Hi!  I had my birthday party today!  It was a lot of fun.  I was disappointed because my best friend Reilley couldn't come.  She's sick with strep throat.  And since she didn't come, her little sister MacKenzie didn't come.  She's Julia's friend.  But, even though they weren't there, it was still a fun party!  And, I actually still have my fever.  But, I feel ok when I have had some tylenol.  We didn't want to have to cancel my party.  But, my mom's taking me to the doctor tomorrow. 

This morning, when we got up and got ready, my mom and I went to pick up my cake and ice cream.  I picked out a cake that looked like a beach scene with flip flops and palm trees on it.  The flip flops actually turned out to be magnets that I can put on the fridge!  It was a pretty cake.  It had "Happy 10th Birthday Anna" written on it.  When we got back from getting the cake, it was time to go to the party!  First, we took Laura to stay at a friend's house so she didn't keep trying to run out on the skating rink. 
Then we went to the Kate's Skating Rink!  Gama was there, too.  My friends Kaley, Jakayla, Lauren, Lindsey, and Ashley all came.  We skated and played in the arcade a lot.  I got balloons from a kangaroo!  There's a climbing/play area that I'm still just barely short enough to play in, too!  My dad brought his roller blades and he helped Julia skate a lot, but also skated with me, too.  We ate pizza and then had the cake and ice cream.  When everyone left, my mom's friend who was watching Laura came, so the little kids played in the climbing area and I kept skating.  Then, Laura wanted to skate, too, so Dad got her some skates and she skated for quite awhile!  It was really cute!  When we finally went home, everyone was really tired.  It was a fun party!
~Anna~   

Hi!  I kind of forgot that I had a blog all year.  But, I remembered today and thought I'd update!  4th grade is finally over!  Today is actually the last day of school, but I'm home sick with a fever.    My teacher was Mrs. Walker.  She is really nice.  I like her a lot. 

I had a very busy school year this year.  In school, I took violin on Wednesdays and AIG on Tuesdays.  In AIG, one activity we did was, we picked a town with the name of an animal.  I picked Horseshoe.  We had to write a story guessing how the town got its name.  Then we sent our story to the mayor and asked if we were right and to please write back to tell the real story behind how the town got its name.  The mayor of Horseshoe never did write me back.   After school, I had SOS (students of service).  Our main activity was, once a month, we went to a nursing home and visited with the residents there.  Also, I was in Drum Circle.  We played 2 different kinds of African Drums.  It was a lot of fun.  My 3rd grade teacher, Mrs Woods, was our Drum Circle teacher.  

In school, I got pretty good grades!  I got all A's & B's all year.  In fact, last 9 weeks, I got all A's!     On my EOG's I got all 4's and on my writing test, I got a 3. Next I'm on to 5th grade!  I wonder who my teacher will be?  And I'm excited because in 5th grade, near Easter, we'll take a class trip to the Outer Banks.  And then in 6th grade, I'll go to Middle School.  Yikes!

Out of school, I've been pretty busy, also.  In church, I was in handbells, choir, and Rainbow Kids (a youth group for 3rd-5th graders).  On Mondays, I had art class, and on Thursdays, I was in dance class.  I took jazz/hip hop & clogging.  We had a big recital in May (on Mother's Day weekend).  My uncle Bill, aunt Debbie, and cousin Amanda came from Georgia to see it, too.  My sister Julia was also in the recital for her ballet and tap classes.  On Fridays, I took horse lessons with my mom's friend's daughter, Catie, and her horse, Dixie.  My mom gave me the lessons as a Christmas present.  

My birthday is this month.  In fact, tomorrow is my birthday party!  I hope I'm not still sick!  My party is at the skating rink.  I invited all the girls in my class and most of them are coming.  It'll be a lot of fun.  On Monday, we're going to Carowinds for the first time this year.  On Thursday, we're leaving for Ohio to visit my dad's side of the family.  My mom entered us to win 4 tickets to Cedar Point.  We'll find out Monday if we won.  If we do, we'll go on Friday!  I hope we win!  I've never been to Cedar Point, but I've heard a lot about it!  When we get back from Ohio, a couple days later, I'm going to Camg Golden Valley with my best friend, Reilley.  I love camp!  Then, the day after we get back is my birthday!  I'll be 10 years old!  A whole decade! 

In July, I'm going to camp again, but this time at Lutheridge.  My cousins Patrick & Jacqueline are coming, too.  Jacqueline will be my cabin buddy.  Obviously, Patrick won't be in our same cabin cause he's a boy!  But, he'll be in the same area of camp.  It'll be fun! 

I'm sure this summer we'll go swimming a lot at my Gama's pool and we'll go to Carowinds a lot, since we have season passes.  Also, I'll be going to my mom's work 3 mornings a week.  She works at a pre-school.  During the summer, there's an elementary kids' class for the teacher's kids and siblings of the pre-school kids.  We'll do some fun activities there, too.  

It looks like it'll be a fun summer.  School starts back on Aug 27th.  I'm glad to have a break with NO HOMEWORK!!!      I hope to see of you all this summer!
~Anna~

Hi!  My mom downloaded a few more pictures, so I can put them on my blog!  Here goes! 
First are some pictures from Girl Scout camp! 
Here I am in front of my cabin!

The Night Owls group is singing here...

Reilley and I are in the front...



My sisters were glad to see me!

My mom and dad both came, too!     

Our family picture in Blowing Rock!

I like to walk in the stream...
  
There's a rock climbing wall that I like to climb...I made it to the top! 
I also like to climb trees!

Here's a picture of Julia and I showing off our matching new school shoes up
at Moses Cone manor.  Isn't it a pretty view?
My sisters and me enjoying the pretty scenery!

My GG and Nona were with us too!  (So was Gama, she took the pic!)

Well, I think that's all for now!  I get to find out who my 4th grade teacher will be today!  Yay!  ~Anna~

Hi!  I wanted to write about my busy, but very fun, month of July!  After the 4th of July, my cousins left and then we also left for Ohio.  We stayed up there for a week and had lots of fun!  More cousins!  Unfortunately, our cousins, John, Helen, and brand-new baby Samuel were unable to make it at the same time as us.  But we still had cousin fun with Joseph, Pamela, Lauren, and Simon.  It was really rainy most of the week, so we didn't get to play outside and swim as much as usual.  But, it did stop raining for the St Pete's festival, which was really fun!  We also went to the Y pool, which is one of my favorite places in the world!  It has slides, a lazy river, and a vortex!  It's so much fun!  We went to Malabar farm, the library for a magic show, and I went to an art class with Joseph, while Julia and Pamela went to another one.  I can't wait to go again after Christmas and ski again!  
Then, after we got back from Ohio, I went to horse camp.  I rode Pearl and finally got the courage to trot!   It's so fun!  I can't believe I used to be afraid.  I wish I had a horse of my own!  I love horses so much!  
Then, after a week of going to horse camp, I went to Girl Scout Camp with Reilley, which is an overnight camp.  Our theme was Night Owls, so we got to stay up late and sleep in.  We went night swimming, night canoeing and other night-time activities.  We stayed in treetops, which is a bunch of small cabins up on stilts like a treehouse!  There was no electricity and no counselors were in our cabins.  We were in cabin 1.  The counselors were in cabins 4 & 5.  In my cabin was me, Reilley, Laura (not my sister) and Ashley (Laura's sister).  We had a really good time!  I was so busy that I only wrote one letter the whole and that was to my mom and dad.  Oh, one day, we went off-site and rode bumper boats, swam in a pool (instead of a lake) and played mini golf!  It was super fun!  And the night we canoed, Reilley got hit in the head by a paddle (on accident) and almost had to get stitches!  It bled a whole bunch, but they got the bleeding to stop, so it was ok.    
After Girl Scout Camp, I went back for another week of horse camp.  I just can't get enough of horses!  This week, I rode Dark Skies.  It was so hot all week.  I think it got over 100 almost every day and we had to wear jeans!  Ahhh!  Fortunately, we got to spend some time indoors playing board games (Horse-opoly!) and then we brought our bathing suits and played in the sprinkler.    Then I was done with camps, so I went back to Mom's pre-school, which has an elementary class in the summer, for the last 3 days of school.  We went bowling one day, did some arts and crafts, played some games, and then the last day, a guy came with a (track-less) train and we got to ride around on this crazy train ride!  Mom said he almost made her throw up!  I thought it was really fun though. 
We went to Carowinds a few times.  In fact, we're going again tomorrow.  My cousins are BACK in town!  Yay!  I love them!  They're in town all week.  Friday, I get to find out who my teacher will be for 4th grade.  Next week will be all about getting ready to go back to school!  Julia and I both have open houses.  Julia has some other Kindergarten stuff, too.  She'll be going to my school!  I'll help her ride the bus home and eat breakfast in the cafeteria in the mornings.  I hope she likes it.  Mom requested for her to get the same teacher I had, Mrs. McDowell.  I hope she gets her.  I'll let you know who I get!  I'm excited to go back and see my friends again.  But I'm not too excited about homework again.   
Also, I'm going to be a Flower Girl in my cousin Adam's wedding to Elise!  My dress came in already and its so pretty!  I'm so excited!  Their wedding is in September.  I'll definately update about that when its time!  
Well, I'm going to go now!  Talk to you later!  ~Anna~            

Hi!  I haven't updated for awhile because our computer's been down.  But, Mom's going to try to put some pictures on before Laura wakes up from her nap here at Gama's house!  Here goes!

Here's Laura, Jacob, and me with Adam and Elise in Hilton Head! 

This is my birthday party at Sim's BBQ. 



We were dancing fools at Sim's BBQ! 

We went canoeing up the the mountains! 



Here we are with my mom's cat, Taffy!

On July 4th, there was a pie-eating contest at the pool. 

Here we are covered in pie!
The next picture was in Blowing Rock at the end of July with my family and Nona, Gama, and GG.  We had a really fun day!

That's all for now, I think...  Until I download more pictures, anyway!  ~Anna~ 

Hi--My mom hasn't gotten my birthday or July 4th pictures developed or downloaded yet, but here are some more from Hilton Head that she didn't put on earlier!  I hope you like them! 

 

We had fun walking on the beach at the family reunion!  We collected lots and lots of oyster shells.  In the first picture, you can see our bags of shells!

Here's the whole family at the Saturday picnic!
Well, that's all for now!  ~Anna~

Hi!  I just turned 9 on Friday!  Its so exciting!  I love my birthday!  We've been celebrating all week!  After Hilton Head, my cousins all came to stay at Gama's house.  We had Vacation Bible School at church and they came with.  The theme was Son Treasure Island.  We had a blast!  Wednesday after VBS, all the older VBS kids went bowling.  We got to play 2 games.  Then our parents picked us up later.  On Thursday night, we (the family, not VBS kids) all went to Chuck E Cheese, which, needless to say, is so fun.  They gave me an ice cream sandwich with a candle to blow out and 9 free tokens.  Then Friday was my birthday.  I'll tell about that.  Friday morning, my mom woke me up by putting by birthday presents on top of me!  She got me 2 Barbies, 2 Loving Family dolls, a tshirt that says, "Everybody Loves a Blue Eyed Girl," some cool new flip flops, the book Little Women, a hair-wrap kit, an American Girl puzzle book, and a cute outfit for fall.  After opening presents, we went up to church for our last day of VBS.  We gave a show to our parents where we sang all of our VBS songs.  We wore our Son Treasure Island tshirts too.  After the show, there was a steel drum band from L-R that played while we had a picnic.  My mom brought a balloon and cupcakes and I blew out a candle.  After VBS, we went swimming at Gama's pool.  That's always fun!  Then, we went to Sim's BBQ for dinner.  There they have a live bluegrass band and everybody dances (clogging and square dancing).  Tante Sarah got me a cool paper doll book and the "Meet Molly" American Girl book.  Gama got me a subscription to American Girl magazine and a season's pass to Carowinds!  (I LOVE Carowinds!)  Grandma Gaye and Grandpa Cliff got me the Anna Sophia "Only Hearts Club" doll with an outfit and book and also the High School Musical DVD.  Mom brought a cake that looked like a watermelon to Sim's where I blew out candles again! 
Saturday was my big birthday party at Daddy's church with my friends.  Reilley & MacKenzie, Brooke, Samantha, and Sarah & Lilly came.  So did Patrick, Jacqueline, and Jacob (and Gama, Mike, Sarah, and baby Isaac).  And so did Celine!  We had a lot of fun playing, riding bikes, and eating lots of chips, pizza, cake and ice cream.  I blew out candles AGAIN!!!  Phew!  Celine got me some cool sidewalk chalk and paint.  Reilley got me a Brats doll, Brooke a hair accessories kit, and Sarah a little vending machine bank that gives real candly! 
In the mail, I got some birthday cards and money from Nona & Boppa, Nana, and Joy & Karl.  I'm saving Nona's money for Girl Scout Camp.  I used Nana and Joy & Karl's money to buy another Only Hearts Club doll (Olivia Hope) to go with Anna Sophia that I got from Cliff and Gaye. 
Sunday after church, where we sang VBS songs again, we went up to the mountains, hiked, and canoed.  Afterwards, Uncle Mike set off some fireworks in Gama's driveway.  They were so pretty! 
And now its July 4th.  My cousins are still in town!  Jacqueline slept over last night.  That was fun!  Today, there's a pool party at Gama's pool.  Tonight we'll watch fireworks. 
Sunday we leave for Ohio, where we'll spend another week with more cousins!  I think I'll be exhausted after all this cousin excitement!  I know Mom will be! 

Talk to you later!  ~Anna~

Hi--Its 3 days til my birthday!  Yay!  I'm so excited!  We went to Hilton Head this weekend for a family reunion from my great-grandma's side of the family.  It was fun cause my cousins were there!  We had so much fun!  Here are a few pictures! 

 We're monkeys!

 Trying not to fall!

We're looking for shells here...

We're with my mom's cousin's fiancee, Elise looking at a photo album. 
I really liked Elise! 
Jacqueline and I are twins!


My mom, Julia, and me at dinner at the Crazy Crab! 

Well, that's all for now!  ~Anna~

Hi--I'm home from camp and I had the best time of my whole life!  Here are some pictures from when Mom, Gama, Julia, and Laura picked me up!

 Me in front of my cabin

 In front of my cabin again

 
In front of my cabin AGAIN, but with my counselor, Bonnie, who also goes to my church!  We had such fun!  My sisters were so happy to see me!

Here we're inside the cabin and Mommy's looking in a box that Aunt Debbie sent me (Thank you, Aunt Debbie!).  I slept on the top bunck where we're standing.

 Here are some kids re-enacting a counselor skit from the night before where the counselors said what they would be doing if they weren't counselors.  (The boy in front is a monkey--"A monkey I would be!  Ooh ooh, Ahh ahh, Give me monkey food!")
(Other examples are, "A hippy I would be!  Love, peace, a hair full of grease!"  and  "A spoiled brat I would be!  Gimme this, gimme that, I wanna be a spoiled brat!" and 
"A waitress I would be!  Here's your coffee, here's your tea, here's your barf bag, Blah!" and "A southern belle I would be!  Hi y'all, bye y'all, Y'all come back now, here?!"  and "A lifeguard I would be!  Blond hair, golden tan, I'm such a macho man!" and "A redneck I would be!  Drive a truck, shoot a buck, chew tobacco, spit!"  and "A farmer I would be!  Give Bessie give! The baby's gotta live!"  and  "A nerd I would be!  Pick it, lick it, roll it, flick it!" and  "A carpenter I would be!  2 by 4 and nail it to the floor!" and "A valley girl I would be!  No brains, no headaches!"  Then, 2 lucky ones got to be "Flag" and "Pole" where they alternately yelled "Flag!" and "Pole!")  (This is ALL Mommy and Gama heard yesterday.  And Julia got stuck on Spoiled Brat, so all she said yesterday is, "I'm gonna be a spoiled brat!"  Lovely!)

Here's one more picture from church on Sunday.  I painted a wine chalice for communion back in April when we did First Communion.  My chalice was used yesterday in church, along with another girl, Susie, who happened to also be at camp last week!  Here we are with Pastor Ballard.

Well, I'm going to go now!  ~Anna~

I'm still at camp.  Mom got a letter from me today.  It reads,

"Dear, Mommy, Daddy, laura, and Julia
Hey Mommy,
Hey Daddy,
Hey Julia
and Hey laura.
I'm Doing fine
I Didn't sleep well last night.  I also sow a grand daddy long leg on the wall Beside My Bed.
love, Anna"

Here are some more pictures with me in them from that website:
Can you find me?

We're making something...

Here's my back!

That's all for now, folks!  ~Anna~