Li'l J Turns 5!

Warning: this is another VERY long post,

and one that is WA-AY overdue,

 but due to its subject...TOTALLY worth the read!

1. SO-O happy to have Marie Calendar's Chocolate Satin Pie on his B-day!!

2. Making a wish.

3. Wish made, candle blown out.

4. Happy to celebrate with C-sta and M!

5. Thanks G'ma & G'pa S for the b-day package filled many, many, many, FUN costumes!!

6. Thank you CC S and LV S families for the fun presents!

7. The friend party invite.

8. One of Li'l J's all-time FAVORITE friends, O.

9. The BIG brother, M.

10. O younger sis A (a bit on the camera-shy side.)

Thanks for the fun Star Wars puzzle O and A!

11. Our good buddy E-man.

12. The birthday boy himself, Li'l J.

13. A friendly game of 'Happy, Happy, Birthday!'

14. The Costco cake.

15. Making another wish, blowing out another candle.

16. Li'l J with another all-time FAVORITE friend, N.

Thanks for the fun mini-golf set N!

17. Li'l J with our friend and neighbor, C.

Thanks for the AWESOME Transformer C!

18. Li'l J with the H kids: T, E-man, & C.

Thanks for all the great stuff guys!

19. Li'l J with our friend and neighbor C.

Thanks for coming to represent your family, for helping out with the party, and for the awesome Clone Trooper mask!!

20. C-sta makes an appearance...on the slide no less!

At the end of December our Li'l J turned five.  His actual birthday fell on a Tuesday--Cub Scout day--and J-rod had to work nights, so we had a quick little family celebration before we all darted out our separate ways for the evening.  The following weekend early in January, Li'l J had his first ever friend birthday party.

Li'l J celebrated having turned 5 with 5 of his little friends (and their older siblings that came to keep M company, so with Li'l J and M included we had a total of 10 kids) meet us at a neighborhood park for a rousing good time! Since Li'l J chose a "Sports" theme for his party, playing at the park for a couple of hours with a big group of kids was perfect!

After letting the kids enjoy the playground equipment while everyone arrived, we played a couple fun games before having lunch: "Happy, Happy, Birthday!" (just like "Duck, Duck, Goose!") and a pint-sized game of soccer (complete with team names and cheers). For lunch we fed the kids hot dogs (which M passed around in a 'vendor box' that hung around his neck, just like when you're at a baseball game), snack-sized baggies of chips, and Capri-Sun pouches or small bottles of water--my goal: keep it easy and self-contained!

After lunch we had Costco birthday cake (at the birthday boy's request) and little individual ice cream cups of vanilla or chocolate that we found at Wal-mart (again, easy and self-contained!). In keeping with the theme we had our Costco change the usual birthday cake ‘balloon decoration’ so that the balloons looked like sports balls: a football, a baseball, a soccer ball, volleyball, and a basketball—it turned out great! We’re glad our Li'l J had such a good time celebrating with his friends! We can’t hardly believe that our Li'l J is so grown up now!  Li'l J is so grown up that he no longer wants to be called 'our little monkey' and has kindly relinquished that title to C-sta!

Li'l J we LOVE you so very much!

Even though sometimes you may feel the effects

of "middle child" syndrome

(aka feel neglected, forgotten, or otherwise gypped),

we want you to know--

you are a very IMPORTANT part of our family

and we are SO grateful you are a part of it!

We love your HAPPY,

go-lucky,

SPUNKY approach to life!

When your BIG BROWN eyes begin to SPARKLE,

Mom knows you're up to something and had better WATCH OUT!

One of Mom's most favorite things about YOU

is that you love to SING aloud, totally uninhibited.

Mom also loves that you have FAVORITES

you enjoy singing and listening to

OVER,

and OVER,

and OVER

again!!!! (in no particular order):

*

Defying Gravity

from the Glee Soundtrack,

though not the Wicked Soundtrack

(don't worry, he doesn't watch the show...

just LOVES this song!)

*

Called to Serve

(from the Mormon Tabernacle CD, Called to Serve)

*

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

(from Mary Poppins,

the 2005 Original London Cast Recording)

*

Dad loves how EAGER you always are to help him

and go for rides with him in his TRUCK...

especially to go get "SHRUSH-RIES" at Circle K!

One of Dad's favorite things about you

is how INSISTENT you are

about waving GOOD-BYE to him at the front window,

even at 5am...

if and when you happen to be AWAKE

at that early hour!

Thank you for the JOY you bring us daily Li'l J!

An Interview with Li'l J

(with 'peanut gallery' comments by Mom.)

1. How old are you? 

 "I'm 5 years old. Remember? Du-uh!!"

(I'm still laughing as I type this--he cracks me up!)

2. What is your favorite book?

"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"

(by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault)

3. What is your favorite color?

Blue!

4. What is your favorite food?

"Mac a' Cheese!"

5. What is your favorite movie? 

Bolt

6. What is your favorite animal?

"A dog...D. O. G., dog!"

7. What is your favorite place?

"School."

8. What is your favorite game?

"My favorite game is LEGO Star Wars,

the Complete Saga on the Wii."

(Not a big surprise here!)

9. Where do you live? 

"I live in a house."

10. Where do you want to go someday?

"To Toys R Us to get a new Wii game, or a new DS game."

(Not quite the 'vacation destination' I had in mind...

guess I wasn't thinking like a 5 year old boy!)

11. Who is your best friend?

"N and O."

(See picture no. 16 and 8 in the collage above.)

12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

"A doctor."

(Have to say

I was a little surprised by this one,

thought he'd say..."a dad"

as he is always telling me his plans for "when I'm a dad....)