Anna is 13!

Our baby is a teenager!  How scary is that?!  Though anyone who knows Anna knows that she has been in training to be a teenager for years...not in a bad way, but more like she is wise beyond her years and mastered the art of communicating and building relationships well before most people do.  We love her so much; she is easy to love and she is full of love that she gives to those around her!  

Anna's birthday is being celebrated in an extended fashion; she started on her actual birthday, followed by a party with friends on June 2nd, and then finishing up with a mini celebration with family on June 5th.  You won't hear any complaints from her about drawing it out!  On her actual birthday, she had a Dunkin Donuts breakfast followed by presents from us and the California cousins, then went to school where she was loved on by her friends.  After school, a gift card magically showed up in her email while we were literally on the way to go shopping.  How does Grandma F. have such perfect timing?!  She was so excited!  We then had a Chick Fila dinner and lemon cupcakes at home between homework, Erin's dance class, and cat sitting.  She had made the cupcakes herself the day before.

What's new with Anna this year?  She played volleyball and soccer again, as well as winter futsal at the Y.  She loves both sports, especially the teamwork aspect (read: social).  She tried playing offense this year in soccer and enjoyed the faster pace and action on that end of the field.  

She continues to do well in school, despite the middle school slump and the fact that school is less fun and more work now than it was when she was younger.  Her favorite subject this year was probably ELA; her teacher complimented her on her writing on several occasions.  She also seemed to enjoy social studies; this year, she learned about world history.  For electives, she took Latin Dance the first quarter, a PE elective for the second quarter, and coding/computer programming for both the third and fourth quarters.  She really enjoyed coding and might take more of that in high school.  She was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this spring.  Other activities that she enjoys include: altar serving at church, doing service projects, and earning money by pet sitting and babysitting.  She's got one regular babysitting client (a family with 5 and 2 year old boys) and several pet sitting clients in our neighborhood.  She also enjoys fashion, hair, makeup, and, recently notable, body spray.

Above all, I would say that Anna continues to thrive on being social.  She loves people and has many friends.  Her phone never stops buzzing until her screen time is cut off every night.  She has navigated the social minefield that is 7th grade fairly gracefully this year, and was instrumental in making peace amongst her friends on multiple occasions.  She would tell stories about fights and drama amongst her friends that were so complicated and made my head spin.  However, she doesn't bat an eye, keeps all the details straight, weighs the situation from all possible angles, and manages to help her friends make amends.  She has become quite an effective peacemaker, and that is a rare and wonderful quality.  

She loves to entertain and be entertained, and is always up for a good time.  She is a great daughter, a supportive sister, and a wonderful friend.  We are very proud of her for all that she does, but most of all, we are proud of her for always being kind and caring.  She is fantastic!

May!

May was insane, but we are still thankful that we are able to do all of these fun things.  After the pandemic, I will never again take things like recitals and parties for granted!  The month started out with Erin going on her class trip to YMCA Camp Harrison near Wilkesboro, NC.  They spent 2 nights there doing teambuilding, hiking, outdoor activities, and some retreat-type activities.  She had a great time, and the weather was perfect!  

Thursday the 4th was the end of Anna's soccer season.  They were "on the bubble" of making the playoffs, but sadly lost a coin toss for 4th place.  The good part was that they got to end the season with a great win, versus going to the playoffs where they may or may not have won.  She enjoyed the season and tried her hand (actually, foot) at playing offense for the first time ever.  

The kids had a half day of school on Friday, and Anna went to Lyla's to sleep over while Erin and I went to the Gibbons spring dance show, which was really good!  Erin will be in it next year!  Saturday morning, Anna and I went to volunteer at the Miracle League with her soccer team and had a blast! 

 After that, we went to Josie Mae's First Communion party which was lots of fun.  Anna also pet-sat for Ruby and Luna over the weekend.  

Sunday was Bob's birthday!  We had a great family day with church, lunch, and a few hours out on the boat for the first time this year.  Anna was brave enough to get in the water and reported that it wasn't too cold.  Finley enjoyed his boat time as well.

I hosted book club on Monday, and Bob went to Vancouver from Tuesday-Friday for work.  Otherwise, it was a fairly routine week.  Saturday, we met Aunt Pam, Jimmy, and Danny at our pool and had a great time!  That evening, the girls went to see their school musical, Willy Wonka, Jr.  It was an awesome performance, and it was so fun to see some of their friends onstage!  I had a great Mother's Day on Sunday, with breakfast cooked by Erin and Anna and a nice family hike around Bass Lake.  

Bob headed back out west from Sunday-Friday to the Bay Area.  Erin had a fun last week of school with some special dress days only for 8th graders and a clap-out with the whole school before they left early on Friday!  

Anna had the first of 4 cat-sitting jobs over 2 weeks for neighbors Louis and Lilly, and enjoyed her birthday on Thursday!  

Friday night was the 8th grade "Red Carpet" dance, which was a blast!  The kids walked the red carpet into the gym building with parents there as paparazzi cheering for them.  They had some really nice treats and Italian sodas, plus great music and lots of fun!  

Saturday the 20th began Anna's second cat-sitting gig, a week watching Cherry and Pie near the front of the neighborhood.  We also had Erin's piano recital that afternoon, and she did a fabulous job!  

She went from there straight to Zophia's birthday party, which was lots of fun.  I had the 3 moms over who were going on the Virginia trip to do a little planning while the girls were at the party, and Anna had a babysitting job that evening as well.  Busy day!

Sunday, we enjoyed a visit with Grandma and Grandpa F. and got to catch up, which was great!  Monday was the school golf tournament, and I helped set that up and see the golfers off.  Then, Erin and I went out to lunch, and she had her final piano lesson of the year that evening.  Anna began her third cat-sitting job on Monday, watching Louis and Lilly again while their parents took a second trip. This week was Erin's last week of dance classes as well. Wednesday was Erin's practice for graduation followed by a fun picnic on the field in beautiful weather! 

Thursday the 25th was the big day...graduation (technically called "promotion" since they don't actually get diplomas).  It went great, and Erin was thrilled to receive the English Language Arts award!  That was very surprising to us, but we were so touched that her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Henning, recognized how hard she works in that area and the great progress that she made.  Go, Erin!  

Anna stayed home sick from school that day with some congestion, but was better in time for the evening ceremony.  We had some yummy ice cream after to celebrate!

Friday morning, Erin and I hit the road for our super fun trip to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with friends Olivia, Vera, Elena, and their moms.  We had a fabulous time and got to see a lot!  First, we met up with Elena and Kathy at Poplar Forest, which was a summer home/retreat for Thomas Jefferson in Lynchburg, VA.  It is in a beautiful setting.  We checked it out a little bit and then decided to go eat lunch at a local BBQ place.  Everyone else met us there, and we had a really yummy lunch!  From there, it was about 1.5 hours to our rental house, but we got a call from the van (Sophie, Vera, Dawn, and Olivia) about 20-30 minutes from the house saying that they had gotten a flat tire.  I turned around to pick up the girls, and Kathy stopped as well but then we decided that she should continue on to the house and start unpacking.  The positive here was that we all got to get a peek at the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I brought Erin, Olivia, and Vera back to the house while Dawn and Sophie called Honda roadside assistance and AAA, and the AAA guy ended up showing up very quickly.  They got the spare put on and drove to the house.  While they were doing that, the rest of us hit the Food Lion for the first of 3 visits there over the weekend.  We all went back to the house and had pizza and salad and settled in. 

Saturday, we cooked breakfast at the house, stopped at Food Lion, and then had a really great hike in the Shenandoah National Park followed by a picnic lunch there, then picked up the van with its brand new tire on the way to touring Harrisonburg on foot and doing a little shopping there.  

We then had dinner at Billy Jack's Shack, which was a lot of fun!  Sunday, we all divided up for a little while in the morning - Erin and I went to church in Harrisonburg, Kathy and Elena checked out the resort activities, and the other 4 went to tour the JMU campus.  Erin and I headed towards JMU after mass and we all walked around for a while and then had lunch at a dining hall there, which was very good!  

While we waited for Kathy and Elena to eat and head towards us, we shopped at Barnes and Noble nearby.  We then all met up at the Luray Caverns and really enjoyed seeing such an unusual place! 

 After the caverns, we headed back to the house for a dinner requested by the girls - dino nuggets and macaroni and cheese.  We hung out and played games after that and then made a roaring fire for s'mores in the fire pit out back.  Monday morning, we made breakfast, packed up, and headed out with a lunch stop at Jersey Mike's in Danville, VA.  The whole trip was so much fun, even with the flat tire!

While we were gone, Bob, Anna, and Finley had a weekend full of rain.  Anna finished her two cat-sitting jobs from last week and started the fourth one for a new family in the neighborhood.  Anna also had a sleepover at Lyla's and Bob went to a Knights gathering on Saturday night.  They went to church on Sunday and walked Finley between all of the rain.

Tuesday was back to school for Anna for her final 2.5 days, but at least those days include an ice cream party, Field Day, and basically nothing on the last half day.  She is very much ready for summer and to move on to 8th grade! 

Coming up next are Anna's birthday party on Friday and Erin's dance recitals on Saturday and Sunday.  Then it's on to Concord for Ansley's confirmation, THEN to Hilton Head for a week of fun and hopefully some relaxation!  Bring on summer!