November 21st, 2009 §
Some notes about my eldest these days:
Annabelle is my little dancer. All around the house she flutters to the sounds from the CD player, her sister playing the pint-sized piano (or Daddy’s guitar), and to the beat of her own drum. The majority of her day revolves around the make-believe world she has created for herself. She converses readily with her two favorite friends, “La” and “Yi” who take the form of whatever she happens to have in front of her: rubber duckies, baby dolls, blocks, etc. I am told that La is a 4 year old boy, Yi is a 10 year old girl, and they enjoy many privileges. For example, they are allowed to drink apple juice at night and eat candy before bed. They are also allowed to cook dinner by themselves. Annabelle would love to cook by herself. Sometimes she’ll prepare a dish or dessert for the family while I make dinner. Last night she surprised us with coconut-soup pie (acorns in a bowl) and tonight we enjoyed lollipop rings (number dice on a plate) after dinner. Thankfully, she is always quick to remind me if I have forgotten to eat one of her concoctions. I would hate to miss out on my dessert. :) She enjoys “gardening” when we’re outside and loooves to pick flowers (and leaves and blades of grass and weeds).
She is a devoted and protective big sister who often surprises me with how patient she is with Charlotte. She loves to include her in her dress-up time and often coordinates what Charlotte will wear.
She is shy around new people, but warms up very quickly. Then, once she has your ear, you’ll be lucky to get away!
Annabelle has always been on the sensitive side. She startled easily as a baby…and would subsequently scream. Nowadays her sensitivity manifests itself differently. She covers her ears when she anticipates anything bothersome, such as a loud public toilet flushing or somebody getting upset on one of her shows. She gets very anxious when there are more than a few kids around, especially if they’re running and screaming around. She also tends to be more passive around other children and will avoid confrontations as much as possible.
At 3 and a half, she is a sweet, silly, loving little girl who is truly a joy to be around.
Her current favorites:
Favorite song….She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain (frequently requested to be played very quickly on the guitar)
Favorite colors…pink, yellow, blue (and green and gray)
Favorite toy….dress-up clothes (she loves hats and skirts)
Favorite food….pizza
Favorite ways to create….she asks to play with her play dough and to draw and cut almost daily (and of course, I happily oblige)
Favorite book…right now her favorite is her children’s Bible. It’s rather thick and we’ve read through it several times now, but she still asks to read from it everyday before naps and bedtime. She also loves Curious George stories and The Adventures of Babar.
Favorite made-up word….”skaba” Mary Poppins has Supercali(etc.) and Annabelle has Skaba, to be used when one cannot think of anything else to say.
Favorite person….Gramma
Favorite movies….Sound of Music and Mary Poppins
Favorite shows….Barney and anything on Noggin
July 5th, 2009 §
(belated!)
June 15th, 2009 §
When Annabelle first told me she wanted a “banana party,” I had no idea what that would entail. It ended up being a ton of fun coming up with ideas and the party was hit with all of the kids!
First off are the invites which were, of course, bananas! I used yellow cardstock for the “peel” and used my sewing machine to stitch around the edge so that the “banana” could be inserted and removed easily. And, I couldn’t have a banana without a banana sticker, so I used sticker paper and printed off my own with a 3 on them. The fronts read, “Our little chiquita is turning 3!” and the back had the pertinent party info. They were sent with the flaps up so that the guests could feel like they were actually peeling the banana. I love these 
I found this adorable banana fabric from Moda and used it for her skirt and the goody bags. It was destiny! The skirt was made from this twirly skirt pattern and it was quite cute for the short amount of time that she wore it.
About 20-minutes into the party she changed into her bathing suit to play on the “wet banana” (AKA slip-n-slide). Ok. I’m the only one who called it this. I do believe that the slip-n-slide will make an appearance at all of our birthday parties because it’s easy and the kids LOVE IT. I will find a way to work it into whatever theme these little monkeys come up with!
Here are the goody bags. I just made very simple bags that tied with an attached ribbon. Inside the bags were paintchip-notepads, banana crayons (melted then poured into candy molds), noise makers, banana suckers, and little craft papers that I picked up in packs at JoAnn’s. I spent no more than $10 on everything total (not per bag…total!) which thrills me to no end.
Some of the kids were not quite ready to jump right in and join the fun at the slip-n-slide so they played this Banana Toss game:
We had chocolate cuppies with a light banana topping. I’ll post the recipe for the topping tomorrow (I actually have stuff to post so I’m dragging this baby out!). While I’m at this photo I’ll also point out something else that worked out and made me immensely happy. I used the tutorial for attaching plates and candle sticks from Design Sponge to make this cupcake stand and I’m just thrilled that it worked out so well! We had more cupcakes than this. I staged this quickly before the party then promptly put everthing back in the fridge before it melted. I added a banana slice to each cupcake before serving.
And, for the cake, I made this Banana Split Cake from Martha Stewart. It was a big ol’ pile of ooey goodness and it was delicious!
Thanks for stopping by and checking out our fun! Here are just a couple more pics of the girls playing with the banana toss the day after the party:
June 11th, 2009 §
Annabelle has requested a “banana” party for her 3rd birthday party this weekend. More to come…
June 4th, 2009 §
These girls are getting so big. I wish I had some time to share everything we’ve been up to lately. Hopefully soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d share this picture I got today of the two of them together. Could there possibly be anything sweeter than the love shared between two sisters? See you all very soon!
March 17th, 2009 §
Photograph taken by my two-year-old, Annabelle, of her favorite thing in the world: balls.
SOOC
Happy Wordless Wednesday!
March 5th, 2009 §
season is Spring!
I love the burst of fresh colors, the long-awaited warmth, and the promise of new life. The ducks have been chasing each other around for weeks, and I’ve assured the girls that we’ll get to see some ducklings in the coming weeks.
To see what other people’s favorite things are, click here!
March 4th, 2009 §
Lately, when I have a moment to relax, I’ve been chillin’ in my bed. Snuggled up under a pile of blankets with something soft and bright on my needles. Perfection.
To see where others relax, click here!
March 2nd, 2009 §
I am inspired by my family more than anything else. I know this is totally predictable and dripping with cheese…but it’s true.
My kids inspire me to be a better mom and a better Christian. They inspire me to be less careless about how I care for our home and our belongings. They inspire me to create things that I never would have even thought of before. They are a HUGE source of inspiration for me every single day.
My husband inspires me to be a better wife, a more thoughtful person, and a better communicator. He is the best of everything that I am not, and it’s a testament to his character that I can look up to him while walking beside him.
I know I was a fine person before these people entered my life, but with them here I continue to grow into the person I am meant to be.
Ok…enough drippy sentiment. To see what inspires other folks click here!
February 24th, 2009 §
A few days ago the girls were *begging* to paint, but I just frankly wasn’t up for a big mess late in the day. So…I let them paint with water.
It was perfect. They painted their little hearts out all over the driveway and my car until they had their fill, then jumped around in the water puddle left by the spilled water bucket.
They were then able to move on to things like examining a spider (it’s small, but it’s there)…
and jumping off anything higher than two inches off the ground.
We’ve been spending alot of time outside as of late, so I’ll be sharing some of our outdoorsy fun with you in the coming days. See you soon!
