Anna's big day!

Anna had a big day on Tuesday, which was her "real" birthday.  We had to have several conversations about how her "real" birthDAY was on Tuesday and that we had to have her party on Saturday so that others that had to travel could come.  I'm not sure how much of that really soaked in, but we made it thru both Tuesday and Saturday without many major mishaps.  So the plan for Tuesday was to take both Grey and Anna to PDO.  I had made cupcakes the night before so that she could celebrate with her friends at "school" and thought that I may pick her up early to have some "Mommy and Anna" time.  Don't worry.  Nana was picking up Grey at the regular pick-up time.  We loaded bags, lunches and cupcakes into the car Tuesday morning and off we went.  About a block away from the church (PDO, "school"...all in one) Anna started complaining about her tummy and thought she needed to throw up.  If you know Anna, this isn't really a rare thing.  She thinks that ANY twinge in her stomach means puke soon will follow.  I blew it off and tried to convince her that she indeed was a hypocondriac (no, not really) and that she'd be fine.  She kept at it and I parked the car, looked back at her and saw her hand covering her mouth with oozing puke dripping down through her fingers.  Nice.  She was very sad.  So Grey started crying because Anna had started to cry... I pulled Grey out and took him along with the cupcakes inside.  Anna stayed, of course.

We went back home and got Anna cleaned up.  She was perfectly fine.  I think she drinks her chocolate milk too fast in the morning sometimes...  She was sad that she didn't get to eat cupcakes with her friends at school.  I had gotten one of the cupcakes from the tray, just in case, before I got back in the car to take Anna home that morning.  She decided that she wanted to eat it.  We put four candles on it and I sang to her while I took pictures.  :)

She chose to eat lunch with Daddy at Chic-Fil-A (that's my girl!).  Then it was off to a local clay studio where you can choose a cased item to glaze.  They'd fire it for you and it would be done in about a week.  She chose a dress hook (literally a dress with a hook) and a mermaid.  She really did a great job and I refrained from helping her much.  I just filled in some spots.  :)  The dress will look great, but the mermaid was a little more technical...  We'll see how that one comes out.

She loved painting and they even gave her some balloons to put on her chair which made her feel REAL special.  :)  She invited everyone there to her party on Saturday.  (We didn't know anyone there...)

Next we had some time to kill before our next appointment.  We went over to the toy store to look around.  The first thing you see when you walk into the store is this:

Anna's dreamland.  She stood in awe for an awkward amount of time staring at the princesses...  Then picked out every single thing on the shelves and asked for them specifically for her birthday.  We left the toy store (empty handed, because Anna is SO good about that!) and went to our next appointment, a pedicure!!.  I didn't get one, mainly because I'm cheap and also because someone needed to focus and take pictures!  :)  Anna didn't really know what we were going to do... But she acted like she'd been there a few too many times as soon as she saw the foot bath!  She sat in the chair and stuck her feet in the water like a seasoned pro.  Hilarious.

Purple with sparkles, of course!

Anna said at one point, "(Sigh...) Mom, my legs feel REALLY goooood..."

After.  I forgot flip flops for her to wear so she went barefoot.  Beauty has a price!  (Through her teeth, she's saying, "I'm smiling AND looking AT you MOM!")

Next stop was back home to rescue Nana from Grey.  They were outside playing.  And of course, Anna got a little crazy and messed up one of her newly painted toes.  Then Grey stepped on her big toenail and took a chunk of purple off the top.  Oh well...

Later that evening we took both kids out to eat Mexican food...Anna's choice again.  She wanted to "go to that place where we went with Papa Joe..."  Sure, we could make that happen.  She may have thought Papa Joe was going to be there...  Either way, it was a good place.  So we loaded up again.  Daddy had gotten Anna a couple of pretty sweet gifts and after dinner we let her open them.  But we had to wake the poor, sleepy girl up.  She was very tired.  Pedicures can wear a girl out!  Ha!

Aaaaaannnnnn-nnnnnnnaaaaaaaa......

Grey...along for the ride.  Get those fingers OUT Grey!!

A cool new soccer ball with butterflies!

And PINK shin guards!!

A pretty happy camper.

After dinner, we HAD to go to the park and play soccer with the new stuff!  Off we went.

And she's off!

I had a GREAT time with you Anna (like you can read...).  We'll do it again soon, and maybe not just for your birthday.  :)

p.s.-Jenny, please fix my stupid blog...or tell me how!  Thanks.