Anna Grows

Halloween is approaching and time to start planning for the big costume. This year, Anna requested a purple princess dress. Thanks to Grandma's excellent seamstress abilities, she has one. The purple princess dress arrived in the mail today. To say Anna was excited is an understatement. She was talking practically non-stop the entire evening about the dress, how pretty it is , how much she loves grandma and grandpa, how she needs to get to her castle to get her crown, etc.... The dress is a hit. Mom may need to hide it until Halloween. In the meantime, Grandma may have a princess costume business on the side.

It's official....Joe and Theresa are soccer parents. Anna started her first "soccer" class last Saturday morning for 3 and 4 year olds. What this means is that for 45 minutes on Saturday mornings, Anna gets to run around with other kids chasing soccer balls....or just running. She loves it and was excited to go again on Saturday to her "game" and see the coach. If you've never watched 3 and 4 year olds play soccer before, it truly is the equivalent of herding cats. Much to Joe and Theresa's amazement, the coach actually does get the kids to do something - kick balls into the net, dribble the ball, run laps...etc. Anna is really into running laps. It is equally entertaining to watch the other kids/parents. There is only one other girl in the class, so Anna and Audrey need to play with the boys. There are some boys who clearly spend a lot of time playing soccer. There are some kids who have never played ball. And there is one kid that is more interested ...

When you bake you need an apron. When you are helping Mom bake, you need a matching apron. When you have a Grandma that is a good seamstress, you will get matching aprons. Anna loves to help in the kitchen and is always excited to grab her (and Mom's) apron for whatever baking project awaits. Unfortunately for Joe, Grandma ran out of material, sparing him a manly orange apron with white polka dots. Theresa was having some flashbacks to her childhood and wearing matching dresses with her Mom (ahh yes....Grandma has been sewing matching outfits for quite some time. It comes with having twins). Theresa has requested that Grandma resist the urge to make matching mother daughter dresses (mom needs to draw the line somewhere). Now, if she wants to make matching Grandma/granddaughter dresses, that is another story...... In the meantime, Anna and Mom are enjoying their matching aprons. Thanks Grandma!

After a busy summer, Mom and Dad decided it was time for a much needed vacation. After years of discussing it, an article in the Washington Post ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072002274.html?referrer=emailarticle ) , and record low lobster prices, it was decided that a quiet week in Maine sounded like a good idea. With that, the family hopped on a plane (anything more than a 4 hour drive w ith a 3 year old is not a good way to start a vacation) and headed North. At first we were unsure how we were going to make it for the week without bringing all of our stuff. You may recall our Outerbanks trips in which we pack so much in the car that there is barely enough room for Anna. Not only were we limited to two suitcases BUT the suitcases also needed to be under 50 lbs (we squeaked by at 49.5 lbs). Somehow we managed and realized that we can survive without all of our stuff. The week could not have been nicer. First there was the quaint waterf...

Today Anna is officially 3 years old. The festivities began last weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's and continued through the week. Anna celebrated today with a pizza party at Ms. Be's complete with cupcakes (courtesy of Mom) and a princess crown. Ms. Be got Anna her very own papsan chair to read in. The celebration continued at home with a special spaghetti dinner, courtesy of Dad, more gifts, and an ice cream cake. The birthday gifts included a soccer ball, which Anna immediately began to practice with and new books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , courtesy of Aunt Loren. Aunt Loren solved a mystery for Mom and Dad. Anna occasionally says "chicka chicak boom boom" and Mom and Dad had no idea what she was talking about. Now they know....it is a book. A big thanks to everyone for sending Anna birthday wishes!