Annie's 6th Bday celebrations

We told Annie we probably wouldn't be able to have a "real" party for her birthday, and she really seemed ok with it! I think we all just got used to things being cancelled. We celebrated on her actual bday as a family, and we ended up very last minute having the Zorio family over to swim for a party. The shut downs were letting up, and people were starting to emerge by the end of May. The Zorios had taken similar precautions to us during the shut down, so we were feeling good about this decision. I'm so glad we did it! Everyone was thrilled bc we hadn't gotten together in sooooo long. We had a blast, stayed healthy, and she felt fully celebrated, so it was a win! She had asked for a "flower" theme, so I dug around in  my party supplies and pulled together just what we needed to make it happen! This is where stockpiling (hoarding?) this type of stuff pays off-haha!

We made an event of making the party decorations! Anything to keep these kids entertained!

We used stencils for her bday sign, then the kids colored them in with my "special" pearly markers. They had a blast doing this! And they were so proud of the result, so it was great.

We used their bow tie pasta butterfly art ad more decor! And she pulled out a flower headband to match the theme!

This was right before the party started (10am). We had just spent a while putting up a bunch of streamers-it looked like a maypole on the deck! It was threatening rain, and of course it started....all the streamers were droopy and broken by the time the guests arrived, but I got these pictures by golly!

How can she be 6!?

I had snagged some cheap Easter flower stickers when I ran into a store looking for toilet paper, and we stuck them everywhere! Perfect!

This was totally her pose. I did NOT tell her to do this. Such a girly girl.

I had fun putting together her flower cupcake cake. She was proud of it, too!

We had bought this slip n slide super cheap the previous summer, so I asked Steven if we could get it out. He did it hesitantly (knowing that the grass would be ruined!).

Bust the kids had so much fun that it was totally worth it. I love seeing all their poses and motions going down. I don't know that our kids had experienced a s&s before...definitely not Ruby. They loved it! And the mud pit at the end has since grown grass, so it's ok!:) But it did go in the trash after the party...

Cuties!

I usually let the kids pick out their special party drink for their bday...like capri suns, lemonade, gatorade, etc. So when I asked Annie, she said Dr. Pepper!! Ha! It is such a mysterious, unknown drink to the kids! Steven drinks diet DP and they always beg for sips. Anyway, just a random note that the 6 year old got Dr. Pepper and Sprite for her bday party drink.

Best buddies!

 See? Just add family with 4 kids and you get an instant party! Everyone has a friend! Seriously, we were so happy to be hanging out and ended up swimming until it was time for dinner and ordered pizza! It was an all day party, and we loved it!

 Looking so big!

Yum! Happy girl with that pink cupcake! 

 

 

 

For Annie's actual bday, we always try to do something special as a family. She got to pick the restaurant for dinner and where she wanted to get a special treat. She actually chose pizza and ice cream from earth and stone, but they'd had a covid case, so they were closed for a few days. So, we got Chick-fil-A and ate it in the car, then I ran in Edgar's for treats and we came back home to eat them, open gifts, and swim. It was a fun celebration day for our sweet girl!

We woke up and had her bday breakfast request-powdered sugar donuts and Lucky Charms. Can we say SUGAR?!

Her preschool class had set up a Zoom call on her bday. They all sang to her and held up bday signs they'd made. It was SO sweet. The preschool teacher read a book about cupcakes in honor of Annie's bday.

Then I took the 3 kids to walk the trail at Providence village...Steven has to get quiet at the house somehow. It started to sprinkle, so we didn't get to stay as long as we'd planned.

We got back and the Grandmas arrived! They'd decided to make a day trip to see Annie on her special day. Very sweet! We ate our normal lunch at home with them!

Opening gifts from them and Aunt Mae

This gift was a hit...her own make up. What are you trying to do to me, Aunt Mae?!

She also got these hair clip ins. She was thrilled.

She got several mermaid art projects and started working on them right away.

The birthday crew!

She got a special delivery from the Rollins-a bday poster, balloons/streamers, treat, and lots of great art!

Our gift was this Dune Racer which you can see was a hit. The Jeep officially bit the dust, so we figured it was time for another power wheels. With our size yard they are just so much fun.

This is in the evening-her treat pick was chocolate covered marshmallows, so I stuck a candle in it! She'd been working on the mermaid canvas all day, so it made it in the photo, too.

Sweet siblings! We gave her the first Samantha book and the little Samantha doll. I wasn't sure if she'd like them, so I got them at a consignment sale and didn't invest a lot. She's loved it! We've read all the Samantha stuff since. And Ruby gave her bubble bath (that she's holding) and a bath puff scrubber thing. Henry gave her the necklace and charms that she's wearing. She loved it all!

Another special thing! Bestie Owen came by with a gift. They hadn't seen each other in such a long time, and they were so excited. They love each other!  

 

 

Happy 6th birthday, bright eyed girl! We love you and can't wait to see what this next year holds for you!

Annie is 6!

Annie turned 6 on May 26th! Below is a bit about her over the past 6 months as well as some of her favorites.

Annie favorites-Age 6

1. What is your favorite color? Pink

 2. What is your favorite toy? Kiki (pink blanket that she sleeps with), Goldie, everything

3. What is your favorite fruit? Peaches 

Favorite vegetable? Cucumber 

4. What is your favorite tv show? Pinkalicious, Daniel tiger, Hero Elementary 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cucumbers, peaches, ham and cheese roll up

6. What is your favorite outfit? Dresses

7. What is your favorite game? Hide and seek

8. What is your favorite snack? Blueberries, popcorn, turkey stick

9. What is your favorite animal? Unicorn, pony

10. What is your favorite song? Slugs and bugs Modern Kid

11. What is your favorite book? Chocolatina, my little pony, Samantha (American Girl)

12. Who is your best friend? Owen, Connor, Nora Kate, of course Henry and Ruby. And Viera!

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Playground

15. What is your favorite drink? Dr Pepper, apple juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Kiki (pink blanket)

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cinnamon rolls or grandmas cinnamon muffins cereal? Lucky charms 

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Chick-fil-a and Edgars (I think she actually requested pizza/ice cream from Campus 805 first, but they were closed for a covid case)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A pony rider-a pony girl who takes care of ponies, a mom

-Annie is  growing like a weed! She's so tall and is getting so mature. She loves to get dressed up and "fancy". She takes a LONG time to get ready-we are all ready and waiting on her a lot of times! A lot of the time is spent getting VERY dry. She hates to be damp AT ALL after a shower-it is a dramatic subject, so we just let her do her thing to get completely dry! She's brushing her hair, putting on a dress, and putting on "make up" (kid version). We joke that there's no telling what she'll be like when she's a teenager if it takes her this long at 5 and a half! She gets totally ready by herself, though, so I can't complain (showers and completely washes/conditions hair, brushes/fixes her hair, picks out her clothes, etc). These little steps toward independence are really nice for us!

-She had a "fancy night out" with Steven for Valentine's day. He wanted to take her somewhere special, so they got dressed up and headed to Texas de Brazil at Bridge Street (used a gift card, so it worked out perfectly!). She was SO excited about this, and they had a great time. She still brings it up. She liked getting the carved meat with "toms" (aka tongs) and the salad bar. They got dessert, and that was a highlight, too! She still says her favorite food is "ox tongue" which she had a bite of on our cruise. No one else was a fan.

-Her best buddy at school is still Owen. They LOVE each other. They had a play date after school in Feb, and they went to Chick-fil-A after school for lunch and shared a cookie:) I asked her what they played at his house, and she said imaginary stuff...Owen was at war and Annie bandaged his booboos and wiped his feet with her hair (haha!!). She told me, "Mom, I had such a fun day. Normally I'm bored."

-She adores school and can't wait to start Kindergarten. She has really missed school, and has probably felt the shutdown due to covid the most of the 3 kids. She wants to be with friends! She loved seeing her friends via their weekly preschool Zoom calls, and we let her FaceTime some of her preschool friends when she was needing to chat! When we missed a day of school bc Henry was sick in the winter, she was devastated! 

-She wants to read so badly, and started reading Bob books in Jan/Feb. She does great! She is writing so much, and asks how to spell words and copies it down. Can spell words like dad, mom, sit, cat, dog, etc. on her own by sounding them out. She loves to make lists and will make picture lists when she doesn't know the words. She will write pictures of what we're going to do that day and then check it off.

-Annie has her own vocabulary sometimes, and it cracks me and Steven up. The word she uses is her own made up word, but it works with what she's trying to say and makes sense. She uses "literally" all the time, and she's started saying "y'all". I heard her ask Ruby one time, "Do you want to take the long cut or the short cut?" She calls whipped cream "whoop cream". One day her feet were sweating while wearing her rain boots, and she dramatically said, "These boots are hotting my feet off!!!!"

-Annie has continued ballet/tap, and did Zoom classes during the final quarter. Unfortunately we didn't get to participate in the recital, but now we can add a really fancy outfit to our dress up clothes collection. Sheesh!

-At Christmas, she wouldn’t tell Santa she wanted paints. She said-"We will have to email him. I want two paints." She was being shy! Also at Christmas, she was really showing understanding about the meaning and asking/understanding more. BUT sitting in church and for Xmas Eve service, she leaned over and said-"I do not understand this. I don’t know what he is saying AT ALL." She normally goes to the kids classes-haha! We did have a funny conversation about what it means to ask God into your heart. She was like, "Yeah, ask God and He gets into your heart. He gets small and He zooms into your heart!"

-We went to Gatlinburg in Feb for a weekend and had a great time! We got some special snacks, including Oreos. Evidently the girls had never dipped Oreos in milk (how had I failed them in this way?!). Anyway, Annie thought it was so delicious!

-Random note when we were going through the bank. She commented about the bank teller-"Mom, she has a boring job, mom! She has to work on a computer all day." I thought this was funny bc it's something I would think and say.

-I heard her talking to Ruby when they were playing one day and acting out Peter Pan. She was pretending to sprinkle pixie dust and said, "All you need is your imagination and you can go anywhere!"

-We went to Magic Kingdom in March, and it was a magical time indeed! Annie had a blast and took it all in. It was a wonderful experience. I need to do a separate post on that sometime!
-Annie was a real trooper during the shutdown. She didn't really have anything to do and there wasn't much supervision since Steven was working from home and I was teaching Henry AND managing my class. She and Ruby fended for themselves A LOT. Annie is a great sister, and I was so thankful for her during this time. She helped keep her little sis entertained, and did a lot of independent play. She was great to sit and look at books, make closet hide outs, play dress up, play with playdough, do her school sheets, etc. She was a trooper. 

There's so much more on this girl, but I read back over her 5.5 year post and I had included a lot there, so I must stop! I've included a bunch of pics of her over the past 6 months. Lots are at home bc we didn't go anywhere from March to May! They aren't in order, but oh well! They're here!

Valentine's fancy night out in Feb.

Gatlinburg in Feb (Anakeesta)

Sweet sisters-braids before bed.

Gator golf in March

Another Gatlinburg

Visitors day at her dance studio in December

Christmas loot from Grandma-we hosted this year

Chatting with Grandma

Her first Wellie Wisher-Camille! We've read all the books, and she

's loved them

Annie LOVES to bake with me!

Ballet performance at a nursing home in December

Sweet little cookie! This was getting our Christmas tree.

Decorating gingerbread houses at church

Having a little chat with Santa...but evidently not able to tell him what she wanted. We have to email him!

A note from Owen:)

Christmas Eve service-where she didn't understand anything AT ALL:)

I love the look on her face as Steven opened his gift from her.

BEST.CHRISTMAS.EVER

Poor dog-this is how she was toted around for a while!

PCS Ice Skating night in January. She got out there like a champ with Steven. Last year there were many tears, so I was proud of her this year.

The kids found this adorable baby bunny in the yard!

So excited for our flowers to start blooming!

Happy Easter! This girl loves to dress up.

Decorating Easter eggs

Zoom ballet class-each week was themed, and this week was wear your favorite dress up clothes.

Disney mid-March. Yay!

We tried curlers a few times. Fun!

Praise the Lord-spring has sprung!

Another Disney. She picked Marie from Aristocats out of every stuffed animal option. These are the baby ones with the swaddle, so she couldn't resist.

Curly hair. Doing her preschool work at home for the 4th quarter with the shutdown.

Henry was doing something for school, and she joined in and made her own "nature museum" along with him.

Playing dress up (I assume??) and showing off Jeff the turtle. We were in survival mode during the 4th quarter, so it's all a blur.

Lots of backyard golf! She does great and listens to Steven's instruction, then concentrates to get it right.

This was on a hike-I told her to pick comfortable play clothes, and this is what she picked. She posed the whole walk.

She's always dragging something with her in the car.

We did 3 nights at the beach mid-May. Much needed. Much fun.

This is my favorite swimsuit ever!

Catching some air!

Catching some more air!

Beach beauty!

Strawberry picking in May-good find!

We've occupied our time with many craft projects this spring. This one ended up being a bday decoration!

 More berries!