Ellie is 5!!

Ellie had a birthday, and she is so excited to be 5! An update on her progress is long overdue!

The biggest news of her progress is her eating! She's been chewing (she calls it "crunching") for a while now, but she'd pocket the food in the side of her cheek. She didn't know how to swallow it without help of a bite of applesauce to carry it down. Until September, when she was eating scrambled eggs and swallowed a bite all by herself! It was like a light turned on, you could see on her face as she realized how to move the food back to her tongue and swallow it. She practiced over and over that meal. After that, it was a fast transition to her eating all "chewable" foods, rather than pureed! She doesn't eat a lot, but she is willing to try new foods, which is great. 

She is also getting so much more comfortable with things on her hands - she helped put these wet, sticky pears in jars for me! And she eats pancakes and fruit with her hands, with sticky syrup running down her arm.

Trying to find a preschool for her wasn't working out, so I decided to recruit another girl her age (well, really her mom) to have preschool with Ellie. She goes once a week for 2 hours to the other girl's house, and the other girl comes to our house for 2 hours another day. It's not much, but it's a little something and Ellie loves it!

She loves to play. She does so well playing by herself, which is good since her brothers are always gone. She lines people up, often to have them eat :). She loves her stuffed animals and plays with them all the time, too.

Just a cute picture!

Ellie also loves to draw! She draws half the day. And does really well with it, especially when 6 months ago she was still holding her pencil in her fist. Some of her pictures are at the end.

A bear picture - she was about the same size as this bear when she was born - but skinnier! She hasn't gained any weight this past year, but she's grown over 2". She's getting really tall!

And, her birthday! For a girl who didn't even taste her cake, she had a very set idea of what she wanted. White on the inside, pink on the outside, looking like a 5. With sprinkles (that she put on herself). She did try ice cream for the first time, though!

Two of her drawings. She colors, cuts, and tapes little papers - some smaller than 1 square inch - all over the house!

She likes the 5 little monkeys stories right now (along with Mercer Mayer books). This is her rendition of the 5 little monkeys sitting in the tree, teasing Mr. Crocodile.

Ellie is such a sweet girl, we're sure happy to have her in our family! She smiles, dances, and skips her way through life. She's so happy, the other day she was mad about her dad telling her it was time for pajamas, but still she skipped down the hallway, with a frown on her face. One day she said to me, "Can you come in here so we can talk?" And when I came in she told me all about Winnie the Pooh :).

November 2014

This makes it look like Ellie is a typical 4 year old! She is getting so much better at eating. She is still not very effective at chewing, but she can do crunchy things like these Cheetos and is doing okay with some soft foods, like fruit and pancakes. She likes Town House crackers and cheese the best. And yogurt, of course.

I loved this!

The most amazing Scrabble game I've ever seen. I've never seen it where all but two letters (I think) were used! The game started with John and Caleb, but Ian and I played at times as needed. John and Ian ended it after Caleb lost interest. It was a long game.

I froze my tomatoes as they got ripe so I could make them into sauce all at once. I finally made it. It happened to be the week it was freezing cold, but at least I got it canned before it snowed :). We got 9 pints of tomato sauce, all from our own garden!

Ellie is so color coordinated :).

Levi's been working on cooking for his Wolf Badge. This is the chicken pot pie he helped make for dinner.

And another day he grilled some hamburgers. It was only 21 degrees outside, but a grilled hamburger with fresh garden tomatoes tastes even better in the winter!

Another fun hair style.

One day all the boys were doing homework so Ellie got out a white board, as she often does. She kept saying, "E L L I E," over and over. I didn't realize it was because she was writing it! This is the first time she's written anything recognizable, and it was her whole name!

Also in November we got our first snow! It was only 2", but enough to have some fun in. Caleb and Levi ran in their school's Turkey Trot. Levi was not into it this year, but he made it to the end. We spent Thanksgiving at home and the boys played in the ward's Turkey Bowl. The day after Thanksgiving the boys put up the Christmas tree. They did it all by themselves! Ellie helped put on the ornaments and loved it!

From the one who has never taken lessons...."Hot Cross Buns"

October 2014

October was a fun and very busy month! This got out of order, but Ellie's hair is getting thick enough finally to do some fun things with! She wasn't too happy with dressing up for the trunk-or-treat the night before Halloween, so on Halloween day this was her costume. There was no school so we went to the Science Center where they had some spooky science activities.

Ellie is loving coloring/drawing, either with crayons, pencil, or markers, on a white board or paper. It all makes her happy and keeps her busy!

Ellie had her first real haircut! I've trimmed the ends a little when she was a baby to keep it even but it really need to be cut. The back was really long but thin.

The final product. I didn't even have to trim the front, it was so much shorter than the back. I was sad to cut it, and it's not as curly anymore, but it's much nicer and seems a lot thicker now that the scraggly ends are gone.

And, Ellie had a birthday!! (Her haircut was on her birthday, lucky girl). She picked out the sprinkles and helped put them on the cake. After we sang to her she started blowing. So we asked if she wanted the candles lit, and she said yes. Last year she freaked out when we lit the candles so we weren't even going to attempt it this year, but then she loved it! She had the first three blown out before John could light the fourth. And, she ate a few little bits of cake!

We harvested our potatoes. Not a lot for how many plants we had, but not bad for our soil that is hard as a rock.

Ellie's bear picture. She was the size of the bear when she was born, but skinnier. Now, at age 4, she's doing so well. She's made tons of progress with her eating and is starting to chew up foods! And willingly put them in her mouth! On Halloween she took her last dose of medicine for her delayed stomach emptying, in the hopes that she's outgrown that issue now.

Cleaning out the gutters is always a fun job!

The trunk-or-treat. Ellie was not happy to dress up. She kept the ladybug on long enough for the picture. Levi is the Cat in the Hat, Caleb a ghost, and Ian a mad scientist.

Our Halloween dinner - with a pumpkin shaped pizza to go along with it.

Also this month, soccer ended. All the boys did well. Ian loved being a forward and his coach let him play forward most of the time. He scored several goals! His school had an all school fun run the day before Halloween. It was a mile long and they could dress up. I felt bad for the girl who dressed up as Cindrella and tried to run in her fancy shoes......Anyway, each grade awarded the first 10 runners for both boys and girls. Ian did really well and was #11 of the 6th grade boys! He was sad he missed the first 10 but did GREAT!

We got a visit from grandparents for a few days. It was fun having them here. They helped out with several scout things. Ian organized a chess tournament with Grandpa, Caleb, Levi, and himself for his first merit badge. Caleb and Levi each organized some board games as one of their requirements for their Wolf. They were both awarded their Bobcat badge while their grandparents were here. Grandma was a mystery reader in Caleb's class at school. And we had a good time visiting!

September 2014

With the delay in the start of school, we had some extra days in the beautiful weather of September to have more fun. We went with friends on a tour of the fire station and on a tour of the Recycling Center. We went on a planets walk along the path near our town. And we found a place to pick blackberries! The ones in the front that were easy to reach were gone, so it was hard to pick. They are really pokey bushes! Even with spilling the bucket once, we got a decent amount. And they were so good! We made some milkshakes and jam with them, along with just eating them fresh.

Ellie had a great time with the rocks along the path where the blackberries were.

Ian, Caleb, and Levi share a room. They've had a bunk bed that is a twin on top for Ian with a double bed on the bottom for Levi and Caleb. They are short enough to sleep the short way on the bed. But they are getting taller and want their own bed. We had a bunk bed and twin we could use, but they would take up their whole room. My sister jokingly sent me a picture of a triple bunk bed, saying that's what we need. And, actually, it was! We found some plans online and John made them a triple bunk! Their bunk bed sold and was gone within 4 days of my posting it for sale, so they spent several weeks on mattresses on the floor and on the couch while John worked hard to build their new beds.

And, finally, school started!

Ian, the big 6th grader, starting at the middle school! He loves it!

And Caleb and Levi, starting 3rd grade. They're back at the elementary school this year, with the arrangement that they come home to eat lunch. The office lets them sign themselves out and back in, so I don't have to go get them every day.

And, two new Wolf Scouts! There were no scout meetings in August so they finally got to go to a Cub Scout meeting, after working hard on their Bobcats at home during August.

And then there is Ellie. The first week of school she asked all day where her brothers were. She missed them! She does have fun playing by herself, too. She has her friends all lined up and built the road for the cars. The Little People princess that is second to the end of her line has red hair. She, on her own, decided that the princess is Ellie :).

And, soccer started! Caleb and Levi got put on separate teams, but at least they play on the same night. Ian plays on a different night, and they all have games on Saturday as well. This is Ian's last season in parks and recreation soccer. One night during Ian's game it rained for a few minutes and then this beautiful double rainbow appeared.

September is also County Fair month. And what a great fair it was! Caleb drew a picture and got a white ribbon, as well as entered his 4-H Cloverbud book. Levi wrote a poem and got second place, and the silver award. He even got some money for it! He also entered his Cloverbud book. And Ian decided to enter the King Arthur Flour Baking Contest, there was a certain recipe to make. And, he won first place and best of show! He won some money and a gift card to King Arthur Flour's catalog. Even I entered some peaches I canned and got a red ribbon.

And, the finished product! A triple bunk that only takes up one wall of their room. It's an awesome bed!

And, last but not least, in September we finished our miles for the summer. We made a goal to go 75 miles. Most of them were biking miles. By the time school was supposed to start in August, all three made the 75 mile goal! So, we kept on, trying to get to 100. By the time school started two weeks later, Ian was at 118.5 miles, Levi 100, and Caleb 102!!