ABCZ

It's moments like these...…that make it all worth it. After hours upon hours of back breaking work on Anna’s birthday Barbie cake…my hands stained hot pink, my hair a wreck, the kitchen demolished and my clothes covered in powdered sugar……I called Anna and said, “OK – come look at your Barbie cake!”

She came into the kitchen, and the expression on her face was priceless., Then she said……

“Well, Mommy, I don’t think you did it right. It doesn’t look at all like the picture.”

And without any further prompting….

“…but I do still love you.”

So much for gratitude. Ha ha ha. She is so funny.

*UPDATE* - This morning she thinks that Barbie is beautiful. A little sleep does a girl wonders, huh? :)

In honor of her fourth birthday today, this is the prayer that Anna "made up" at bedtime:

Dear God,

Thank you for four beautiful years for me. And thank you for making all of the stuff to make cakes and for all of the stuff to make toys and lovies.

Amen.

I second all of the above....

I seriously have the best husband in the whole wide world. How do I love him....let me count the ways.....

• He's the most amazing man I have ever met. Ever.
• He is my best friend.
• He is so handsome....he still gives me butterflies in my tummy.
• He is so smart. It makes my head hurt all that he knows and can do.
• He makes me laugh, and smile....every day.
• He works so hard, day after day, and never complains.
• He's a great Daddy and I love to watch he and Anna together.
• He is so skilled - at building things, fixing things, figuring things out.
• He's just him....and I love him.

That's my sappiness for today. I'm a lucky girl. :)

The fire sprinklers are in - YEAH!!!
The heater went out - BOO!!!
It's 51 Degrees in our house - BOO!!!
I'm really COLD - BOO!!!!
(Do you detect a theme here....?)

I'm trying to think of more "Yeah!!!"s, because I'm generally a "glass is half full" kind of girl - but after 24 hours of sub-human temps in the house, I think my brain is frozen. I'll get back to you on that.

Our friend (and, coincidentally, architect and next door neighbor) did a VERY cool 3D rendering of what our house looks like from the outside now, with the new addition. Our house used to consist only of the garage in the front, and the house section immediately perpendicular to that (kind of an "L" shape using the garage and the house). Everything behind and above that has been added in the new addition. Gee - no wonder we're tired!

Curtis has defended Rigby's honor for several years, but I finally got to put an outfit on him. I think it was the vague Simpson's reference that made him cave. Next year, I want to get Kodi one that says "Santa's BIG Helper" and take a shot of the two of them together.

Let me set the scene. It's the day after Christmas. Our muscles ache from the amount of sheer physical strength it took to even OPEN all of the gifts that Anna got, let alone load them into the car to come home (in fact, not all of them would fit in one trip). They cover every surface in the house....and she wakes me up with this, this morning:

Mommy, can we go to Toys R Us today to pick out a surprise because I was SUCH a trooper during Christmas yesterday?

I laughed at her. Hard. She did not seem to share the joke.

By an almost 4 year old. But what else is new?

Tonight, we were having steak for dinner - usually Anna's favorite. Curtis had spent quite a bit of time making a GREAT dinner. Well, as luck would have it, Anna decided that she didn't want steak. And kept saying how yucky it was. Over and over. And over. And over.

So, I told her that it really hurts people's feeling if you say unkind things about something that they worked very hard to make for you.

"Yes, but it is still yucky," she replied. *sigh*

So, I tried a little analogy. I said, "What if you spent a very long time making a pretty picture for Daddy? And after all of your hard work, you gave it to him, and he said "I don't like that." How would that make YOU feel?"

She looked at me earnestly and replied, "I would draw him a new picture of something that he LIKED instead."

Again.....we both had to work hard not to crack up. She is so darned smart. :)

The tummy bug, that has apparently been making the rounds, has come to visit us too. High fever, upset tummy and a wispy little girl. Poor angel. It's such a bummer when they're sick. It is, however, a fantastic excuse to buy her surprises. Then again - when have I ever needed an excuse. Send get well wishes for the Boo-bear!!!

Our [INSERT VULGAR EUPHAMISIM FOR SEXUAL RELATIONS HERE] water meter inspection...you know - the one that was signed off and PASSED last week??? - has now been UNPASSED!!! How is that even [INSERT VULGAR EUPHAMISIM FOR SEXUAL RELATIONS HERE] possible!!?? Grrr.....