Anna turned 9 yesterday. She celebrated Friday and today, but not yesterday, though. Friday Elizabeth L. and Anna's birthday buddy Amanda took her to see Cinderella and eat lunch at Chick-Fil-A. They did this last year too, and I do not exaggerate when I say this is a highlight of Anna's year! She considers herself *extremely* fortunate to have been born on March 28 eight years after Amanda!
Yesterday, Anna's actual birthday, was a crazy day. Nathan and Luke had rugby practice, Caleb and Jonathan had 2 rugby games down south, and Anna was invited to the birthday party of another girl in her co-op class at the same time as Caleb and Jonathan's games! Bob was in PA with his sister Ann celebrating their dad's 90th birthday, so Anna had to ride with a friend to and from the party. She had a wonderful time, and hey--a party I didn't have to plan!
So this afternoon we celebrated Anna! We had her birthday dinner after church. Once again, she asked for steak. I went to Sam's Wednesday morning to buy everything. I never go in the mornings, since we're always doing school then, but this week we're on spring break. Being early meant I was able to snag steak that was marked down because it needed to be sold that day and used by Sunday. Perfect!! Anna also requested thin-sliced cheesy potatoes, cabbage salad, and fruit salad with lots of berries. I forgot raspberries, but she had strawberries, blueberries, and her favorite blackberries, along with kiwi, her non-berry favorite. We had brussell sprouts too, since I had a package we needed to use up. Yummy!
Funny note: in the picture above, facebook wanted to tag her as me! Ha!
Anna wanted a strawberry cake, and she wanted to decorate it. The girls got in some more cake decorating practice with Aunt Ann, who came down Thursday night and decorated a cake for her and Bob's dad that night. Anna had lots of plans, so we just made a 9x13 cake so she would have plenty of room to work. She had a ball, and it turned out really well! Caleb helped with the squiggly lines and the sea shells on the side of the cake. The fresh strawberries on top were also her idea, and they were really yummy! I'm telling you--it is a wonderful thing that I don't have to make elaborate cakes anymore for kids' birthdays! I am all over this new trend of decorating your own!
Before we actually ate the cake, we did presents. Anna has gotten really good at doing hair, so we got her some more hair things--lots of various headbands because they keep getting broken around here, and also this cool little thing that helps make buns. I'll have to take a picture because it's neat. We also got her a new jump rope, which everyone has been using, as well as a neat book of Frozen crafts and hair-related ideas that I had just happened to see at Michael's several weeks ago. Oh, that small package on top is candy--a bag of gummi bears and a box of Lifesaver chewy candies. For Luke's birthday I got him a random bunch of chocolate and chewy candies, which was well-received, and everyone was very envious. So I thought that might be a nice tradition, since it's really hard to know what to get for birthdays when you have so many kids, and you really do NOT want a ton of new junk coming into the house all the time. Plus, we don't do anything candy-related for Halloween or Easter, so they don't get a ton of candy during the year. So, edible gifts--a win/win all around!
The cake tasted as good as it looked! Someone gave Verity a bit of frosting, and although she didn't know quite what to think of it at first, she soon decided it was a lot tastier than that rice cereal stuff! In fact, some got smeared on the arm of her bumbo, and she spent the rest of the time trying to slurp her bumbo as best she could.
And this is what is left of the 9x13 cake. I guess everyone can have a really small piece tomorrow?
ETA: There's actually even less left now that I left it out on the table for a little while unattended . . . it might not see tomorrow at all!
So wow, 9 years old! Anna is becoming a beautiful young woman with a lovely smile! Like I said before, she loves doing hair, and fortunately there are several willing helpers to be practiced upon right here. She also loves gymnastics and swimming. She's a good reader, but she would rather be flipping or being a contortionist than actually sitting down and reading a lot. She's good at math too, but again, that definitely doesn't light her fire. She has really developed into a good helper, taking pride in keeping whichever room is her assigned room for the day clean and picked up. And it goes without saying that she loves babies and is a wonderful big sister especially for Drew and Verity! I think she will be in great demand as a babysitter in a few more years--she certainly has oodles of experience! We look forward to seeing what this year holds for Anna!
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