Ellie is now eight years old

Yes, it is hard to believe, but Ellie is now eight years old. Wow! When Ellie was talking to Doc on her birthday she said, "Can you believe that you've known me now for eight years?" :-)

Ellie had a great birthday party Saturday night. Ellie and five of her good friends had dinner at Red Robin and then went to see 'Monsters vs Aliens' in 3D. They all were sufficiently wired with sugar and caffeine and had a great time. We are also very proud of Ellie for agreeing to receive donations to charity instead of gifts. Although, Ellie did enjoy the presents from her family, which included two aquatic frogs from Mom & Dad. They just need to be fed twice a week and the water changed twice a year. Our type of pet. ;-)

There are less than two weeks left until Ellie's opening night for Annie. This weekend Ellie, Nisa and Roger walked around downtown Portland asking businesses if it was OK to put posters up for her show. There weren't too many people who could say no to Ellie's request. :-)

Speaking of Annie, Maile has a great rendition on "Tomorrow." Not only that, she does a decent job staying on key. "To-maw-no, to-maw-no... I lu ya to-maw-no" and she really belts out the last line. "DAY A-WAY!" :-)

Last week the Easter Bunny came for the girls and left a fun little scavenger hunt behind. Also, at church our family was asked to bring forward the gifts. Nisa carried the basket of donations, Ellie carried the bread, Roger carried the wine and Mika carried the Mai-Mai. :-)

Tomorrow Ellie is the "Star Attraction" at school where she has a big poster about her and her family and everyone in the class writes some nice things about Ellie. It is a neat idea for her classroom.

Nisa's class made a "Peter & the Wolf" book that has drawings from everyone in the class. Nisa also made a rocketship book at school. Nisa is quite the author and loves to read these at night.

Roger had to have a talk with Nisa about jumping off the ladder to her bunkbeds.
Roger: "Nisa you can't be jumping off the bed like that. It isn't safe."
Nisa: "But Ellie does it too."
Roger: "But you do it more often. It is a bad example for Maile."
Nisa: "But that is because I play pirate ship on the bunkbeds more often, and I can't get eaten by the sharks." :-)