Clean Sweep

Hubby and I will be married 9 years in July! Holy cow! It is so hard to believe that 9 years has already come and gone.

Well, over 9 years of marriage, a couple can accumulate quite a bit of junk. Add a 2 year old to that equation, and you get twice as much junk! What happened to the days of simplicity? I honestly wish material things were not such a big deal any more. Isn't less, more? I sure do think so, and I've come to realize that Annabelle doesn't even play with three quarters of the toys she owns. Instead, she'd rather be right there next to Mommy cooking and cleaning dishes (i.e.: splashing water out of Mommy's sink onto her favorite prized kitchen cabinets).

And, we don't have the space to store all of our junk (since we live in an 1,100 square foot home), so this week I finally got in the mood to rid ourselves of some of this junk. Here is a picture of everything we donated to Goodwill today.

Of course, this picture does not really do our work justice, but it amounted to two full Ford Ranger truck loads hauled to Goodwill. We pulled many boxes down from the attic last night that we literally have not opened since May 2005. We trashed probably 3 container boxes (the size of the white box displayed in the photo) full of papers including college classroom notes and continuing professional education notes from many, many years ago.

For the 3-4 hours we spent last night sorting through these boxes, we consolidated our junk down from 12 boxes to only 3 boxes! And, hubby trashed and donated even more today after he sorted through all of his tools and handyman supplies.

Our attic is on its way to being more orderly. And, now, I can store some of Annabelle's toys in clear storage boxes upstairs in the attic so I can rotate her toys every 1-3 weeks. I have plans to take pictures of each toy and put them in a little photo album for her to pick her new toy for the week (or 2-3 weeks). Of course, we'll see how well that plan rolls out! I don't think she's going to get the option to pick the toy to go back up into the attic yet, but we will see.

Daddy-Daughter Day!

In other words, break for Mommy day! Or, "work for pay" for Mommy day! But, still, most definitely a break for Mommy!

Working for pay is soooo much easier than staying home with a little one all day. At least, that is what I like to tell myself! I didn't say working for pay is more fun, but it is definitely much easier, and very welcomed occasionally. Of course, hubby did drop me off and pick me back up from the office after a somewhat full day, so I didn't have to drive. And, he even cooked dinner for me!!! Thank you hubby! The ham and potato soup was delicious, and it tasted much better than mine (more than likely because I didn't have to make it). LOL!

Here are a few pictures of the Daddy-Daughter Day today. They visited Will's Park in Alpharetta and had a picnic lunch consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots, grapes, Cheetos and animal crackers. Hubby actually told me today that he used to play baseball at Will's Park when he was a little boy. I didn't know that was where he had played baseball.

I absolutely LOVE this first picture! Is that not the cutest shot? And, it is a true picture of the fun had on Daddy-Daughter day. I think they need to do this more often!

Check out that snazzy watch! Annabelle and I gave hubby that watch for his 30th birthday.

According to hubby, Annabelle wanted to hold her Daddy's hand every time before she would slide down that particular slide, but as soon as she even started sliding, she would let his hand go. She just needed a little help getting started.

Body Language

"Mommy does dis."

"Daddy does dis."



I'm not quite sure how to take this. You see, earlier this week, Annabelle crossed her arms and said, "Mommy does dis." Then, she immediately put her hands together and said, "Daddy does dis." So, I guess Daddy is a Saint in Annabelle's eyes.

This afternoon while playing at Shorty Howell Park with Annabelle, Grandmama and Granddaddy, I proceeded to tell Grandmama the story about Annabelle telling me what Mommy and Daddy does with her motions. Annabelle listened to me, and then she proceeded to show Grandmama what Mommy does and Daddy does. And, Grandmama caught it on camera.

Too cute! But, I'm beginning to think that I cross my arms too much. Isn't crossing your arms supposed to be a sign of bad body language? But, truth be known, I think I cross my arms a lot in the winter time because I'm almost always cold!

As for her Daddy's body language, I think he often puts his hands together at the dinner table when Annabelle misbehaves and he's getting on to her. Then, he brings his hands to his mouth (which she did in the second picture) and shakes his head when she doesn't listen. She didn't get as far as shaking her head with her imitation of her Daddy though. Perhaps because she's always been too busy acting out to see her Daddy shake his head at her.

Tennessee Vols Snowman

We had plenty of snow left to play in this morning, and this time, I was able to convince Annabelle to go and play in the snow with me. I had to carry her outside, and she didn't want to walk in the snow until I showed her how the snow crunched beneath my boot. She still was reluctant, but she finally took the chance, and off she trotted!

Of course, she didn't make it far without picking up her beloved sticks!

And, then, we (scratch that), I, built a snow man. Annabelle did pick out the hat from her Daddy's hat storage cabinet though. Big surprise on the color and team, right?!?!

I don't think I ever realized that you could literally roll the snow to make the snow balls for the snow man (until today). I'm thinking that my parents never built a snow man with me during my childhood. Shame on them! And, now I am prepared to make the biggest snow ball ever the next time it snows. Watch out hubby!

Our Tennessee Vols snowman had a carrot for a nose, grapes for eyes, leaves for ears, raisins for buttons and sticks for arms! I remembered the Tennessee scarf of mine after we had already gone inside, and Annabelle was not interested in going back outside to put the scarf on the snowman.

Our poor snow man didn't last more than an hour before he tumbled forward. I couldn't see the Tennessee hat from the house, so I thought for sure that some mean Georgia fan knocked our snowman down and stole his hat, but apparently, I was wrong. I found the hat beneath the snowman's head on the ground. Poor Tennessee snowman!

Snow Thunder

aka Snow Jam 2009 according to the news reports. They always come up with some silly name for it every year since snow in Atlanta is very rare. Of course, we were pleasantly surprised! One of the meteorologists even reported hearing thunder while it was snowing. He said that those around the "Snow Thunder" would receive a lot more snow. Later in the afternoon, around 3:00 p.m., I heard the snow thunder myself. Very strange stuff!

It started snowing between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. Hubby quickly finished packing his bags for his 3:30 p.m. flight to Minneapolis, and we were off to the Marta station by 12:15 p.m. He left an hour earlier than he had planned, but he said he could just sit at the airport as he didn't want me to drive in the snow if it got much worse. When we left for the Marta station around 12:15 p.m., it was snowing pretty hard, but it was just barely sticking on the grass and roofs. However, by the time Annabelle and I got home just 30 minutes or so later, the roads in our neighborhood were quite slushy. I had thought about driving to Grandmama and Granddaddy's house for them to enjoy watching Annabelle play in the snow, but I changed my mind once I realized the roads were slushy.

On the way out the door to take Daddy to the Marta station, Annabelle started fussing because she didn't want to get snow on her. So, Daddy offered her his hat, and she was content with wearing his hat out the door.

However, when we got back home after dropping Daddy off, Annabelle was not happy when I started unbuckling her from her car seat. "No! I need my hat! I don't on't snow on me!" And, Daddy took his hat with him. So, we settled for a lightweight jacket in the passenger seat next to her car seat.

She cried all the way inside the house, and then when we got inside the house, she started crying, and she said, "I got snow on me! Wipe it off Mommy! Wipe it off!" She was not happy until I dusted her off and removed the jacket. "Oh boy!" I thought! "We're going to get some great snow pictures today!"

Then, she realized she forgot her Teddy Bear in the car, so I went back out to rescue him. Little did I know that he also needed a jacket, apparently. When I gave him to her, she threw him down and cried and said, "Teddy got snow on him! He wet! Wipe him off Mommy!" So, I dried him off with a bathroom towel.

As I took the below picture from the front door with the front door wide open, Annabelle cried once again and said, "No! Shut da door Mommy!"

Isn't the snow a beautiful sight? I love it!


Then I took this next picture from the back door with the door wide open. This time, our black cat, Shadow, tried to sneak around me. You would have thought that the snow was going to engulf Shadow and take her away forever. Annabelle immediately grabbed Shadow by the tail and cried, "No Shadow! Come back inside! Mommy, shut da door! No Shadow!" Being the mean Mommy that I am, I grabbed the video camera and opened the door once again for Shadow to attempt to escape once again, just to capture Annabelle on video tape. I finally closed the door when I thought the tears were about to flow.

Where on earth did this scaredy cat come from? She cracked me up with her fear of the snow!


When the door was closed, she was quite content. She even ran and got her "Santa Cause Babies" to show them the snow. She's holding one of the "Santa Cause Babies" in this next picture, and she's actually pointing out the snow to the baby. "See da snow Santa Cause baby?"

I finally convinced her to get her "rain boots" on to go outside and play in the snow. She made it onto the front stoop (before she actually touched snow) when she told me, "Noooo! Noooo! No Mommy! I don't like snow!" I did manage to get her outside to the road to take a few pictures with our house and snow in the background. Can you tell she was not happy? "Go back inside Mommy! Go back inside!"

So, I placed her back on the front stoop. I told her to stay still while I went back to the road front to take a few more pictures of the front of the house with the snow (with her standing outside). Shadow tried to escape once again, and Annabelle was not happy!

Then, we went back inside, ate lunch, and had Snow Cones (made with lime Jello water)! In this first picture, she discovered the Tennessee "T" on the cup, and immediately, she said, "Go Vols!" with her hands held high. She's just trying to make her Daddy proud!

Here she is smelling the lime Jello water!

And, the verdict!

"Dis taste good Mommy! I like it!" she said.

Hubby (Daddy), we missed you big time! I am sorry you missed out on all the fun since I know you would have rather have spent your day with us. Thank you for being a hard working Daddy and supporting our habits! I couldn't stay home with her without you, and for that, I am very, very thankful. I hope you can at least enjoy our snow day with these pictures. Obviously, though, you didn't miss too much since your daughter is quite scared of snow for some reason. I don't think she liked it too much last year either! Perhaps next year will be more fun for her (assuming we get snow again next year). Two years in a row isn't bad for Atlanta!

For the record, I think we got 2-3 inches. I wish now that I had measured it! I may go outside and measure it now, but I know a good bit has already melted since the sun came out around 5:00 p.m., and it melted off all the trees then.

And, this evening, Annabelle is sleeping in the Pack 'N Play in Mommy and Daddy's room because I have a major fear of a huge oak tree falling on our house directly onto Annabelle's bedroom. Since the temperatures are supposed to drop, and it is supposed to be windy, and then possibly icy as a result of the dropping temperatures, I am not taking any chances! Of course, without hubby here to comfort me, I don't know what I would do if I were awoken to a tree falling on our house. I started darting out of Annabelle's bedroom on Friday afternoon during story time when I thought I heard a tree falling. I thought for sure that hubby would follow my lead, but he didn't, and he was holding Annabelle! He laughed at my jumpiness. We really didn't know what had happened until an hour or so later when I realized that a huge oak tree branch, as thick as a tree trunk itself, fell from the top branches of one of our oak trees and smashed our fence. So, my jumpiness was quite warranted! Of course, I'm not sure that I could really out run a falling oak tree, but it is worth a try, isn't it?

Criss Cross Applesauce

ie: Indian Style

When I got Annabelle up this morning, she was sitting in her crib, and she mumbled something with her paci in her mouth as she held and pulled her legs close to her. I didn't understand her, so, as usual, I asked her to take her paci out of her mouth.

She then said, "Dis how Daddy sits when dry my hair."

It is amazing (and very scary) how young children watch and imitate everything we do as adults. She was right! And, she had learned to sit Indian Style.

Apparently, "Criss Cross Applesauce" is the politically correct way to say, "Indian Style." I still refer to it as "Indian Style" with Annabelle because, well, I'm not into all of that "PC" (politically correct) stuff. If I were, then I'd probably be working full-time right now, balancing a career and a family. That's just not me! But, I did think "Criss Cross Applesauce" made for a cuter blog title.

So, anyhow, hubby does sit Indian Style on the floor so that Annabelle can sit in his lap while I dry her hair after her bath.

This afternoon, while we were going through the normal "read two books" routine before naptime, Annabelle decided that she wanted to sit Indian Style again, just like her Daddy who was already sitting Indian Style on the floor. Her Daddy helped her a little while she was sitting on the floor, but then she climbed up onto the stool where she also wanted to sit Indian Style. I requested that hubby grab the camera, and we got a few shots of her sitting Indian Style for one of the first few times (since I didn't grab the camera this morning).

Is this not a sweet picture with her tiny little legs somewhat crossed?

Twinkie

Be careful Annabelle, they always say, "You are what you eat!"

Annabelle had her very first Twinkie today. Her Daddy actually brought it home from work last night, but she refused to eat all of her dinner last night (even though she knew a Twinkie was the reward). And, honestly, she didn't seem to care that she didn't get her Twinkie last night. I guess she didn't know what she was missing!

But, this evening, she ate all of her dinner. Her Daddy had told her that she was to split it with her Mommy, but I told her Daddy to let her have it all, and I'd get some of it later after I took pictures of her first Twinkie. I already figured I wouldn't get a bite of it, and I was right! She devoured that entire Twinkie all by herself, and her Daddy was regretting he even brought it home later that evening, especially since she didn't actually eat it until closer to 8:00 p.m. He thought she was a little wilder than normal. I beg to differ!