SIX

She is six! As I was laying by her in her bed the night before her birthday she had many questions running through her little head, she asked, "mom am I six right when I wake up in the morning and how does my body know when to turn six?" Her idea was that maybe there is a little clock in her body and every year it clicks to how old you are. I thought that was a great idea.
Ellie with her requested breakfast of pancakes, "ice cream syrup," and orange juice.

I always want to be a mom that lives in the moment. I try really hard not to wish to go back and to not wish for things to go by quickly. Yesterday Ellie climbed up onto my lap while we were having a snack in the afternoon and she wanted me to tell her about when she was little. She loves to hear stories about when she was little. We ended up looking at all of her old pictures and as we were looking at so many memories I found a video of her when she was 2 singing "I am a Child of God." I remember filming her like it was yesterday and I couldn't help but think, "Oh I wish that I could have that time back just for a moment." I will always treasure the many memories that I have but I will continue to try to live in the moment and enjoy every second that I have with my big six year old.

This year Ellie knew exactly what she wanted to do for her birthday. She wanted a water party so when Mimi came to visit a couple of weeks ago we got all of the birthday party ready to go. Ellie was so excited and we spent the night before her birthday getting the backyard all ready. I had been checking the weather all week long and we were just hoping for the best. Well, we woke up Saturday to find the rain coming down and the sky pitch black. We continued to hope for the best and Ellie still wanted to have the party even if we couldn't play outside. So it continued to rain and rain and I had to do my best to be flexible. So we moved things inside and the party went on and Ellie had the time of her life!

Ellie has had a pinata at all of her birthdays. She thinks that you always have to have a pinata. The highlight of the pinata was that Ben came up with a special pinata song to sing while moving it up and down. When Ellie talked to the grandparents one of the first things that she told them was about her dads "Pinata song."

The kids grabbing all of the candy. After this we did an obstacle course inside. I was a little nervous to do it inside but it ended up being really fun.

Frosting our fishbowl cookies. Then we were onto the scavenger hunt.

After pizza it was time for cake and ice cream. Ellie still gets shy when everyone sings to her, but she told me that she wanted me to sing to her "a hundred billion times" so I spent the entire day singing to her.

So after the party ended we said goodbye to everyone and 15 minutes later the sun decided to come out. The weather is so unpredictable here. So we spent the afternoon doing this . . .

There are many things that I have learned from Ellie this year. It has been so fun to watch her continue to grow into such a wonderful little girl. This year some her favorite things have been her music class with her beloved teacher Ms. Katy, gymnastics, and any chance that we get to go swimming. She still is full of energy which we love about her, but it can be a little exhausting at times. She loves to learn about everything and anything. This past week I have had to study up about our Solar System because I have had question after question. She is a persistent little one which can be difficult, but it helps her accomplish so many things. She has become a great reader and I often find her on the couch reading to Anna and trying to teach her how to read. She has taught me so much about myself. I am so proud to be her mom. I love you Ellie Louise.

Ellie is not one to ask for very many things but she saw this rocket several months ago at a store and she loved it. Ben told her about when he was little and he made a rocket while staying with his grandparents over one summer, so that made her think it was even better. So when she opened her present from us her little eyes lit up when she saw her rocket.
(As a side note - for the past several months Ellie loves to wear Ben's t-shirts to bed every night. I had to add that to explain this picture and her breakfast picture. I think that her daddy secretly loves it.)

Happy Birthday Ellie!