Ella's 8!!!!!

I can't believe this baby:

is now this girl:

Eric, of course, had a hearing early on Ella's birthday, so we got to get up extra early to open gifts.  Really, since everyone else seems to get up at the crack of dawn anyways I was the only one who had to get up extra early.  And by extra early I mean 7:00am, which really isn't that early, but when you are an insomniac who didn't get to sleep until almost 1:00am it seems pretty darn early.

getting right to business

Tonks seems to have taken a page from Casey's book and has started doing cards.  I'm still trying to figure out how they hold the pens in their paws...

Surrounded by her gifts

We had chocolate cupcakes with pink icing and yellow cupcakes with a ganache.  Even thought it was a delicious ganache, the kids seemed to prefer the regular everyday icing.  I was shocked and amazed (not really).

Eric makes sandwiches out of the weirdest things. Pizza, cupcakes, what's next? Bread and meat?

 This year was an even birthday for Ella, duh, which meant that she could have a party with friends.  I was not feeling up to having a bunch of kids over so I tried everything I could think of to dissuade Ella.  We offered having lunch at a restaurant and seeing a movie, going down to Denver to go shopping, or even going to the Children's Museum, but none of it worked so we had a party:

Playing the makeshift golf course Eric set up

Drawing their pictures of Ella and things she loves

Making crepe paper dresses (or mummies for Ethan and Caleb)

She got LOTS of art kits (her friends know her well)

I didn't feel up to making a big giant elaborate cake, but luckily Ella was just fine with the cupcakes I had made for her actual birthday.  Again, the ganache was not the winner.  Lesson here: 
Betty Crocker + kids = less leftover cupcakes