And he turns 5....

I have came to the conclusion that you can't stop them from growing up, so just enjoy it.  I have had a hard time wtih Channer turning 5.  I may or may not have shed a little tear when the night before Channer's birthday he said, "Mom, give me one last hug as a 4-year-old".

For weeks Channer has been so excited to turn 5, been counting down the sleeps, bragging to everone that he is going to be 5.  It has become a tradition to put balloons and streamers leading to their presents.  Channer loved it.  Of course he was up at about 6:30 (really not unsual on any given day) and was excited to find his balloons and presents.

 He was so excited for his new scooter.  Problem is, it has snowed LOTS and it will be a long time before he can ride it outside, so I let him have it inside his entire birthday.  Drove me crazy, but what do you do. 

 I just love this kid.  I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner.  He told me cheese and bread...not a grilled cheese...but just cheese and bread.  After I told him that he could pick somewhere to eat if he wanted, he chose Sizzler.  So the night of his birthday, we met up with Grandpa, Aunt Chan, Ladd and family at Sizzler and had a birthday dinner.  All day on his birthday, he kept telling me..."I can do whatever I want cause its my birthday" and "I can have whatever I want because its my birthday".  I am a bit of a softy and pretty much that is true. 

Saturday, Channer had his big birthday party bash.  He wanted a pirate party...so a pirate party we had.  It was a lot of fun.  I could go crazy with birthday parties if I had the money.  It adds up so fast though.  I think Channer had a great time with his family and friends and the party was a hit!

Invitations

Captain Channer and his first mate Pirate Chestyn

 We had a houseful and it was so fun! I love to have company over.  It gets a little crazy for a while and the house gets trashed, but I love it!  A big thanks to my friend, Sara, who just threw a pirate party for her little boy and gave me ideas AND shared her templates with me :)

Pin the X on the map.

 The kids loved playing pin the X on the map.  We had them spin around for how old they are...and it was quite funny to see some of them stick the X on my fridge or dishwasher :)

Brodie

Charlee

Charlee with a little help in the right direction.

Canyon

Chestyn

 All the kids got a pirate tattoo.

Tasia

Channer



Kinsley



Charlee

 Then we did a treasure search.  I got a little creative with this because of course we have a foot of snow outside, so we had to do it in my garage.  I went cheap and did saw dust instead of sand too.  The kidS LOVED it.  My house was full of saw dust after, but so worth it.  The kids had a blast!

Had a little bucket just for Chestyn, Charlee, and Skyler

 Then it was time for presents!




Of course all the friends helped open presents!

 Channer got quite the haul...lots of friends and family who love him and gave him some awesome stuff!

Then it was time for cake, icecream, and Dead Man's Punch.

Make a wish...he gets sooo shy when all attention is on him.

 I was so excited, my sister, Marie, and her family surpised me and showed up.  The weather was horrible here, so I had sent all my family in Richfield the memo to not come.  She decided to try coming anyway and she was so glad she did because she said the roads and sky were clear the whole way, except 5 minutes outside of Cedar. 

Deloy and Dylon.

Canyon, Brodie and Stetson.

Charlee, Derek, Weston, Ryann and Kinsley

 This one is for Tawnya and Sandy...Brodie would make you proud.  She spent the time tackling the boys :)

Cute cousins, Chestyn and Charlee

 We had some time left after the party, so they took full advantage of the toy room and destroyed it! :)

 After the party, this is where I found Channer and Chestyn!

The party was a success.  Thanks to all that came. 

To my Channer,

I am so proud to be your mom.  You are still such a great kid.  I know most moms think their kids are good kids, but seriously, buddy, you are a GREAT kid.  You are such a smarty and surpise me daily with the things you say and do.  You are growing up on me and while it makes me super sad, it also makes me super happy to see what a great boy you are becoming and I just love every new stage.  You are still a "rule follower" and I hope you stay that way.  You are a great brother and those moments in the day when you two get along so well are my favorite moments. 

You still love anything Cars.  Your favorite thing to do right now is count and add.  You are super good at it too.  I love that you put your mind to things and do them.  You can count to 100 with a little help here and there, but for the most part you got it.  You add things all day and will tell me, "Mom, did you know 4 + 6 = 10" and different additions all day long! You are getting good at sounding out things and one of your favorite games to play with me right now is asking me things like, "If banana started with a d it would be danana and if Chestyn started with an S it would be Sestyn". 

Thanks for being so much fun.  Thanks for being just who you are.  Stop being afraid to be who you are around other people though, because I promise they will love who you are as much as I do. 

Never forget how much your mom and dad love you.  We are your biggest fan and will always be chearing you on.  Chestyn is a BIG fan of yours too....never forget he is your best friend. 

Love you my Chan Man!

Mommy