Here we go again

School is starting again and things are already starting to get busy around here again. Justin is lucky to have such a long Christmas break but it always seems like it speeds by so quickly. We decided Annabelle should go to preschool since the preschool was open (even though college isn't in session), she actually WANTED to go so that made it an even easier decision. It was nice to spend some time with just Justin and no 5 year old. We went to lunch at a couple different "not so kid friendly" restaurants and enjoyed it immensely!

I predicted that 2012 was going to be a great year, well, it hasn't started out so great. Justin's Grandma was sick then fell and broke her hip. Soon after that, my Aunt & Uncle's house burnt down and then a wonderful family friend/relative passed away, it seems like every time I pick up the phone there was some new, awful news on the other end. I was beginning to wonder if things were really going to be great in 2012 but hopefully all the bad stuff is just getting out of the way of the awesomeness. Ya, that's it!

Annabelle and I visited the Edinburg library this morning for story time. The program was really nice (one of our friends was part of the program, he brought his cello and played for the kids). I'm not sure if Annabelle enjoyed the program or jumping on the cushioned floor and seats after story time more? Lately she's been very outgoing and will play with just about any kids she meets. This makes me very happy because it wasn't too long ago that she would have clung to me the entire time we were in a new surrounding.

Here are some funny things Annabelle has been doing and saying lately:

"Momma, I'm feel restless"...then she proceeds to grab a pillow and roll on the floor..."I'm gonna wrestle this pillow" (I finally figured out the connection between "wrestless" and "wrestling" haha!)

Ms. Diana gave Annabelle a pink plastic Easter egg at story time this week - it was supposed to be a "penguin egg". Annabelle loves that silly pink egg, she carries it around the house, sits on it, puts it in her pocket, puts it in her car seat. Unfortunately it has been lost twice now and both episodes ended with her in tears. But we've been able to recover it. Wish I had known how much she would love pink plastic egg, I could've saved a lot of money on Christmas gifts!

Annabelle told Justin "Mom always wants me to do things by myself, sometimes she treats me like I'm SIXTEEN"

Me: "Annabelle are you going to participate in the spring dance recital" Annabelle: "No, not unless you tie one of those really tall flags to your back so I can see you the entire time I'm on stage, at the last recital I lost you and I couldn't find you!"


 So, as the busy school semester begins I'm hoping we will get to sit on the patio this weekend and enjoy the sunset and the cool breeze and watch the tropical birds fly by as they head off to roost and just relax before the chaos begins again...

Happy 2012!!

I can't believe another year has gone by and my little girl is now 5! I finally got around to having more professional pics taken (not the best photos ever but they will do). Annabelle is growing up so quickly.

We spent the holidays in Kansas visiting friends and family. Over seven days, we drove 2,200 miles through three states. It was a long, crazy trip (as always) but we survived and we're glad to be back home in sunny South Texas. We say we'll never drive back to Kansas again after these long trips but inevitably we end up doing it again and again...I guess we just love our families that much! Christmas at Sitti and Papa's house was nice as usual. Annabelle loved playing with her cousins and running laps around Sitti and Papa's house with the other kids. I enjoyed holding baby Ali and playing with Rylan since it had been a year since I had seen them. It's always a little crowded but that makes it even more fun for Annabelle since she's so used to being the only kid around our house. The last day in Kansas was not so good, Sitti and Leah both came down with a bad stomach virus that was passed on by baby Ali. We ended up leaving in a hurry and covering ourselves with hand sanitizer to avoid the bug. Thankfully no one else caught it (especially Papa who already had pneumonia!). We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home eating snacks and watching all the fireworks in our neighborhood, this year the light show was even bigger than Fourth of July! We hugged each other as it turned midnight and wished for a wonderful 2012. I just know it's going to be a great year for us!

Annabelle is FIVE!

Birthday celebration at Preschool

Preschool Photo

Barbie Ballerina Cake

Build-A-Bear Fun

Picnic Basket Favors for our Little Friends

The Crew!

....and it happened...I blinked my eyes for one second and suddenly my little baby girl is five years old. I've been both sad and happy this past week celebrating her birthday, so happy that she is such a wonderful, sweet, kind, smart little girl but so sad that she is not a baby any more. I can't believe five years have already gone by. And five means next school year my baby will go to "real" school.

We celebrated Annabelle's birthday with a Build-A-Bear party. She loves, loves, loves Build-A-Bear so this was something we had been planning for a while. We decided on a Build-A-Bear picnic theme and invited some of Annabelle's closest friends to come make a bear. It was a great party, the kids had a fun time making a bear (there was no clean up for me, yaaaaay!) and we walked to the food court in the mall for cupcakes afterwards. We celebrated Annabelle's birthday at home with a Barbie ballerina cake from DQ (ice cream cake is our favorite!) and gifts.

So excited to see what year five has in store for us. I am so proud of my sweet little girl.

Here's my facebook post from her birthday:  5 years ago today the most wonderful little girl entered my world and added a sparkle to my life. No one will ever know the strength of my love for her, after all, she is the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside. Happy birthday Annabelle!

Halloween Festivities

With Mrs. McCook, Library Storyteller

Treats for Preschool

Pencils for teachers, dance instructors and librarians

Annabelle's pre-ballet class

Annabelle's preschool class

Bubbles at the fall festival at the CDC

Trick or Treat parade on campus

It's not even Halloween yet and I feel like I've had my fair share of Halloween festivities! So far, we've celebrated Halloween: at a carnival at our friend's church, at the library with trick or treating and a Halloween story and craft, at dance class where Annabelle wore her costume and danced in costume, at the preschool where we had fun at the trick or treat parade and finally a fall festival at the preschool! Whew! That's a lot of Halloween and Halloween day is still a couple days away. We're just planning on the usual trick or treating in our neighborhood since Halloween is on a school night this year. I talked Justin into dressing as the big bad wolf to go along with Annabelle's little red riding hood costume.

I've also been baking a little more since the weather has been cooler. I pulled the crockpot out and tried a couple crockpot recipes that were not great. I tried a recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin brownies that were not good at all either. I think I'll stick to the tried and true recipes from the past!

Fall Fun with Friends

Annabelle & Sophie on the ferris wheel

Bouncing fun

Bouncing with buddies

More bouncing

Thirsty

Pumpkin patch selection

Fishing for candy

It's been a super busy weekend. Last night we went to an orchestra concert with some friends, today we stopped by a local church pumpkin patch with some friends and enjoyed the Fall Festival they were having and tomorrow I am helping to host a baby shower for a friend. Today Annabelle had a blast riding the rides and playing in the bounce houses at the Fall Festival. I think she could've bounced forever if we let her. After the festival fun we went over to our friend's house for ice cream and more fun for the kiddos. It really doesn't feel much like Fall down here, the air conditioner is still running non-stop and the afternoon sun is scorching. I can't wait for winter and the cooler weather that is sure to arrive!

One Tooth Less!

Well, the tooth finally fell out tonight. Unfortunately we weren't able to catch the little guy. It fell out while Annabelle was brushing her teeth and went straight down the drain. Justin took the trap off but no tooth. So the Tooth Fairy gets an IOU this time.

Chicken Wire

Every time I say the words "chicken wire" Annabelle laughs hysterically (like I've told some kind of hilarious joke). I only found this out because the local animal control officer was in front of our house last week trying to pick up our neighbor's dogs (that seem to get out quite often and chase bicyclers) that had escaped from their yard (side note: I really don't like dogs but I do love animals & I just didn't want to chance that they might be put to death at the pound if the neighbor didn't go get them), I was able to talk the officer out of taking them to the pound by telling him that I would mention to our neighbor that he should use some chicken wire...haaahaahaahaa!