Sewing Projects

I went thru a sewing craze this past month. I was able to get three dresses sewn for the girls dolls. They turned out so cute and were very easy to make once I figured the pattern out. I also made a few doll headbands to match:) I also sewed an apron and chef hat for Ella and her doll to match. 

And chef hats for her party guests. It was very fun and all the patterns I found online for free:) 

My mom got the girls little dog purses a while back and Elijah loved to carry them around. So, I decided to pick one up for him but remake it so it would be more appropriate for him to carry around.. hence SUPERDOG! I cut off the bows, added a mask and cape and now it is a man bag:) not a purse!

 And lastly, I recovered all my pillows for a more fresh look and made new curtains for the living room. 

 It was fun while it lasted and now I will wait for the next surge of inspiration to take me! 

Love this guy

Mark and I enjoyed a fabulous 11th Anniversary on the 4th- we dropped the kiddos off for the night at Erika's house and went down to Rodizios- an amazing Brazilian steakhouse downtown. We ate more meat that night then I have eaten all month and it was delicious! The men come by with great big swords with all kinds of meat speared to the end of it (chicken, pork, steak, fish,sausages)  They carve the meat right onto your plate. It's pretty fantastic and some of the best meat I have ever eaten. 

After stuffing ourselves, we went and saw Les Miserable- it was beautiful. The whole movie is done in song and the music sends chills up your spine. Its breathtaking! 

And I love all the redemptive themes throughout the movie. 

The next morning, we continued our celebration and ate even more food

- yes, we love eating-

 at Snooze. 

It was a wonderful anniversary and I cant wait to celebrate even more in the years to come! 

Ella's 6th Cooking Birthday party

 Ella wanted a Cooking Birthday party for her 6th. 

She got a red kitchen for Christmas (found it used on Facebook- steal of a deal!) so we went with a red, teal and yellow color scheme. Decorating for a party is my absolute favorite! 

 I found a very easy pattern for a chef's hat online, so make each guest a white hat for a party favor.

The kids looked so cute in their cooking gear. 

 One of Ella's gifts that I was super excited for, was a matching apron and hat for Ella and her doll. 

It really wasn't complicated to sew and I was so happy with the result! 

 Mark printed the pics below of each guest with Ella and we put them in a little frame for a party favor. I was so excited because I found the frames at Michael's on clearance for 25 cents.

                       

I also used paper straws for the kids punch and even though they look just adorable, they are not practical at all. They kept falling apart once wet, so we switched over to plastic straws half way thru. 

The menu:

Pizza (the kids spread the dough, put on the sauce, cheese and pepperoni) 

Fruit Salad (the kids used a plastic knife to cut the bananas, kiwis, strawberries and grapes)

Cookie Cakes (the kids frosted sugar cookies and stacked them to make a cake complete with sprinkles) 

It went very smoothly with not too bad a mess to clean up after:)lol 

I was thankful to have help from Mark and one of the moms.

The kids, Mark and I also prepped all the ingredients beforehand and put them in little individual cups that I got at a party store. It went much faster and was easier then passing ingredients. 

Since we dont have a lot of space at our place, one goal during winter parties is to keep the kids sitting at the table as long as possible. They did so good and sat for an hour working and eating their food. They did get to play at the end in the basement:) 

I really like structure when we have a lot of kids (keeps them from being crazy) , so my parties are usually run like a classroom- hopefully the kids dont mind! lol 

It was a very fun party to put together and it is her last "big friend" party, until she's 13! 

We just do parties till Kindergarten then for birthdays they can have someone sleepover, or go somewhere, etc. With four kids, it is easier and seems to work well for our family. 

So blessed to have our little Ella in our family and look forward to many more birthdays to come! 

The Party Continues

 We celebrated with our traditional birthday breakfast:) She's 6! 

And the excitement of opening presents! 

 Elijah was not in the party-ing mood.

 of course, Cotton had to come on up for the party. 

 Ella also got to celebrate on her birthday at Grandma and Grandpas. 

We are so blessed to have Ella Bella in our family:) 

Happy 6th Birthday, Ella Bella!

Ella Faith Gomez

Born: January 6, 2007 12:10am (almost a January 5th baby)

8lbs 11oz

Ellas Turns one:

Swimming Party!

Ella turns two:

Elmo Party!

Cupcake party: 

Ella turns three! 

Gymnastic party: 

Ella turns four!

Little Miss Sunshine party:

Ella turns five! 

And today, my sweet little Ella turns 6 yrs old.

In honor of her 6th birthday, here are 6 things that describe my Ella:

1. eager to please

2. cuddly

3. sensitive heart to spiritual things

4. loud and talkative

5. loves to learn

6. clumsy, always getting hurt

We love you, Ella! 

You fill our home with lots of laughter and your sweet little heart is such a blessing. 

May you grow to love the Gospel!