Anna is 8!

Our beautiful, wonderful, Anna turned 8 on May 18th!  True to Anna fashion, her birthday was an extended event.  The celebrations began on April 22nd, when she celebrated her First Communion and birthday along with Logan's birthday at our family party.  Then, she had a special day on the 18th with Mommy and Daddy coming to help with her class during lunch and recess, and then we had a fun birthday dinner out at Red Robin.  Anna had her friend Sarah come sleep over on Saturday the 19th and they had a great rainy day with some pottery painting, lots of playing, pizza dinner, ice cream sandwich cake, and a movie!  I think she had a great birthday season.

So, what's new with Anna?  If I had to describe her in one word, it would be delightful.  She is usually happy, is extremely sweet and caring, and is just a ball of fun.  If there is a party, she will be there.  If someone is upset, she will hug them.  She loves being with people and interacting with them.  She is very sensitive and emotional, which can sometimes be difficult for her, but it is also endearing.

She and Erin are so very different in so many ways, which definitely keeps us on our toes.  In school, she does great in reading and in any subject where reading is involved (social studies, science, religion, etc.).  Math is not her favorite, but she did make some progress in that department last year.  It will be interesting to see how third grade goes when they learn cursive and the teachers are very particular about handwriting (you can read between the lines there).

Her hobbies lately include tennis lessons, which she took for most of the past year, as well as piano.  She is switching from piano to voice next year and is excited to learn how to sing.  Maybe she can teach me!  She is also going to try a modern dance class this summer and may continue with that next year.  We will see if she ends up choosing tennis or dance.  As far as at home, she LOVES Legos right now.  Ansley gave her a big bin of her old Legos which Anna is really enjoying - both recreating the sets and making her own creations.  She also still loves to be crafty and artistic, as well as has gotten into video games this year.  Her favorite game is Roblox because her friends from school play it too.  She is also a big reader and often can be found with her nose in a book.  She and I love to sit together and read side by side.

Anna has loads of friends of all ages everywhere she goes.  This phrase was used at her parent-teacher conference - "there is not enough Anna to go around" -  describing her being literally pulled in different directions at recess.  She plays with all ages, boys and girls, and will pretty much play any kind of game (though she did tend to avoid the after-school football games on the playground this year, which did look a little dangerous).

She had her checkup last week and weighed in at over 80 pounds (95th percentile) and was 54" tall (94th percentile).  She is still our big girl!  She checked out great and got a little nutrition pep talk.  She, like her mom, is a snacker and loves the sweets.  We can both work on that.

We are so very proud of our Anna.  She is such a great sister to Erin (most of the time) and they get along really well.  We love this sweet girl so much and can't wait to watch her continue to grow and shine!

May!

May was a busy and fun month, as always!  We started out the month with Bob in Copenhagen for work, which he enjoyed and said he would return to visit as a tourist.  He also got to take a quick jaunt into Sweden (a short train ride) and do a little sightseeing there as well.  Anna and I went to Marbles kids' museum with her grade on the 1st which was a blast! 

Anna was then home sick the next day with a cold and fever, but it was short-lived.  She managed to play with Sawyer all day and accompany him to his swim lesson.  On Saturday the 5th, we girls went to watch Ella dance at Kids' Appreciation Day, a festival held every year in Holly Springs.  I felt that every day is Kids' Appreciation Day, but we celebrated nonetheless.  Bob returned home that evening for a day and then went the other direction to San Francisco the following week!  Erin took a turn with being under the weather on Sunday the 6th.  We celebrated Bob's birthday at home on Sunday before he left early on Monday morning. 

The girls were off school on Monday the 7th for a teacher workday...Erin was still not quite herself, so we rescheduled their dentist appointments for that Thursday and just hung around the house with Sawyer.  Anna did go to tennis that evening.  The rest of the week was pretty normal with highlights including Erin's class ice cream party for mastering their multiplication facts and helping Anna's teacher decorate their classroom on Thursday for a surprise early birthday celebration for their assistant on Friday.  Then, Erin had her ballet recital dress rehearsal on Friday evening before the big day on Saturday the 12th!  She did a wonderful job and felt more comfortable being on stage since it was the same venue she danced at for the holiday show in December.  Her class did a great job, and I got a workout as "class mom", watching them backstage during the show!





I had a great Mother's Day on the 13th!  We had a fun day at home together with some pool time thrown in.  The following week was pretty routine until, of course, Anna's birthday on Friday!  We did get some new-to-us furniture from neighbor friends Marc and Amanda who are (sadly) moving to Florida.  Bob took off work on Friday and since Sawyer was out of town, we both got to go supervise Anna's class for lunch and recess so the teachers could attend a lunch, and then I got to go to Erin's class later and help her make a rain stick after their rain forest unit in reading and science.  Super cool!  We then met Grandma and Grandpa for dinner at Red Robin, which was lots of fun too.  Anna had a great day.  I will do a birthday post once we get her stats at her checkup this coming Tuesday.



Saturday the 19th, Erin had ballet and then Anna's friend Sarah came over to play and sleep over in lieu of a big birthday party (which Anna and I continue to dispute).  It was a rainy day so we didn't get to go to the pool, but we did go paint some pottery, played inside, and did get outside for a short time between rain showers.  We had another sleepover friend that weekend, neighbor dog Bear, while his family was out of town.  Sunday we sadly bid good-bye to Sarah and enjoyed a quiet day until Megan came to babysit the girls for a belated dinner for Bob's birthday.  We had a yummy dinner at The Provincial in Apex, followed by a little walk at Jordan Lake.

The next week was pretty quiet.  Sawyer was out of town on Monday and then was sick on Wednesday, so I took that extra day off to drive out to North Topsail Beach for a little research for a day trip later this summer.  I think it will be a fun one to visit! 



Thursday was the annual second grade First Communion Mass and breakfast, and the kids enjoyed dressing up again (well, at least the girls did) and having a special day together. 



The breakfast was followed by a grade-wide playdate at a nearby neighborhood clubhouse and playground, which was lots of fun and not too hot.  Then I took Anna and Sarah to our pool before picking Erin up.  It was a fun day.  Then, they both had field day on Friday.  Sawyer and I went to watch Anna for a little bit, but I could not watch Erin's class due to his naptime.  It was a hot day but not unbearable. 



Bob went to Boston Thursday and Friday, which was a short and easy trip to the other two earlier this month!

After Erin's last ballet class for the school year on Saturday, we loaded up and left for Uncle Camping Time near Concord.  This time, they went to Camp Spencer, which was really nice!  Unfortunately, it rained a few times and the pool kept having lighting delays.  They got to do some fishing, playing on the playground, and walking around the lake, plus they sure ate well!  Despite the rain, they had fun, and we girls plus Elliott got to go see Cole and Cooper's beautiful new house and go out to dinner!  Sunday we all went to church, had lunch, and played outside before heading back.  Monday, we were home in the rain and played with neighbor friends until making an exciting outing to Lowes in Garner to get some new patio furniture!  We are still a little bit on the fence about the new stuff, but I think it is growing on us.

Finally, the last week of school was upon us.  It is nice that the kids get sad about school ending and missing their teachers; I think that means that they like being there.  They love the last week of school since it's all dress-down days.  Tuesday, we had a surprise 2-hour delay due to a power outage at the school.  We finished up my weekly rosary group as well as Erin's speech that week.  Tennis got rained out yet again on Wednesday thanks to Tropical Storm Alberto.  Thursday was their last full day before the half day on Friday.  We have managed to get through the week without too many tears.

So, that was May!  It was a great month and we are now looking forward to some decompression from school (Erin) and adjusting to the summer routine.  We have already been to the neighborhood pool several times and will visit the YMCA pool soon as well.  June looks to be fairly uneventful before the big trip in July.  I think it is going to be a great summer!