Yesterday, Ellie turned 7. She is growing so much and can still completely exasperate me, but she is such a joy to have around. She is so smart and has energy that is infectious. Since her birthday was on a Saturday this year, we had a lazy Saturday morning. We let her open gifts, had a Waffle House breakfast, and just enjoyed the morning. We had her birthday party yesterday afternoon at the local bowling alley. It was a blast! It was, by far, the cheapest and easiest birthday party I've ever done. AND, the kids had a great time! We ended the night watching the Dawgs pull out a win against the Gamecocks. It was a great day!
It's hard to believe that Ellie is 7. I think I say it every year on the blog, but the night of her birth still seems like yesterday. I can't blink these days, it's going by way too fast! I love her so much and hope that her intense enthusiasm stays with her throughout her life! I'll post her stats later. (if they even have any - how long do they do stats at the pediatricians office?)
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| Ellie woke up to gifts waiting on her |
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| Birthday girl! |
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| A gift from Sa and Gramps - a book titled "Ellie" |
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| Emma and Mack gave Ellie a book light, so she could read her books in bed at night. Emma came up with this gift, which was really a great idea. Although, I've had to put limits on the staying up and reading (even though I secretly love that she is doing it - as it is one of my favorite things to do!) It's just hard for her to rise and shine at 6:30am when she's been up until 10pm reading. |
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| Really into reading the cards this year. |
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| Rainbow loom kit from Mommy and Daddy. She's been begging for this for over a year and I finally gave in. |
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| Cowgirl boots from Daddy |
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| And, the gift she has BEGGED for - a clip on fan that she can put on her bed to "help me sleep at night" |
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| Time for the party! |
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| Ellie requested a cookie cake this year. I wonder where she got that from? |
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| Just getting warmed up |
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| Emma managed to get the ball into the gutter 3 or more times. And yes, they had the rails in the gutters so the balls couldn't go in there. |
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| From L to R: Henderson, Sam, Emma |
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| Tierney, Holden, Henderson, Ellie |
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| Action shot |
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| They decided as soon as we started getting teams together that boys would play against girls |
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| Worth had to give Emma pointers because she was throwing the 6 lb. ball like a baseball. Pretty impressive, actually. |
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| Birthday girl determined to beat the boys |
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| Great Form |
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| Emma starting to figure this out |
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| Mack taking a water break. He ran the entire bowling alley for a solid hour. |
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| Tripp (to the right of Ellie) is hilarious in this picture |
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| Singing "Happy Birthday!" |
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| I forgot candles of course. Thank goodness my mom came through and had 3 candles randomly in her car. The bowling alley had matches. Phew! |
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| We couldn't get the cake and ice cream passed out fast enough |
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| Devouring is an understatement |
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| Mack found a seat. (If you can find him in the picture) |
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| Not sure what we were discussing here, but Ellie was very excited about it. |
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| My 7 year old before church this morning. |
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| Love this beautiful girl! |
