Yeah…we haven’t made much headway on the unpacking yet. Good thing Brenda’s coming to help us with that. She and Bug are flying here tomorrow, and will be here for two weeks, whee! That should give us plenty of time to unpack and do a little sightseeing too.

Since we knew Brenda was coming to whip us into shape, we weren’t in a huge hurry to get the unpacking done. We decided it would be a good idea to paint Annalie’s room while most of her stuff was still in easy-to-move boxes. Her bedroom was a dark wine red that, while a lovely color, wasn’t a great color for a little girl. Also the room just needed to be painted, it had obviously been a few years.

Sunday we primed. I had photos of us priming the room, including some cute ones of Annalie making crazy designs with a paintbrush. I thought I had downloaded them, so I cleared the memory card. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Oh well.

Yesterday morning when Annalie realized that we were going to wait for Troy to get home before we started the actual painting, she was rather annoyed. She wanted to paint! She wanted princessy, ballerinaesque, girly-foo-foo pink walls! So by the time Troy got home, we ate dinner and changed into our painting clothes, she was super excited.

We carefully explained to Annalie that if she wanted to paint, she would have to listen carefully to our instructions and follow them. She definitely likes to do things her own way so I thought that might be a dealbreaker right there, but no. Annalie listened, repeated the instructions back to us, and nodded determinedly when we asked if she understood that if she didn’t follow the directions that she would have to stop painting.

I remember when my mom painted my room when I was about Annalie’s age. I was all excited about it till I actually helped with the painting a little and realized how boring it was. I thought Annalie would do something similar. She stuck it out though!

Annalie painted and painted, followed the directions to the letter, and only had a couple of small mishaps (getting a bit of pink paint on the baseboard and accidentally putting her hand on a wet wall when she lost her balance) both of which were things that everyone does sooner or later while they’re painting. In all, I’d say Annalie was responsible for about a quarter of the paint that got on the walls in that first coat, which is pretty respectable for a five-year-old. She just kept rolling on the paint till it was time for bed.

Okay, she stopped a couple of times for breaks, but I don’t blame her for that. Those rollers are heavy when they’re loaded with paint. And five-year-olds may not need coffee breaks but they definitely need silly breaks.

Heck, even dads need silly breaks once in a while.

By the time Annalie announced that she was tired and we realized it was 15 minutes past her bedtime, we’d almost completely finished the first coat. While I got Annalie into bed, Troy finished up and cleaned the rollers and brushes and trays. Today we did it all over again for the second coat.

Even though it’s a bit crazy that we painted right away, I think it was easier since we just had to move boxes around, not a whole room full of stuff. And if there’s anything more exciting than unpacking and setting up in a brand-new room with a fresh coat of paint, I don’t know what it is…unless it’s having wonderful friends who will do the unpacking for you!!!

We are SO looking forward to you getting here, Brenda and Bug! Fly safe!

What is your name?

Annalie.

How old are you?

Five. And a half.

Where do you live?

In San Diego.

Do you have any pets?

Yep.

Do you want to tell me about them?

Yep. You see, there’s two of them and they’re cats, and their names are Katy and Lily. Katy has blue eyes and Lily has green eyes.

Who do you like to play with?

Bug.

What’s your favorite cereal?

The yogurt one. [Strawberry Yogurt Trader Joe O's]

What’s your favorite vegetable?

Strawberries and blueberries.

But those are fruits.

I know, but those are the ones I like. I guess I like carrots…actually, corn.

What’s your favorite drink?

Sprite.

What’s your favorite snack?

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And popcorn with butter and sometimes salt.

What’s your favorite toy?

Dolly, my dolphin.

What’s your favorite TV Show?

Fairly OddParents.

What’s your favorite movie?

Hmm…pause! [She was asking me to pause the interview because she needed to think about it.] My favorite movie is…a TV one: the Phineas & Ferb Christmas special!

What’s your favorite game?

I like to play catch a lot, with my Gramaw.

What’s your favorite book?

The one about a long time ago, the one I got for Christmas.

You mean the Little House on the Prairie books?

No. It was about the stories a long, long time ago, like Jesus and the flaming bush…

Oh, the Bible? Your Bible storybook?

Yes! That’s it.

What’s your favorite restaurant?

The place in Maryland that has hot dogs.

You mean Five Guys?

Yeah! Five Guys.

What’s your favorite holiday?

Christmas, because we give, and it’s really fun, and we get new stuff and we give some stuff up for other people who don’t have very much money.

What’s your favorite animal?

Horses.

If you could change your name, what name would you choose?

You know which one, Mommy. [in unison with me] Sarah!

What do you love about each person in our family?

I love that Daddy is really really funny, and he goes to work every day so I don’t get to play with him much. That makes it even more fun, ‘cuz I don’t usually get to play with him.

While I’m boring, because you see me all the time, right?

[A diplomatic silence is maintained, as Annalie scrunches up her nose and smiles at me.]

So what do you love about me?

What I love most about you is that you care about me a lot, and you are glad that I like going in the water now, so that way you can go in the water now, and go in the stepping area, and I can go in the water about up to my knees, or my feet. So we’re both happy!

What do you love most about yourself?

That I like cooking and painting, and I think a lot of things are funny.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

I would like to go on vacation to…Hawaii.

Really? Why do you want to go to Hawaii?

Because it sounds like a fun place to go to.

Where did you hear about Hawaii, do you know?

Um, it was actually in the movie Ice Age. You know, where that squirrel falls in the ice and he floats all the way to Hawaii.

What are we doing that’s a big change this year?

It’s a big change that we’re going back to…it’s a big change… [Annalie picks up a toy guitar and begins singing.] It’s a big change where we’re going back, we’re going back to Washington Dee Seee-eee-EEE! We’re moo-oo-oo-oo-OO-oo-oo-oo-VING!

Why are we doing that? Did we just decide, “Eh, we’re tired of California, we’re gonna go now”?

[Still singing] Because my fa-ther’s in the Na-a-a-a-vy!

What are some of your wishes for this year?

My wish is to help people and clean up the world. And I wish that Daddy would come home very very soon.

Good news, Daddy is coming home soon, in just a couple of weeks!

Oh, all right!

Thanks for the interview, Annalie!

Annalie’s self-portrait, age 5y8m

Inspiration for this interview originally came from New Year’s Interview for Kids at Blissfully Domestic (via The Crafty Crow). I don’t scrapbook, but I have a blog, and I’m not afraid to use it!

I did this interview in 2009 too. When I compared Annalie’s answers a couple of them were exactly the same. I guess she is my kid, so it’s not too surprising that she knows her own mind.

We got our first Christmas cards today. Two from kc (one for me and one for Annalie, which Annalie loved) and one from Grace. Grace is a member of my parents’ church and has known me since I was younger than Annalie. She is one of those sweet old ladies that every church seems to have. She loves everyone, and everyone loves her. Her personal ministry is sending greeting cards for every occasion. When I went away to college, I got Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday, and Easter cards from Grace without fail, and I wasn’t the only one. Many members of my parents’ congregation have gotten their share of cards from Grace. She writes a letter in every card, too, with news about her husband, her dog, her great-grandson’s latest visit, the weather.

When Annalie was born, Grace sent a card and a small gift. Every Christmas since then she’s sent a small gift for Annalie—usually a book or a little stuffed animal—and every May she sends a card for Annalie’s birthday too. Whenever we’re at home visiting my parents, I make a point of finding Grace after church to say hello give her a hug, and I send Christmas cards to her and her husband, but that’s about all the contact we have. I feel a little guilty sometimes that I don’t make an effort to reciprocate with more letters, but she really doesn’t expect anything in return. She’s sending cards out of love, not expectation. She’s a wonderful lady.

When I opened the Christmas card from her today, I found two ten-dollar bills tucked inside. Inside the card, she wrote that health troubles have prevented her from shopping much, and would I please use the enclosed money to buy a gift for Annalie from her? I shook my head in affectionate exasperation when I read that. Grace recently had a heart attack, and she’s close to 90 years old. I wouldn’t have expected a card this year, let alone a present! But cards are her thing, and like I said, she’s a wonderful lady who gives because she loves.

I read the card to Annalie, and told her that we could go to Target so she could pick out her present from Grandma Grace. Annalie had a few dollars left from some birthday money, so she put that and the two tens into a little blue drawstring pouch that she wore on her wrist. When we got to Target, there was a Salvation Army bell-ringer outside the store. Annalie loves putting money in the bucket, so I expected her to ask me if she could have a coin. Instead she took the pouch off her wrist and fished out a quarter. She held it up, looked at the bell-ringer, then looked back at me with her eyebrows raised, grinning. I nodded, so she skipped off to put the coin in the bucket. Granted, she doesn’t have a strong grasp on just which coins are worth how much, but it still made me happy that on the way to buy herself a toy she didn’t hesitate to give some of her own money away.

We went to the toy section and Annalie wandered up and down the aisles, oohing and aahing over things, checking the price tags carefully. When she saw the Easy-Bake oven she stopped and said, “This is what I want! Can I get it? I have enough money, don’t I?” She did, just the right amount. Annalie insisted on carrying the large box all the way to the registers and reminded me several times on the way there that she was going to pay for it. On the way home, she regaled me with all the things one can make with an Easy-Bake oven. “You can make cakes, and cookies, and even pretzels!” That last one was news to me.

When Annalie chose an Easy-Bake oven, I had two reactions simultaneously:

1. Grooaaaannn, not one of these things! They don’t make anything but dried-out cakes, and Annalie can bake with me in the real oven anytime she wants! I’d much rather do that with her than supervise her using this thing.
2. Yes!!! I’ll finally get an Easy-Bake Oven!

I always wanted an Easy-Bake oven. My mom had one as a kid and knew how disappointing they were, so she always told me that I would likely be disappointed in it too, and that I was welcome to make a real cake with her anytime I wanted. I knew she was probably right, so I dropped it from my Christmas list. Even so, I always thought those tiny pans and little mixes sure looked like fun.

Once we were at home and had the box open, I read the instructions as Annalie bounced in her seat at the kitchen table, exclaiming over the cool stuff (cake & frosting mix, pans, mini spatulas, etc.) that came with the oven. I knew that it would require a light bulb and I knew we had a container full of those, so I wasn’t worried about it. But it turns out that you can’t use “soft white” bulbs with an Easy Bake oven and those were the only kind we had, those and a billion fluorescent compacts. I couldn’t even steal a bulb from one of our lamps because most of those have fluorescents in them.

We hoppped back in the minivan, bedtime drawing ever nearer, and zipped over to CVS to buy a plain old 100-watt bulb…and we couldn’t find one! Apparently the new thing with light bulbs is to shave a few watts off the usual amount and call it energy-saving. So there were 38-watt bulbs and 71-watt bulbs galore, but no 100-watt bulbs except for one of the “soft white” kind which put me back at square one. I went with a crystal clear 95-watt bulb, figuring it would be close enough. And it was.

Annalie mixed up the cake, spread it in the pan, and put it in the oven. When it came out, she frosted it, added sprinkles, and declared that it was delicious. I guess it would be a good idea to add “Easy Bake mixes” to Annalie’s Christmas wish list!