Entries by Cabol

Last weekend, Anya and I went to Tennessee to visit our BFFs, Kimmie and Catie. They normally live far, far away over the sea, but every year or so they get to come back to the land of Chuck E. Cheese...where a kid can be a kid.



Can you believe that Kimmie and Catie were born in August?? It is true. I told you, August rocks for birthdays. We were lucky enough to be in TN for Kim's birthday, and after a day at the mall buying Anya and Catie matching outfits and ransacking the clearance shelves at Gymboree and the Disney Store, we went to the restaurant where the dude in the tall hat waves around sharp knives and cooks things on the table. There were flames that tried to melt Cinderella and wooden clubs being tossed at little girls and a boy that slept through (almost) everything.

We spent a lot of time in the hotel pool. Catie worked on her jumping.



Kimmie worked on trying to keep the camera away...and failed.



I didn't have a suit, so I hopped in with my clothes on. Anya sat on the edge and splashed with her feet. Every now and then, I'd race over, grab her, and carry her around in the pool. We played "keep away" with an invisible ball, learned how well crocs float, and ran away when the sun burned up all the shady spots in the water.

What trip to TN with K & C would be complete without a trip to Cracker Barrel? The last time I'd been was with Kimmie and Catie, and Catie was in a high chair. Anya ate two eggs, two pieces of bacon, and a bowl of grits, and the clouds parted and angels sang.



The last event of the weekend was to visit the Children's Museum in the place where they made The Bomb. Alas, my camera batteries ran out part of the way through. I shoved Kimmie out of the way and stole her camera, but she said I can't have any of the pictures until I remove the picture of her in the pool from the blog. I did manage to get a photo of Anya in some of the dress up clothes the museum had. They were mostly too big for her, and we picked a great mix of things....boy's shirt...girl's underskirt thingy....straw hat partially eaten by a goat.



It was a fabulous weekend, and when we got home we crashed and didn't wake up for three days (no, I had work the next day). Too bad Kc wasn't there. Next time!

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August is a big birthday month around Loafkeeper Farm. (Can we still call it a "farm" when there are only two chickens and not much of anything planty growing besides weeds?) I think August is the best month for birthdays. Anya sure messed up.

For my birthday, I requested Andy make me a rainbow cake. Andy has never liked making birthday cakes, and every year I have to do lots of whining to convince him the horror of cake making is less than that of my whining. So, I'd sent him the link to the rainbow cake, and he'd purchased the pack of fancy-schmancy food coloring, and he decided to get started one hot August day when Anya and I were taking a nap. He was doing okay, when out in the kitchen I heard such a clatter that I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Well, no, I really didn't because I knew what the matter was: Andy was making a birthday cake. There was banging and cursing and the sound of things being tossed about. It was really quite impressive.

After nap time, Anya and I emerged and I went to go find my cake. Poor little cake. It was so sad and mangled looking. The top layer was held together by frosting and a prayer, and there was no frosting on the outside of the cake...just between the layers. Andy later told me he'd run out of frosting. I wanted to take a photo of it, but Andy wouldn't let me. He did, however, allow a slice of cake to be photographed. I think the colors are fabulous...and it tasted fantastic. (Even better after it'd been frozen.)



Kenny's birthday is also in August. I made him a card, and I liked it so much I wanted to keep it and play with it, but I couldn't find a charger for it.





Andy's birthday is next (at least in the family), but he doesn't like cake or small, hand-held video game devices. Whatever will I do?

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Anya and I went to visit my family the first week of July. Andy was a big poopie head and wouldn't come with us. That's fine. I left him a long list of things to do. (He even did a few of them!)

We had a great time playing in the backyard full of evil mosquitoes and going to our favorite restaurants and shopping at the Goodwill Emporium and getting our hairs cut by Ms. Pat and eating sheep and worm and mouse pancakes and chasing ChewyDog and NonnieCat and BobCat and seeing peaches packed and making cowstumes and squirt-gun-fighting with Grampa and Bubba and having a big ole birthday party with chocolate-cherry cake and candles to blow out! PHEW!

We also played in the pool,



and made tree kites,



and Anya dressed up in her hootchie-mama-Goodwill top (which some lady tried to steal out of my cart - the nerve!),



and jumped up and down at Monkey Joe's (but not in the hootiche-mama-Goodwill top).



Although part of the journey and not the actual visit, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Anya went poopoo on the side of the road (not once, but twice!) on the way to Georgia. Ethical dilemma: do you leave the poo on the side of the road (non-populated area) or clean it up? I mean, surely all sorts of things are out there pooing all the time. But then...what if someone gets stranded and steps in the poo? What if a mower mows the poo? What if a bunch of kids stop there to do a Chinese fire drill and slide in the poo and all is ruined?!?!?!?

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Anya sings:

Baa, baa black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for my Mommy,
And one for Daddy,
And one for Bubba,
And one for Grampa,
And one for Gramma,
And one for Gramma,
And one for Anya!

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Anya and I were in the newspaper! The photos are here.

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Today I learned how to crochet, how to light a BBQ grill, and how to fill a squirt gun with a turkey baster.

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Where did my mommy go?
(thudthudthud)
Where did my mommy go?

MOMMY MOMMY!
(thudthudthud)

Maaahhhhmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Mom?

Mawwwoooom?
Woowoowoo?
lalalalalalala woop
mumblemumblemumble

Where my mommy go? Goooo oooo ooo?


MOMMY!

Mommy?

Maahhhhhhhhhhhhhhmeeeeeeeee!
MOMMEE!
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhmeeee?
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhmeee?
Maammee?

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaayayayayamee?
Maahhhhhhme?

Mommy? (whinewhine)
mommy?

MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMYYY! (thudthudthud)
MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMYYY! (thudthudthud)
(thudthudthud)

(thudthudthud)


(thudthudthud)


MAHMAY!
MAHMEE!
MAHMAY!
Maahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmeeeeeee?
Maaaaaaaaaaaahhhhmeemee?
MOMMY! eh

MAAAAAAAAAAHMEEEE!

(cry) (whine) (whimper) (cry) (cry) (whine) (whimper) (cry)

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For the first time since Anya was born, we had a non-holiday / parental-visit meal at the table. Anya was confused.

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I have decided that Anya's special talent is frisbee. As someone who has problems throwing a "flying disk" after three decades of practice, I am in awe of her ability to fling that thing. In a few short sessions, she's progressed from tossing it all wonky-skoodle to getting the disk airborne and delivering it to the intended recipient. Okay, so it only goes to the intended recipient if they are standing in the correct place, but shouldn't they be doing that anyhow?

A nice thing about a frisbee over, say, a baseball, is that when Daddy throws a frisbee at Anya and whacks her upside the head or bounces it off her foot, it doesn't really hurt. We are still working on teaching Anya about catching (and Daddy about throwing a baseball).

I don't have any action photos of our practices, but here's a cute picture of Anya on her jumpy.

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Anya is now an old fart. (Her cake is not gray; it is purple. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, and she said purple. So, I made her a purple cake with purple frosting. And sprinkles.)



I couldn't take a picture of Anya in the ole picture spot because we threw that sad changing pad thing out pretty much a year ago. And we moved the cabinet it was on downstairs. And there is a couch in front of that window now. But hey! The couch she is sitting on in this birthday photo is that couch in front of that window, so some continuity has been preserved!

So, what has the old lady been up to this year?

+ Talks in multiple word sentences: "I no eat dinner. Daddy and Mommy eat dinner; I eat goldfish!" (Yes, she uses semicolons, too.)
+ Counts up to 10 or so, but the numbers aren't always in the right order: "1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 4, 6, 13!"
+ Ditched the diapers! YESSSS!
+ Gained a reputation as "Oh, no, that girl!" at the library's story time. You know, that girl who runs around going LALALALALA waving scarves and bouncing off other kids?
+ Can get on and off the potty all by herself.
+ Can get out the screen doors but not back in...yet.
+ Learned about frisbees, kites, and baseball.
+ Helped knock down a wall.
+ I'm sure there's more, and I'll add it when I remember, but this is all I can think of now especially since it is oh so late and past my bedtime.

Andy's mom came down for the big 3 celebration. We took her to Mabry Mill and had lunch there. Yum. We'll definitely be going back there. Anya ate so much, her tummy popped out of her shirt. See? Yeah, um, that's what happened! Because Anya would never wear clothes that are too small. No way!



In addition to the Cinderella doll, Andy and I gave Anya a wagon for her birthday. It's a honking big wagon and took about an hour to assemble. Anya really likes it but will not ride in it. Oh no. We put her in it and she wailed. So we put Buddy in it, and he scrambled out. In the end, Anya decided the best thing to do with a wagon is to push it.



After wagon pushing, it was time for some gymnastics. Andy showed off his mad tumbling skills by doing a front roll UP HILL. He then wowed the audience by standing. On. His. Head. I've been married to this dude for almost twelve years, and I never knew he could stand on his head.



All in all, it was an interesting birthday weekend.

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