Fancy Dresses....and Dirt

 Earlier this summer my mom gave Annika a dress. She called it her "fancy dress" and she loved it. Then Paul's grandmother found a dress on sale and gave her another "fancy dress".  Then a couple weeks ago we found a third at the Goodwill Outlet.

 She wears them any chance she gets. And with three of them, one always seems to be clean, which means these dresses are pretty much in constant wear.

But she lives on a farm. And has 4 big brothers to keep up with. And, although she loves fancy dresses, she also loves dirt.

 And no matter what, at the end of the day. Those fancy dresses aren't quite so fancy anymore.

But they are covered in mud and dirt and are usually sopping wet too. 

The Leaves on the Ground

Last weekend we worked outside.  Cutting wood, chopping wood, and stacking wood in preparation for the cold air we were to get blasted with during the week. 

The kids wanted to rake leaves too. I didn't think we had a good enough tree, but our flowering magnoila decided to drop a bunch and the boys got to work with their [garden] rakes piling them up.

This was Annika's first experience with leaves, that she remembers at least. Cale kept her entertained by burying himself and popping out at her.

I love taking leaf pictures, but sometimes the kids are less than accommodating and would rather play then pose for pictures or wait for me to be ready before they throw them :)

And sometimes little girls don't understand the meaning of stand with your brothers and would rather throw leaves instead of hold them.

And sometimes you get leaves thrown in your face after asking them to stand and hold leaves for such a picture. Even if you do ask that they throw them up instead.

Sometimes leaves can be dangerous. Or not so much the leaves- but the sticks and nuts and other randomness that can get raked up with the pile.

But it's still fun. To dive in them. And throw them until a full on fight ensues. And apparently it is the most fun to gang up on mom and throw them all on her together.

Two days later the wind started blowing and whistling and blew all the leaves away.

Farm Chores and their Purpose

This post can now be found on The Free Range Life. Here is the link to read Farm Chores and Their Purpose.

My Beautiful Girl

Annika decided to roll in the grass this afternoon. She was pretty amused with herself.  I love this age; where they want to help and everything is funny and amazing to them.

 I love that she loves to sweep. And help me in the kitchen. And hiss at the cat to get off the counter.  I love her little voice trying to say all of these new things. 

 I love how she lights up when she sees her brothers come into the room. And how she knows just who to go to to get her way.

Her smile and laugh is contagious.

Fun. Life. Holidays.

 Miss Annika will be one in 12 days.  A couple of weeks ago she finally decided walking wasn't so bad. Still not her favorite mode of transportation, but she's getting there. 

We had a Christmas craft get together with friends. We made cookie mix in a jar. Which a couple kids cleverly gifted to each other so they could eat the cookies. We gave one to a friend and one to the mail carrier and one is earmarked for Santa. 

And painted gingerbread ornaments.  They smell really nice, Annika has to carry hers around and smell it at least a couple times a day.

 

And time capsule ornaments.

Annika's scrunchy face. This is a mellow, happy version. When she doesn't get her way she scrunches it up completely and pouts. Apparently she gets this from me. Leave it to Paul to point that out. He said she gets it from me and I turned and said she did not....accompanied by my own scrunched up face. Guess I proved his point....

Paul graduated yesterday. The first in his family.

 After the ceremony...

 Wearing Daddy's hat...

 

Can you tell who is turning into a Daddy's girl?

 

 We stopped for a Christmas tree on the way home.

We've gone to the same farm down the road from our house for the past 8 years. The boys already have asked about finding a tree farm in NC. 

Decorating at home

We have collected a ton of ornaments over the past 10 years. The tree is so full, but each one has a story and a memory attached to it and I can't leave any out. 

 

The boys have gotten into playing around with the webcam and all it's weird effects. It's like the house of mirrors distorting their faces. I like this effect though- 

Annika was napping during my attempt to get us all in one picture....

Now I just have to get every one happy, dress and smiling at my camera so I can get Christmas card pictures.

It's the Little Things in Life

Annika has a love for all things tiny.

When she is cranky, pulling out a tray of something small always peps her up

She loved this glass one best of all. This particular yellow one only. The rest she left alone. This one she held- for a long time.

Her fascination with these things helps during school time too. When she plays with bigger, small things- like golf tees or piles of popsicle sticks.

It's giving her quite the pincer grasp. Helpful during dinner time. Not so much when she's on the floor picking up 1 tiny dog hair.

Annika- 7 months

7 months

She is getting so close to crawling- but settles for rolling where she wants to go


She loves to be outside and in the grass

She loves tiny things. Tiny things she can't have except under strict supervision. Like chickpeas. Or game pieces. Or jewelery.

She uses her feet for everything. She holds on with hands and feet. Her toes are like fingers and she wraps them around things just the same.

She loves to laugh at her brothers, who love to make her laugh.

She's a snuggler; a hugger and currently a complete Momma's girl.