Happy Birthday, Annah (Part Deux)

Annah's actual birthday fell on a Wednesday. Since we had already had her big party over the weekend, I asked her where she would like to eat dinner for her birthday. The answer...CiCi's! I am not a fan, but it was not my birthday, so off to CiCi's we went!

She was actually in a really good mood. Liam had just touched one of her presents (gasp!) and I took this picture. I thought it was funny!

Mommy, Daddy, and the Birthday Girl!

Birthday cake, round 3!

She didn't even crawl under the table this time!

and now a note to my Bean...

Dear Annah,

You are the sunshine of my life. You are funny, smart, and have a smile that literally lights up a room. You have always been very opinionated and I hope that serves you well as you grow up. You are reserved, but not a follower. You are so considerate (even wanting some chocolate cupcakes for your class when you don't even like chocolate, just in case some of your friends wanted them) and you generally put others before yourself. Remember that you are important too, and while I love that you want to make everyone happy, you need to be happy too!

Know that I could not love you any more if I had to. Sometimes I come in your room while you are sleeping just to give you one more kiss. I hope you feel that love in your dreams. I am proud of you every single day and I know that with every new milestone, I will be more and more proud! I remember wondering (before you were born) how I had room in my heart for more love...what a silly thought...my heart grows bigger and bigger every day to hold all the love I have for you, Liam, and Daddy!

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl! I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Happy Birthday, Annah!

Annah's birthday (birth-week according to Annah...I have no idea where that came from :) ) falls on a Wednesday this year, so we had her party this past Sunday. We went to a birthday party in July where Sarah Dippity was and Annah was hooked. Ever since then, she has been asking if Sarah Dippity could come to her birthday party. Actually, she wanted to have her party at Leapin Lizards and have Sarah Dippity come there too. In the interest of not spending a million dollars on a birthday party, we decided to just have Sarah Dippity come to our house. For the record, it was worth every penny! The kids LOVED her! Honestly, she has the patience of a saint! Plus, I actually got to watch the party, which was a nice treat for me. It happens too often that I am so caught up in the details that I end up missing some of the best moments of birthday parties, so I really appreciated getting to watch Annah and her friends enjoy themselves.

Sarah Dippity started by asking for someone "very special" to come up and help her with her first magic trick. It was so funny b/c half of the kids raised their hands and said "I'm special!" I wish I had a picture of Annah's face when she realized that she was the one who was "special." It was priceless! Anyone who knows my child, knows that she is a bit shy! I was afraid she would get nervous in front of everyone, but not at all! Maybe it was b/c she knew everyone there or maybe it was Sarah Dippity, but she got right up there and had a blast. That, in and of itself, was reason enough to have Sarah Dippity over and over again.

Here are the kids right before Annah went "on stage"

Annah in her cameo performance


They say a picture is worth a thousand words...I think this speaks volumes about what a good time the kids had

When they weren't cracking up, they all had this expression on their faces. Totally captivated!

Happy birthday to you...

This was Annah's only shy moment. She told me the day before her party that when everyone sings happy birthday to her, it makes her want to "crawl under the table." She did just that, but she did manage to come out to blow out her candle!

Mommy and Daddy gave Annah the Barbie Jeep for her big present. Unfortunately, Granddaddy left the battery to the jeep at the shop (I had to assemble it at mom and dad's so Annah wouldn't see it), so there was some frustration until we got it up and running!

This is a little irrelevant, but I loved the girls' party favors I had made. The boys didn't get left out, but these were just so darn cute!

Gamecock Thursday

Last Thursday was the second home game of the season (the first Thursday home game), so we loaded up the kiddos and headed down to Williams-Brice. Will's dad got one of the new condos for the season and it makes taking the kids soooo much easier! I just stayed until kick-off and then took Annah and Liam home to bed. I am glad I did, because it was 1 am before Will got home. Lots of friends and family came by and there were a ton of kids.

This was before the game. Mom got Liam this John Deere tractor and it is his preferred mode of transportation around the house. He kind of looks like a farmer in his red gingham shirt too!

Damn, she's cute!

The bedrooms are not furnished in the condo so there is an air mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms. It served as a bounce house for the day!

We took the kids outside to throw the football in the parking lot...seems like the right thing to do while tailgating

Annah gave her best shot. She actually has a pretty decent arm!

Liam would get the ball, run a couple steps, and then spike the ball and yell "OOOOOHHHHHH!"
I love this picture because it looks like he is telling Annah, "In your face!"

A Juvenile Delinguent?!

Well, it's official, Annah has had her first run-in as a juvenile delinquent. There is a first time for everything, and today was the first time Annah got sent home from school. Why you ask? Did she have an uncontrollable meltdown and only Mommy could calm her down? Did she say a bad word? Did she hit another child? Did she bite another child? No, no, no, nothing like that...she (drumroll, please) wore the wrong brand of shoes! Can you imagine?! As it turns out, the brand Crocs is banned from her school. I knew she could not wear the crocs with the holes in them or flip-flops (which I don't totally agree with, but I get), but these were closed-toe, closed-back mary jane crocs. Do you see a problem? Me either! The school feels as if the tread on the bottom of crocs is "unsuitable" for school. OK, for real?! That is as ridiculous as saying the kids can't wear Hush Puppies because the laces are too long or they can't wear Stride Rite because the Velcro won't stay fastened (not that I know that to be true about either of these brands)! It is just plain silly!

On a completely different note, Annah said something so cute today...Will came to watch her riding lesson and on the way home she asked if there was someone to do Daddy's job at Honda when he wasn't there. She asked, "When Daddy's not at Honda, is there someone to say 'You go do this! You go do that!' Because that's Daddy's job!"

A Friendship Divided

Have you ever seen those little garden flags that are half Carolina and half Clemson, and they say something to the effect of "this is a house divided"...well that's all I could think of when I took this picture...

A FRIENDSHIP DIVIDED

31 Memories for 31 Years

Today, in honor of Will's 31st birthday, I wanted to do something special. So here are 31 of my favorite memories together...

1. Captain's Dinner on our senior cruise
2. 4th Quarter, suck it up!
3. Playing poker upstairs
4. Walking on the Battery in Charleston
5. My bid day
6. The day we got Cooper
7. Parties at the KA house
8. Trips to the Bahamas
9. That one year at the Cup
10. Trips to Vegas
11. The night we got engaged
12. Snowmobiling in Tahoe (OK, not one of my favorites, but definitely memorable)
13. The day we bought our first house
14. The day we said "I do"
15. Our honeymoon
16. St Marteen (started out as a disaster, but ended up great)
17. First Week "04 (I think it was "04...when we rented the house in Garden City)
18. Trip to New Orleans
19. The day Annah was born
20. Annah as The Bean
21. Annah's first steps, first words, first everything
22. Our first family trip to the beach
23. Speed zoo
24. The day we bought our second house
25. Your 29th birthday
26. The day Liam was born
27. Shuping Family Fun Days
28. The cruise (kind of chaotic, but a lot of fun too)
29. Every minute of...
30. Every day for...
31. The last 12 years! I love you!

A Week of Firsts

This has been an exciting week in the Shuping household. Monday kicked off the beginning of the school year for Annah. I must say, I am really proud of her. For the fist 5 months of school last year, I left her in tears everyday. This year, there has not been a single tear when I leave her. I know she has wonderful teachers and good friends in her class and that helps, but I have to give Annah a lot of the credit. She is really coming out of her shell and getting more comfortable around people she doesn't know so well. I am excited for her, but I am also excited that she is letting others get to know her, so they can see the funny, bright, happy little girl I know!

First Day of School

Tuesday, Annah had her first riding lesson (that was not taught by mommy). She did a fantastic job...talked the whole time and did everything she was asked. She rode "Bud," who is not a large horse, but Annah looked so tiny on him. I guess I am used to seeing her on Rainy.

First Riding Lesson

Today was the beginning of one of the most seasons in any southern household...football season!USC kicked off the college football season today and my little Gamecocks were ready for game day!

GAME!!!...

COCKS!!!...

My QB got tackled by my cheerleader!

With this kind of support, how could we not win?!