Anna Kate is SIX!

Sweet Anna Kate,
Happy 6th Birthday! It seems like just yesterday that we were eagerly awaiting your arrival on a cold, snowy morning in Wake Forest, NC. You are growing up to be such a wonderful young lady. You are smart, talented, and have an insatiable appetite for learning. You have grown up so much this past year in so many ways.

~ You officially started Kindergarten (at Heritage Christian Academy - our family homeschool)! Your days now consist of math, copywork, poetry, hymn study, and lots and lots of read alouds. You have learned so much and you are such an easy student since you really would just school yourself even if I didn't plan anything!
~ You have really enjoyed our homeschool co-op classes this year. You are taking a Swimming Creatures science class and you now know more about whales, sharks, cephalopods, and crustaceans than I ever have! You love getting to make clay models of different animals each week to add to your ocean box.
~ Reading is still your favorite pastime. You are working on a reading list challenge for 2016 where you have to read 100 books from various categories. You've already read 15 that we've counted (we haven't counted the innumerable Boxcar books), so you are well on your way to reaching your goal! Your favorites these days are the Boxcar children, the Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright which we just finished, the Sisters in Time historical fiction series from the church library, Mary Poppins, Pollyanna, and of course, the Little House on the Prairie books.
~ Speaking of Little House on the Prairie, you can't wait for your "Little House" birthday party on Saturday. You are so excited to have your friends to play prairie games, make rag dolls, and eat treats from the Little House cookbook!
~ You have remained pretty sure that you want to be an author and an illustrator when you grow up. You've written and illustrated a number of books over the past year with some pretty intricate plot lines!
~ You also have gained an appreciation for poetry this year. Two of your favorites are Longfellow's "The Children's Hour," and Stevenson's "Bed in Summer." We also gave you "Now We are Six" by A.A. Milne for your birthday and you've already begun enjoying some of the silly poems about Christopher Robin and Pooh.
~ You are becoming quite the little violinist. In fact, your big birthday present from Mommy and Daddy this year was a 1/4 size "big girl" violin. You have already tried it out and were so excited about the big, full sound you can make! You are working your way steadily through Suzuki Book 1 and it is a joy to hear you play.
~ I've decided that your love languages are quality time and sweet treats. So, we figured we would both take you out on special dates today. Daddy took you to breakfast at Chick-fil-A, and Mommy took you to do school at the bookstore and get a hot chocolate while the little girls were at their weekly preschool class. You would have thought that we gave you the moon. I did get a picture of you and Daddy when you came home from your date!

~ You love riddles and jokes. You've come up with a few clever ones on your own, but you also have an amazing memory and can remember dozens that you've read or heard in various places. Your favorite as of late came from your swimming creatures class: "How many tickles does it take to make a squid laugh? TEN-tickles!" You just think it's hilarious. You love sharing your riddles with your grandparents, especially.
~ You and your church friends have a new favorite activity before and after church, or while your parents are in meetings: Spy club. You're very good about including any children who want to participate, but you do have a few regular members. You get books from the library about being detectives and spies and create various tasks. Your motto is "Every Mission Counts."
~ You LOVE riding your bike. We took the training wheels off this summer and you just took off. You love riding around the neighborhood, but you and Caroline spend a lot of time just riding in the backyard and driveway too.
~ You are a wonderful big sister. You and Caroline play really well together, playing make-believe and pretend. You even include Eleanor now! You also love reading stories to both your sisters.
~ You love to create. Whether it's your sketchbook, your watercolors, tying fleece quilts, or sewing pillows, you just love to make things. You really want Mommy to teach you how to use the sewing machine, so maybe that will be a goal for this year!
~ You love games and competitions of any sort. Board games, card games, scavenger hunt clues and puzzles, anything. You would play games for hours if it were up to you.
~ Singing with Daddy in the evenings has become a favorite pastime. We have a new favorite album called TheOlogy which teaches basic doctrine to kids. You really like the song "The God of WOW" which is about how amazing God is.

Anna Kate, you are an incredible joy and blessing in our lives and we are eternally grateful for you. Our prayer for you for the coming year and for every year is from I Peter 3:4 - "Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which in God's sight is very precious." We love you more than you will ever know and cannot express how much joy you bring to our lives. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy
(and your sisters, too!)

I thought I should add a few more pictures that I took later on your birthday!