Mercy and the Boys: Luke Turned 5!

My sweet Luke turned 5 on May 12th. I know I will probably say this about all the kids’ birthdays, but I can’t believe that Luke is already 5. He is so totally pumped about starting kindergarten in the fall; he is so ready. He’s changed so much and seems to have grown up a lot over the last year. Though he still has more physical energy and activity than the other boys, he can now actually sit down for longer periods of time to do school work or other things that he’s interested in. And somehow in the last few months he’s started to read! I have been doing preschool stuff with him this whole past year, but I have not focused on teaching him how to read at all. I just figured we’d do that in kindergarten. But he’s obviously ready because he’s reading quite a bit now and wants to read more. It was most evident when he got his new Beginner’s Bible for his birthday and he started reading the stories out loud. Daddy and I are always shocked how much he knows how to read already. I don’t know why we’re so surprised; Luke has always been one to figure things out quickly. He’s just always been quite intuitive. Something else that really marks Lukey is his sensitivity and gentleness. I’ve said this before, but it seems almost like a contradiction in terms. At times he is super hyper and going psycho. Then he can be the most gentle and sweet kid in the very next moment. He’s my go-to-guy when I need help with Mercy. He seems to be able to understand best how to care for little ones, and he loves to make babies laugh. I have often heard him say to Mercy that he will always be there to protect her – so sweet! He also seems to be quite sensitive to spiritual things lately. His understanding of the Gospel seems to go deep and he has that sweet childlike faith. His prayers often seem more heartfelt than rote. We love watching this develop in him. Actually, when I asked what theme he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted to have a “Bible” birthday. So, everyone who came to his party dressed up like a Bible character and we made a scroll cake because that’s what he wanted. I’ll post some pictures below. The things that Luke is really into right now are reading his new Bible, playing Rescue Heroes with his brothers, watching What’s In the Bible DVD’s, and playing soccer. He is an active, intelligent, silly, funny, sweet 5 year old boy and we love him so much! Here are the pictures from his birthday celebration...

We started out the day with his first gift, which was his Beginner's Bible from Grandma and Grandpa. He LOVED it! Then for birthday breakfast we had birthday donuts with breakfast burritos.

We spent his birthday opening up presents throughout the day and taking the kids to a big indoor kid's play place at a nearby mall. We had KFC and Dairy Queen for lunch as per Luke's request. :-) Then for dinner we had one of Luke's favorites - chicken and dumplings. It was a fun family day. We had Luke's actual birthday party a few days later when all of Luke's friends could come. The party was a big hit and lots of fun. Many friends dressed up, and the party games were a fun for the kids. We played pin the rock to Goliath's head and Bible charades. The kids actually did a great job acting out the different Bible characters. Everyone had a good time.