happy birthday to mr. miles

we celebrated a very happy 3rd birthday for miles today.  

we started off at the lake and had lots of swimming and sun.

we ended the day with cupcakes and family toasting his three years.

we love you so much, miles.

*we had his pirate party earlier this week and hopefully i can share pictures from that soon. it has been a busy (but good) week between party preparations and visiting with family.

getting artsy

painting and coloring have been a big hit this summer.  i finally purchased an easel for us.  so far the kids are really enjoying it.  we try to do painting when mollie is asleep.  she does like to get involved in coloring though.

now i just need to find a way to display all of the art work.  right now i'm trying to take pictures of it rather than keeping every piece.  i would like to come up with an easy to change out display for our front hallway...this is one of the next projects on my list and i'm going to start scouring pinterest for some ideas.  will come in handy once the school year starts also.  if anyone has ideas, feel free to pass on :)

swimming lessons

the boys completed their swimming lessons a week ago.  this year we did swim lessons with the red cross.  ethan was in level 1 and miles was in the 2-3 year old "turtle" class.  this was the first time we've attempted swim lessons with either of the boys since the disastrous swim lessons that ethan took at 18 months.  

they both did really well.  miles took to it better than ethan did and by the end of the week was jumping off the side to us.  i was quite proud of him since initially he wouldn't jump without holding hands and even then i was having to push him to do it.  


during ethan's class parents had to stay behind some ropes the pool had set-up.  i was nervous ethan wouldn't go willingly, but after a few rough days being scared of the showers, he eventually went through it without any tears.  the teachers pushed him just enough so that he tried some new things, but didn't push him too hard where he would once again get scared.  i think the extra week in the water daily was good for him.  he was doing much better this weekend and at miles' birthday party (at the same pool) he even let his hair and face get wet (huge for him!)  i hope that by next year he will be a little fish.  :)

the carnival

this random little carnival comes to the "mall" parking lot a few times a year.  we have never attended but since it was the last night of a week where lance has been traveling, i was most definitely ready for some sort of event or activity that would keep us out of the house.  the boys had zero'd in on it yesterday while we were running errands and i had crazily told them we'd go.

the boys were so excited even though there were really only 5 rides or maybe 6, and a few games.  the last time we went to anything like this, the boys were not really big fans of anything that went fast or was loud. i was a little worried this time because i wasn't going to be able to go on any of the rides since mollie was with us, so they'd have to go it together.  they did great.  they did a fast (for the 4 and under set) roller coaster that they loved.  they did a few calmer rides.  and we did a game.  

ethan decided he would be brave and do the big slide (i used to love those when i was younger).  i was proud of him for making it to the top by himself (miles opted out on that deal, but did ride the roller coaster by himself) but once he got there it was a no go and he came right back down the stairs.  thankfully the sweet lady who took our tickets gave them back...i was not expecting that at all.

it ended up being a fun night, even if a bit hot and pricey.  we finished up with a sonic treat :)

my sweet little girl.

she can stand FOREVER!  for minutes at a time.

but she just hasn't decided to take that first step yet.

i guess she knows she can get around a lot quicker by crawling.  i know i should enjoy the last bit of calm before she starts walking, but i just can't wait to see her wobbling down the hallway after her big brothers.

a first dentist visit for miles

miles had his first visit to the dentist.  i've been a bit nervous about it.  i wasn't quite sure he'd handle it well and when he doesn't want to do something he is much more vocal than ethan in letting you know.


he did great!  he loved playing the games in the lobby.

he proudly walked back and did just what everyone asked him to do.  he even went by himself to get his xrays taken.  he got a dinosaur sticker as his prize for doing well.

no cavities and all in all his teeth looked fine.  we didn't even get a lecture about the binky, so thankfully looks like we stopped that at the right time.  his bite is a little bit crooked (i can't remember exactly what he called it) but they can put something in their mouth for about 3-6 mos. around the age of 4 and it will correct it before permanent teeth come in and it shouldn't be a big deal.  next visit will be with his big brother in november.

my little pirate crew

since i'm in the midst of planning miles' 3rd birthday party things are all pirate around here.  after the boys asked for every pirate item on amazon, i decided we needed to make up our own.  


we gathered our spotting scopes (as named by ethan)

our eye patches ("just like patchy the pirate on sponge-bob, mom")

our handy pirate hats (had to keep mollie away or she would have had them for dinner, she is a fan of eating paper)

and of course our treasure chest (the ever popular treasure box made by miss nikki, yes we still use it almost every day...)

we looked for gold doubloons in far off lands (the kitchen and momma's purse...)

and then sailed home for dinner on our pirate ship (the treadmill that is probably better used as a pirate ship since i rarely set foot on it these days)

when we decided to make our own dress-up gear i had no idea it would put an instant end to the rowdy fights the boys had been having since lunch time.  a lot of days i am trying to keep the house clean after naps and fix dinner and work and all sorts of other tasks, but today was a really nice break from that and even though it took a little longer to clean up after putting the kids to bed tonight it was so worth it.  we had a blast together and i hope that we can find more adventures to have before things get back to the hectic pace of the school year.