a 5 year old boy

My oldest boy is FIVE.  It sounds crazy old to me :)  How is it that he is 5 already?

But on the other hand, he totally seems 5.  He's such a great little guy, my Isaac.  I love who he is, and I love the glimpses of who he is becoming.  He's got a warrior-fierce heart but also tender.  He can be so rough and tumble, yet also so gentle and kind.  His daily word count must be three times the average.  He talks all day long.  All. Day. Long.  And he talks about the greatest things, it really is fun to listen to him.  At least, most of the time ;)

I worried about this spring in the States for him.  I knew he would miss his sisters terribly (his best playmates at school all day?!)  I prayed that God would provide friends for my Isaac and God provided abundantly!  He has so many little buddies to run around with and enjoy!

But if he had to choose best buddies, he'd probably choose them from one family.  They are becoming dear friends and providing such sweet fellowship for us during our time here.  And they have three boys Isaac's age (two 4 year olds and a 5 year old!)

So we invited Simeon and Joshua and Caleb (and their whole family) to a swimming pool birthday party.  Big bonus that they have a big family, including two girls whom my girls adore and lots of older brothers too.

But before heading to the pool we decorated the cake.  This is part fun part not so fun chaos for me, as the kids want to be totally involved and the icing gets everywhere and I just wonder exactly how many crumbs I can disguise on the cake, but in the end everyone declares it "perfect" and I'm thankful that it is perfect.  In their eyes at least!

Our pool here is just incredible.  So much room and so much fun for all ages - who would've thought that we'd be at the pool weekly even with sub freezing temps for weeks on end?

And then pizza and cake and gifts and plenty of free time to roam and play (at Grandma and Grandpa's house).

At one point during the afternoon Isaac told me "Mom, all us boys are downstairs and we are having so much fun!"

He smiled so big and so much his cheeks must be sore.

Today (Sunday, his actual birthday) we celebrated a bit more.  This boy is worthy of the celebrating, and we are happy to do it.

Tomorrow is a day off from the party-ing and we'll start back up again Tuesday when Luke turns 2!  [Luke was due on the 30th but arrived 12 days early.  He was my earliest baby by a long shot - Isaac 5 days early, both girls born after their due dates.  I'm confident his early arrival was in part an answer to Isaac's prayers that "mommy's baby would come out on his birthday".]

Happy Birthday to my oldest boy.  You are an incredible gift.