Pierced Ears and Presidents

My firstborn...

Oh, Ellen. You are so precious to me. You have taught me so much. Before you, I had only changed 1 diaper in my life. Before you, I thought my career was what gave me credibility and status. Before you, I had no idea what the mission of motherhood was. You have pointed your daddy and me to Jesus and He has taught us so much. We love you SO much!

Ellen's birthdays over the years:

1 week----------------------------1 year---------------------2 years


3 years---------------------------4 years---------------------5 years



6 years--------------------7 years-----------8 years-------------9 years

And now she is one decade old! How did that happen??? The celebration of her 1st decade of life actually began the day before her birthday with a mom and daughter date to Claire's to get her ears pierced and then out to tea. What a treasure to spend the afternoon with such a grown up and precious young lady. And she's my daughter!! She's so much fun to be with.

Birthdays are big in our house. Dad began the day with homemade doughnuts which you can see Rebekah thoroughly enjoyed. She even decided to try the chocolate frosting and sprinkles on as a goatee.

Friends came over to scrapbook with Ellen and partake of her beautiful cake creation. (It's a scrapbook page.)

We finished off the evening with dinner and more cake with Grandma and Grandpa.


And now, if you've made it this far I had to share this silly video clip with you. I have been working with the 3 older children to memorize the U.S. presidents. We've come up with silly hand motions/rhythm beats to help them. We practiced them several times as a group this morning, then each child took a turn repeating them back. After the 3 big kids had finished, Rebekah said, 'My turn!'

Never underestimate what your 2 year old hears and retains. We were astonished to hear her repeat back, in order, the first 20 presidents of the United States. You'll hear her big sister prompting her on the last 4.

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield. Whew!