Miss. Annie Banannie

Her first day of school went very well apparently, she can't wait to go back! So let me start at the beginning....

I got a call on Tuesday from the school pre-k program, they had an opening if Annie wanted to attend. When we went for the testing at the beginning of the year they told us she was too smart and would never come up on the waiting list. So when they called I was shocked! The teacher said a lot of kids had dropped out and the ones they called on the waiting list changed their minds and didn't want to mess with it. So the spot was Annie's if she wanted it....of course she did because she cried when she found out she wasn't going to get to go to school in August. So we got a backpack and two folders-the required school supplies for pre-k and we got ready for our first day of school. She was in the afternoon program which meant she went from 1215-315, so I took a long lunch break and took her from the babysitter to school. We met the teacher and waited for the remaining students to arrive. One boy apparently still was not comfortable with being away from mom so he screamed and yelled for a good 5 minutes and finally 3 teachers drug him away from his mommy. This was a little upsetting to Annie I could tell so I told her that it would be ok, he was just upset and she looked at me and said, "I know mom! I'm not going to act like THAT!" And she didn't! The first thing they do is get out their journal and write their name in it. And when she did this the teacher was amazed at how easily and quickly she was able to do this! At that point I left her alone to enjoy her first day at the big kids' school.

When I got to the babysitters to pick her up she couldn't stop talking about her first day and how excited she was to go back tomorrow! So I guess we will call this a success and yet another first in her life.

I was proud of myself, I only cried this morning on my way to work, by the time I left again to go and get her and take her to school I had gotten it all out. :) She is getting so big and my little baby isn't a baby anymore. I am so proud of her for all that she has accomplished!

The First

So I thought I'd finally take the advice of friends and family and start one of these silly blogs. People all seem to live so far away but even the ones that live right down the road are just as busy as we are so hopefully this will be a way to keep everyone up to date on our family. I am going to start out with a just a simple "catcher-upper" and will get more specific in later blogs.

So for starters, Dan still works at the mine, he is the "know-all" of rock quarries and I don't think there is a job or a piece of equipment out there that he can't fix or completely overhaul if necessary! Kelly is still at the Pasta Company, working in the Finance Dept. Danny is in 3rd grade and 8 years old...although if you ask him he is going to be 9 this year (yea, not until May but gotta love the simplicity of his reasoning) He tried several sports over the years and while he is excellent at them all he decided sports just wasn't his thing. So I have not forced the issue. Instead he is learning to play guitar. I never realized just how big a guitar case was until I saw him carry it! But he is doing great at it and well doesn't really have a choice, since he comes from a musical family I knew he'd pick it right up. Annie is my little queen. She has the same rules as Danny and any other children that come through our home but she seems to find a way to put her mark on ANYTHING she does. She is 5 now and will start kindergarten in August of this year. She is smart as can be and probably too smart for her own good! I am pretty sure that by October I will have my own seat in the pricipals office at the elementary school where I will learn all about how much my daughter talks and disrupts other students. :) But God love her she has a big giant heart and loves everyone she meets.
Most if not all of you know we are heading to Disney World in a couple of weeks. I think I've pretty much rubbed it into everyone's face that we might get to enjoy some spring/summer weather in February. :) But our purpose for going is to celebrate my mother-in-law's remission of cancer, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 right as Dan and I were beginning to plan our wedding. She went through the chemo and radiation and was given a clean bill of health about a year later. So to celebrate her 10 years of remission they are taking the family to Disney World. The kids are super excited! We are driving down and will be visiting family along the way and taking in sights I've never seen (like an ocean, or that silly little race called the DAYTONA 500!) so to say the least this will be the trip of a lifetime for our family and I am not sure there is anything we can do in the future to top this excersion we are about to go on.
So as time goes on I will get on this here blog and do my best to keep all who read it up to date on the "goings-on" in the Pope household in tiny little Lathrop Missouri.