As Seen on our MIA Camera

Annika got a hold of our camera sometime in May (?) or June (?) and took a bunch of photos with it. (The awesome thing about a digital camera is that this causes no stress on anyone's part!) Here are some of the ones she took:

And of course, several exciting events this past week. I graduated on August 8th, also our 11th wedding anniversary! Here is the actual hooding ceremony:

And finally, this past week Will and I were very, very blessed to be able to go on a cruise by ourselves to the Bahamas! We can't thank Brenda enough for making this possible. It was a fabulous time! We visited a private island in the Bahamas and Nassau, but I think the most fun was reading books on the deck during the day at sea. We also enjoyed relaxing in a hammock by the beach:

On the homefront, Annika went to Dinosaur Camp this past week at the Science Center and adored it. She is going to Science Camp this coming week there as well. Daniel is in the final homestretch of the baby class before they move to their new building and he gets to be part of the toddler class. So August 24 is Back to School and lots of changes for both of the kids!

Kiddo Speak

Overheard around the house this week.....

Annika: "Mama, I wish I had a green iris like you. Because green is my very favorite color." Then later, "Maybe someday my blue iris will turn green."

Daniel: "Aaaaaaaagghhhh!" (said in a very happy, joyful voice, especially when standing on top of a table).

Annika: "I just can't stop asking questions. It is very hard to stop talking. I cannot stop asking questions because it is too hard."

Daniel: "Up-ba?" (obviously, "up" is a two-syllable word. He states it first as a question and it quickly spirals into a demand).

Annika: "I am so very happy that we joined the Y. There are two Ys. One is in Oviedo and one is in Blanchard. The one in Oviedo has a top on the pool, and the one in Blanchard does not have a top on the pool. When can we go to the Y? Can we go right now?"

Daniel: "No. No No. Eeeehh!" (you can have whole conversations with Daniel, asking him a whole serious of questions with his opinion. "Yes" means "the absence of no.")

Annika: "An iPhone is a half-phone, half-computer. It is things for computers and things for phones. Can I play the paper-toss game on your iPhone? Can I spell Annika H. on the iPhone? Can I take a picture of you on the iPhone?"

Daniel: "Baaaaaaaa!!!!!" (a super-duper wuper excited voice, said while running around with the iPhone, chewing on the carrying case.)

What have you overheard in your world this week??

Words and Work

Daniel is really starting to talk more! Now that he has mastered eating four-course meals, running at full speed, and climbing up any vertical object, he's decided to turn his attention to the fine art of speech. Will and I came up with the words he is saying - he's a social little guy!

Daniel's Words

All Done
Up
Here You Go
Thank You
Hello!
Hi!
Bye-bye!
Uh-Oh!
Yay!
Mama
Dada
Kitty
Annika

And on a completely different note, I found a hilarious description of the Top 10 Worst Jobs on one of the blogs that I read:

http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2007/12/top-10-worst-jobs.html

This got me thinking - I have had aspects of a lot of jobs that I didn't like, but I have never had a "bad" job. Even my first job, where I contracted some weird nail fungus (because people in the 1870s didn't wear gloves...), was actually an awesome gig at a museum where I had worked for the whole previous year for free and was now getting paid.

What is your worst job ever?

Best invention ever

The iPhone is truly the best ever.

Trying to see if I can post a blog entry from here. That way we can
post out and about. Not sure how to do images, though.

We had a great time with Grammy and Gramps at the beach but poor
Annika is having a rough time with her abx and keeps getting sick. Boo.

Sent from my iPhone

What's up? Not much!

Howdy strangers! We have been blog slackers. The good news is that by next week, just about all of our extended family will have been through our house in the past month....so most of you probably know what is up with us. :) Which is not much - mainly, we've been having a delightful time with Aunt Julie and Uncle Charlie, then Nonnie, then Grandma and Grandpa, and soon to be Grammy and Gramps.

Here are some highlights....

Annika - Her dance recital is next week! She is wearing a RED DRESS for it (see above). She had her last day at Creative School this week and started the VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten - she is doing the summer-long full-day option) program at UCP this week. I am trying to reserve judgment, but already fear that no school will ever hold a candle to Creative School. :)

Daniel - he started at UCP on Monday. That means that for the first time EVER, our two kids are at the same school!! It is literally right next to campus, too - heaven. Daniel is having a bit of a rough time transitioning with separation anxiety and all, but I think it will get better soon. He and Annika are also doing a "family time" music class through KindermusiK that started this Saturday morning (the SAME CLASS! Also heaven). The class is followed by an hour of instrument "free play." Both of the kids had a ball, and we did, too.

Will - still super busy working two jobs through school. His trouble-shooting skills extraordinaire continue, though! As I am writing this, I am reminded even more of just how much Will does to support me - just last weekend, he held down the fort alone while I went to Washington, DC for a conference. We are starting to think about what areas we want to end up in, and DC does seem to have a lot of jobs in his area. Hmmm....

Amy - I defended my dissertation!!! And even submitted it for format review. :) Just have some editing to do and then I am done! I will graduate on August 8th - our 11-year wedding anniversary. I'm teaching a summer class starting in 2 weeks - there will be 125 students in one section!

What's new in your world?

What is there to blog about?

Will and I are sitting on the couch together, so what better time to make a blog entry than when we are together AND logged in to blogger.....

- Our friend Cindy (and Brian, but really only Cindy) just had her baby tonight!!!

- I'm annoyed with the snacks at Daniel's daycare. Morning snack: sugar cookie. Afternoon snack: chocolate chip cookie. Come on!

- Hmmmm. (That is a direct quote from Will.)

- Happy Birthday to Aunt Julie!! Looking forward to seeing Julie and Charlie on Thursday.

- Why do I need a turn? (Another quote from Will. Now you can see why his blog contribution is so high. :>)

- Annika is really enjoying "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. Remember those, from the late 1970s? We checked some out from the library and she LOVES them. I thought she would be freaked out about being eaten by piranhas, but no, now she wants to learn more about piranhas. Tonight, she told me a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story that she made up where I got to choose things like "was it an old or new castle?" (Of course, when I said "old," she said, "No, it was a new castle.")

- Annika really enjoys taking pictures with the camera. She is actually decent sometimes! Will showed her the zoom tonight and she is quite delighted by its features. I think the fact that it has an LCD screen that shows the picture really helps with the immediate gratification part.

- Daniel is a Whirlwind of Destruction (copyright Will). WATCH OUT! He will take the house down. I'm trying not to imagine life at 18 months.

Hope you are all doing well!!

Haircut

Annika had her first real haircut today at Cool Cuts for Kids in Sanford. We've talked to her for years about getting it cut and she has always said that once she turned five she would get it cut. The hair place was great and had lots of TVs, video games, and toys for kids to play with as well as cool chairs to sit in that look like pedal cars. We really like how the cut looks and are also happy that it should be significantly easier to brush (most of the really fine blond hair from her first year or two are now gone).