Before we even get started . . . I found this pic in my phone. I'd forgotten about it. I took it over the summer when Ellie was going through the dress-up trunk and pulled out this gem. It's a size 18M, just in case you're wondering. Yes, she is seven years old.
I think one of her most favorite things in school is writing. She is given a word, and she has to write a sentence using that word. Then she has to write another sentence related to the first one. I love reading her sentences everyday. She also loves to do copy work. She's currently writing her recitation passages. And lists. She loves to make a list. (Yes, she gets it honest). She's already given me her Christmas wish list. And lately she's begun leaving notes for me around the house. I found this one on my computer not too long ago.
I caught her leaving notes in her big brother's room a couple of weeks ago. She kept leaving scraps of paper under his pillow for him to find. When I read what she wrote, I died laughing. Mason? Not so much.
Not too long ago she got her hands on her big sister's kindle while Hannah Kate was at dance. She knows the password. She left a little surprise on the kindle for Hannah Kate to find when she got home. Ellie changed the background picture. To a picture of the potty in the upstairs bathroom. I am not even kidding. Needless to say, Hannah Kate was not amused. I told her to change her password.
I mean, she is just the best little sister ever!
She is also the biggest helper. If you need someone to take out the garbage or get something for you or wash the dishes, Ellie is your girl. Just don't ask her to clean up her mess or her room because she is not a fan of that. After I wash and dry laundry, it goes from the dryer to my bed so I can fold it up. I sort it by what's to hang up and what's to fold. I don't mind doing laundry. I don't mind folding clothes. I mean, it's definitely not my favorite thing to do, but I don't mind it. It's also not something I really want anyone else doing. Because I just can't stand it. I've tried, but I can't do it. I re-fold it. Every. time. A couple of weeks ago I walked into my bedroom to fold clothes and saw this. Someone had already started separating the pile and had even folded some clothes. I knew immediately who it was. And I didn't even re-fold the shirts!
Three weeks ago I got a phone call about 15 minutes before I was to lecture for BSF. Ellie was crying and not feeling well. She'd complained of a sore throat when she woke up that morning so I'd given her some medicine, and she'd eaten her breakfast without any further complaint so I didn't think anything else about it. I shouldn't have been surprised when I got that phone call. But I couldn't leave to go get her because I had to lecture. The Lord already knew what was going to happen that day so He'd already orchestrated something to take care of Ellie so I could lecture. One of her beloved Children's Leaders from her early days in BSF was visiting our class that day. She is one of my area advisors now so she visits our class only a couple of times a year. She was with me when I got that phone call, and she immediately volunteered to go get Ellie and bring her to church for me. You know, I'd told Ellie the day before that I got to see Mrs. Jean that day and that she would be at BSF the next. So I have a feeling that Ellie really wanted to see Mrs. Jean, too, and figured out how to do that. Regardless I was so grateful for God's faithfulness to us and for sending Jean that particular day. When we got home, Ellie curled up in her mermaid blanket and lived her best life that afternoon. Notice the empty popcorn bag and the bowl of carrots. Yep, this is Ellie.
Ellie has been working on several gymnastics tricks lately. She's been working on her walking handstand. She's really been trying to perfect her roundoff back handspring. (Or at least that's what she calls this).
Last night she was jumping on the trampoline as I was leaving to pick up Hannah Kate from dance. I stopped for minute to watch her. I wish I could bottle her up. I wish I could bottle up this sweet, precocious, smart, funny, life-of-the-party Ellie because it's just going too fast. When I look at my teenager and tweenager, I am ever so grateful that I still have a little girl running around (driving me crazy). I have no idea what she's going to be like as a tweenager or teenager, but I have absolutely loved her little girl years. I wish I could keep them forever.