tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69354387857064982282024-03-13T02:21:45.734-05:00Michael, Vanessa, Jed, Zoe, ZaneMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13367262191378921366noreply@blogger.comBlogger929125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-36815236428296681592017-12-20T12:22:00.000-06:002017-12-20T12:22:16.107-06:00Stanfill Family Letter 2017<b id="docs-internal-guid-ca799228-7515-0bde-2981-f899e54add71" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bOlFhABZ3zYG06Y78TdiC8MBoE83MtCKNA29ge-vmeTaEiqG5_URQSFuUuSCX19wPHeEoKj0pfeIwKmFDRMxQXM-LFdQNJ0UbTGSLeqgJlH8cx7SZiMKc2sWw7gRG-oXCZxQEq2YCn4/s1600/IMG_9957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bOlFhABZ3zYG06Y78TdiC8MBoE83MtCKNA29ge-vmeTaEiqG5_URQSFuUuSCX19wPHeEoKj0pfeIwKmFDRMxQXM-LFdQNJ0UbTGSLeqgJlH8cx7SZiMKc2sWw7gRG-oXCZxQEq2YCn4/s320/IMG_9957.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Merry Christmas 2017!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">After a long dark winter, light burst upon our family in late April when the sunshine of all our lives, Annabeth Lark Stanfill, joined our family. From the first moment she has been a happy, peaceful little babe, beloved by all who meet her. She’s the kind of baby that makes every patron in the restaurant stare, maybe not just because she’s peaches and cream perfection, but more because of her sunny, cheerful temperament that can make even the sourest face smile. Her fat cheeks are endlessly kissed, she is carted about all day long by adoring older siblings with varying degrees of gentleness, and she tolerates it like an angel. She rarely if ever cries unless she’s tired, hungry, or needs a diaper change. She eats like a little piggie. She rolls and sits and stands earlier than her mother allows. She is joy personified!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVQukJsIs5g9GNX_A3VfxpToIzIt8mTiqspHrWOqPSIepdMc5IwZ7ET3RT11vUiT9vOi52953ntx34m99yxILBIprPyNcb4zRrosa4t9DrRmBTdk9cUOJW0TldPdHjrwi4pRPG4JmXL0/s1600/IMG_9998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVQukJsIs5g9GNX_A3VfxpToIzIt8mTiqspHrWOqPSIepdMc5IwZ7ET3RT11vUiT9vOi52953ntx34m99yxILBIprPyNcb4zRrosa4t9DrRmBTdk9cUOJW0TldPdHjrwi4pRPG4JmXL0/s320/IMG_9998.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">With Annabeth came the spring, and a lovely year it has been. Soon after Annabeth was born I solved a ten-year mystery and diagnosed myself with a abscessed tooth from a botched root canal in college. Since getting that fixed, wow, I feel 10 years younger! Homeschooling has been our best yet this year, the kids and I all agree. We’ve read hundreds of books and taken endless trips to zoos and museums and hiked so many beautiful places. I fell in love with my little 7-year-old Primary class. I founded a new mother’s homeschool study group where I’ve made wonderful life-giving friends. I love to ride my new bike “Baby Blue”. Though I am but a poor rider, I dare say few people enjoyed beautiful Colorado as much as I have this year. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJALsEn1GpMoynO0KiZHdMLni4wn1MR4Mq9LLZ5-pFrk4rOcgwCcfKYFGnW81Us9F7SV6om8vRmKfYNOM3qjqAapEoxXvpIx18d15oY5hGH3pJFpy-XCfbOAFLAe_xITcbOuwV36-RWTk/s1600/IMG_9969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJALsEn1GpMoynO0KiZHdMLni4wn1MR4Mq9LLZ5-pFrk4rOcgwCcfKYFGnW81Us9F7SV6om8vRmKfYNOM3qjqAapEoxXvpIx18d15oY5hGH3pJFpy-XCfbOAFLAe_xITcbOuwV36-RWTk/s320/IMG_9969.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Michael’s been plugging away at work through a multitude of challenges, most springing from an acquisition this past year. To our joy and relief, a new job opportunity fell into this lap in a most miraculous way, and he starts his new job for the Brigham Young University Audit Department in 2018. We can’t help but smile like fools at the thought of so many beloved family and friends nearby, free classes for both of us, and an endless supply of art, music, thought and theater at one of our favorite places on earth.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">To cope with all the crazy, Michael’s been riding his bike like mad. He easily surpassed his 2,000 mile goal and plans to hit 2,500 by the end of the year. You’ll probably find him spinning in the basement at 11:59 PM New Year’s Eve. The highlight of the year for him was undoubtedly his “bachelor’s weekend” when he and three of his besties ditched their cumulative eighteen children and met up at Lake Tahoe for four days of delicious midlife cycling hedonism.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjQFTna4jDrdV_AvZrl_eT1VZntFAgNZJRFLyiWNaaifRXfvSsL6rnElz5tBwXfWDvrnTrOFwK7RPXmQ2mfUhoLTtjxt8wBrwyRNJNbVjrRsYvu1sg6oPeLkmRxpm3nFnWP6KAc330Uk/s1600/IMG_6723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjQFTna4jDrdV_AvZrl_eT1VZntFAgNZJRFLyiWNaaifRXfvSsL6rnElz5tBwXfWDvrnTrOFwK7RPXmQ2mfUhoLTtjxt8wBrwyRNJNbVjrRsYvu1sg6oPeLkmRxpm3nFnWP6KAc330Uk/s320/IMG_6723.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A vacation highlight for the rest of us was “Camp Beach-Doggie” in Southern California this fall. Instead of our usual family rendezvous in Montana, my siblings and mom all met up with us in a gorgeous beach house near Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. I can’t begin to convey the fevered pitch of excitement as all five of my kids saw an ocean for the first time. We ran out to the water squealing in joy and excitement at the wonder of it all! And then four wondrous days together near the water! I don’t think I exaggerate at all by stating that Jed and Zoe boogie-boarded a solid 8+ hours every day. They were in heaven! Sitting on the beach talking and laughing, sometimes standing quietly in the surf watching the sunset, it was just so wonderful to be together as a family in such a beautiful, peaceful place.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFj9p_s4CCUCR5qRwEQAh_khUgxScIjsx5_HssYaYjiLvVTM7sD-vimqtSTwSnCMP-bffbdUehy1TUWbt61z15H-KDwqo_1AwbIwhMFl2HPrXsVNpOu2Wo0C-W0EexqDEH15yhafV9PK4/s1600/IMG_7115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1458" data-original-width="1458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFj9p_s4CCUCR5qRwEQAh_khUgxScIjsx5_HssYaYjiLvVTM7sD-vimqtSTwSnCMP-bffbdUehy1TUWbt61z15H-KDwqo_1AwbIwhMFl2HPrXsVNpOu2Wo0C-W0EexqDEH15yhafV9PK4/s320/IMG_7115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Jed is nearly 11 years old and nearly a man, as far as he is concerned. He’s still a passionate Scouter and earned his Webelos and Arrow of light this year. Like his dad, he set a goal to ride 100 miles this year and ended up riding 150. To his great pleasure, he is now taller than his Aunt Lisa. He learned to cook over a campfire, mow the lawn, fix anything on his bike, and bake bread like a boss. He took his first small aircraft flight through the local Young Eagles chapter. I love hearing him play the piano with so much enjoyment, but most of all I love that he still snuggles his mom and holds my hand in public. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB6zsBW2erDy4FvaXntKXYEjDv7UwlY4DQ2JzcYxn2tzafuzrEitsJbYPVRbEQUGIVjpfZJx4JswYsJCjR54ve7zbWuMGcI2XnLqgEguV4UFCO4GRH_YpqardbLMDgc98anDUi07tEmE/s1600/IMG_8543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB6zsBW2erDy4FvaXntKXYEjDv7UwlY4DQ2JzcYxn2tzafuzrEitsJbYPVRbEQUGIVjpfZJx4JswYsJCjR54ve7zbWuMGcI2XnLqgEguV4UFCO4GRH_YpqardbLMDgc98anDUi07tEmE/s320/IMG_8543.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">At 8 years old, Zoe left babyhood and became a big girl this year, much to my joy and horror. She and her baby sister had a combined baptism and blessing service this July that left us all overflowing with Spirit. She has so many friends that there aren’t enough days of the week to play with them! Her piano is coming along well and after many years of struggle her penmanship is beautiful! She can bake cookies without assistance, and held her own “Free Cookie Day” service project this year where she handed out more than a hundred cookies to all the kids in the neighborhood. Her favorite part of the last year was probably “Girl’s Art Club” with a few of her best homeschool girl friends. Twice a month they got together at our house for two hours; that is, to paint for ten minutes and run around playing and eating snacks for 110 minutes, occasionally gushing, “I just LOVE art!”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2KOFusW5GfTfdYX9Y3BX0BkDx4Z-109WDh-am8Wn6klXUNYDkYou435jNIqqDlqGlsdkEkNDnMv2p4OsOHheUsN8PAdFjry5bUEgx0zljCSjBE9LLcBLllrCDitM1H9NW1U9wwrbnN0/s1600/IMG_8864.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="607" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2KOFusW5GfTfdYX9Y3BX0BkDx4Z-109WDh-am8Wn6klXUNYDkYou435jNIqqDlqGlsdkEkNDnMv2p4OsOHheUsN8PAdFjry5bUEgx0zljCSjBE9LLcBLllrCDitM1H9NW1U9wwrbnN0/s320/IMG_8864.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Zane is our tall string bean 6-year-old. He’s four and a quarter feet tall and weighs about four pounds. Despite my best efforts to shovel food into him day and night, he still has the physique of a famine victim. Despite appearances, though, he is still our happiest boy. He has permanently adopted his little Walmart smiley-face doll, “Happy Joe,” as his sidekick and it fits him perfectly. It isn’t easy to be the middle kid of five. He finally gave up on mom and dad ever having time and taught himself to ride a bike without training wheels. He learned to swim and then decided that he doesn’t swim. He can read a little bit but is too busy to bother. He bounces and rolls and hops and skips about constantly, he really is incapable of holding still. But to my surprise, nothing escapes his wiggly attention and he has learned so much from our homeschooling this year.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95OuVHmZr9_idsKSathuETdy5GelEUkSqbky9myNsjqXRgT0ktQXpZCMjsRx7h4TSOOV56BJiqnslNkstdbdVRaGuWKx5Du6vNmgWxR8fPCBPYtXyzd78C_9NFKrs-_PvOeKtQtK9kj0/s1600/IMG_9148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95OuVHmZr9_idsKSathuETdy5GelEUkSqbky9myNsjqXRgT0ktQXpZCMjsRx7h4TSOOV56BJiqnslNkstdbdVRaGuWKx5Du6vNmgWxR8fPCBPYtXyzd78C_9NFKrs-_PvOeKtQtK9kj0/s320/IMG_9148.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Michael observed recently that at age three, Van is like a cat. He really doesn’t like you unless he wants to, he yowls a lot, and isn’t great at using his litterbox. Fortunately, he is also very cute and soft and snuggly... sometimes. Van eats everything, bangs everything, scribbles on everything, shoots strangers, punches all the kids bigger or smaller than him, tortures Zane incessantly, has countless black eyes and teaches himself to use power tools without permission. He learned to talk this year, much to everyone’s joyous relief! This boy is 100% so much of everything! But more than anything he is Mommy Birdy’s special Baby Birdy who loves to cuddle in the “nesty” of her lap.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgdZdqcMzOQKfWCK1OgX_2goNldah9KpDurUhmaDCxN-PT1dbKO2Kce7LK6sreg3mHegFC66vH_aJ2RkR-xVq3wU0Zb2dpdtW7QywIIEWSPAxdGrGNR8zhKoWaYA1ZPAtKUHCejsWsWo/s1600/IMG_8226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgdZdqcMzOQKfWCK1OgX_2goNldah9KpDurUhmaDCxN-PT1dbKO2Kce7LK6sreg3mHegFC66vH_aJ2RkR-xVq3wU0Zb2dpdtW7QywIIEWSPAxdGrGNR8zhKoWaYA1ZPAtKUHCejsWsWo/s320/IMG_8226.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This year for the Christmas season, the kids and I are memorizing a beautiful poem titled “A Christmas Carol”. I think the first verse sums up our year pretty well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">His hair was like a light.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">(O weary, weary were the world,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But here is all alright.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnSALwN4ko7Vu_hLjCiipfnp2Do3dlyYY6TBj10FpSgduHTQMK-d1yMZ_R_HymA7FD7ehh5F215NUI7W_qKLXRjOSNydvufJHfX34wj_YWVTEoU1cFAvRHx4O2Dl5oU8Hg6237FSpE68/s1600/IMG_8797.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="834" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnSALwN4ko7Vu_hLjCiipfnp2Do3dlyYY6TBj10FpSgduHTQMK-d1yMZ_R_HymA7FD7ehh5F215NUI7W_qKLXRjOSNydvufJHfX34wj_YWVTEoU1cFAvRHx4O2Dl5oU8Hg6237FSpE68/s320/IMG_8797.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">With love,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Vanessa (and Michael, Jed, Zoe, Zane, Van, and Lark)</span></div>
<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-7798074048883031302014-09-26T07:10:00.001-05:002014-09-26T07:10:30.132-05:00Zoe reads a real bookEver since her big brother decided to learn to read this past year, Zoe Ann has held a keen interest in reading, too. Last year we went through most of a K-1 reading program, but by the end of the "school year" she was having a harder time and losing interest, so I just let it go for the summer. She was only 4 at the time, so I didn't feel there was a rush. I knew she'd be back when she was ready.<br />
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And sure enough, this fall she has started showing interest again. She found my bag of Hooked on Phonics beginning readers and started sounding them out on her own. Then when Jed started reading time each day, she wanted some snuggly reading time with mom, too. I thought about starting her off again where we had ended last year, but I felt impressed that she would enjoy it more if we started way back at the beginning and let her feel a strong sense of mastery and enjoyment. So we went waaay back to the very beginning of Hooked on Phonics Kinder, which she tore through in a week or two. Then we went back again to the very beginning of Progressive Phonics and let her work through that Kinder program, and then recently we started up into the intermediate level.<br />
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About the time we started the intermediate level, I noticed that Zoe was sitting in bed and sounding out words from her library books. She would climb into bed with Zane and read him parts of his board books, sometimes just making it up but other times obviously trying to read the specific words on the page. Then last Sunday, while we were at her grandparents' house, she pulled out a favorite Dr. Seuss collection, and since nobody particularly wanted to read it to her for the 7 millionth time, I suggested maybe she could read it to me. So she snuggled up on the couch right between Mom and Grandpa and... she totally read it.<br />
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We got through half that night and she finished it at home the next morning. You should have seen her (quite literally) bouncing with excitement. "MY FIRST REAL BOOK!!!!"<br />
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Since then we've been reading every day. She has a fantastic memory for sight words, and she is not afraid to tackle anything. When she sees a word she can't figure out, it doesn't stop her at all, she annoyedly instructs me to read it, and then plows on through. If I'm not there, she makes up a substitute and keeps on reading. I love her fearless attitude.</div>
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Last night I walked into the bedroom for lights out, and found Zane and Zoe curled up in Zane's bed together. Zoe and I had just finished reading "Ten Apples Up on Top" for the first time, and now she was reading it out loud together. They were both giggling and howling at every silly page, their little bodies snuggled up together under the blankets. Zoe looked up as I walked in, and she proudly declared "Look, Mom! I can read to Zane now!" Zane shouted "Yeah!" And I couldn't help proudly smiling a bit myself, too. These kids make life so worthwhile, so satisfying.</div>
<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-46703339811988079452014-08-31T22:06:00.005-05:002014-09-01T07:25:22.025-05:00Sick Zane and his care providersMy poor little Zane was so tired and listless today at church, nothing at all like his usual perky, 100% busy-boy self. He doesn't have a fever, but he obviously doesn't feel well. I enjoyed the 3 straight hours of sleepy church snuggles but Van was not so much a fan, as evidenced by several hours of him attempting to kick Zane in the face. Unfortunately, between his foot and Zane's face is my belly (AKA "Everyone's favorite pillow.") So it was also pretty much three straight hours of contractions. Also, hauling both those boys around just about broke this pregnant lady's back. We were all really ready to be done by the end of church.<br>
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This little sad guy. Awwww.</div>
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Fortunately, I had plenty of help once we got home. As we all know, Zoe LOVES to serve people, and nothing thrills her more than having an invalid around the house. I deposited Zane on the living room couch directly from the car, and she immediately started clucking and cooing and tucking and loving the sad little man. She shared all her most beloved toys and brought him everything he could possibly want or need. Skipping around the house with joy over his misfortune, she trilled and sang and squealed about "how many serves I can do for Zane today!"<br>
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The queen of "serves"! He really looks appreciative, eh? </div>
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Happy big sister tenderly asked him what he might like to eat, and then went to the kitchen to fix a sandwich to his precise specifications (ham and cheese with mayonnaise, plus a top) without any motherly guidance or help. To my surprise, she even got him ushed from the couch up into his seat at the table and though he's hardly eaten since yesterday he cheerfully munched half her sandwich before he gave up and headed back to his snuggle spot.</div>
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I commended her on her kindness toward her sick brother and thanked her for her help. </div>
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Jed, never one to enjoy someone else's validation, broke in loudly "Well, it wasn't just her!" </div>
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"Oh, really?" I replied</div>
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"Um, yeah." Pause for thinking.</div>
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"I helped too. I noticed he was talking really soft and I told him to talk louder."</div>
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I must have looked skeptical because he added "I mean, it was REALLY soft, Mom, like a sick person!" (insert imitation of what was obviously to him a pathetic sick person mumble.)</div>
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I asked, "Do you think that made him feel better?"</div>
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Silence.</div>
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"That wasn't the only thing I did. I also whacked him in the knee with a broken hanger."</div>
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Isn't Zane lucky that there's at least one female sibling in our family? Because gosh, when I feel lousy I always wish I had a big brother to whack me back into health with a hanger. </div>
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(Although now that I think of it, I think my mother would probably consider this a perfectly valid form of healing, especially if it involved being whacked while cleaning a chicken coop. Maybe Jed's inability to be sympathetic to the ill comes from his Granny's side...)</div>
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<br>NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-2138389688500910472014-08-21T22:17:00.000-05:002014-08-31T22:18:31.408-05:00Kid Stats!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kids had their annual checkup. Here are their stats!<br />
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Goofball.</div>
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Cute skinny girl. </div>
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Crazy Zany. The doc must have commented twenty times on "how much more of a talker this third one is than your others!" But only because Zane practically shouted his way through the whole hour and a half of appointments. This little boy is a big happy humdinger.<br />
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Baby Van also had a checkup. Everything looks and sounds great! Can't wait for this baby boy! Zane hugs and kisses and bangs and shouts at my my belly a thousand times a day, so I imagine Van is absolutely terrified of emerging from his protective womb and won't arrive until Halloween.<br />
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-595387936614998772014-08-17T21:21:00.001-05:002014-08-17T21:25:15.215-05:00Toothbrush troubleScene 1: Michael enters bathroom and screams in horror as he sees Zane, completely naked, grinning hugely as he waves Michael's toothbrush over the open toilet. Apparently the electric toothbrush is dancing. There is no clear evidence of contamination, but the circumstances were such as to necessitate a full sanitization of all objects and children involved.<br />
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Scene 2: Two days later, Zane walks into my bedroom, singing a happy tune. I look up to see he is (again) completely naked and cheerfully singing "I clean my bum, my bum so clean!" I realize he is scrubbing his cute little bum with his big brother's electric toothbrush. There are some sort of bubbles involved. Toothbrush is promptly confiscated before persnickety Jed realizes the nightmarish nature of the infraction.<br />
<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-29110692981232589322014-08-17T09:08:00.000-05:002014-08-17T09:23:29.983-05:00Zane's 3rd birthday party!<br />
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Everyone gathered to celebrate BIG ZANY! Zane's best friend cousin Hallie, accompanied by family, was in attendance.</div>
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Baby Scarlett was excited for the party, too!</div>
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First order of business, get the kids decorating the cake! Everyone stripped down to their undies and got a knife. I made a big batch of red (ish...) fluffy frosting and made some eyeballs with the intent that the kids could make an Elmo cake for Zane. We let the kids go at it, and with plenty of red dye, skittles, and eyeballs, this is what they proudly presented:<br />
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What IS this thing?!</div>
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It's so ugly it makes Scarlett cry. And the rest of us laugh until tears.<br />
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Next... presents!</div>
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Zane in his fantastic Super-Guy costume from Auntie Lisa.</div>
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Most kissable Super-Guy ever! Oh my gosh I can't resist his manly charms!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVjGaI7kkNhQWVgLIrDZucK84HKdaanmlfYZ53zRXm4wIYSFqWUxxoY0fHomFCyUKlDM0g4AzIA8F4aKdofnyNFLQScMFNh43hwzjuAk8zNCtdoIMmVWwtkP6WTeHZfefzk7U1UjgmxY/s1600/IMG_3591.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVjGaI7kkNhQWVgLIrDZucK84HKdaanmlfYZ53zRXm4wIYSFqWUxxoY0fHomFCyUKlDM0g4AzIA8F4aKdofnyNFLQScMFNh43hwzjuAk8zNCtdoIMmVWwtkP6WTeHZfefzk7U1UjgmxY/s1600/IMG_3591.jpeg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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And last to blow out the candles.<br />
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Maybe we need a little help from big brother.</div>
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Happy birthday 3 year old boy!</div>
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This little man brings so much good cheer into our family. I call him my "Happy Boy" and he has very much adopted that moniker. I often ask him "What are you doing down there in the basement, Zane?" and he'll answer "I just bein' a happy guy, Mom!" He is rarely, so rarely, fussy, needy, or cranky. Zane can entertain himself for seemingly infinite lengths of time, singing to himself, telling himself long stories complete with sound effects, apparently hilarious because he laughs at his own jokes mid-narrative.</div>
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After a summer in the sun, usually in a state of total undress (can't keep clothes on this kid for any length of time!), Zane is one honey-brown little boy, with blonde-highlighted sticky-up hair and a permanent look of exuberant surprise. He runs on strong sturdy legs and clenched chubby fists and a scowl of focused determination. Did I mention his feet are huge? He grew out of his size 11s this week... so now he and Zoe wear the same size!</div>
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To the confusion of randomly approached unfamiliar adults, he proudly announces that his name is ZANY and that really fits him quite well. He is one crazy, noisy, busy kid. He really didn't start talking in earnest until about 2/3 of the way through his second year, and now he is making up for lost time. A constant stream of near-shouting narrative and exclamation fills our home from dawn until dusk, punctuated occasionally by impressively formed sound effects. </div>
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Zane's favorite toy is a plastic hammer. He is rarely found without one of his hammers to "do my work!" Except maybe when he's outside, and then he's always got a stick or two clutched in each hand, brandished and banged with wild, noisy, joyful abandon.</div>
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Zane knows the last word to every phrase of our Declaration of Independence memorization. All the other words, he points out often, can be easily replaced by his favorite fill-in words "What-ay-what-ay-self-evident!"</div>
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In the last month, Zane has started coming up to me, climbing into my lap, and throwing his arms around my neck. Nose to nose he declares "I love you, Mommy! I love you! I kiss you Mommy!" and then he peppers me with delicious, sticky boy kisses.</div>
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He also love love loves his "Baby Van." At the grocery store, he will often walk up to passing old ladies and shout, pointing to my belly "DIS MY BABY VAN!! HE COME OUT SOMEDAY! Uh-HUH!" He pets and kisses and shouts at my belly all the day long. I can't wait for him to meet his baby brother.</div>
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Whenever he leaves my presence, Zane cheerily shouts to me his travel intentions "I goin' downstairs Mom! I'll be back soon, Mom! See ya later, Mom! Bye, Mom!" Yes, this happens nearly every time he leaves the room, and I never tire of hearing him. See ya later, Zany. Happy Birthday!</div>
NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-14498240905396889022014-08-16T07:57:00.002-05:002014-08-16T07:57:21.510-05:00I Am PregnantIn case you didn't pick up on this earlier, I am pregnant.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXTSR2iH5QyupQkAy1Di19djx9ku6tYQyAO4EORvi6hpU7pxw74VrWTmwEtOwIy-BVn5gLXgcsg87iZbuVzU39yO_-VwSaPBWLc02MPutnqw9VMk-qncrY16NGygXY5EdwqjyPQF60O0/s1600/IMG_3630.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXTSR2iH5QyupQkAy1Di19djx9ku6tYQyAO4EORvi6hpU7pxw74VrWTmwEtOwIy-BVn5gLXgcsg87iZbuVzU39yO_-VwSaPBWLc02MPutnqw9VMk-qncrY16NGygXY5EdwqjyPQF60O0/s1600/IMG_3630.jpeg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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Here is me at 33 weeks. My belly is gigantic, still measuring about two weeks big, but I feel grateful this last few months I have been feeling great. I haven't gained too much weight, probably thanks to daily swimming controlling the swelling this summer, thank you neighborhood pools! I am generally sleeping better this time around than any of my other pregnancies, too, for which I am very, very grateful. </div>
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All of my kids have had distinctive personalities in the womb. Little Van is no exception. This is the squirmiest baby ever. He moves and wiggles and kicks and punches constantly! I love it! At his 20wk ultrasound the tech kept laughing because she couldn't get a shot of his head. She said she had never had a baby so wiggly that she literally couldn't get a lock on him, it took about a dozen tries. So it sounds like I'm going to be a very busy mom in about a year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CLxJoOpB7GTHKk4wHecz_2IHxh9EdkIDykyy-7NUJ6IYexdaGx_v7r2iqtSPFk4RSfaAgVPuFIDKNPQzaRZHNQegeDwXqre1ReLoVRN5-IduBBBPkyNQXh9RG-yZYMI4omVgeqa8UlM/s1600/IMG_3627.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CLxJoOpB7GTHKk4wHecz_2IHxh9EdkIDykyy-7NUJ6IYexdaGx_v7r2iqtSPFk4RSfaAgVPuFIDKNPQzaRZHNQegeDwXqre1ReLoVRN5-IduBBBPkyNQXh9RG-yZYMI4omVgeqa8UlM/s1600/IMG_3627.jpeg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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All the kids are NUTS about Baby Van! Especially Zane. He probably talks about the baby thirty times a day, and is constantly running up to hug and kiss my belly. Zoe already has vast plans about how she will be babysitting once the baby comes. Jed is excited to share a room with the baby once he is grown enough.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNJKN0yaLkTXJ26WLDTZ5yoq-xyaWAGxN_aXisSq4isoLxDFP_QlW76IfvNONVo11r6Xm7esqPFmTAx1Cj6Icmzd-UK3TM3m5gClBtY9hNXcmkzHeugcc5sUCgDamKavlta5c9VjpA0M/s1600/IMG_3632.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNJKN0yaLkTXJ26WLDTZ5yoq-xyaWAGxN_aXisSq4isoLxDFP_QlW76IfvNONVo11r6Xm7esqPFmTAx1Cj6Icmzd-UK3TM3m5gClBtY9hNXcmkzHeugcc5sUCgDamKavlta5c9VjpA0M/s1600/IMG_3632.jpeg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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And a gratuitous matching shot because we are so cute together.</div>
NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-6008410049411929642014-08-16T07:40:00.001-05:002014-08-16T07:40:24.572-05:00Zoe's Birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We had a quiet at-home Sunday party on Zoe's actual birthday. At her request, we made a fluffy pink princess cake. She helped decorate it and couldn't stop squealing and gazing joyfully at it all evening.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiZlsoYq46HR-uA5_R00tb294dPqPXSVjOcMLHOw81CYJGjRCK0sMrA1wDefrH4qZyD8nUFJAkR-MHc0ZAsKkA9oKT75EhrYYcdFE9vOdn97aAbyx4trtpYePvb2-Ny2avj0r2u3Emx_E/s1600/IMG_3441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiZlsoYq46HR-uA5_R00tb294dPqPXSVjOcMLHOw81CYJGjRCK0sMrA1wDefrH4qZyD8nUFJAkR-MHc0ZAsKkA9oKT75EhrYYcdFE9vOdn97aAbyx4trtpYePvb2-Ny2avj0r2u3Emx_E/s1600/IMG_3441.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
Blow out the candles, Zoe!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iBzBZwDCyupogJyxgxwX0YeSJgk5O4WyBs2_gu5KQfKmz37SGi9s64Wmatr0OBDMTH2ptLl9XFmHgnsddnWvVJ6tQxbjL0bUvKr1CfmLym-ABoKJPBgOlY303WlRJFVGT2xNWr_5X3Y/s1600/IMG_3443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iBzBZwDCyupogJyxgxwX0YeSJgk5O4WyBs2_gu5KQfKmz37SGi9s64Wmatr0OBDMTH2ptLl9XFmHgnsddnWvVJ6tQxbjL0bUvKr1CfmLym-ABoKJPBgOlY303WlRJFVGT2xNWr_5X3Y/s1600/IMG_3443.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
And of course licking off the princess.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_j_00eN7Bd8kDMGRS_6GMp9nVl4eIYjbR4Hx6bisjW6FWu4pu7n8DWTzFstgPz8CmlTSls7gaMz9n8L_A1n2y8UGn3PqqFaiE6A5jntANG4-nGTmNJ77owyOBaV2EnpEtPMQbzUWuH_g/s1600/IMG_3449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_j_00eN7Bd8kDMGRS_6GMp9nVl4eIYjbR4Hx6bisjW6FWu4pu7n8DWTzFstgPz8CmlTSls7gaMz9n8L_A1n2y8UGn3PqqFaiE6A5jntANG4-nGTmNJ77owyOBaV2EnpEtPMQbzUWuH_g/s1600/IMG_3449.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Since we didn't have any family available that evening, Zoe was totally on board with having our friends the Woods and their two boys over for her very feminine party. Because she is the coolest kid ever.</div>
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A giant pile of presents ready to be opened.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjwR6vNM4GfZsJFSStQqj_KFrI0v9-17q4j6qjFOPU6YF71jCrbrF6cLcaaBwl23UHmMox7HPfWHPmqo33Zgy3aIPKNGP4zHUcNzPE7AKJuoAL2f9cM1Lb4HWkUsQ5w6_QRsgj5E-aVk/s1600/IMG_3387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjwR6vNM4GfZsJFSStQqj_KFrI0v9-17q4j6qjFOPU6YF71jCrbrF6cLcaaBwl23UHmMox7HPfWHPmqo33Zgy3aIPKNGP4zHUcNzPE7AKJuoAL2f9cM1Lb4HWkUsQ5w6_QRsgj5E-aVk/s1600/IMG_3387.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Jed had been shopping garage sales for weeks and weeks to get Zoe just the perfect gift. He spied this little stuffed white unicorn, which Zoe is insanely wonderfully crazy over. Jed is just like his dad, he is an AWESOME gift giver. He earns all his own money for chores and spends a ton of time looking for just the right thing that will make his sister or brother happy. He is such a cool kid! And look at Zoe's happy face!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSYntQmsGWY6CorJZhghXrwEJ5eit6YPkaA8iY8hE0Kde5dXPTR0ose7rpFgGhp8IILKg3PL5h2vANvkfgm4y45wICGkZoBlo51UAn2jaJod8RqG41JkWhFd30PUmLTTIJWVTivnCG8U/s1600/IMG_3394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSYntQmsGWY6CorJZhghXrwEJ5eit6YPkaA8iY8hE0Kde5dXPTR0ose7rpFgGhp8IILKg3PL5h2vANvkfgm4y45wICGkZoBlo51UAn2jaJod8RqG41JkWhFd30PUmLTTIJWVTivnCG8U/s1600/IMG_3394.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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I bought Zoe puppies. </div>
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She liked them!<br />
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The theme of most of her gifts, however, was her BIG gift, which was a complete rearranging of our bedrooms and now she gets the top bunk in a room with Zane. Jed and I found a bunch of darling pillows for her bed. Her Great-grandma Janete sent her some super cute girly Minnie-mouse sheets. The pillows were a HUGE HUGE hit. I am pleased to say that I think I spent three dollars on Zoe's birthday this year. Thank you garage sales.<br />
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This is actually a sweet little book for Baby Van, sent from Granny Zo'An, but everyone loved it so much already.<br />
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A baby doll from Granny and Poppa. Zoe squealed "She has brown eyes just like me!!!" when she opened her up. She named her baby Isabelle and carts her around everywhere. <br />
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I didn't get photos, but Zoe also got a darling "first princess" Belle doll from her Auntie Lisa and she has been so happy with these two new dollies! This little girl has a strong maternal streak and it makes her mommy proud.<br />
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-81645624102212201752014-08-12T20:18:00.000-05:002014-08-12T20:18:05.233-05:00Five-year-old Zoe Ann Stanfill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This beautiful creature is my five-year-old daughter. My long, honey-skinned, strong minded joyful runner. Her sunny, affectionate personality hasn't changed at all since she was this happy little flower:<br />
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She still emerges from her room every morning with a leap and a grin, a hug for her mom, a little "newborn" baby of some variety cradled tenderly in her arms. This girl overflows with love and care for other people. She revels in the strength and capability of her strong, lithe body. She runs and jumps and rides and swims and embraces every bit of her self. She makes and keeps friends as easily as breathing. Whenever she runs, she laughs and squeals with joy. She reads little books with gusto, sleeps deeply, strewn across her bed, and sings her heart out all day long. She overflows with passionate emotion for everything in her life, and in the best way.<br />
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Probably my favorite part of Zoe, though, is that she self-identifies as a person who serves others. She LOVES to help. Everyone. Any time. Eagerly, with total enjoyment of the act. Just this afternoon she crept up to me on the bed, eyes alight, grin pasted on cheek to cheek. "Guess what, Mom!" What Zoe? "Look behind those towels, and you will see I did a SERVE!" Sure enough, she had sorted out my laundry and folded my washcloths while I wasn't looking. </div>
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She has an eye for service opportunities. She gets her brother toys, she carries dishes over to the table, she hugs people who are sad, she befriends children who are lonely, she rubs tired feet and backs, she helps cook dinner, she cleans up other people's messes and unlatches little brother from his car seat. If you ever deprive her of an anticipated act of service, watch out, because you will have a storm of tears on your hands. She tells me every day the ten thousand ways she has already planned to serve mom and her new brother after the baby is born. This girl frankly loves to serve. When you ask her, she will tell you outright "I am like Jesus because I do serves!"</div>
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I've never met a woman full of so much love as my little Zoe Ann. There are no words for the feelings of joy and pride and honor I have to be her mother. She is a truly remarkable person.</div>
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Happy birthday, special girl.</div>
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-37698037654118176982014-08-11T12:07:00.001-05:002014-08-11T12:07:11.653-05:00Dill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-39825573248058423112014-08-11T07:32:00.001-05:002014-08-11T07:32:11.226-05:00Zoe's BIG bubble party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This year, since we didn't go to Montana for the month of July like we usually do, Zoe got to have her first "friends" birthday party. Talk about excitement! We settled on a "slip 'n slide and bubbles" theme. All the girls wore their swimsuits and the whole party was in the backyard.</div>
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As has become customary, we had a birthday pan"CAKE" breakfast with all her friends. Everyone gets a candle and enough insanely sugary toppings to make any child's heart beat faster. "WHAT?! I get CHOCOLATE SAUCE on my pancake?!" </div>
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This was the first time we've ever filled up our ginormous picnic table. I guess Michael did know what he was doing when he made it like 10 feet long.<br />
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Then opening presents with "hot potato."<br />
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Happy birthday girl with chocolate mouth wearing her "champion" swimsuit.<br />
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Big belly mom with giant 2yo brother.<br />
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I expected the slip 'n slide to be the hit of the party, but I have to say the giant bubbles were a HUGE success! Look at these monsters Savannah was making!<br />
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I had to make more and more bubble wands because all the kids wanted in on the fun. The little ones just enjoyed chasing them around and popping them. <br />
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Look what Jed caught!<br />
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I love these simple birthday parties. I like morning parties, I like pancakes, I like kids outside, I liked that there was practically zero cleanup and that all the little ones went home with giant smiles on their faces. Zoe declared it the "best birthday party EVER, Mom!" Success!NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-38971872130001295092014-08-02T13:59:00.001-05:002014-08-02T13:59:39.661-05:00Peaches and fireballsSince Jed was feeling better today, he got to help finish up processing peaches.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyaV0rddJnKj9mrx7CjBQGeH6C6ILBzNsY6pOU2a-nJvctcDvRG9wV47VK4uszqPWYc8EzM9J9NcleN-SWeNLSIfMqP2PLasncmpzujNMmHqzQ3njVxjo_GNGUFIkneIUAFXug5dvIdU/s640/blogger-image--1784699516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyaV0rddJnKj9mrx7CjBQGeH6C6ILBzNsY6pOU2a-nJvctcDvRG9wV47VK4uszqPWYc8EzM9J9NcleN-SWeNLSIfMqP2PLasncmpzujNMmHqzQ3njVxjo_GNGUFIkneIUAFXug5dvIdU/s640/blogger-image--1784699516.jpg"></a></div> Today we decided to freeze some for cobbler. He wanted to help, but not skin peaches (since obviously that is a 5yo girl job...) so I let him be in charge of chopping. It wasn't the prettiest job ever, but it was certainly the proudest. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wM9OVTLwBRfX4mkv9BxTiU2iaJ31rkABPjZfijKuEjjLb90PcU_4Oa55Wzbcfxgss1KgsqN-GPNQOkuhHS9k_agtzioiu0hZaE7A8zNv8iW9wlsR4osILcX7btByUqI5F3GkjAK7OZ8/s640/blogger-image--1295289341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wM9OVTLwBRfX4mkv9BxTiU2iaJ31rkABPjZfijKuEjjLb90PcU_4Oa55Wzbcfxgss1KgsqN-GPNQOkuhHS9k_agtzioiu0hZaE7A8zNv8iW9wlsR4osILcX7btByUqI5F3GkjAK7OZ8/s640/blogger-image--1295289341.jpg"></a>Jed and Zoe took turns helping, sometimes taking a break to go scavenge tomatoes or check on whatever dad was doing outside (which admittedly was far more interesting, involving tires, Barbasol, lighter fluid, matches, running frantically for the hose and Top Gear. Jed at one point came in jabbering wildly about fireballs and the lawn on fire, but all I heard from Michael's end was that something didn't work because he didn't "totally commit". I didn't ask details but apparently we need a new lawnmower tire.) Inside all was quiet and lovely and I finished off the peaches easily with all the help. I love quiet Saturday afternoons. </div>NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-75541173249379878522014-08-01T15:23:00.001-05:002014-08-01T15:27:57.986-05:00Canning peaches with Zoe<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I felt a little overwhelmed this morning gazing at my 50 pounds of peaches on the kitchen counter. My original plan was to can them with a friend this afternoon, but now that Jed was busy barfing in the bedroom I knew that plan was out. I felt tired. I didn't want to do it all by myself! Ugh. But I slowly got things out and started blanching. After about twenty tired minutes, though, this little beauty showed up at my elbow with a chipper offer of help. </span></div>
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She pulled up a stool and soon we were working elbow to elbow peeling and chopping as Zoe cheerily kept up conversation. Turns out five year olds are perfectly capable of peeling peaches. So fast mom couldn't keep up! </div>
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At some point I realized, midway through a new tale about her amazing snake ("She kills lightning! That's because she can fly really fast and high! She hates loud noises. She attacks my enemies when I am scared! My only enemies are spiders. She is taller than my arm! She is taller than me! She can kill trees! Actually she lives in trees!") that I was really having a great time. Time was flying by and we finished our batch giggling and chatting together. Turns out this little woman is great company. </div>
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NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-22486931908912024642014-07-30T21:19:00.001-05:002014-07-30T21:19:30.701-05:00Random summer bitsMichael promised Zoe that she could be his special helper building shelves for the basement this evening. So when she woke up this morning, the first thing she did is start shoving plastic play tools into her underpants and run around, brown eyes shining, crowing how she had on her work underpants and she was ready to help dad NOW!<br />
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Speaking of underpants, we pretty much have resorted to wearing just underpants around the house. It's hard for mom to enforce any sort of clothing rule because let's be honest, more clothing=more laundry and that's the last thing I'm incentivized to increase. I am super mean and insist that they wear both shoes and underpants if they are going to ride their bikes outside. I know, I know, "Tiger Mom."<br />
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Jed has his own bedroom now and it's nigh impossible to get him to put the comic books down and go to sleep. Last night I caught him at 9:45 PM with the light on. Then this morning I got the crankiest sad-faced pouty pants ever, ugh.<br />
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We went to a super fun and completely empty pool today. There was a small toddler-sized frog water slide. Zane went completely nuts over this thing. He and Zoe ran and slid for an hour straight, they must have gone down that slide 3,000 times. Every single time Zane would shout at the top "Hi, Mom! Here comes ZANY!" and then when he got to the bottom he would come and excitedly inform me "Mommy, dis froggy slide is just right for ME!" He is too cute for words, I can't stop kissing that busy little brown body.<br />
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Meanwhile, cranky tired Jed groused and complained at length through the whole trip, which lasted all of two hours. Even going down the big water slide by himself only lifted his scowl for a bit. Then when Dad got home, he raved and raved and raved at length about how it was the BEST DAY AT THE POOL EVER. Mom had a hard time restraining her eye rolls, though she did send several same-table-dinner-texts to Dad informing him that all children would be having an early bedtime tonight.<br />
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I have 50 pounds of peaches sitting on my floor, a refrigerator full of squash, an overflowing and somewhat neglected garden, an barely-started basement refurbishment in a vast state of disarray, and I find all I want to do is go sit at the pool with my kids and hug their little brown baby perfection and then come home and take a nap. This has been a deliciously luxurious summer!NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-34162986908831475242014-07-14T07:43:00.001-05:002014-07-14T07:43:28.198-05:00Potty Training Zane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
After many months of failed lazy side efforts, the time has finally come. The time for POTTY TRAINING. Zane was ready. Jed and Zoe were ready to help. The potty and the treats were ready. But mom... mom had a fairly significant enthusiasm gap. But I know time is getting short before baby 4 makes his big appearance, and so I bit the bullet and put on a very convincing act of excitement and we went for it. Jed was so excited he helped me get all the new undies and treats out and organized before Zane even woke up Monday morning. He also volunteered to make this potty sticker chart, which he pointed out several times was WAY cooler than the one I was going to make. Of course he is absolutely right. This is the coolest potty chart ever.</div>
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Zane met his new "cool car unnerpants" with great enthusiasm and proceeded to spend Day 1 wetting through them with wild, messy male abandon. I had to go down and dig through clothing boxes in the basement to find an extra dozen undies when it quickly became clear that ten pair was NOT going to be enough. Here is my fb post from about halfway through Day 1:</div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.288000106811523px;">We got some cool treats and they are out and ready... Everyone is enthusiastic (or at least pretending, in moms case)... But even though w have sat on the potty a dozen times and drank half a gallon of liquids... no success yet! Just one very impressive flood of an accident. Come on Zaners!!!</span></div>
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Several hours later, the enthusiasm had waned even further, but gritty determination set in. I have wood floors. I can do this: <span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.288000106811523px;">Well, I think Zane's ready. I personally cannot wait any longer - he pees out of his diapers at least once, often several times a day, since he holds it for so long. He constantly has his man bits hanging out and has accidents on the floor, so I get the pleasure of changing diapers AND cleaning up pee! Nope, it's time. He's ready, I'm fed up. It's gonna take some time but we will get it done. No success yet today but he is still super happy and cheerful about it. We have done the naked thing (last time we trained) so I know he can do it. This time we are focusing on keeping undies on and figuring out how to keep them dry</span><br />
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Finally about 3 PM we finally had a success! And when I say "we" I mean "Zoe" because she is a way better potty trainer than her momma, I'm afraid. By that night, I think the score was Potty:3 vs Floor/Couch: 12. This was a long day.</div>
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But Day 2 dawned with new hope and we spent a lot of the morning outside with a darling dry pants kiddo with his "cool fast car flag unnerpans" showing off his moves on the big bike.</div>
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And surprisingly, those pants stayed dry all morning long! We did have a little poop incident at the park, but that's to be expected when mom and boy are both distracted. But the whole day felt much, much more hopeful. I found a 2-minute Elmo potty song clip on youtube that has been very helpful. He watches it over and over with wonder, marveling in breathy tones "Dat Elma have tiny potty just like ME!" <br />
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To my joyful surprise, though, the most motivating thing for Zane has been pleasing his mommy. On the second day, after a successful "pee-pee" experience, he came running over to me and threw his arms around my neck. With glowing eyes he turned his face up to mine. "I make you happy, Mommy?" Yes, Zane, you have made me SO happy! "I make you happy!" He gave me a huge hug and said "I love you, Mommy!" Yes that will melt any mother's heart. He only started saying "I love you" spontaneously about a week ago, so every utterance is so precious! All week long, he has been asking again and again "I make you happy, Mommy?!" He is the sweetest little man ever. He wants to potty train because he knows it is important to me. Love this affectionate, earnest, cheerful child.<br />
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Day 3 was even better, so we ventured out to the little library downtown and even had a successful public restroom experience there (wheeee! Much cheering! The librarians must have had raised eyebrows for that one.)<br />
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By day 4 he was waking up with a dry diaper every day and only having very occasional (<1 a="" accidents.="" and="" been="" bonding="" day="" experience="" first="" from="" great="" guy.="" has="" it="" little="" long="" my="" nbsp="" p="" painless="" per="" really="" side="" spending="" the="" time="" virtually="" with="" zaners=""></1>NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-47945264031145789342014-04-06T21:14:00.000-05:002014-04-06T21:14:04.397-05:00Running<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghRy8QRtt2HmH4SC1VaLPO4yq8pwmDXwgPBgxsOq8MDaOAh-YQ-cSOnIwV-YK0FUxeXuYa0m1NpV5fQcO1pQDzveL4bkLjfhYtjhDQpGwuIkoDVmaPEOVn3OApX9oGPaY7SuBdm2Dr4YY/s1600/IMG_1455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghRy8QRtt2HmH4SC1VaLPO4yq8pwmDXwgPBgxsOq8MDaOAh-YQ-cSOnIwV-YK0FUxeXuYa0m1NpV5fQcO1pQDzveL4bkLjfhYtjhDQpGwuIkoDVmaPEOVn3OApX9oGPaY7SuBdm2Dr4YY/s1600/IMG_1455.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
Zoe is my natural athlete. She is such a jumper that her brother has nicknamed her "Kangaroo" because she's been jumping since before she could walk. Sometimes she has to get up from the dinner table just to jump ten or twenty times before she can sit down again and finish her meal. She has so much energy!<br />
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Nothing makes Zoe happier than running. As soon as she sets out she gets a giant giggly smile and can't stop laughing with joy. She LOVES to run! She can (and has) run for more than a mile without trouble. Her gait is so beautiful, so smooth and lithe; she looks like a little gazelle. I hope she never stops.<br />
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-82471003750649726782014-04-06T11:05:00.004-05:002014-04-06T11:05:36.418-05:00Chicken Keeper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Jed has taken charge of the chicken chores this year. This isn't an easy job for him, especially during the cold winter months, but he has been remarkably diligent for a little guy. Sometimes he complains, but whenever we go outside he always loves talking to the chickens and spending the time outside.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCIo0pky-DSRSinnmlUnhZwDlIj6nXvDWZFs4sMKdbzrOq_WqdukR3d2k5Qu6-53uTcHAgADelNIEtPQ8hTFxJYxmTLbWGehMnAab0C6nF4rKC36uTYEa5iIfIwfnZA5XkNXmynmcgdLU/s1600/IMG_1505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCIo0pky-DSRSinnmlUnhZwDlIj6nXvDWZFs4sMKdbzrOq_WqdukR3d2k5Qu6-53uTcHAgADelNIEtPQ8hTFxJYxmTLbWGehMnAab0C6nF4rKC36uTYEa5iIfIwfnZA5XkNXmynmcgdLU/s1600/IMG_1505.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
We haven't had an easy run of it this past winter, with almost half our chickens dying in various gruesome manners, but Jed's been a tough cookie and hasn't even winced helping clean up and deal with the aftermath.<br />
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I feel tending the chickens teaches some of the greatest lessons a child could learn, and is the primary reasons why I want chickens. Daily work is required. It isn't fun, but it is rewarding collecting the eggs and seeing the flock grow. During hard times, he comes face to face with the realities of death and the natural cycle of life. Realizing his actions have real, lasting, permanent consequences for these helpless animals has opened his eyes. I know if he can learn to understand these lessons now, he will be stronger facing challenges as a teen and an adult.<br />
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-22741427912608480642014-04-06T10:51:00.001-05:002014-04-06T10:53:42.264-05:00So much rain!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This past week we had the rainiest day in recorded Evansville history. The previous total rain in 24 hours record was 2.89 inches. We handily smashed that by geting 4.97 inches. It poured and poured and poured and lightninged and thundered for 30 hours straight, for a total of 6 inches of rain. Craziness! </div>
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We did get a short break about 18 hours in, and the kids wasted no time in donning their boots and heading out to the newly-formed lake in the backyard.</div>
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I wish I had a photo of them in their "boat." I thought it a little ridiculous when they planned to float out in the overturned turtle shell to our little sandbox, but they proved me wrong because it totally worked! Zoe and Zane both sailed out in their little boat, spinning happily with the plastic baseball bat as an oar. These kids are awesome.</div>
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The second full night of explosive thunder and lightning wasn't kind to the kids' sleep. Michael and I couldn't sleep either. It was an incessant roar of waterfall off the roof, punctuated by blinding flashes and bombs going off in the front yard. This is how we finally got Zoe to sleep.</div>
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Yes, that is ear protection for Michael's rifle, and it works perfectly to protect little girls from nature's artillery.</div>
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-50961917897987785252014-04-06T10:37:00.001-05:002014-04-06T10:37:12.454-05:00Worms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
One of my favorite things about Zoe is how much she loves creepie-crawlies. She's always running to me with a wiggly worm or chirping cricket or some tiny creature clasped in her moist little hand. Last summer she had a cricket collection, which she captured all by herself (at age 3!) I shamelessly encourage her gross bug habit, since I myself worked for an entomologist raising weevils and moths back in the day. We are women who love bugs and creeping things. </div>
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Worms are generally her favorite, though. After our big rainstorm this past week (6 inches of rain in 30 hours) we had worms by the handful available, and Zoe Ann was in heaven.</div>
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She gently stretched them out on the pavement to compare their lengths. <br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">I am sorry to report that often the worms do not survive her tender attentions. I chalk their deaths up as a sacrifice to science, since I'm quite sure we'll have an accomplished entomologist on our hands someday.</span></div>
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Baby brother wants in on the photo action. "HI DAD!"</div>
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-86117795628084552482014-03-17T12:59:00.002-05:002014-03-17T12:59:37.201-05:00Kid Heights<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
As is obvious to those present, they are tall kids! Especially my two elder ostriches.</div>
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JED</div>
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Height: 51 1/2 (93rd percentile)</div>
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Shoulder/Hip: 14</div>
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Shirt: 8 (M)</div>
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Pants: 7</div>
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Shoes: 3</div>
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ZOE</div>
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Height: 43 1/2 (92nd percentile)</div>
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Shouder/Hip: 13</div>
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Shirt:6</div>
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Pants: 6</div>
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Shoes: 11</div>
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Dress: 6 (but it needs to be long, she is so tall!)</div>
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ZANE</div>
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Height: 37 3/4 (84th percentile)</div>
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Shoulder/Hip: 11 1/2</div>
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Shirt: 3T</div>
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Pants:3T</div>
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Shoes: 9</div>
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(He is growing fast!)</div>
NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-60630641346820547572014-03-04T20:33:00.000-06:002014-03-20T20:37:48.161-05:00My babes<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today Zoe read a poem out of this darling </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjEvGJ1tH1AucTYjl4RbL1s1pLuG1PE0biimaBQhfpeZDcymlSDFUhfLIPv0tQYVSdwsq0LD6Hb4ed3hi8hB_1yZXy3FYKymT2L6qi92CG1ve8u5gMe2Kq02WIaG50Ly3mo3OAswhpl0/s1600/Zoe+Zebra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjEvGJ1tH1AucTYjl4RbL1s1pLuG1PE0biimaBQhfpeZDcymlSDFUhfLIPv0tQYVSdwsq0LD6Hb4ed3hi8hB_1yZXy3FYKymT2L6qi92CG1ve8u5gMe2Kq02WIaG50Ly3mo3OAswhpl0/s1600/Zoe+Zebra.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Margaret Wise Brown collection we’ve borrowed from the library. She read haltingly and with occasional prompting about all the little animals in the snow... so sweet and lovely. She is a precious girl. She is like a soft wiggly snuggly little kitten right now and I can’t get enough of it. Jed says she is more like a kangaroo because she jumps all the time.<br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-22b60d0d-e244-1ae0-9cdd-007860a135ad" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jed compares himself to a goat, which is pretty much just about right. “Like a sheep, but stronger.” I might add “And also insanely stubborn.” That boy has a mind of his own. He is so sweet and easy and teachable in daily living, but when it comes to something where he has a differing opinion, wooeee do those heels dig in hard. He is NOT GOING TO BUDGE once he’s made his mind up.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And Zane is Mommy’s Boy! “Mommy Mommy Me!” Much to his daddy’s consternation. He is also my “Happy hoppy boy Me!” Happy all the time! “Car car.... GO!” Running and roaring and giggling at the world. An absolute ball of boyish delight. Snuggly. Into everything. Must be in the middle and in the way at all times. Messy. Goes potty once or twice a day. Eats like a piggy and a picky little piggy at times, too. Sleeps beautifully and almost always in his Big Boy Bed. Kisses my owies and hands me items at the dinner table. Eager to be a part of everything. Shouts math quizzes at the whiteboard while scribbling madly: “FOUR! ONE! TREE FOUR! E-L-O!” The translation is simple “I AM A BIG BOY LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AND I CAN DO IT, TOO!” When you sing “Winnie the...” he can’t stop himself from sweetly popping out “Pooh!” on those pink round lips, and follow it with a sheepish grin. At the end he sings “..silly ol’ ba-yow!” and it slays me every time. Unbearable cuteness!</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-15592234948031199362014-03-01T20:19:00.000-06:002014-03-20T20:19:27.430-05:00Ice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-48139307822404217332014-02-18T20:12:00.000-06:002014-03-20T20:13:23.189-05:00At the Playground<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It's been a long, long winter for the Stanfills. Last Saturday the weather dared to leave "frigid" and tread into the realm of "bearably mild". So we grabbed our jackets and the whole family headed out for a spontaneous trip to the playground! And what fun we had!</div>
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<br />NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-4490589819427439862014-02-10T20:30:00.000-06:002014-03-20T20:30:40.664-05:00Jed's 7th Birthday <span id="docs-internal-guid-22b60d0d-e23b-6c7c-053d-b283a7fa18ac"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jed’s 7th birthday. My little babe, grown into a sweet, happy, kind-natured boy. Full of goodness. Sincere and serious, silly and full of fun. Stubborn, yet soft natured and always wanting to do what was right. He is so precious. His eyes are still full of love. It makes me so happy. I enjoy so much seeing my tiny child grow into the smallest semblance of a man.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a little party for some of his friends. Too many, more than Mom wanted, but he had a list a mile long so we settled on as many as we could fit around the table AND the card table. We had our traditional PanCAKE Birthday Breakfast, where everyone gets a candle to light as many times as they like, and pancake toppings out of every child's fantasies: syrup, whipping cream, strawberry sauce, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles to layer and devour to their heart's content. One funny boy announced this was the greatest birthday party EVER as he dug into his fifth mounded plate of goodness. Ah, boys are so easy to please!</span></span><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
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Then sardines, which involved so much giggling I thought they were going to toss their pancakes before they were found all huddled behind the trash can in the kitchen.</div>
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And finally hot potato gift opening. <br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">Simple and perfect. Jed was absolutely glowing and thanked me twenty times for "the party with everything I ever wanted, Mom!" Turns out 7 year old boys are pretty great.</span></div>
NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935438785706498228.post-16773622478675093962013-12-17T08:08:00.001-06:002013-12-17T08:08:27.133-06:00While big sister is asleep...Wheeeee! Soft and fluffy! <br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TRmbECBzdNE6g7dasV9sQpJTXjA8LzBWEAmgsgnd2XzR8HmA5YM79zvp-rsav5HsFmcYwz6WLZ9N7vl8lMZ1YTT-hcXY4iO0-pa83-9c3cVNHbx-Nvh9Oz_xCAs0WY9rLb6mgmW8pyk/s640/blogger-image-235252385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TRmbECBzdNE6g7dasV9sQpJTXjA8LzBWEAmgsgnd2XzR8HmA5YM79zvp-rsav5HsFmcYwz6WLZ9N7vl8lMZ1YTT-hcXY4iO0-pa83-9c3cVNHbx-Nvh9Oz_xCAs0WY9rLb6mgmW8pyk/s640/blogger-image-235252385.jpg"></a></div>NessaAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235410716507259118noreply@blogger.com1