Mail Time

Tonight, Anna Claire felt it necessary to push her princess bucket around in her baby stroller....well, right. That's normal. She had collected some leaves, sticks, and flowers (ok, they were weeds...but she didn't know) from our time out in the backyard this afternoon, so maybe she felt she needed to take extra good care of that bucket tonight.






Recently, she has received several cards in the mail from her grandpa in Oklahoma and her grandparents in Texas! She had a great time tonight "reading" her mail and then putting it in her mailbox.

Anna Claire and her slide

For Christmas, Ma-Maw and Pa (Anna Claire's great-grandparents), bought her a slide. She loves when we bring it out for her to play on. Today, you would have thought we brought out the world's largest jungle gym - she was so excited!

The Dinner Bell

Today, Brad and I went on an adventure. Anna Claire got to stay with her best little bud from church, so she was one happy camper!
Off we went to The Dinner Bell in McComb, Mississippi, with the senior adults of our church. This place is an experience! Basically, you sit at a huge round table, and there is a seriously large lazy susan in the middle filled with all kinds of good Southern dishes. When you need something, you just "spin" the lazy susan, and when a dish gets low, out comes a fresh family-style serving of that dish! On the menu today was fried chicken, BBQ ribs, sausage, corn-on-the-cob, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, fried eggplant, red beans and rice, dumplings, rolls, and cornbread. Dessert...banana pudding. Delicious.




And on our way home, we passed through Kentwood, Louisiana...home of Brittney Spears. Yes, I took a picture of the sign.
Finally, here are a couple of cute pictures of Anna Claire from today. Her school is doing a fundraiser, and she is fascinated by the magazine that shows all the items being sold. This morning, she had it in her grocery cart. And this afternoon, she was enjoying the beautiful weather we are having by riding on her daddy's shoulders.

How Tall Is She?

Aunt Elizabeth is using Anna Claire as her 'subject' for some nutrition class project. I had given her all the necessary information, except I didn't know Anna Claire's height. As is evident in her pictures, Anna Claire is never still, nor would she understand the concept of, "Anna Claire, stand still so I can measure you." Not going to happen. So, we waited until she was asleep, and we went in and measured her. Yes, I took a picture. It was a funny sight. The best was she started stirring as we were finishing, and Brad said, "30 inches...GO!" and we were out before she even knew what happened.

I, myself, will do it....

This was a phrase that rang thoughout my house when Elizabeth was little. I am reminded of this phrase on a daily basis with Anna Claire. She wants to try everything by herself, and she makes sure you know this!
Case in point....she has recently discovered that when eating, she can use her own spoon and have the food make it to her mouth with about 85% accuracy; therefore, she has mastered the skill of eating with a spoon/fork (or at least that's how she sees it). Tonight, she had ravioli.....and here is the result:
We still needed to go to Target after dinner, so a quick bath was in order. She cleaned up nicely, and we were off. She picked up some random items and we were on our way...

Whoa....

Please take a minute and visit The Jenkins Johnson Gallery website to see the latest exhibit. This is a gallery in NYC that is featuring the work of a lady who did a photographic gender study based on the colors pink and blue. You can read the article in the NY Times by clicking here.
I can't imagine setting this all up and then sitting the child in the middle of it. Anna Claire would go nuts!

A New Accessory?

When Aunt Robyn was here one time, she bought Anna Claire this Disney princess bucket at the mall. Every once in a while, Anna Claire will play with this bucket. Recently, though, she has taken a strong liking to this bucket and she carries it all over the house. She keeps the same items in the bucket, and she likes to "unpack" the items. She then finds great delight in putting all the items back in the bucket and away she goes! Here are a couple of pictures from this afternoon. She knows she is not to play on our treadmill, so she likes to sit on the very edge. And just in case you are wondering, the contents of the bucket include: a small cloth ball, a green cup from a stacking set, a plastic piece of pizza, a plastic bunch of grapes, and a necklace. Odd.