Little Dancing Girl

Ella started taking a tap/ballet class again and she LOVES it! Her teacher is awesome and she's got a great little group of girls to dance with. 

Jog-A-Thon

Each year PCA has a Jog-A-Thon fundraiser to raise money for the school. Ella ran an impressive 17 laps and raised a couple hundred dollars with the generous donations of friends and family members. Best of all, she had a blast!

The preschool students ran around the field, then the older kids walked to Doc Harris stadium and ran on the track. 

My little kinders did great! One ran 24 laps!!

Pumpkin Picking

A couple weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch with Ella's preschool class and my kindergartners. The farm had so much to offer other than just picking a pumpkin. 

The kids enjoyed a hay maze complete with a tunnel to crawl through...

Lots of animals to greet and feed...

 a huge hay pyramid to climb...

a hay ride to pick a pumpkin...

and this cute scarecrow ruler...four feet at age five, holy cow!

We even got a small pumpkin for Nicholas. We miss him constantly, but so much this time of year as Halloween was his favorite holiday. He loved to dress in a costume, say "trick or treat," and suck on the dum-dums our neighbor always saved just for him. 

A couple of weeks later, we went to the Gesler's patch and got another (Pink!) pumpkin. Ella had a blast with her buddy, Dash, and she loved meeting a bunch of new friends. 

Nikki hired a professional balloon maker to create amazing balloons for all the kiddos. Ella got a pink unicorn and later she ended up wearing Nikki's black cat & pumpkin headband. 

 What a great start to autumn!

Ella's 5th Birthday

Last Tuesday, September 15th, our little sweetheart celebrated her fifth birthday. It was an extra special day because Jeff was home from Maryland for a few days to celebrate Ella. 

In the days leading up to Ella's birthday, I noticed that the little potted azalea plant we received from my grandmother was started to bud again. I thought it was very unusual because none of our other azaleas are budding or blooming right now. They primarily only bloom in the spring so I was surprised to see this one with small pink flowers all over it. I googled the plant to see if it ever blooms in the fall, and as far as I can tell by my search results, azaleas are almost always only spring bloomers. They rarely, if ever, bloom in the fall. Which made me wonder why our little plant was covered in small pink flowers? All at once it dawned on me that these beautiful blooms were put here for us all to enjoy by our sweet son. It was another lovely heavenly sign from our boy, letting us know he was close and that he remembered his little sis' birthday. I know without a doubt that Nicholas chose the plant closest to our front door, the one with pink flowers (Ella's favorite color), and the one that was both over watered and under watered this summer that we thought might not survive. I love finding these amazing heavenly miracles that Nicholas keeps sending to us. It helps a grieving mommy feel a little less sad, and a little more joyful that our son continues to remain so close to us, always a part of our family, even if we can longer see him the way we used to. I told Ella that Nicholas made those flowers bloom just for her on her birthday and she said, "He loves me so much that he made pink flowers!" Death cannot break the bond of our family. I am forever grateful for the time we had with Nicholas. While it will never be enough time, and it feels like it passed much too quickly, these signs remind us just how quickly our Earthly lives will pass and that we will all be together in soul and body again someday.

Jeff's plane got in on Saturday, September 12th, the day before Ella's birthday party, so we spent that afternoon getting ready for her special day.

We bought yummy cupcakes,

 laid out Ella's party outfit, 

and gathered up all her decorations. God bless Target for carrying such adorable party decor.

Sunday, September 13th was the day of her party and so after morning mass, and after we watching the Seahawks play (and sadly, lose), we got ready to celebrate Ella. 

 We took a few photos outside and Ella started jumping around in anticipation of her party at G6. 

We arrived at G6 Airpark before any of the guests and added a few of our own decorations to what they had already provided.

We displayed her delicious cupcakes,

then she decided she wanted a photo with them.

 When her guests arrived, it was time to jump! G6 is a trampoline park and kids can jump, bounce, and hop to their hearts content. 

 In the goody bags Ella gave to her guests, were these butterfly glasses. Vivi loved hers. Or not. Hard to tell.

 Ella opened her gifts and got so many wonderful things perfect for a five-year-old: arts & crafts items, books, a jewelry box, play dough, a baby doll, board games, and a super soft Frozen blanket.

Make a wish!

Tuesday was her actual birth date, so at school she brought in some cookies for her classmates and her teacher displayed some of her party decoration on the board while the class sang to her. 

After school, we met Jeff at home, changed our clothes, and took our girl to lunch. Per usual, she wanted a quesadilla so we went to our favorite local Mexican place. The best part of turning five, was having daddy home for several days. It had been eight long weeks since we had last seen him.

After lunch, we went to Ella's dance studio got her new tap and ballet shoes because she had her first class (after a year long break) that evening. Then we went to Claire's so she could get her ears pierced. She got a princess teddy to hold, and got to pick out her earrings. She chose white gold tiny diamond studs. 

She was very stoic the entire time and she didn't blink or flinch when the actual piercing took place. Either time. I was super impressed.

My wonderful friend, a talented photographer, Lyndsey Yeomans posted this adorable photo of Elizabeth on her birthday. It was taken during our June visit to California. I just love how curly her hair is in the beachy sea air, and how she is so excited to lick that yummy ice-cream. 

 Happy birthday, Elizabeth Rose! 

You are the light of our life, and the joy of our family. Time has passed so quickly since the day we found out about you, and to celebrate you turning five is bittersweet, because as much as we want to see you grow up and seize the world, we also want to keep you little, innocent, and close to us. Thank you for being such an amazing child, and thank you for loving us.