Joshua's 5th Birthday

I can't believe Josh is now officially 5 years old! In some ways it seems like only yesterday that we brought home this little 8 lb 11 oz bundle with his little squeaky cry, and in other ways it seems as though he's always been here. I can't imagine life without him, nor do I want to!

The big celebration started on Friday afternoon at school. Josh decided a couple weeks ago that he wanted to bring Icees for his friends at school for his birthday. After all, "everyone brings cupcakes, and Icees will be nice and refreshing on a hot day." (His words, not mine.)

Always the planner, Joshua informed us BEFORE his 4th birthday that his 5th birthday party would be at Peter Piper Pizza, and of course reminded us of this frequently throughout the year. So how could we do anything else! It was so great! All we had to supply was the cake (see below) and everything else was taken care of. Josh even got to make his very own pizza.

Josh had so much fun playing games with his friends and cousins. Everyone seemed to have a great time!

I don't think Trevor left this spot all day. The boy loves shooting things!

Ben just loved the pizza. Can you tell?

A while back, Joshua asked for a Super Why cake for his birthday. Super Why is a great reading themed show on PBS and both of the boys just love it. I came up with an idea to incorporate all of the show's main characters and logo. Here is a picture of the characters from the show:

And here is the cake I made:

I was SO happy with how it turned out! I've never done anything like that before, so I was happy to be able to pull it off. Joshua absolutely loved it! I also made a bunch of cupcakes (which are so much easier to serve!) and had them spell out the Super Story Answer. Can you guess what it is?

Make a wish!

After the party, the grandparents and my sister's family came back to our house to watch Josh open his presents. We somehow were even able to get the four kids together for a group photo.

Joshua said he had the greatest birthday party ever, so I guess he had a good time!

Today was his actual birthday. We made cornbread for breakfast per Joshua's specific request. Then after breakfast he opened his presents from Mommy and Daddy (that was his choice to wait until today. The kid as tremendous restraint for a 5 year old!) He was so surprised to find we had gotten him a brand new big boy bike.

After church, Josh and Daddy went to Target to spend his gift card he got from Uncle Paul and Auntie Melissa and we spent the rest of the day playing with his new toys. Then we met up with Grandpa Maple for a buffet dinner. We had a great time!

Happy birthday, Joshua! I can't believe what a big boy you've turned into. We're so proud of the person you are and can't wait to see the things you will do and learn this year. We love you more than we can ever say!