet.)



I got a kick out of looking at her many facial expressions....Clint caught her in the act of sitting with her stuffed animals, singing to them, then hugging her little puppy.

(I have no idea about this one....singing? talking? One will never know)

Oh, and I posted this following one on fb but had to re-post it. Annaka LIVES in these shoes. She calls them her 'clappy' shoes. I guess because of the sound they make. That day she wore them with my fuzzy socks. Can we say 80's comeback....and she knows nothing of the 80's.

Even matches her dress. How 'girl'ish of her:)

Confessions of both Mama and Daughter....

Mama first...well, cause I am writing this....

1. When I get on the elevator I not only hit the button for the floor I am going to but I hit the 'close doors' button repeatedly. (When no one is trying to get on of course)

2. I put on Ratattoue rather than Minnie Mouse for my two year old(even though that is what she was asking for) because I was tired of listening to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song.

3.The Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite people even though I have never met her. I am reading the pioneer woman’s blog while eating dinner. Saddly, I am eating plain spagetti noodles (leftover) with butter on them for dinner. Is that allowed? Reading the blog of a wonderful cook, yet eating bla...plain...leftover noodles. Oh well, if I dont eat them tonight , the trash can eats them tomorrow.

4.After being stingy with bubble wrap and tissue paper when putting away Christmas decorations, I found three unused pieces of bubble wrap. Part of me wanted to get my decorations back out and utilize these pieces of treasured bubble wrap. Guests are coming tomorrow, more cleaning is waiting me right now....so I will stick them in the cabinet beside the box of Christmas decor to use on a less busy day....who am i kidding they will probably stay there (or shoved in the Christmas decor box), unused, until next year.

Confessions from Annaka....

1. Annaka likes "chocolate in a line". I had no idea what this was until I looked at her handmotions as she asked (begged) for it. Fingers closed, flat and fingertips touching...."I want Chocolate in a line....no the one in a line" Chocolate in a line=Candy Bar

2. After being scared out of her cute little pants in a restaurant that reminds me much of Rainforest Cafe in the states...Annaka is now not fond of Rhinoceros. "That one that moves its head, thats one that moves its head, that rhinoceros is gonna kill me" ....oh my.

3. Art can be found in anything. Even when oatmeal is smeared in our hands and then our hands are clapped leaving a splattering design on the floor. "Oh pretty mommy, look" ...Annaka was very amused....mommy was not.

4. Confession....Annaka is very good at the art of delay. One night we put her to bed at 8:30pm...she was still awake at 12:30am when we went to bed. We decided a slumber party was in order so she came to sleep in our bed.
As soon as we lay down she said..."There are shadows on the ceiling, its from a car outside"
Me: Yes, now it is time to go to sleep.
Annaka: I just wanna talk to you mommy.
Me: Now it is time to be quiet and go to sleep, when we wake up and eat breakfast we can talk more.
Annaka: Ok mommy, I will be quiet now and then when i wake up we will go eat breakfast and then i will talk to you.
Me: ok, good night sweetheart.
Annaka: Good night mommy, i am going to be quiet now but when i wake up in the morning, i am going to eat breakfast and talk to you.

*cue the exact same conversation for about 10 minutes.

5. Oh there could be so much more....

Pics I never posted from Christmas

So we got a little behind....here is a brief photo overview of some Christmas events....


We made gingerbread houses three times with different friends who live around us....


I was very surprised that Annaka was old enough/interested in actually putting it together. She really knew what to do. I put the icing on and she put on all of the candy. I tried getting pictures of Annaka by our house...but her tongue was sticking out for every one....

This is her face after being told not to stick out her tongue anymore because mommy wanted a picture of her pretty smile.....

Ok, maybe this is better....

We also made Christmas cookies to deliver to friends who live near us...after rolling it out we realized we did not have any cookie cutters. I found an elephant and a whale cookie cutter in Annaka's toys. We can make an elephant work:) (Doesnt everyone have Christmat elephants?) :)



I cut out a few trees, candy canes, what was supposed to look like a star...then gave up and used a lid to cut circles. Ah I know on thing I will bring back with me next time....

Im Dreaming of a White Christmas....

Much to our surprize, pleasent surprize I might add, we got to experience a white Christmas just a few days early! In a land where temperatures hover around 75-80 during the day we escaped to a salt desert for a few days. Camels took us from our tents to this great place. Annaka loved riding on the carts and learned that Camels spit. If you ask her what a camel says she squints her eyes and pretends to 'spit'.


The camels are decorated beautifully and are ridden by patrolmen. Each division of law enforcement has a different head dress.


The desert really was amazing. I have never seen anything like it! Salt covered the ground looking much like snow!

Friends were made along the way.....


Annaka also got to ride a train here for the first time! Four letters....C.O.L.D...it was an overnight train and we about froze! Was not expecting that. Should have brought warm blankets:) On the way home, it was playtime for Annaka...so she thought.


We were so exhausted we came back a day early. Just enough time to make cookies and deliver them to friends for Christmas!