Ana picked out her clothes today...

She chose a cream colored shirt with lots of little horses all over it, (psst..she's actually wearing the shirt in the picture on the sidebar). Her pants are light purple with dark and light pink dots.  Aaaaah! Actually it doesn't BOTHER me, it just is extremely funny!!!! :)

Ana does the cutest things. I think I've mentioned how she changes songs. It is really funny hearing her singing  familiar songs with an "Ana" twist. She changes the words! Check out my blogs under the label "Ana" to find more silly stories, but especially the post, "Ana is adorable" as it gives many examples on how Ana changes songs!!

She also loves to rhyme, but she is a little confused on what it means, we found. When Lucas copies everything she says she complains to mom on how he is rhyming her!!

She is learning to read. And she loves it. But she can't read unless someone gives her a hint. :)

Just realized this...

Hey, it's 71 days 'til Christmas.

Halloween is in 17 days.

And, hey, I just realized something else, 17 and 71 use the same numbers, 1 and 7!

Today is a great day! But my favorite day was September 9.

09-09-09!! OH YEAH! (plus it was 6 days after my 16th birthday :)

Halloween

Our family celebrates Halloween by all the kids under 12 dressing up and trick or treating at friends' houses. Last year for Halloween the three youngest dressed up in homemade costumes. Pictures below.

Lucas designed his own robot. It consisted of boxes, tape, paint, pins, and foil. He taped two boxes together. Wrapped the head with painter's tape, and added foil. Then he painted the bottom and added a treat deposit thingy. He taped a bag within the costume and hooked it so that if you open the handle, you can pour in the candy!
We worked together on E's costume. It too is a box with the flaps stuck through slabs for wings. The "windshield" is carefully cut cardboard with see through wrap to "shield" him from bugs. The front spinner thingy, (can't think what it is called), is cardboard wrapped in foil. Sunglasses and a scarf finishes the airplane.

Ana wore my old flower girl dress which was way too big for her. We added a cheap crown and wand. Mom also did Ana's hair prettily.

As Halloween is coming, Ana and Ethan have been deciding what they will be for Halloween this year. This year we will go to my mom's brother's house and trick or treat with them on their road. We will also have supper with them.

Ana has decided she wants to be a kitty cat. What a surprise. She will probably wear a white sweatsuit outfit with spots. Then we will get her ears and a tail and draw whiskers and a nose on her face.

Ethan cannot decide what he wants to be. A leaf? A cowboy? A knight? A tomato? He has some interesting ideas.

When I was little

Memories. I remember this day really well.

So, I was little. Not sure how young. I wanted to be a shepherd. Or Little Bo Peep. And I wanted sheep. And I had an imagination. A good one, as you'll find out.

I spied the recycling bin. Ah, hah! SHEEP! I ran, grabbed newspapers and threw them into the backyard and the wind. There were a LOT of papers. Then I ran around racing the wind, trying to grab my "sheep" and bring them back home.

Needless to say, when Mom looked outside and saw papers blowing around in her backyard, she was not thrilled like myself and made me put them back in the recycling bin.

So ended my shepherd days.

Back to Summer

Well, I am still mourning for summer, so I will share some more highlights of our summer, only about the little ones. Picnics. We don't have them very often. Our family isn't fond of eating out of doors because of the bugs. I remember when I was little I loved picnics. Except when my napkin, cup, or plate blew away. But we never really had picnics, so I used to like to pretend indoors. Well, when Ana received a picnic basket for Christmas, I remembered how I had felt once upon a time, so twice when I babysat A and E, I packed a surprise lunch in the picnic basket and sent them outside with a blanket and some dolls. Oh, they loved it. The first time I made them a picnic, I also gave them a pitcher of water. I was wise the next time and sent small waterbottles. So here are some pictures of them and their picnics.

They don't know I'm taking their picture.

Ana's actually eating right now. Usually she's busy with her babies or pouring water.

They both love pouring drinks. They also love to pour it back in the pitcher. I don't stop them because I figure that I won't be drinking from that water!!

And he spills all over

Ana has noodles that are about to fall....

(Notice the dolls)! So it was a messy, yet fun day outside during lunch this day. Wow, was it a mess.

Highlights of the 2009 Summer

I'm sitting in the house. My feet are freezing. I'm wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and I'm dreaming of summer. Already. So here are some highlights of our summer this last year.

We climbed the dune behind us. It doesn't look that big. IT WAS. Tiring, yet worth it.

This was the view from the dune. Wow.

We went to the beach during our vacation. That was a whole lot of fun. What are we doing? Burying Ethan is sand. He looked like a sphinx by the end.

We put up a new basketball hoop. This one won't fall over in high winds like our other! Ana likes it on the lowest height.

Bug hunting was the highlight of Ana and Ethan's afternoons. They even found frogs one day. Unfortunately they left one in a metal pan and it fried in the sun.

We got a slip and slide this year. Oh boy was it fun. I was just itching and sweating to go on it with A and E, but I am too heavy. I felt like doing it anyways, though. Ana really liked the slip and slide. She had a little trouble going down, but she got wet!

Look hard at E's face. You may need to click on it to get a larger picture. He was a little shocked by the cold water!! :)

I know it's way too early to be missing summer already, but I'm afraid I am.

I'm still here

Don't give up on me, I will write soon. I want to mess with my background. And then eat lunch! :)