Jake is 5!

Jake turned 5 on President's Day, so we had his party on the holiday (even though he still had preschool and Jim still had work). He wanted to have a Thomas the Tank Engine theme, so we decorated with red, blue, and yellow balloons and did some Thomas activities. (Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great and we couldn't go outside.) We made a Thomas picture by cutting and pasting the pieces together and we played Thomas tic-tac-toe. (The latter was J.D.'s idea, implemented by me.)

Here's the table with some of the the friends:

Here's Joey playing Thomas Tic-Tac-Toe.

We also made train engines out of tootsie rolls, lifesavers and chocolate frosting.

The kids were creative with their engines and mostly had a fun time eating their finished products.

Jake and all of his friends also dressed up in Joey's Thomas costume from Halloween so I could take their picture. Here's Jake.

Of course, I couldn't get Joey to wear the costume on Halloween, but he didn't want to take it off to let other kids wear it this time.

Jake wanted a Thomas cake, so I used the Train cupcake pan that my mom gave us a couple of years ago and decorated it like Thomas. I was short on time and the cake and equipment weren't cooperating, so I did my best. (I'll get another chance on Joey's birthday in a month, so maybe I can improve.) I am encouraged that Joey, the Thomas aficionado, saw the cake before I had completely finished and said, "Look a Thomas cake!"

Jake liked it (even though he has his serious face in this picture, getting ready to blow out the candle).

Here he his opening his presents. He got some fun stuff--2 robots, Legos, Star Wars stuff, a Matchbox racer, and a Webkin.

After the party, he and J.D. got right to work on building his Toy Story Woody's Roundup Lego set. They were able to finish it before they went to bed.

Happy Birthday Jake! I can't believe you are already 5 and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall (already reading and doing lots of math--asking me to make Homework for you to do while J.D. does his--strong-willed and independent). We're glad to have you in our family!