Anna turned 5 today! She is such an amazing kid and a wonderful blessing to our family. She shows kindness and compassion to those around her and nurtures those who need care. She has an amazing mind and astounds us with what she has learned. She loves her family, and she shows so much love to Sarah that she has far exceeded our expectations of what a big sister could be. She is a joyful child and finds excitement in the most unexpected (to us) things. We love our Anna Elizabeth!

The birthday party went pretty smoothly, despite dreary weather driving us indoors instead of our original plan at the park. I was a little nervous about having 15 kids plus nearly as many adults in the house, but let me tell you, it was the quietest, calmest 5-year-old birthday party in the history of humanity. I guess sweet, quiet Anna is drawn to sweet, quiet friends! There weren’t even any crumbs on the floor after they ate their cake and snacks. It was uncanny. But they DID have fun, I think. We had a couple of games, a craft, the cake and presents, and they enjoyed just playing too.

Here are a few shots of 5-year-old Anna:

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We are loving “chapter book” time with Anna, and she’s loving it too. She follows along as we read and tells us if we miss a word. Nothing gets past this kid. Books we have read in February/early March include The Blue Bay Mystery, The Woodshed Mystery, Little Sioux Girl, Betsy-Tacy, and Betsy-Tacy and Tib.

I had never heard of the Betsy-Tacy books, but I think I would have loved them growing up. I loved the Little House books, the Anne books, and other old-timey stuff like that. The Betsy-Tacy books are written in that vein. This New York Times book review is worth a read if you’re interested in them. Apparently, they have a small but very devoted group of fans! I thank our children’s storyteller at our local library for clueing me in to these.

More great books are in the queue… I look forward to sharing next month!

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