Two of my five Valentines....I am lucky. Hope you all had a V-day filled with lots of love!
For President's Day we drove to the Columbia, SC zoo. We went with some friends in the ward- The Lines and the Kikuchis. So much fun!
Lions
Ella-phant. hehe
The hoodlums. Ella, Henry, Lincoln, Elizabeth, Quincy and Malachi.
Giraffes.
Giraffes.
Zebra.
Some of Quincy's favorite people- Henry and his second mom, Elizabeth. :) She worked wonders for me a the zoo.
Kiddos feeding the goats what I teased was "Cocoa Puffs".
You could also feed the goats some hay. The goats were very confused between hay and Quincy's hair.
And now for the STAR of this post.... ELLA MOE turns 7!!! Read on...more to come on that.
And this big fatty was four months when this pic was taken. And 16.3 pounds.
She wears her weight so well. 16 pounds does not look this good on me.
We decorated the house (and esp. Ella's bedroom) for her big number seven birthday! She requested Grandma's special pancakes and syrup (buttermilk--recipe on blog) with chocolate chips, whip cream and sprinkles. This girl does things fancy.
Speaking of Fancy....Ella wanted a Fancy Nancy birthday party. Just a little background on that...cute is a big taboo word in our house.
If you call Ella cute she immediately wants to change.
Better use the word fancy or you are in for it.
So, in that spirit we invited some of her girlfriends over for an uber fancy schmancy birthday party.
They all wore their fanciest attire. I really let go of the reigns and let Ella dress herself.
*pat on the back for mom*
They all "fancied" some shoes with feathers and gold buttons, etc. BIG HIT!!!!
The party animals!
I really had such great aspirations for Ella's Fancy cake.
FAIL.
As mothers, we can dream, right? It didn't work out. Time is not in my favor these days.
FAIL.
As mothers, we can dream, right? It didn't work out. Time is not in my favor these days.
What did she wish for??? Do you remember the days when wishing on your birthday cake was MAJOR. You really contemplated what you would wish for...it was serious business.
The "teacup" party favors. Again, my intention was to wrap them prettily in cellophane with a big pretty bow. Didn't happen. No one cared though.
They each had a little crown, clip-on earrings, and a little hair clip with a tiara on it.
Lincoln insisted that red was a boy color and so he would make fancy shoes too.
He says the one on our right is the American flag shoe and the one on our left is the Indian shoe.
She just looked too cute on Sunday to not take a picture. Ella wore this when she was one year old. Just a SLIGHT difference in their build. :)
I love her fat, rosy cheeks and easy-to-come by smile.
This girl is nothing but pleasant.
She brings so much joy to our whole family.
We all adore her.
