samuel is five

Five years. Wow.

A "fast poke." That is what Samuel calls himself.

I wasn't as much of a camera freak when Samuel was tiny but I do love the pictures that I have. Having kids 21 months apart sometimes means that you might not remember much of the first years. That and life was pretty chaotic back then... moving from Chicago, buying our house, remodeling, etc.

But every time I look at these pictures, memories come flooding.

(oh and can you imagine how sad I was that I left my camera at my parents' house for Samuel's party).

Karl laughs at this photo because it looks like Tattoo from fantasy island. I just see my little boy in his blessing outfit with the most luscious lips ever.

The next photo was from Easter. He just happened to be wearing white pajamas and I grabbed the bunny hat and basket.

Later, he learned that he had an opinion about such photo shoots.

To celebrate his fifth year here we had a family party at our house. He hasn't asked for a friend party, yet and I'm very okay with that.

The decorations:

I am pretty sure it was purely for me, and Eva because she is impressed by this kind of stuff, I stayed up super late and made this happy birthday banner for the big day. Eva and Samuel hung some red balloons.

Samuel is obsessed with red and Bakugans (and Transformers but I discourage the actual toy since they are so hard to transform and such a pain because he always asks me to do it for him, and I can't do it) right now so that is what I went with as far as theme. Red and circles.

I put his name on some IZZE drinks. Samuel IZZE, get it? And my mom made these cookies and I had her put his name and face on the cookies.

Did Samuel care? Not so much. Did I expect him to? I know, these kind of things are mostly because I like to do it.

The food:

I made two soups and we had artichoke dip, veggies, chips, bread, and my mom showed up with some tasty Hawaiian chicken. I also made that citrus punch that I love to drink but have to have a party to make. I love party food.

The cake:

Karl's mom always comes up with amazing cakes. The kids make their wish and she delivers. A Bakugan cake. Amazing.

I love this picture because of how excited Eva is for her brother.

The gifts:

The whole party Samuel just wanted to open his presents. Maybe he cared about the food and the cake and the guests. Maybe he cared by yelling, "Can we open my presents now?!!" about every 2.5 minutes.

My brother shows up with this HUGE gift. Samuel was excited just because of the size. Eva made him a mask and wrapped it herself. So sweet.

It was so funny to see everyone playing with the Bakugans. Seriously, it was a room full of people from 4 to 64 (or so) playing with these little toys. They are actually kind of fun.

I also provided other entertainment, writing on my dusty furniture. The "Wash Me" sign is probably still on my TV.

Thank you so much to family for coming over and celebrating our little/big Samuel. We had a blast.

The next morning, Samuel got up bright and early because he was so excited to play with his Bakugans. Don't know what a Bakugan is? 4 months ago, I didn't either. He has quite the stash. His grandma called me today and told me that when Samuel went to her house on Saturday and asked if she would give him FIVE Bakugans. Never mind just 1 through 4. He wanted FIVE. That kid. It might actually be how many he needs to fill his case.

Breakfast the next day was... cake.

He had to make a mobile for his "Special Day" at school. I had no idea that he had such great cutting skills. His mobile shared his favorites:

Sports: Soccer, T-ball, and Baseball

Foods: Crunchies (Japanese rice crackers, "Osembe" that his grandma gives him) and apples

Books: Transformer books, Bakugan books, and Speedracer books (despite my efforts in trying use my teaching degree and expose him to quality literature).

People: Mommy & Daddy & Eva & Friends & Cousins

Here we are at his school. He was silly the whole time, of course.

Does having a mom that likes to sew mean that you have a mom that shows up with big loose threads stuck to her back side?

Samuel is helping his friends open their Transformer fruit snacks and cracking up. Love it.

Samuel and his "veggie man."

Five years. Five years and we think he is starting to catch on to his dad's make it disappear and then reappear in Samuel's ear trick. Five years and I still wonder where all of that energy and passion comes from. Five years and he still sings while he does stuff (but he doesn't realize it and if we point it out, it stops, so we just listen and smile). Five years, and I am so glad he is ours.