Life with Annie is never dull.

The girls have been obsessed with all things Harry Potter recently. Or, should I say, Ella has been obsessed with all things Harry Potter – she’s currently in the middle of the fourth book – and the world of Harry and Hogwarts is just absolutely alive for her. She awakens talking about the characters, comes home from school to tell me about what she read during the day, and goes to bed clutching the tome as though it were a stuffed animal. At least half of the words that come out of her mouth – I am not exaggerating even a little – have to do with Harry… So much so, even Annie can’t avoid being immersed in Potter lore, which is probably a good thing considering that Ella has taken to quizzing Annie on the character’s names.

“DRACO!”

“… Malfoy?”

“Yes. Good. You got that quickly. How about… SEAMUS!”

“Ummm… Thomas?”

“NO! That’s Dean’s last name! Seamus’s last name is… come on, you know this…”

“Finnegan?”

“RIGHT!! You are getting this!”

Annie has been particularly enamored of Fleur Delacour’s name — she just likes the sound of it — and has taken to repeating it over and over again. Except… She likes to say it with an accent. Not just any accent (and not a French accent, which would kind of make sense), no. She (kind of) says it in the “voice” of Gru from Despicable Me.

Because that’s how families usually spend their time. Saying French names from Harry Potter using fake Soviet-bloc accents. Very normal.

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“I really like this song.”

Me, too. It’s a good one.

“Who’s singing it?”

Her name is Adele.

“Wow. She’s got a really good voice.”

That she does.

“I mean, she’s got a REALLY good voice.”

True.

“Someone should hire her.”

Well, actually…

“I think she could really do singing, like, for her job.”

As a matter of fact, that’s just what her job is.

“It IS? Boy, I really called that one.”

You sure did. You could be a talent scout. Well done.

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Look! I’m a LalaLoopsy doll!

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Annie, why is all this stuff here?

“Stuff? What stuff?”

Well, the scraps of paper. The scissors. The… things… over there. I can’t even see the counter top.

“It’s called art, Mommy.”

It is?

“Do you know why I’m making these?”

No, why?

“Well, this is all artwork. And art is my talent, right?”

Uhh, sure?

“Everyone has a talent. Some people can sing, some people can run, some people can make coffee. My talent is art.”

At least you’re modest about it.

“Well, I’m making all of this different art. You can see how there are pieces of paper, I’ve used glue, and I’ve used lots of color. Did you notice the different textures?”

To be honest, no, but now that you mention it…

“You have to be an artist to see it. It’s really good. That’s why I’m making all of these, so I can share them with people.”

You’re going to share them with people? Like who?

“Like anyone. I think everyone should be able to see art done by someone as talented as I am, so it’s like a gift that I’m sharing this with them. The gift of Annie.”

Does it come with a side of humility?

“What?”

Never mind.

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 What are you doing in the tree?

“This is where my chair is.”

I can see that. But WHY is your chair in the tree?

“Because that’s where I put it?”

Very enlightening. You do realize you could fall and seriously injure yourself?

“Mom! I’m a kid! That’s what kids do! We put chairs in trees!”

I believe that’s what YOU do.

“Maybe because I’m awesome?”

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“Mom, you know what we should do?”

No, Ella. What?

“We should get someone to just follow Annie around with a video camera.”

Really? Why?

“Because everything she does is just so funny. Then we could put it on YouTube or something. It would be like the Annie Show.”

That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? It’s the Annie Show, and we’ve got front row seats.

“We get to watch her EVERY DAY!”

Remember that when you’re complaining to your therapist that your sister always hogged all of the spotlight.