Isaac's ROAR-ing DINO-mite 6th Birthday

We had Dino Dinner: swamp dip (guac and chips), carnivore food: dino dogs (little smokies) and dino chicken nuggets, dinosaur bones (pretzel sticks in white chocolate), dinosaur eggs (green grapes) and swamp juice (lime sherbet and sprite)

herbivore delights

dinosaur cupcakes- funniest part: one friend proclaimed, "I don't like cupcakes!" So, all but 4 children ended up opting out of the cupcakes claiming "I don't like them either!" or my favorite, "Cupcake give me a belly ache!" Ben and I got a good laugh out of it, lucky for us, they were actually really good! AND Zach loved them... I let him eat 2.... Made my ego feel better!

Swamp Juice and Cupcake table

Dino Eggs

Ben and his dental buddy (BFF:) Clayton. These two lucky boys asked the most unfortunate question, "What can we do to help?" Which is why they spent the next 30 minutes stuffing glow in the dark bracelets into easter eggs (turned dinosaur eggs) for our glow in the dark dino egg hunt! It was a HUGE HIT!! And was only accomplished because of these two highly educated men and loving husbands:)

Three of our friends partying up!

What good is an outdoor party without a water feature?

We had a killer dinosaur dig with 80 dinos ready to unearth with paint brushes and "tools" for the paleontologists

Isaac received a soccer goal from Mom and Dad and boy has it been put to good use already!

More party animals

Entrance to the Parrr-tae

Dino Dig

More Paleontologists

Birthday boy with his two trustiest helpers:)

By the end of the party it was dark, which meant strands of Christmas lights all above the yard. What a brilliant treat! I LOVE Arizona "fall!"

Totally awesome, amazing friends and the coolest presents:)

Happy Happy Birthday Boy!

Our big boy Isaac is thrilled to be 6! A couple of his besties have already turned six (a few weeks ago) and it has been killing him to not be the same age! He claims six just feels so much older:)

Isaac loves kindergarten and his teacher. He is constantly wanting more and doing more, so we supplement a lot from home and investigate a lot. Obviously, his newest obsession is dinosaurs. He knows at least 50 dinosaurs and knows what time periods they lived in.

Some of his other favorite things are pretending. He could pretend anything from "baby and daddy" with his best buddy, Zachary to "School" with his school friends (Isaac is always the male teacher Mr. Fish from his elementary school). The boys often (as in every second of the day) are borrowing my kitchen tools, random things from under the sink, recycling, etc. to play. I think for Christmas they would seriously love their own kitchen tools and free reign on the recycling bin!

Isaac thought long and hard about his birthday party. He chose the menu and he helped every step of the way. He is really "in" to food and details.
Along with his party, much thought went into his guest list. At school, it is a HUGE deal to be invited/disinvited from someone's birthday party. We limited our list to friends we had had for more than a couple weeks from school, our back yard (and ambition) just weren't quite that big. We limited ourselves to 12! His insisted-on guest was Grandma Christmas (my mom, who had to take a rain-check, but joined us via facetime).

Isaac loves to play soccer, but is not really into the competition. He is a great defensive player but is timid about taking the ball down to score. He works really hard though, and is determined to overcome his fear. He loves soccer practice, but gets nervous for the games. He is a great little player, very coordinated and super fast, so I think he has many more years of sports in front of him. I love the skills he has learned and watching him overcome his individual obstacles. He knows now he can do hard things.

Isaac is a good worker. He is the first to help pitch in and clean up, loves helping in the kitchen and loves even more outdoor work with dad (except when it's hot, but I don't think dad likes it much then either!) This weekend was Mormon Helping Hands weekend where we volunteered all over the community doing different things. Isaac collected shoes for a shoe drive to raise money for a little girl with cancer and helped pick up trash at his school's nature area. He is really proud to go to school and tell his teacher tomorrow:)

Isaac is the best big brother ever! I always wanted an older brother and Isaac is exactly the one I wanted! He is so loving to his siblings. He treats Reese like a princess all the time and is constantly singing to her, dancing with her/for her, making her laugh with weird/annoying noises, feeding her (mommy approved), and getting diapers/toys/binkies, etc. Zachary is his best friend/bunk mate/partner in crime/ re-peater. It is rare to find them apart outside of school time. He even accompanies his brother to the bathroom! Truly, they are the perfect fit for each other and perfect partners in crime!

Ike really has a firm grasp on who he is. He knows he is a son of God. He knows more about the gospel of Jesus Christ than I'm sure I did at his age. He really impresses me with his faith and understanding. When he lost his shoe a few weeks ago, he was really distraught and didn't want to wear a different pair to school. I told him he'd have to because we needed to leave, to which he replied, "Mommy, I just want to say a prayer, Heavenly Father will help." His faith was perfect. He thought of a solution I hadn't. AND it worked. I love him and I know he really does have a Father in Heaven who knows and loves him too.

Isaac really is a complete joy to us. He is a loud joy, but such an amazing little person. I feel so grateful to be his mother.