Elle's Birthday Part 2

Elle's birthday was a success!

Here are all the good things that happened at school on Elle's birthday:

1- It was Wednesday which meant it was a short school day and she got to sleep in
2- Her friends decorated her locker and gave her gifts. (she got one gift Tuesday!)
3- Her friend bought her a yummy drink at lunch
4- She found out she got 100% on her math test
5- She didn't have math homework
6- She found the double mint gum in her math binder
7- Her science test was canceled and she got to start her homework instead
8-She didn't have to dress down for PE
9- The Principal came to orchestra to learn cello just like Elle
10- Her orchestra teacher played "Happy Birthday" on her violin
11- One of her classes which has 6-8th graders sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

To finish up the celebration:

She had double snacks waiting for her (but she only ate 1)

We had her favorite foods for dinner:  Macaroni and cheese, brussel sprouts, and shrimp.

(Strange, but hey, when it's your birthday you can have whatever you want too)

We played the annual pin the___ on the ___

This year we did Pin the Facial Features on the Face (pair of ears and eyes and 1 mouth)

The features were in a bag and we had to fish out the correct pairs.

Chris was responsible for covering our eyes so we couldn't see

Then we played the candy bar game.  We took turns rolling the dice and when we got doubles we put on a hat, scarf, and gloves then used a fork and knife to open one of Elle's favorite candy bars: Kit Kat

I wanted to do a Double Dare game (without the green slime, of course). 

 I had two types of questions to answer  1- the answer was one word with a double meaning and

 2- the answer had the word "double" in it

Then I had some minute-to-win-it activities.

It wasn't really like Double Dare, but we pretended it was.

Then it was time for presents!

I think the highlight was the new watch.

And finally, double birthday cakes!

With double scoops of ice cream, of course :) 

I think you will agree that the Double Birthday theme worked out after all!

*photo courtesy of Chris and his awesome Photoshop skills

Happy Birthday Elle!

Today Elle is 11!

She wants "double digit" to be the theme for the day.  She says 10 isn't a double digit, 11 is because there are double 1's.

It was really hard coming up with "double" ideas.  Thank you to everyone who helped me think!

Here are a few "double" things we did this morning.

I put Double-mint gum in her backpack

I set out two plates, cups, forks, knives and napkins at breakfast. (she had a fried egg on toast with syrup)

Chris and I each said "Good morning" twice and sang "Happy Birthday" twice.

I gave her two hugs an two kisses.

When she opened her bedroom door, she came through 11 balloons hanging from the top and two 1's on her door cut from wrapping paper.

I wrote "Are you seeing double? Happy Birthday!  Happy Birthday!" on her bathroom mirror and set out two headbands, two hairbrushes, two soap dispensers, two toothbrushes and two tubes of toothpaste. (she conveniently already had two bottles of lotion out)

We put up two birthday signs.

I put another backpack next to hers so there would be double.

In her lunch, I put in double of all the food she requested: (small) Double salami sandwiches, pears, and snickerdoodle cookies.  I also put two birthday cards in--one signed by me and the other by Chris.

More fun to come after school!

Firsts

Here are a few of Elle's "firsts" this year:

First day of school.  First time in middle school

And this was just a cute outfit

You may have noticed this other first. 

 First short haircut!

First time picking wild blackberries in our own neighborhood!

(It took us about 2 1/2 hrs and multiple scratches to get those)

And first time playing a cello!

Happy Easter

Check it out: mormon.org/easter

Now check out Chris' new suit (that's right! SUIT) and his new Easter tie. . .
And our coordinating Easter outfits from Target. (oh, and Elle and my matching sandals)
Yesterday we went on a walk and found "the bridge" that all the photographers around here use for pictures.  I think half the ward has family pictures of the bridge in their living rooms!
I was trying to decide if we should open our Easter outfits yesterday just so we could go pose, but I waited until today.  As a consequence, we just get the backyard.

and Elle's awesome Easter basket weave hair style.

Winter Vacation

Elle and I spent three days making this little movie.
We wanted to be foley artists and do the sound ourselves.
We deleted the original sound and put in our own.
I think we did a pretty good job for our first time!

Sunday Dress and Hair and talk and stuff

 

I tried to do an awesome hair-do today, but it just wasn’t working out.

Elle decided to use one of her birthday presents instead.

 

As you can see, Elle and her friend have been making miniature houses out of boxes and magazine cut- outs.  Big mess.  Even bigger fun.

In other news, Elle gave a talk today: (The only thing I did was  help her find the scriptures she needed)

“The Scriptures teach me about the Savior’s Birth and Second coming”

Prophets wrote in the scriptures about the Savior’s birth and 2^nd coming.  You can read and learn about these prophesies in the scriptures.  In the Book of Mormon, Moroni prophesies of the Savior’s return.

In Moroni  7:48

In the Old Testament, Malachi tells about the signs that will come in the Last Days.

Malachi 4:5-6

You can read about the Savior’s birth in Luke chapter 2.

Samuel the Lamanite stood on a wall and preached unto the Nephites that in five years Jesus Chris the Savior of men would be born in Bethlehem.

I realized that both of these great things have great and important signs like when Christ was born, the night wasn’t dark and there was a new star in the sky.  When Christ will come again, all mankind will admit that there is a Christ and before that day there will be great destruction like tsunamis and earthquakes and droughts and hurricanes and tornadoes and others.

We need to prepare ourselves for that day by going to church, going to the temple, and reading scriptures.  All these things put oil in our lamps so we can be prepared unlike the 5 virgins that were not like we heard last Sunday about the ten virgins.  I know that if we do all these things to prepare ourselves we will be ready.

I know that all these things are true.  I know the church is true.  I know that we can prepare ourselves.  I say these things. . . .Amen

 

She’s pretty awesome!  I am amazed how much she takes in.

 

 

 

And a little birdy may have told you

That I just had a birthday!

Chris made me blueberry muffins in the morning and Elle wouldn’t let me go near any dirty dishes

We went to dinner and had my favorite kind of food-  Indian.   Chris got me a NEW PHONE!  It is very fun and fancy.

I was so lucky that my friends helped me celebrate my birthday last week by throwing me a spa party.  We exfoliated our hands, soaked our feet, and put cucumbers on our eyes. We also had my favorite birthday cake—Strawberry topped cheesecake. Yum!

AND

When we went to CA for Thanksgiving, our BFFs  provided all my favorite things to eat while we were there!

*peppermint ice cream

*Chevy’s fresh mex restaurant (which we don’t have here)

*Broccoli soup in sour dough bread bowls

*red licorice

We even got pedicures one day!

It’s been a great birthday month!

Thanks everyone!

Sunday Dress and Hair

 

Well, technically  they’re not all Sunday dresses and hair, but here are a few interesting hair and clothes. . .

 

Elle and I were going to a baby shower and she agreed to let me do her hair up.  Half-way through, it looked so silly we just had to take a picture.

She’s saying “I’m two years old!”

Here’s the finished product:

 

She’s wearing a super cute shirt and sweater, but you can’t see the front.  (BTW- that’s water not dandruff or anything on her back)

 

Another day, she had an 80’s themed choir concert.  They still had to wear white on the top and black on the bottom, but they could accessorize. 

I had lots of fun:

 

 

Then today she wore one of her Christmas dresses (we bought another yesterday—stay tuned)

 

She agreed that a bun would suit the dress nicely.  She had the great idea to braid three ribbons together and place it over the bun.

I think it turned out great!