Elle turns five years old in about an hour.  I don’t know how it happened so quickly (I know everyone says that, but it is so true!).  I am so proud of my little goose, my little bean, my pudding pop…the list goes on and on.

We celebrated her birthday last Saturday, Spa Style, and had a great time. Tonight we will celebrate with ice cream cake and pizza sticks.  She will get her much-longed for DS so she can be like her big sissys!

Happy Birthday Bean.  I  have enjoyed the first five years more than you will ever know.  Thank you for being uniquely you.

We had a Pinkalicious party!

Last Saturday Elle went to her first “friend” birthday party.  She was invited by a girl at school for a Pizza Hut  party.  How proud she was when she climbed in the car and said,”Mom, I got a birthday invitation!”  We quickly RSVP’d and she knew she wanted me to buy some “Pet Shops” as a gift.

In the spirit of the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) I bought a Tinker Belle Halloween Candy bag to put the Littlest Pet Shops in so that she could reuse the bag.   Elle made three cards in the spirit of using as much paper as possible!

As we got into the car on party day, she asks me, “When are you picking me up mom?”.  I told her that I was staying for the party, that she just wasn’t old enough yet to go by herself.  This made her grumble a bit and I think she may have rolled her eyes, but I cannot confirm that (denial:).  On the way out of the driveway her three older sisters were yelling at Elle to “Have Fun”  and “Bring us back candy” as they were very happy for her.  Elle screams back at them to let the dog and the cat in and out while she’s gone!  Letting the pets in and out is Elle’s chore and she takes it very serious obviously.

She is growing up way to fast.  Here is a picture of her right before we left for the party.  Note that she is looking a bit goth/grunge/tinkerbellish in her new over-sized dress, white capris and Enu’s old boots that are three sizes to big!  I have a feeling this is not a phase she is going to grow out of, and she will always be my “creative dresser”!

Photo by Mandy W.  2009

I was taking a bit of a nap today (I bribed Meg to watch Elle while I layed down) when Elle wandered up to my room (Where was my paid help?) and asked me if I was hungry.  I told her no, I was fine and she said,”If you were hungry I would make you food.”  I of course told her that I was hungry and she could make me food.  She ran off and I went back to resting.

I had assumed that she meant her fake food she often shares with us.  She will walk around with a pad of paper and a pen and make us write down what we want to eat and then give  us a plate full of what ever she finds in her plastic kitchen.

After the  phone brought me out of my not-so-slumber slumber I ran into Elle in the  Kitchen.  She had a cookie sheet with  a napkin on it, a small pile of ketchup, two burnt french fries (left over from lunch), a buttered bagel, pepperoni, applesause, four teddy grahms and a banana (she had a big sissy help her peel it).  This was the sweetest gift from her.  She had worked hard and was so proud of herself!

Elle tries so hard to be big like her sisters and I want her to stay little.  I cannot stop the clock and deep down I don’t want to. Elle shows such a compassion towards people, animals and insects.  Watching her grow and become who she is meant to become will be an amazing thing to experience.  I will miss my little baby though, when she is all grown up and starts rolling her eyes at me!