Posts Tagged ‘Anna’
Lil’ Entreprenuer
Monday, June 6th, 2011Citizen of the Week….
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011…Anna Sanders!!!!
Nature vs. Nurture
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011Paul likes to joke that the kids get certain traits from me (like crabbiness and sloth).
I like to brag about the traits that I pretend they got from me (mad ball handling and piano playing skills, for example).
However, the argument became a self-fulfilling prophecy last night when we were proof-reading Anna’s homework. Back-story: the assignment was to make a sentence using each spelling word. One of her words this week is “wait.” Here is the sentence she crafted, including the punctuation:
I want McDonald’s… wait cancel that.
Where does she get this stuff from? (…hee hee….sheepish smile….)
Arriving home after a long day at the office…
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011Yep, after a long day of hustle and flow of the grueling working world, all I want to do is come home to peace, tranquility, and the schedule being executed by MY expectations (ALWAYS BUSINESS BEFORE FUN DAMMIT!!!!!). However the kids got some really sweet gifts for Christmas that they wanted to play with…
The artist at work
So instead of the fantasy world I live in where the kids are diligently working on their homework, Paul is making a delicious calorie-free dinner made entirely of cheese and garlic, the pets are all napping cuddled together on the couch while classical music plays on the stereo (you know–to build up the brain power during homework), and an ice cold Landshark beer (or glass of red wine–depending on the time of year) is waiting for me, I came into the Red Hot Chili Peppers on iTunes, cats fighting in the hallway, dogs drooling on the new couch, and….well…. this:
The scene at my kitchen table when I arrived home from work.
Tyler had been asking to make and launch (? is that was you do to a volcano?) the volcano that Elli, Michael, and Sydney gave him. So that project started while Anna channeled her inner Gerogia O’Keefe by painting with her new easel and supplies. She is SO gifted in her artwork.
Another angle
Boo!!!
Sunday, October 31st, 20101 week before Halloween, Paul and I took the kids to buy their costumes. Anna’s costume was easy from the get go. She wanted to be a vampire. As long as we steered away from the Elvira-type costumes, we were good to go. Tyler on the other hand was much more difficult.
About a month before the big day, Tyler announced that he wanted to be Jason from Friday the 13th movies. First of all, where on earth did he SEE one of those movies. Second of all–he is SIX!!! What comes next in the progression of scariness? Well, I put my foot down–NO WAY! Absolutely NOT! Paul didn’t see anything wrong w it, he voted yes. Stalemate.
Fast forward to shopping day. We pointed out every superhero possible. Tyler wasn’t having any of it: Jason the killer was the only option for the wee one. Sigh… if only we had others to help persuade…
2 weeks before Halloween the debate moved to Robin and Jason’s house. Robin voted no, Jason yes. Stalemate, continued…
Which is how we ended up in the Halloween store smack down. Then as I was trying to find something tough, yet not against the law, I looked at the price tag: $60 for a costume!!!! For a child 4 feet tall!!! Seriously!? Then, as I was sharing this outrage with Paul, Tyler ran up to us w a creepy hockey mask in his hand. Paul took it from him, flipped it over:
$4.99.
The decision was unanimous: we have a serial killer on our hands, people!
I am the other woman!
Friday, September 10th, 2010It’s weird how quickly you can go from “inside” to “outside” in a relationship. Kind of like high school clicks I guess. Sort of goes along the lines of “2′s company, 3′s a crowd” kind of thing. Here is what happened:
Today Paul and I took the kids to Subway for dinner, then we decided to try to do our part to stimulate the economy by buying ice cream at the new Summerfield Creamery. We were getting back in the car and I noticed today is September 10 [you don't pay much attention to the date when you are not working]. I said to Paul, “10 days until our anniversary!!” Paul confirmed with a, “Yep!” [you know he is a man of few words]. I had a few beats of silence to contemplate the past 2 years of marriage–wow, TWO YEARS!! Good for me! Good for us! Good stuff, we can do anything as long as we have each other!”
Then from the back seat, Anna pipes up, “What are we doing for your anniversary!?” Isn’t perspective funny?! I had not even considered this would be on their radar! What is even funnier is that Paul and Tyler will be at Tyler’s soccer practice, and Anna and I will be going to her school for a Parent Night thing.
Cheers!
Sanders Family Loose on the Town
Monday, August 16th, 2010Oh yes, it is back to school time and we were caught shopping.
No caption: a picture is truly worth a thousand words.
Seriously, we just needed to get Tyler some shoes for his triathlon last week b/c his shoes were at his mom’s house and they were in the mountains. The kid goes through a pair every 8-10 weeks anyway so we decided to make it his back to school shoes. So then of course Anna needed shoes too. I am still working out the kinks to 1) shopping, 2) shopping with others, and 3) shopping with others who are not in my section. The above pic is the picture I came back to after I looked in the women’s shoe dept.
Obviously every shopping trip needs a break for snacks. Tyler was clearly gearing up for YEARS worth of shopping:
Tyler ends his vegan phase.
Anna has been very good lately about trying new foods. She picked out the horned melon at the grocery store one night, and we had it for dessert. It pretty much tastes like nothing jelly. Here is some proof:
After she and Tyler decided they didn't really want to eat it, they mixed the horned fruit w juice from some oranges we had and made "slop."
What snu?
Friday, April 30th, 2010It is funny how life seems to be so hectic, but when I go to list what has been happening, there really isn’t too much.
Anna is playing softball again this spring. She is on a team w a different coach, but a couple girls are the same from last year. Funny thing about softball–the socks. One is purple and one is gold. The purple one went missing (wherever missing socks go) after 1 game. Instead of just wearing regular socks, she wore the gold one and a regular sock. Didn’t want you to think it was a gang sign or anything.
PS–the purple sock turned up this past weekend (after about 3 weeks on vacation). It was under our bed. Imagine that–a dirty sock 2 feet from where the clothes got pulled off and dropped. Who would have thunk it??
Anna rounds 3rd on her way home.
Tyler is playing baseball (T ball really). He is the only kid who gets overhand pitched to and he SMACKS it every time. He has a great swing and really crushes it. He gets that from me I am sure. The main thing he has been doing though is GROWING! This past weekend I think he ate and laid around the entire weekend. He even put himself down for a nap (normal for me, NOT for this 6 year old boy).
What do growing 6 year old boys and lazy 77 year old dogs have in common?
A few weekends ago Paul and I went to see Simplified play at the Blind Tiger again. Their songs are great and it is always a good time (made better by the recent legislation banning smoking in bars and restaurants). Turns out the band’s drummer broke his wrist so they had a new kid who did ok. Just a little different vibe since he was new.
We like that band so much that their song, “Home,” was the one that we walked down the aisle to at our wedding. Lyrics:
Never thought I would be the one who,
Found someone to make me feel like you do,
It’s true I dreamed of you,
And you came in right on cue,
At the Simplified concert April 16.
Tyler and I were playing basketball one afternoon (which means I was rebounding for him–I am allowed 1 shot per 1 million Tyler shoots). All of a sudden he stops and runs over to the yard by the fence. He wanted to pick me flowers and insisted that I put them in water right away so they would last. Here is a photo of my gift:
What more could a girl ask for?
I have been reading quite a bit lately (Paul would say “as usual”). I recently finished House Rules by Jodi Picoult. She could make the phone book a best seller. LOVE her writing style. I also finished Walking on Broken Glass. It was ok. I am part way through The Irresistible Henry House. It is quirky so far. Henry House is an orphan who is adopted by a Home Ec Dept of a college in the 40′s so his 6 “mothers” rotate weekly for a semester, then he gets a new batch of mother every 4-5 months. It follows him through life to watch how messed up this makes him. It is supposedly fiction, but I think these programs really did exist. I introduced Paul to Bill Bryson and Dave Berry. That’s right, Paul is STILL reading! He even said his next book will be FICTION. Imagine that!!!
We have been riding a lot more now that the weather has warmed up. We are doing our first mountain ride this weekend. Can’t remember exactly how much climbing, but its a lot. Hopefully the bike Garmin will work to measure climbing feet like it is supposed to. Last weekend there was such a drastic change in pressure w that big storm that it said at one point that the incline we were on was 850% grade! WHOA!
Random Update
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Here comes the stream of consciousness…
7:35pm: Anna is giving us (Paul and me) a silent treatment. She is no longer talking outside of school. You may want to pick up that Sign Language for Dummies book.
She is also playing softball this spring. Last minute decision this past weekend to sign up. Her first practice tonight was rained out. Gotta love these silly outdoor sports.
7:38pm: Anna just made an exception to talk to the dogs.
Paul and I went to the Eric Clapton concert on Monday night. Yep, a school night. We are paying dearly for it, realizing we are WAY to old for this rock star lifestyle. Got home shortly after midnight on Monday, Paul went to work at 8am on Tuesday, I took a half day (got my hair cut), but of course still got up with Paul. Cameras were not allowed, so excuse the low quality on the photo below, it is taken with Paul’s Blackberry.
You will just have to believe us that the tiny blob in the center is Eric Clapton
I went to Camp Crop A Lot this weekend: 48 hours of scrapbooking! Here are a couple pages I finished:
What cracks me up about these pictures is that Bluesy really does not like to sit right on the ground. Ever.
7:47pm: Another exception for her to talk to Tyler.
This weekend Paul and I have NO PLANS except a fundraiser party on Sat night and NAPPING. My original idea was to make a list of all the things we were NOT going to do, but that seemed like a lot of work that would only lead to lots of guilt. Spring forward is this weekend. Losing that hour of sleep really kills me. Which makes me kill Paul. Sorry kiddo.
After Camp Crop A Lot I came home and had the house to myself. I decided that it was a good time to paint the playroom (formerly known as Tyler’s bedroom). We kept the Carolina Blue color (despite the season), but it looks much better now. It was a surprise for Paul and the kids. Anna and Tyler declared it not a good present.
Anna’s first art exhibit
Monday, March 1st, 2010
This is the masterpiece!
The artist w her masterpiece
Anna would be on here writing the update herself, but she is currently typing up a novel of her life story. Seriously.
