Happy boys

It's supposed to be in the 60s today! It'll be rainy, but I'm hoping we can get outside to enjoy it a bit. I want to share a little about Ephraim's 4th birthday party a couple of weeks ago. Last spring, the boys both asked for character parties for their birthdays. Nolan chose Lightning McQueen and Ephraim chose Thomas the Tank Engine. Recently, Ephraim hasn't watched much Thomas, but there was a point in his life where he couldn't get enough of that cute blue train. We celebrated on Ephraim's actual birthday, a Sunday afternoon that our family here could get together. My mom and Don were able to visit from PA, too.

Our boys and nieces really love melt-in-your-mouth meringues, so I whipped up a batch for the party. We also made chocolate sugar cookies in the shapes of Es, 4s, and trains :)

 He was so excited! It felt really good to give our middle a lot of extra attention that day.

Our party of five.

We made a chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting and raspberry filling.

For dinner, we kept it simple and kid-friendly with boiled hot dogs, chips and salsa, and pineapple.

I didn't get many photos of the kids playing, but this picture of the boys scooping ice cream is cute :)

A couple of days later, August was happy to go for a ride through IKEA!

 

 We had such a nice visit with Mormor and Papa Don, and we were sad to see them go!

I bought a daily planner a few weeks ago, and it's making my life a lot more organized. I used to make lists on random pieces of paper, and then lose track of them on the dining room table. Now, having all my to-dos in one place makes it more likely for me to actually get everything done.

"Can I come in and play, brothers?" :)  The boys have a little sunroom off of their bedroom, and August is always trying to get in to Godzilla their Lego and MagnaTile creations. He's determined!

A sweet moment of reading together!

August and I made it a full year of exclusive breastfeeding, which I'm so happy about, and we'll keep going so long as he wants to. He is pretty excited about drinking whole milk in a cup now, but he still loves to nurse for the comfort.

Ready and waiting for spring and more time outside!

I was trying to get a selfie with the baby, and instead of turning out in color, my phone gave me this black and white with red and yellow stripes over it.

And a selfie with my favorite four-year-old.

And Nolan too, to be fair!

This particular week, our theme was PENGUINS, and we learned a lot about them! We watched March of the Penguins, which was both really cool, and also a little more about the circle-of-life than a G movie should be. Ah!

Here, Nolan is finishing the pages a book called "My Baby and Me" that we started when August was born. (Thanks, Sue!) He did a really great job at writing down milestones and other things he wanted to remember about August's first year.

Hope your Monday is shaping up to be a great one!

XO