Luke's 5th Birthday & Party

Welp, I have a five year old.  My youngest is now FIVE.  

He is no longer counted as a toddler by any stretch and is barely hanging on to his title of "preschooler."  He is now too big for Paw Patrol or Miles from Tomorrowland.  He has officially outgrown naps. His infatuation with Superheroes is beginning to wane.  He uses phrases "I'd like your opinion on this" and "I am not impressed with that behavior."  

Basically he's five going on forty and there's not a thing in the world I can do to stop it. 

But the good news is that he is still my Lukey, only bigger.  He still loves holding my hand and cuddling with me.  The other night we bumped heads and he said "Are you okay, Mommy?  I'm okay, but I want to make sure you are because that's the menship thing to do." The girls in his class love him because he is such a little gentleman.  He is always eager to hold open a door, lend a helping hand, offer an encouraging word, or share his food with you.  But don't let those things fool you...he is still very much a boy.  He loves to wrestle, make a mess, and talk about all things poopy all the time.  And I couldn't possibly love him more.  

On his actual birthday, we woke him up with a rousing round of "Happy Birthday" in our "Alabama-style" singing (basically as loud, obnoxious, and off-key as you can get.)  I made him pancakes with chocolate chips in the shape of a "5".  After we got ready and dropped off Audrey, I reluctantly took him to school.  (A first for me since Audrey's birthday is in the summer and Luke has always been out for it!)  He was so pumped about taking donuts in for his classmates that I couldn't turn him down.  Besides that, it was early release day so I got to pick him up at 11:45am instead of 1pm.  

After I picked him up, we went home and I gave him a special lunch of a pizza Lunchable. One of the kids in his class has one "all the time" and he "really, really wanted to try one." He was so surprised and appreciative that you would have thought I gave him with a once-in-a-lifetime gourmet meal.  He carefully prepared each little circle of nasty chemical-laden "crust" and then savored every bite.  Audrey had early release too so after lunch we got her off the bus and caught up on each other's days for a few minutes before I sent them upstairs to have quiet rest time. When they got up, they helped me make some chocolate lollipops for Luke's party favors.  

David came home early that afternoon and we gave Luke his birthday present - a new scooter. He was super excited and told us he "just couldn't stop saying thank you!"  We tested it out on the driveway and then went over to Suwanee Town Center to have a little more room. We let them ride around there for awhile, ate dinner at his choice of Brown Bag Deli, chose cupcakes at Jilly's (they always have yummy GF options for AJ), and went home. We sang to our sweet boy, gobbled up the cupcakes, and then did some water color painting - his choice activity before bed.  It was a really sweet, simple day of celebrating him and he loved it.  

The big celebration was that Saturday when we had a "Wild Kratts" (PBS Kids show) themed party.  All of his cousins were able to make it plus a few friends from small group and/or school.  Here are some of the details:

Colors:  Jungle green and animal prints.  

Decor:  I drew chalk paw prints on the sidewalk leading to the front porch and had a welcome sign and the birthday balloon wreath on the front door.  Inside I had the favors on display and a welcome sign hanging above paper vines wrapped with leaves attached to the entryway.  In the kitchen there was a crepe paper palm tree over the island and I made Wild Kratts food signs and placed little wild animal figures around the food.  The chandelier over the table was wrapped with jungle leaves.  On the fireplace mantle there was a birthday interview on display along with an "L" and a copy of the invitation, surrounded by wild animal figures.  A "Happy 5th Birthday" banner hung under the mantle.  Audrey used her artistic skills to decorate the chalkboard in the playroom with a big "Happy Birthday Luke" message and a jungle scene.  I kept it pretty simple in the basement and just covered the tables with brown tablecloths and animal print handkerchiefs.  I put a jar of "Monkey Food" and "Palm Tree Seeds" on the entertainment center down there and scattered a few animal figures around. Animal print balloon bunches served as the centerpieces and another "Happy 5th Birthday" banner hung on the wall.  I put together a slideshow of this past year and had it playing on the upstairs television.  

Food:  "Snake Sandwiches" (sub sandwiches cut into sections with olives for eyes and a pimento for the tongue at the head), "Alligator Eggs" (a pineapple cut to look like an alligator head with grape eyes and green grapes surrounding it), "Shredded Jungle Grass" (cole slaw), "Cheetah toes" (bags of cheetos), "Monkey Food" (dried banana chips), and "Palm Tree Seeds" (chocolate covered raisins.)  The cake was a vanilla Publix cake with a Wild Kratts edible image I'd ordered and we also had cupcakes with "paw prints" (small York peppermint patties and Junior Mints) and vanilla ice cream.  

Crafts/Games:  The little guests got to color their own animal mask and make a snake bookmark out of a popsicle stick.  For the games, we played "Large Mouth Bass" where they had to use their creature power of a big mouth to grab a gummy worm off the hook (hung down from the upstairs catwalk), "Butterfly Break-Out" where they were wrapped in toilet paper and had to use their creature power of strong wings to bust free, and "Fly Trap Game" where they used frog creature power of catching paper flies with sticky "tongues" (stretch sticky hand strings).  The had an awesome time with the Large Mouth Bass game and looked hilarious.  The toilet paper kept breaking on the Butterfly Break Out but the Fly Trap Game was a hit...literally.  :)  I also created and laminated 5 creature power discs - one for each station - and got each kid a lanyard to attach them to when they completed that station. Those were definitely their favorites.  

Favors:  A Wild Kratts book with homemade chocolate paw print lollipops and their lanyards.

The party went really well and everyone seemed to have a great time.  One of the funniest parts was when several of us were standing outside saying goodbye to our families and a small baby snake slithered out of the grass! Most of the kids had already left, but Luke, Audrey, and Annelise got a kick out of it.  I jokingly told Luke I had planned it just for his party!  I mean, what perfect timing!  

Luke's one complaint about the day was that it was too short.  Well so is your childhood, kid. 

I love you so very much and, though I'm sometimes sad about losing my baby, I'm excited about seeing you enter into boyhood with all of its adventures and fun.  You have a heart of gold with just enough of a streak of mischief to keep us on our toes.  I pray the Lord grows you into a man of conviction and courage who follows after Him and loves others well.  Your name means "light giving" and you most certainly are, Bubba.  We love you and wish you all of God's best for all of your life.  Happy Birthday!