Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Daring Girls: The Importance of Handwritten Letters

Hello all,

It is time once again for another Daring Girls post! Today I'll be sharing about handwriting. (It's origins, tools used, cursive writing, etc.)



When I saw this topic for today, I wasn't too thrilled. For one thing I HATE my handwriting. It's the one thing I hate about writing to my pen pals. I wish that I had a more attractive handwriting, but I have to deal with the one I have. Growing up, I had a little trouble with holding a pencil correctly. I had to use one of those things that you put on the pencils, to remind you how to hold one. It was slightly embarrassing, but it was better than the blisters that were developing on my thumb. :( I also had a teacher that was pretty horrible to me about my cursive handwriting, instead of seeing that cursive was just not my forte. She was very mean and unprofessional with me, to this day I do not write in cursive except to sign my name. So now that you know my history on the topic, let's move on to the actual history itself.

Originally posted fromwww.caretoclick.com 


I'm sure you all are familiar with the primitive tools used to write the early cave drawings. They were stone-like in appearance and told us all of a world that we knew nothing about. It's quite fascinating that these people thought to record history that would be passed on to generation after generation. The skills evolved over time, but it wasn't until many years later that a Greek scholar, named Cadmus, developed the Phoenician alphabet. He was also said to develop the first letters written by hand on paper. He started the first group of letter writers! Pretty fantastic and fascinating for a letter writer, like me! ;)

Cursive writing was started by Aldus Manutius, a fifteenth-century printer from Venice, he actually has a typeface named after him, "Aldus." Check it out! Cursive writing was encouraged because the writer could write more quickly and it took up less space. Also if done correctly, it looked more put together and uniform. Handwriting has quickly taken a back seat to technology, but is still an important part of education. Children are still taught handwriting and cursive writing to this day. There are even various styles of cursive taught.

Today I'll leave you with this haiku, written by eighteenth-century Japanese poet Issa. I love that the book says, "[It's] a nice reminder of both the gradual evolution of human writing and the sometimes painstaking pace good penmanship requires.

Little snail
Inch by inch, climb
Mount Fuji!

Thoughts on this post?

All information and research for this post was gathered from The Daring Book for Girls. 

<3 anna

Monday, August 26, 2013

Declan's Georgia Birthday Party (Just a few more pics from my phone!;)

Hello all,

Here are just a few more pics from D's party. These I quickly snapped on my phone. ;)

D playing ball with Aunt Jess and Uncle Tyler.






D with his Great Aunt Amy.




Favors for our guests! (Filled with animal crackers;)



Sweet Miya


Blue Velvet Cupcakes made by me! :)


Every circus needs popcorn!!

Cousin Love!

Eating Cake with Nana


<3 anna

Friday, August 23, 2013

Declan's GA Birthday Party! (Part 1 Professional Pictures)

 Hey guys,

So in case anyone is confused, (Declan's birthday is actually September 22) we decided to do two parties this year since it was his first birthday. For those who don't know we have family in Georgia and Virginia and we reside in North Carolina.

So here are just a few photos from the big day! :) Be warned there are A LOT and it was hard to narrow even these down! ;)

Triple G and Little D! :)



That grin melts my heart!

D's birthday cake!

My beautiful niece, Miya.

"It's my party...and I do what I want." Lol

My sister and her fiance! This is new and very exciting news! I can't wait for the big day! :)

Pickle face!




We did a circus theme! :)

The next day we did a 1 year session for D. We took a few family photos, but mostly had pictures of him done. Here are some from that day:

















***Special Thank You, once again, to Christie Campbell of Capturing Special Memories!!! (Click the link and like her on Facebook guys! :) ***

<3 anna

Thursday, August 22, 2013

11 months old!

Hey everyone!

Yep, it's that time again!

Sweet boy,

We can't believe you are almost a year old. Our hearts are filled with joy and excitement at all the changes and milestones that you are meeting...and yet, we find ourselves wanting to hold you a little longer. You are growing up so fast! We wish time would slow down!



You like:

  • Walking EVERYWHERE! You still crawl some, but you have realized that walking is the way to go.
  • Playing with everything. It's nice when you decided to actually play with your toys and not the things you shouldn't.
  • Your pull along toys (plane from Mrs. Christie and wooden car from mama and dada)
  • Your dump truck from mama and dada
  • Cars and little objects that you can hold on to.
  • Spending time with mama and dada.
  • People, especially girls! ;)
  • Making raspberry noises and spitting (mommy doesn't like the spitting. :/)
  • Animals
  • Music
  • Playing with your bath toys--We are still pretty thrilled that you are over your bath time phobia!
You dislike:
  • Diaper and clothing changes--anything that slows you down!
  • Loud noises
  • Being told no.
  • Having things taken away.
  • You sometimes have separation anxiety.
  • Performing---you don't like it when mommy tries to get you to speak or walk. 
  • The feeling of sand.
Learning:
  • You are mostly walking now. You barely sit still.
  • You know how to flush the toilet now. Scary times!
  • You also know how to plug items in their sockets. 
  • You have 4 visible teeth now.
  • You eat pretty much everything we eat. (We chop up his food and don't give him any of the big allergy no-no's.)
  • You have three new words. (Hey, Bye, and Dog) Which makes a total of 5 in his vocabulary. ;)
  • As I said before your personality is showing more and more. You are a little camera ham. You love getting pictures taken and watching videos of yourself and other babies.
  • You are very happy more times than not. You love to play the "paci" game with mommy and sometimes dada too.  A funny thing that you will do is when I offer you your cup or food, you will spit your paci right out and grab for your food and stuff it in your mouth. It is pretty funny to watch!


We love you sweet boy! We feel so blessed to be your parents!

Love,

Mama and Dada

    Wednesday, August 21, 2013

    Abby's First Birthday!

    Hey everyone!

    Today is a very special day because my sweet niece, Abigail Elaine Leviner, turns one! We miss you sweet girl and wish we could spend this day with you. We love you!


    Time flies!



    Love,

    Aunt Anna, Uncle John, and Cousin Declan!!!