Happy 5th Birthday Samuel!

Samuel turned 5 on June 29th. Thank you everyone for your phone calls, cards, and gifts. They all made Samuel feel very very special. Here are pics from the day:

He started out by opening his present from Tim and I which was the

NEW! Super Mario Bros. Wii game that he has been coveting for a few months now.

He was very excited as was Grant who wanted to be holding his own DVD for the picture.

Here are Tim and Samuel getting a game in before Tim leaves for work.

And here is Samuel with his gift from Grandma and Grandpa. He's been wanting motorcycles for a long time now and he LOVES these! He played with them all day and slept with them all night. 5 days later and he still loves them just as much. Great gift G-ma and G-pa!

For Christmas we bought Samuel an old Ninja Turtles DVD at Half Price Books and he fell in love with them. Hence the Ninja Turtle Birthday theme. Since the last time anyone cared about the Ninja Turtles it was 1991 there is nothing in the store and practically nothing online so I had to get creative. It was a lot of fun! Here is the cake:

And here is the homemade pinata. I was nervous about how this would hold up but it turned out to be WAY better than any store bought one and I think we'll do homemade ones from now on.

All the kids with their pinata loot.

For Audrey's Blog Book Sake: (all kids are L to R)

(Top Row: Wyatt Peterson, Sage Hardman, Layla Sullivan)

(Middle Row: Lylei Salguerro, Samuel Doolittle, Odell Holland, Lillie Doolittle, Gavin Peterson)

(Front Row: Ethan Raven, Grant Doolittle, Aydia Easton, Hyrum Hooper)

Samuel with Grammy & Grandad, & Aunt Allison and their gifts to him

Samuel had a wonderful birthday! I cannot believe that my little Samuel is 5 now and about to go to Kindergarten in a month and a half. It's been a wild 5 years buddy and I can't wait to see what the next 5 years holds in store!

Samuel at 5:

Favorites -

Books: Dr. Suess, Mouse Cookie Books, anything new from the library, Hotwheels Dino Racing

Food: Strawberries, Pizza, Breyers M&M yogurt, pretends to be picky at dinner but is actually willing to eat almost anything to get a dessert!

Toys: Motorcycles, the trampoline, Hot Wheels tracks, play doh, board games (loves these and asks to play them all the time!)candy land, sorry, chutes and ladders, clue jr., u build it monopoly, operation, and ants in the pants, video games:Mario Kart, Wii Sports, Super Mario Bros., and Ninja Turtles Smash Up

Movies & TV Shows: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Spiderman, Iron Man, Avatar: the Last Airbender (will watch anything that's on w/o complaint - have to seriously monitor his tv time)

Activities: playing make believe games with Lillie, jumping on the trampoline, swimming in the Great Northwest pool and going down the slide into the 9ft water, video games with Odell Holland and Ethan Raven, making forts, drowning the bathroom during hour long baths, going camping with Dad, dates with mom and dad, tickle monster with dad, soccer with his team the Tiny Titans

Places: Malibu Grand Prix, Broadway Kiddie Park, the Pool, Chuck E. Cheese, Pump it Up, Just Add Children (he asks every day if we can go to these places)

BFF's: Lillie, Grant (he always calls him brother when their playing), Odell Holland, Ethan Raven, Payton Billingsley, Gavin and Wyatt Peterson, Sage Hardman (who is set on marrying him! but she says "I can't tell him about it because I don't want to scare him" Too Cute!)

Not So Favorites:

Samuel is really such an easy going kid. His dislikes are what most kids hate:

he really hates it when it's time to stop whatever fun thing he's doing to do things like eat dinner, take baths, and go to bed.

These are things he says he hates but actually enjoys: running errands, and going to church

***Special Things about Samuel:

Samuel is so smart and really picks things up easily. You just have to show him once how to do something and he's got it. He has mastered writing his name, letters, and numbers and is beginning to learn to read. Sometimes he'll read words that we've never told him, they just come out of his mouth. He is such an active boy and shows a lot of potential in soccer. He likes the idea of fighting and we hope to redirect that more positively so we will be putting him into Karate in the Fall. While he is very energetic he also loves to cuddle with mom and dad and some of my favorite times with him are reading stories or talking right before he goes to sleep. He is always laughing and he is definitely in his "potty humor" stage. He knows no bounds when it comes to poop jokes and he is the crack up of his pre-school class. All of the kids just loved him. One of his little friends Ethan even made his mom call him Samuel for about a month. Samuel is such a sweetheart. Whenever he goes he just wants to have fun and is willing to be-friend anyone and everyone.

We love you so much Samuel, you are such a blessing to our family!