Half A Decade Old

This past Saturday I can't believe that our little Logan turned FIVE.  Today we were at the park, and at one point I looked over at him.  I couldn't believe how big he looked.  It is amazing to me how fast time goes when you have kids.  I can still remember those years and years of aching to hold him in my arms.  Now I feel like I but him to bed at night and he has grown another inch by morning.

We had such a fun day celebrating this little guy.  We started out the morning with our traditional balloon filled bedroom.  Every year Jeff and I are amazed how something so simple like a package of $1.00 store balloons can bring so much happiness and laughter.  It really is the simple things in life.

Another great thing about filling their rooms with balloons, is that they play so hard it really wears them out.

After loads of fun upstairs we headed down to the kitchen and had fresh blueberry muffins and strawberries.

Once everyone's bellies were full we headed over to Lowe's to build a monster truck.  Every other week Lowe's offers free wood kits for kids to put together.  Logan loves going, and it just so happened to fall on his birthday.

Bella usually lasts a few minutes, and then gets too impatient with how long the process takes.

Bella, Lincoln, and I usually end up wondering the store so the big boys can have some uninterrupted time.

This last trip they have started to put out their Christmas decorations.  Bella loved this little dancing dog.  They were pretty cute together.  I might let her bring a dog like this home one day.

Logan with his finished monster truck.

He was SUPER proud of his new truck.

Next on the agenda was heading over to The Red X (it is one of the strangest grocery stores I have ever been to) for some free pumpkin painting.  When we walked in there were tables and balloons set up.  Logan thought it was all for him to celebrate his birthday.  We told him you betcha it is.

My little artists.

Lincoln was a little unsure what to do at first.

Once he got the hang of it, he really loved adding his artistic flair to his pumpkin.

He had a great time until he decided to put a paint brush full of paint into his mouth.  Jeff quickly rushed him off to the drinking fountain, and they played in it until Logan and Bella were finished.

Do you notice the display cases in the background?  Yes that's right there is a stuffed raccoon in one of those cases.  Just what every grocery store needs.  I'm telling you it is one of the most random / interesting stores I have been to.  There is really no way to explain this store unless you visit it.

Last minute I decided to invite some of Logan's friends over for a birthday dinner.  It actually worked out better this way. Instead of spending weeks trying to get everything organized for the 'perfect' party, and feeling super stressed and overwhelmed it really was a low key kind of night.

On the menu for the night was hot dogs, Cheetos, lemonade, and grapes.

After dinner we moved on to presents.  Here are some of the highlights of what Logan received:

* Caroline gave him a transformer toy.

* Nathan gave him an amazing magnetic car that all the boys (even the big ones) were super impressed with.

* Jessika and Daniel gave him some great Lego's and fruit snacks.  Logan may or may not have kissed the box of fruit snacks when he opened them.

* Grandpa Dan gave him a cool tool box.

* Grandpa Mike and Grandma Debi gave him a tag reading system.

* Bella, Lincoln, Daddy and Mommy gave him a piggy bank, tools, wood building sets, flash cards, and a new camera.

Logan is definitely his father's son, because he requested yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

He wanted to make sure he snapped some pictures with his new camera.

I love this picture.  It takes a lot of hot air to blow out all those candles.

What a cutie!

Jessika was nice enough to share some of her cake and ice cream with Lincoln.

I kind of love seeing this little guy with his new camera.  It's so interesting to see the world from his point of view.  I'm actually thinking about getting him a camera that will take decent pictures.  I think it would be fascinating to see all the things that he thinks are interesting.  I really hope he turns out to have a love of photography like I do.

So that is how our little man spent his 5th birthday.  We sure had a lot of fun celebrating him, and just feeling so thankful that he is in our lives for eternity.  He is such a sweet and loving boy.  He has a great desire to follow Jesus and be good.  He cares about others, and wants to make people happy.  He is a blessing and a miracle in our lives.  Happy birthday to mi angelito!

If you are interested here are a few links from birthdays past...  Here, here, here, here, here, and lastly here.