The Annas

Saturday we had a reunion of old friends. Anna met up with her old friend, Anna. The girls, who are only one day's age apart, went to see the play "Through the Looking Glass." They had a wonderful time together and we look forward to more play dates now that have moved to our city. I fully expect them to not only be long-time friends, but to form a garage band in their teen years.

Thankful

Around Thanksgiving, Anna's school had them doing all sorts of projects. One project was a book of things to be thankful for. For the final page, they asked each child what they were thankful for. I'm sure every parent reflects on what they hope their children are grateful for... loving parents, friends they can count on, organic produce, the hope of world peace ... and yet, when I turned the page, there is was as clear as day. Anna is thankful for...hotdogs.

Getting Festive

Tonight we went to the Festival of Trees. This annual event is a benefit for Sheltered Living and is really wonderful. Creatively themed decorated trees and wreaths are donated by people and businesses in the community for auction and you walk through as if you've stumbled into some kind of enchanted forest. There was entertainment, as well as yummy goodies to buy, and this year they had horse-drawn wagon rides. We listened to a children's church choir and then watched a group of girls dance. Anna was about to come undone! She's been begging to go to ballet class (which we will be enrolling her after the new year) and she kept asking me if she could go up on stage with them...in the middle of their routine. Afterwards we went outside to meet the horses. It was frigid cold, and apparently no one else was nuts enough to be outside, but we bundled up in wool blankets for the ride. There's something very soothing about the clopping cadence of horses hooves and the sway of the wagon. Closing my eyes I could almost forget we were in a parking lot with the occasional car passing nearby. Snuggling up close with my favorite toddler was another benefit. After the ride, one of the horses named Vic (the other I've ashamedly already forgotten - drats!) gave Anna's coat an affectionate nibble. Then they let Anna sit up with the driver for a photo op. I wish I'd had our good camera with me to capture all of this instead of my low-res phone camera, but to quote Alex, "The camera you have is always better than the camera you left at home." As you can see, it really is a wonderful life.

Hansel & Gretel would be jealous

Today we went to the Gingerbread House Tour. There were loads of gingerbread structures on display and a lab to make your own. After looking at each "house", we went into a special room where they gave us the basic pieces, "glue" aka frosting, and candy and cereal to embellish our home. Here are some pictures of our artists, Anna and Ryan, at work. They got VERY messy, and had a great time. I also had to include some of the amazing entries.

My Hero

For those of you who didn't know, we recently had our car stolen. Unfortunately, it was in front of Anna and I, but other than being knocked over, we were unhurt. Anna has been processing what happened and asking a lot of questions, just trying to understand something that is incomprehensible even to me. "Why did the bad man take our car and knock us flat on our backs like a bowling pin?" she asked. She also told Alex and I that she was going to rescue my car. She said the police were going to find it. I was a little less optimistic. However, today, 2-1/2 weeks later, the police did indeed locate my car. While the inside is not looking so pretty, these things can and will be fixed. When I picked up Anna from preschool she started in with the usual questions again, so I told her I had some news. The police had found our car and it was being fixed and we would have it back soon. Anna's face broke into a huge, excited grin and she said, "See, Mommy? I promised you!" Yes, you sure did, Honey.

Where there's smoke...

...there are birthday candles. Anna's friend, Colby, had his 5th birthday party this past weekend at a local fire department. The kids ran around the open bays and ate cake shaped like Sponge Bob Squarepants. After cake and presents (Anna gave Colby a cool hand-shadow theater), the firefighters took the kids over to the rigs. Each child got the opportunity to turn on the lights and hit the air brakes which makes a loud honking noise that never gets old...for them. The kids never cease giggling over it and the parents never stop cringing. Then the firefighters put on their gear and showed the kids what they look like when they are working. Then they handed out hats, sticker badges, balloons, and other fun stuff. They all had an awesome time.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It feels like it has been Halloween for weeks now. The lead-up has been pretty intense this year, now that Anna is old enough to truly appreciate the art of trick-or-treating and costume selection. She had a costume parade at school on Friday (and you can check out her pumpkin painting above), went trick-or-treating at Mom's office, and then was on a local TV station modeling her costume as Mom talked about Halloween Safety. This year Anna masqueraded as Tinkerbell, although she had also asked to be a princess, a ghost, Spiderman and Batman. Halloween night, cousin Ryan and BFF Rebecca came over for pizza and neighborhood trick-or-treating. At this moment she is in a near chocolate coma, lying on Daddy's lap, watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." She really enjoyed it this year. Happy Halloween, everyone!