the race is on!

ellie turned 4 on saturday, the 11th!

we had a little shin-dig with her friends, which, even though she cried several times, she had a wonderful time. i guess she was just taking her role of the birthday girl very seriously! grandma janie and grandpa bart were in town for chris' graduation, so that made her special day even more fantastic! they even took us all out to chick-fil-a that night for an extra fun dinner. 

ellie sure is loved.

the party was all about relay races.

unfortunately it had rained the night before, so we had to improvise and move the races indoors. but it worked out fine for 3 and 4 year olds. 

they were super speedy though!

larissa had a great idea to play

"what time is it mr. fox?"

and the kids loved it!

it was pretty fun to watch them in action

i tried to steer clear of a princess party, even though thats what she really wanted. i know, I'm a mean mom. i knew she'd receive princess gifts galore, which is perfect, thats all she wanted.

but there is just something about princesses and parties that drive me nuts. maybe its the fact that there is so much involved with them and its easy to get carried away? and there is usually an abundance of glitter involved? and this little diva doesn't need any more incentive to act spoiled? and its not any fun for boys that come to the party? not sure.

anyways, we hung a princess birthday banner in her room the night before so she could have that to greet her in the morning, but other than that, she only had a surprise of pink frosting in the middle of her cake.

she was happy 

(and so was i!)

thanks to everyone who came to the party, made her feel special, and showered her with love on her wonderful day!

ellie girl, we sure love you and hope you know how special you are. you add so much spunk and personality to this little family of ours and we wouldn't change that for anything! you are a great sister, a wonderful singer, a silly dancer, a crazy friend and 

we love you so!