What?! How did THAT happen? Our baby girl is SIX?!

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 And there’s nothing like bringing home a newborn to reflect how much your older children have grown up!
All of a sudden her hands seem huge, her legs seem way too long and skinny to be holding up the rest of her body, and those eyes… oh those eyes are as big and captivating as ever!

Elli is a little bundle of sweetness.
She is easy-going, kind, affectionate, inquisitive, adventurous, creative, compassionate, playful, and full of love and tenderness.

She loves anything that has to do with learning and exploring. She will often make flashcards, invent new games, or make up her own math problems just for fun! Weird, I know 🙂

In her free-time you’ll most likely find her:

1) doing crafts at the dining table

2) building with Legos downstairs
3) Jumping on the trampoline 

4) Smothering Snow (our dog)

She likes wearing stretch pants and abhors wearing jeans.
She likes fruits and veggies but won’t eat french fries or cinnamon rolls.
She prefers running over biking.
She loves animals and will play with any snake, frog, lizard, or bug she can catch.
She calls her Crocs her “alligator shoes” and, yes, they do go with any attire in any season.

She is eager to help but easily distracted. 

She will pack every trinket and treasure to go camping but forget her shoes.
She can eat her weight in pancakes.
She loves to build and create, but considers instructions mere suggestions.

Her stories are one big run-on sentence using “is because”, “soooo”, and “weeelll”as transitional phrases 🙂
 

She loves unconditionally and keeps no record of wrongs.
She prays to God earnestly, authentically, and without cliche or form.
She loves to sing no matter what she’s doing and continuously fills our home with her own songs of worship.

We are blessed to do life with this little lady.

And for her 6th birthday she made it very clear what she wanted by hanging this list on our fridge 3 months ago!
(…just a little excited for her birthday to come…)

On her special day Mommy took her out on a special date just the two of us!

 First stop: A chocolate cupcake and mocha

 Next stop: She wanted to go to the library for her very own library card since she’s 6!

Last stop: She requested a drive through the car wash 🙂

Then it was time to pa-aaaa-rty with friends!

But first we had to make the cake.

This year Elli wanted to decorate her own cake!
Umm… okay! 🙂
So I was there for moral support and to eat up some of the extras.

And, voila! Elli’s first cake decorated all by herself.

Then I made some cupcakes to go with her owl-themed birthday party.

ooopsie ~ messed one up, guess we have to eat it 🙂

 

 

 

When I asked Elli what she wanted for her birthday dinner she thoughtfully responded,
“Well, I hear a lot of people talk about cheeseburgers so that would probably be a good choice…
and I’ll have Top Roman.” 🙂

So, with the help of friends in the kitchen, friends holding Trek, and friends shucking corn we pulled together a fun birthday feast!

And then it was present time and Elli couldn’t be more delighted over all her birthday gifts ~ creativity galore! She commented several times about how awesome her birthday presents were, so thank you to everyone who knows her so well and blessed her with fun to be had throughout the coming year!

 Happy Birthday Elliana Grace!

May God continue to pour His love into your heart so that you may love others selflessly.
May He continue to open your eyes to His glory all around you as you study this incredible world and all the riches it holds.