Potter Mania

Tonight, after the Stations of the Cross, Leia Rose, Daddy, and I watched the first Harry Potter movie!!! I have never seen Leia Rose more excited about seeing a movie! (And it was an absolute Godsend that Colin and the McNeils just happened to be at Stations as well, and Colin told Leia Rose that Voldemort's face was "funny" on the back of Quirrels head because he was "so bald"! As a result, Leia was not scared at all at the one REALLY frightening scene in the movie where Quirrel is hiding a sickly, parasitic Voldemort under his purple turban. Colin also gave Leia Rose a friend, close to her own age, to talk with about the book/movie. Thank you Colin!)
There were two things Leia Rose was mildly scared of, however: 1. "Fluffy" and 2. The scene in the haunted forest with Quirrel drinking the unicorn's blood. But, you know what? No problems sleeping, though. Whew! ; )
Then the most amazing thing of all: the Harry Potter universe is inspiring Leia Rose to READ!!! And I'll admit that, much to my chagrin, Leia Rose does NOT choose to read if she doesn't have to. But tonight, after the movie when she found out there were SEVEN Harry Potter books, she immediately christened a game of "library" in which she would pick out a book and "I'm going to try to read the words on the page to try and figure out what is happening! And tomorrow, right when we get up, Mamma, I want you to get out these books and we can play library again!" I have now experienced the power of the writing of J.K. Rowling first hand, the power that so many parents have observed in their own children, but until now I have only heard about. One word for you: WOW!!!

Funny Foam

For some reason, the word "foam" has been inciting a lot of laughter from Leia Rose these days:
During our play with the Resurrection Eggs, I told her that the one that was supposed to be "light green" looked more like "sea foam." Boy, she thought that was funny!
And then, funny enough, Brian has been playing the Star Wars Christmas album in the car as the last of his John Williams collection. (One guess as to what at least part of your next Christmas gift is going to be, Shenandoah!) : ) At dinner they talk about the songs. Leia's favorite is Daddy's rendition of "What Do You Get a Wookie for Christmas, if He Already Has a Comb?" Answer: a Brush! Leia Rose ALWAYS laughs at that! Ha! ; )

Tales from the Work Folder (late Feb.)

We finally got the spectacular "Apple" work that Leia Rose has been telling us about! It's this puzzle board with words written on it. Leia Rose has to read the word, and then put the corresponding, laminated picture puzzle piece in the right place. She worked so hard making this activity all herself! I was really proud of her!

Here is a little book she made with the names of many African animals. She wrote the names all herself. This one is a gazelle. But something tells me they aren't usually blue. : )
Leia was also very proud of her many "passports" that she made at school. "It's this little book where you get stamps from the different countries you've been to!" And guess which country got a page all to itself? You guessed it! Japan! ; )
I found this in Leia's work folder as well, it's a special "Happy Playdate Heidi" card for Leia's friend Heidi. : ) We delivered it today, . . . and, yes, she stayed to play. I told Emily that WE were going to take Heidi next week and give Emily a full afternoon off. : )
And I couldn't help laughing at this one. Leia Rose made a sombrero for absolutely no reason. Ha! Perhaps a testament to how much she "loves" Mexico, according to her teachers? ; )

Also, this week in outside play Jessica and Leia Rose have been playing "fairies" out on the playground all week, with a special concentration on "flying." : ) They have been "flying" away from the "fairy-eating moose" named Lorenzo! Ha!

And when I went in to check on our parent conference time today, Mrs. Schnell and Mrs. McDowell had some stories for me: 1. Leia Rose has been telling Mrs. Schnell that she is "really old," and if she's around when Leia is performing in an older-kid ballet performance that she would be "really, really old." Ha! 2. She also told Mrs. McDowell, "You know, if you don't want to be an art teacher any more, my Auntie April could probably handle it." Ha!

They also told me that they were impressed that I make Leia Rose keep her jacket on after school, even if she REALLY wants to take it off. I remember the day they were referring to. I said, "No, Leia. It's cold outside. You can take your coat off when we get to the car, but not before." Mr. Schnell said, "Thank God ONE kid is going to respect her parents!" Well, it certainly is our struggle these days, isn't it? The problem is, often she takes it off without asking when I am fooling with Annie. ; ) Today, I told her she was NEVER allowed to do that again. She wears the coat until we get to the car. Period. I was also telling them about my realization while Leia Rose was talking to Sister Catherine that I had never actually taught Leia how to stand still and speak to an adult, which mortified me. They said she does a GREAT job at school, Mrs. Schnell mentioning a particular time this week when Leia REALLY wanted to do the craft, but was told, "No, you have to organize the things in your work folder." Leia Rose sighed, but said nothing, walked around the room to cool off, and then did what she was told. Yay! : )

Special Pigtails

I have been trying to get Leia Rose to wear these since the last time we went to Disney World (which was a LONG time ago). It was the kind of thing where I actually asked the mother of a little girl who was wearing them in the Magic Kingdom. Spectacular, aren't they? Anyway, today she finally wanted to wear them! But for some reason, I am reminded of a koala bear. : )
And today when we got home, it was more playing with Resurrection Eggs. (One of these days Annie won't be napping when we play with these.) The tragedy today was that Leia Rose hid them, and then lost the light purple one which sent Mamma into an overreaction of my-child-is-so-ungrateful-and-cares-nothing-about-other-people's-things type of fit. And after I calmed down (and we asked St. Anthony to intercede), we found the egg in Leia's valentine card bag. : )

Shouts Out from the Car

I just had to put a little post in about a significant verbal milestone that Annie hit today! It's like she just discovered that she could name most everything she could see from her vantage point in the car. : ) So the way to pick up Leia Rose was filled with, "car!" "tree!" "sky!" "cloud!" "moon!" (moon?) over and over again. It was a BLAST! : )

Has Easter Come Early?

Well, today I had a surprise for Leia Rose when we got home from school today: I brought out the Easter baskets and, more importantly, the "Resurrection Eggs." Last year, I found this neat activity that contains 12 plastic eggs, with items revealing Jesus' passion. It's a great way to recap during Lent, and lots and lots of fun (not to mention great practice for Easter morning)! In the picture, Leia Rose is holding the item from one of the final eggs: linen, representing the linen Jesus was wrapped in after His death and left behind at the Resurrection. Maybe we should make this be part of our nightly family prayer time during Lent? Maybe.

By the way, doesn't Leia rose look about 11 years old in this picture? . . . must have been that hug from Sister Catherine. Ha! ; )

Hugging Sister Catherine

After school today, we went right away to Saint Thomas More School Office in order to hand in Leia Rose's tuition deposit & registration for next year. I knew I wouldn't be brave enough to take pictures inside, so I just took one in the car before hand. : ) I decided that both Leia and Annie could come in to run this short errand. Leia Really wanted to take a look at her new school, and I was very happy she was so excited about it!

Anyway, we walked into the school office, and guess who was visiting with the secretary?!? Sister Catherine, the principal!!! And Leia Rose got to meet her!!! Leia introduced herself very nicely. I was so proud of her! (Even though it was a bit hard for her to make eye contact. : ) Nuns are a bit intimidating, I guess, even one as nice as this.) And when Sister Catherine said that Leia would have Mrs. Wilson as a teacher next year, Leia Rose was quick to tell her that she already knew a girl in her Montessori class named Wilson. They had a little conversation together, with sister Catherine getting down on one knee to get on the same level with Leia Rose and complimenting Leia Rose on her pink jacket, etc. Leia Rose was a bit shy (for a change), but she did SO well considering that I didn't prepare her for this at all. When I asked Leia Rose to say, "It was nice to have met you," she did it nicely and happily. And Sister Catherine asked if she could have a hug, . . . and suddenly my daughter was hugging a real live nun for the very first time. (Oh, you KNOW I wish I had a picture of that one.)

I was telling them that I was watching The Trouble with Angels, just to see if it would be good for Leia Rose to see before she comes here, . . . and Sister Catherine said that the convent where it was filmed used to be her own: St. Mary's outside of Philadelphia. I couldn't believe it! My only issue with Leia during the visit was that I wished that she would have stood still right beside me, hands folded, not fiddling with her jacket, looking into the face of Sister Catherine while she was speaking, answering ever question respectfully and clear as a bell. Ha! Again, I was expecting too much, and I knew so. So I just guided her with a smile. : ) [But I did realize as a result that my daughter hasn't really been taught how to act in that situation, which mortified me a bit. "Ah well," I thought, "five years old isn't too late."] ; )

For the rest of the day, I found myself hoping that we made a nice impression. Going over the conversations in my mind again and again, and wondering if I said all the right things. : ) When I think of Leia Rose walking into that school, wearing the nostalgic plaid uniform jumper and blouse, . . . and embarking on a very Catholic-centric education, . . . I absolutely get teary-eyed. Every single time. I get a similar feeling only when our family enters the Magic Kingdom together. Or when we are all sharing a meaningful Christmas moment. The moments in life are few that you "just know" that the Lord is helping you make a right decision. I believe this is one of those moments.

E-I-E-I-O

It's just been so exciting lately to hear Annie doing her first attempts at singing. Her favorite? "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," of course. : ) She'll often try sing-song reading, too. Especially when we're reading some of her favorite books. : )

For Love of a Chip

Annie Katharine is just like her Daddy: she loves salty snacks! : ) Tonight Daddy brought home some Taco/Ranch Doritoes as a surprise, and Annie did her fair share of partaking. : ) And each time, right before she would take a bite, she would stare adoringly at the sacred chip, . . . just like this. : )

Pull-Toys & Puppets

Gosh, I just love this picture of Annie. I'm not sure why. She's not smiling or anything. It's just a good representation of an I'm-just-a-little-bit-tired Annie. Every day when she goes over to her pull-toys, this is the one she chooses. And she always couples it with a rousing "cack, cack" (quack, quack)! ; ) Today she pulled it all round the little "circle" from the kitchen to staircase and back (sometimes holding my hand).
I also brought out the puppets today for Annie, . . . for the very first time! She was mostly excited to see (and hear) "Kitty Cat James," a very special kitty puppet that Kevin gave Leia Rose long ago. Annie loved the combination of Jame's arms moving and his "meowing."
And she especially liked when he played peek-a-boo with her. (Still Annie's absolute favorite game.)
Annie was also intrigued by Lamb Chop, . . . but I don't think she knew it was a lamb. She was most interested in sucking her thumb and giving Lamb Chop the other thumb. Ha! [And despite the way these pictures look, Annie didn't spend as much time on puppets as I thought. I was kind of imagining us going through each animal a few times and making the sounds and doing a little story, etc., etc. In five minutes, she couldn't have cared less. Interesting!]

Just another little note, today Annie took out her very first birthday card from her card box (the one that the Faulkners sent her), looked at the picture and said, "Ahh-eee"! (Annie!!!) Loved that!!!

Learning Tivo,...Much to My Chagrin

When Leia Rose got home today, I taught her how to use her reading & recognizing skills to access Tivo in order to find the shows she wanted to watch. As a reward, I let her watch a show (if she could do it herself). *sigh* We always promised ourselves that we would NEVER allow our kids to use the TV control. That had to go out the window because Leia Rose's TV morning is Saturday morning, and if we can, Brian and I would REALLY like to sleep in. The great thing about Tivo is that all of Leia's shows are taped and show the symbol of the station on the side. The bad thing about it is that you can't program it to play one show after another (and there's no way that we want to come down every 20 minutes to changes shows for her). And, of course, Leia Rose was happy to have more control over her own life. : )

Bath-Time Pool Party!!!

After playing with Heidi yesterday after school, the girls got the idea to have a "Bath-Time Pool Party" in the big tub at Heidi's house. They had their minds made up. The Mammas were all too happy to let that happen (although, even if we weren't, . . . these girls would NOT have been swayed). And here was the happy result:



The girls stayed in the tub for a whole hour! ; ) During which time, they emptied out all of Heidi's bath paints into the water to see what color it made. It made grey. Ha!

Rainbow Horse

Look at this really cool "Rainbow Horse" Leia Rose made out of playdoh today!!! It was really cute because after its tail fell off, she said, "Hmmmm, I think I should have made my horse of one color instead of a horse of a different color." (And for some reason, that reminded me of the Cabbie from the Wizard of Oz.) Ha! And she also kept calling her Bunnington tools "Bunnington Accouterments." Ha! I wonder where she heard that word? (Me.) ; )

Annie's words today were amazing: "better" (in reference to feeling better after her diaper was changed), "cracker" (in reference to a graham cracker), "orange" (in reference to the mandarin oranges we had at lunch), "food" (in reference to her favorite hobby), and "cloud" (in reference to a cloud on Elmo's world).

"Ooooo"s and "Aaaahhhh"s.

On Saturday, the sound Annie made when she was excited was "Ooooo!"
On Sunday, the sound Annie made when she was excited was, "Aaaahhhh!"

More Walking than Crawling

I just wanted to record that today Annie truly made the transition from Crawling to Walking. Now, even when going just a few feet, Annie prefers to walk. It wasn't like that yesterday. ; )

The Domino Show

Here is Leia Rose ringing the little Domino bell to call Annie and I into "The Domino Show." This was a special Domino track that Daddy and Leia Rose put together, and REALLY enjoyed the process! (In fact Daddy would come to me many times that night and tell me how much fun they had.) [Just a little note, . . . it started when Leia Rose was comlaining about nothing to do while Mamma had to make dinner. I suggested the dominos and Leia jumped at the chance, . . . until she figured out I couldn't play with her. Then, sure enough, I heard little footsteps going upstairs where Daddy was in the bonus room and seconds later, down he comes to play. Leia truly had Daddy wrapped around her finger.] : )
Brian was especially proud of the "obstacles" Leia and himself set up togehter, particularly the balloon weight (see the ribbon going up?) that was part of the track.

Playdoh Plus

Today was Annie's very first day playing with Playdoh. And, no, she really wasn't ready. She originally tried to eat it, . . . and then didn't really understand its properties. ; ) But I did manage to teach her that she could make little marks with her finger.
But look at what Leia made!!! "Pottery with Pennies!!!"
After the Playdoh, there was lots of other fun things to play. Guess what Grandpa calls this? Lady and the Tramp! But not because only ONE of my daughters is a lady. ; ) It's the spaghetti analogy, all the way! ; )
And HERE's something that needs to be documented. Every single time Annie climbs up the stairs she heads immediately to her bathroom to get to the bucket of bath toys in the tub. What is she looking for? This silly, yellow, disposable cup. There were such tears one day, when we couldn't find it. ; )
And yet another thing to be documented: Annie often asks the ones she loves to kiss Cherry Chat Chat with a big "mmmmmmmmmm-MA!", . . . she's days she's calling Cherry, "Kitty." ; ) This morning, Grandma got the big honor!
And the Dinosaur Drawing Book and pencils were another hit today, and not only with Leia as you can see. Annie had a ball putting the pencils back in to the glass again and again.

And there were SO many words today (as every day). I always forget some. But today she clearly said "in" and "out" as well as "fair" (stairs) and "firt" (shirt).

Jesus Loves Leia

Just a few cute things about Leia Rose and church today. ; ) Today was the Gospel of John about the Samaritan woman giving Jesus a drink of water at the well and, somehow, during the homily Father John connected it to how much time we spend in prayer. I remember his words exactly, "We are not called to sit and watch TV for 4-6 hours a night." That's Brian. "We are not called to write e-mail for hours on end." And Leia Rose yells out, "THAT'S YOU MAMMA!" Ha!

Then later we were listening to our "Rise and Shine: Let's Go to Church" CD that I made that we always listen to on Sundays. I think we were specifically listening to "Step by Step" sung by the Furman University Newman Club, and Leia Rose said, "We really love God, don't we, Mamma!?!" I agreed. Then she looked really pensive and said, "Mamma, I want to write Father John a letter. . . . I want to write him a letter and let him know that we love Jesus. I know! I can draw a picture of Jesus!" What a sweetie! That letter and picture are in the works. ; )

Just to end on a funny note, one of the other songs on our special Sunday CD is "My God" from Sister Act (set to the oldies tune of "My Guy"). And when they sang, "I love Him! I love Him! I love Him! And where He goes, I'll follow! I'll follow! I'll follow!" Leia Rose said, "Why are they singing about Obama?" And I thought, "Oh my gosh, just about 30 minutes of Fox News Channel and she already knows Obama's name?!? Yikes!!!" Then I sang the real words to her REALLY clearly, . . . thank God. ; )

I already knew this but, just as a reminder, . . . Note to Self: Children are ALWAYS listening.

Fun & Silliness with Grandma & Grandpa

Look what Grandpa picked up from Gymboree!
Leia went to ballet with Grandma and Grandpa, and then was treated to a rainbow ice cream cone!
And Annie loved playing her alligator kazoo all day!
Doesn't Grandpa look pretty in his beautiful necklaces? : )

Grandpa even gave Annie what Leia called a "Doggie Tail." : )
And Grandpa and Annie loved to play "hats" with each other. : )
He even showed her how to ring the dinner bell. : )
Grandma and Grandpa got Leia Rose a really neat "How to Draw Dinosaurs" set, . . . and Leia Rose was SO excited to try it. This is her very first try, a picture for Grandpa!
And here is her second one: a picture for Daddy! A T-Rex and an Ankylosaurus.

Leia Rose made a really cool "Mouse House" today!
She even added a garden (which she watered), a tree, and a sidewalk.
Meanwhile, Annie was riding the zipline, . . . and kept asking for more. : )
Then we went over to Mia's and Chloe's and Annie got to play "goalie" during thier little soccer game! (And she actually DID block a goal, but only because her foot was in the way. Ha!)

We went to Tyler's for dinner and Annie continued to love on her very favorite beads that Leia retrieved from the Christmas Parade. (I have to remember to take these to church tomorrow, even though Rosaries are always a hit, too.)