Fletcher's Birthday at Home

We had a quiet, low key birthday at home for Fletcher yesterday.  Fletcher is thrilled to finally be 5.  He woke up with a giant smile on his face ready to open gifts and do whatever he wanted for the day.  I wrapped his gifts in his favorite color.

I made a dinner charcuterie board with all of his favorite foods.  You should have seen his face. He LOVED it.  Bite sized grilled cheese #5, his favorite meats and cheeses, ranch dip, Doritos and more.

 

Growing up, we always woke up early and opened our gifts so we do the same with our kids.  Everyone was sleepy and excited.  When do your kids open gifts??

Fletcher got a military plane, a new boy Barbie, Nerf gun, a new Play-Doh set, a big shark for the pool, a new monster truck and his own set of golf clubs and wiffle balls for practice.  He was so proud of them.  He can't wait to golf with Kevin.

The kids played all morning and then I made him a lunch of 5s.  5 of each of his favorite foods.  I started this tradition when Olive was tiny.  It's such an easy way to make the birthday boy or girl feel special.

We got Culvers for dinner.  He requested the works - cheeseburger with fries AND cheese curds.  And a Square Donut cake for his birthday treat.  He's got good taste!

 

I'm signing off for the rest of the week.  The kids are on Spring Break and I need a break :)  I'll be back next week to recap our week and our Easter.  Happy Easter to you!  I hope you get to celebrate with the people you love.

Fletcher is FIVE!

Fletcher turns 5 today!!

He's been ready for this day for weeks.  He is a whole hand now - 5!

 

I've got too many favorite things to pick just one so I'll give you a little run down of Fletcher Age 5.

Fletcher is the funniest guy.  He cracks us up all the time.

He leaves all of his big decisions up to eeny meenie miney moe.

He's a foodie.  His biggest birthday choice is choosing just one restaurant to go to for dinner because he loves so many of them.

Army guys are his favorite right now, but he still wants to be a police man.

He loves big.  He loves hugs, snuggles, asking for kissing hands and is a love machine.

He has big feelings about everything - laughs, loves, cries and empathizes with others.

Fletcher notices everything and wants to point it out.

He is generous with compliments.

He tells you he loves you a million times a day.

He's a cat guy.

Fletcher makes up hilarious songs.

Fletcher LOVES games.  He'd play games 24/7 if he could.

He started school this year and he's learning so much.

He loves to be my helper.

 

Kevin's favorite thing about Fletcher is: 

Fletcher loves to play sports with him, talks in funny voices, makes silly noises, makes up dances, loves good food and loves everyone.

Olive's favorite thing about Fletcher is:

Fletcher has the funniest voices and I love talking with him every night when we are supposed to be going to bed.

Leo's favorite thing about Fletcher is:

Fletcher always share snacks with Leo, makes Leo laugh, carries him around and shares his toys with Leo.  

Happy Birthday, Fletcher!  We love you!

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday!  I hope you've had a wonderful week.  I can't believe it's already the end of March.  This year is zooming by.  We've been enjoying all things Spring and at 3:00pm today the kids are on Spring Break!  Yay!  We've got some fun plans, Fletcher's birthday, a road trip and then Easter to look forward to next weekend.  That kind of snuck up on me.  It's early this year.

I've got lots of favorites to share with you today.

1. Leopard Slides

I ran in Old Navy last weekend to do a return, quick browse the Easter dress options and could not pass up these leopard slides.  They were full price at $16.99.  That's a great price and inventory was low.  I knew they'd sell out so I grabbed them.  Won't they be cute at the pool!?  They run true to size, come in some patterns and solids and they seem pretty sturdy.

2. Outdoor Adventures

We walked to our favorite park and these two worked on their tree climbing skills.  Don't you love it when you catch real smiles from your kids?!?  PS Do you have any tips for getting tree sap out of hair?  Asking for a friend...

3. Easter Fun

I made an Easter egg lunch in an egg carton.  The kids loved it.  Just wash out an egg carton with warm, soapy water, dry it and you've got a festive lunch tray.

Have you tried these Nerd jelly beans??  They are amazing!!  Crunchy outside and chewy inside.  And I couldn't pass up the Reese's Puffs bunny cereal for Easter.  I don't know how they do it, but the cereal tastes just like Reese's cups.

 

 

The house is all decked out for Easter.  The holiday book baskets on each side might be my favorite part.  I'm adding a new book to each kid's Easter basket.  Check out all of our favorite Easter books in this post.

4. BIG Salads

I've gotten back into the routine of big salads for lunch.  I buy enough to eat the same salad several times and it saves so much time and prep each day.  I alternate dressings each day to change things up a bit.

5. Exercising

I hit some fun personal goals this week.  I ran for 13 minutes straight!!  I realize for big time runners that is nothing, but for someone who could only run 2-3 minutes straight back in January, I was super proud!  Yay for getting stronger!  I love having a treadmill at home.

6. Mommy & Me Dentist Appt

I made a promise to myself to focus on my health this year.  That meant bringing Leo along to my teeth cleaning appointment this week.  My grand plan of occupying him in the stroller did not work.  He fussed, burst into tears when the ladies in the office tried to talk to him and was only happy on my lap.  Once I held him, he was perfectly happy to be there.  The staff was super nice and it went well.  Yay for self care!

7. School Lunches

I have started simplifying my life and packing very similar lunches for both kids.  It's saved me lots of time.  Here's an example.  All the big things are the same.  Can you spot the differences??

I also did a fun B is for Basketball March Madness themed lunch for Fletcher one day.

8. Drive Thru date at Chick-Fil-A

Chicken Minis are the way to his heart.

9. Kitty Meeting

I walked into my family room to see the cats having a meeting and enjoying the Spring view.  The birds have been very busy and the cats have loved watching them at all the windows.  The kittens are growing fast and working really hard to be best buddies with Topher.

10. School Birthday

Fletcher got to celebrate his birthday at school with friends.  He requested Square Donuts, liked the attention of carrying the birthday sign around the building and can't wait to be officially 5 on Monday.

11. Park Adventures

We met some friends at the park and enjoyed the lovely weather!  The rivers are really high here.  We walked at the river and checked out the playgrounds.  The boys looked so cute in their camo.

12. Leo The Climber

He's climbing everything and the window seat is his favorite place.  We joke that it's his office.  He is very proud of all his new climbing and the house is basically a whole new world for him.

 

He loves to help me with the dishwasher.  It's crazy how fast he's growing up!  Look at that sweet, chunky baby.

13. Sun's out, Toes out

We went on a family walk almost every day this week.  It's fun to see our neighbors again and get some fresh air.  Don't tell Olive that Fletcher is quickly catching up to her in height :)

14. Early Morning Snuggles

Olive tells me often that she loves not having to set an alarm on the weekends and getting to hang out in her pjs.  These two were the first ones up and enjoyed snuggles. 

What was the best part of your week?
 

Have a great weekend!!

Linking up with Momfessionals

Spring House Tour & Easter Treats

Hello Spring!  It's really feeling and looking like Spring in Indiana.  Last weekend I got excited and got out all of our Easter decorations.  I put out our favorite things, threw away junky things and then donated the decorations I no longer use.  It felt great to do all of that so when I go to put everything away, I'll have a little more breathing room.

Last year I didn't decorate for Easter.  Leo was born just a few days before Easter and I couldn't be bothered with decorating and undecorating :)  I'm a big believer of only decorate when you feel like it.

I have a sweet story to share with you... a few weeks ago a local instagram friend named Lisa messaged me.  She said she was downsizing her Easter bunny collection, knew I loved holiday decor and she wondered if I'd want any of her bunnies.  We messaged back and forth and I went to pick up a very generous collection of bunnies from her porch.  Her generosity really made my whole Spring.  A little kindness can go a long way!

Welcome to my home!  A basket of tulips to greet you.

Penny was very into my house tour.  Keep an eye out for her in many of my pictures.  I swapped out the ribbon on this bunny and made her more my style. 

I like to add bunnies here and there to all our favorite spots.

Easter napkins, bunny napkin rings, bunny S&P shakers and a few eggs on my tiered tray.

My mantel is one of my favorite spots to decorate.  Lisa gave me this beautiful bunny couple on both sides of the mantle.

Cute white bunnies from Lisa mixed in with some of my Easter staples.

We keep holiday/seasonal books in the baskets in front of the fireplace.  These are some of our favorites.  Most are from Amazon and can ship to you well before Easter if you need some Easter basket inspiration.  I'll put my Amazon links at the bottom of this post.  

I love the hand and foot print paintings we've done in the past for Easter.

I picked up these Chocolate Truffle Eggs from Aldi last weekend.  They were only $3.98 and they look delicious!  I thought they'd be the perfect teacher treat.  The kids go on spring break next week.  I'm going to add a ribbon and a cute note that says something like "We're so egg-cited for spring break!  Hope you have a Happy Easter!  Love, Olive"

 

I can't wait to make some carrot cake!  I usually make carrot cake cupcakes with this recipe from the PDP archives.

And I'll definitely be serving some Easter themed lunches in egg cartons for the kids.

Here are my Amazon affiliate links to our very favorite Easter books.  Thanks for supporting my blog!