Field Trip and Boarding School....

Anna Claire went on her first school field trip on Wednesday morning. They are learning about Louisiana this week, so a trip to Tony's Seafood Market and Deli was in order. Brad was able to snap a quick picture of her at school after she put on her field trip t-shirt.

She got home that afternoon and was able to tell us every single detail of the field trip. They rode on a school bus. They were able to see live crawfish 'take a bath' (translation - the crawfish were dropped in boiling water to be cooked), touch an aligator head, see a very large live catfish, and tour the walk-in freezer. Regarding the catfish  -she told us that the tour guide dropped the catfish, and apparently the kids were going to step on it, but it was flopping around too much - her words, not mine. All in all, she deemed the field trip a success.

Moving right along.....the weather has been beautiful these last few days, so we've been outside whenever possible. Anna Claire wanted to play with sidewalk chalk out in front of the house - fine with me. She wanted to wear her 'click clack shoes' (read: plastic high heals) - again, fine with me. Until I said, "Smile!" and she gave me this pose.

Brad is researching boarding schools in North Dakota as we speak.

She did redeem herself when she drew this picture on the sidewalk:

Translation: Texas A&M (ATM) loves (heart) Anna Claire McKenzie (ACM). Good little Aggie! :)

And then there is this little gem. We are an American Idol watching family. Usually when we watch, Anna Claire likes to pretend she is trying out for the show. She goes to her room and has us call out her name as the next contestant. She then comes out, makes us ask her questions (how old are you? where are you from? what will you be singing?, etc.), and then she performs. We then have to decide if she's going to Hollywood. She repeats this audition process multiple times during the show. Last night, she brought along her guitar to aid in her audition. (I apologize for the poor quality - this is from my phone)

The Situation

I realized the other day that I haven't given a turtle update in a while. Yes, we still have the turtle, and yes, AC pays little attention to him.....unless we suggest letting another family have it, and then she becomes the Jane Goodall of turtles.

You may remember that AC orginally named him Garden, but after watching Eloise in New York, Garden became Skipper.

He's a happy little camper.

The weekend weather was absolutely gorgeous! AC requested the 'flamingo park' on Friday - a park near the lakes at LSU. She calls it this b/c every year at Mardi Gras, a krewe puts large wooden flamingos in one of the lakes. Her favorite park is near this particular lake. Anyway, traffic was horrible Friday afternoon, so Brad suggested the neighborhood park. AC was thrilled and said, "I haven't been there in forever!" This is a simple park, but it has two important things in AC's park request - a swing and a slide. And can anyone explain where this child got those long legs....mercy.

Saturday morning, we got up and headed to the flamingo park. AC was excited to see the flamingos out. Sidenote: We were talking in the car the other day and she asked if Easter was soon. I told her the date, and she said, "But we have to have Mardi Gras first, right?" - Example #6,578 we're raising a child in Louisiana.

Back to the park - it is a great day at the park when your child can swing by herself.

We've signed AC up for spring soccer through YMCA that will begin mid March. Have no fear, I'm sure there will be many posts dedicated to this child attempting to play soccer. She loves to be outside and run, so she was excited when we asked if she wanted to play soccer. While at the flamingo park, she and her daddy kicked around the soccer ball for a little while.

After the park, we headed over to Frankie's Dawg House - a new hotdog stand/restaurant in town. The menu is rather entertaining with names like The Floater, the Mad Hatter, Drunk as Duck, Dirty South Dawg, and The Situation....which is the one AC ordered. A hot dog topped with mac 'n cheese and bacon. Lovely. (sorry for the blurry phone picture - but you get the idea) :)

After school yesterday, AC and I headed outside - way to pretty to stay indoors. Of course, she had to swing on her horse swing and then we took the baby dolls on a ridiculously long walk. At one point, she got tired and didn't want to push her doll stroller anymore. It was her choice to bring the dolls on the walk, so I had to play mean mom and insist that she push the dolls all the way home. She pouted, saying "I just can't do it", so I told her about the little red engine..."I think I can"....and all the way home (all 4 blocks), she said, "I think I can" with every step. Silly goose.

Keep It Classy, BSA

Yesterday, this went down.....
Through a series of websites, I landed on the official Boy Scout website. As you know, my dad is Super Boy Scout - as in Baden Powell's prodigy. I went to the "shop" tab of their website to see if I could get some ideas for his 60th (*gasp*) birthday that is coming up later this year. Anyway, I spotted a few "gems" that I e-mailed to my dad.
The first being this one. The description on the website says "A way-cool way to honor the BSA! Vibrant starburst pattern is highlighted by an abstract fleur-de-lis print at center front". Way cool, eh? Clearly the site of my dad wearing this with his Boy Scout shorts and knee socks is the definition of cool.

And then the second item I found was this decal. When I sent this link to my dad, I wrote, "Someday, we will put this on your coffin." You see, the only day my dad will be an 'alumni' to Boy Scouts will be when he dies. Just keepin' it real, people.

Last night, I received the following e-mail from my dad:
"I'm not sure it (the decal) would stick to cardboard, and if you bury me in that tie-dyed shirt, I'll have you believing in ghosts!
Nothing but love,
Dad"

Always the comedian, El Jefe de Campo.

Happy Valentine's Day

We've had a delightful Valetine's weekend!
Friday night, we attended the Valentine's Dinner at the church. AC has been waiting for just the right event to debut her press-on fingernails that Santa put in her stocking. Friday night's dinner was just the event.

I made a red and pink (although the pink looks white) tutu for AC to wear to church for the holiday. Here she is 'posing' - you know, just standing is boring.

Here's AC ready for school this morning - showing off her Valentines for her classmates - heart-shaped crayons. Thank you, Family Fun Magazine, for the idea.

1995

We have a tv in Anna Claire's "sleep"/guest room. It's an old tv and on a good day, Food Network and HGTV come in clearly. Two channels. If the picture goes fuzzy, Brad has been known to hit the top of it and the picture comes in clearly.
Well, the other night, AC and I were in there and the tv was on. The picture went blue and green and the fuzzy. I hit the side of the tv and the picture cleared up; however, the blue and green color remained.....and  every channel became Food Network. Channel 53 - Food Network, Channel 54- Food Network, Channel 55...well, you get the idea. Being the smart person I am, I decided to hit the side of the tv again. The screen went blank. So, I called Brad from the living room to come fix the tv. He walked in the room and said, "What's burning?" We both went over the tv, and while we didn't see any smoke, the tv smelled "hot". We (that would be Brad) quickly unplugged the tv and disconnected the cable. He carried it straight to the back porch. He came back in and said, "Man, I'm bummed about that tv." Trying to be the encouraging wife, I said, "But, Hon, you've had that tv for a while. You had it before we met. When did you get it?" "My mom and dad gave it to me as a high school graduation gift."

1995 TV, you've had a good life. You'll be missed.

January.....

I'm getting caught up on the blog....so scroll down for more updates.....

Back in January - there was a little bowl game where my Aggies played LSU. Seeing as how I live in tiger country, I was outnumbered in my cheering section for this game. Unfortunately, the Aggies lost, but it was still a fun game.
Before the game, AC helped make some sugar cookies using some of the cookie cutters we received in a huge box set for Christmas.

AC and her buddy, Maci, chose to play dress up over watching the game.

We attended a baby shower at church, and crafty me showed up to make the gift. This side doesn't show itself very often, but I was happy with the results.

(not sure why this picture uploaded sideways....)

And the only picture I have of the finished product/gift is from my phone:

Also in January, we had our mid-year Caravan celebration. This is our Wednesday night program for the kids at church. Anna Claire is in Benson Buddies this year and loves it! They sang for the congregation and recited the pledges and mottos. AC even held the Bible for the Pledge to the Bible, so she thought she was pretty big stuff! She loved the singing part and made sure to sing so EVERYONE could hear her!!

Anna Claire came home from school one day with this paper. Apparently, they were learning about dairy and the teacher asked them to list some things that would go in the 'dairy' category. Then she wrote down each kid's responses for them to take home. (You may remember the turkey at Thanksgiving when AC listed squirrels and her backpack, but not her mom and dad) She did well with this....but health bars? Really?

Then there was the Barney's Birthday Bash performance that we took Anna Claire to see. On Netflix, you can download Barney episodes instantly. Anna Claire is hooked. She knows all the songs and motions. So, when we heard he was coming to town, it only made sense for us to go. AC was beside herself the entire show. She didn't sit down once, but rather sang and danced the whole time!

 And at one point in the show, Mr. Knickerbocker came out to sing AC's favorite song.

And AC had her first official trip to the dentist. My mom has polished her teeth before when we go visit, but this was the first time for a cleaning, x-rays, and a dentist check up. She did great! Walked back like she owned the place and didn't give second thought to the fact that parents stay in the waiting room.

We put out some Valentine's decorations around the house, and the other day, Anna Claire asked, "So Mom, when are we going to decorate for Mardi Gras?" Example #4,289 of how to tell you are raising a child in Lousiana!

And here are a couple of sweet pictures from my phone:

A couple of weeks ago, my mom came in town to watch Anna Claire so we could go spend some time with friends who were visiting New Orleans. She and Papa Bear bought Anna Claire this horse tire swing - a backyard addition she has wanted for quite some time now. We're pretty sure Anna Claire would sleep on this horse if we'd let her! I have a feeling there will be many hours spent outside on this swing once the weather warms up!

 And finally - we were getting ready to go to a girl's birthday party one night, and AC came out of her room, dressed like this! I usually say, "Pick your battles" and let her wear her creations, but this one didn't get that stamp of approval....because it was 40 degrees outside!!

Just kidding....found one more....Anna Claire got into my lipstick and came into the living room like this:

When I asked, "Anna Claire, did you use some of my lipstick?" She look surprised and asked, "How did you know?" "Mommies are smart, Darling!"

The Things She Says....

For the day when I finally get all these blog entries made in book form, here are some conversations I don't want to forget.....

AC: "Mom, one of my friends asked me if I know how God makes babies."
ME: "What did you tell her?"
AC: "I think he puts them in water and lets them soak."

****
AC: "Hey Mom and Dad, when I'm sixteen and I get a car, can you have a birthday party for me where you and my friends hide?"
BRAD: "Do you mean a surprise party?"
AC: "Yeah, you and Mom and all my friends can turn out the lights and I will walk in and you will all say "Surprise."
ME: "Can we plan your 5th birthday first?"

****
At the dinner table
ME: "Anna Claire, what was the best part of your day?"
AC: "This dinner!"
ME: "Thanks, Anna Claire! That makes me happy!"
AC: "This chili is delicious! It goes down smooth and feels good in my tummy!"

I think someone has been watching Food Network too much!

****
Brad was about to leave on a cold day and he had on his hat and scarf.
AC: "Dad, you look really handsome today!"

****
Sometimes AC sticks her tongue out at us or says things she's not supposed to say. We've started putting the smallest dot of Tabasco on her tongue when she does these things.  We were getting out of the car at home one day when she spouted off something to me. I told her to go straight to her room and I would meet her there with hot sauce. She stormed off to her room, crying. I went to the kitchen to get the hot sauce. It was at that time, she stopped crying and hollered, "Mom, when you come, can you bring some chips. It makes the hot sauce not so hot!"
Good thinking, AC!

Right before Christmas, my sister was in town and we were baking in the kitchen. Anna Claire was in the living room playing and the wheels in her brain must have been turning b/c she came in the kitchen and asked, "Mom, when I stick out my tongue, you put hot sauce on it and it burns. If I stick out my booty, are you going to put hot sauce on my booty? Because that would burn my booty!" Needless to say, Elizabeth had to excuse herself from the kitchen!!

****
In the car yesterday, Anna Claire wanted to pretend we were having church. Brad was to sing and Anna Claire was going to say the prayer. Brad obliged, and then Anna Claire started praying. She got loud and then quite and prayed for everything, including Justin Bieber! Brad was pretty confident he had never prayed for Justin Bieber at church! Ha!

Anna Claire is too old for the church nursery, so this means 'big church' for her on Sunday mornings. This past Sunday, we were sitting (on the back row....now that's she's with me, we've moved back b/c sitting on the front row provided too much entertainment for her - she could turn around and make faces/wave at everyone) there and Brad said, "Amen!" or something along those lines during one of the songs. Anna Claire said, "Dad, shhhhhh!" Fortunately, she didn't say it loud enough for him to hear up on the front row, but the people around us heard and had a good laugh!"

A while back, Anna Claire was up at the office with us while we were working. Both of our offices open to the Sanctuary. She likes to go between both offices, but on this particular day, she made her way up to the platform to play church. She sang, prayed, and then said, "Ok people, how did you come to church today? Expecting? Good. Good." This is a question Brad asks the congregation every week and they answer "Expecting". Apparently she IS listening on Sunday mornings!

****
After Christmas, I upgraded to the iPhone 4, so we disabled the calling/texting/internet features from my iPhone 3 and gave it to Anna Claire. Basically, she has an iTouch with all her games on there. We were pulling into the parking lot of the AT&T store to get all this done, and AC understood what was going to happen. She said, "So, does this mean when I'm 5, I can use Facebook?" Ummmmm.....NO. When we told the AT&T man what we were doing, he said, "I need to take my picture with her- she's my youngest client for the iPhone."

The rest of the story.....

I have seriously started this blog post more times than I can count....
Let's try this again.
Christmas morning
Our little darling is not a morning person, even on Christmas morning. We had to wake her up! She was excited to see what Santa brought, but not thrilled with the lights/camera flashes.



 
Opening presents from Santa:

One present AC received was a Princess Presto (from Super Why on PBS) cape, wand, and tiara. She wore this over her pj's while everyone else opened their packages.

 Whew. Thanks to Gigi & Papa Bear, AC's doll, Carly, can travel safely in our car.

 When going over the pictures on my computer, I came across 16 pictures like the ones below. Apparently, AC decided to try her hand at self-portraits while we opened presents Christmas morning.
 

After celebrating a great Christmas in Baton Rouge with my family, we traveled north to Dallas and OKC to spend time with our extended family (Dallas) and the McKenzie's (OKC).
One of AC's favorite gifts - this Tangled wig from her great aunt and uncle.

I do have a picture of Brad wearing this wig, but he would die if I put it on the blog.

While in Dallas, we were also able to visit some friends. Here's AC with her buddy, Hannah.

 

 Then, we ventured up to OKC and had some time to visit Mark, Sherree, and Avery. AC and Avery always have a blast together. Sidenote: Anna Claire will cheer for A&M or OU or LSU, but when you ask her where she is going to collge, she will tell you "SNU, so Avery and I can be roommates!"

 The grandparents apparently wanted to seal Anna Claire's fate as the only grandchild. For Christmas, she received a harmonica, a Buzz Lightyear drum pad, and a Phineas and Ferb guitar. The other night, she was in her room, holding the guitar under one arm, playing the drums with the other, and singing into her microphone. The girl loves music and I can only hope she got all the musical genes from her daddy.

 Anna Claire and Aunt Roro.

 Anna Claire loves Fancy Nancy. Aunt Roro gave her a Fancy Nancy doll and the matching dress for her to wear. This girl loves playing dress up.

 After all the packages had been opened, Aunt Roro let her dogs out. AC laid on the floor and let Dozier (Robyn, help me on the spelling here!) lick her face. She laughed so hard!

 Dog drool in the hair and on the face. Gross. Although, AC found it hilarious.

 While in OKC, we were able to go to the Children's museum.
Here's AC trying her luck at a figure skating spin.

 Mom and Dad - this is for you. Where was this when I was in preschool? Electronic Fingerpainting!! :) In case you don't know, I loathe fingerpainting. Apparently when I was in preschool, I gagged at the site of it. I have issues. I still don't like the stuff. This, however, is greatness!

 Our future weather person.....

 AC is starting to warm up to people in costumes. This is the museum's mascot, I guess.

 We headed back to Dallas for a couple more days. While there, we went to the Gaylord Texan to experience ICE. This was amazing - a huge walk through where everything is made of ice. They issue you these big blue coats to wear because it ridiculously cold in the exhibit. Before going through, AC and her daddy tried out the snow sledding.

 A few pictures around the hotel that was all decorated for Christmas.

And that's Christmas for you. Now to 2011.