Happy 5th Birthday Arjen!

I honestly don't know how we have a 5 year old!  Somehow, he actually seems older all of a sudden too.  Like turning 5 magically transformed him from a preschooler into a full blown kid.  He just does things (like grabbing a gallon of milk out of the fridge, getting a glass, and pouring himself a drink), he definitely knows when he doesn't want to do things (like put pants on instead of shorts to go outside in this cool Wisconsin weather), and he continues to amaze us with how much he just knows.  He's in pre-Kindergarten/4-year-old Kindergarten/Junior Kindergarten/Transitional Kindergarten…whatever you want to call it…seems like each state/region has it's own variation.  I know he was very prepared going into school (already counting beyond 100, writing his name, etc), but I'm even more impressed with how much he has learned in just a short amount of time in school.  He's putting letters and their sounds together, and starting to spell/read.  He continues to have his father's memory, and he is endearingly sweet and caring towards his younger brothers (even though it's often harder to tell with Gus).  I often find myself wondering how it is possible that such a little person, having spent barely the blink of an eye on this earth, can already know, express, and emote so much. And then I realize, that for as much as he is learning about this adult world we live in, I am learning even more…

The Friday before his birthday was show-and-tell day.  This guy decided to "share" his baby brother with his class.  The night before, I asked him what he was going to tell his class about his brother, and he replied that he wanted to bring both of his brothers!  So off we all went to school.  

The caramel apples seemed to be a big hit with the kids, even though I only saw one kid actually get through to apple.  Glad I was organized for once and thought ahead to bring some wax paper for the kids to wrap the apples up to take home what was left! Our suggestion to pick smaller apples at the apple farm fell on deaf ears….

On Arjen's right is his new buddy Quentin.  On his left, Abby - an October birthday buddy (same day as Andrew's!)

His whole class…all 10 of them.  It'll be an interesting transition to a class probably more than double this size when we're back in California. 

To celebrate Arjen's big day, we decided to party it up at the local bowling alley, Anchor Lanes.  We had planned on having just family (and Arjen's honorary cousin, Oliver - his cousins' cousin), but then Arjen asked us if he could invite Quentin from school to his bowling party.  It was such a sweet and innocent request, of course we had to say yes!  (And fortunately Quentin was available with only 2 days notice!).

Gus using the fancy dino ramp to send his ball down the alley.  Did I mention that kids in bowling shoes are kind of adorable?

Arjen decided his light-up Happy Birthday glasses were good luck

The party table.  Star Wars theme, of course!

As the procrastinators that we are, no, scratch that…after having a surprise party for Andrew's 40th (that blog is next), only 3 days before Arjen's bday, I didn't really plan ahead much for Arjen's bday party until the couple days before.  Needless to say, I did not attempt to order a custom ice cream cake until it was too late to do so.  The birthday gods smiled upon me, however, and just so happened to have this one star wars themed cake ready and waiting on Arjen's bday.  I had to laugh though, because it was Green (Gus's favorite color) with Yoda (Gus's fave star wars character).  I decided Arjen would still appreciate the Star Wars themed cake to go along with his Star Wars themed party, and got the cake.  So what did he say when I showed it to him?  "Yoda.  That's the guy Gus likes." Fortunately Arjen was smart enough to know that an ice cream cake is worth it, even if it's the wrong color and character! 

Putting his orange 5 candle on the cake

Presents!  

I have to say, I was really impressed with how excited all the kids were to watch Arjen open his gifts. I was especially impressed with Gus…not once did he whine or complain that there weren't any presents for him.  It's like these kids are a whole year older, and actually understand the concept of birthdays being just for the birthday kid!  (But he was not disappointed to find out that Grandma Cherie brought a little something for him to unwrap too!) And I was even more impressed with Arjen, when we had to give his party favor to a younger brother who came to the party, meaning Arjen ended up not getting one.  He was very mature about it!  For our first kids birthday party, not hosted at our home, and not all adults, I was thrilled with how well it all played out!  

My heart is full as I stop to appreciate this kid and our celebration of his birthday.  I love this guy.  Pretty much all there is to say about that.  Just grateful to call him mine.