My treasures

Thank you, God, for the blessing of my children. My heart is so filled with love for these two precious treasures!

Ella's tea party

Instead of having a big birthday party this year, Ella decided she wanted to have a little tea party with a few of her little girlfriends. We planned it for Tuesday morning. I loved planning it, too, with the sparkles and flowers and girliness of it all. When the storms came through Monday night and knocked out our power, we contemplated postponing it, but since we had made all the food the night before and the weather was cool enough to open the windows and be comfortable, we decided the show must go on! And lucky for me, my parents were in town to help look after the kiddos and help keep my mind together. =) Bless my sweet mom's heart, too, for holding the flashlight as I was standing on a chair, hanging streamers at midnight! ha! The table looked so pretty (can you tell we LOVE pink and green around here?!)! The excited party hostess and her pretty table... And then, just minutes before the party started, our power came back on!! Yay! The girls put on their tiaras and jewelry and sat at the make-up table to get all dolled up before having tea. Aren't they a precious bunch? Very pretty, Ella! I love the purple eyeshadow smeared on her cheeks! Four pretty princesses Ella was excited to serve everyone tea (pink lemonade)... She was so very careful with the teapot and tea cups. The teacups belonged to her Great-Grandma Pauline. They were well-used then and it was pretty special to get to use them for this.Having tea... It was so fun watching these little gals try to be so dainty. After tea, it was time for a dance party! Ella and Mia were cutting a rug! Ella got to open gifts from each of her friends. Kylie gave her a "big girl doll". She doesn't have anything like it and thought it was so neat. Thanks, Kylie! Mia gave her some art supplies and Littlest Pet Shop toys. Thanks, Mia! Julia gave her more art supplies. We can never have too many markers and finger paints around here! Thanks, Julia! More running around and having fun!Then a break for more lemonade... Mia and Kylie enjoyed some more cupcakes. And Ella enjoyed some more make-up. Just beautiful, Sis! What a super fun day!! I think all the girls had a great time and Ella told me after her friends left, "Mom, that was the most awesome tea party ever!" Special thanks to Pap, too, for keeping an eye on Cade during the party. Cade just didn't understand why he couldn't be in the middle of things and put on make-up, too! And Happy 61st Birthday, Dad! Thanks for being such a good sport about having to spend part of your birthday celebration in the basement under a tornado warning! Your "Cincinnati kids" sure love you!

Swing set

After much deliberation, we finally decided on a swing set for these kiddos. They have been so excited for Daddy to get it put up! Papaw offered to come up on Saturday and help put it together. He and Chris worked long and hard on that thing... I didn't even manage to get a picture of the finished product. It looked great though, and the kiddos had a blast on it for a few hours on Sunday and Monday. And then, unfortunately, the storms came through Monday night and did this to our brand-new swing set! There was one tearful and heartbroken, little girl here that night! Boo!! These kids are batting a thousand around here these days!! We really appreciate all of Daddy's and Papaw's hard work though! By the way, Papaw, what do you have going on this weekend? haha! Just kidding! =)

Bye, bye, fish!

Well, I'm sad to report that Ella's fish haven't fared so well. We have gone from 11-12 fish to ZERO, in a matter of just a few days. The last of them died over the weekend. Here she is flushing a couple more (but please don't ask her to put her sucker down!)... Bye, bye, fish! They flushed the last two while I was at work one night. I could tell by the sag of her shoulders and the tilt of her head in this picture that she was a little more sad here. We're not exactly sure what happened or what we did wrong. We knew the tiny fish were not that hardy, but the big goldfish should have been. We're thinking they must not have been that healthy to begin with. Hmmm. We've promised her more, so hopefully they will last a little longer!

End of preschool

Ella's year of preschool ended last week with lots of fun activities. On Tuesday, there was an end-of-year ceremony. I absolutely love watching these things! They are so cute! First, her class sang a few songs. And then each child was presented with a diploma and special award. The awards were pretty fun. Ella's award was "Most Likely to Become a Cheerleader" (imagine that!) because "she always has a smile on her face and is so full of energy." Those are two great things! Way to go, Ella! Because her birthday had been the previous day, she received a big birthday sticker and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. Pretty special! We took pictures with some of her favorite classmates. Here's Ella and Mia... Ella and Dillon... Ella and Brooke... Ella and Miss Kelli. She's been great this year and I know Ella will miss her next year! Ella brought home a book full of artwork she had made over the course of the year. There was something about these little feet that just got to me! She is growing so fast! Kindergarten, here we come! Here's the class singing to Ella. She was pretty stinkin' proud. =)

Happy 5th Birthday, Ella!

Our little gal is five years old! Where in the world does the time go?? For some reason, this birthday is hitting me so hard! Could someone please turn off the waterworks already?! Five years old just seems like such a big kid to me, or as Ella says, "I'm a big school girl now!" She is growing up so fast and has been such an overall good, respectful kid these last few months. She asked us a few times over the weekend about the differences between four and five year olds. We told her five year olds are even more helpful and kind than four year olds, that they are well-mannered, never argue with their parents, etc. Since she woke up Monday morning, she is really taking being five to heart and every time we commend her behavior, she says, "Well, I am five now." =) She is just a precious, little lady, and I am so proud of her sweet and thoughtful spirit. I had baked her birthday cake the night before and she helped me mix up the icing colors Monday morning. She decided on pink, purple, and yellow- did you think they would be anything else? =) Then she helped me ice and sprinkle the cupcake cones for her birthday at preschool on Tuesday. I thought they turned out so stinkin' cute! She and Cade both enjoyed the fruits of her labor... Yum! We spent the day Monday just playing and hanging out. Daddy came home early, and Ella and I were able to take a "girls' walk" around the neighborhood. She rode her new bike and we talked about all kinds of things. I treasured getting to spend that special one-on-one time with my girl on her birthday. Ella was quite the popular girl Monday, too. She received one Happy Birthday phone call after the other. Per Ella's request, we had spaghetti, rolls, and creamed corn for dinner. Then it was finally time for presents!! Cade was so excited to show her the kitty-cat birthday card he picked out for her. And she loved the Littlest Pet Shop toys he picked out, too! She's been talking about getting a new pink and purple swimsuit forever, so she was more than thrilled with this! A new Princess nightgown... She has informed us that she only wants to wear skirts, no shorts, this summer, so she was very happy with a new skirt outfit. We wanted to give her a special keepsake for her fifth birthday. I always wanted a musical jewelry box when I was younger and we knew it would be the perfect gift for her. Her excited giggles were priceless when she opened the top and saw the ballerina spinning. She loved it! Time for birthday cake! How old are you, Ella?! Cade thinks he's five, too! A picture with Daddy And with Mommy Make a wish, Ella! Take two (or three or four)... Digging in to cake and ice cream. I'm thinking she enjoyed it! Happy 5th birthday, Ella Grace! Our wish is that you will have many, many more happy birthdays and that you will always know how much you're treasured and loved. You have blessed our lives beyond measure and we love being your mommy and daddy!