Tuesday she had to bring in her favorite book and read it to the class. She immediately knew which book she wanted. She dashed upstairs and brought Follow Me Mittens back to share with her class. The teacher said she did an amazing job reading the book.

On Wednesday she was to bring a note from home that her parents wrote to the class telling them how special the star was to them. As I contemplated the letter I got choked up. How on Earth could I adequately describe the miracle baby that Annie is? Seriously, she is a miracle and if you have been following our blog long enough you know that isn’t a “oh, all children are such miracles” it is a “she should not have been able to live and it is a miracle she is here.” Of course Bill rolled his eyes at my musing and just started typing off facts about our precious Annie.

She loved the letter. We included information about how large her head is. Apparently this is something Annie believes is very unique to her and she thinks it is special. It was included in the letter at her request. We talked about how strong she has always been and how smart and wonderful she is. The entire time I kept thinking about how miraculous she is, but it wasn’t included in the letter. I really don’t think kindergarten kids would really appreciate it anyhow.

On Wednesday she also got to bring in a snack. She chose Circus Animal cookies. She said that her classmates loved them.

On Thursday she got to bring a bag full of things that were important to her. She brought several trinkets from her room and her taggie. Taggie is Annie’s security blanket and it was neat to see her want to share that with others. Annie tends to be introverted and not interested in making a lot of connections with others.

On Friday she brought in her poster. It had several boxes with open ended sentences for her to fill in. Bold words are her responses.
I am 6 years old
My favorite food is spaghetti
I look like . . . (She attached this photo underneath that heading.)

When I grow up I want to be a vet and a mom
My favorite place is the beach (She attached this photo underneath)

I like to pay with my cats (She attached this photo underneath.)

If I had one wish it would be to be one years old. (She attached this photo underneath)

It was wonderful to be able to share Annie with her class. I love who she is becoming and I think it is wonderful that she got this chance to be star of the week.

On Sunday, she let us know that she thinks we should get an automatic flushing toilet. This child is so nutty! She said that we need one just like stores have and then we wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. I let her know that she is the only one who has a problem with flushing after going to the bathroom.

I researched a little bit tonight and found this sensor for home toilets. So I guess we know what Annie will be getting for Christmas.

We were waiting patiently at the bowling alley to inquire about getting a lane. The lady behind the counter was helping a gentleman while another customer stood down the counter from us. I don’t know how long she had been standing there. It seemed like she had been helped already and was waiting to ask a question or get more assistance. The employee finished with the gentleman and started to help us as we were next in line.

The customer that had been waiting exploded. Evidently, she was waiting for bumpers to be raised on her lane and it had taken too long. She harangued the employee who then leisurely took care of her. When it came to be our turn again, she apologized for the other customer and I cheerily said that it wasn’t a problem. I asked for a bumper for our lane and she had it taken care of before we even got over there. Something tells me that the irate customer had been difficult in the initial interaction as well.

The next episode occurred because Annie and Madeline wanted mayonnaise for their fries. We let them go together and continued eating. After awhile, Sandi suggested that I check to make sure everything was alright. I looked over and saw them get passed over by the employee at the counter. They were kind of small at the counter and the employee probably thought they were with the previous customer. They just stood there waiting patiently. Sandi told me that they were too polite and went over to remind them that they should speak up to get helped. They did so and came back quickly.

The contrast struck me. I am proud that my girls are so patient and polite. The bowling alley customer’s children will likely be just like her because they have seen (and will likely always see) outbursts like that. Life is too short to live like that: it’s not worth the mental grief to worry about someone being taken out of turn.

Over half the cookies have been picked up and I hope to get the remaining families over here soon to pick up their portions. Hopefully one day soon my dining room can be reclaimed.

Of course Madeline always has to take illness to the next level, surprising me last night with a 103.8 fever! We finally got it down and were able to sleep some. Although the sleep was not as sound because I could hear her wheezing beside me. I decided to take her in to the doctor today. He confirmed that we all have a virus and that Mimi does have wheezing. We didn’t do a chest x-ray but he felt confident that it hadn’t developed into pneumonia. Mimi has added breathing treatments into her care.

Hopefully we will all be better soon.

When they arrived they picked out a bear and named it. They stuffed it, put a heart in, and picked out a dress for it. They said it was a wonderful birthday party and that they want to go back someday. It certainly was a neat experience for them.

Mimi and Rosie

Kimmie and Cutie

Annie and Daphne

As you can see from the picture above Annie and Kimberly were overjoyed! They were both able to find the right column and check for the numbers on their own. They got close to bingo once but didn’t win—sounds like bingo to me.

Mimi had fun too, though it was much harder for her to follow the numbers. I had to help her out a bit, but she still had fun!

Paul was not into bingo at all and was fairly hard to wrangle most of the night, with the exception of the 10 minutes he was eating Dippin’ Dots.

I bought them new dresses for the event the other day. Kimberly approved of her dress by saying that it was good and twirly.

Annie loved her dress and said it was the perfect color of pink.

When Daddy came down the staircase from getting dressed Kimberly and Annie exclaimed that Prince Charming had come. It was so cute and adorable. This adoring nature will only last so long so it is best to soak it up now.

Where did those two little babies go? Somebody around here is getting old and it certainly isn’t me, must be them!

They were excited to celebrate the day at school and had tons of fun.

Annie was trying to help us figure it out and she said, “did the baby have brown or yellow hair?” Bill and I couldn’t help but laugh. If we knew that we could figure out which baby it was. She certainly keeps up laughing.

As soon as Kimberly started to tell me what she learned she got big tears in her eyes. She said, “and my little bro Paulie wouldn’t have had the same things as us.” “Mom, he would have to use dirty bathrooms and not ride on buses.” “He couldn’t go places we can.” She was hurt by the facts. I was hurt by the facts and the pain in her face.

Annie chimed in to tell me similar stories and was so choked up that she gave Paul a long hug. She wanted to know why people would do this in the first place. I took her in my arms and told her I didn’t have an answer. I cannot imagine thinking any different of any human based on the color of their skin. She shook her head and walked away.

They were so thankful to Dr. King for making all things possible for their brother. I too find myself in awe of his dreams of freedom for all people. She said she wanted to be like him and I just smiled. He had a dream and he made his life work achieving it. I can’t think of a better role model for my daughter.

A wise woman wrote this on her facebook status on Monday:

Thanks to the impossible dreams of giants before me, my dream of a family is now my reality. ~ Jill Catlett

Dr. King was born in 1929 in Georgia. He dreamed of a reality that seemed beyond possible, yet he achieved it. I hope my children will be filled with this sort of determination, whether it be for worldly ideas like Dr. King’s or meaningful personal goals like creating their family. The greatest of things come from the greatest trials.

She was so determined that she could do it on her own. She was very wobbly and I held on for a while.

I eventually let go and she crashed about 10 times. She didn’t suffer many injuries and wanted to keep going. We had been trying to do it on the sidewalk but it was hard for her to steer very well so I decided we should try it on the street. Once we did this she took off!

I was surpised how hard it was for me to let go of her. I joked with one neighbor that I should have reserved a room at the ER before taking her out. Seriously though, there isn’t much Annie is afraid of and she will try anything. She is an amazing child! She just tried today and is very good at it. I am sure it is clear from this photo that she was as proud of herself as I was!

Here is some video of her riding. I know, I know, I always turn the camera to the side when I take video. If you watch it you may have to turn your monitor. I love her WOOOHOOO when she rides off and I also love the end where Kimmie asks how she learned so quick.

Annie told Papa this today when we were shopping. She was trying on a ton of items. This particular dress was $26 and I had said nothing over $20. I told her it was too expensive and she would have to choose one of the other ones. She didn’t put up a fuss, just looked at herself in the mirror took it off and went out to tell my Father she couldn’t afford it.

I about died when she said it. It was so mature and she wasn’t upset, she knew it was not wise to spend more than we could afford.

They have rested on the couch and watched tv and movies. They played webkins on the computer and even played Littlest Pet Shop for a while. They have had a nice relaxing day. We even went and rented Santa Buddies from a red box.

It was a nice day and I am glad that I gave them this down day. They should be back in school tomorrow.

The amount of time Annie and Kimberly spend at school along with the time they just want to spend playing at home mean that I don’t spend a lot of time with them. I miss them. Having them home all this time has been wonderful. That doesn’t mean that they don’t drive me nuts from time to time and that they don’t fight or annoy Paul to no end, it just means that I like having them here.

I also really enjoy not driving constantly. During school weeks I spend a lot of my time behind the wheel of my mini van, affectionately called “vanny van.” There have been plenty of days during the break where I haven’t even driven. It has been awesome.

I am not sure Paul is enjoying it as much as I am. It is hard for him to have the Girls in his business all the time. I don’t blame him for being so upset with them. They really do have a way of driving him nuts. There are times that I just have to send all three of the Girls upstairs so that Paul can roam freely. He has also become very clingy during this time. I am sure due to the fact that I am spread more thin with all the kids home.

Annie and Kimberly are relishing each moment of their break. They are in no rush to go back to school. Mimi on the other hand is ready. She only goes a total of 7.5 hours a week when school is in session which compared to Kimmie and Annies’s 27.5 hours it is clear why she misses it more.

Break has been going so well. I am really enjoying it. We have played lots of games and worked on lots of art projects. We have had tea parties and played dolls or Barbies. As Kimberly and I always say, “if it were this way everyday it wouldn’t be special.” I am so glad for this special time with them.

Making reindeer bags full of reindeer food.

And making Santa out of paper and cotton balls.

They were so surprised to see me there. I didn’t think I could go but I remembered that high school kids had the day off. I called our favorite babysitter to see if she could come be with Mimi and Paul.

It was great to be a part of their day. I had the teacher capture of picture of the three of us. Annie and Kimmie were wearing the reindeer antlers they made.

With that being said, we are pround of Annie for acheiving this. We hope that she continues to have a good attitude for school. She has so much excitement bundled inside her and I am proud that she is learning how to use it well.

*I have pictures of them all before they left but since my Parents don’t like the pictures I post of them (apparently they make them look old and fat *insert me rolling my eyes*) I will spare them of the photos I took today. In the first one they all made really goofy faces, in the second my Dad has his eyes closed. So I will leave you with this photo of Paul wishing he was going to Goodies with Grandparents.

This year we made some great pies. Each kid got to help stir in one item and Paul even got to help! I am pretty sure we even got all the ingredients in this year. (Some years we forget an spice or add extra thinking we missed something. It all works out in the wash and adds to the fun!)

Kimberly making a pie crust.

Annie pouring in the milk.

Mimi measuring the ginger.

Paul cracking his first egg and pouring it in.

Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving. Life has so many things to be thankful for. Focusing on the positives in life takes skill and practice and isn’t always easy.

The doctor estimates that Annie and Kimberly will be around 5 foot 7 when they are done growing. I guess I better treasure the days where my kids have to look up to me.