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Archive for the ‘Anya Archives’ Category

Check out the videos of Jason & Anya having fun on the flow master at Water Park of America last week!

And now Anya’s turn:

After much anticipation (and lots of wiggling), Anya finally lost her first tooth last Friday (12/9). We knew it wouldn’t be long and she was so excited that it happened at school! I could tell the minute she got off the bus that she had lost it because she was smiling from ear to ear

So, Friday night she got to use the tooth fairy pillow that I had made for her and was excited to see what she got when she woke up.

It won’t be long until she is sleeping with that pillow again as she has another very loose tooth on the bottom!

Sunday night was “beggar’s night” here in Pleasant Hill and the kids got all decked out in their costumes for the occasion.

Anya was “sweetie bat”, Josiah was “batman” and Elia was our little “tootsie”! They were all so cute and had fun running up and down our street collecting candy. The good thing about living on a street that most people don’t know exists is that everyone on the street gives you LOTS of candy because they don’t get many other trick-or-treater’s other than those already living here. Of course Anya & Josiah had a joke ready to tell and they did an excellent job delivering the funny!

Here are a few more pictures of our Halloween 2011!

We are making the most of the long autumn season by being outside as much as possible. Yesterday after church we headed west with the Reuter family to Patch’s Pumpkin Farm in Adel for a day of pumpkin picking, hayrack riding, corn pool playing, cow-train riding fun. It was such a beautiful day to be outside and a great way to help Jason celebrate his birthday.

Last Thursday I accompanied Anya’s kindergarten class to the Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t quite as nice and at some points it was down right chilly–although I know that the kids didn’t feel the cold at all as busy as they were running from one interesting thing to the next. We also got to eat sack lunches and go on a tour of the orchard and the kids were pretty excited about getting to take some apples home.

Here are more pictures of our pumpkin patch and apple orchard fun!

Last week at school, Anya was the class “Star of the Week”. She got to decorate a large poster and make it all about her and her favorite things to bring to school and show the class. She also got to bring her favorite book to read at story time on Thursday and bring a few items for show and tell on Friday.

(this is the picture she chose of herself for the poster)

Anya was pretty excited about the whole thing as she is never one to shy away from attention and she really had a lot of fun sharing about her life with her classmates. A funny story about this: when she was decorating her poster about herself, she wanted to put a family picture on it. So, I asked her what she would say about us to her class. Her response was “well I will tell them I have a baby sister and little brother and that my dad works in the basement all day and my mom gives out drugs”. NICE! Fearing her teacher might begin to wonder just what our family was up to with a dad in the basement all day and a mom handing out drugs, I coached her a little bit to include the details of her dad working on a computer in the basement and her mom working in a pharmacy while handing out drugs! I haven’t received any calls from the school (or DEA), so I am guessing she took my suggestions….whew!

Last weekend we spent in Winfield visiting Papa Ronnie, G’ma Jeryl & Aunt Joni. Elia stayed with them while Jason, Anya, Josiah & I went the Iowa vs. ULM game in Iowa City on Saturday.

It was a beautiful day, the kids had fun and the Hawks won…doesn’t get much better than that! I was a bit hesitant to take Anya to the game because she had never shown any interest in going before and knew that she didn’t quite understand what she was getting herself into by going. She thought that band was fun to watch and liked all the pomp and circumstance before the game, but I could tell that after that she wasn’t too interested in watching a football game. Finally, about half way through the first quarter she turned to me and said, “the next time the boys want to go to a game, lets us girls stay home.” I was afraid it was going to be a long game after that for her, but she did pretty good considering she wasn’t really into it–good thing she had JP and Jaxson to entertain her.

Otherwise, the kids had fun down in Winfield playing with one of G’ma Jeryl’s puppies, looking at Papa Ronnie’s new pig and banging on their piano. I am sure their house was much calmer (and cleaner) once we hit the road home.

I stumbled upon this earlier in the week and thought it pretty much sums up our feelings about Anya going off to Kindergarten.

Dear World;
I bequeath to you today one little girl… in a crispy dress… with two
blue eyes… and a happy laugh that ripples all day long… and a flash of
light blond hair that bounces in the sun when she runs. I trust you’ll
treat her well.

She’s slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning…and skipping
off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be
completely mine. Prim and proud she’ll wave her young and independent hand
this morning and say “Goodbye” and walk with little lady steps to the
schoolhouse.

Now she’ll learn to stand in lines… and wait by the alphabet for her name
to be called. She’ll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of
school-bells… and deadlines… and she’ll learn to giggle… and gossip…
and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy ‘cross
the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And, now she’ll learn to be
jealous. And now she’ll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now
she’ll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day
and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have
time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning
dew. No, now she’ll worry about those important things… like grades and
which dress to wear and whose best friend is whose. And the magic of books
and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she’ll
find new heroes.

For five full years now I’ve been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and
playmate and father and friend. Now she’ll learn to share her worship with
her teachers… which is only right.

But, no longer will I be the smartest, greatest man in the whole world.
Today when that school bell rings for the first time… she’ll learn what it
means to be a member of the group… with all its privileges and its
disadvantages too.

She’ll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud… or
kiss dogs… or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms… or even watch ants
scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.

Today she’ll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her
friends. And I’ll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the
long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.

So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl… in a crispy dress…
with two blue eyes… and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the
sunlight when she runs.

I trust you’ll treat her well.

This weekend we finally had Anya’s birthday party with her friends. Luckily the nice (or more like HOT) weather continued on Saturday so we were able to carry out our original plan of having a “beach” themed birthday party outside! We blew up pools and had a slip n’ slide that was definitely the hit of the party. Papa Jim & G’ma Barb came down to help us out and stopped in Forest City on their way and brought Zachary, Noah & Aubrey along for the fun also! The kids had a great time at the party and Jason & I had fun interacting with all of Anya’s friends.

Here are some of the party pictures…enjoy!

Last Wednesday was Anya’s 6th birthday and she had a week full of celebrations! We kicked off the fun the weekend before her birthday when G’ma Jeryl, Aunt Joni and Great G’ma Bertie came and spent Saturday here celebrating. Anya & JP had fun showing off in their blow-up pool in the yard and riding their bikes for our visitors and Elia is always happy if there is someone to hold her

The fun continued Tuesday night when Anya’s BFF, Lillie, came and spent the night. They had fun playing and were very good to include Josiah in their fun. They finally went to sleep just before 11pm and were up and ready to go shortly after 5am, so it was a quick night for everyone! Wednesday I took the girls to the aquatic center in Altoona and out for ice cream. We all had a blast and Anya was one tired girl after her big day.

Friday afternoon we loaded up the van and headed to Forest City to watch Zachary play in a baseball tournament and celebrate Anya & Aubrey’s birthdays with the Miller side of the family. It was alot of fun to watch Z play and he and his team did great. After sweating all morning watching the ball games, we headed to the swimming pool to cool off and boy did it feel great! After swimming and eating supper we ended the fun day watching fireworks for the Puckerbrush celebration that was going on in town over the weekend.

Sunday we had Anya & Aubrey’s party and the girls had fun eating cake pops, opening presents and being the center of attention. I am still trying to figure out how my first born baby is now a 6 year old—someone please tell me how that happened?? What a fun, smart, witty girl she is–and while a part of me is sad that she is getting so big, a bigger part of me loves seeing her grow into this little person who has her own views, opinions and explanations for life. She definitely keeps Jason & I on our toes with her spitfire attitude and is the sweetest and most caring big sister that Josiah & Elia could ever hope for. We love you Anya Kay and hope you had a fantastic 6th Birthday!

Here are some pictures of Anya’s week long birthday celebrations!

My 2 beautiful girls!

….enter at your own risk!!!