Would I need to post anything else?  Those blue eyes, that pink frosting... such a little birthday devil.

Here's some action so you can see how Ella handled her banana cake with whipped cream frosting:
          
... and after a few more minutes elapsed...
          
I let her go until the icing started dripping down her arm and onto the floor and then I got all Kate Gosselin on her and busted out some wipes.  It was fun while it lasted, but it secretly made me insane to watch after the first couple of minutes. 

The party attendees took turns with the official party hat:

(That's Ella's favorite teacher, Jennifer, who is now basically part of the family... we just call her "School Mom"... she's demonstrating Ella's tarantula fingers, which apparently freak people out at school.)


Some of my favorite parts of the day:
1. A morning trip to Fairytale Town... here's Esen walking with his pink girls to see the animals:


2. Sophia decided that she wanted to buy Ella a pink teddy bear (ayicik) for her birthday and Ella loved it!


3. Jennifer bought Ella her favorite book from school (no easy task given that it's no longer in print) and then we got to watch them in action:


4.  Grandma and Grandpa Griffith bought Ella her very own baby doll (that Sophia was instructed to keep her hands off of!).  She was so freakin' cute with that baby doll... hugging on it, carrying it around, patting it to sleep the way that the babies get put down for naps at school... I just about cried:


5.  And we rounded out the day with some art time where Ella was given some crayons to do some "coloring" (also known as "dinner"):


A good, exhausting day was had by all.  I look forward to sending the kids to school today and having some time to think back about the last year.  It's been the most challenging year of my life by a longshot, but there's an awful that makes me feel even more gratitude than exhaustion.  Happy Birthday darling Ella... here's hoping your second year is easier than the first!