Anna is 6

Baby girl just keeps growing--I've asked her to stop, but she's not listening. :-)

Anna and her friend, Lilly, have birthdays within two days of one another, and Lilly's mother asked me a few months ago if I would like to do a joint birthday party with her.  I thought splitting the work and expense sounded like an awesome idea, and Anna loved the idea of sharing her birthday, too.

We celebrated Anna's official birthday with pizza and a Publix ice-cream cake for supper on the actual day; they celebrated Dr. Seuss Day at school and I was busy with party prep that night, so we didn't do anything big on the actual day, but she loved opening all of her family gifts.

So, about this next photo--Anna decided she wanted to buy the new American Girl doll of the year sometime back in January.  She gets a small allowance each week, so has been setting that aside and, with some previous piggy bank money, was getting sort of close.  Thanks to generous grandparents and Uncle Shawn and Aunt Cindy, she reached her goal (and then some).  Aunt Missy and Aunt Laurie gave her the outfit to match Grace.  Here's Anna with her savings jar:

And some pics of Anna and Lilly's circus-themed party the following day:

And finally, we wrapped up her birthday the following Friday.  The kids were out for spring break, so we went to the new American Girl store in Orlando so Anna could buy her new doll.

She brought Kirsten along to meet Grace.  I heard her tell Kirsten the night before that, "You'll get to meet your new friend Grace when she comes out of my tummy."  Haha...I'm not sure exactly what she thought was going to happen at the store!

We looked all around the store--even Will was kind of intrigued by the fancy bakery in Grace's collection, and was very impressed that all the American Girls are black belts in karate (um, apparently they only sell one version of the karate uniform).

Anna with her purchases:

I took pity on poor Kirsten and shelled out some money for a new hairstyle at the doll salon:

Anna in her Grace outfit, with her Grace doll, next to cardboard Grace:

Best part?  Shawn, Cindy, Olivia, and Grandma joined us for afternoon tea:

Failed attempt at a cousin picture:

After perusing all of the cute outfits and doll accessories at the store, Anna ended up spending her extra cash on the "Feel Better Kit".  Which has entertained me tremendously.  There's even a tiny finger splint!

Anna at 6:

• Is somewhere in the neighborhood of 44 pounds and maybe 46 inches?
• Is a fantastic student.  She loves practicing her reading, hope that continues!
• Loves her scooter, wants to learn to roller skate, and is not all that interested in learning to ride her new bike (sans training wheels).  She can ride short distances, but is not motivated to take off just yet.
• Other than the above, tends to be pretty persistent in learning new things.  She essentially taught herself to tie her shoes, and will doggedly practice a new skill until she thinks she's got it--whether it's snapping fingers or learning her math facts.
• Worships the ground Will walks on, half of the time.  She's better versed in Minecraft and Star Wars Rebels than the average 6 yo girl, and she's the biggest fan of Will's handmade books.
• Spends the other half of her time fighting with Will.  Yep, we are in full-blown sibling fighting mode.  It's not fun.
• Is scared of the upstairs.  Which forces her to quickly make up with Will when they are fighting to that he can " 'tect me upstairs!"

Anna's favorites at age 6:

Friends: Kinsley, Lilly, Faith, Savannah.

Restaurant: Chick Fil A

Movie: Frozen

Toy: Grace

Sport to play: Riding my bike. (Me: really?)  Okay, riding my scooter.

Favorite outfit: My sparkly skirt.  And my Grace outfit.

Pizza topping: Cheese.

School lunch: Spring water!  (Both kids love bottled water.)

Book: My Bible book.

Color: Pink and purple.

Song: Let It Go

Favorite thing to do as a family: Eat dinner.

Breakfast: Yogurt.

Favorite thing to play with Will:  Star Wars!

Bible story: Adam and Eve.
After-school snack: Spring water!

TV Show: Star Wars Rebels.  No, actually, Clone Wars.

Candy: Cotton candy.

Ice cream flavor: Strawberry.

What do you want to be when you grow up: A singer.

Store:  Toys R Us!!

Hither by thy help I'm come

Today is the first day of school over here, and this year it is especially special!

So, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is one of my favorite hymns, and as a kid I liked the "Ebenezer" line because I thought it was funny.  You know, Scrooge and all. (If you're not familiar with the hymn, here's a link to a Mumford & Sons cover of it, which is pretty awesome.)  

The second verse begins "Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come," and it references I Samuel 7. In that passage, God gives the Israelites a victory over the Philistines and Samuel sets up a stone to commemorate the victory and names it Ebenezer, or "stone of help", saying "Thus far the Lord has helped us."

A few years ago I read this blog post, and I loved that the author (Amanda) used the same language to describe making it through a difficult patch (her baby's first few months).  She figuratively "raised her Ebenezer" to recognize God's help through that time, and their deliverance safely through that trial.  (I definitely could have written the same thing after Will's first few months!)

(That gang sign Anna is making is supposed to be a "K".) 

Anyway, rewind with me to just about five years ago.  The day that John was diagnosed with cancer, we went home and went directly to the computer to look up all details on his prognosis.  The first site we went to (not WebMD!) listed the five-year-survival rate of Stage III rectal cancer as 55%.  We were in shock when we realized that John's chances of being alive for Anna's first day of kindergarten might be only slightly better than a coin-toss.

(Anna getting a hug and some encouragement from her preschool teacher, Mrs. Hoffman.)

(Anna and her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Epps.)

Fast forward five years to today...

...and the survival rate around here is 100%.

I wish that I'd known I'd be taking these pictures five years ago, but I am so, so, so thankful that Anna got to hug her daddy's neck before heading off to kindergarten.

So here we are today...

...raising our Ebenezer. :-)