7 years old

Ellie's 7th birthday. We had cupcakes for her immediate family party on her birthday. We went to the children's museum at the Gateway and then to Tucanos Brazilian grill for dinner.

Ellie had a party with some girl friends, sister and brothers. It was a balloon theme. We played all kinds of balloon games. The boys even learned how to make balloon animals as party favors. Ellie had her favorite donut cake for the party and we played pin the horn on the unicorn, one of Ellie's favorite games. We had a lot of fun.

This is Ellie and her "real" birthday cake at the family party--cousins, grandparents etc. She shared her party that day with her Aunt Heather's baby shower.


Every year Ellie has a birthday I always think, I can't believe that we endured another year. Then I remember how difficult the first year and a half was with her as a beautiful but constantly crying baby and then I remember how fun and pleasant she has been the last 5 1/2 years. It's then I realize we haven't been enduring the last 5 1/2 years but enjoying them with Ellie in our lives.
Here are some of my top 7 favorite things about Ellie:
1. Her brilliant blue eyes--I love to look at them.
2. What a great helper she is to me. I like that she is willing and wanting to help with about anything I ask of her.
3. Her great fashion sense. She could accessorize and layer outfits by the time she was 4yrs.
4. How grown up she always wants to be. Chatting on a pretend cell phone, putting on her make-up she always gets from Uncle Justin and Aunt Lara or trying to cook in the kitchen without any help are some of my funnest things to watch.
5. Her love for learning. She wants to do what her brothers do and therefore has learned to read and do math very well.
6. Her little stories she writes and illustrate that I constantly find laying around the house. Some day they could be published.
7. I love how much Ellie loves to sing. She is shy in front of a crowd, but around the house she sings like a star.

We love you Ellie!!!!

I am thankful for....

Jessica

Ellie

As I cooked dinner tonight I could hear the kids downstairs watching Little House on the Prairie. When the end credits came on I could hear my girls squeal and jump up so they could run and jump with Laura Ingalls at the end of the credits. I am thankful that my kids love wholesome shows and they show silly, childlike innocence by acting out the end of the credits. It made me smile, my sisters and I did the same thing 20-25 years ago.

I'm thankful for.....

During this month of Thanksgiving I have been reflecting on things I am thankful for. There are many things I am truly grateful for, family, home, jobs etc., however, I thought I would blog some of the things I am grateful for that I don't think of until they happen. So for the month of November, I will short little blogs about what I am thankful for.

Last night at 3:33am I realized I am grateful that my kids are big enough to recognize when their tummy is sick and they can make it too the bathroom and throw up there. I am also always grateful when I wake up with a small child standing over my bed whispering "Mommy I don't feel well.", that I have been able to wake up quick enough and carry the child quickly into the bathroom.

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet hubby who is now 35 years old. Wow is that old or what? You are now closer to 40 than to 30. Look at his birthday cake, we new it was a possible fire hazard so we had the fire extinguisher handy. Thanks for all you do for us Jeff. We are so glad you are the head of our family.

Let is snow!

We had a big snow storm today. I'm not sure I am looking forward to the snow with this dog.

Congratulations Jessica....You did it!!!!

Today on November 1st Jessica was able to go to Build a Bear and get her reward for not sucking her thumb for 5 weeks. Jess has not been enticed by any reward I have offered her to stop the thumb habit until we went into Build a Bear in the middle of Sept. and Jessica wanted one so bad that I made the deal with her. She had to stop sucking her thumb until Halloween and then the day after she could get her Build a Bear. We had weekly trips to the dollar store so she could have a little motivation every week but the big day was sooo fun. Jessica is so proud of herself and she is loving her new bear, Daisy, she is white with pink spots and has a red cheerleader outfit, just like Jessica's Halloween costume.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. I loved having it on a Friday. The kids are out of school early on Fridays which allowed us more time in the afternoon to relax. Right after school we went to Jeff's work and the kids trick-or-treated around his office from desk to desk. Jeff's co-workers treat well. We went out trick-or -treating in the evening with fabulous temperatures of 68 degrees. We were never cold. I don't remember any Halloween this warm in my life, except a couple of years we spent the holiday in St. George. We had a couple of the boys friends with us and everyone had a great time. We went to many houses and enjoyed our stops at our friends the Back's for scones, a Halloween tradition. Then we went to our friends the Torres' for chili and snacks. I think we got home around 10:30 pm. I loved not having to worry about school the next day.

Here are pics of the kids. Jessica is a Ute's cheerleader with her cute mouse pumpkin. Mason is the clone trooper this year and he carved an owl pumpkin. Jonah is under the mask as the Grim Reaper and he has a very detailed Lion pumpkin. Ellie went as Hannah Montana, she didn't like the feel of the wig so she decided her blond hair would work, she had a scary cat pumpkin. Jeff was a cat wrangler, dressed as a cowboy herding cats. I was a country girl, red hair and cowboy hat, while we were trick-or-treating but I showed up to Jeff's work dressed in my Sunday best and a banner that said "Trophy Wife". Everyone had a great Halloween this year.