Another birthday!

How is it that I already have a seven year old?! And why does every year seem to fly by faster than the last? I'm still trying to figure out how to stunt my kids' growth and make them stay little and with me forever. But in the mean time, we celebrated Ella's seventh birthday this month. We had our own little fun family party the day of her birthday. Ella knows I will make her any cake she wants. She's looked through some of my catalogs, she has seen the many many possibilities. This year however, she picked something that wasn't in any of my catalogs. This...

Yes, the Texas flag! I asked her if she was serious and if that was what she really wanted. Yes, it was. Then I asked why and got this response... "Because Texas ROCKS!" I LOVE IT!! I love that my seven year old already has Texas pride! I don't necessarily think I've instilled it in her, I think it has more to do with school, but I think it's just great!!

And then we had a friends party! It was thrown together faster than any party I've ever done, and it was so fun! I'm only uploading a couple of pictures though (in an effort to get more posts done!) Invites were sent out on a week's notice (I broke my own cardinal rule of two weeks minimum notice) and it wasn't until after invites were out that I knew what we were going to do. We had a luau! I already had most of the decorations and figured it would be an easy party to throw together that I knew Ella would love. We had fun decorations, lots of fun hawaiian party music, Ella wore a grass skirt, we greeted friends with leis, they got hawaiian tatoos, we made colorful sand art, had a pinata, hula hoops, limbo (over and over and over again because they were having so much fun with it!) little umbrellas in their hawaiian punch, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream. Fun was had by all, and in the end I had one very happy seven year old!

I love this girl so so so much and am in awe every day that she is mine. Sometimes I feel bad for Ella; we've made so many mistakes trying to figure out how to be parents. I hope we don't mess her up too bad. I'm thankful that she is so patient and quick to forgive. I love that she makes friends so easily and makes friends everywhere we go. I love that she is such a happy girl and gets so excited about the little things. I love that she loves books and I love listening to her read. I love her adorable toothless grin. I love the piles of art work she makes for me. I love the sparkle in her eyes when she is happy. I love that she is sensitive and dramatic and girlie as girlie can be. I love that she is an organizer and that she loves to help me craft, bake, shop, be a mom. I love watching her sing, read, snuggle, and play with her little brother and sister. I love that she looks forward to weekends and breaks from school just because she wants to be home with us. I love that she wants to learn and asks so many questions. I love that she is mine. Forever. I love my Ella. Happy Birthday big girl!!