Its real now

Ellie has been very upset that some of the girls in her gymnastics class got leotards and she didn't. She's done a great job in her first two classes so she earned herself a leotard.  She's just a little excited!

Party time

One of the kids friends had a birthday party over the weekend.  It started with pizza, cake, foosball and a pool table.

It also had a stage that Ellie took full advantage of.

The party moved to a gym where they were free to run. They had a blast and they almost worked off enough energy to fall asleep early...almost!

Ice Princess

Ellie wanted to go ice skating for her b-day party.  We headed to the skating rink last week with friends and they had a blast.

I was totally prepared for Ellie to fall down after 10 seconds, say she hated it and want to go home. Instead, she grabbed some things to balance with, and took off.

Ben and Sam were a little slow getting back in the swing of things, but they figured it out eventually.

After freezing at the rink, the next logical place to go is ice cream!  

Gymnast

Ellie has been begging to do another gymnastics class.  We found one that I think will challenge her (and our wallets) a bit more than the previous class she did.  It started yesterday.  It took her a bit to warm up to it, but by the end she was going backwards on balance beams, climbing up ropes, tumbling and jumping. Unfortunately, the parents are behind a two way mirror so pictures aren't really turning out.  Her goal is to learn how to do a cartwheel.  I think she'll be there in no time.

Martial arts

We signed the boys up for Tae Kwon Do and Judo last night.  They are crazy excited to learn some moves.  They worked their butts off in their class, but still had plenty of energy to come home and show Zach some moves.  Zach is devastated he isn't in the class too, but he's not old enough.  I think this will be good for both of them.  We'll sign up for a month at a time and we'll see how long the excitement lasts.

Mermaid

Aunt Prasti and family sent Ellie a mermaid doll for her birthday.  Ellie, with a lot of help from aunt Corrie, got to cut materials, design her tail, sew, make a necklace and decorate her face.  She loves it!  Its become one of her favorite dolls and goes all over the house with Ellie.

Haircuts

All three boys got hair cuts today.  Ben is a little too excited he wont have to comb his hair for a while!

Ellie didn't need a haircut, but she was not going to be left out of the pictures!

Wordless Wednesday: naptime

Dresses

Ellie got some money for her birthday and was anxious to spend some of it.  I was pretty impressed with her shopping.  She looked over every item she was interested in and really took some time to decide if it was something she really wanted.  She was very aware of how much she was spending and how much everything cost.  She decided on an alligator stuffed animal, a baby furniture set that comes with a pack and play, a stroller and a highchair. She also found a set of four dress up outfits. Each came with a dress, slippers and an accessory like a tiara and fairy wings.  I think she chose wisely!

Birthday

Ellie had a pretty good birthday.  She requested donuts for breakfast.  We made her cupcakes for dessert and then we headed out to pick up aunt Corrie for lunch at our favorite pizza place.

After pizza we headed to the bowling alley.  All the kids got at least a spare, but aunt Corrie kicked all of our butts both games.  Sam was happy to get back into the bowling groove.

Ben did a little pose or dance after every ball he threw.

I think Ellie was more excited to split a lemon aid with her brothers than she was to bowl, even though she requested going.

Zachs lane seemed to have a slant until the very last ball on game 2 when he got a spare!

She requested the Strongsville Mc Donalds with the crazy play area for dinner.  After, we came for baths, cupcakes and presents.  I think she had a great day.