Anna Grows

Pumpkin Carving with Dad It was a fun-filled Halloween week for Anna.  This year she galloped around the neighborhood as a cowgirl on her horse, Misty (thanks to Grandma for the hat and boots). Halloween kicked off for Anna on October 20 with the neighborhood Halloween parade.  The festivities continued on October 25 with the annual "Trunk or Treat" in the school parking lot, which involves decorating the trunk of your car and trick-or-treating from car to car.  Anna filled her pumpkin at that one.  There were hundreds of kids!  The rest of the week involved cookie baking and pumpkin carving in preparation for the big night. The cowgirl Today was the Halloween party at school.  Theresa volunteered to bring the snack for the party planning to send in the traditional Kohler pumpkin cookies.  That was the plan until getting the note from the teacher about a "healthy snack" for the party.  This resulted in Theresa cutting apple slices at 6...

Anna & Brie at Soccer It has been a beautiful fall in Northern Virginia.  Thanks to the nice weather, Anna is enjoying lots of fun fall activities. Fall for Anna means fall soccer where she is back with her team and Coach Tom.  This season's color is navy blue and Anna is on the Blue Rockets.  Coach Tom refers to them as the Blue Rocket Divas, which somehow seems more appropriate.  The rocket part really depends on the game.  Last week was a good one in which Anna scored four goals.  A couple of weeks ago, there was not a lot of rocket speed to be found anywhere on the team as they were crushed by a very talented 6 year old on the opposing team.    In all the seasons Anna has been with Coach Tom, this is the only game anyone ever saw him get mad (he is still upset about getting showed up by a 6 year old).  The girls have a good time and are already talking about next season. Fall always brings outdoor activity, which included...

Charley, Anna, & Little Anna It is with great sadness that we learned of Charley Courtney's passing on October 14 at age 93.  Charley has served as Anna's local grandfather since the day she was born. Charley and Anna have been an important member of our extended family here in Northern Virginia for the past 10 years.  When Anna was born, he happily assumed the role of the doting grandfather, complete with photos to show to anyone when he was talking about his grand-daughter.  He and Anna were little Anna's first local babysitters, taking her to the park, blowing bubbles, playing games, and of course always providing some sort of treat (Charley always took little Anna for ice cream). Every holiday or birthday, they always made sure to bring Anna some sort of surprise with Charley always asking ahead of time what she liked to play with so he could make sure to get her what she wanted (Charley supplied a lot of Thomas the Train s for little Anna).  A religi...