Look what Luke did!

He turned 5. What is up with that? He was overexcited by the prospect of turning 5. I think he thought it brought new found privileges and respect. (I think he was disappointed to find out it didn't.) He seemed to think that getting older was directly related to growth which was directly impacted by eating. Everytime he would eat something he would ask, "Am I 5 now?" I must admit I got tired of saying no and explaining why, so we made him a calendar to cross off each day until his birthday.

His birthday fell on the same weekend as baby Claira's baby blessing, which we wanted to attend, so we thought we would celebrate his birthday on Thursday night instead. These plans were thwarted by Luke over indulging on Halloween. He was very ill for half of Thursday. (Pleasant side-effect, he refuses to eat candy now. He calls it "that sticky, yucky stuff.) We went ahead and let him open his present from us on Thursday.

He got to enjoy playing with his train. Friday he took cupcakes to preschool. Friday night we headed to Minnesota to see Joe, Jenni, and family.

Grandma and Grandpa Black had a super fun dinosaur present waiting for Luke when we got to Minnesota at almost midnight. The kids played for a minute before Luke was too tired.

Grandpa and Grandma treated the kids to lunch and the amusement park at the Mall of America the next  day.

The kids had such a good time. I think the adults had a headache before it was all over. (At least this adult did.)

Sunday we went to church with Joe and Jenni, of course. Claira looked very sweet in her blessing dress and Joe did a nice job blessing her. 

We headed home right after church and made it to our house a little after 11 p.m. Monday morning Ken had to fly to California for a week of corporate training. We celebrated the other half of Luke's birthday with a cake and present from Grandma and Grandpa Hessing.

Some things about Luke:

*He embraces fully the idea that cleanliness is next to Godliness. (He washes his hands, changes his clothes, and orders me to clean his room incessantly.)
*He loves to sing. He says he wants to be a singer when he grows up.
*His favorite color is green.
*His favorite "animal" is a butterfly.
*He is a mama's boy. (Last week I left him with the girls while I went to pick Aidan up from school. He made them call me so he could say, "Mom, I need you to come back to me.")
*He likes to tell other people what to do and how to do it.
*Sometimes he lays in his bed in the morning and yells, "Mom, come and wake me up!"
*He is very observant.
*He is a picky eater. (For Thanksgiving all he would eat was pickles and cranberry juice. The rest of the meal was "bad food." He drinks smoothies, but they must be purple.)
*He has a set bedtime routine and we must not deviate from it. (Put on pajamas, brush teeth, floss, get a drink of water, have Dad or Mom tuck him in, be read a bedtime story, look at pictures in book, give book to dad so he can put it back on the shelf.)
*He likes to help me cook.
*He is a sweetheart and gives hugs and kisses freely!