This year, Ella's little party with friends was themed, "A Day in Paris". It was pretty and simple, but it came together so well. I think I'd even say it was my favorite party to plan so far. The kids loved the treats and crafts. The photo booth was a big hit. One thing is for sure, there wasn't a theme that could have fit Ella better this year. She loves all things Paris and Grace and baking. She enjoys macarons and croissants any chance she gets. If she sees an Eiffel tower (also known as the "Paris Castle" in our house) she squeals with excitement.
Grandma came up for the day to help us with the party and celebrate with us. We love having her here!
This little four year old was excited to celebrate!
Grandma was first in line for the photo booth! :)
Lots of little girl friends came to celebrate Ella in 'Paris'
We decorated french poodles and eiffel towers with ribbons, sequins, sparkles and pom poms!
Give these girls glue and loads of glitter and they could play all day!
Making her poodle fancy!
Did somebody say poodle? This guy was close by representing poodles everywhere as the official real life Paris party mascot. :)
Here's some more photo booth fun:
The spread included: juice, popcorn, watermelon, fruit salad, crossaints, ham and cheese, macarons and fancy marshmallows on a stick.
Juliet took it all in and watched the big girls from her swing where she hung out for most of the party with Daddy and Grandma.
This handsome guy is the best barista around serving up the coffee at our Parisian Patisserie.
Happy Birthday sweet Ella! We love you so so much.
Here's hoping she will always want to kiss her mommy before she blows our her candles! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JblFvivw28g
When Grandma plays, she really plays. After the party and before Grandma headed home, she got into full costume for Ella's birthday spa. Manicures and pedicures all around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwumLSUArdw
Happy 4th Birthday Belly B! We pray it's your best year yet. We love you so much.
Watching you grow and being your mommy is one of the greatest joys of my life. Your generous heart gives freely to everyone you meet. You are sensitive and empathetic. You feel deeply for others. Always the first to make sure someone is ok, you drop whatever you are doing to care for the person. You are passionate about what you believe in. You let us know with a big voice. Sometimes you throw in some feet stomping and pillow throwing too. You rarely hold your feelings inside. If you are angry, you let us know. If you are sad, it all pours out. When you are happy, your laughter is contagious. Your ability to forgive and believe the best in others challenges me and reminds me of Jesus.
Your love for the Bible and for retelling God's stories is beautiful. At just four years old, your first step in a time of need is to turn to Jesus in prayer. You stop in the middle of anything you are doing to talk to Jesus about your concerns. It could be anything from a missing shoe to asking for a peaceful night's sleep free of scary dreams. With confidence, you turn to Jesus and pour out your heart and receive his peace. When someone is sad, you offer to pray for them. I'm inspired by your faith in God's promises and reminded of God's goodness as I watch you grow.
You don't mind playing by yourself and often sneak away for some alone
time with your babies or ponies, but you also really love one on one
time with mommy and daddy. You tend to go with the flow and love
playing with your sisters, but have really started speaking up when you
are tired of being bossed around! You make friends everywhere you go, whether it's the girl at the library, the teenager at the mall or the cashier at the grocery store. You include people and ask lots of questions because you genuinely care about the answers. You LOVE babies and taking care of people. You are spunky and lots of fun. We love you so much, Belly Bean!
You love:
fancy dresses
sparkly shoes and cowgirl boots
macaroni and cheese
blueberries
baking cookies with Mommy
taking walks with Daddy
playing friends with Abby
teaching Juliet how to play dollhouse
Grace (your AG doll)
swimming and being in water
Odd Squad
being read to and "reading" stories to whoever will listen
trips to the library
your bike
crafts
dancing
On the morning of your birthday, you woke up to a pile of gifts and the special birthday pancakes you requested. You spent the morning enjoying your new gifts before Grammy, G-Diddy and Papa arrived to celebrate with us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VBnVVKX0Gk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pcNOXX2co
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEFvE9ySyCM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsNZ1rmqVYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d31L1h3yCYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSk-OBPPxOk
While my dad and I cooked dinner, the girls, Joe, Grammy and G-Diddy headed up to the park for a bike ride!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XSNKonH7Xw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1FYdYBo1SA
It was a team effort to get dinner on the table over here. I'm so glad my dad was there to help me in the kitchen. I love making those memories together. Papa manned the grill! We cooked up some of Bobby Flay's Grilled Chicken with Spicy Peach Glaze, Homemade Mac and Cheese and other goodies.
I can't help but wonder what your little heart hoped for...
That's a wrap! We had a day full of special memories to kick off this
little firecracker's fourth year. If you were looking for me that night,
I was the crazy mom trying to do bedtime as they came down of all that
blue icing! :)
If she finishes everything on her tray and no one notices, she starts yelling until someone pays attention. Today, I turned around and asked her who she was yelling at. This was her response...
listening to this sweet girl grow into a strong reader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2x54dENtGg
practicing baby wearing for our trip to Utah
mornings at Target to get ready for our big trips
date nights with this guy
When the to do lists are long and the details of the life feel overwhelming, I'm thankful for this guy who knew what I needed and helped me fight for it when I couldn't. When it felt too hard to slow down and I was in desperate need of some peace and rest, he stepped in. He took me to dinner and then created space for me to stop and read and BE with Jesus. Just like that I felt like I could breathe again.
family book club day
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin is a favorite of ours and a perfect first pick for our family book club! We started our morning with breakfast tacos and our first reading of the book. We followed that up with some taco sticker fun and a craft. The girls were entertained for a while with many rounds of Taco Takeover. We finished our day with a full taco dinner spread and another reading of our book. It was a ton of fun. The girls loved it and were asking what our next book was going to be before the night was over. I'm looking forward to our next family book club day too!
lots of swimming with friends
a fun 4th of July celebration: swimming, BBQ, s'mores, poppers and sparklers with friends
a day at the lake with school friends
blueberry loving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCge0J-C7JQ
birthday party preparations!
This is the face of one excited (almost) 4 year old. Ella was so excited to come to the store with me and so appreciative as we picked out the special things for her little birthday celebration. Her birthday joy even made the disgruntled Walmart shoppers smile. Only two more days until her Paris party...real poodle included!
One night, Abby came with me to finish up some small birthday details for Ella. We passed her favorite store and she just had to run in to take a peek. When did my baby become such a big girl.
