For Anna on her Sixth

S. I. X.
Well that is just a horse of another color, if you ask me.  When applied to my littlest, my baby, it's just a sort of new bug-eyed reality that causes me to stop for a moment and steady my heart.  Until I grin a big grin at it because, hey, that girl is SOOOOO six.

Her 'tude, her interests, her talent, her presence, her speech, her relationships - they all testify to the fact that this little creature has left the building

and this stunning creature has bloomed in her place.

What is the same from then to now, however, is the degree to which I COULD EAT HER WHOLE.  In case you didn't already know me and my heart well enough, I am in love with my Anna girl, I LOVE getting a front-row seat to her life, and I love getting to spell out all her ways on her birthdays.  So, without further ado...

Stuff I love about Anna at 6:

• She is a scrawny lightweight still - even though she has gained 5 lbs and 2.5 inches since last year.  She comes in at 39 lbs and 45.5 inches tall now.
• She wears size 6 clothes now (which, btw, are wildly smaller than boys size 6) and size 11 toddler shoes.
• She can't hula hoop to save her life and it aggravates the fire out of her.
• She has come a LONG way mastering the art of self-control in the face of disappointment and/or frustration.
• She is an emotional creature, bless her heart.  She is precious to me.  And vexing.  Oh, the emotions.
• She has such a grateful spirit - always thanking me for things, especially spontaneous things like getting to get soaked in her clothes, taking her on a hike, changing my mind in her favor, surprise treats, playing a game, etc.
• She earned herself some freckles across her nose this year. ♥
• Like her momma, she can't stand to trash empty bags, containers, boxes, etc. She wants to save them for some future project or purpose.
• She diagnoses her ailments herself (i.e. - "Mommy, I feel dehydrated.") and she self-prescribes the medicines for them - immodium, cough medicine, tylenol, elderberry syrup, neosporin, etc. 
• She invented some new names for me this year:  Mommy-Not-My-Maid, Mommy Scooch Bottoms,  Momma Bomb.
• She is just smart and suspicious enough to likely be the first of my children to snoop around looking for presents. :S
• She is just so quick and smart.  I always tell her what a smart cookie she is.
• She is so far ahead at school, she doesn't even have a reading group to be a part of.  She is reading on a middle first grade level.  And she does it with such impressive voice and inflection.  Which leads me to my next point...
• She has a flair for words.  They come to her naturally. Some of her recent words that caught my attention were: pizzazz, horizontal, vertical, instinct, strategy, rare, trench, advertisement, arena, interactive, honor, valuable, multiple, particular, fierce, shimmy.
• She is into details.  She wears me out with all the details.  All her ideas and creations and projects have so many details to carry out, attend to, pull off, and complete.  Examples includes tea parties, holiday parties (for just us at home), crafts, letters to people, plans for birthdays, bookmark making AND selling, book making and binding, decorating her room, forts in the living room, etc.
• The flipside of all the details she is alive to is that she is still hopelessly, dreadfully, wildly messy.  She leaves a mess wherever she's been.  She leaves things all over the house.  She can rarely find anything she needs without a dramatic outburst and hunting expedition to recall where she last used it. Especially shoes. :S
• She always draws her bed as a four poster with canopy. Even God's rest on the 7th day was depicted with a 4 poster bed in her artwork.  Truth:  She does not have a four poster bed.
• She always signs her name at school as Anna B. I tell her it is not necessary as she is the only Anna in her room, but she insists that it's "fancier" that way.
• She sleeps with a camo maglite under her pillow and a set of Mommy/Daddy figurines with mine and Josh's photos that she loves to inform people are from when we were only dating.
• She holds her nose in the carpool line at school.  The fumes really bug her.
• She is such a slow eater, often taking a full hour to finish what is on her plate.
• She is on three allergy meds - Singulair, Flonase, Zyrtec,  plus Elderberry for good measure.
• For a Kindergarten survey, I described her as:  helpful, studious, creative, empathetic, forgetful, obedient, friendly, impatient, affectionate, honest, thoughtful, expressive, quick, motivated, smart, observant, curious, detail-oriented.  I know that was probably more information than her teacher wanted, but I couldn't help it.  She is all these things and I have all these words.  She gets her wordiness honest!
• Speaking of her words, she still does that thing where she repeats what she had just said.  She murmurs it back to herself under her breath.  It is so quirky.  I adore this habit of hers.
• She is tight with her daddy.  So tight, HE is the one she calls for when she is sick in the middle of the night.
• She has learned a number of thrilling things in kindergarten so far:  there was a "bandit" plugging up the toilet in the kindergarten hallway for a couple weeks, how to work a ponytail holder all by herself, that the middle finger is a bad thing, and about 9/11. : /
• She is about to master shoe tying as well thanks to a challenge the art teacher issued. And speaking of skills that prove how grown up she is becoming, she's also learning to wash and rinse her own hair at bathtime. 
• AND, drumroll please, there are no more sippy cups in our house!  We cut her off last month, on sheer principle alone, and amazingly she hasn't spilled a single cup of milk yet.  :}
• Her bedtime routine is entirely overseen by her daddy every night and goes like this:  Bath (washing hair every other night), usually gets distracted while dressing and ends up playing in her room naked under her towel, then medicine and teeth brushing, put away her clothes, bible study with Noah and Daddy, and then bedside chats and lights out, no to the nightlight, but a big YES to her sound machine. And door shut.  And don't you dare leave a hallway light on.  Anna will get up and get you for the light the shines in the cracks of her door.  Ha!
• Also, this is her room on any given day of the week.  A total wreck. :}

 

Other ways to offer a snapshot of my sweet and sassy thing at age 6 is to just let her words do the talking.  Here are some sounds bites I have saved over the past months for the keeping....

• While trying to teach me how to make a crazy sound she invented, she dismissed me by saying, "Ummmm, not quite.  If you want some lessons to learn, just come see me."
• When I wouldn't let her take my phone into a dark mine at the pumpkin patch, she was not too dismayed.  She called out to her friends with wide eyes, "We will just have to nocturnalize!"
• She has already drops drama on us like this, "This is the worst day of my life!"  And that quote came after a birthday painting session, lunch out INCLUDING a milkshake, spending time with one of her favorite friends, and getting to have soda and chips at a local fall fest. 
• "When I grow up I am gonna teach my children about God." 
•  "When I am grown up I can do anyfing I want ... but only obey God." 
• Carrying a container of cumin to me, she asked, "Is this pollen?"  
• Josh tells me she often bids him adieu at bedtime to the tune of the following well-wishes, "Goodnight, Love you, See you in the mornin'."
• She knows her audience when she comes to me mid-thought.  She has been known to say, "I hate to interrupt but I wanted to show you..." or "I hate to interrupt, but I need you to..."  
• The kids keep handheld video game systems in the car.  When Anna was done with hers she informed me, "I want to sell my Leapster because I like to wait and just look out the window at all the wonderful things God made."  Also, she wanted cash fast.  Ha!
• When her heart is at its lightest, she makes up songs of her own.  Recently, she sang a song to herself written solely with the word particular. 
• While discussing adoption with her brother, the convo went like this:  A- When we adopt, you will be a great big brother to the baby.  Maybe we will get a girl!  N:  No, I don't want a girl. I wanna be a great big brother to a boy! A:  But you are great big brother to me and I am a girl.  I think you will be a great big brother to another girl."  
• She will often come right out and say, "I need some hugs and kisses." Usually when she is sad and can't snap out of it or when she needs reassurance after getting in trouble for something.
• She doesn't mispronounce much anymore except for a few d's,v's, and f's in place of th's and her precious "twoylet" for toilet.
• Which reminds me, she still takes forever on the toilet.
• She loves her Lord.  She is serious about Him.  And when watching Him crucified on a SuperBook episode, she had to look away and cried out, "I just can't watch!" 
• No joke, she once asked me to put a laundry basket on her wish list.  "I would like a laundry basket just for play."
• Once while we walked at a park, she encouraged my exercise efforts by saying so earnestly, "Mommy, I fink you losten a little weight!"  
• July 21, 2014, an era ended.  She let me down gently, but clearly.  When I asked her if she was interested in a dress up gown I saw for sale, she said, "Ummm, I'm not really into princesses anymore."  
• Out of nowhere, she said in the car one day, "I bet in the bible they didn't have baving suits."
• Another day she declared, "Sometimes I feel like I am dreaming in the daytime." 
• In a sleepy trance during a storm scare when we got the kids out of the bed to go to our safe place downstairs, she murmured in a daze, but in an unwaveringly fearless daze with wide glassy eyes, "I wanna tell you somefin.  God made the storm for his glory.  He made everyfing for this glory."
• She adores Kindergarten.  "I just wish I could stay in that classroom longer."  
• She adores her teacher, too. "I love Mrs. White so much. I am gonna make her a card."
• Like I said, she takes forever to finish dinner.  One particularly trying night, all splotchy and upset, she wailed from the dinner table where she was sitting by herself long after Josh, Noah, and I had finished, "I am the worst eater ever!"And she is.  She so is.
• She loves taking gymnastics.  She wistfully told her teacher after completing a pullover on the bar, "I could stay up there forever."  
• She bragged recently after class, "That hump in my arm is getting bigger!"  (hump=muscle).  

Anna, my sweet, 
Remember when you used to never smile for the camera?  That seems forever ago now.  Once you discovered your silly side, your smiles have come so easily.  They characterize my days. I love that.

Remember when you didn't like art stuff?  Ha, yeah right.  That was never you.  You love to draw and color.  I love to let you.  I love all the details you put in your drawings.  This is one from church last week you did to go along with the verses the pastor was speaking from.

Remember that day you loved and looked forward to and then called the Worst Day of your Life?  Ha!  Worst day, nothing!  You loved creating your masterpiece.  I love how satisfied you are when are you working on a project.

I love your smile.  It's sensational!

I love the times when you and I go places just the two of us.  I love that you love those times, too.

I love watching you work.  (I love the sound of you working, too.  So quiet! SO intense.)

 

I can't even imagine what milestones and masterpieces will come before you get to Seven.  But I love getting to look forward to all your next days with you!  Speaking of projects, here's one I whipped up for you, my littlest muse.

"You're my favorite Anna this year!" I've said for all your ages before.

And I mean it every year, but this year I mean it more.  

Six-year old Anna is my FAVORITE yet.  

You are so much more with it.  There is so much you get!  

You grow smarter and sweeter every day, 

I am always astounded at the things you say. 

You challenge me, amuse me, 

You try me and confuse me. 

You impress me, you stress me,

And oh my word, you bless me!

I am so proud of the creature you are.

You are a stunning, shining star.

You're an armful of joy, my Annabelle! 

I love you, I LOVE YOU, Anna Noelle.

 

Here's to my sweetie pie on her Sweet Sixth!
Tickled to the core to celebrate you,
Mommy

On the Walls

It takes us forever to get new stuff up on the walls once we've bought them, but this week I managed to ask Josh at just the right moment and we knocked a few things off the to-do list. :)   I'll show you  if you promise not to look closely at the clutter on the floors and counter. :}

 The four tins on the sides ...

and the two sconces on the sides...

like so, in the playroom.

And this verse ...

in the kitchen.

It has already been such an encouragement to read many times over and it hasn't even been twenty-four hours.  God's Word is always the best input!  And it's been timely for me because I am struggling anew with an old heartache and have been tempted to lash out.  But like a soft whisper, I pass this verse in the kitchen and my spirit quiets down.  It's like fresh air. 

Anna's Sweet Sixth

Anna's birthday week was a bit of a whirlwind of bustle and activity, so her birthday bits were stretched out over three days - the day before, the day of, and the day after. :}  

The day BEFORE her birthday, she got to open almost all her presents because we knew the day of her actual birthday, Thursday, was so hectic that Josh couldn't even be there for more than 30 minutes.  So when our Wednesday night Community Group got cancelled, we made good use of the family time and enjoyed a simple and slow evening of Anna opening gifts.  After gymnastics and Chick-Fil-A, of course. :)

Before the fun...

After the unwrapping fun...

Thursday, the DAY OF Anna's actual birthday, she woke up to find her biggest birthday present waiting for her downstairs - a gymnastics beam!

  

She moved on from there to enjoy birthday pancakes complete with whipped cream and candle from her daddy in the morning.  And she got to wear, finally, her new 6 shirt.  Then she bustled out the door so eager to hear her name on the announcements at school and to wear the birthday crown her teacher gives to birthday kiddos and to receive her free ice-cream at lunch in honor of her day.  

I went to the school that day to read with her class and to have lunch with my brand new six-year-old and was excited for her to learn that she had ALSO been chosen to represent her class for the first 9 weeks for the citizenship award.  She got her picture taken with all the other classes' Super Star Students and she got to put her handprint on the citizenship wall, too.  Such a fun honor for her!

That afternoon, since Daddy and Noah were off to baseball practice, Anna donned her apron and helped me bake 4 layers for her birthday cake. :)  Finally, Friday, the DAY AFTER her birthday, with all the week's business finally complete - including a small September birthdays celebration at school - I got home and got the cake iced and photographed just in time ...

... for some dear friends-that-feel-like-family, the Williams, Graff, and Jeffs families, to join us for Anna's favorite dinner (pizza) and cake and the birthday song. They also spoiled her further by showing up with a few gifts of their own for her ... a precious custom-made purse, a digibird toy, some coloring books, and bag of her favorite candy, chocolate chips.  The kids played in the yard until dark and then a little after that, too.  We grownups just sat in the cool evening air, catching up and relaxing on the porch until it was time to go.  There was no official party, but Anna felt honored and special and tickled pink like it was because these are our favorite people to pass the time with anyway.  It was the perfect way to wrap up Anna's Sweet Sixth.  So thankful for friends, sweet reasons to celebrate, and another precious year with our girl!

Anna Answers on her Sixth

That girl of mine turns SIX tomorrow, so you know what's up right about now:  A birthday survey!  Anna, who/what ....

• is the biggest thing to happen to you this year?  Getting stung by a caterpillar
• are three words that best describe you?  Creative, Adventurous, Loving
• surprised you this year? That we got enough snow for snowballs
• is your favorite color?  Purple
• is your usual breakfast?  Breakfast bar
• is your favorite sandwich? Jam sandwich
• is your favorite dinner?  Pizza
• is your least favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese
• is your favorite snack?  Fig Newtons         
• is your favorite sport? Gymnastics
• is your favorite show? American Ninja Warrior
• is your favorite movie?  Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy
• is your favorite time of year? Christmas
• is your favorite school subject?  Math games
• is your favorite game? Limbo
• is your favorite toy? I don't have one
• are you really good at?  Running
• do you struggle with?  My brother
• would you do if you could plan our next vacation?  DisneyWorld
• is your favorite place to play? Outside
• is your best buddy? Luci Robertson
• are your other good buddies? Charlie Jo, Ryleigh, Morgan, Claire, Emma
• do you miss? Taylor (Ramsey)
• makes you the happiest? My birthday
• makes you sad?  When plans get cancelled
• is your favorite outdoor activity? Obstacle courses
• is the best thing you've learned in bible study this year?  How God has always been.
• is your favorite song? Call to Me
• do you wish you could change?  Mommy's voice when she shouts
• is your favorite thing to talk about?  Play dates with friends at school
• if your favorite video game/app?  Easy Bake Oven app
• is your favorite part of the day?  Evening b/c the sky is pretty and it is cool out
• do you think about before you fall asleep?  How tomorrow is gonna go
• is your favorite store? Target
• is your favorite restaurant? Chick-Fil-A
• is your favorite thing to sleep with? Piggie, flashlight
• if your favorite thing to wear? Dresses
• is your favorite book you've read this year?  The Bible
• would you like to be when you grow up? Joke Teller
• is your coolest thing you've learned this year? How to whistle
• is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  Look at the stars
• is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  Hugs and Kisses
• is your favorite thing to do with Noah?  Play Wii
• is on your birthday wish list?  I don't know

Happy for Fall

It is really chilly outside (in the mornings/evenings at least) and it's the first day of Fall.  So you know I wasted no time getting my new season greeting on the door. :D

Happy Fall, y'all!

From Our Weekend

Josh was feeling iffy last week so he stayed home to rest up Thursday and Friday because we had plans we didn't want to have to cancel over the weekend.  It worked like a charm and he never got sick sick and he even was able to get some stuff done around the house on those days, too.  One such "thing" was getting started on Anna's and Josh's playground project, which is a bridge that will connect the swingset to the tree next to it.  So far they have this platform constructed and some ropes out there that they are still figuring out.  If you look closely, you'll see the Noah there hammering. :)

The main event from our weekend was a retreat to Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center with our church.

As with most social commitments we make, I grew more and more anxious about going, but it was needless worry as it usually is.  It was a really refreshing little getaway with so much packed into twenty-four hours away from home.

We had a really great time and are so thankful for the extra moments we were able to invest in our church family

and in many of those new friendships.

The weather was gorgeous, the area fit our group perfect, and the kids possibly had the best time of all. 

Well, not counting this blister bug/caterpillar that Anna accidently brushed up against while gathering leaves and flowers for a bouquet.  Apparently, the spines on these bad boys sting like a wasp and we have the screams from Anna still echoing in our heads to remember it by.

  

No worries though - Josh's king kong first aid kit worked magic and by the end of the day you couldn't even tell she'd been attacked.  :}  Poor critter, though, was annihilated by Josh before the hour was up.  

In other weekend news, I finished a pair of fingerless mitts, my first ever crochet project that stretched beyond straight rows upon rows .  

The trouble is, no matter how great one is, it's really hard to make the other match exactly the same.  I made two different ones for the right hand in an attempt to match them better to the left, but in the end it is still not right.  GO FIGURE!  I am stumped.  Same pattern, same count of stitches, and still one is bigger and looser than the other.  They win.  I give up.  I am done with the mitts now.  These, while slighly mismatched, will just have to do.

Throw in a bunch of great football and Anna getting some birthday money in the mail from the sweetest of Memaws and you have a sweet, sweet weekend as a whole.  Feeling rested and ready for the week and not even feeling stressed about the cake I need to make. Ha!

A Touch of Anna to the Porch

Anna's been finding quiet ways to amuse herself this weekend while Noah's been feeling so bad.  Today, she made a wreath after being inspired by her new Fancy Nancy book.  And when I say she made it, I mean .. she fashioned the entire thing, straight down to the branches she taped together and the needles she wove into that base.  She was upset with me when I wouldn't let her hang it in her room, but her mood quickly lifted when I offered a suitable plan B - hanging it in a prominent place of honor in front of the house. 

Anna decorated the wreath with all manner of goodies and then put on the finishing touches by "pruning" some of the stray branches with her scissors. 

 

Looks like a masterpiece to me!

Love her creative spirit and how earnestly she does her "work."  That girl was ALL IN for the making, placing, detailing, and presenting of her project. ♥

Three Strikes

Noah soldiered on through his second baseball game of the season this morning after feeling a little iffy from the get go.  He got in two good hits today - yay!  Other than that, however, the day has been a total strike out.

Strike one, diarrhea.

Strike two, fever.

Strike three, vomiting.

He's out!

He's also feeling dizzy.  

I am one more symptom away from freaking out for him.

Pitiful pup. :(

History/Geography Project

Noah's learning about Muhammad and the rise of Islam these days.  I love being able to teach him about world history ... because I can frame it with a solidly Christian worldview.  So much shaping going on!  Thankful.  Along with this period in history, we did mapping of the Arabian Peninsula, Mecca, Medina and such.  To lighten the historical mood a bit, however, we recreated the Arabian desert landscape with candy ... complete with an oasis and camel caravan. 

One of our camels could stand up no longer.  We decided that sad end was fitting with the scene still.  He must have died of thirst before reaching the water, poor thing.  You see his last steps there on the right, may he rest in peace. :} 

Taa Daa: Infinity!

I ran out of yarn for Anna's blanket, so while I wait for that to come in the mail, I kept my fingers busy crocheting my first ever infinity scarf with the leftover yarn from a project from years ago.

I used it down to the last inches of string and it came out perfect.  

Even more perfect, it's just chilly enough tonight for it to be getting some wear already!  I heart you, Tennessee.

Other Stuff

Just a few random things to blog and finally be caught up again. :)

First, I love that we have this size of a community of homeschoolers at Noah's co-op.  And this is just the 2nd and 3rd grade class!

Again, Noah's class. There is also a K/1st group and a 4th/5th grade group that are both also full and have a waiting list.  And this number doesn't even reflect the amount of homeschoolers populating other local co-ops or not in co-ops at all.

The pool finally died and it is just as well.  Josh has a much bigger one in mind for next summer, so this one was gonna be trashed anyway.  In its absence, my people are enjoying a mud pit while we have it.  Here, they were creating the Nile River.

And Noah is finally getting going in a coding program for kids.  I couldn't tell you the first thing about it.  Well, I could tell you the FIRST thing maybe, but not much more.  This is Josh's expertise and I am more than happy to pass over some of Noah's academic hour requirements to him. :)

I am almost done crocheting rows for Anna's blanket.  Just a few more and then I will stitch it all together.

Nothing much here, just thought it was pretty as a picture with the words and the shadow of the park bench I was sitting at.  Also the air was amazing.  I love fall!

I also love this season of our lives that finds us at parks and playgrounds all the time.  I love it.  And I wanna remember that I loved it, noticed it, treasured it, and stored it up in my heart.

 I know these precious years/moments/seasons are gonna make me cry later when I miss them so.

Fall Family Fun Day

Every year around the start of fall our neighborhood has a block party at our park.  It's a fun time to share with friends from the 'hood and this year did not disappoint.  Noah won an egg-and-spoon race, I won a $25 raffle, we all enjoyed free burgers, dogs, popcorn, chips, cookies and cokes, the kids enjoyed the games and bounce house, and - bonus - no one got struck by lightening when the storm blew through. In your face, mother nature!  We all stuck it out and were glad we did.  The storm only cooled things off for us all. Ha!

Anna waited in line for 20 minutes to get her face painted.

Noah spent his time bustin' a move with the deejay and his friends.

Learning to breakdance.

A couple of my favorite people.  Like family!

Photo in front of some big police vehicle.  Noah and his buds call it a tank.

Good time!