Pretending Fun

Annah had only 1/2 day of school today, and was home all afternoon. She and Sylvia entertained themselves for hours with some extreme pretending today...

A year or more ago, my mom gave us some newspaper end rolls she got for free from the local newspaper. The kids have made all kinds of banners and paintings and creations using up the big paper, and now just the huge sturdy inside roll is left. It's very heavy.

Today, one of the kids stuck a toy pompon on top of it and decided it looked like hair. So, the kids started pretending it was a person. Annah drew a face on it, and the girls named her Nellie.

Soon, Nellie had paper ears and arms, then custom-made paper clothes--including polka-dotted underwear! It was announced that Nellie was their new sister, and the fun just continued from there...

Meet Nellie Belle Lopshire.
Here she is dressed in her new strappy shirt and hula skirt, made especially for party-wear.

Annah made a book called The Ducky Book, just to read to Nellie.

Nellie has had all kinds of fun adventures today, and was tucked into her own bed on the girls' bedroom floor for the night. Tomorrow there are plans to make her some pajamas, a toothbrush, more clothes, and find a special box for her wardrobe.

I wonder how the 30-some Barbies in the girls' closet would feel?

More Bangs!

Sylvia had her back-to-school haircut done today! We scheduled it a couple weeks ago when Annah went for hers and got her new bangs. Since then, Sylvia has been talking about getting bangs too. And, today she did. Doesn't she look cute?

Homework

Annah is liking 1st grade so far. She has already had homework every night. Usually it's just reading a book, but most have been 30 pages long with large paragraphs on each page and take her a while to read. She's doing great with it though. Tonight she had handwriting homework and had to fill her paper with her first and last names as neatly as she could. She was so cute sitting at the table concentrating. She just looked so big to me, and it made me think of how many hours she will probably spend sitting there doing homework...Tonight was also the kick-off for the children's Christmas musical at church! Yep, already! Annah really loved being in it last year, so is happy it's starting up. The show is called 3 Wise Men & a Little Baby and will be performed only once on December 9th at a morning service. She was excited that the song I Can Only Imagine is in it, and all the other music is really fun too. Should be lots of fun for the kids this year!

The Blessing of the Backpacks

This morning all of the kids were to bring their backpacks to church for The Blessing of the Backpacks. It was incredible!! First, Pastor Scott asked the "senior saints" of the congregation (those who qualify for an AARP discount [he teased], those whose kids are already grown, or just those who have an investment in the childrens' lives) to line the backs of the altars to pray for the children. Then, the kids, ages 3-13/preschool-junior high, lined the altars with their backpacks. As Pastor Scott prayed, the saints also layed hands on the children and prayed over them each by name! So many prayers were lifted for each child, asking for their schoolyear to be blessed and protected. (Of course, I was sitting at they keyboard crying and praying too!) It was such a cool experience--the entire congregation praying at once for the children!! So powerful!!

I know the girls were excited about taking their backpacks to church, but was worried they wouldn't understand why. Each child was given a laminated card with a picture of a beautiful angel standing guard over a sleeping child. On the back is Psalm 91:11--"For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." The girls are keeping theirs in their backpacks so that each time they see them they will be reminded that God is always with them and He has commanded His angels to keep watch over them all of the time.
(Sylvia is in the pink dress.) Thanks to Kim for taking these photos!

All Church Picnic & Hogroast

Today was our All-Church Picnic & Hogroast! Jeremy was dubbed "Master of All Things Pig-Related" for the event. (He was a little freaked out by that name, I think!) He and Larry spent a few nights over the last few weeks building and preparing the roaster. Then yesterday, Jeremy got off work early, drove to his Dad's shop in Indiana, picked up the hog, drove back here... I think he got back to our house around 10:30 p.m. Then he went right into town after grabbing a few last-minute items for the all-night roasting party.

Some great guys from church met up with him and helped him roast the hog. They allowed 12 hours for it to roast and put it on around 1:00 a.m., I think. But, it was done in 7 hours. Jeremy got to come home and have a 30-minute nap and a shower before the picnic.

The picnic was a huge success!

There was a great turn-out, fun games, TONS of food, great weather...we had a super-good time! It seemed everyone did.

And, the hog was yuummmy! I was really proud of Jeremy and all he did to make the hogroast a success. He's upstairs having a well-deserved snooze now.

1st Day of the 1st Grade

Annah went off to First Grade today!

• A few tears were shed (on my part, at least), but it was not nearly as difficult as last year!
• She has always loved school, and was happy to go.
• Jeremy took the day off work for the occasion!
• Annah was a little upset that neither I nor Daddy would go to school with her...even when we explained that we weren't allowed to ride the bus. But, she did say that no other mommies or daddies were there in her class today.
• She said her day went well, and her teacher Mrs. Ayers is nice.
• Annah said it was a little weird not going to Mrs. Tompkins class, but she did see her and they said "Hi!" to each other.
• Annah was super excited that she gets her very own desk to sit at and put things in!
  
• Annah told Gram on the phone this evening that her 1st day of 1st grade was "Awesome."

Posin' on the porch

true Annah fun & true Annah joy

Daddy is so proud of his girl.

So is Mommy.

Sylvie is proud of her big sis' and excited for her too.

I took this over our shoulders as Jeremy was praying a blessing over Annah and her schoolyear.

The bus is here!

Sylvie & Caeden playing in the yard waiting for Annah to get home from school...

There she is...a successful 1/2 day of 1st grade is over!

Sprinkler Park to Ourselves!

We went to the sprinkler park this morning!!! It was really overcast, only in the low 70's, and sprinkling (yes, rain) a little bit when we got there at 9:00 a.m. Apparently to other people that is unacceptable sprinkler park weather to other people, because we were the only ones there for over an hour!!! We all thought it was fabulous!!




The girls both thought this spinning thing was horribly scary. It looks like fun to me, but I remember hating the spinning teacups at Disneyworld when I was a kid. I probably said something like they both said today..."Aggggghhhhhhhhhh!!! Help! Mommy! Help me! Mommy! Make it stop! Mommy!!!!!!" and then when I stopped it...,"That was TOO scary. I am NEVER going on that EVER, EVER AGAIN!"

Annah's New Do!

Annah needed a trim before school starting, so we visited Cookie Cutters today. Annah doesn't really like to have barrettes or other things in her hair, and is really bad about letting her hair fall in her face and not moving it out. SO, we decided to get her some BANGS!! Doesn't she look totally different?! We are loving it already! It's so nice to see her beautiful big blue eyes!!!

Cookie Cutters is a pretty cool place...JUST for KIDS' haircuts. When you walk in, there is a big plastic playground. (This was SOOOOOO nice--especially for keeping Caeden [who can't sit still] entertained during Annah's cut!) Kids get to choose either a movie DVD or video game to play while they're getting their haircut. Instead of big chairs to sit in, kids get to choose from different types of vehicles like, a tractor, airplane, toy car, etcetera. Annah chose a pink car and a Care Bears movie. When we left, all 3 kids got suckers and helium ballons with cookie cutters tied on them. We scheduled Sylvie for her own cut in a couple weeks. What a super cool place for kids!!

Last evening Cathy and sweet little Megan came down for a visit. Oh my, Megan reminds me of the girls when they were her age--especially from a profile view with her curly hair when she's sucking her thumb. She is soooooo sweet and precious!! She joined in the tea party in the kitchen today; it was her first!

Gram let the kids choose the menu: pink lemonade (aka 'pink tea'), chocolate milk (aka 'chocolate tea'), mini marshmallows, and cinnamon graham cracker sticks. Gram is the best tea party hostess ever!!!

Jeremy drove back here to Indiana today--on 4 hours sleep. Then he mowed his parents 2 1/2 acre lawn with a push mower.

As if he needed to show us how strong and studly he is, he thought he'd do a few pushups with the kids (over 110 pounds together) on his back...in perfect form. Yeah, my husband is a hunk. It's true.

Quiet Corner Tea Room

We enjoyed the Quiet Corner Tea Room so much the last time we went, we all wanted to go again while we were visiting. The kids, Gram, Great Grandma DeHaven and Grandma Lopshire, and I all went. I absolutely love their chicken salad sandwiches! It's hard to find a good chicken salad, you know. And, the owner sang and played a few songs for us, which was enjoyable.

Us grown-ups shared a pot of authentic Indian Chai tea. Annah even tried it and liked it enough to get her own cup--which Gram had to finish.


It was insanely hot and humid, so we didn't try too long to get a perfect picture. But, this one's pretty good. A good time was had by all.