Six!

Six years ago, we had no idea of the joy that awaited us.  

This spring break, the only set item on our agenda was "celebrate Noble!"

So, we did.

The fun started a day early with a celebration at school.  I was shocked that Noble actually requested a birthday shirt, because he has developed an aversion to my "funny shirts that make people laugh at him."  Oh, okay.  So I let him design this year's shirt, and what he came up with is SO Noble.  

He's old enough now to understand that his birthday is the day he was born, not the day of his party.  

For his classroom celebration, Noble chose root beer floats.  A friend mentioned it last month, and it stuck with him. And they were a big hit with his friends, along with the mustaches we brought along.  Noble started a unibrow trend...because that's how we roll around here.

Last year, we told Noble that from 6 on instead of big parties he could have a few friends over to camp out or have a sleepover, whatever he chose.  Well, when he found out that "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" was coming out the day before his birthday, he decided that he wanted a movie party.  (You know me:  I'd been asking him for MONTHS what he wanted to do...even if it was a little party, I wanted to plan.  But it turns out, it wasn't about me.  Shocking, right?)  So, not quite two weeks before the big day, he finally decided who he wanted to invite.  This was the world's easiest birthday celebration--no invites, no favors, no cake...it's the opposite of any party we've ever done before, and it was exactly what Noble wanted.  

Around here, our tradition is to decorate for the kids so they wake up to a little birthday party.  Since we have cats this year, we had to really think that part through!

Noble came out of the bedroom at 6:00, which didn't surprise us at all...it's his new number, after all.

Daddy & I created a scavenger hunt that would take us through the activities of the day, starting with "get dressed!"

Thank you to all of you who called, texted, and even face-timed to tell Noble "happy birthday!"  

We let Noble choose breakfast, but we weren't surprised at all that he chose donuts (another birthday tradition, started by Lynn wayyyyyyyyyy to close to 20 years ago!).  Reasons #6798 and 6799 we love living in a small town:  Mr. Dale gave Noble a free birthday donut, and Ms. Dorothy led the whole store in singing "Happy Birthday to You" to our boy.  Only she forgot his name, so she sang to "Sweetie"--cracked Noble up!  (Or, as he would say, "cracked him out."  I don't know why.)

This is so Noble--while he was opening gifts, I had to talk to him about showing his gratitude better (we couldn't get him to make a decent thank you video for Aunt Susan and Avery).  I didn't realize it until later, but he totally taught ME a lesson.  Daddy & I wrapped up his birthday book, and that was it.  We didn't mention any other gift because it was part of the scavenger hunt.  You know what?  That kid opened the book and thanked us and we played with it for a while (it's the Wookie book, so the buttons make different Wookie noises).  He was happy with our gift.  And that was that, we went on with our morning.  When I realized later that Noble was totally content with a small gift and didn't blink an eye, I realized that he DOES get gratitude, and he could teach me a thing or two.  Do you know what he asked for this year?  A baseball bat and a book.  Jhido and Kayci took care of those, so Daddy and I were left guessing about what to get.  Luckily Daddy and Noble got out the bikes last week and his gift became obvious.  It was time for our big boy to get a bigger bike!

Noble's second clue led us to the store, where we let him pick out his own bike.  

Of course he had to try them out to find the perfect fit.  

And what do you do when you get a new bike?  You ride it!

After an easy ride around a parking lot, we had tons of fun going up and down the hill down the street from our house.  

I loved seeing Kayci's pink cheeks--

I'm so glad it's the time of year when we get to play outside!

Whenever we asked Noble what he wanted to do ON his birthday, he had the same answer:  Horseshoe Junction!  So, despite the weather, we went.  For the first time we bought the kids wristbands, and that made a huge difference--it was fun to know there wasn't a time limit, or that they could only ride so many rides.  The kids had a blast, and so did we!  The rain held off until the afternoon, so we got to play outside for a long time.  :)

After almost 4 hours and a yummy lunch, we took a break to go home and take a nap.  After dinner we went back and played for a couple more hours...the kids were THRILLED.  And tired!

While Noble napped, Kayci made his birthday surprise (his requested dessert was:  "surprise me!").  We are so proud of her, that she can bake a cake or cupcakes from start to finish with no support.  And Kayci loves being our official baker of the Pharaon family.  :)

She couldn't wait until dinner to show him her creation--Kayci had to wake him up.  I love how they love each other (even though they've now started to pick on each other...but that's another blog post).

Grandma came over for Noble's birthday dinner.  He cannot WAIT to have a wiggly tooth, and is convinced he'll lose one any day now.  It's been bothering him that he doesn't have a tooth pillow, so Grandma helped him out.  Now to have something to put in it...

Noble's birthday dinner request:  meatball soup.  YUM!

 

Kayci chose Noble's favorite color for his cake--I'm not gonna lie, I was worried about orange cake because I assumed it would be orange-flavored.  Thankfully, it was not.  :)

Yes, we let the birthday boy cut his own cake.  And eat two pieces.  

Noble will tell you he had a great birthday, and we had a lot of fun celebrating our boy!

And the fun continues...his favorite friend gave him a helicopter, and I'm not sure who has enjoyed it more.  Well, I am sure, but we'll pretend it's Noble.  :)

And the next item on our Spring Break agenda?  Nothing. 

So far, so good!