Happy 5th Birthday Ella!!

On November 15th Ella turned 5. I can't believe she is five already and turning into a big girl! She was counting down the number of sleeps until her birthday all last week and was so excited. The night before her birthday we told the kids that they could get up at 6:30am so that Ella would have time to open her presents before school. So here are a few pictures of us up bright and early for Ella's birthday opening ceremony. Owen and Sam even bought presents for her with their allowance. Sam gave her tiny lady bug clip earrings and Owen picked out a necklace. Ella loves everything pretty and girly and the boys are happy to help her with that!

Sam "helping" Ella open her present from Oma..

Ella with her loot...

Ella showing off one of her new birthday outfits. This one I made using one of my cousin Toni's awesome patterns..

Earlier this year Ella went to "Build-a-Bear" with school and made a bear. She named her Amy and she has been in need of some clothes and so I made Amy a matching dress...
Oma sent Ella pjs with a matching set for Amy. So cute!
Yesterday we had Ella's birthday party. Between church, school and neighborhood friends Ella had 12 girls ages 3-5 at her party. We managed to keep everyone busy for 90 minutes with cupcake decorating, beading, food and some games. Ella requested a pavlova for her party and the mums that stayed loved it so much that they all went home with the recipe!

Making a bead necklaces...


Playing pass-the-parcel....


10 things we love about Ella...
- How she loves everything girly, despite having 3 brothers (soon to be 4 brothers!)
- How considerate she is. For example, if she has been asked to say a prayer and Owen wants to, she will often let him have a turn instead because it makes him happy.
- How much she loves fruit of all kinds
- Her willingness to try new foods
- How she loves to dress-up and look pretty
- Her love of learning. She is starting to read and daily asks me how to spell different words so that she can make up sentences. She is so excited to start kindergarten next year.
- Her creativity. She loves to draw and color.
- Her smile
- Her hugs - she gives great hugs and can't go to sleep without one.
- Her singing. Ella loves to sing and has learned lots of songs from church and school that she likes to sing when she is in the car or playing.