Ani turns 6

Our little Ani turned 6 this week and it was a few days of celebrations so I think she felt very special.  First, nana and papa couldn't make it to her birthday dinner so they took Ani out to a restaurant earlier this week.  Then on her actual birthday she got to bring cupcakes to school and have her first dance lesson.  A day later we had Kjell and Jess over with Emily and Aveah and had the real birthday cake for Ani.  But, the main birthday celebration happened today when me, Jessica and another friend took our 4 girls to Grand Forks so Anika could get her ears pierced, do a little shopping and eat at a special place.  The girls had so much fun and Anika was talking for months how she's going to get her ears pierced when she turns 6.  She was really brave and cried just a little bit after it was done.  Now she's excited to show them off and they are really cute on her.

This school year has been a hard adjustment for Ani.  To go from going 3 mornings a week to preschool to a long day every day in kindergarten is a bit too much for her and she's been getting a little overwhelmed.  She was so excited to start kindergarten but after just 2 weeks she was asking when is the last day of school and does she have to go tomorrow.  This last week it was tearful bedtime every night because she doesn't want to go to school the next day and in the morning she cries too which is so hard to see.  I've been talking to her teacher and she assures me that once Anika sits down at her desk in the morning, she stops crying and has a great day but I think by the afternoon she gets so tired and worn out she comes home just exhausted.  So I'm not sure what to do, if she just has to tough it out or what.  I hate how much they focus on the learning so early on.  A friend of mine just told me that when her daughter was in kindergarten they had her take every Friday off to just have a break and that really helped her.  It made me think how Anika would love a day of rest and would be ready for school better but I know the teacher is not going to like that.  So we'll have to see what happens.  She is such a hard worker and wants to do everything right in school and that is also stressing her out a little bit because she gets frustrated when she can't do something right.  But she has such a sweet personality and I just love how God made her so beautiful inside and out.  She is so selfless and cares about everyone around her more than herself.  Always trying to serve people around her and loves to help, just a big servant's heart.  I hope she keeps that as she grows older and that she knows what a special child of God she is.

her ladybug cake

cupcakes for school

Getting ready to get the ears pierced.  Don't look at my mouth, not sure what I'm doing but my gums still hurt from this week's surgery.  I have stitches all the way up to my nose under the lip.