Anna-thology

all on a January day

The weather in Southern IL continues to amaze me. I expected it to be a lot cooler here than southern MO, but not so far. We've had some cool spells (like the day we moved in) but it always bounces back to the fifties. Today it was seriously 60 degrees, we had to take advantage of it and spend ten minutes in the park. The kids loved it. Sarah probably doesn't remember much about parks from last year, she was super excited from the moment we took her out of the car! So hyper that she's rebelling her nap now, I can hear her screaming and yelling upstairs, trying to keep herself awake. Heaven forbid she might fall asleep and miss something!

We have had a great day so far. Got up early, the kids seem to be feeling a little bit better. Got Eli off to school and started cleaning up the house. After we picked up Eli from school and had lunch, we ran to the mall to pick up Eli's birthday gifts, I called ahead so they would be at the counter so he wouldn't know what was going on. We are getting him two video games and a book. The book is It's Hard To Be Five by Jaime Lee Curtis. So him right now. And the games are Super Smash Brothers and Crash Bandicoot 2. Did I forget to mention that the ladies of the church are throwing him a surprise birthday party on Sunday night after service? He is going to be so excited, I am thrilled for him because he's been begging me for a party for month's right now, but I don't know who to invite. Anyhoo, it will be awesome because they will totally bless him and he'll feel loved. Good stuff. And, I'm off the hook for the party of 2006, by next year we'll know people and it will be easy. At the mall I saw an awesome skirt and sweater that I would love to get (when it goes on sale) at New York & Co. I'm in dire need of church clothes, so I really think I'll go back when it's less pricey. I can't pay full price, I just can't! Besides, today we were doing Eli's stuff, and those three things were almost $60. Anyone who says kids are cheap is crazy!

So then we stopped at Schnuck's (my favorite grocery store here, I love to go Schnuck-ing and so does Eli) to pick up some last minute groceries for tonight and stopped at the park on the way home. Great day. Just glad to be alive today, I guess. Glad to have a family I love more than anything, even when they are crabbing out over their naps! :)

We have dinner guests tonight, another family from our church. I am making a stellar dinner for them, my near famous (and totally borrowed from Tricia) fettucini alfredo, (I'm drooling just thinking about it) and fresh bread from Schnucks (this fabulous mini loaf we are addicted to!), with a fresh strawberry and almond salad. And birthday cake and ice cream for dessert, because the mom's birthday is Sunday but I know how it is being a mom and no one caring about your birthday! :)

The only bummer about today is that my washing machine broke. I mean really broke. With flair. In a fashion only Anna-worthy. I went down to check on it, cause I could hear it from the second floor of the house. It's always been noisy, but this was excessive. I walked in the laundry room (Rob was already there) and had to yell over the ruckus to Rob, which he still couldn't hear me because it was that stinking loud. I opened the lid to check on it and sure enough it had filled but never started turning. Sounded like a semi crashing in my basement. We are guessing - with our years of experience with used appliances - that it's the transmission. Rob couldn't even get the basin to turn. The positive news is that it's an ancient machine and it's the church's and they will probably buy us a new shiney one and that's never a bad thing. Unfortunately I have a load of sopping wet freezing cold darks I have to deal with. details.