Ella turns EIGHT!

Ella is eight.  EIGHT!  I don't really know how that is possible.  She loves Second Grade more than any other so far.  She loves school so much, which we are grateful for!  I hope that continues.  She is super tall and her favorite activity of all is dance.  She dances non-stop and doesn't care who sees it.  One night she was playing out in the front porch and I went to peek to see what she was up to and she was using the front door glass reflection as a mirror, dancing away.  Love it!

The morning of her birthday, we had ordered a donut in the shape of an 8 with chocolate and sprinkles (her favorite!)  It was HUGE! And it was super good! A fun way to start the day!

Jay and I met Ella for lunch at school so I snapped this picture before she headed out to recess!

After school, Ella (still wearing her birthday crown from school) opened her gifts from us...a trampoline, a fidget spinner and a Ty unicorn.  She was so excited about it all!

Her dinner choice:  Chick-Fil-A and dessert from an ice cream shop in Farmington.  Perfect! 

We failed to take a family picture on her birthday but that's okay. 

We'll get some this weekend when we have everyone over to celebrate!!

Well, there went April and May!

Every time I update the blog, I tell myself now I'm all caught up and I can keep it updated again!  And then....life happens.  :)  Thanks for hanging in there.  I really hope I will be better about updating weekly this summer!  Because friends, this is the last week of school!  Whoot whoot!  I wish I were off for the summer too, but we are all looking forward to warm weather and some significant pool time!

So, here's some events from the past months!  Ella's Spring Dance Recital!!  Grandma Deb and Randy and Papa Paul and Grandma Jolyn were able to come and see her dance.  Also, some sweet friends came to watch too...

There were two routines at the spring show.  The high kick routine was called Girls with Attitude and the 2nd routine was to Hard Knock Life (from the movie Annie).

Koo Koo Kangaroo.  So, this is a band.  A kid's (mostly) band.  They played a concert in Farmington a few weeks ago, so our family and some friends went to check it out.  Well, the kids are obsessed with the tunes, and I must say, the songs are pretty fun and catchy.  Apparently Koo Koo Kangaroo has a cult following around here and they also cater to the older crowd playing certain bars around the Twin Cities.  Fun fact!  One of the guys from the band grew up in Farmington!  Nice.

The weather has been warming up.  We have been hitting the trails around our neighborhood and practicing our selfie-taking skills!  LOL!

Ella was Student of the Month for our elementary school for the month of April.  The trait: Trustworthiness.  Only one student from each class is chosen, so it was a pretty big deal!  So proud of her!

And then it was Mothers Day weekend!  We were able to join Jolyn and Jay for a lunch on Saturday!

 Ella was EXCITED!

 And we tried to take a selfie....

 Well, it sort of worked....

We did some shopping at Barnes & Noble and Ella read me a book about taking care of a mom. 

It was cute.  She read me the whole thing.  LOL!

On Sunday (Mother's Day), we took a squinty picture and headed to the Eagan Outlets for some shopping!

And we took a non-squinty picture too.  HA!

And you bet - later in the day Ella and I were trying to get a picture of ourselves...

this is called a Selfie.  When will I figure this out?!?!?!

I mean honestly...it is not that hard!

Some pictures of the little gifts from Ms. Ella....

 This was funny:

"Dear Mom, I hope you have a awesome special and "haleres" (hilarious) Mother's Day. Love, Ella"

YES!  I do have some mad baking skills.  :) 

And I had this picture on my phone from a few weeks ago.  She reads each night before I read a chapter from a book to her.  She just looks so grown up here!  Man, this school year has flown by!!

Track and Field Day!

Memorial Day weekend....Twins Game Selfies!

My last day of volunteering in Ella's classroom this year and the kiddos made me a sweet card and gave me a flower plant and some chocolates!  So sweet!

We had a family movie night with Harry Potter!!  Ella has been asking us for a while now to watch the first movie, so we finally got around to it.  There were a few scary parts, but she wasn't too bothered by them! 

Easter 2017

Easter weekend! We stayed in town this year and went to Chaska to spend Easter with Jay's side of the family.  A few pictures from the weekend....

We made Easter sugar cookies this year - chicks, bunnies and carrots!

 Aren't they cute?  Yummy! Note there are girl chicks and boy checks.  The girls have jelly bean bows!  And can you spot the cookie Ella decorated by herself before I explained what we were doing?  HA!

And the annual Easter Bunny Bread....

We spotted the Easter Bunny scoping out the yard on Saturday....see it back there?

Sunday morning, we headed to Sunrise Service (6:30 a.m.!) at the new church we are currently attending.  Took some pictures after we got home

More Abbas family attempts at a selfie!

And then the egg hunt...and guess who we caught leaving the yard?!?

Easter Basket time!

The afternoon hunt with Harrison and Franklin...

 Jay kept striking a JC Penney pose!

Another full basket of eggs!

It was a fun day!