Santa's Suprise

I think Ellie was very surprised to see all the gifts under the tree this year.  Santa was very good to her, not only bringing her the Barbie doll he talked to her about but also her own make-up kit!

Gift for Santa

Every Christmas eve we leave a cookie and milk for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph.   This year Ellie wanted to do something extra special for Santa.   She made him a present and even spelled his name phonetically.

Merry Cristmas

Merry Christmas from all of us.  We hope all of your Christmas wishes come true.

Visiting Santa

Once again, we made our annual trek into town, “Daddy’s City” (as Ellie calls it), to see Santa.  Each year there is a different theme and Ellie (actually all of us) loves going to see the window displays and the Christmas forest before entering Santa special room.  This year Santa talked with Ellie about wanting a Barbie.  Ellie’s eyes lit up and she talked about Santa bringing a Barbie.  I think one of Santa’s helpers had to go out and find a Barbie after the Santa visit.

"E"

“E” has continued to surprise Ellie throughout December.   First thing in the morning Ellie would look for “E” and then report to Victoria and I his location.  There were only a few times that she couldn’t find him.  This was the first year he spent the day in Ellie’s room.

Christmas Parade

This year Ellie participated in the local Christmas parade.  She and other children from her school were able to ride on a float (trailer being towed behind a parent’s car) to represent her school.  Once they finished the block long circle the children were able to walk back around the corner to see Santa riding on the fire truck.  Then after buying a very large bag of popcorn, Ellie went to see Santa. (This is only the first of three Santa’s she has seen so far this December.)

Panda the Climber

Ellie choose panda to ride in the doll seat on her bike during the last bike ride.  As always, the bike riding only last 5 to 10 minutes and then the girls find something more interesting to do.  On this day the school had put in this new, very large jungle gym.  Panda had his share of time climbing around with Ellie.

“E” Returned

Our Christmas elf “E” returned on the first of December along with a small present for Ellie, a pink Christmas tree.  Ellie has said that Cooper can call “E”, “C” (the phonic sound for C).  This year “E” has been a bit naughty; playing with Ellie’s toys and eating M&Ms and marshmallows.

Christmas Tree

Ellie was excited to go pick out the Christmas tree this year and show Cooper all the trees.  Ellie kept picking out the trees without any low branches.  We didn’t understand why until she mentioned that without the lower branches there would be much more room for the presents! Ellie once again painted the trunk of our tree with a big E and for Cooper she painted lots of dots for him on the opposite side.

Ellie Updates

Ellie had an amazing time at her dance performance.  She danced very well.  At intermission, we were able to congratulate her and she sat in the audience with me for the second half of the show (Victoria took Cooper home for a well-deserved sleep).  Ellie was excited to see her instructor dance on stage and yelled out to me that 2 of the older girls helping out in her class were on stage dancing.

Ellie swam in a friend’s pool for 2 hours this weekend.  She didn’t need any help from me and even dove to the bottom of the pool, shallow and deep end, to retrieve sinking disks, tubs, and a few rocks by herself. 

Party Dress

Look at Ellie's new party dress.  Thanks, Grandma Gwynn and Grandpa Bobby!  Ellie has been wearing it around the house, shown it off to friends and even brought it along for a outdoor tent sleepover.

Posing with Earrings

Ellie’s friend came over to our house to play and brought some clip-on earrings.  As the girls were playing they asked if I could take their pictures so they could see what they looked like wearing the earrings.   Normally when I take pictures of Ellie I try not to tell her what to do or to pose her.  This time it was a little different as they wanted to be able to see the earrings, so I had them look off to the side.  Her friend went first and when it was Ellie’s turn, she posed herself.  I didn’t say anything.

Ballet

Ellie’s year end ballet recital is Saturday.  She loves to dance and very excited to dance on the stage.  This dance school is different than the last one, as we haven’t been able to watch her practice or see her dance in costume. She said she gets to be a marsh mellow!  Victoria, Cooper and I are all going to watch her perform on Saturday! 

Morning Vitamin

Ellie normally has a vitamin everyday with breakfast. A few weeks ago, I thought I would do something special so I hid her vitamin under a strawberry top.  Not because she doesn’t like the vitamin just something funny.  Now, every morning as breakfast is being prepared she asks to have her vitamin hidden.  Sometimes I create whole scenes around the vitamin and then there are days like yesterday when I am tired and just put it between two apple slices.  After I did that, Ellie stared at the plate and said “Daddy, I can’t figure out the scene”.