the birthday boy at SIX.

i did an interview last year with ethan when he turned 5 and i wanted to do something similar with him again.  i ended up finding this great book on pinterest (of course!) and ordered 3 of them right away.  it would have been great if i had made one myself, but there is no way that would actually happen, so it was worth the money to buy it already done.  

ethan and i did it this morning and he really had fun with it.  i am looking forward to doing it with the others too.  the books start at year three and go through year sixteen.  i'm sure once we get to year eight, he will probably be rolling his eyes at me, but oh well.  one day, his wife will appreciate that i kept track of all of these things...at least that is what i keep telling myself.

thursday instagram round-up

we finished up the month of february with some preparations for big goals: the end of my current fitness challenge and a half marathon for me and bye-bye to the bottle for mollie.  i thought the bottle was going to be a tough one to kick, but she took it like a champ.  the bye-bye to the binky though is going to be rough and wine may be involved.

saying goodbye to the much loved bottle.

some goodies for me!  how i love amazon prime.  my new running gps watch is maybe the coolest thing ever.

relaxing with some hot tea and a honey coconut muffin.

lazy time at home with the kiddos.

12-mile run complete and my delicious breakfast as a result of it. 

working on some math homework. 

my sweet little gymnast.  

valentine's day!

we had such fun celebrating valentine's day!  i remember always loving this day when i was younger.  all of the excitement of the valentine mailboxes and goodies.  

we spent the week before valentine's day doing crafts, making our mailboxes and making all sorts of fun heart-shaped food and treats.

i kept with my same valentines that i have been making since ethan was in his 3-year old preschool class.  one of ethan's classmates has all 3 saved and up in her room.  her mom, a good friend of mine, took a picture of them and i love seeing the progression.  i figure i'll keep them up as long as my kids will let me.  ;)

thursday instagram round-up

happy valentine's day!  our week has been filled with all of the preparations and excitement of the holiday.

the princess of the house.

my guy is loving gymnastics!

love.

hard at work.  this puzzle is HARD, but miles did it almost all by himself.

yummy paleo chicken + zucchini lasagna

tire swing!

dinner made with love.

thursday instagram round-up

getting back into this.  our weeks since christmas break have been filled with my busy-ness at school and work.  but we've been trying to get in some downtime when we can.

enjoying the warm weather.

momma + miles lunch date.

legos.  a common evening activity for him.

first seven miles in my new shoes.

my big boy after his morning assembly.

celebrating 100 days of school by exchanging 100 pennies for a gold dollar.

still celebrating 100 days of school on day 101.  love this guy. 

partying ninja style!

ethan's request this year for his party theme was lego ninjago.

there was lots of great party inspiration out there for this theme.  i went with kind of an asian theme similar to the anders and ruff party shown here.  with the craziness of the holidays and unpacking from the ski trip, i was worn out and, gasp, not as excited about putting everything together.  luckily i had done a lot of the prep work and ordering before christmas set in so i just had to put everything together.

we had his party at the local gymnastics place again.  lots of fun and lots of kids!

the candy bar was definitely the hit of the party and so easy to do.  i normally end up with tons of goodie bags left over since i always want to make sure i have one for each kid that comes.  this time i decided to forgo that and do something that required a lot less preparation.  thanks to bamboo organizers from the container store, lots of colored candy and cute chinese take-out boxes, the candy bar went off without a hitch.  

we had a great time celebrating my oldest's special day...on the way home he was already planning next year's theme (a boy after my own heart...)