Ella turned 4!

Last Saturday was Ella's 4th b-day but the celebration started a couple days earlier. Even though she had only been in preschool for a week, her teacher wanted to celebrate her b-day at school. Ella informed me she wanted rainbow cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles on top... pretty fitting for a celebration that would happen on St. Patrick's day. The cupcakes were made and as we walked up to her class we found a pleasant surprise waiting for her on the sidewalk.

The next day was a little b-day party planned for her and her friend Kai.

His b-day was earlier that week. It was a spring theme where the kids made little faces out of yogurt cups and then planted grass seeds inside so they could watch the "hair" grow.

Then all the kids went outside to play in the little play area right next to our house. It was such a lovely day... I think the warmest day we've had in a very long time. After that the kids came inside for lunch and then cake. Each kid had a little dirt cake with gummy worms inside and a pinwheel on top to later take home. At the end each kid received a bug kit and Ella could not wait to use hers. Ryan had the day off so he was able to join in on the festivities and he was the one who went bug catching with her. They found a plump worm which she named squirmy.

On her actual birthday we did not tell her where we were going... it was a surprise. But before we left she had a surprise on TV. I sent in a b-day card to Sprout and they picked it for their Sunny Side Up show! She was thrilled to see herself on TV and rewound the show to watch it again... and again... and again.

Ryan had her b-day off as well so we were all together for her special day. She wanted to go to Panera's for breakfast and from there we took off for the day.

We ended up going to the Please Touch Museum in Philly. The kids had a great time and we stayed almost till closing time. Ryan spent most of the time with Ella and Jonathan while I watched Leia. The museum was rather crowded but the kids didn't mind. Jonathan and Ella really enjoyed the construction building area where they helped create a wall out of foam bricks which was quickly destroyed after it was built. Leia's favorite part was a house/ garden area where she enjoyed planting carrots and then sweeping up the "dirt" with a broom. A new method to keeping a garden clean.

The funniest, most entertaining part for me was when we checked out a history area where they showed what the first typewriter and phone looked like. SO this is how the event went down. I was showing Jonathan how the first phones were used and he then proceeded to talk through it. After he was done a voice said hello back. It sounded like Ryan but I could not see him anywhere. Anyway, Jonathan talked a little bit to the person, the person talked back and then Jonathan asked, "Where are you?" The voice answered back, "I'm standing right behind you!" Jonathan dropped the phone, screamed and took a few steps back. He was scared but no one was behind him. Then, we see Ryan peaking out of an area across the room that contained a second phone. Ryan and I had a good laugh over that and after Jonathan composed himself it became a joke between the kids saying, "I'm right behind you!" Man, what a classic moment.

After all the fun we headed back home for pizza, cake, and presents. Ella requested a castle cake, like the one she had last year, but this year Cinderella was added. She loved the cake and was extremely excited about the presents she received. It was truly a perfect day.

1st day of preschool

Last week Ryan and I checked out a possible preschool Ella could go to next year. Ever since I found out there might be a possibility of her being in a school district where Kindergarten is all day, I have been really concerned about her going to a preschool that will get her ready for that. With that in mind we checked out a preschool and ended up loving it, especially Ella. The instance she walked in, she hung up her jacket and joined the other kids! We were only there to observe and see what the place was like but ended up not only enrolling her for next year but also starting her 2 days a week for the rest of this year.

Today was her official 1st day and Ella seemed to love it. As we walked out the door getting ready to drive there, Ryan pulled up straight from work. Perfect timing. He was able to see her off as well. When we arrived she wanted daddy to take her so I ended up turning in her paperwork while Ryan took her into her classroom. From what he said she walked in, found her name that marked where to hang up her jacket and went right into playing with the other kids. Ryan had to remind her of a hug and kiss before he left.

It was rather strange to not have her constantly with me, but for once, Leia had mommy's full attention. She was able to ride in the car cart with no one shoving her or getting in her way and could move around freely in the living room without being sideswiped by an older sister. Though she missed Ella, it was nice to see Leia have fun and enjoy some time being the "one".

The time went by rather quickly and before we knew it, we took off to pick Ella up. There she was waiting for us, jacket already on, holding a target bag which contained her work for the day. That's when I asked permission to snap a picture so we could always remember this day. She was looking at me but at the last millisecond looked away. While we walked out to the car she told me about how she painted Mr. Yuck and wished she could stay longer. Hopefully this enthusiasm will continue.

With the day almost over, it's a few minutes before midnight, I had to document it. Why? Because about a half hour ago I started cleaning out her backpack. It was filled with all the pencils, crayons, markers and coloring books she could find. It has been filled off and on like this since the beginning of the year. When she decided she wanted to go to school like Jonathan. She wanted to ride the big yellow/orange bus too. Out came the pretend school with mommy as the teacher and in went the library book. The one she got today... at her real school. The school where she is a big kid and gets to talk about her day, just like Jonathan. sigh. My little girl just became not so little anymore.