Ella B

I thought I would spend the next few posts talking about what our kids are up to these days.

Ella turned 10 in September and had a Ben & Jerry's birthday party. It hit me at the party that Ella has entered the pre-teen world. When she blew out the candles, and missed a few, everyone was so excited to yell out how many boyfriends she had and then were giggling as they named each candle. Then when she opened presents she got gifts cards, clothes, make-up/bath supplies, a CD and a teeny magazine with posters of various teen idols - not one single toy! I was shocked and a little sad.

Ella has been spending a ton of hours at the gym working on perfecting her gymnastics routines. For the past year she has been practicing about 12 hours a week. She started competing as a level 5 this year and has really come a long way since she started 4 years ago. Ella loves gymnastics, but is starting to think about doing some other sports as well, so we may decided to cut back a little in 2009. She also completed a kids triathlon last year and helped to raise money for a little girl named Molly who had cancer. It was such an inspiring event and she hopes to do it again this year.

Some of Ella's other favorite activities are: reading with Dad, swimming, piano, school chorus, sledding/snow boarding, activity days, playing the Wii and hanging out with friends

Ella helps me out so much at home, especially with Millie. She is the earliest to rise in the morning and the last to go to bed at night. I do not know where she gets all of her energy, especially since she is working out so much at gymnastics. Our little Ella B is not so little anymore and I am continually amazed at the beautiful girl she is becoming both inside and out.