The Continued Story of Pursey and Friends...

Most people can skip right over this post. But for our family...this is a big deal.

Pursey.

I have mentioned her before... here. But she is kind of a big deal. A little more background on Pursey..she is a beanie baby that comes from Cory's Aunt Terri, who was a pretty special person to everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her. Well, she collected the bears. She passed away before Cory and I were even married but Cory's mom gave Ellie this pink bear from Terri's collection. It was love at first sight. 

When we moved we misplaced  Pursey went on a little vacation and was nowhere to be seen. Enter Pursey 2. Another bear from Terri's collection. She is purple. And still loved very much by Ellie...but Jase started to realize how awesome Pursey was too...and did his best to hold on to "ee" as often as he could. So we found a blue bear (ok stay with us here...) which Ellie named David and we all hoped that Jase would love him and Ellie could have Pursey back.

Nope. Jase still tried to steal Pursey constantly. It was a source of some contention in our family for quite a while.

But then on Ellie's birthday the real Pursey (actually the same pink bear from Amazon) came home...and all was well in the world.

 

 

So purple Pursey got renamed Ella, Pursey rejoined the family and Jase and Ellie can both love on these special bears. David is in our toy box somewhere.

Phew. That's a lot to take in.

 

One more thing about Pursey. The Pursey Parable.

Pursey really teaches us the power of love. Not only is she an important part of our immediate family but most of our extended family knows all about Pursey too. All of Ellie's cousins treat Pursey more like a person than a stuffed animal and are honored when they get to hold her or take her to their house for a sleepover. And on more than one occasion have multiple adults discussed Pursey by name. All because a little girl adores a pink bear.

 

"Once a bear has been loved by a human being, its expression is forever marked."
-Jama Kim Rattigan

 

Pursey has certainly made her mark in our family.

Ellie's 4th Birthday...

Somehow our little miss turned 4. She is such a sweet girl and her birthday was no exception!! 

Her birthday landed on a Sunday this year so amidst our normal hustle and bustle, I still whipped up some traditional birthday pancakes. 

We then headed to church. We all walked, the birthday girl wiggled into church. High heels and all. 

She loves to be fancy. 

I love how the birthday cake has become such a big deal at birthdays. This year Ellie wished for a "rainbow-rose cake". I was happy to oblige. And I also love how despite how unprofessional my cakes turn out- they always love them.

Ellie exclaimed with delight- "it's perfect!"

We had grandmas and grandpas and cousins and aunts and uncles come in the evening for cake and cupcakes and then played outside. It was pretty low key but still a fun time.

 

One highlight of the day happened while we were playing outside. Pursey the first (I posted a little about her earlier but she is going to need another post soon!) showed up! We have missed her and it's so good to have her home. (She went on an extended vacation😉) 

 

Four things we LOVE about our Ellie girl...

1- She loves to be fancy. Like I mentioned...she loves her high heels! She will only wear dresses and loves jewelry. She thinks her hair is the most beautiful when it's "just plain down."

2- She is pretty darn funny. She gets humor and she laughs easily. She also talks in funny voices all the time! 

3- She wants to be a mom with all her heart. It is her greatest ambition! And she follows me around wanting to help me almost all day long. 

4- She loves her brothers. Like, she adores them. In fact, just this last week while we were driving in the car she asked me, out of the blue, "Mom...can I PLEASE marry my brother?" I said "No. But you can still be best friends and call each other and see each other all the time. " and Brig said "Yeah! Ellie! Cuz we'll have phones!!" 

Oh how we love this Ellie girl and the sparkle and joy she brings to our family!!

Happy 4th birthday Ellie!

A Random Trip to Willow Creek...

We had to have at least one post about Willow Creek for this year! We snuck up to one of our favorite places one late summer evening. And as usual...it was simply magical.

And I'm going to try and keep my words to a minimum and let these pictures do the talking...

 

^^Ok except I just need to mention that Jase prefers the pink plasma car and has laid his claim to Pursey 2. {insert sigh}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is their happy place. And they are mine. 

 

Pursey...

It's probably about time that I let the 6th member of our family have a little time to shine on our blog.  Yes. 6th member.

Meet Pursey.

As in a purse. She is really quite a special member of our family and pretty much goes everywhere with us. Her "mom" takes super great care of her and makes sure to tuck her into bed and give her lots of naps, make birthday cakes for her, make sure her "hair" is done, put on her imaginary pj's and panties and ensure that she is included and getting the attention from all of us that she deserves.

 

 

Ellie is such a little mom. It is adorable and has been so fun to see her mother Pursey for the past several weeks. It has also been nice to have Pursey join our family so Ellie can direct her mothering to a willing candidate. A very common phrase that comes from little miss Ellie is..."I'm the mom, right?" and then it is followed by some sort of command to "kid." For example... "Kid, it's time to go so sleep." And while she still will frequently slip into mom-mode, Pursey has definitely occupied most of her time. Like I said, we all love Pursey- and we absolutely adore her sweet little mom.