The Magic of Turning Six

We now have a 6 year old running around the house. Josh was SO excited for his birthday, and of course it's always fun to egg him on, so the night before I said, "Oh, man, what are we going to do when we wake up tomorrow and there is someone that's 6 in our house?" Noah quickly replied, "A lot of things are going to change around here." Haha, we shall see.


 Josh's birthday was actually a whirlwind, and he loved every minute of it. Started out with waffles, something he changed his mind to after originally thinking cereal would be the best, then off to school to wear the birthday crown and see the paratroopers fly in to the school playground. Not for his birthday, per se, but a nice touch nonetheless. After the waffles, I fed a baby, dressed three kids and myself, went to the store to get doughnuts, and made it to Josh's classroom right as his class was coming back from the assembly. One hour and 15 minutes for all of those tasks just listed. It's not all about me, of course, but I'm the one writing this and my self-esteem hovers at low. Oh, yeah, and I carried a diaper bag full of books, three dozen doughnuts, and a baby clear to the back of the school. Boo-yeah.  Josh wanted to give doughnuts as his birthday treat at school, and had it thoughtfully planned out. "Mom, everyone likes sprinkles but Cody, so get 26 with sprinkles, and 1 without. Except Skylar is at Disneyland, so get 25 with sprinkles and 1 without." I read one of Josh's favorite books to his class, which is what they do on their birthdays, and he proudly stood by the whole time. It's toooo cute, trust me.

I was talking to Josh's teacher after class, and found out she had a mountain of things to accomplish in very little time. Oh, no, I know how that is! So, I arranged to help her out a little. We had our dinner of chicken, pineapples, and sauce (Hawaiian chicken, but that's what the kids call it, Josh's favorite), then went over to the school for Author's Night. Josh wrote masterful work called, "The ABC Book of Learning." After we looked at it, Gary took the kids to play on the "big kids' playground" while I helped his teacher for a little bit. I had to take the rest of it home to finish, and then I watched my friend's kids the next day while she helped the teacher a little more. It all got done, phew for her! Anyway, we ended the night with a yummy chocolate frosted cake and presents. Josh was elated about everything. We got him an aluminum bat, and he said, "Yeah, this is like a Braden (his cousin) bat!"

Dream day . . . Josh was so happy the whole time. I heard him tell Gary's mom on the phone, "I got some presents on Monday, then another present yesterday, then more presents coming up today, " and I thought, "Um,  Josh, your birthday is not nearly that elaborate." But this was his explanation, "I got two dollars in the mail on Monday from Aunt Sue, then that night the bishop brought me a cookie, then yesterday I used the money from Aunt Sue to buy a Batman Popsicle from the ice cream man, so that's three presents, and now I get to go to Cooper's in a minute, and that's my next present, then my mom said she would give me one, too." Awww, buddy, I could use that attitude for myself. And by the way, he went to Cooper's because I had to go buy his present, and also a balloon. Madeline (cousin) called and asked if he had balloons and he said, "I didn't get balloons yet, but I know which one I want from Macey's." Yes, I bought it.

The batman popsicle from the ice cream man - the one present that turned into two.

And he's 6! My kids think blowing out the candles is what puts you to the next age. My cake decorating skills shine here, with Anakin in his racer thingy on top of the cake. Definite hit!

The balloon in question . . .

My mom got a present that is for all 3 boys' birthdays, so they were excited to get to unwrap it and not just watch Josh.

Gary and I also attended Josh's big kindergarten program on Friday morning. It was adorable, of course. After the big program his teacher had his class and parents go back to their room to watch a slide show of the year, of course accompanied by tear-jerker music about kids growing up. I couldn't handle it at ALL. I am bawling now. I just kept imagining tiny baby Joshy when I took him to the program for my class six years ago. I thought kindergarten was so far away. And there I was watching pictures of his kindergarten year being over accompanied by "Little Wonders" and "Let Them Be Little." Today he wanted to sit in my lap at church, and I held him really tight, because I don't know how many more times he will be able to do that. Anyway, he was proud, and he is just a great kid. He packed for St. George last week all by himself, including putting in church clothes for both him and Noah. The entire time he was packing he was singing, "Zippity-Do-Da." He's a happy kid, and so fun to have around. His sense of humor is so cute, Gary loves telling him jokes because his reaction is always good.

These pictures are not of the tear-jerker moments, but of his kindergarten program in general. Love him!

Here's the graduation boy, walking into the gym with his class.

Lighting wasn't so good for a camera such as mine, but I was able to sneak up and catch a few photos. He was doing the actions, just as he should . . .

Josh with his teacher, Mrs. Serrao. She is so cute with the kids, I just love how she loves them.

A few class friends - Jace, Josh, and Ben. And Gary with sleeping Lissy in the background.