Celebrating Luke

Since Luke wasn't in school on his actual birthday, we celebrated with his friends the day before. He requested mini-cupcakes, vanilla ice cream, and juice boxes, with Spider Man napkins and straws, and I was happy to oblige. 

Such a sweet group! I always look at these pictures and wonder which ones will be graduating together?!!

Silly faces

Luke and his best friend, Collin. These two are such characters together...they're not going to know what to do when they are not in the same class next year!

I grabbed big brother out of class and he helped me pass everything out.

The morning of the 25th...

A whole hand old!

We didn't have a lot of time, as Caleb and I had to leave at 7:30, but we did get to see Luke open a few of his birthday presents.

He was thrilled to finally get his Boba Fett costume!

That evening we had family over for dessert, and Luke also requested that Colin come over too. Luke picked dinner (Subway!) and he and Colin had a little while to play together before everyone came over. I have to say...I have never seen two kids get along so well. There wasn't a single disagreement the entire evening!

Luke got a Luke Skywalker costume from his cousins Ava & Claire, and he immediately put it on.

One of the things I love about Luke's big personality...

Colin asked, "What kind of party is Luke having?" 

Well, Luke loves everything! He had Spider Man at school, picked out Mario and Luigi cupcakes, wanted plain orange icing on his cookie cake, had a Star Wars banner, and wanted blue confetti Happy Birthday plates and napkins at home. He has always marched to the beat of his own drum, and I hope he keeps with that!

Blowing out 5 candles

Ava & Caleb

Luke & Claire

We hope you had a wonderful 5th birthday, Lukey!

Happy Birthday, Luke Michael!

Happy 5th birthday, Luke Michael, or Luke Skywalker, as you requested your middle name to be last week.

Wow- it is so crazy to think of you as being five...five is just such a big number. You have grown so much this past year and it's hard to believe that you will be heading off to kindergarten in the fall.

At five, you are still our sweet, cuddly boy. You love hugs, kisses, cuddles on the couch, being carried, and being rocked before bed. On the other hand, you are such a rough and tough little boy! When you fall (or run into walls, tables, door frames, etc.) and get hurt, you brush it off and keep going.

You look up to your brother and idolize him, yet push his buttons and drive him crazy more often that not. You also love to steal his Legos when he is at school!

You do so well at school and in the church nursery. You get along with friends so well, and thankfully, your banana hasn't fallen from the tree once this year! Your writing has gotten better, although you still won't spell your name with a lower case e, and your speech has improved. 

You are such a homebody. If given the chance, you would stay home in your pajamas and play every single day. In fact, if you are at home, you are either dressed up in a costume or in your pajamas most of the time. You love, love playing with your Legos, but also like Power Rangers, army men, and Paw Patrol. You are a gamer like your brother, and it 's amazing what you can do on Minecraft.

You still enjoy napping most days at home, but are fine to skip if needed. Your normal bedtime is 8pm (earlier if you skipped your nap) and you are usually up between 6:30 and 7:00. You still sleep with your "Big Blankie," but have recently said we can give it to another baby when you go to college.

You are SUCH a picky eater. For meals you like to eat raw veggies with ranch dip, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, bars, pancakes, applesauce, plain spaghetti noodles, cheese quesadillas (only from Fiesta Time Amigos), fried rice (only from Sake Blue), black olives, waffles, Toaster Strudels, turkey, Greek and regular yogurt, and your signature Subway sandwich. :) And, that's basically it. Sometimes we can get you to eat chicken nuggets or pizza, but it's not preferred. I will say that you always try one bite of everything we are having for dinner, and I am hoping that one day you will decide to eat it! But, you sure LOVE desserts and treats!!!

You are our Little.
Our Sweet Boy.
Our Lukey.
The perfect addition to our family five years ago.
We love you more than words can express!

Luke, at (almost) 5 years old

 What is your favorite color?   Orange

What is your favorite food?  Subway. A sub sandwich.  Wheat bread, lettuce, black olives, a little bit of mayonnaise. Turkey. And American cheese.

What is your favorite restaurant? Sake Blue

Where is your favorite place to go? House of Boom

What is your favorite thing to do at home?   Wear costumes.

What is your favorite movie?  Star Wars

What is your favorite TV show?   Tom and Jerry

What is your favorite song? Dun, dun, dun, dun... (Star Wars theme song)

What is your favorite toy?  Legos

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?   Play Legos 

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?   Workout in the basement

What are you most excited about for turning five?   I'm not excited of anything.

Recently...

Milkshake Monday!

Gotta love happy hour at Steak-N-Shake.

Luke is obsessed with dressing up these days and while his ninja costume is the most worn, he also sports his Power Ranger, Star Wars, and Army costumes frequently. 

So excited about their package from Marshma

Little Brother hates when I have to wake him up from his nap for carpool. On this particular day, he fell back asleep in the car and stayed that way until after we had picked up Caleb. (If we are at home, Luke will take a two hour nap easily!)

Sunny & mid-60s...we'll take it for the end of January! 

Looking forward to Spring

Our cute clown on Clown Day. 

He marched around the big school, playing percussion instruments and cheering on the big kids for their 100th day of school. (Apparently Caleb was talking a test when they came by so he didn't get to see him.)

Caleb went to his first UofL game and cheered on the Cards as they beat UNC. 

Let it Snow!

The boys finally had their first (and second...and third!) snow days of the year. 

We got just under four inches of snow on January 20th and we were excited to sleep in and just hang out around the house. School was called off the following day, and then when another two inches fell on the 22nd, we got our third day off in a row. Thankfully the roads were cleared quickly, so we were able to get out and about some. (Although 90% of the time we could be found wearing our pajamas!)

Our Winter Wonderland

Luke happened to bring home his class "pet" Maverick, and due to MLK Jr. day and all the snow days, Mav ended up spending 10 days with us. Ha! 

Nothing goes better on a snow day than a pancake & sausage breakfast from McDonalds! We also hit up the Redbox a few times over the break.

We baked some sugar cookies

and Luke lived in his robe! 

(The Dude)

There was no need to feel cabin fever with Caleb the Magnificent around. :) 

And...

 while we were snowed in, Creed was living it up out in Vail, Colorado with his longtime friend, Jon. They had a great time catching up and hitting the slopes, and Creed even came home with new skis and boots! 

Creed's winter wonderland was a little more impressive than ours. ;)

(The snow days were fun and the school calendar has been updated. Now let's hope that's it...)

"Lukey Mommy Day"

Over MLK Jr. weekend, Creed took Caleb to Timberline, WV for a quick ski trip. Initially Creed had planned on taking Luke for his first ski trip, but Luke was adamant that he wanted to "stay home and snuggle with Mommy in her bed." So, while the big boys skied, Luke and I had, what he called, "the best Lukey Mommy Day ever!"

We snuggled in bed

played Legos

and went to church. 

I told him he could have whatever he wanted for lunch (McDonalds, Subway...) and he said that he wanted to go to Kroger and pick out a Veggie Tray. He also wanted Key Lime Greek yogurt. :)

 And while we were having the best Lukey Mommy Day ever, Creed and Caleb were having a blast too. They ate at their favorite restaurant, had fun at their hotel, and enjoyed the following day on the slopes. 

May The Force Be With You

Imagine my surprise when I called the boys to dinner and this is who showed up. :) 

Snow & Ice Fun

Sunday we were surprised with a layer of ice, and later that afternoon Creed took the boys out to play. Caleb loved sledding on the ice and Luke was content to break it up with his bat.

Luke is home on Tuesdays so he had a blast playing in the snow that fell that morning. He threw snowballs at the door (I was on the other side) and played dinosaurs and trucks all over the deck. 

After Caleb got home from school, we ventured out again, although it was too cold to stay out long. Caleb pulled Luke around on the sled and they played Santa and his reindeer. Luke kept singing, "Run, Run Rudolph!" 

Loving our first taste of snow this year!