Ella's teddy bear pajama party

We decided to do a teddy bear/pj/movie party for Ella's big birthday bash. It turned out to be the perfect party! I didn't have to do a lot of work since most of the party was the kids sitting quietly watching a movie:) I made a cake. . .

Joey and I decorated the house with movie signs, balloons, all the teddy bears the kids could round up(which was a TON, who knew we had like 50 teddy bears?!) and a big curtain which led into the "theater" aka living room. Joey helped me out so much-thanks sexy man!

Joey made these movie tickets for the kids and also gathered up our kids monopoly money for the kids to buy popcorn and drinks from the concessionaire, Aubrey:)

Then the movie began and all was quiet.

A few girls came over to admire the Santa village. I loved how much they loved it:)

A few girls talked girl talk.

A few, er, I mean all the kids got crazy:)

And then smiled big for a group picture. Aren't they so cute?

After serving them pizza during the movie, it was time for cake, icecream and the birthday song.

I had to post this picture because of the little girl next to Ella, Addey. She is a riot! Not a shy bone in her body I believe:)
Go Ella! She did a great job blowing out all of those candles-6!

Then presents for the birthday girl. . .

And then after party playtime with the whoopee cushion, which is one of my kids favorite toys. Our family likes farting sounds waaaay too much:) Ella was laughing so hard trying to get her friends to sit on it.

And playtime in the playroom. . .When it was time to say goodbye to her friends, we gave each of the kids goodie bags and called it a night. I have to mention the goodie bags because that was one of Ella's favorite parts, deciding what to put inside. She HAD to put in little cameras. She was so funny about it-totally dead set on finding these cheapy plastic clicking cameras for her friends:) Luckily, I found them. Phew. We also threw in sunglasses, teddy grahams, and teddy bear lollipops. The night before her party, her and Ella filled the goodie bags. They were big helpers!

Here are my 3 girls enjoying their goodie bag goodies after the party. . .in style. . .

And I'll end with this picture. It defines Cali like no other picture.

Hope you loved your party Ella-I think it was so fun, not just for you girls but for me too! :)

Happy Birthday Ella!

A Totally Ella picture

Our Ella turned the big 6! The past year has been full of huge and wonderful milestones for Miss Ella. The biggest being that she started big kid school! And the second being- her amazing leaps in reading. She went from reading Dick and Jane type books this time last year, to reading chapter books this year. And she just LOVES it. She would sit and read all day if she could. And you should see this girl when she gets home from school. She does her reading homework right away and makes sure I sign the parent sheet immediately. She will harass me until I do:) She then hangs up her backpack herself without me having to tell her. She is very precise and a mega rule follower:) She always wants her work to be her best and she wants to get it done quick. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments this year!

She also, as always, still has style at the top of her list:) She loves purses and jewelry. She loooooves lip gloss. She loves having her ears pierced and changing out her earrings to match her clothes. Ella lights up a room with her smile and easy going personality(which reminds me of her Daddy). She has lots of friends and has no problems making new ones. She is a wonderful daughter, sister, and friend. We love this girl and feel so blessed she is ours! Happy Birthday sweet and beautiful Ella!

Zac: 4 months

I thought I'd post an update on the pupster. Zachary officially turned 4 months old on the 6th of the month. This marked an important milestone for him: he is done with his puppy vaccinations! Yea! We can take him to parks and public places now without having to worry about deadly puppy diseases. He can be a real dog now! We have been enjoying taking him on walks as a family and he definitely is too. The weather has been kinda lousy so we haven't taken him as much as we should, but he is still getting pretty great exercise now. Another big milestone is that he can sleep through the night without needing to "go" now. A good 7-8 hours! Life is much better! He is also doing much much better with housebreaking now. Only one, maybe two accidents a week now(vs. the once or twice a day which was going on for a while). And he is still a big fan of crate time-its like his own little place to meditate and rest:) I think we scored big when we bought this little dude. . .

Okay, is he not the CUTEST dog ever? Those eyes make my heart melt and he uses them against me sometimes when I feel frustrated with him:) And you can finally see his eyes again-he got a "puppy cut" last week and met his groomer for the first time.

Here is our little scraggly guy on alert. There were some neighbors walking their dog across the street and he stopped what he was doing and just sat there, unsure of what to do, eat them or stare. He just stared.

Looking into the sunlight. He loves the sun and laying in the grass basking in it.

And check it out, he can even write his name. I bet your dog can't do that.

Ella's Winter Dance Recital

This past weekend was Ella's big recital! Her and several other little cuties danced to the song, "Where are you Christmas?" from The Grinch movie. They wore these hand-made nightgowns and held candles while they danced their ballet. Ella did such a awesome job! We were so proud of her. Here are pictures from the big day! I tried posting a video and its giving me problems, so hopefully I can get it to work and post the actual performance soon!

Ella and a few of her friends/fellow dancers before the show. Aren't they cute?!

And the show begins. . .

A little blurry(no flash photography allowed) but you can still see that perfect toe point:) Good form Ella, good form. . .

5th position? I don't know ballet:)

At the end of the song, they all yawned and layed down to "sleep." It was so cute. It was the most adorable dance number of the show(I'm not biased or anything:)
Our family afterwards. And Ella holding her beautiful flowers from Daddy. Its the Daddy tradition.

My sister, Tara, came out for the show. Ella was so happy to have her Aunt Tara there!
After the recital, Ella picked Rosati's for dinner(our new favorite pizza spot). And on the way home we drove and looked at Christmas lights. It was pretty much a perfect evening!

Great job Ella! We love you! You are such a talented and beautiful little dancer. Its hard to get up in front of hundreds of people, but you did it, and you were a star!

Christmas Pictures 2009

Thank you to my husband for capturing these beautiful pictures of our little ladies(oh, and our new little dude). . .

And the Christmas card pic winner is. . .

This was my second favorite. . .

Miss Aubrey

Miss Ella

Miss Cali

Mr. Zachary

And this one just makes me laugh. . .

Our little Buddy

So, my kids heard about Elf on the Shelf last year and were dying(Aubrey especially) to have one this year. I may have mentioned this to my parents. . .and whaddaya know, we got one! (gotta love Grandparents!) Last week, I wrapped it up and we surprised them with it. We had my parents on webcam so they could feel like they were here:) My kids were beyond thrilled and so surprised. We named our elf, Buddy, since "Elf" is one of our favorite Christmas movies of all time.

I don't know if this smile could be any bigger. . .

Ella being silly talking to Buddy in the tree. Either that or she is putting a curse on him.

Buddy just stared and smiled. And then Aubrey swore he winked at her. I said there was no way he winked at you. He winked at me. Cuz I'm hot.So, for those of you unfamiliar with Elf on the Shelf, its basically a book that comes with an elf. And its not just any elf, its a magical elf that goes on trips to the North Pole each night to give Santa a report on your kids behavior. (This is great to use against your kids. For example,"The elf is watching and you better stop it right now or hes going tell Santa tonight!") Not that I've ever said that. . . The real fun is that the elf is in a new spot each morning and the kids get to find him. They wake up and race around the house every morning-it is so cute. The most important rule is that they aren't allowed to ever touch him or he will lose his magic. They have done great at following this rule. Aubrey & Ella seriously almost had a heart attack the other day when Cali was about to grab him. Serious. Heart. Attack. I think if she were to touch him, they'd cry. Can't lose the magic!

Here are a few of the places Buddy has hidden. . .

This will be such a fun tradition! Thanks Mom & Dad! I'd totally recommend this to anyone that has kids! It adds even more magic to the Christmas season.