Frozen

It seems as if this blog has been frozen!  Our lives, however, have not- except when frozen actually refers to Frozen, the Disney movie.
I took Emma to see Frozen at the church family movie night last year. She loved it! We listened to the soundtrack on spotify tons of times and evefry time Let It Go came on the radio the volume had ot be turned up. Of course the obvious side effect of all of this was that annika also listened and learned. It did not take too long before Annika was belting out Let It Go- everyhwere, all the time and very loudly. Emma's love of Frozen may have started to diminsh somewhat once her annoying little sister jumpoed on the bandwagon.
Enter Great Grandma, Uncle Chuck (and his sons) and Olive (Grandma's friend).  Come Christmas of 2014 with packages crowding Great Grandma's tiny house. So many Frozen things. Huge stuffed Anna and Elsa dolls, art sets, plates and utensil sets, a lamp, Elsa barbie. Emma decided she was a bit too old for most of the babyish things but was gracious in person during the unwrapping. Since then Emma has given up Barbies and has even taken to creating potions and spells (with her good friend Evelyn) to make Annika give them up too. (It has not worked yet.) Annika on the other hand is completely Frozen through and through. Her babysitter (Rebecca) commented the other day that she needs to teach Annika a new Disney song so that Let It Go can be replaced. (The sitters have encouraged the infatuation by playing songs for the girls on their phones.)
Yes, Annika will still belt out Let it Go with surprising accuracy and pitch. We happened to hear it once on the car radio last week and now she asks for it semi-regularly, the reality and intracacies of radio versus internet lost on her little mind.
The large stuffed Anna and Elsa are constant companions. There was a brief stint of time when Emma would get furious at Annika for taking her Elsa doll, but now Emma does not even glance sideways at the dolls. Annika, however, takes them in the car, sleeps with them in her crib (along with assorted other friends like Hop Hop, Hop Hops parents, Snoopy, etc), plays with them downstairs and sometimes takes them outside. I have had to stitch the bodice on Elsa once and Anna's cap has been removed; I am sure these dolls will fall apart before they are left aside.

On a non-frozen note, Hop Hop went missing two weekends ago. Annika had him at dinner and then when she went to go to sleep he could not be found anywhere. Steve searched everywhere. The next day I searched everywhere. On the next Monday or so Annika answered (in response to inquiries from Emma and I) that Hop Hop was dirty and went in the trash. I emptied all cans and shallowly searched all bags to no avail. During nap times I searched in all bags, nooks and crannies that I could think of. the sewing maching drawers in the guest room. Under all beds. Down in the play room in all baskets, bins and corners. In the thrift pile in the basement. Nothing.  We were all missing that little bunny and Annika's adorable attachment to him. So one afternoon I was down in the basement sewing and decided to look again in the thrift area. The pack and play is also incidentally stowed near here as well. I checked the various bags and under piles and then stood there scratching my head while my eyes wandered over the mess. Wait- was there a small bulge under the zipper of the pack and play bag? I hurried over with my heart thumping and unzipped the bag. Yes!! Oh, there you are Hop Hop, you sweet little bunny. I was grinning ear to ear as if this furry, dingy friend was my long lost pal. When Annika woke from her nap I took him in her room with me. As I grasped the end of the crib with Hop Hop in my hand (just his ears were peeking over the side) Annika's cries and distressing just-woke-up voice instantly stopped when she saw him. "Where was he by?" she asked. I smiled, told her and handed her Hop Hop. She glowed and snuggled him and has not let him be forgetten again. Yet. :) Too bad I couldn't freeze that warm fuzzy moment- this is as close as I can get.