Happy 5th Birthday, Alexander!

Alexander Jack is five years old!!  How is that even possible?  Where has the time gone?  Alex has turned into an amazingly sweet little boy who cares immensely for those around him and is curious about EVERYTHING!  And he doesn't just want to know why, he wants to know how and when and where and who and etc.  It's exhausting at times, but we know God has blessed him with an inquisitive and brilliant mind and He has a great plan for this little man!  Praise The Lord for our boy -- he's a true gift to our family!  :)

 At this stage in life, Alex wants to be a firefighter, policeman, army-man, handyman, and a dad.  So, in honor of one of those professions, we had his birthday party at the local fire station.  We had it the last week of school and we invited his friends from preschool!  The kids were even allowed to climb on the trucks -- it was really cool!  :)

 I made "matchsticks" with pretzels and white/red chocolate, we had "fire rings" (red and yellow ring candies) and "fire hoses" (licorice).  The kids didn't seem to care about the creativity of the food, but I was pleased with myself!  :)

 I made a firetruck themed coloring/activity book for each child.  Alex didn't care about it, but his friends had fun with them!

 Each child got a fire chief hat -- they were so adorable wearing them throughout the night!

 Fireman in training!

 Alexander with his best friend, Zoe.

 Emily didn't seem to mind that she was older than everyone -- she had just as much fun!  

 Thank you, Greentown Fire Department.  This was a great party!!  

 Opening presents with a group of five-year-olds is always chaotic.  But Alex loved having all his friends gathered around him -- it was fun to watch!

 Look at that smile!!  What a nut!

 He requested Red Velvet cake and then only ate the frosting.  But a little less Red #40 wasn't a bad thing!  

 We played "Pin the fire-hat on the dalmation".  I'm pretty sure the cardboard glasses weren't working well because all the kids put the hats on the exact right spot.  Hmmmm...

 Baseball, Legos, StarWars and Games -- perfect gifts!

 Launch Across game -- very fun!  I would highly recommend it!  :)

 And a remote control car -- can you tell he loved it?!

 And this is his birthday party on the actual day of his birthday.  We spent the day outside in the pool and had some friends over to help us celebrate.  We had a really good day!  :)

 We had to drag him out of the pool to eat lunch and to celebrate.  He has turned into quite the little swimmer!

 Strawberry and Red-Velvet cupcakes.  Anything for the birthday boy!  :)

 We had so much fun with our friends that day.  The weather hasn't been that great this summer, but Tuesday was sunny and warm -- perfect for playing in the pool!  :)

 And again, all he ate was the frosting.  I'm thinking next year we might do a birthday pie instead!

 A catapult kit to build with Dad -- they loved making it and launching things across the house!!  :)

 Aunt Judy and Uncle Dave sent a super-cool book about cars and five kits to make some cars.  Alex made one this morning with Nelson and he's been playing with it all day.  Homerun, again, Aunt Judy!!  Thank you!!  :)

 Nana & Papa Willis hit this one out of the park too -- he couldn't wait to use his new bat & ball and practice his batting.  

 Aunt Laura and Uncle Ben sent a classic movie -- I know he'll love this one!

 Alex has got to be tired of hearing princess stories, so we bought him some new books of his own.  Encyclopedia Brown and Alex will be good friends for a long time!

 Gramsy & Papa Lewis sent Alex a helicopter kit.  You all know him so well -- this will keep him entertained for a while!  And he will love taking it apart and rebuilding it over and over again!  Thank you!

 Ava, Isaac and Evan sent him a dirt-bike Lego set.  We built it today and he loves taking the Lego guys on bike jumps and doing tricks with them.  

 Nana & Papa Willis sent a baseball mitt to go with the batting tee.  Nelson showed him how to put it on and then he kept pretending to catch a ball.  :)

We bought him a skateboard.  I'm not sure this was a good idea, but he's been asking for one for months.  Luckily, he seems to be ok just practicing in the house -- the carpet won't hurt him as much as the asphalt!

 And given that we had his party at the fire station, we bought him the Lego fire station set -- we couldn't wait to start building! 

 And the main topic of conversation lately has been about bows and arrows.  He got one from one of his friends and it broke, so he wanted a "real one".  Well, we finally convinced him that a "real one" would be too big for him, but he still really, really, really wanted one.  So, his wish came true -- and look at that happy face!!  :)

 As he opened his gifts, he insisted on putting them in a row according to how he opened them.  He's so funny!!  :)

Aunt Jill and Uncle Nathan sent a fun new game -- we could always use more of those!  Thank you!!  :)

 We love our boy!!  I can't imagine life without him and he is such a blessing.  

Happy 5th Birthday, Alexander!