Another birthday and my last week of freedom

I obviously wasn't too interested in blogging this week, much less doing anything productive. I officially start work next week (three teacher days, Mon. through Wed.) and I just wanted to be as lazy as possible before things get hectic again. I honestly don't understand how people with "normal" jobs do it...I love that there's always an end in sight with the conclusion of one school year and then a fresh start in the Fall. Nothing beats two solid months of being able to get up after the sun comes up!

I celebrated my 31st birthday on Monday. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have always loved my birthday! I think it's mostly because it's the one day of the year that I don't let myself feel at all guilty for doing whatever I want (being lazy, for instance). I had a nice day with Anne and LOVED that she could sing "Happy Birthday to Mama" this year! I even videotaped her singing it!!! Mom and Dad came over for cake & ice cream and Anne enjoyed cooking play-doh muffins and hot-dogs with Grammy. Dada had to do the official taste-testing, of course!

Family Trip to the Zoo

Marty took off of work yesterday and we finally took a family trip to the zoo. It was a beautiful day! Anne wanted to walk rather than be in the stroller, so much of the trip was spent saying, "Let's go Anne" and "Watch where you're walking Anne" rather than actually looking at the animals. She had a couple of tantrums, of course, probably because she had woken up too early that day. Overall, it was a fun day though. Anne's favorite things about the trip were definitely crawling up into the prairie dog tubes and following the elephant tracks (which never lead to an elephant that I know of...pretty sure there aren't any at the Detroit Zoo)! I personally loved the goofy aardvark who was digging like crazy. Marty enjoyed himself complaining about how the animals are all sleeping. But the really exciting (although unfortunate) part of the trip was actually on the drive home. A tire came off of the truck next to us and literally bounced about ten times all the way across 696E over to the 696W side and then back again! It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen and we couldn't believe it didn't kill someone! My Fusion has a big ol' dent in the hood from a bolt that flew off, I'm guessing. Wonderful. Anyway, here are the zoo pics and some pics I took of my new classroom. I went into work two days this past week (what torture!) and got most of my boxes unpacked. Will need at least one day next week to finish setting up. At least it is a huge room, has windows, and I have my own refrigerator, oven & stove, and dishwasher!!!

Rescued!

I am officially a horrible mother!!! Anne and I were having a very nice day...grocery shopping in the morning, a long walk around the block, nap, then a trip to the Pier to swim in the baby pool. So, she is very into trying to float, as she discovered she could do on her belly in the bathtub a couple days ago. Of course, she wanted to practice this in the baby pool, too, and liked going in deeper than usual, about up to her elbows. Well, we were the only ones in the pool, so it wasn't like it was hard to keep an eye on her, but before I knew it I glanced away for a second and when I looked back her head was under the water! The lifeguard and I jumped up at the same time and I grabbed her because I was pretty much right next to her. I felt pretty dumb that the 18-year-old lifeguard had to try to help me "rescue" my daughter in the baby pool. Anyhow, she didn't choke or anything so maybe she held her breath for a couple seconds. She cried for a minute (I think because the lifeguard and I scared her!) and then she kept saying "open eyes" and "I see blue". Then she was right back in the water. No big deal to her, thank goodness. Anyway, that was today's only excitement. Oh, that is unless you count sitting on the potty for an hour at bedtime (Anne, not me, just to clarify). I am not gung-ho on potty training but Anne is all about it at 8 pm. Well, since I don't have any pictures of the "near-drowning" from today, here are some pictures from yesterday. We went on a walk to the coffee shop where she played and then had fun jumping all the way home. Jumping is her absolute favorite pastime, now that she gets good air. Also, yesterday was her first day in pigtails (after a fight, let me tell you).

Oh my gosh! Cute!

This was Anne's reaction when she first saw her new big girl underpants. I wouldn't say we're potty training yet, but she likes to go in the potty when she feels like it (especially at bedtime when she's trying to stay up later). She is such a big girl now, as you see. She can blow dry her own hair and use a microwave, too. She's also getting very good at making sand castles (she did the seahorse all by herself). And notice the painted toenails!

Not much else new around here. Feels like summer is already coming to an end though. I'll probably go into work next week to start setting up my brand new classroom at our brand new school. Well, sort of brand new. It kinda sat there for a year or so because the district wanted to save money. Anyhow, lots of work ahead of me there...

Oh, and just for you Briana, because I know you're the biggest fan of my blog: Anne couldn't get enough croutons today! I thought you'd appreciate that information. I think she would love to see a blog about you and Uncle Lynn--what's the delay?!

I DON'T!!!

I guess some would say it's the "terrible twos". Lately, we can count on Anne for at least a couple tantrums a day. Whenever she gets frustrated with us, she yells "I don't!" Maybe I'm a horrible mother for taking pictures while my daughter is screaming and crying. But if you only knew how easily she can lose her mind! No, I don't (usually) think it's funny, but sometimes it is, like tonight when she was really trying to convince me to let her chew a piece of gum and I said no. Yes, she is usually very sweet, but just for the record, I had to post these pics! The last two were taken post-nap today and that makes all the difference.

Furt Ons

Anne just woke up from her nap asking for "furt ons". After a few minutes, I figured it out: squirt guns!

Playing squirt guns with Grammy!

Anne seems to be feeling a bit better today, although Daddy is still pretty queasy. Hopefully he'll still have fun on his trip up north with the guys this weekend.

Mama & Anne hung out with Grammy today. Our $1.00 pack of squirt guns from Walmart was a big hit even though it was way past naptime and her crankiness was increasing by the second. She sure had fun squirting us and watering the flowers, too.