Anna makes us laugh

Anna is clever and already knows how to make us laugh with the things she says. One thing she's been saying lately is "Don't want it _____." For example, "Don't want it milk" or "Anna don't want it shoes." I think it's so cute she says it that way instead of "I don't want shoes"- or even "Don't want shoes."

She continues to say, "No, self!" when I ask to help her with something. She is an independent girl.

One thing she said last night had both Ja and I laughing. It was bedtime and I was trying to get the girls to come to the bathroom to brush out their wet hair and brush their teeth (something they really don't like doing). I decided to walk into Macy's room, look at my pretend paper, and ask, "Is there a Macy here?" Macy thought that was funny and she happily ran into the bathroom. That was the easiest time I've ever had getting Macy ready for bed.

I went back into the room and asked, "Is there an Anna here?" Anna was busy playing with a toy but quickly answered "No." I laughed and said, "then what is your name?" to which she quickly replied, "Kate." She was very confident about her answer and did not hesitate at all with choosing a name.

I'm not sure why this is so funny to me. She's only 2 and she already pretends to be someone else. Macy does this too sometimes but I love that Anna has caught on.

Anna makes me laugh every day with her funny sayings and by how happy she is. She runs everywhere, or if not runs then leaps. Today in the backyard she stood on top of a little table and belted out "Let it Go" complete with arms outstretched and her eyes closed. All that came out was "let it go" and "anymore" but it was still the cutest version of the song I've ever heard. When I asked if I can take a picture she replied, "No want it picture!"

I can't imagine life without my little Anna! I feel like she's always been with us. It's been a lot of fun spending my mornings with her while Macy is at school. She is such a doll and does very well at the grocery store!

Anna showing me what she wants for Christmas

Anna after eating a kit kat bar.

I asked Anna to say cheese and got this.

Anna sweetly lines her shoes up against the wall when she takes them off.

Macy's Preschool Field Trip to Patterson Farm

Macy had her first preschool field trip of the year at Patterson Farm. This place was made for preschool field trips. They were cranking out classes one right after another. The kids had a good time and it was fun to see timid Macy interact with her friends.

First was a stop to take a class picture:

from the left: Miss Stacey, Megan, Lillie, Allie, Macy, ?, Caroline, Sophia, Diego, Hank, Morgan, Gregory, Miss Lesley

Then they sit a few schools into a barn to watch a movie about their farm. The kids were not interested in that much. Allie (red hair) is Macy's swinging buddy. She taught Macy how to pump and now they spend most of their playground time together swinging and singing Let it Go. 

Next, the kids stuffed a scarecrow with hay.

Each child got a cup of food to feed some animals. The farm has been doing this long enough to know that kids won't hold their hand right and will get bit so they installed some PVC pipes the kids put the food into instead. This made it a little less exciting for me but the kids didn't seem to mind. Macy's food lasted a long time because she would only put one or two pieces down the tube at a time.  The food was some sort of oats. 

Next, was a hay ride around the farm which dropped us off at the "pumpkin patch." It was just a spot in a field with little pumpkins scattered around. Once again, it doesn't take much to make kids happy. Macy was just as thrilled to choose one of these pumpkins as she was picking one from the vine.

Here's the winner!

Anna got a pumpkin too but this is what happened when I asked her to hold her pumpkin for a picture. She said it was too heavy and ran off. 

The scheduled field trip was done after the pumpkins. There was a great playground here and we could've spent more time playing but we had another appointment right after this field trip. I was hungry and Anna was a little cranky too. At least it was a beautiful day and Macy had fun with her friends from preschool.

Pinterest Fail

I've been trying to come up with activities to do with the girls so they don't watch Netflix so much. The two projects we've done lately I got from Pinterest and neither has worked out.

The first was some bath crayons. Macy and I shredded a bar of soap, mixed it with water, and added food coloring to give them colors. First off, Macy couldn't shred the soap so she lost interest quickly. Second, the soap and water was hard to mix so she didn't want to do that either. Third, when we tried them in the bath tub they didn't work. They hardly made a mark so the girls didn't like playing with them. Pinterest fail.

The second activity was supposed to be shaving cream dough. The lady called it cloud dough. I call it crumble dough. Supposedly all you do is mix shaving cream and corn starch together to make a "dough." No measurements were given so I guessed. Not enough corn starch and it was too wet, too much and it crumbled into tiny little pieces. It was fun to play with for a few minutes. Macy lost interest again after only 5 minutes (I'm seeing a pattern here) but Anna played with it for longer. It sure felt cool in your hands. It was wet but dry at the same time, weird I know, but somehow it was.

Anna loved it but made a huge mess! Her favorite was clapping her hands once they were covered in the goop. That shot little pieces all over the room. It was tricky to clean up because it was wet so I couldn't sweep it and I was afraid to vacuum it up. I ended up using a rag to wash it down which wasn't too bad since it was shaving cream. It did leave a residue over the table, chairs, and floor which took a few cleanings to get rid of. Cleaning the floor on all fours is not something a pregnant lady wants to do.

I stuck Anna in the bath to get her cleaned up.

At least we made a memory together. Probably one that only I will remember.

Red Wolf Farm

Saturday we ventured out to Red Wolf Farm out in Maiden, NC. We had a really great time! It wasn't crowded to us (the ticket lady said it was). If it were in VA it would've been swarming with people. There was so much to do there: wagon ride, pick pumpkins, obstacle course, huge slide, corn maze, corn bins, wooden playsets to climb on, tubes to run through, animals, horse rides, wagon rides, vendor with food, and other craft vendors. 

We took the wagon ride from the entrance to the big slide. Macy was excited to ride it but kinda fell towards the end of her ride so she wasn't enthusiastic about riding it agian. She eventually did and Anna rode on Ja's lap a few times. It was great not having a line! You could ride it as many times as you'd like. 

From there we went to the John Deere tractor race track. It was a great idea but most of the tractors were broken and wouldn't pedal. 

Anna was upset hers didn't have pedals. Not that he could reach them anyways. 

Macy eventually found one that works. 

Then the girls climbed on the wooden pirate ship. Anna did laps of going up the ramp and down the slide. 

Macy spotted the big tube to walk through. 

The girls loves the inflatable obstacle course. Ja had to do it a few times with Anna but she eventually went through it all by herself. Macy kept a very watchful eye on Anna to make sure she was safe. 

Macy is a pro at these things. I was impressed Anna could do it all by herself. 

By this point Macy was begging to ride the horses. She loves horse rides. Anna said she wanted to ride too so we tried putting them both on the same horse. When Ja lifted Anna up she grabbed onto his arms and lifted up her legs to make it impossible to sit her down. Wasn't going to happen. Macy was thrilled to ride Buttercup. She had a smile the whole ride. 

After Macy got off her horse Anna spotted a horse tied to a tree. It was a little smaller than Buttercup. She pointed to it and said, "Anna's horse." It was like she was trying to say, "I would ride that horse. That's mine. Not this big white one."

We hopped on the wagon ride again to take us up the hill to finish the activities. Farmhall tractors pulled the wagon. We thought of grandma and grandpa Winder. When the engine started up Ja said the smell of it brought back so many memories of being at his grandparents farm.

Loving the ride!

The corn bin was a definite favorite. We went back to these a couple of times. They had 4 giant tubs full of dried corn kernels. Macy has been in this type of thing before but I hadn't so I was anxious to jump in. It was a lot of fun! The corn was cool and combined with the weight of it the experience was almost therapeutic. I can see why the kids love it. It's fun to run it through your fingers. 

And fun to throw it around. Anna had some stuck in her diaper.

Ja captured this great shot of me and Anna in the corn tub. She was loving it!

It's funny when you step into the corn your feet sink down. I'm not sure how Anna walked with it up to her knees!

Macy was making corn angels but wouldn't let us get a picture of it.

I was able to convince Ja into the corn tub and he loved it too. He said we should buy one. When we saw the $300 price tag on the bin we changed our mind. We'll just have to visit Red Wolf Farm every year instead.

After enjoying some time in the corn we decided to pick out pumpkins. As soon as we got our shoes back on it started to rain. We huddled under a tree for a few minutes but it started to rain harder. It was such a shame because we had a perfect spot in the corn bin which was covered! We seriously left one minute too early. The tree wasn't keeping us dry so we decided to walk to the car and go home. Then it started to down pour. It was hard to see where I was going because the rain was getting into my eyes. All four of us were complexly drenched! It was like we jumped into the pool with our clothes on. Walking in jeans that are drenched is a weird feeling.

Luckily, I brought jackets for me and the girls that we had left in the car. The girls stripped down to their underwear and diaper then put on their jackets for the ride home. We were extra lucky because Macy had for some unknown reason put a towel in the car. At least the girls could dry off and warm up with their jackets. Ja took off his shirt for the ride home.  It was quite the adventure!

We had a great time at the farm and made it very memorable by walking to the car (which was a long ways from the corn) in the pouring rain. Macy said she liked this place very much and wants to make it a tradition to go every year. Just not the rain part, neither girl liked that.

Our Shocking Weekend

I woke up to the shock of the century this saturday. I heard commotion down in the kitchen and I thought it was Ja making breakfast for us (he often does on weekends). I went back to sleep then was awakened by Macy singing Jingle Bells on the top of her lungs down in the kitchen.

That was Shock #1- she went downstairs without me! For the first time in her 4 1/2 years she actually got out of bed and went somewhere without getting me first.

Shock #2- She went downstairs with Ja! (for some reason he is incapable of certain things in her eyes) Or so I thought...

Around 8 o'clock Macy comes into our room and tells me she made me breakfast. I follow her downstairs and find this in the kitchen:

Shock #3- Macy really did make me breakfast! All by herself!! Ja thought she was with me and I thought she was with him.

Here's her soup recipe: 3 eggs, 3 spoonfuls of dill pickle relish, a small container of vanilla yogurt, whole chives, water, and 1 1/2 cups of cream.

Of course she wanted me to try her soup since she made it for me. I took the littlest spoonful I could expecting the worst. Shock #4- it didn't taste that bad! In fact, the cream made it taste good. We deliberated over how we could turn the soup into something else since it had raw egg in it. I suggested pancakes and Macy was all for it. So we added: a few cups of flour, two teaspoons baking powder, and two tablespoons of oil. Macy wanted to add salt and pepper so that went in there too.

Continuing her independence Macy wanted to pour the pancakes onto the skillet. I think this one was a Minnie Mouse pancake complete with bow.


Shock #5- the pancakes turned out fluffy and yummy! I could taste pickle but it wasn't strong. If I didn't know it was in there I'm not sure I would've been able to identify it. I found it funny that I had to pull out long pieces of chives but I could tell they added to the overall flavor. I only put butter on them and I thought they were good. Ja had a harder time eating them. He said he couldn't get past the fact there were pickles in his pancakes. Savory pancakes are a innovative concept and would be delicious with sausage. Maybe Macy is onto something...

As a side note- I'm not sure where she got this new found independence. She does help me cook a lot but she's never tried to do it on her own. Two Sunday's ago a sister missionary gave a talk and shared a story of trying to make lunch when she was four. She put raw eggs in a bowl and a few other ingredients. She tried it and it was horrible. Perhaps Macy was listening to the story but tuned out when the sister said it was horrible. Macy was sure proud of her self for making us breakfast!

We decided to go the Amazing Maize Maze which is just down the street from us. It has over two miles of maze to walk through and I'm pretty sure we walked at least that much. Saturday was a beautiful day with sunny blue skies. Macy spent almost the whole time in the wagon. Anna walked or was carried. I don't think she liked the bumpy ride.

This was Macy at the end. People passing us thought she was asleep.

At the start of the maze you're handed a blank sheet with numbers and all around the maze there are mailboxes with pieces of the maze inside. I don't think I would have found my way out even with a map. I'm so glad Ja was with us doing all the navigating. I would have been the person waving her flag in desperation asking for the exit. In 2 hours and 15 mins we found 11 of the 12 squares. It was a little disappointing not to finish but we did have to take a long detour to try and find a bathroom. Plus we had a 2-year old, a 4-year old, a pregnant lady, and a wagon.  Considering all of that we did pretty well. The girls were excellent and we had no crying. Towards the end we were trying to find the exit and Macy said, "I want to get out of this maze!" Shock #6- That was all the complaining we had. 

Ja then took Macy to a birthday party an hour away while I put Anna down for a nap, watered our grass (we just had it aerated and new grass seed put down), and made rolls for the dinner before the General Women's meeting. Everyone was exhausted that night!

Sunday morning Macy wanted to make breakfast again. I suggested a fruit salad because I know she likes chopping things up. She was excited about this and wanted to chop up chives to go in. I talked her out of that. 

At church we had another big shock, this time by Anna. It was time to go to nursery and Shock #7 she just walked right in! There was no crying, no asking for daddy to stay, nothing. We waved good-bye and that was it. We waited 7 months for that moment! I think the thing that helped was her nursery leader babysat her one morning two weeks ago. Ever since then Anna has had an easier time going to nursery.

Everyone was exhausted after our very busy weekend and both girls were in bed by 8:30! Shock #8! It was amazing having extra time in our night.

Another side note about Macy's independence: For the past two weeks she has been going to the bathroom all by herself! Usually she would want me there for moral support I guess. She could do everything herself so she would make excuses like she didn't like the dark, or didn't want Anna to come in, or some silly reason. For awhile I was able to say, "Tell me when you're done and I'll help." Then when she tired of that she would say, "Mom, I have to go potty and I can't tell you when I'm done." I would have to escort her to the bathroom and sit and watch her complete the whole task by herself. But now, Shock #9 she will tell me she has to go potty, goes, flushes, and washes her hands all by herself! I don't have to be there anymore! This is such a freeing feeling!!