fourth birthday party (on wheels!)

Benjamin turned four yesterday! We celebrated with some of his little friends and were so very happy it didn't rain.

The decorations: I bought this set from paper&cake, which was worth its weight in gold. It has the invitation & paper decorations (banner, hats, crown, food trays, and more!) that we used. All we had to do was print and cut (and sometimes tape). I put our hot wheels cars into

fishbowl vases and set them on the eating table (which was covered with a black tablecloth) and next to the cake. The only other things I had to buy were paper goods, plastic tablecloths, red

and yellow balloons, party favors and food. For party favors, I found Cars fruit snacks, pencils,

and stickers at Target, and also put each child's wooden car they colored into a car themed paper bag. The dollar section Target has is a treasure trove of party favors - I sometimes wander through there looking for things I might use someday, just in case!

The cake: I stole Abby's idea from her son's first birthday party, but did a single layer plus a batch of cupcakes. The cake mixes were even on sale when I bought them, so it cost all of $5 to bake two round cakes, 24 cupcakes, and frost & decorate them.

Activities: I found small wooden car & marker sets at Michael's for the kids to decorate, and printed out the coloring pages from our paper&cake set. I covered our train table with a plastic

tablecloth and had my own craft table! It was perfect as the kids were arriving. My mother-in-law made a race car out of cardboard so we could take pictures of all the kids in it (it was so CUTE!). We also told all the kids to bring their favorite wheels - bike, tricycle, etc - so we could have a race in our culdesac. It was fantastic - they probably rode around out there for 20 minutes, perfect for me to make lunch for them!

The party was so much fun! Benjamin loves being four, and really enjoyed his special day.

This day made me a mother, and I will never forget meeting my little boy for the first time. It's true: the years seem to go by so fast! I can't believe he's already four years old, and becoming such a fun boy. He's so smart, funny, sweet, and becoming so adventurous. Happy fourth birthday, Benjamin!

four.

This boy
is turning four on saturday.

He is so sweet.

And funny.

He loves (LOVES) numbers. And counting. And adding.

He also loves riding his tricycle, running around, climbing and going down slides at the park.

Sesame Street and Word World are the two shows he likes to watch. Duke basketball is also a favorite.

He loves to dance with mom in the living room and let his brother tackle him.
He is so much fun.
And goofy.

And so handsome.

He can read and spell a lot of words (I don't know how many). He likes to measure things, take pictures and wears a watch.
He is very excited to be four years old. Happy birthday, big man. You're amazing.

happy valentine's day from two very cute boys and their parents!

Aren't they adorable?? I know I'm their mom so I'm just slightly biased, but really. Adorable. We got Noah a cute little frog valentine (which he has been carrying around all day, poking the eyes...should I worry about that? Ha!) and we got Benjamin some addition cards. And he loves them. He has been adding up a storm all day.

Our sweet Noah is 17 months old today!

No pictures, mom. I'm busy.

This little man is chatting up a storm these days - his words include "Ba ba muh" (Benjamin), "muh" (more, which he also signs), "mih" (milk, another one he signs), "bah" (ball), and my personal favorite, "oooooooo" (the answer to "what does the cow say?" of course). He can also sign please and all done. His favorite foods are peaches, bread, grilled cheese sandwiches, spaghetti, peas, green beans, and can chug a cup of milk like none I've seen. When daddy comes home from work he runs to hug him, and loves to tackle his brother. Noah loves to be read to, push the trains around the tracks, throw balls, and push the dump truck around the kitchen or chase his brother while he pushes the truck. He sleeps from 7pm to about 6:30am (but has been waking earlier than that lately, but will read the book I put in there at night for awhile so mommy can catch a few extra minutes of sleep), and takes one nap from about 2-4 in the afternoon.

valentine garland

Benjamin and I did a little project yesterday. I cut out a whole bunch of hearts from red, pink, purple and white construction paper using two templates I made with cardstock (large and small). I punched two holes near the tops, measured a piece of string long enough to go between the two walls of our dining room and showed him how to string them. And now we have a cute garland! (Bonus: it kept him occupied for a good 30 minutes!)

the rain

Before it started raining, I took Noah to The Lakes to shoot some photos of him and check out the location for future photoshoots. There were tons of great places to shoot, except Noah was more interested in wandering around.
This is probably my favorite shot of the morning.

Once the rain stopped, I took some photos of Benjamin in our backyard.