Ellie Sue is 10.

 Let's talk about TEN YEARS OLD.  I figured if I am going to dive back into this blog thang, I need to have a special reason to do so.  And here it is... Ellie Sue is T.E.N.  Or will be on the 12th of this month anyway!  And I am so excited to "share" her with you since most of you have been here since the very day I found out she would be the sweet blessing to me and Todd that she has certainly turned out to be.

Let's chronicle her 10th birthday party, shall we?  Here's Cousin Madi.  She and Ellie call each other BFC's.  (Best Friend Cousins)  And... Staci drove all the way from Houston to Monroe (6ish hours) Wednesday night to drop her off so she could be here for Ellie's party, then turned right around and drove right back.

And THAT, my friends, is what I'd call a BFC!  And a BFS!

 Here we have Madi well protected with her sunscreen!

 Ellie decided she wanted to do a pool party this year.  One small detail, we don't have a pool!  haha

 Enter Daddy's golf club!  yaaaaay!!  We went down the road a bit and had it at Squire Creek.  Because it's about 30 minutes away, we also added on the invitation that we would take and pick up kiddos.  We had a major carload, truckload, and second carload with the summer sitter right behind us.

 I'm not sure how I feel about this double digit thing!!  I mean, look at her.  She really DOES look like a pre teen!!  (and some of you may have seen some of these pics on instagram..... if you are not my friend and wanna be... melaniemomom is my Insta name)

 So cute to hear all the old faithful games being played!

And naturally, we felt like a crown was fitting.  We added 10 candles made from washi tape. 

 And the last time I blogged, I was never able to get videos to play.  I doubt that anything has changed.  (But I betcha Jessi can help me.  Y'all remember Jessi?  That girl can do anything!)

 The above video had to attempted though, because Mr. Blue Shirt is her "boyfran".  Yes... I said that!  And you don't have to worry.  It's not really that big of a deal yet.  In fact, we saw him and his mom at a local restaurant, and Ellie refused to even acknowledge him or say "hi".  She was mortified when I walked over and introduced myself to his mama.

 I'm pretty glad about all that.  But here's something.... do YOU remember who YOU liked in the fifth grade?  I find it so interesting that the majority of people I've asked that (even though they are in their 40's) actually DO!  And don't even bump that up to the 6th or 7th grade!  The numbers go waaaay up!  Isn't that nuts?

 I guess "special" feelings are special feelings.  And my baby girl is growing up right in front of my very eyes.

Did you see how much I've grown too?  Look at that cake above... Ellie and her daddy made it! Ellie said she youtubed how to make a multi layer cake and wanted to make her own.  Remember I'm the psycho mom who does a Bohemian Style Show for my 6 year old?!  haha.  I like a gorgeous cake, perfect decorations, and pull out all the stops to create a theme of all themes.

 She is definitely my independent spirit!  I liked this pic, cause it totally sums up her personality.

( At some point, I am going to do a few posts on strengths finder 2.0 which has become quite an obsession for me.  All that I was talking about above, with my needing to have things "perfect:" at parties is a by product of my strength of #maximizer.  Ellie's fifth strength is #command.  It is a leadership strength, and can tend to have a bit of a bossy streak until it matures.  I know, I know... that is shocking to so many of you who know her.  (I wish I could add a laugh face emoji here!) )

 Ellie typically has a really poor showing at her party, because it is a busy ball tournament, vacation going, camp attending time of year! This year was an exception.  She had a whole bunch of friends show up!  And she was downright thrilled!

 Todd is thinking, "I'm watching you, boy.  I am watching you!!"  hahaha

 Gabster has a month until she also has a birthday.  She'll be nine.

 Look at all these sweeties.  So polite and kind.  and wild and loud.  but mainly, all very good buddies.

 This is sweet Parker.  He has such nice manners and is very conscientious with his manners.  sweet boy.

 Dad sitting in the shade.  Probably wondering how many more of these girl parties he'll have to attend heretofore.  Well, I'll tell ya... It dawned on my recently that I probably have another 6 0r 7 summers with my girls.  At least only that many more where they'll be under my roof, wanting to take vacations with mom and dad, and letting us throw them annual birthday parties.  For that reason, I have really made it a point in the last two summers to spend as much time as I possibly can with my girlies.  I recall a similar summer 12 years ago when we had a limited amount of time to spend with a little boy, and we came to the beach twice and DisneyWorld twice, and I have never regretted the sacrifices made to see to it that that happened.  I know I'll never regret the sacrifices made now for my baby girls neither.  That's really what life is about!

 All in all we had a very successful tenth birthday party!  I was happy there was such a great showing from her friends.  I had a glimpse into what the boy/ girl thing might look like in a few years as they all go to junior high and high school.  (I also have #futuristic in my top five strengths, so it is natural for me to visualize the future as though it has already occurred.)

I love, love my girl.  And I am excited about the idea that I am back in action on this blog.  Hope you are still here and don't mind me sharing a #grovesgirls story from time to time .  (Or daily if I get crazy!)

Thanks for reading.
MO