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!