Ellie's 6th Birthday!

Even before Christmas, Ellie was asking to have a gingerbread house for her birthday present. She wanted that in place of a cake and wanted to eat it all herself. That sounded like a simple present to me, so my mom picked up a kit around Christmas time and we stuck it in the freezer until her birthday. She hadn't seen it, but reminded me several times that the gingerbread house was what she wanted for her present. We pulled it out the day before her birthday and she was so excited! She spent most of the morning of her birthday decorating it. She let each of the other kids have a part in helping her.

As the birthday kid always gets to decide what they want for breakfast, Caleb asked her what she wanted a few days before. "Doughnuts!" I wasn't sure if we'd be able to make a morning run for them, so I bought a cheap pack of powdered covered ones from Aldi just in case (you and I know they don't taste nearly as good, though). On her birthday morning, Caleb came through for her. By the time I got downstairs, he had already made the dough for donut-holes and was looking for oil to fry them in. After frying them, he rolled them in cinnamon and sugar or powdered sugar. Yum, they were great!!

Later that evening, our families came over to celebrate with us. When I saw the above picture of Ellie (with her finished gingerbread house "cake"), I couldn't help but notice how grown up she looked. She's not out of the little girl stage, but I can see a beautiful young lady starting to develop. Ellie has grown alot in her consideration for others this year. It's a beautiful thing when the kids start to look out for the interests of others and not just themselves. I pray that Ellie will continue to mold into the person that God has planned for her to become.