Birthday Fun

Ellie had quite the birthday this year. Her big day also happened to be Emma's last day of school and the release date for Madagascar 3 (the most recent movie Jon worked on). Between last day of school stuff, the Madagascar 3 release party, and her birthday play date at the park, we had a very full day! (So prepare for picture overload!)

It has become tradition the last couple of years to fill the living room with balloons on each of the kids' birthdays. It might just be their favorite part of the day. And seriously, you get A LOT of mileage out of a couple bags of dollar store balloons....those things last forever!

We got Ellie a shopping cart and doll for her birthday

Meeting Private at Dreamworks. She spotted him clear across the parking lot and ran as fast as she could to get to him. She would have followed him around all day if she could have.

They had a circus party, with all the junk food you could ever want (or not want!), Madagascar characters, face painting, bouncy house, a balloon man, and circus performers. It was really a lot of fun. We made sure to thank them for throwing such a fun party for Ellie.  :)

We stopped home briefly for a little quiet time and then headed to the park for an end-of-the-school-year/birthday celebration. I brought some cookies and we met up with several friends.

Ellie loves showing off on the slides

On Sunday, we got together with Jon's family to celebrate and eat her birthday cake (made by my friend Catherine). She really had no idea what was going on and was less than impressed with the whole thing....haha....

She daintily touched the cake and licked her fingers, but that was about it.

After cake, she was in silly mode. Ellie loves being chased, tickled, thrown in the air....basically just being silly. I love this girl!

 

Emma's Song: Ode to My Mother

This was a sweet little bedtime song Emma made up on the spot and sang to me tonight (the verses that I can remember). The first verse was to the tune of "A Child's Prayer" and the second verse was the tune from one of the songs on Bambi.  :)

Mother, are you there?
You are sweet, you are kind.
Sometimes you yell at me. Sometimes you speak nice. And sometimes you speak normal.


Mother, you are so nice to me.
And you are so pretty too.
Mother you are kind and I love you.

A to Z About 1 Year Old Ellie

I cannot believe my baby is ONE!!! The first year always flies by fast, but her first year zoomed right by me at the speed of light! She was the perfect addition to our family and we feel so lucky to have her. Here are the A to Z's of why we love Ellie (and yes, some of them are a stretch!)

A- animal-loving, active, adventurous
B- blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty, book worm
C- cute, carefree, clapping, climbing
D- dancing, dogs, delightful
E- enthusiastic, energetic
F- funny
G- girly, giggly
H- happy, headbands and hairbows
I- inquisitive, imaginative
J- joyful
K-kind, kitties
L- loving, lively
M- musical
N- noisy
O- outdoors
P- perfectly chubby, pretty, playful

Q- quick

R- roly poly, rambunctious
S- sweet (with a sweet tooth!), silly
T- ticklish
U- upbeat
V- verbal, vocal
W- water baby
X- (e)xplorer
Y- youthful
Z- zany

And because I can't resist, here are a few highlights from her incredibly busy and fun birthday!

 Waking up to the traditional living room filled with balloons

Meeting Private, the Madagascar penguin at Dreamwork's circus party....she would have followed this guy around ALL day if she could have.

Going down the slide over and over and over at her birthday park playdate with friends

The Loooong Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend ended up being an extra long one this year- 5 1/2 glorious days! Here are the highlights:

Madagascar 3 Wrap Party

Jon recently finished working on Madagascar 3 and the wrap party was Thursday night. He got to come home early, which was a treat. We got ready and then spent the next hour and 45 minutes driving what should have only taken 45 minutes to drop the kids off with some friends and then head to the theater in the city. SO.MUCH.TRAFFIC! It was crazy.

The movie was really fun....I didn't really know what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying it. (Insert a little plug for the movie here.  :)  You should all go see it....it comes out June 8....one more week! Support Jon and look for his name in the credits....he got his own line this year!) I love watching the movie with all the people who made it. You can feel the energy and excitement (and relief that it's finally done!) and it always gives me goosebumps. After the movie we all headed over to the party.

Jon and I are not party people (big surprise I know :)  ), so we don't particularly enjoy the standing around, trying to talk over blaring music while everyone around us drinks crazy amounts of alcohol. But, it is fun to have an excuse to get dressed up and get out on a date and chat with a few of Jon's coworkers. This year's party was a circus theme, which was fun.

Big Sur

Friday and Saturday we headed to Big Sur for a little camping with Jon's family. They go every Memorial Day Weekend with their ward, and we occasionally tag along. The kids had a blast, but man it was exhausting keeping up with Ellie. She was fascinated with the fire pit and every other thing that she wasn't supposed to touch. But, we all made it out alive, we had fun, and we even stayed dry.

Curiodyssey

Monday, I got to do a little shopping by myself in the morning and then we took the kids to one of their favorite children's museums. It's a small museum, which I love, but has a lot of fun science type exhibits and a small "zoo". 

After the museum we met up with several families in our ward for a picnic. We feel so blessed to have the friends here that we do. It was a lot of fun!

Tuesday Sick Day

Tuesday Jon wasn't feeling great so he called in sick. I obviously don't like when he's sick, but it was definitely nice to have him home. Ellie was able to take her morning nap uninterrupted (her nap time is right when I have to take Matthew to preschool) and I got 2 hours of shopping by myself. It was awesome! 

It was a little rough to face reality again Wednesday morning, but I'm so glad we had those 5 1/2 days.