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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.

Elia started on the middle of the blanket and had made it this far by the time I came back in the room. Look out folks…she’s mobile!

Elia must have thought turning 5 months old was really exhausting, because, on that very night, she slept through the night for the VERY FIRST TIME!!

Too bad I woke up several times during the night wondering if she was going to wake up!!

….and what a game to remember!!

Not so much for the score (although we are glad the Hawks won) but more for the weather monsoon that attacked Iowa City during the game!

I won’t lie, I was nervous for Jason when I heard that Iowa City was getting pounded with rain at the start of the game…I had visions of Josiah having an emotional breakdown because he had to stay in the rain and making life miserable for everyone near him in the stands. Much to my surprise (and delight) Jason says that Josiah handled it all very well (although at first wasn’t fond of the downpour) and wanted to stay for the rest of the game even after having to wait out the 90 minute weather delay. I’m impressed

Josiah is all smiles when he talks about his first Hawkeye football game and is already wanting to go to another one. Look out folks, I think we have another die-hard Hawk fan in the family!!

Last Sunday (8/21) was a big day for Elia–it was her dedication. We had the ceremony at church and then many friends and family back to our house for lunch. It was a nice ceremony and a beautiful day outside and we all had so much fun having so many people who love Elia join us in the celebration. Elia continued the tradition and wore the baptismal gown that Papa Jim wore in 1946, I wore in 1978, Anya in 2005 and Josiah in 2008!

Thank you to everyone who came on this most special day for Elia–Jason & I feel so blessed to have so many people who love us and our children!

Here are some more pictures of Elia’s dedication and party!

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.

Last week Elia had her 4 month check up. She is hanging out in the 37th percentile for both height and weight at 13lbs 4 oz and 24 inches long. So, she is still smaller than her big sister and brother at the same age, but not doing too bad either! Otherwise, we are still struggling with a few eating and reflux issues, but are trying a few new things to hopefully get a handle on the problems and make eating more comfortable for her! She again had 3 shots and was not a fan, but other than a short outburst right after the shots, slept the rest of the afternoon away and was fine by evening!

Besides her unhappiness at feedings, she continues to be a happy baby and smiles and smiles and smiles. She has started to truely giggle now and thinks it is so funny when you hold her right at eye level and proceed to have a very important conversation with her about something (why, just tonight I was reminding her of the importance of mommy getting a full night sleep and she dared to laugh right in my face ). So, as you can guess, I am still waiting for her first sleep-thru-the-night night and am hoping that it will happen any day now! She also really enjoys laying under her baby gym and grabbing onto the toys dangling down and laying directly under the ceiling fan is still another favorite activity.

Elia seems to be growing in front of our very eyes and every morning I look forward to walking into her room and seeing the cutest toothless grin in the world smiling back at me!

Sometimes you just need an extra set of hands!

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!