Ella's 8th Birthday!

We wrapped up celebrating Ella's 8th birthday today with two days of celebrating.  Since Lia's big, Spring choir concert at school was scheduled for Ella's birthday, I planned to host her family party on March 30th.  Since my dad still is not feeling that well, he stayed home while my mom came and spent the afternoon and evening with us.  After helping me sew ten little pillows for Ella's friend party this coming Saturday, my mom took the three younger children outside to play in the backyard after Ella and Logan got home from school.  Since it was a beautiful spring day, this turned out to be the perfect thing while I stayed inside and made dinner.  Ella requested her favorite dinner of ham and homemade mac 'n cheese with several sides and a chocolate cream pie for dessert.  The seven of us enjoyed a fun evening of eating dinner, opening presents, and eating dessert.  Ella's big gift this year was receiving the American Girl Doll of the Year 2022, named Corinne Tan, who she has been asking for ever since she was released on January 1st.  Since this Chinese-American doll is so cute and unique, I couldn't resist and ended up buying her on a sale in January.  Needless to say, Ella was so excited to receive her.  She also loved getting a Rapunzel-themed bow and arrow set, a miniature, Cinderella crystal slipper that she picked out at Disneyland last month, a sticker book, the Descendants 3 DVD, a set of Junie B. Jones chapter books, and a darling dress from grandma and grandpa.  Ella was so happy when I tucked her into bed for the last time as a 7-year old last night.  Today, I made Ella and the rest of the kiddos our traditional birthday breakfast of waffles with whipped cream, strawberries, and sprinkles and sent Ella off to school with a batch of Frozen-themed, blue cupcakes that I had also made the day before.  The rest of the day was "business as usual" for Ella as she had to go to school and then Lia's concert in the evening.  However, we still have her friend party coming this Saturday which she is super excited about!  

The family gathered around the dining room table enjoying dinner.

Ella smiling for the camera before opening up her gifts.

Ella's mouth opening in surprise as she unwraps her American Girl Doll.

A very happy girl hugging her new doll still in the box.

Ella proudly holding up her bow and arrow set that she spotted in the store while shopping with me months ago.

Ella reading grandma's birthday card out loud to the group.

Ella showing off the darling dress she got from grandma and grandpa.  She actually wore it to school today which was perfect since it was class picture day in addition to her birthday!

Since I am normally just running around behind the scenes on my children's birthdays, I try to make a point of getting at least one photo together.  Here is Ella and me with her new doll in hand.

Ella and Corinne.

Ella posing with her bow and arrow before we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Ella blowing out the last candle.

The picture I took of Ella asleep on the evening of March 30th as her last night as a 7-year old.  This is always such a bitter sweet moment for me as I watch my children grow by one more year.  It's all going by way too fast.

Ella and her doll with Emmett at her side getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" at breakfast today.  Please note that I had to make a little waffle for her doll to eat on a little plate on a little table that Ella set up for her on the kitchen table this morning.  Ella is still so cute at this age!

Sweet Ella smiling before blowing out her candles.

Ella heading off to school with her cupcakes in hand.

Happy Birthday, Ella Avalon! We sure love you and all of the spunk, fun, and laughter that you bring to our family!  Life would definitely not be the same without you.

The Sweetest Thing

I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of wild, crazy, and messy toddlers.  As a result, I have been grateful over the years that I have never really had one of my own children fall under this category.  And although Emmett is definitely my wildest toddler of my four children due to always wanting to keep up with his older siblings, he still is developing a careful, organized, and thoughtful side of his personality which I love!  After he spent the entire day at my parents' house yesterday while the rest of us were skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, my mom sent me this pictures that she took after we picked him up.  Apparently, Emmett had been playing downstairs in the rec room while my dad was working on his taxes in the office.  Emmett had been playing with the toy kitchen and had laid out several plates and placed food on top of them with little people and animals next to them "eating" the food.  My mom had found this darling arrangement of toys carefully placed on top of the toy box and thought that it was so cute that she took a picture of it.  I just thought that it was the sweetest thing and I had to include it in a blog post.  Oh how I just love my little Emmett!

A Family Spring Ski Day

We literally had one free Saturday on the calendar during the months of February and March to schedule a final family ski day for the season.  Since my mom was only able to watch Emmett until 5:30 p.m., we had to go skiing at Snoqualmie Pass since it is the closest ski resort to her house.  We invited Lia's skiing/boarding buddy, Elle, and her dad to join us, too, and we met them up at the pass at 9:00 after dropping Emmett off to my mom after meeting her in North Bend.  After getting everyone's gear on and buying our tickets, we sent Lia off to spend the morning with Elle, her dad, and her aunt who had also decided to join the group.  Ron and I then took the two middles to spend the morning at the beginner chair lift that was off to the far left of the ski resort.  Since Ron had spent seven Saturdays with Lia and her ski school at this resort two years ago, I just followed his suggestion and off we went on what ended up being a miserable 40 minute WALK over to this chair lift.  I have no idea why this resort planned the location of a beginner run so far away from the main lodge and so difficult to access.  Needless to say, it almost killed Ella as she had multiple meltdowns along the way and we almost didn't make it.  Once we got to the base of the chairlift at 10:10, I am happy to say that it only took one run down the hill for Logan and Ella to snap out of their funk.  Ron and I then spent a pleasant two hours skiing and boarding with these two children.  During this time, both of them made great progress as Logan started to really work on his turns from heel to toe and Ella started skiing down the hill while turning and only falling two to three times instead of 15 to 20.  It really was amazing and so fun to watch!

After meeting up with the group for lunch at 12:30, we returned back to the mountain an hour later to ski for the next three hours.  I went off for the first half to ski with Lia and her group while Ron stayed at the other beginner chair lift right next to the lodge that we should have just gone to in the morning.  An hour and a half later, Ron and I switched off and I finished the afternoon with Logan and Ella at the same beginner chair lift while Ron went off with the group to the top of the mountain.  Although we did end up skiing in very slushy, wet snow the second half of the day due to warmer, Spring weather, we all had a great time and Ron and I were so pleased at the progress that both Ella and Logan made during their last day on the slopes of the season!

Ron and the two middles enjoying our morning on the slopes together.

Ella, Logan, and Ron all "skoarding" down the mountain together.

Ella pausing for a picture.

Logan cruising down the slope.

Ella at the top of the hill and heading down.

Logan boarding past me.

Ella, mama, and Logan heading back to the car.

Lia and her friend, Elle, at the top of the mountain.

Lia and me skiing together.

Lia on one of the runs we did together.

Waiting in line with Logan and Ella at the bottom of the run at the end of the day.

My cute, "skoarding" buddies on the chairlift with me.

Celebrating Mom's 80th Birthday!

Due to both of my WA brothers' families and my family having different Spring Breaks this year, we realized a few week ago that our three families will not be in a town for several weeks starting in a few days.  As a result, we would miss celebrating my mom's 80th birthday together which was not a good thing--especially since this is such a milestone birthday.  As a result, we compared our calendars and decided to celebrate it 1.5 weeks early at Chris' house yesterday.  After inviting Brent to join us, we found out that both he and Susie would be making the drive out from Montana as the party coincided with Susie's Spring Break.  This was such a bonus as all four children would be with my mom to celebrate.  Since parties are not my dad's forte, we did not include him in any of the planning.  He had zero responsibilities with the exception of showing up which is kind of ridiculous since it's HIS wife's 80th birthday.  However, this turned out to be a blessing as he ended up in the ER on Friday night and was admitted into the hospital and didn't get released until Sunday morning.  Brent was able to help my mom with all of the shuttling back and forth to the hospital and they decided to just leave him at home in bed instead of dragging him to the party since he had no energy or appetite and still wasn't feeling well.  This turned out to be best thing for all of us as Brent was able to drive my mom to Port Orchard and back and allowed all of us to share a relaxing, wonderful evening celebrating my mom without my dad chomping at the bit to go home.

I offered to provide the decorations for the entire party and chose to decorate in the same color theme as Lia's 14th birthday party.  Since I had just hosted a second party for her two nights earlier for her cross country friends (who she didn't want to mix with her Shaw Road friends the previous weekend), I was able to use the same balloons in addition to all of the decorations.  Natalee baked a delicious salmon and Rebecca and I brought some side dishes to help her complete the meal. I also made my chocolate cake from scratch with chocolate buttercream frosting for the dessert.  We spent a wonderful evening together eating and opening gifts.  My mom was so touched that she even got choked up a few times.  Although I hate the fact that she is turning 80 years old as I wish that she would stay 60 forever, I am so grateful that we found an evening in our busy schedules to celebrate the amazing wife, mother, and grandmother that she has been to us all!

Natalee's amazingly new and LONG table that I decorated in pink, gold, and rose gold for the party.  It really looked quite festive when it was all done.

 The center piece of the table complete with the cake, confetti, ornaments, candy, and framed pictures of my mom and dad.

A close-up of the cake complete with gold sprinkles and a "Happy 80th Birthday" cake topper that I found online.

Since my mom couldn't think of any gift suggestions for us this year, we all just thought of our own ideas for presents.  I decided to gift her items that would go with the party theme including a pink rose corsage with a gold bow and a rose gold tiara and sash that says, "80 and Fabulous."  Since my mom is such a practical woman, she never receives gifts like this and it was fun to spoil her!

Mother and daughter.

My mom and all of her tall children.

Opening up a gift with Lia and Vivi looking on.

My mom with 8 of her 14 grandchildren.

Getting ready to blow out her candles!

Ella's Acting Debut in Robin Hood

After Ella learned that I signed up Lia and her friend this past fall to participate in "The Little Mermaid" production at the local children's theater, she immediately declared that she wanted to try it out, too!  Luckily, the theater was also offering a production of "Robin Hood" for ages four to eight years old that Ella was super excited about doing.  After reaching out to the moms three of her friends from school, I learned that all of these little girls wanted to participate and so we quickly signed up all of them.  After months and months of waiting, Ella's turn finally arrived this past week.  Unlike Lia's production where they practice almost every day for two weeks, Ella's play rehearsed for only one week.  After tryout last Saturday, we found out on Sunday that Ella was assigned the role of Katherine, one of the ladies in waiting for Maid Marian.  The other lady in waiting role was assigned to her closest friend, Elise, which made it even more fun for the two of them.  These girls had such a great time carpooling together and spending 1.5 hours at the theater every day after school this past week. Today, we all showed up early to attend their one performance scheduled for 10:30 this morning.  We were first in line, so we got great seats on the front row and had such a fun time watching these darling children act, sing, and dance out the Robin Hood story in an abbreviated, 20-minute long performance.  It was just about the cutest thing I have every seen.  Although Ella didn't want any help from me this week memorizing her lines or learning her songs because she wanted to surprise me, she did such a great job.  She knew all of her lines and was one of the best dancers out there.  I was so proud of her!  If it weren't for the fact that this wonderful children's theater announced a few week ago that they are closing this month after 12 years, I would say that this was the perfect beginning to a wonderful acting adventure with this theater for both Lia and Ella.  But, sadly, I will have to look elsewhere for these girls to continue to have acting experiences in the future.  Sigh...

Elise, Madelyn, Ella, and Ainsley all lined up and ready to head into the theater this morning before their show started.

The small cast of Robin Hood posing for the audience at the end of the show.  Ella an Elise wore matching, pink shirts with darling straw hats as part of their costumes.

A close up of the two ladies in waiting, Ella and Elise.

The girls after their performance was over!

Out Comes Tooth #7

Well, she did it again!  Four weeks to the day, Ella lost another tooth in ballet class!  Although her other tooth was quite lose when she lost her previous one, it held on throughout our trip to Disneyland and even a few weeks after we got back.  She then bit down on her tooth by accident yesterday so badly in school that she made it bleed.  Today, she did the same thing in ballet class and noticed that it was hanging by a thread.  So, all on her own, Ella just reached into her mouth and pulled her tooth out.  Once again, she told her ballet teacher and was sent down to the lobby with the teacher's assistant to get another sandwich bag to put it in.  Needless to say, the two ladies at the front desk gave her quite the reaction after learning that she had lost another tooth in ballet class.  We'll see if this happens again next month! 

Maskless at Last!

FINALLY, our children headed off to school this morning without being required to wear a face mask.  It is exactly two years to the day when everything started to shut down across the country due to the Covid pandemic.  My kids' last day of school was March 13, 2020 and within in a matter of weeks, we were required by our governor to wear face masks in every indoor, public space.  With the exception of a 2-month break between June to August 2021, we have never been given a break from masks unlike many states in our country.  In fact, several states never required their students to wear masks to school this entire school year.  But our Washington kids have carried on and have been total troopers, wearing their face masks for 6.5 hours every day on top of almost every other activity and sport that they have been able to participate in since the pandemic began.  I have been so proud of how well my three older children have dealt with this as they have barely ever complained to me.  In fact, I have had to remind Ella and Logan many times to take off their face masks in the car after I pick them up from the bus stop.  Regardless, our governor finally announced a few weeks ago that he would be lifting the mask mandate on March 12th.  As a result, March 11th was the last day that they had to wear one to school.  Washington state was the 2nd to last state out of all 50 in our country to lift this mandate as Hawaii is not set to lift theirs until March 26th.  It's crazy to think that out of all of the states, we just happened to live in one of the strictest ones during this pandemic.  Oh well.  There is nothing that I can do about that except rejoice in the fact that my children will finally be able to see their friends' and teachers' entire faces again after almost two years.  How amazing it will be for them to be able to do things that they used to take for granted like seeing a person smile or read lips while someone is talking or participate in a sport without a cloth covering their mouth!  I can't wait to hear how great their day was today when they get home from school! 

End of the Basketball Season for Logan & Ella

Ella and Logan both wrapped up their basketball season with their final games today.  Logan played this morning and Ella played this afternoon.  Although Logan was blessed to be on a team with all boys from his school with his weekly practice at his school, he unfortunately did not handle the ball much during the games this season.  About half of his team was much more advanced than the other half and those four boys dominated the ball for the majority of the games.  So, sadly, he never made a basket in comparison to his 1st and 2nd grade years playing basketball when he made several baskets.  Although he really enjoyed his Wednesday evening practices and the time he was able to spend with friends from school, we decided today that this would be his last year playing basketball.  There just isn't any point in having him continue to pursue a sport when the majority of the players on his team dominate the game.  Instead, we are going to enroll him in snowboarding lessons next winter which will be a much better use of his Saturdays during the winter season.

Ella was also on a team with a few good friends from her school with the same coach as her soccer season (who is the dad of her good friend, Elise).  Although her practices only ran through December and she missed 4 out of her 8 games this season, she still really enjoyed being with her friends and learning a new sport.  However, she didn't quite have the natural skills that she did when playing soccer this past fall and her height was a definite disadvantage with all of the girls being taller around her.  So, although I am grateful that she had the chance to try out a new sport, this will also be her last season.  Since she is going to try out for the gymnastics competitive team again this May, she will most likely be spending several more hours practicing in the gym this coming school year and just won't have the time to devote to a sport like basketball.

Here are a few pictures from both of their final games today...

Logan dribbling the ball around the key.

Logan passing the ball.

Dribbling it again.

Logan taking a break on the sidelines.

Running down the court.

Trying to get to the basket.

Logan bringing the ball down the court.

Logan getting ready to pass it to another player.

Logan giving me one last smile after his game was over.

Ella running down the court.

Ella going after the girl she is guarding.

Blocking the ball.

Trying to be open for a teammate.

Ella dribbling the ball down the court.

Ella going for the basket.

Ella bringing the ball around up front.  After she decided to pass the ball (instead of trying to make a basket), the player who caught it passed it to one other girl who made a basket.  Way to go, Ella!

Ella posing with her three friends from school who were on her team:

Madelyn, Elise, and Aubrielle

Ella and her dear friend, Elise.

Our cute basketball player.

Ella posing outside with Coach Ben and the rest of her team.

Silly faces!

Once again, I ordered trophies for the team that Coach Ben handed out after the last game today.

The girls posing one more time with their trophies with miniature basketballs that actually spin!