Elise's 4th Birthday!

The day after we went to Joshua Tree, we were driving through our neighborhood when Ryan suddenly screeched the van to a stop.  There, on the side of the road, was a pile of sod with a sign marked "free".  Now, I don't think it would have mattered much what was under the sign - those of you who know Ryan are aware that he likes "free".  It just so happened, though, that we had an area of dead grass in our yard just the right size for this stuff.  We went home, dropped off the women and children, and Ryan and Connor drove back down to load free sod into the (previously kinda clean) back of our minivan.  It turns out the house owner had just finished re-sodding (is that a word?) his backyard in preparation for his daughter's wedding, and had this left over.  Connor and Ryan worked late that night digging up the old grass, and our Family Home Evening the next day was laying sod.  The kids were pretty proud of their work - and it looked pretty good, until somebody forgot to water it.  We're going to need a few more pieces of free sod to repair the dead spots, but it's still better than it was before.
  

  
Shortly after the sod adventure, Elise celebrated her fourth birthday by hosting her first birthday party!  Three of her good friends came over for a (what else?) princess party.  I have to say, I'm pretty new at this birthday party thing, but this was way different from Connor's party.  It was much easier.  I don't know if that's because there were a third as many kids, or if it's because they were girls, but it was great.  They did princess crafts, ate ice cream, and hit a pinata.  Elise loved it.  (We improved a bit on the pinata thing by putting the goodie bags inside the pinata, rather than loose candy.  It cut down on the rioting and tears.)
    

  
After the girls had their turns, the rest of us got our aggression out on the empty pinata. 
    

   
Ryan got Elise's cake from Porto's, as is our habit.  I think it was supposed to be a Mother's Day cake, what with the flowers and all, but Elise thought it was perfect.  
    

You may not be able to see it in the pictures very clearly, but this was the month that Elise was wearing her thumb guards.  For the past year or so, whenever she sucked her thumb, Elise would scratch her nose with her free fingers.  It became an open sore after awhile, and band-aids only worked if we remembered to replace them fast enough.  I bought these thumb guards on Amazon, and after a month of using them (just during the day), she still sucked her thumb, but she completely stopped the nose scratching.  Good job, Leesey!  I figure we'll go after the thumb sucking itself when she's a little older.  I'm hoping the less of a big deal we make of it, the easier it will be for her to give it up.  In the meantime, it sure is cute.
  

  

Happy birthday my sweet girl!  Your dad and I thank God each day that we were blessed with such a kind, loving, smart, snuggly, tender little princess!
   

One-year-old Elise