Anna's week...

The most notable occurrence this week for Anna was - She gave her first talk/speech today in Primary. Her topic was on family. We practiced it a few times this week for her stuffed animals and each time Anna would say something like, "Everyone is staring at me, mom." OR "I'm a little bit shy. I'm done." OR "I need to tell the kids (stuffed animals) to quiet down and listen please." So I wasn't quite sure how today would go in front of everyone. Anna was not shy one bit! She spoke loudly and clearly, looked at everyone, and hardly needed any prompting from me. I was so proud of her!!! It went something like this:
"I love my family. Here is a picture of my family with my mommy, daddy, Benjamin, and me. Here is a picture of mommy and daddy when they got married in the temple. Then Heavenly Father sent me to my family. I like to sing with my family, play games *showed picture*, pray, have Family Night, go camping, cook *showed picture*, watch movies, read scriptures and dance with my family. I also have grandmas, grandpas, aunties, uncles and cousins. I love all my family. I am thankful Heavenly Father sent me to my family."
What. A. Sweetie. I think it was pretty impressive for a 3 year old. The picture above is of Anna with some of her visual aids. Oh, and it's funny that she mentioned "go camping" because that is something we haven't done yet with Anna, but plan to do this summer. Obviously she's looking forward to it if she already considers it one of her favorite things to do with her family.

Anna making cinnamon rolls this afternoon.
Okay, so how do we all feel about bribing? Normally on Sundays we do a slow cooker meal to eat as soon as we get home from church. Then we make a dessert when we're done. We don't usually have desserts, but Sundays we do.
So, Anna often gets up during Primary (the kids class at church) to come over and talk to me. I'm in there too because I play the piano for the kiddies singing time. Also, she sometimes gets sucked in to various activities around her. I have started telling her these last few Sundays that if she sits quietly during primary, and stays in her seat, then we can make a treat together when we get home from church. It has worked like a charm! This week I also tied in the whole "being brave while giving your talk" with it. Anna had apparently forgotten that she was already helping me make a treat every Sunday. In all other situations (except potty training) I am not a reward with treats kind of parent. But it just happened. Anna is such a helpful, caring, kind, sweet, giving girl all on her own, with no treat incentive, so I don't feel too bad about it. There is a part of me that feels a bit guilty. What if this spirals out of control, and I just start bribing her for all good behavior, and her natural sweetness is gone forever and ever and ever!?!??!?!?! Fine. I'm overreacting. I'm just going to keep doing it as long as it keeps working. And I won't introduce anymore new bribes....for now. :)




Tuesday this week, Anna wanted to dress for summertime shown in these adorable pictures above. It was only in the 50's that day, but I completely understand her being anxious for real summer weather. The last picture again shows that Anna will take any opportunity she can to practice balancing. I'd also like to take a second to point out that this is an outfit that Anna wore last summer too. It seems like it fits exactly the same, only the capris are shorter because Anna has shot up a bit over this last year. I often mention how adorably chubby, cheeky, squishy, etc. my kiddies are, but these pictures show that all good things do come to an end. Well, Anna still has her sweet cheeks, but she is thinning out. I assumed it would happen eventually, it just kind of snuck up on me. All of the sudden she's looking more and more "grown up." Sigh.

Finally, a picture of daddy reading Anna a bedtime story sometime this week. Anna was kind enough to "allow" Ben-Ben to participate too. We typically have story time one-on-one with our kids, but sometimes we get rushed and combine them. The boys look happy in this picture, and Anna looks like she's been gypped.