growing up is hard (for momma!)

ethan lost his first tooth over the weekend! it had been loose for a couple of weeks, i guess, and i was slowly preparing myself for this milestone. a first lost tooth. this means he's really growing up. i was ready to cheer on the inevitable, but my momma's heart was breaking just a little. ok, a lot. nevertheless, we pumped ethan up for his tooth falling out. he was excited and he was ready.

the kids spent saturday at brian's parents' house. when we picked them up that afternoon, i noticed ethan's tooth was gone. i exclaimed-- ok, i screamed-- "did you lose your tooth?!" brian's mom chimed in--ok, she screamed-- "you lost your tooth!?"

and in the most casual, unexciting way, ethan said, "yeah." (he is so his father's son.)

"WHEN!?" (i'm still screaming.)

"while i was watchin' the movie." (he's still totally unenthused.)

"YOU DIDN'T TELL NANA?"

"no."

"WELL, WHERE'S YOUR TOOTH?"

"right here." (and he shows me the teeny tiny sweet baby tooth that i am sure i will keep forever.)

"OH MY GOODNESS! ETHAN! YOU LOST YOUR FIRST TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTH!"

and the rest of the squealing and yelling is history.

makin' a splash for ethan's birthday!

ethan's pool party a couple of weeks ago was a fun one! i was so so thrilled to wake up the morning of july 3 to a beautiful blue sky. we'd had a pretty rainy week, and i was not looking forward to plan b for ethan's birthday party.... i mean, what fun is a swimming pool cake at your kitchen table?! so a clear, breezy, not-quite-so-sweltering day was a blessing. we were so thankful to use our good friends' pool while they were out of town (the same location of ethan's swim lessons last summer... thank you, leigh and deb!!!! welcome home! there's leftover popsicles in your freezer if you want them!)

this party marks the beginning of a new era for our kids' birthday parties: SIMPLE. if you have followed my blog for long, you know how much fun i have celebrating my kiddos' birthdays. i love the planning. i love the decorations. i love the games. but i don't love the aftermath. at all. and multiply that times 3. whew! so after amelia's winter "one"derland, i determined to go easy on the birthday extravaganzas. i suggested the pool party to ethan, and he loved the idea. i'm pretty sure he thinks he thought of it. :) the beauty of a pool party is three fold: no games needed. very few decorations needed. very little clean up. but the limitation of a pool party is that a pool is nuts with lots of kids. to invite the usual gang that shares in our birthday celebrations would have been crazy. so this year, we kept ethan's party small. just family (and very close friends that are technically family by marriage!). it was the perfect kid-per-cubic-ft-of-water ratio. alright, on with the party. here we go: simple birthday bash, version 1.0.

here's the invitation our family received in the mail (identifying information fuzzed out for my blog, of course.)


and heeeere's the decorations for the party! tablecloths and balloons! simple, simple!


i took ethan with me to pick out party plates, etc. my plan was to let him pick whatever he wanted... but mom had to step in with some veto power a couple of times. (if the tacky plates were the cheap ones, maybe i'd have let it slide... but i was not paying $4 for 8 tacky plates.) he ended up loving the classic "happy birthday" ones from dollar tree, thanks to mom's compelling enthusiasm toward the pack of 18 plates for $1. (they really were the cutest ones.) i forgot to get a good picture of the design, but you can get the general idea from caroline's party hat... bright colors, happy birthday, they were perfect.


it's not a birthday party without an aunt-kristie-original-birthday-sign! everybody loves it!


i was so glad we (brian) set up the soccer tent for a little shade. the grandparents were really glad.


ethan took his time writing everyone's names on the party favor bags.


what was inside!? some loot for water fun... the girls even had pink and purple water guns!


and for the next two hours, everybody pretty much played in the pool....



well, except caroline. she camped out at the chip bowl for the majority of the party.


here's our party guests... all the grandparents pictured above plus...
uncle jeff, aunt kristie, and karina


jon and his girls, indi and sensi


and ethan's buddy joseph. the rest of his family was pretty busy this weekend with a new (precious!) baby and campaign commitments, so joseph represented the fam.


joseph sure did love brian's ethan's water rockets.


the big kids played a little too...



when the kiddos got the pool back, they enjoyed the "wave pool" that jon and kristie created.


before long, it was time for cake! this may be my favorite birthday cake by gram yet. simple yet adorable. and i was so excited that the blue jello really looked like water! here's the birthday boy blowing out his candle.


i could not stop taking pictures of this cake (shocker.) look at all the cute little bears in their swimsuits and on floats!



we quickly took a family picture before the jello started to liquify!


yes it was incredibly bright for this picture of the birthday kids!


the kids actually ate italian ice cups before their cake... a great alternative to soupy melted ice cream!



they all loved the italian ice so much that they did not eat much cake. (so darn, we had to take a lot of cake home...)


fear not... the big kids enjoyed some cake!


everybody hopped back in the pool to cool off a little... we got a kick out of sweet sensi leaving her party hat on while she floated.


and then it was present time!


i love this one of joseph checking out the toy story legos that jeff, kristie, and karina gave ethan. (the hat's a nice touch, don't you think?!)


he was totally surprised to get this huge lego set from my grandma! :)


this big gift from nana and pappy was a perplexing mystery to ethan all morning long.


and there it is! a rebounder for practicing soccer! i'm not sure who was more excited about this... ethan or brian. :)


ethan was also surprised to get an ant farm from my dad and joy. it has been really cool to watch those ants dig, dig, dig. and now they are dead, dead, dead. apparently i'm not just a plant killer.


my dad also couldn't resist to get ethan a cardinals hat and ball. he wore the hat when he went out with papa the next week for his birthday lunch. it was really cute. :)


while we were all caught up in the present opening, barbie finally had the pool to herself for a few minutes.


and amelia stole the hat from joseph. i think it's much more her style.


the boys got a little water gun crazy before it was time to go. these pictures crack me up.


look at those faces!


uhoh- ethan got a little trigger happy...


and ethan's got the first shot.


but joseph is quick to retaliate! oh, i love seeing these boys' smiles as they play together. it's been a fun five years.



and that was his pool party! we dried off, cleaned up a little, and that was the end of it. i'm definitely loving simple. so our birthday boy is five years old. it's hard to believe that before too long, he will be reading and adding and all that kindergarten-y jazz. sometimes he just seems so grown up, and later that night while he's sleeping, i'll catch a glimpse of him as a snuggly newborn. he can do so much on his own, but he still needs that time with his mommy. i know that as ethan grows, the balance will gradually tip more and more toward the side of independence. but for now, we have lots of years of teaching and discipling ahead, Lord-willing, and i look forward to the journey. we're praising God for ethan and the last 5 years. happy birthday, son!

ethan's birthday

ethan's birthday morning (last friday) started off as it has ever since he can remember... with this flaming muffin coming into his room as he is serenaded with "happy birthday". i love this tradition we've established. i think i have just as much fun as the kids do. :) and can you see how caroline is looking with joy and admiration at the birthday boy?


that picture reminded me of the same shot from last year... funny how it is so similar! (including ethan's pajamas!)


ethan went straight to the table to open his presents. he is very very proud to be 5!


i happened upon this shirt when i was in kohl's last week... it was incredibly fitting considering ethan's gifts mostly revolved around soccer this year. (if you can't see the details... there are soccer graphics inside the "5".)


ethan made me laugh later that morning when he looked down at his shirt and exclaimed, "oh!! the whole thing is a 5!" i guess he was a little confused about why we were making such a big deal about the shirt when he opened it. apparently he just looked at it upside down and didn't recognize the 5. :) he and i had a good laugh about that when he figured it out.

this is one of my favorites of ethan from his birthday. i just wanna squeeze him.


he was so surprised when he opened up his very own walkie talkies!


ethan is pretty into soccer right now, especially with the world cup going on. it was the perfect time to give him his own soccer ball, cones for backyard practice, a trainer (see below), and a duffle bag to store everything.


and what do you give a boy who has a ton of legos?! more legos! he was thrilled to open this castle set, and his sister was thrilled that it included a princess!


here is my birthday boy with his birthday muffin.


ethan is saying, "mommy, you make the best muffins in the whole wide world." (he loves to tell me this when i've made his favorite foods.) thanks, sweetie. i'll pass the word on to betty crocker.


next, it was time to work off all those muffins! while the kids ate, daddy demonstrated the soccer trainer.


it's great because ethan can play with it inside and not hurt his sisters or break anything it kind of minimizes the damage. the boys were having a lot of fun with this thing...


and caroline was not to be left out! good thing that ball is attached!


after brian left for work, i looked in the living room and saw our little copy-cat...


the rest of the morning was spent at the kitchen table building this castle. it's pretty cool. it has a moving gate, a catapult, and flaming oil. and a princess, of course... and "a horse with clothes", which is caroline's favorite part.


my mom brought chickfila to us for lunch, and she surprised ethan by telling him that he would soon be on his very own soccer team! i think he liked the idea of that...


she gave him a really cute soccer photo book, and this is what she put in the place of the first photo.


ethan's just waiting for that call from his coach to tell him what team he is on! we should find out by the end of the month. he cannot wait. gram gave him some shinguards which seemed SO TINY but fit him perfectly. now we just have to get this boy some cleats and he is ready to play!


ethan chose tgifriday's for his birthday dinner... brian's parents, grandmother, and karina joined us to celebrate. i love this picture of nana and pappy hanging out with the older grands.


the birthday boy picked tgif's because he wanted their dirt cake. i don't know if i've ever seen someone happier about gummy worms swimming in pudding with some oreo crumbs on top. :)


we woke up the next morning to a beautiful sunny day, which was perfect for his pool party!!!!! be back soon with a big splash! happy birthday ethan!