Happy Birthday Potatos.

Ashton turned 6 today! Wow. It is hard to believe by baby is growing up so fast. Ashton is a smart, unbelievably caring, respectful, and loving boy. He is a wonderful helper when ever I need him and he is a superb older brother. He loves to laugh and make other laugh. He could spend an entire day playing video games(he can beat his dad/uncle/papa at times). He is shockingly good at most all sports and activities. He is very emotional. He's a great hugger. He loves the park, throwing rocks in the river, summer, swimming, and riding his bike. He loves singing and telling stories. He's not my baby anymore. I am a very lucky mom.

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We had a pizza party for him at East of Chicago. It was very cool. They brought each kid a personal sized pizza that they put sauce, cheese, and toppings on themselves. It was my first out of the house birthday party experience and it was fabulous. I did not have to spend all morning cleaning my house just to have it trashed by 11 kindergartner's. I did not have to buy balloons, treat bags, games. I did not have to cook, or bake. Just fabulous. Happy Birthday Ashton.

Best Buds.

I love this picture.

Good Bye Katalans.

Sunday we had a little going away party for my cousins who are moving to Israel(different from the ones who were visiting). Yup, they sold their house, quit their jobs, and are all packed up and ready to go. These are their daughters Noa, in the grey dress and Arielle(Jingi), the cute red head. Owen will miss Jingi very much. She is about a year younger than him and he just loves her. He asks to play with her and says he wants to squeeze her all the time. And Ashton will greatly miss Noa they always had fun together. And Ryan and I will miss their parents Roy and Sacha(my cousin). Roy is from Israel and they are moving there to be with his family. It won't be the same when we get together and we are sad to see them go but wish them a happy and safe life on the Mediterranean Sea.

Brothers.

We had just got our PJs on and brushed our teeth when Owen found the box of Cheez-its on Ashton's dresser. Before I could say no they were both eating them. I left them for a minute to go get Carly in bed and this is what I saw when I came back to check on them. How adorable. They found some pillows and got comfortable for some brotherly quality time. Owen was handing Ashton the occasional cracker and they were just talking. It is moments like these that I love. It is hard to put into words just how cute it was.

Karate-Do.

Hachiji Dachi
Heisoku Dachi
Zenkutso Dachi
Kiba Dachi
Ashton and Sensei Amanda

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Ashton is an advanced Orange belt with two tabs. He has been doing Karate for almost a year and is getting very good. He can count to 20 in Japanese, recite his dojo kun(student creed) and preform several blocks, kicks, punches, stances and kata. He needs about 65 hours of training to advance to a yellow belt. In the last picture with his Sensei Ash is holding up his spirit award he got for always putting forth his best effort at practice. He was so pleased to get this and proud of himself. We are sure proud of him too.

Eat feet.

I love when babies put their feet in their mouth. It is just so cute. Although, I am a bit jealous. No, not because I want to put my feet in my mouth! It's because they are so limber.

The daddy who could.

The last big snow we had was wonderful packing snow. When Ryan got home from work he took the boys out to play. They quickly got cold and wanted to come in for some hot coco. Not my dear husband though, he stayed outside for another two hours or so building this awesome igloo. It is large enough for him to fit inside with Ash and O. When to boys saw it the was super excited and wanted to go in right away. Carman didn't want to be left out and quickly made her way in also. I think the little boy in Ryan had a blast building that fort. I was impressed. It was very cool.

Family on ice.

Some of my family is visiting from Israel so we had a get together. My aunt and uncle live on Lake Erie so we were braving the cold to play on the ice. The kids had a blast. Owen was a bit nervous so Ryan held him most of the time. Ashton was sliding all over and hitting everybody with snowballs. I, stupidly wore flats and my feet were freezing. Therefore I did not last long outside. The kids also had a scavenger hunt to find treat bags. It was a great time. We got to meet the new addition to the family three month Estie(who I shockingly don't have a pic of) and see little Lev again(blue snow suit). The boys loved seeing all their cousins. Then we all rounded up for a family picture, some great veggie lasagna, and dessert. Tons of fun and yum.

Thats my boy.

Enlarge picture and smile at how cute my son is.