Happy FIFTH birthday Big Bad Jon

omgeee, I'm running late.  Such is life with three boys, I suppose.  Or maybe I'm just in denial about this post.  My baby is 5.  Wait. a. minute.  What???  Yep,  Jonathan turned the big F-I-V-E on May 30.  I just can't believe that he's already five years old.  My goodness.  Where to start on this momentous occasion...
Here's a few tidbits about the birthday boy- a list of fives if you will...
Jonathan's five favorite foods:
  strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, ice cream and barbecue fritos
Jonathan's five favorite games:
  Super Mario on the Wii U,  Mario checkers, Mario memory match, Sorry, Hide and Seek
Jonathan's five favorite TV shows:
  Tom and Jerry, Sonic X, Looney Toons, (okay - that's only three... he really watches anything his brother wants to watch)
Jonathan's five favorite places to go eat:
  McDonalds, Snappy Tomato (which he calls Papa Tomatoes), Steak and Shake, Zaxby's, and Little Caesars
Jonathan's five favorite places to go:
  HOME (he loves being home!), Mamaw and Papaw's, Grammy and Pa's, anywhere with Daddy, and the park

Here's a few highlights from his birthday celebration...
First, we went to Chuck E Cheese on his "real" birthday.  He was so excited to get a Wii U from mommy and daddy, Grammy and Pa and Mamaw and Papaw. 

Then, he had a few friends to play at the Discovery Gym.  A fun time (and awesome Mario cupcakes) were had by all.  I made these cute little mustaches for everyone for a picture.  So cute! 

 

Little buddy, here's praying that your 5th year is all you hoped it could be.  You are a wonderful and sweet boy.  It nearly rips my heart out to believe you are already 5 years old.  It feels like just yesterday that we surprised everyone at Jacob's first birthday party with a shirt that proclaimed he was the big brother and that I was pregnant with you!  You have a great and funny personality and sometimes I just love the things you say.  You make us laugh all the time.  You are growing so big and starting to become a little more independent of your brother.  You go to your own class at church now with no problems and handle activities that are only for "k and up" like a champ.  You are a quality time guy for sure.  The first thing we hear each morning is "what can we do?"  Jonathan, keep on learning about and loving Jesus.  Remember he will never leave you or forsake you.  Neither will we.  I love you forever, I love you for always. 

Closing a chapter

This one's been in the bloggy cue for a while... (I have a lot of catching up to do!!!)

I've probably said this 100 times on the old bloggy, but oh my goodness, I wish time would just stop moving so quickly.  We are in transition around here, I guess you could say.  Jonathan finished up preschool (forever - sigh!) last Friday and Wednesday, Jacob finished up his Kindergarten year (sigh!)  Oh my goodness, how is it possible that I'm the mother of a first grader and a kindergartner and a much too old 7 1/2 month old?  

Jacob had a fantastic year at Painted Stone and I'm so proud!  He had the best teacher ever and really really flourished.  Okay - totally gonna be that braggy mommy for a minute...hold your ears if it makes you gag.  Ha!  He was a model student.  He had great behavior (stayed on green all year!) and was kind to his peers.  One of my favorite pictures I have of him at one of my trips to his classroom was him randomly helping one of his peers tie his shoe.  He is a fantastic reader - I loved watching him read stories to his classmates.  He loved doing his homework (may be a nerd, just like his mommy!) and was super motivated to earn special treats and to pick from the treasure box at school.  He scored so well on the standardized tests.  They made him nervous.  He enjoyed all his special area classes but music was his favorite.  He played outside for recess and loved it.  Sometimes he even got to play on the "big kids" playground.  During indoor recess, he often did art and would draw some of the cutest pictures and write funny stories.  I loved reading his writing and trying to decipher his spelling.  He has a strange habit of putting an apostrophe at the end of every word he makes plural.  It's cute.  At the beginning of the year in his writing activities, his teachers would try to get him to expand and write more sentences, he would embellish his stories with sentences like, "they are.  They really are.  Yes they are."  He gets in quite a hurry when he writes, which makes me nine kinds of crazy, so I'm constantly telling him to slow down and remember to write the letters the way his teachers do.  He tries to write in cursive - which kind of looks like chicken scratch if I'm honest.  :-)

Here he is with his super sweet and super awesome teacher, Melinda Haggard.  Can't say enough good things about her!

 

Kindergarten awards day. 

 

Jacob grew and changed a lot this year.  He is more obedient and helpful at home and a great big brother to both his brothers at home. I'll always remember his kindergarten year as the year with no teeth.  Seriously - almost his entire year was without his whole row of front teeth.  SO CUTE!!!! He is a typical silly boy - doing silly, impulsive things that get him in trouble.  And he is SOOOO messy. But, for the most part, he does so well.  Jacob grew and changed...So did mommy.  I tried to cherish the time I had with him, because it felt so limited.  That was the biggest adjustment for me - not seeing him as much.  On the first day of kindergarten, (y'all remember...) I was a hot mess.  Well, I had nothing to worry about - he was great!  I am grateful that summer is here - we have a whole list of fun things planned.  I hope I can not be too busy to soak in all the precious little moments we can share.  My prayer is that I can truly enjoy all of my kiddos every single day.  I also hope first grade is just as fantastic as this kindergarten! 

 Here he is on the last day of school - took pictures like this on the first day of school too....