Girls' Weekend

While Jimmy was away on a work conference this weekend, Anna, my mom, and I had a girls' weekend in Tennessee. It was an awesome time! We played hard, and, as you'll see in the pictures that follow, we worked hard too ...

Little Miss Anna playing at her music table:

Reading with Mommy:

(Notice the grocery cart full of books ... can you tell Anna's the child of an English teacher?!?!)

Anna showing Grandma all her "babies":

Playing:

More book reading:

More playing:

And LOTS of bright blue felt! During Anna's naps, my mom and I were busy creating a fabric playhouse for Anna. It's made completely of felt and fits over a card table - just like a big slipcover. I got the idea while reading this blog - http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/.

First we made the blue walls:

I definitely relied on my mom's sewing abilities. She is the queen of efficiency!

Marking off an Anna-sized doorway:

Anna "helping" with measuring:

(We were getting ready to head to the pool ... she doesn't normally wear her suit around the house!)

Door complete!

Starting to create the fun things for the outside of the house:

Stitching together lots of stuffed fruits and vegetables:

Anna checking in on our progress:

Doesn't she look like such a big girl here?!?!

Adding a window and a flower box:

We weren't sure if Anna would be scared of going into the house at first, but here she is venturing in on her own!

Hi, Mommy! What are you doing outside my window?

Last night we stayed up late putting on the finishing touches - button flowers, ladybugs, and more!

Oops! I didn't realize I put this picture in twice ... now I can't figure out how to get it to delete (I've tried a few things ...). Oh well. It pretty much shows how much book reading goes on at our house!

Here's the finished house that awaited Anna this morning when she woke up!

Lots of apples and lemons to pick and put in the basket:

Plenty of button flowers to pick:

Carrots, eggplant, cucumber, and pumpkin to pick and plant:

My mom got some good pictures and video of Anna's first moments playing with the house, but I didn't load them on my computer before she left. We were amazed at how quickly Anna picked up on picking the carrots and apples and "eating" them. She even sat and played with the button flowers, letting me take them off and put them back on again. She wore herself out by breakfast! Here are a few from this afternoon after church. She "got" the concept of opening and closing the door:

Anna had all her babies in the house with her and was laughing and laughing at Mommy and Daddy outside the house ... so cute!

My mom and I worked our tails off this weekend, and I envision countless hours of play coming from our efforts. We were already brainstorming things to add to this house and themes for our next one! It was so fun to throw myself into a crafty project for Anna. Thanks, Mom, for a great weekend. I love seeing Anna light up for you!

And what blog post would be complete without a new video? We girls headed to Panera for lunch on Saturday, and Anna was a gem. She held her baby doll the entire time we were there, and even started feeding her baby after I showed her how. She's doing it at the beginning of the video ... priceless!