FRODO SEVEN : Princess Penelope

Still to Come--Setting Goals Part II. In the meantime, a post to cover the first of our three recent birthdays:

This may be the earliest we've ever taken down our Christmas tree. And we wouldn't have done it except that a couple nights back, we had a tree emergency. Our lifeless friend was leaning perilously to the right--probably the result of Mia's helpful watering earlier in the day. Chris tried to position it correctly in the stand but could not get it secured well enough to instill confidence that it would stay. Picturing the tree and ornaments crashing to the floor--or into the TV--while we slept, I made the command decision to commence Operation Remove Ornaments. A hot meal was on the table so Madeleine and Mia watched over their little sisters while Chris held the tree and I swept it for ornaments as quickly as possible. We only had one fatality--a rather ornate gold ball with no sentimental value. The kids finished eating and came to help wrap ornaments and pack away other decorations. Ella wanted to help but we shooed her away from the tree where we hadn't yet vacuumed up the slivers of glass. Determined to contribute to the effort, she took matters into her own hands and, finding the Pledge wipes under the sink, cleaned the hardwood floor in the dining room. Is it ever shiny! So far, we've counted five wipe-outs in there.
Newly four, Ella is always doing things like that. She is extremely helpful and can put away laundry and set the table like a champ. She has started to run everywhere she goes. She sings constantly and makes up great songs. If I sing one of my made up songs to her, she sings it right back to me with her own words.
On the way home from the beach, Chris was playing the girls their Elvis songs off a CD his mom gave them. Chris dedicated an Elvis song to each girl at birth. I remember him singing to Madeleine while we were still in the hospital, "I'll be as strong as a mountain or as wild as the raging sea, but any way you wa-a-a-ant me, that's how I will be". He never chose one for Ella, fifth child that she is. So we were both on a mission to find one. We've settled on Blue Moon. "Blue moon, you saw me standing alone"--perfect because if Ella saw anyone standing alone, without a dream in his heart or a love of his own, she would go right over and give that doggie a hug.
Ella has her own series of stories. In the stories, she starts off as Ella but then, gets wet and turns into Princess Penelope who is brave, kind, beautiful and an amazing swimmer. While visiting South Padre Island, I told Ella my favorite of the Princess Penelope stories so far. It involved her climbing up too far on the railing to observe the alligators and falling into Laguna Madre Bay where she met a very grouchy alligator who needed to learn Zig Ziglar's lesson, "to get what you want, you have to help enough other people get what they want". The alligator did as Princess Penelope suggested and won himself many friends. To show his gratitude, he gave Penelope a ride around the bay on his back--and did not try to eat her.

There are about 7 Penelope stories. One starts at the Houston Zoo's sea lion pool, one happens in the bath tub, one was a river adventure. Anywhere with water offers an opportunity for yet another story. Ella could fall into a fountain in Madrid or be sprinkled with a large quantity of holy water in Santiago de Compostela....so many possibilities, so little time....

Below though, photos of an adventure called, Ella/ Princess Penelope Celebrates Four: