Blattman Chronicles

She’s going there someday!

Annie’s room is painted, the bunk bed is finished, the drawers in the dresser are done. Just a few more final touches and we have 1 room down and 1 to go!

So we learned some things about Annie today. The girl can run! If she is motivated she has a mad sprint that leaves everyone else in her dust. Annie is good at defense and offense. She had her first soccer game ever today and I was so proud of her. She was so close to 3 different goals today. The sweet thing stole the ball on several occasions, dribbled it down the entire field and then stopped right in front of the goal and walked away. Everyone on the sideline is yelling for her to shoot, but she was content that she had gotten through the melee and kept anyone from scoring and that is where she decided she was done. She just walked away from the ball. We were dying on the sideline, but so thrilled to see her engaged and playing so hard. What a wonderful day! Annie love you so much and are so proud!

So Annie can whip out movie quotes like there’s no tomorrow.  She often uses them in day to day conversation with a remarkably straight face.  She seems to get her brand of humor from her Uncle Brian.  Can you guess the movie? Annie and I are at the island putting goodies bags together for her birthday.  She puts on a bead then struggles to bend the pipe cleaner into a heart.  She sighs, flops the items onto the table and says the following to herself. Annie Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles. Did you guess Kung Fu Panda?  Background We have always referenced body parts by their names at our house, but lately the kids have been using the word, privates.  Which doesn’t bother me one way or the other as long as they know the proper terminology, but that information is necessary for the following story… While watching a penguin scene. Annie What?! His name is Private?  Agh! ( You can see the genuine shock on her face ) Me It’s ...

 Annie is turning 5 this year and got to have her first birthday party. Trip to the Spa or…Zombie party? The girls were afraid to move because they kept loosing their cucumbers. Minus this picture, they were giggles and smiles all evening! They were all so fun to have over at our house! What sweet, awesome girls! Yes, Annie’s face mask is only half washed off at this point. We do bathe our children regularly. Thank-you Pintrest. This was the easiest experience I have ever had with ice cream and a birthday party. Due to a slight mishap in the morning we only got about half of the decorations up for Annie’s birthday and I had a few loose ends. Annie got 6 little cakes this year instead of 1. She chose the colors and the decorations for them. Keep an eye on the little red one on the right. That is going to be a point of contention in a later post.

Annie is getting her first birthday party this year. We have the 5 year rule in our house…no parties before you are 5. Boy has she gone super girly with her theme. Too bad most of her friends are boys. I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Annie Eating Hot Tamales is kind of like having hot lava in your mouth. me I know what you mean. Annie Hey mom, if everyone in Denver was naughty, would it get destroyed? jaw drop by me with a side of head swivel me What?! Annie Would Heavenly Father destroy Denver if all the people were naughty? me That's a good question.  I don't know, Annie…I just don't know.  It is possible. Can you guess what our family home evening was about?  That's right!  We started reading the Book of Mormon as a family and we were chatting about why Lehi and his family had to leave Jerusalem.  I guess Annie was wondering about real life application.  For the record, this conversation came 4 days after that family home evening.

A Flamingo Parade…who knew? I had just assumed that some of the flamingos had gotten loose and were on a rampage about their breakfast menu and they were calling it a parade as a bureaucratic cover up. They were passing out flamingo cards so I think it was a legit parade or more like a couple of trainers corralling 12 or so flamingos down the walk way, but it was still pretty cool. Truth be told, I grabbed Annie just as she was trying to ride one. I saw the fear in the trainers eyes as she lunged. Yeah, that would have been a fun one for the books. I don't have any pictures of it because it took me a few seconds to realize my camera wasn't focusing because I had extra filters on the lens. Sorry, no flamingo parade for you…you'll just have to imagine it. Either way, this was the first day I took all 3 kids to Sea World by myself…and without a stroller to boot. I was quite the site attached to the Baby Bjorn, rather it to me. Swinging my diaper bag over one shoulder, with the...

Seeing as Halloween was on Sunday this year, we opted for the church trunk or treat and carnival. Going from car to car was the perfect distance for our kiddlets little feet. They came back with some yummy candy. I finally got smart this year and didn’t park in the parking lot. We shared a trunk with some friends and then after the kids had done a lap and I was out of candy we headed home. Surprisingly enough, the crabbiness was held to a minimum Sunday morning…score one for the parents!

What ever happened to Cinderella’s pumpkin after the ball came and went and that glass slipper was lost? All that wonderful pumpkin smashed onto the roadside, covered in mud and left over fairy dust…what a waste! If only she had made cookies. Cookies always make difficult things easier to endure…step-sisters included! Here is a fabulously, easy pumpkin cookie recipe. Not to mention quite healthy as cookies go. Okay, and just one more plug – very good for food storage! Props to my dear friend, Carmen (and one of my old students, Elle) who gave me this recipe. Ready?!…3 ingredients! ~2 cups of pumpkin mash (15 oz. can of pumpkin for you users) 1 box of spice cake mix (Don’t add any of the normal ingredients the box says to. You only need the cake mix!!  In case I was unclear, no eggs, no oil, no water!!) 1-2 cups of chocolate chips (I am a lover of dark chocolate, but you do what you want) Mix in a mixer or with a giant spoon. Spoon onto a cookie sheet. They don’t really spread and g...

After four failed attempts of swiping my make-up, Annie was successful on attempt number five. I caught her in the middle of applying eyeliner while hiding between the ottoman and the couch. Nice, eh? She may do better as a horror movie make-up artist than a beautician. I took her into the bathroom to show her what she looked like and she snuggled up to me looking like she was going to cry. I think she was embarrassed by what she looked like. Is that really possible at this age? Maybe she was just scared of the kid looking back at her. At this point I decided she was only trying to make herself pretty so I wiped everything off, showed her the reflection again and voila, she was good to go. I hope the sentiments are the same when she hits the teen years...less is more! She watches everything Will and I do in the morning and mimics. She always wants to be sprayed with perfume and walk around in heels a purse and a scarf (That would be mimicking me, not Will). I know I need to get this po...