Happy Fifth Birthday Jonathan!

Blowing out the sparkler with preschool friends

 It's hard to believe it's been just over a month since I took the above photo. We celebrated Jonathan's fifth with his preschool friends and then met several of them at Chick-fil-A afterwards. It was definitely an early celebration, but since Jonathan has been a bit sad that he doesn't have close friends around here quite yet, I'm glad that I can remind him that he already partied with his friends back in Texas. 

It was wheels day too!

 Fast-forward to today. 

We have been extra-busy in our new home. Everyone was a tad frazzled and worn, so the celebration varied between tearful and fun. Yesterday, Jonathan and Melanie spent almost the entire day outside with Deklan, a new friend that has an adjoining yard, and came in at sunset completely worn out. Those are the best kinds of days and we've had quite a few of them lately.

Birthday cake from Giant!

 We have been attending church just a few minutes from the house with friends we knew when we lived here almost a decade ago. We didn't know they lived just a few minutes away. That's a long story for another post, but we're very thankful they're nearby. What's really nice for three members of our family is that there is no option to attend at 8:15 am. We don't have to get out of bed at the crack of dawn. We can slowly get ready, have a leisurely breakfast and then calmly saunter out the door. So, we had plenty of time for our little control freak to pick out his own birthday cake this morning.

Sissy enjoying the festivities

Horsey from Grammy and Papa Jack

Umbrellas and rain boots... just in case it storms

 I didn't manage to get a picture, but a whole grouping of items sent from Giggie and Bop lined the breakfast table when Jonathan entered this morning. His new Spiderman car was a real hit. 

Jonathan is so inquisitive and energetic. It's hard for Mama and Daddy to keep up. We find, at times, that what he knows intellectually doesn't quite line up with how it all gets processed emotionally. We work hard to keep this boy's intellect fully engaged. In the midst of a move, we have to really weigh the priorities. And this is how that translates. We still have lots of boxes that haven't been touched. The house is pretty much a wreck. And that's ok. We're all tan, well-fed and having a ball to make up for the fact that there are a whole lot of someones we miss. But we are thankful for this new home, this new adventure, each other and this wild and crazy five-year-old!

In our swim togs riding with Deklan on Birthday Eve

First hours