Annika is eight!

(Excuse the poor quality, this is a picture of a picture)

It is amazing to me that this child who was once a chubby-cheeked baby, content to sit and observe everything around her is now old enough to:

Write poetry
Teach herself guitar
Draw the most detailed pictures
Read thick books
Ride a bike
Hit a baseball...far
Play card games
Sing every song that comes on the radio
Pick out some very fashion forward outfits
Have definite opinions on everything
Play soccer
Create almost anything with paper, tape, scissors and crayons
Crochet
Appreciate humor
Multiply and divide
Play a mean game of ping pong

Here are some of Annika's favorite things:

Food- corn on the cob, hard-boiled eggs, carrots, salad, celery, yogurt, fruit, strawberry cheesecake ice cream, tacos, chicken, cheesecake

Movie- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Song- Bounce...Jonas Brothers

Playing games- Go to the Head of the Class, Payday, Clue

Writing songs and poems

Art- drawing, using her new oil pastels

She loves sports- any kind, except for swimming

Skipping

Hand clapping to Say Say oh Playmate

Hats- fedoras, baseball caps...any kind of hats

Just another Sunday morning

In retrospect, I probably should have been concerned when I saw Ian holding the phone and giggling, saying "That sounded like the police!" I thought he had just pushed the page button, which could sound like a siren to a five year old. A minute later, the phone ring and I answered it. It was 911 wanting to know what my emergency was. I explained to them that my son dialed it and I was very sorry. The dispatcher told me they would have to send someone out anyway. So we sat and waited for the police, Ian growing more wide-eyed and worried by the minute.
"I think I'll go up to my room," he suggested nervously.
I told him no way was he pulling a disappearing act. If I had to sit around waiting for the police, he did too. Eventually they showed up. The police officer didn't even come in. He just came in the yard and I told him what had happened. He was very nice about it. I almost wish he would have had put a little scare in Ian though. I did my best, we had a serious talk about wasting the police's time as well as the dispatchers. Hopefully it sunk in, because I assured him that if it happened again, the police were not going to be as forgiving.

Ian says:

I kept trying to come sleep with you in your bed last night but Daddy didn't want me to. He just wants to sleep in the bed without me there, so he can snore at you.

Sleeping boy

I told you Ian has been having a rough time lately? He normally acts better around other people, but over the last week he has thrown fits in front of grandparents, the school office personnel and Toddie and Sue Ann. It has been a humbling week for me to say the least. However, today was an awesome day. Ian got up and got ready for school with only a little bit of grumbling. The rest of the day he was sweet and did everything I asked of him. So, I told him he could stay up a little bit later than normal tonight. He decided he wanted to watch a tv show so I left him in the living room and went off to do some other things. When I came back I found this:




Then a few minutes later:


So sweet. I love that boy, even when he is a little stubborn.:)

Tattling

Sunday night I was busy working on a paper so Karl was kind enough to put the kids to bed for me. Elizabeth was not too happy with her daddy telling her it was bedtime. As he tried to get her ready I heard her run away and in a sing-song voice she informed Karl "I'm telling Mooooooommmmmy!"

Another poem by Annika

The Poem

This is the poem that you may have heard before
When you hear it you're dancing
And when you're singing, you're prancing
And they all come along to ...
The poem.

The End of the Sidewalk. A poem by Annika

I was with my friends
We were playing ball
When the ball flew in the air
It fell off a cliff...
And it was the end of the sidewalk.